Where to watch indie wrestling in Toronto

Where to watch indie wrestling in Toronto depends who you'd like to see throw down, as the city's amateur groups are as unique as they come. Toronto, as we know, is glorious for many reasons, and chief among them is its diversity for and access to everything niche. This couldn't ring more true than for wrestling. Mix a dash of entertainment, a dollop of The People's Elbow, a suplex here and a suplex there, and top it all off with a hell of a night. As they say, let's get ready to rumble.

Here are Toronto's top indie wrestling groups.

Fight! Brand

Zombies. Burlesque dancing. Wrestling. And more zombies. Meet Fight! Brand and their epic wrestling battles that include everything from luchadores, zombies and even wrestling against cancer. One thing is for sure, they know how to entertain. Holding events all over the city from The Tranzac (zombie wrestling) to The Great Hall (for the upcoming Fight! For Cancer event, Fight! Brand often incorporate various side acts like burlesque, stand-up comedy and breakdancing spliced in between the flying luchadores. Good and weird times abound.

The League of Lady Wrestlers

This past weekend, wrestling in Toronto reached a new pinnacle. League of Lady Wrestlers, a band of comedic characters, unleashed The Hogtown Throwdown at the Polish Combatants Hall. A self-titled art collective, they crowdfunded over $1,500 for the event, which included Shreeka (she shrieks a lot), Dyke Master 3000, Lady Boy, Big Jody Mufferaw and Dirty Ol' Maude. Originating in Dawson City in the Yukon last summer, the ladies returned to Toronto to "stage the battle for justice." Through wrestling and comedic interplay, the group's goal is to highlight gendered stereotypes and inequalities.

Victory Commonwealth Wrestling

Albeit their websites is an eyesore, to put it mildly, Victory Commonwealth Wrestling knows what's going on in the ring. With the slightly confusing yet appropriate tagline "This is your granddaddy's pro wrestling!" VCW was founded in late 2012. The events, which happen around the GTA at such haunts like the El Mocambo air locally on a Rogers specialty sports station. With ample cheesy video content and over-the-top wrestling characters, VCW is what you'd expect from amateur wrestling events that your granddaddy would apparently approve of. And that's mighty OK.

Union of Independent Professional Wrestlers,

"Bonecrusher" Steve Brown. "The World's Greatest Entertainer" RJ City. "Dirty South" John Greed. One cannot get enough of wrestlers' taglines. And these are just some of the "pros" from the Union of Independent Professional Wrestlers a Toronto-based sports promotion group offering "hard-hitting and high-flying" wrestling action. With the next big match, WRESTLESTOCK, taking place in early March at Scarborough's Rockpile East nightclub, you'll be sure to see "Dirty South" John Greed and his magnificent beard in action.

Smash Wrestling

Smash Wrestling is good for the whole family. With a roster of nearly 20 male and female wrestlers, Smash has a solid level of polish on their amateur events. "A cut above the rest," Smash takes pride in its body slams but has a focus on the community as well with fundraisers for local charities like Big Brothers Big Sisters and Make-A-Wish Foundation. And there you have it: headbutts with the family and community in mind.

by Ryan Bolton via blogTO