When the CWE Cruel Summer Tour stopped in Weyburn Thursday night, the fans who came out to the Weyburn Legion not only got to see a few hours of top-notch professional wrestling, but they also got the chance to witness history. In the third match of the card, the first-ever Souris Valley Wrestling Heavyweight Champion was crowned, as 'The Endseeker' Dante Leon pinned 'Chizzeled' Chad Daniels for the victory.
"When I first got started in 2019, Weyburn was one of the first stops in Canada that I did," Leon said after the night was over. "I learned so much, and now to come back so many years later, the same town, winning the inaugural championship, is something I really don't take lightly. I take great pride in it. I can't wait to get out there with it and represent Souris Valley even more."
Leon hails from Dallas, Texas, and honed his craft at the Black and Brave Wrestling Academy under the tutelage of Colby Lopez, who is better known as WWE Superstar Seth Rollins, along with Marek Brave and Matt Mayday. In addition to making appearances for CWE and Souris Valley Wrestling, he has wrestled in GCW, AEW, Pro Wrestling NOAH in Japan, and SCW Pro, among others.
The man behind Souris Valley Wrestling is Weyburn's Troy Kramm. He started the promotion in 2019, mainly helping to arrange for events like CWE to come to Weyburn as well as helping to facilitate appearances with CWE and other promotions for wrestlers from across the continent.
"We started meeting new people that were coming here, and over time, things got pretty popular pretty fast, and I just wanted to do more things, and that led to the creation of this championship," Kramm said of the process. "Then, there were just ideas that happened, and we brought some talent in and we were lucky enough to put it on somebody who really deserved it."
Leon will be appearing on the CWE card in Canora on Friday night, where he will be defending his title. From there, he will be travelling back to the United States, and beyond, hopefully as champion.
For Kramm, knowing there is a good chance his championship could be seen worldwide is a good thing.
"I initially saw it as being around Weyburn and Souris Valley, but there's so much talent that passes through because of CWE, when they bring people here, that it's great to see it on somebody who can take it around and showcase what we have to offer as king of a wrestling community, and seeing it eventually being in the U.S. and Australia, and where that may be, even Mexico, there's plans down the road."
The CWE Cruel Summer Tour still has a number of stops to make as it makes its way through Saskatchewan, with a show in Estevan on Saturday.