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Historic Moments at Variety Village now adds Hogtown/LTO partnership

“It takes a village to raise a child”. 

This famous quote can be etched into the walls of Variety Village. The legendary club has raised children daily since it’s inception. 

The Hogtown family can now add another child to their family tree. Starting with last months Lucha De Los Muertos event at Lee’s Palace, LuchaTO and Hogtown Pro have begun an official partnership that will see Hogtown TV Director and Producer Jay Nadler take that roll at LuchaTO. The Hogtown Board has also signed official papers allowing LuchaTO to book the Openweight championship. The deal supposedly has many more details but it will all start off in January when LuchaTO returns to variety village for Lucha De Carnaval and the Openweight Championship will be on the line as Speedball Mike Bailey takes on current champion Goliath Ayala.

Variety Village has a long history with wrestling and with community-driven events in general. In 1948, Variety Village opened its doors as Canada’s only Variety Club. It was a project designed to provide opportunities for children with physical disabilities between 16 and 18 years of age.

Over half a decade ago, Variety Village reached out to Squared Circle LIVE! (the precursor to LuchaTO) in an effort to bring live professional wrestling to its community. In 2016, LuchaTO was given the opportunity to continue where SCL! left off and deliver an annual pro wrestling event to raise proceeds for Variety Village Children’s Charity. 

There have been so many historic wrestling moments inside of Variety Village, some of which have been forgotten over time. Since Variety Village will be hosting Carnaval de Lucha on Sun, Jan. 29 2017, we decided to share some of our favourite memories. 

The Wayne Gretzky of pro wrestling, former WWE Champion, the legendary Bret “The Hitman” Hart made a special appearance in 2014 at Golden Harts. The Hitman held a very special meet n’ greet with fans before the event. The line-up was so overwhelming that Bret Hart stayed an extra hour to meet with fans even though he was suffering from extreme food poisoning. 

As if Bret Hart wasn’t big enough, the main event of Golden Harts featured a MEGA tag team match. The Young Bucks, who were the current Royal Tag Team Champions, defended the titles against Aeroform. After numerous falls, including Aeroform kicking out of the Meltzer Driver, Flip Kendrick & Louis Lyndon (Aeroform) managed to regain their titles. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind that Golden Harts was Too Sweet

There has been a lot of pro wrestlers who have started their careers at Variety Village and even some who said their goodbyes. In 2013 at Young Starz, The Fraternity started their careers in separate singles matches. Trent Gibson successfully defeated Kobe Durst earlier on the show and then Channing Decker lost to Will White in the main event. The Fraternity vs Will White feud continued for the next 2 years until finally concluding in a 6-Man Frat House Brawl.

One wrestler who started her career at Young Starz and then said her goodbye at Golden Harts was Jasmin a.k.a. current WWE NXT star: Alliyah. The newest addition to the NXT women’s roster defeated her training partner and foe, “Bubble Gum Princess” Alexia Nicole, before saying goodbye to the Variety Village fans. 

Earlier this year, MascaraMania invaded Variety Village with a nearly sold-out event. Fans from all over North America and including Japan travelled to the show to witness the stacked event. 

For the first-time ever, PWR Minis Champion, Octagoncito, successfully defended his championship against El Espantito. Fans rushed the ring to officially welcome the revival of a Minis Division in Ontario! 

The main attraction to MascaraMania was a star-studded Trios match featuring the team of L.A. Park and The Fraternity against Los Panteras & current WWE star: Lince Dorado. Fans were given a traditional and authentic Lucha Libre experience with this main event which ended in L.A. Park pinning El Pantera. 

After MascaraMania’s main event concluded, L.A. Park wanted to celebrate with his signature dance. Unfortunately, he was interrupted by The Fraternity. The Chairman quickly lived up to his name by responding to the Fraternity with a pair of chair shots. 

 

Don’t miss out on experiencing Canaval de Lucha on Sunday, January 29th 2017

We will be delivering another historic moment when the colourful world of Carnaval meets high-flying Lucha Libre!! 

*Proceeds donated to Variety Village Children’s Charity

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