TORONTO — Downtown’s Rec Room provided wrestling fans with another wrestling show. It was a Smash hit Saturday afternoon. After the conclusion of the main event, fans stuck around to watch the Royal Rumble, a perk that Smash had organized to promote this card.
Of note, Toronto’s own Vaughn Vertigo recently received his US Visa. It’s a big deal for Canadian wrestling as a whole as this sort of opportunity is rare for Canadian wrestlers. The well-traveled Vertigo had a lot to say about the opportunity.
“As a Canadian wrestler, getting a US visa is not an easy task, and wrestling in the States legally is not an easy process,” he said in an interview with SlamWrestling.net.
“What happened was I started seeing Progress Wrestling and Defy Wrestling or getting visas for certain Canadians. You could see Judas Icarus and Travis Williams out on the West Coast.” Progress and Defy have been receptive of international wrestlers and have helped them navigate the legal process.
A widely-recognized wrestler through Canada and Europe, it took Vertigo over 10 years to establish himself before he’d even gotten this massive opportunity. He is not the only international wrestler to finally be granted a US Visa. “It’s a really good list of 12 people. I’m the only Canadian on that list. Mostly other ones are UK talent.”
Here is a quick recap of what went down in the scheduled matches.
– Brent Banks def. Charles Crowley.
– Dani Luna def. Alexia Nicole (Nicole made her first Smash appearance since 2023 and had subbed in for Vanna Black).
– Vaughn Veritgo def. Jax Williams.
– Books & Looks / Carter Mason def. Jonny DeLuca / Casey Ferreira / Ayden Phoenix.
– TARIK won a 3-way match against Kevin Blackwood and Jason Hotch.
– Sinner & Saint (Judas Icarus/Travis Williams) def. Locked and Loaded (Mark Wheeler/Jessie V) to retain the Smash Wrestling tag team championship.
– The match between Smash Wrestling World Champion Psycho Mike and Smash Wrestling Women’s Champion Jody Threat was declared a draw after a double pinfall. Fans in attendance touted this match as “Match of the Year” as two of Smash Wrestling’s most recognizable names put on an entertaining and physical match in the prelude to the Rumble viewing. Jody Threat and Psycho Mike might have had a Freaky Friday situation backstage as they both looked more like each other this afternoon than they did themselves.
After his own match, Brent Banks also lent his thoughts to the door that’s been opened for Vertigo and what it could mean for all Canadian wrestlers.
“You’ve seen other wrestlers in the past do it, but you didn’t see, like, the actual path to do it. It was just a thing at the end of the line.” Now that one of them has gotten it, Vertigo and Banks are both hopeful that more Canadian wrestlers will get the opportunity sooner than later.
Now that obtaining his US Visa is no longer a worry, Vertigo has a new, simple but understandable, concern. “How much gas [am I] going to spend?”
This show was Any Given Saturday Eleven, the first of two shows that Smash hosts this weekend. The second show goes tomorrow at the London Music Hall.
Tickets for Any Given Sunday Eleven, and future Smash shows, can be found through their website here.
TOP PHOTO: Vaughn Vertigo makes his entrance vs. Jax Williams for Smash Werestling at the Rec Room in Toronto Feb. 1, 2025.
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