(Posted Dec. 20, 2018)
Wrastlin’ makes triumphant return to Navan Memorial Arena
By Fred Sherwin
Orléans Online

A year after staging its first professional wrestling card, the Orléans Wrestling Alliance, or OWA, returned to the Navan Memorial Arena on December 17 to crown its inaugural heavyweight champion.

Over 150 wrestling fans packed the second floor of the arena for a card that included eight action-packed matches. Among the featured wrestlers were hometown heroes Magic Mario Bryant and Lance Law, who both hail from Orléans.

Lance Law has his arm raised by special guest announcer Matt Luloff as his opponent, MVP, lies prone on a broken door panel. Fred Sherwin/Photo

Magic Mario, whose real name is Rich Leron, made it to the championship match where he fought The Immaculate Ray St. Jean for the championship belt.

Despite being the runaway crowd favourite, Mario was the victim of shenanigans and skullduggery perpetrated by the immaculate one who ultimately won the match and left the ring with the belt around his waist.

The co-main event pitted hometown hero Lance Law against his arch rival Michael “MVP” Van Payton in a street fight match. The no-holds-barred donnybrook spilled out of the ring and into the audience soon after they rang the opening bell.

Once outside the confines of the squared circle, the antagonists used whatever items they had at their disposal, including garbage cans, tables, condiments and a few chairs, as members of the audience cheered them on.

The match was an entertaining exhibition provided by a pair of pro-wrestling veterans. In the end it was Law who emerged as the top cop after power-bombing MVP through a door panel laid across a pair of chairs and pinning him for the 1-2-3 count as the audience went wild.

After the match, Law – whose real name is Denis Racine – spent close to 30 minutes signing autographs and posing for photos with his fans.

Besides appearing on the card, Leron and Racine are partners in crime as the co-promoters of the OWA.

By day, Racine is a mild-mannered special constable with OC Transpo. He first started wrestling when he just 20. After taking a break to focus on his family and work, he got into the sport entertainment business again last year and teamed up with Leron to promote their first show.

“We are character-based entertainment,” says Racine, “and through our characters we want to bring old school fun, family friendly character-based professional wrestling to Orléans.”

Everyone who was at the show on Sunday night left the Navan Arena with a smile on their face and a deep desire to see the next card including 10-year-old Mikael Lampron who happens to be a huge Lance Law fan.

"I really liked it a lot. The street fight was my favourite,” said Lampron.

Racine says the organization plans to stage a number of events in 2019.

“We want to move around and get into some festivals. I want to do a show in Blackburn Hamlet. I want to do a show near Centrum. I want to even maybe do a show at Ribfest. Why not enjoy some ribs have a beer and watch the Orléans Wrestling Alliance?”

Why not indeed.

(This story was made possible thanks to the generous support of our local business partners.)

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