Inside the professional wrestling ring in Cloverdale鈥檚 Alice McKay building, 鈥淭he Violent Artist鈥� stood listening to the crowd boo.
The harsh glare of the overhead lights illuminated his nearly-naked body as he grabbed the microphone from the peach-dressed announcer.
鈥淛ust in case you鈥檝e been living in a cave, on Mars, with your fingers stuffed in your ears,鈥� he said, animosity dripping from his words, 鈥淚鈥檓 Kyle O鈥橰eilly.鈥�
The crowd erupted. A medley of cheers and jeers echoed throughout the room as O鈥橰eilly slammed the crowd and the province for being overly polite and far too friendly.
In his off hours, 鈥淭he Violent Artist鈥� Kyle O鈥橰eilly is Kyle Greenwood, a soft-spoken North Delta-raised guy who hung out before the match wearing a grey and blue ranglan shirt and sipping a Rockstar energy drink.
Greenwood sat chatting with Jake Merchant, who had come to to support his high-school friend.
鈥淗e was always an outgoing kind of guy,鈥� Merchant said about Greenwood. The two of them had gone to North Delta Secondary and Sands Secondary together back in the early 2000s.
鈥淎lways his dream, to pursue鈥� wrestling, he continued. 鈥淗e probably had plans here and there, but this was his main focus: getting in the ring and making it in the biz.鈥�
Greenwood first caught the wrestling bug as a young kid.
鈥淲e wrestle our stuffed animals and our pillows on the couch and our buddies on the trampoline,鈥� Greenwood said. 鈥淚 was just one of those kids that never grew out of it.鈥�
He fell in love with the theatrics of professional wrestling, and after high school, joined the Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling In-Pain Asylum under Michelle Starr, who also owns Cloverdale鈥檚 All Star Wrestling.
He spent four years working the local indie circuit, building up the Kyle O鈥橰eilly name. Then, he started heading down to the States to compete in professional wrestling matches down there.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not like I was going to take other people鈥檚 jobs,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 was just a kid trying to chase his dream.
鈥淏ecause of that I had to lie my ass off every time I crossed the border. It was so scary,鈥� he continued. 鈥淚 shudder to think of what would have happened if I had the wrong guard having the wrong day.鈥�
After a couple years of going back and forth over the border, Greenwood decided to stay in the States, doing 鈥渢he illegal alien thing鈥� for a few years until he could get a greencard.
During that time, Kyle O鈥橰eilly clawed his way up the pro wrestling ladder, working in tag teams and finally making it the top championship match for the Ring of Honor, an independant American professional wrestling promotion.
He won the championship title in December 2016, but lost it in January 2017 to Adam Cole. At that time, Greenwood鈥檚 contract with the Ring of Honor expired.
Now, the O鈥橰eilly personae appears at odd matches while Greenwood waits for another contract opportunity. One of these was the headline slot at the All Star Wrestling show in Cloverdale on June 9.
Three other North Delta wrestlers were also featured that evening: locals Matt XStatic and Kellen Raeth faced off in an intense rivalry that seemed to centre largely on the luxuriousness of their locks, and The All American Azeem the Dream (whose personae is from Hawaii, although the man behind it is from North Delta) squared off against the nearly 300-pound Moondog Manson, who brandished a baseball bat entwined in barbed wire.
Other matches included a cartoon-like fight between Salty the Seaman and Black Sheep Dave Turner, and a tag team bout with female champion Bambi Hall, 鈥淩avenous鈥� Randy Myers and Sgt. Mike Everest facing off against the Tokyo Raiders.
That night O鈥橰eilly was facing off against 鈥淟oose Cannon鈥� Kenny Lush, a hefty six-foot two-inches and 250 pounds to O鈥橰eilly鈥檚 five-foot eight-inches and just over 200 pounds.
Outside of the pro wrestling vortex, Greenwood and Kenny Luah (Lush鈥檚 off-stage personae) are close friends: Luah was even best man at Greenwood鈥檚 wedding. But inside the ring, it鈥檚 a different story.
Like a scene from a 1970s Marvel comic book, the two men pounded each other both in and out of the ring. O鈥橰eilly, slowing in the first part of the match, returned with a flurry of mixed-martial arts moves that drove Lush to the ground. Lush retaliated by throwing O鈥橰eilly out of the ring.
Back and forth, the two adversaries fought until finally knocking each other to the ground at the same time. O鈥橰eilly, dazed like a beginner character in the 1980s video game Mike Tyson鈥檚 Punch-Out!, lost the match.
Standing in the ring, looking over at O鈥橰eilly, Lush grabbed the microphone.
鈥淜yle,鈥� he said, the two versions of himself blending together as he spoke. 鈥淵ou gave me the fight of my life.鈥�
鈥淭hat鈥檚 not the Kyle I know,鈥� he continued, referencing O鈥橰eilly鈥檚 opening speech鈥檚 hostility towards Canada. 鈥淭imes are bleak in America. You need to be their guiding light.鈥�
鈥淵ou know something Kenny, Kenny Lush, if that is your real name,鈥� O鈥橰eilly said, grabbing the microphone from his friend. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e absolutely right.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no place on this planet like British Columbia. There鈥檚 no place like home.鈥�
