For the past 17 years, Danny Warren has been honing his craft inside the squared circle.
The Canadian Wrestling’s Elite promoter, who goes by the name of ‘Hotshot’ Danny Duggan when he steps between the ropes and into the ring, is embarking on a tour that will see the Winnipeg-based professional wrestling company put on 31 shows in 31 days as Warren and his cast of characters sweep across Canada.
One of those stops — one Warren said he’s really looking forward to — will be in Williams Lake at the Elks Hall on Sunday, Nov. 17.
The tour, billed ‘The Juice is on the Loose,’ will be headlined by none other than former World Championship Wrestling (WCW), World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) and Total Nonstop Action (TNA) star, lucha libre cruiserweight Juventud ‘The Juice’ Guerrera.
Also coming to Williams Lake will be the Zombie Princess Jimmy Jacobs — best known for his work in Ring of Honour and, behind the scenes, as a writer for WWE.
READ MORE: Former WCW star Juventud Guerrera to headline CWE pro wrestling show in lakecity
Warren, wrestling as Hotshot Danny Duggan, is a four-time CWE Heavyweight Champion and three-time CWE Tag Team Champion partnering with international wrestling star Kenny Omega, and has wrestled with WWE in recent years, will be donning his trademark fanny pack and colourful ring gear at the show.
At a young age, Warren came across a local wrestling commercial while watching TV in Winnipeg and decided to give the promoter a call.
“I was 12 years old at the time, but it was that shining light I’d been looking for,” Warren told the Tribune. “I called the number and, much to my disappointment, I was a little too young and small to be doing that, but they invited me down to the show and I started doing odd jobs and got a crash course on all aspects of the business.”
Growing up a fan of Mr. Perfect Curt Hennig and, later, seeing the rise to stardom of Winnipeg’s own Chris Jericho, Warren saw an opportunity for success in the world of professional wrestling. He trained out of the Canadian Wrestling Federation school and, at the age of 15, made his debut for River City Wrestling in 2003.
He’s since wrestled around the world and, in 2009, Warren founded Canadian Wrestling’s Elite.
“We’ve been coming out to B.C. for two years now, and we’ve made quite the splash out there,” he said.
“We had our first event in Prince George last year and we drove through Williams Lake and that gave me the idea to visit and bring a show to the people there. We’re rolling the dice a bit, but the explosive response from the people of Williams Lake has been great, and I’ve seen a lot of positive feedback. A lot of the smaller communities are starved for quality entertainment coming to town so we’re hoping to help change that a bit.”
Asked what people should expect to witness at the show in Williams Lake, Warren said to buckle your seat belt.
“Mark my words: to the people of Williams Lake, or anybody who hasn’t been to a CWE show and says ‘it’s not my thing, I don’t even like wrestling,’ or you don’t consider yourself a wrestling fan, don’t count yourself out just yet,” he said.
“We’ve got a strong track record of taking someone who’s never seen us and making them a CWE fan for life. The entertainment, the characters — people say all the time it’s not what they thought it would be.”
Warren said CWE takes a more traditional approach to pro wrestling harking back to the sport’s hay day in the 90s.
The fanny pack he wears as part of his ring gear is a throwback to that era, he said.
“It started off tongue and cheek,” he said. “Back then wrestlers were wearing the stringer tank tops, the fanny packs, and about 10 years ago that faded away but I’m an old-school wrestling fan and I started wearing it on road trips and it caught on so well it just became my every day life now, and I’m probably stuck wearing it for the rest of time.”
Warren added he hopes to put on an action-packed, entertaining show for the fans who come out to the Elks Hall in Williams Lake.
“Give us a chance and I promise we won’t let you down,” he said. “We hope the community comes out to show us support and we’d love to make Williams Lake a regular stop.”
Hotshot Danny Duggan vs. The Belgian Bull (Canadian Wrestling’s Elite)
At the CWE event in Williams Lake there will be a VIP meet and greet starting at 6 p.m., with the doors opening at 6:30 p.m. First bell will follow at 7 p.m.
Tickets are $24 for first priority access and meet and greet, while general admission tickets are $19 in advance and $22 at the door.
Advance tickets are available at Adventure Games Inc. and also online at www.cwetickets.com.
sports@wltribune.com
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