If you pull up too early for the Knights of Columbus hall for an Alpha-1 Wrestling show, you’ll have to fight for a spot in the parking lot, which has already been overtaken by Sunday morning attendees of the church next door. Seating, merch tables, and the ring itself have to be set up in between the already existing Christmas decorations, including a roughly ten-foot-tall Christmas tree glittering in the corner. Highspots have to be carefully planned and navigated around three massive electric chandeliers (though in the past that hasn’t always been done so successfully).
During one sunny day this winter, With Spandex spent the day discovering just what it is that makes Alpha-1, in our opinion, the epitome of independent wrestling.
If you’re sitting in the basement of a Knights of Columbus Hall an hour outside of Toronto and you don’t think you are what you are, you better embrace it. — Colt Cabana to the audience booing after being called a “shitty wrestling show.”
It’s hard to describe the city of Hamilton to people who aren’t from Southern Ontario. Beleaguered by the economic fluctuations that come with being built on the steel industry, the industrial city carries an unequivocal sense of pride in being the beleaguered but proud blue collar rival to the big city lights of Toronto. That same spirit and sense of community can be found coursing through the veins of Its fans are always game to play along, booing the heels and clinging fiercely loyal to their favourites, Canadian or not. In fact, its most beloved wrestlers hails from Sandusky, Ohio.
“It’s weird. I don’t know what I did to make [that loyalty] happen, I was just myself,” says wrestler Rickey Shane Page. “It’s kinda what I do everywhere, I just try to be myself, and it took off. If someone asked me to do it again somewhere else I wouldn’t be able to because I don’t know what I did.”
The “Rickey Army,” as Rickey Shane Page’s fans have dubbed themselves, show up with the fervor and dedication one would normally expect to see devoted to a chart-topping teen sensation. “Two people have tattoos of me here! Someone has my face on their arm. It’s just weird. I’m just some kid from Ohio that backyard wrestled and now I wrestle around America and in Canada, and it’s crazy to me that someone likes me so much that they would get a tattoo of me on their body. That will be there forever!” he says, incredulously. His face softens, clearly affected by the thought. “I do love it, though. I think it’s awesome! But … it’s weird to me.”
Most visiting wrestlers don’t get to spend much time in the city, as a Sunday Alpha-1 gig is usually the third stop in a three-day travel weekend. The fans serve as ambassadors to the city of Hamilton, something RSP understands and appreciates.
“People in smaller towns are just less pretentious, are very appreciative of what we do, and just want to have fun, RSP explains. “Instead of being like ‘oh, I’m just gonna go out and drink and make fun of the wrestling.’ [The fans] have always been good to me, no matter what storyline we’re doing or what match I’m in, they’re very receptive of what I do.”
That shared positivity extends past the crowd and into the back. Instead of the cursory handshakes one is accustomed to when entering a wrestling locker room, wrestlers will more likely be found greeting each other warmly like long-lost friends, even though it could be a mater of days or weeks since seeing each other last.
“Half of [the locker room] is stars who travel and are just really good and really good people, and then the other half are just up and coming guys who just want to learn, and are also good people. There’s no one in this locker room I don’t like.” When asked what kind of effect that can have on a performer, RSP echoed a sentiment I heard from multiple wrestlers that day: “It makes me want to work harder. Usually any show I’m at I try to do as much as I can, but if I’m in a locker room where everybody works together, everybody’s nice, we all come together to make a really good product. It inspires me to work that much harder at what I do.”
Supercop Dick Justice is so American he makes bald eagles jealous, but much like Rickey Shane Page, the Canadian crowd accepts and loves him like one of their own. The gravity of something like that isn’t lost on Justice.
“I love it very much. It makes me feel like I have a home away from home. Though I’m the American guy, I’ll always stand up for the good Canadian people.” Also like RSP, Justice names the fans as his favourite thing about working for Alpha-1. “‘The fans’ is a really subjective answer, but that’s what I like the most. They’re very kind and caring. When I lost my badge in Canada and couldn’t do my cop duties I had to wrestle in traditional wrestling trunks for the first time in front of an audience, and not a single person made me feel uncomfortable.
“I absolutely feel a sense of community here. It does feel like the Alpha-1 faithful are like a giant family, and it feels nice to get welcomed into that every time I come here. I have a lot of close friends in the locker room, which makes it sort of like going to work, but sort of like a vacation as well. I feel like a lot of work goes into Alpha-1 to make it something special every time.”
That hard work is evident in the customary locker room meeting before the show. Ethan Page, known for his brash, egotistical in-ring persona, transforms into the portrait of a professional as he stands at the head of the room. Page works hard to run a tight show, making sure that people stick to their match times, that false finishes are reserved for maximum impact, and no two wrestlers do the same dive. Though it may seem like micromanaging from the outside, the enthusiastic response from the locker room shows a group of people doing exactly what RSP expressed, working together to make something great.
The atmosphere of Alpha-1 is infectious, and the inspiration I felt during my time spent with them has lasted for months. Heidi Lovelace attests to that, saying, “I have a tendency to use the adrenaline high coming off of an Alpha-1 day in my other shows. I often leave a lot of shows sore and sometimes maybe a little biter off of like, the overall vibe of the lockerooms that I’m in, but I take the great feel and the fun and creative freedom I have here … I take everything to those other shows, and always anticipate coming back.”
Though underappreciated for far too long on the independent wrestling scene, Lovelace has been making waves the last couple of years, putting herself at the forefront of women’s wrestling. Not only was she the first female Chikara Young Lion’s Cup Champion, she also held the Alpha-1 Alpha Male title, won in a brutal and bloody series of matches with rival Kobe Durst. The win was hard fought, and so much more than the novelty of a woman winning a “male” title.
“To me, what the internet was going to say, or outside fans, honestly none of that mattered in the moment,” says Lovelace. “In that moment it wasn’t just a girl winning, it was all of us. Because I think all of us at one time or another has felt like the underdog. Not only being a woman and smallest on the roster, when I won, I think it was an accomplishment for all of us.”
Lovelace has inspired fans, male and female alike, with her never-say-die tenacity and positive attitude. Alpha-1 fans in turn inspired Lovelace on her road to victory. “I couldn’t have done it without their support. I wouldn’t have been brought back and wouldn’t have won, so in that moment that’s all that mattered. It’s such a different, welcoming group of people. They didn’t really know me when I first came here, and within two months they welcomed me with open arms every single time I’m here.
“It honestly meant the world to me that I could be put in that position, because not a lot of companies feel that I’m capable of it, but [Alpha-1] was the one company that from the get-go invested in me. They made me cut promos and get in the ring with good people and made me be better, so it meant everything for the to put me in that position and make me a face of the company. You’re never going to not get better, no matter how long you’ve been wrestling, and in Alpha-1 that’s really all I want — to be better and come to a promotion that I value so much, and just have fun with my friends and enjoy pro wrestling.
“I have always looked at my career as stepping stones,” she continues. “Every time I set a goal for myself I set an achievable goal. and once I achieve that then I move onto something that’s maybe a little bigger, So for me it’s just an upward swing of meeting that next goal, and staying hungry. The sky’s the limit.”
Not surprisingly, months later Lovelace took that momentum all the way to WWE, where she’s now known in their developmental system as Ruby Riot.
Also on the rise is Ethan Page. His work in Evolve is being heralded as some of the company’s best, and as he has grown and matured in his wrestling persona, so has the company he devotes so much time to.”I think that with the rise of my career, the company is kind of following. I also think it’s a weird kind of trust [from fans] where I’m doing so well in my career elsewhere they want to see the vision of an Evolve superstar’s wrestling company.”
Running your own company while also working for others is a tough balancing act, and as Page explains, admittedly a stressful one. “I have my own personal schedule, which makes it hard to have storylines because other people have their own conflicting schedules. I might only have one Sunday available a month. We’re not doing a show in February because I’m in England, and I just can’t. But being on the show and booking a show, I’m super detail oriented. I get really meticulous about storylines so I end up more worried about other people’s matches than my own. But because of my popularity elsewhere, I’ll put myself in a key role in the show because it’ll help DVD sales, so it’s really stressful.”
That sentiment may seem more like his wrestling persona coming out, but Page’s approach to shows is far from selfish. “When I look at a show, I actually take myself out, and look at myself like a chess piece, and maneuver Ethan Page around everyone else. If I put myself against such and such a wrestler, it might garner more attention because not everyone knows I run the show.”
One thing that separates Alpha-1 from the pack is Page’s ability to be self-referential, and never break the narrative in those detailed stories. This, coupled with an attempt to go above and beyond with videos and turnaround times, also makes Alpha-1 one of the more consistent companies. Despite the stress, Page loves every minute of it. “It’s the best creative outlet I have in my life. I would say that’s the most positive thing about it. Alpha-1 doesn’t aid me financially, it’s not adding years to my life — it’s very stressful and tiring but to see a storyline go from start to finish is the best feeling. The most important thing to me is the product, I’ll put my ego aside to make the show work.”
While Heidi Lovelace has already taken the next step in her career, Page doesn’t see a higher goal for Alpha-1, relishing the fanbase and community they’ve built. “I don’t think there is a next step,” says Page. “I want to attract the fans who want to be here, and this to be a place that attracts the most supportive people in wrestling. 150 people tonight sounded like three to four hundred. They’re passionate. Tonight we found a way to afford some of the best wrestlers in the world all in one show because of fan support, and DVDs being bought. Ultimately it’s become a destination place, with people seeking us out to work here first instead of the other way around.”
Page is very selective when it comes to the people he’ll bring into the Alpha-1 locker room. Gender divisions (and species, thanks to fan favourite Space Monkey) are ignored in favour of hard work and positive attitudes. “Every belt for us is something earned, or it’s to elevate somebody regardless of gender. That’s exactly why [Heidi] won. It wasn’t a stunt, she’s one of the most popular and well-liked people on our roster by fans and wrestlers alike. And that’s the thing. Everybody that I use on the shows that you might wonder why they’re here, it’s because they’re my friend and contribute to the positive environment of the locker room.”
After the show, wrestlers start packing up their gear to head home as the locker room gradually morphs into a community get-together. Old men sit next to a hastily assembled buffet while football plays on the basement’s big screen, seemingly oblivious to the larger than life personalities slowly filtering out of the building. The room transforms as chairs are neatly stacked up around them, cheap beer and hot plates replacing baby oil and forgotten wrestling t-shirts. Another Alpha-1 day comes to a close, and the gears of Hamilton’s community continue to grind.
Without big name partnerships, fancy lighting, or slick nightclub venues, places like Alpha-1 continue to thrive on the independent scene with little international exposure thanks to the grassroots efforts of people who reflect that same pride and affection for the company that residents of Hamilton have always shown for their city. Her Alpha-1 days may be behind her, but Lovelace makes a strong case for going out of your way to seek out this small Southern Ontario promotion. “It may not have the wrestlers you’re used to seeing, or the most well-known, but there’s something truly special here. Don’t overlook this product.”
