Inter Species Wrestling show at K-Town

Inter Species Wrestling (ISW) and the K-Town Collectables Expo continued their fruitful relationship on Sunday, with the independent wrestling promotion putting on a fast-paced show at the Mohawk Bingo to close the day.

“I always love putting on these shows here, it is always a blast,” said ISW promoter Michael Woods, who was also the lead commentator for the event as it was streamed on Twitch and filmed for release online.

The show featured five tournament matches for the Masters of the Universe championship, the He-Man-inspired title belt that was created for, and defended at, the K-Town Expo.

“We started doing shows on these toy shows back in 2018, and I decided that we needed to do something to make them a little more special, a little more meaningful,” said Woods.

The tournament finals, a four-way match, saw Austin Luke pin last year’s champion Myung-jae Lee after a top-rope frog splash - also defeating fellow finalists “Unkillable” Brayden Toon and Leah Sparks in the process.

Like the tournament as a whole, the match was fast-paced and well wrestled, with each wrestler getting a chance to show off their respective brand of offense.

The most memorable contest on the card, though, was without a doubt the “Tornado Tiki Throwdown,” a three-on-three match that really highlighted the zanier side of ISW.

Alvin Turner, Bray Dello Russo, and long-time Montreal wrestler Sexxxy Eddy faced off against Kyle Zachary, pink-masked wrestler Ultimo Ant, and “Top Dog” Franklin Meyer –who, for the uninitiated, wrestles in a full hot-dog vendor outfit complete with suspenders, apron, and cardboard hat.

The match itself, involving coconut drinks, inflatable pool toys, pool noodle lightsabers, and kiddie pool CPR, to name just a small amount of the chaos, was a big hit with the fans, especially kids.

“I primarily put on shows for years that had no kids in the crowd, and then I started putting on shows here where there are kids, and it made me regret the years of no kids, because they’re so into it,” said Woods.

Zachary’s team came out the winners, making his hometown fans happy.

“It was a great match. I like all those guys in it, even if Alvin Turner deserves a smack in the mouth every once in a while. He got what was coming to him, and justice was served,” said Zachary.

For him, the event was a wistful trip down memory lane, as he competed in what he thought would be his last match more than a decade ago at the Mohawk Bingo before his Dad Bod Squad comeback some years later.

“Coming back here, having another match here, it’s kind of a full circle thing. As I age out and get to the end of my actual career, it’s good to come back here and relive those old glory days,” said Zachary.

The show was a big hit with the K-Town attendees as well.

“What I found really impressive was, I watch a lot of wrestling on TV. This is my first actual live wrestling, and actually watching, hearing the crowd and everything, was really super fun,” said David Legault, also known as Koron Kasara from the Klingon Assault Group cosplay group that was in attendance at K-Town.

Legault was a very noticeable part of the crowd, standing up and cheering throughout, particularly for Leah Sparks’ intergender matches.

Woods said that as long as there is a K-Town Expo, ISW will be there.

“It allows me to do something different. Yesterday, we promoted a death match tournament. That was a show that had blood and guts and glass and barbed wire. And then we come here, and we do this where people are getting hit with inflatable toys and kids are laughing, and I’m laughing so hard I’m crying, I love it. I will come back here as long as this thing exists,” said Woods.

Sunday’s show is available to watch on the Independent Wrestling TV streaming service with a subscription.

ISW will be back in Kahnawake on October 18 at the Knights of Columbus for the Cannonbrawl benefit show, benefitting ISW alumnus Jeff Cannonball, who was recently diagnosed with ALS.

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