For one night only, 性视界传媒-based will move into a much bigger venue.
The occasion is a special one, as ASW will celebrate its 10th anniversary with a rena at Cloverdale Fairgrounds.
The wrestling action that night will feature Tommy Dreamer, Gangrel, Short Sleeve Sampson, UFC fighter 鈥淔ilthy鈥� Tom Lawlor and others.
Mark Vellios, a chief organizer of the event, is excited to stage it.
鈥淔or our 10th anniversary, we鈥檙e pretty sure we鈥檇 sell out the small building, and we鈥檙e shooting for a thousand people in the Agriplex, which will be the biggest wrestling crowd in 性视界传媒 in years,鈥� he told the Now-Leader. 鈥淲e鈥檝e sold all of our VIPs and front-rows (seats) already, and now we鈥檙e starting to sell the floor,鈥� he added. 鈥淲e鈥檝e stacked up all of our top guys, guys who are popular, for this show.鈥�
By 鈥渟mall building,鈥� Vellios refers to the Alice MacKay building, also located at the fairgrounds, on the edge of 176th Street. The venue is put into service for ASW shows every second Friday night.
A wrestling event there this Friday night (June 9) is also a special one for Vellios, as it will feature former ROH (Ring of Honor Wrestling) world champ Kyle O鈥橰eilly against Kenny Lush (aka 鈥淟oose Cannon鈥�) in an event dubbed Wrestling with Honor.
鈥淚t looks like he (O鈥橰eilly) will be going to the WWE soon, although that hasn鈥檛 been announced yet 鈥� kinda hush-hush,鈥� Vellios said.
鈥淚 originally trained him to be a wrestler when he broke in, about 10 years ago now, more than that. He鈥檚 a big wrestling star in Japan, and he was raised in North Delta.鈥� This will be his first time with us at All-Star, and he was with ECCW back in the day.鈥�
July 7th ASW 10th Anniversary Show featuring GET YOUR TIX!
鈥� ASW CANADA (@ASWCANADA)
Back in his day, Vellios was known as Gorgeous Michelle Starr in the wrestling ring, before he to concentrate on his dock job and to also run All-Star Wrestling鈥檚 regional circuit of events.
As Starr, Vellios made his Canadian debut at a previous version of All-Star Wrestling in 1988, and wrestled for the promotion until it closed down in 1989. Originally from California, Vellios鈥� first foray into professional wrestling was as a member of the WWF鈥檚 ring crew for the west coast. He decided to try his hand at performing within the squared circle on local independent shows. The rest is history.
Vellios launched West Coast Championship Wrestling in 1991 and held matches at Bridgeview Hall before moving on to Cloverdale鈥檚 Alice MacKay building. By 2006, he decided to sell his share in another promotion, ECCW, and walk away from the business altogether, but found himself drawn back to it soon enough.
鈥淚 took a year off and then opened up (the current iteration of) All-Star Wrestling,鈥� recalled Vellios in a 2014 interview with the Now.
Using a name familiar to many, Vellios said he initially revived ASW with the intent to do one-off shows and fundraising events. However, just like his walking away from the business, that idea was also short-lived.
鈥淭hen it got more serious, more competitive, and eventually we got back into Cloverdale and been going strong ever since,鈥� he told the Now鈥檚 Christopher Poon in 2014.
At the Alice MacKay building, Vellios said the switch to biweekly events is still 鈥渉it and miss鈥� in terms of tickets sold. The company had to think about 鈥渨hether it鈥檚 good to do it twice a month in there and whether it鈥檚 hurting us or not,鈥� he said, 鈥渂ut we鈥檙e getting crowds in there now, for sure.鈥�
ASW鈥檚 10th-anniversary show at the Agriplex is 鈥渄efinitely a special, big-budget show for us,鈥� Vellios explained, 鈥渁nd probably the most expensive one we鈥檝e done. We have people flying in for it, plus our local crew, so we have plane tickets to deal with and hotels, that kind of stuff, and we鈥檙e paying some of the people in U.S. dollars, so it鈥檚 quite a big venture for us. It鈥檚 exciting doing something like this (on a larger scale), but it鈥檚 more of a risk, too.鈥�
General-admission seats for the July 7 event are $15 via , or call 604-710-0872.
Tickets are similarly priced for this Friday鈥檚 event at Alice MacKay building, where the O鈥橰eilly-Lush battle is the main draw. Other matches will feature Moondog Manson facing Azeem the Dream, Air Adonis against Adam Ryder, 鈥淩avenous鈥� Randy Myers teaming with Sgt. Mike Everest to take on The Tokyo Raiders, Kellen Raeth vs. Matt Xstatic and Dave 鈥淭he Black Sheep鈥� Turner in his ASW debut against Salty Seaman. Bell time is 7:30 p.m., with a post-show 鈥渕eet the wrestlers鈥� event at pool hall and bar, 9461 120th St., North Delta.
Another new development in the ASW world is the construction of a new wrestling ring.
鈥淲e have a new ring that we built, and we used it for just one show so far, and we haven鈥檛 used it in Clovedale yet,鈥� Vellios explained. 鈥淲e still have the other one, and the newer one was needed because we had two shows on the same day 鈥� one downtown at Robson Square in the ice arena area there on May 5 and 6 as part of a Mexican (festival), and a private birthday party event in Burnaby on the same day, the Saturday, so we got that second ring ready to go.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a bigger ring and it鈥檚 higher off the ground, so the visibility is better than with the smaller one. We鈥檙e hoping to use the new one for the 10th-anniversary event.鈥�
