REAL NAME: Adam Dykes
5’10”, 175 lbs.
ALIASES/NICKNAMES: Torch
By SAM HALSALL — For SLAM! Wrestling
Torch
To his family and friends, he’s Adam Dykes, a nice boy from a nice home. He prizes his family above all else in life, and feels the need to go out and have fun with them whenever he has the chance.
Those chances don’t come as often as he’d like. He’s usually too busy beating people up while wearing a mask.
Dykes is better known as Torch, one of the premier high-flyers of the independent wrestling circuit. He was the unified NWA/ECCW Canadian Junior Heavyweight Champion until an injury forced him to relinquish the belts a few weeks ago. Fans of the B.C.-based Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling are always quick to respect him for the fast-paced action of his matches.
“I think I convinced myself on my first day of training,” says Torch when asked what convinced him to be a wrestler. “Tons of people dream of being a wrestler, or toy with the thought of being a wrestler, but few ever get to do it. Some even try, but they just don’t seem to have it in them. The first day I went through training I loved every second of it and realized that I had found what I wanted to do. I told myself, ‘I can do this.'”
Torch tours all over the Pacific Northwest with ECCW, and is earning a huge fan following in all the towns the promotion visits. This is partly due to the fact that he’s been working as a babyface nearly all that time, and he’s happy about that. “Why wouldn’t you love the roar of the crowd, knowing it was all for you? Heel is a lot of fun, too, though. It takes a good worker to be a good babyface, but a great worker to make his opponent a great babyface. Plus heels get to hurl out all those fun insults at the ringsiders!”
He knows this because in towns with hostile crowds, Torch often finds himself thrust into the heel role. “For the most part, my cheerful disposition won’t let me be anything but the perennial babyface. If the crowd heels on me, though, I’ll heel on them. If there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s disrespect.”
Whenever possible, Torch enjoys working matches with “Tornado” Tony Kozina, preferably with Beautiful Bruce the Hardcore Midget as referee. He can’t pin down any one match as his favorite, but all his best have been against Kozina and “Rocket” Randy Tyler.
When not on the road, the high-flyer insists on getting grounded. “Nothing is more important to me than friends and family. They are your anchor. When I’m at home, I like to spend as much time with them as possible. If I’m spending an evening sitting at home, I’m doing something wrong in my opinion. I also try to go to church when I’m at home.” When he takes a few moments for himself, he often finds himself watching “teenybopper shows like Dawson’s Creek and Saved by the Bell: The New Class.”
Torch feels the time has come to take his career to the next level. “I love working for ECCW. It’s my home. I get along great with everyone, and have made some great friends in the promotion. Unfortunately, the wrestling world does not revolve around ECCW, and it’s time to branch out.”
ECCW seems prepared to help him accomplish this, as his name is being suggested for upcoming talent exchanges with promotions in Japan and Korea. “Hopefully in five years I’ll be performing in front of a ton of people on a national or international level and making a comfortable living doing what I love instead of making a comfortable living doing something I hate like most people do.”
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Memories
I have seen Torch in action about seven times and took an instant liking to him. Once he retired the Mask and became Adam Firestorm. My buddy Bryan and I would still chant : “We want the Mask” each time he approached the ring, he smiled every time.
One time he said to the crowd: Without the mask there is no Torch” so a few months later at my Wedding, it was an emotional time, I was addressing the guest and out of nowhere said: Did you know that without the Mask, there is no Torch, no one but Bryan laughed, the in ‘laws were wondering: Who the hell is she marrying, they all thought I was weird.
Anyway, the show after my wedding, he threw a Torch Mask to me which is in the basement hanging on the wall. Again my wife thinks I’m from outer space. Long live Torch.
Pierre, ptrep@yahoo.com
“We want the mask !!!”
Still to this day with the WWF being as big as it is, it is always a pleasure to go and watch a high quality indie promotion.
Wrestlers like the Torch aka Adam Firestorm make these shows so very entertaining. I’m glad to have become a fan of ECCW with my pal Pierre. Who else says “Without the mask there is no Torch” at his wedding, as well as hanging a Torch mask in his basement.
Ahh, Indie promotions… the basis of all that is wrestling. Thank you Torch.
We want the mask,
Bryan