The Royal City Defenders will be fighting for the city’s honour against Team USA as part of an action-packed Rumble Month.
Johnny X (aka Mayor Jonathan Cote) and Mr. India (Rish Koya) will be competing as tag-team partners as the Royal City Defenders in one of the main events at Royal City Centre on Saturday, March 30. The pre-show is from 4 to 6 p.m., with the main show running from 6 to 8 p.m.
“This one is a big, big show,” Koya said. “This is the one I want everyone to know about Royal City Wrestling. We are not a wrestling company, we are a building-the-community company. We are a bringing-the-community-closer-together company.”
While Cote has served as a guest referee and as Mr. India’s manager at past Royal City Wrestling events, Koya said the city’s normally mild-mannered mayor will be donning a specially made outfit and wrestling with Mr. India, a former heavyweight champion with All Star Wrestling, when they go up against Team USA – Azeem the Dream (Azeem Mohammed) and the Ideal Reflection (current All Star Wrestling champion Christopher Ryseck) at the big event.
“They have been talking smack about New West forever. They have been talking smack about myself and Johnny X,” Koya said of Team USA. “They specifically take shots at our elderly, at the parents of the kids. It’s not cool at all. We are going to shut these guys up come March 30. We will defend the honour of New West – that is what the Royal City Defenders do.”
The evening’s other main event is the 20-person Rumble match, which features wrestlers from British Columbia, Washington State and back east, as well as six brave New Westies who will be attending Learn to Wrestle sessions in preparation for their wrestling debuts: Liz Murphy, a server at River’s Reach; Jay Schreiber and Andres Markward from Steel & Oak Brewing; Dr. Drew Jamieson, a naturopathic doctor from Polo Health; Paolo Zenone, coordinator at the New West Youth Centre; and James Marshall of Strongside Conditioning.
“They are physically wrestling, performing. First time ever, hopefully it’s not the last,” Koya joked. “No, they’ll be fine. They are pretty stoked. It’s performance, but you have to be concerned about safety. We are going to teach them everything ahead of time.”
Some youth from the New West Youth Centre will also be participating in the Learn to Wrestle program during spring break, and will be featured in a pre-show event.
The wrestling matches are just part of an action-packed month of events that Royal City Wrestling has planned in March for Rumble Month.
“It is going to be pretty intense,” Koya said. “We’ve got the ring inside the mall for the entire month. We are going to be using it as our stage. We are going to be doing all these different community events.”
Events being planned during Rumble Month include: a New West Has Talent feature, which showcases the talents of local residents; an Ask the Expert series, where local businesses will share expertise on various topics; and a What’s Happening in New West segment, which will raise awareness about various events happening in New Westminster throughout the year. The events will take place in the ring in Royal City Centre every Saturday in March from 1 to 2 p.m.
“It is going to be run like a variety show. We will do a New West Has Talent segment, then I’ll bring on an expert. We might do a wrestling match. Then we might bring on an event organizer to talk about their cause. A little wrestling and some other surprises during these events,” Koya explained. “We are not a wrestling company. We are a community-building company, bringing New West closer together.”
Royal City Wrestling welcomes suggestions about topics people want to hear about in the Ask the Expert series and performers of all ages who wanting to share a talent. Community members can email ideas to [email protected]
“The whole idea is I want to create some interaction with the community, bring people closer together and do it in a fun way,” Koya said. “For the first time in Canadian history, we have a mayor that’s actually physically wresting in a match. That’s never happened before. I want to celebrate that. At the same time, let’s take it up a couple of notches and let’s start bringing folks closer together.”
If you can’t make it to the mall but want to check out the various events, they are being livestreamed on Facebook Live and Twitch TV. Several local businesses are planning to livestream the Royal City Rumble on March 30, including the Terminal Pub, the Legion and the Sixth Street Grill.
Koya founded Royal City Wrestling with the goal of hosting family-friendly (no blood or profanity, but plenty of action) events and building community.
“It’s for everybody. It’s really for everybody. That is what we are trying to do – get everyone involved. Our fans are not your traditional wrestling fans. These fans are just fans of entertainment, fans of ‘this is cool, this is crazy, I want more’,” Koya said. “A lot of these kids, typically their parents would not be able to afford to take them to a wrestling show. This is awesome. I get the privilege of bringing families closer together.”
Cote said he’s attended past Royal City Wrestling events and was delighted to see the excitement from the kids in attendance. He’s pleased to support an event that provides free family entertainment.
“Never in a millions years would I have expected to see myself in a professional wrestling ring, but no one said the job of mayor was going to be easy,” he said.
For more information, go to www.RoyalCityWrestling.cool or check out Royal City Wrestling’s page on Facebook.
