In the ring for a good cause

For Inter Species Wrestling (ISW) promoter Michael Woods, it was an easy decision to do something to try and help out wrestler Jeff Cannonball - one of the best friends he ever made in the business - and his family after he was recently diagnosed with ALS.

Woods said that Cannonball was there for him when he needed support the most, when Woods’ wife died suddenly in 2022.

“When the funeral took place, it was during the week, and a lot of my friends couldn’t make it. But Jeff, he insisted on being there. The fact that Jeff was always there for me, especially through my hardest times, it made me think, ‘man, I can’t not do something for him,” said Woods.

That’s why ISW will be holding the Cannonbrawl benefit show at the Knights of Columbus on October 18, with proceeds from tickets as well as auction items going to Cannonball and his family.

Cannonball made his ISW debut at the Knights of Columbus in 2018 and won the ISDub Falls Count Anywhere Championship in a match at the Knights in 2019.

“When it comes to him and our relationship, especially involving ISW, that building specifically was probably the most important, because it’s where he ran, it’s where we became friends, and it’s where he became a champion,” said Woods.

Woods described the show as being one booked for an audience of one: Cannonball himself.

“This show is specifically tailored to Jeff and Jeff’s interests, but I know that Jeff’s interests are what everybody else would enjoy as well. It’s going to be a great night,” said Woods.

Cannonbrawl will feature matches that fit right into the kind of wrestling ISW is about, with matches that should be great technical bouts mixed in with some of the hijinks the company is known for.

Woods said that wrestlers flocked to him to ask to work the show.

“I didn’t really have to call anybody, it just filled up. That just shows you how Jeff Cannonball is really well loved,” said Woods.

On the serious side, for example, ISDub Undisputed King of Crazy “Hotstepper” Macrae Martin will defend his title against former Major League Wrestling (MLW) and Combat Zone Wrestling (CZW) world champion Rickey Shane Page; former All Elite Wrestling (AEW) talent Bear Bronson will take on “Big Boy” Junior Benito for the C*4 World Championship; and WWE Independent Development (WWE ID) talent Marcus Mathers will defend his Independent Wrestling Television (IWTV) championship against the winner of the third Masters of the Universe tournament, Austin Luke.

On the zanier side, six men will compete for the right to do a Jones Soda review in the same style Cannonball would do online in his Short Soda Review series, while Kahnawake’s own Kyle Zachary and his team of four wrestlers and a plastic killer whale will take on his ex-Dad Bod Squad compatriot Tommy Boy Leduc. This five-on-five grudge match will also serve as a follow up to the Tornado Tiki Throwdown at this year’s K-Town Collectibles Expo show.

“I’m looking forward to doing some good for him, for his family,” said Zachary of working Cannonbrawl.

Getting to dispense some “fatherly advice” to Leduc, who betrayed Zachary at ISW’s last show, Run With Us, in their tag team title match, is just another added benefit.

“He started hanging around with questionable characters, there was a change. I couldn’t snap him out of it. And he started to get a little selfish,” said Zachary.

Zachary found that his longtime partner was not the same guy he had won the title and been successful with in his return to the ring, with moments of confusion leading to losing the titles and failing to recapture them, culminating in Leduc’s betrayal.

“Out of nowhere, he just super-kicked me in the face, and he threw off all his Dad Bod Squad gear. Then he took a chair and he attacked me, he sandwiched my leg between two chairs, and he hit me in the knee with this chair, five, six times, really trying to do damage to me,” said Zachary.

“There’s going to be 10 of us in this match. It’s going to get wild. It’s going to get outrageous, as it always is with an Inter Species Wrestling show.”

Both Woods and Zachary said that whether you are a wrestling fanatic or have never been to a show before, catching an ISW show is always worth it, and Cannonbrawl benefitting someone suffering from ALS makes it even more worthwhile to give them a chance.

“Imagine you go to a wrestling show, and you see somebody get slammed on 10,000 pieces of Lego. You’re going to go to work on Monday and say you’re not going to believe what I just saw, and people aren’t going to believe you at all, because, who in their right mind would want to do that?” said Woods.

“You’re helping somebody get through something absolutely horrible, you’re helping lighten the load for them, and in return, you get to be entertained for three to three and a half hours.”

The full card is available on ISW’s social media pages. Tickets are still available at cannonbrawl.com, and the event will be broadcast on Twitch.tv and IWTV’s online service.

[email protected]