The Canadian Death Tour or Northern Hell Tour, and sometimes just known as the "Death Tour" is a professional wrestling tour of the northern territories of Canada promoted by Tony Condello annually for over 30 years during the winters. The tour takes wrestlers from all over North America and drives them around the Inuit communities which are rarely exposed to wrestling. The tour derives its name from the fact that many wrestlers who participate in it found it to be a near-death experience due to how harsh and difficult it was to complete.[1] To complete a death tour is considered a badge of honour and evidence of a wrestlers toughness, similar to having been trained in "the Dungeon".[2][3]

History

Each tour is three weeks long and is held from January to February.[4] As there are no hotels in the areas which the tour appears in wrestlers are required to bring their own sleeping bags with them on this trips and sleep on gym mats in the school gymnasiums where they had performed hours earlier or find a place to room in on their own. Wrestlers are also required to buy their own food.[5] Many of the younger people who have participated in the tours have elected to change profession after returning home.[5] It is widely regarded as an honor to be offered a spot on the tour, and completing it grants the wrestler a high status for their tenacity.[6] Condello himself has expressed that "this tour is not just a tour; it is an exercise in mind and body".[7] Wrestler and historian Vance Nevada has stated that he had always wanted to do the tour because it was such an important piece of Canadian wrestling lore; with its alumni reading like a "who's who" of the business greats.[7]

Wrestler Tony Kozina has expressed that touring in Canada in general is painful and that the experience of it does not have to come from a Death Tour for you to be tough.[8]

The tours are the main subject of the documentary film The Promoter.[9]

Wrestlers to complete a death tour

Canadians

NameNumber of toursBirth yearYear(s) participatedNotesRefs
Edge 1 1973 Copeland almost drove a crew van into a football-field sized hole in the ice of a lake. [10]
Christian 1 1973 Was one of the seven wrestlers with Copeland in the van. [10]
Matt Hart 1 1993 2016 Hart turned 23 during the tour, it was otherwise relatively uneventful and he suffered no other steps closer to death. [11]
Tony Condello 30 1942 1988-2018 Condello has been on every single tour. [5][7]
Vance Nevada 4 1975 [7]
Eddie Watts 2 1968 [5]
Don Callis 3 1963 Got booked to wrestle a murderer. [5][12]
Sarah Stock 1 1979 [5]
Rick Patterson 1 1964 [5]
Joe Legend 1 1969 [5]
Lance Storm 5 1969 [5]
Kenny Omega 1 1983 [5]
Gurvinder Sihra 2 1984 2006-2007
Harvinder Sihra 2 1987 2006-2007
Jak Lydon 1 [13]
Kaitlin Diemond 1 [14]
Bob Wayne 1 [15]
Aurora 1 2007 [16]
Bambi Hall 1 1992 2013 [17]
Bobby Sharp 1988 2018
Chris Jericho 2 1970 [18]

Foreigners

NameNumber of toursBirth yearYear(s) participatedNotesRefs
Scott Norton 1 1961 1989 Went into shock when the bus he and the other wrestlers were traveling got stuck in snow. [5]
Rhyno 1 1975 Was in a van which almost fell through the ice. [5]
Johnny Swinger 1 1975 [5]
Baron von Raschke 3 1940 [5]

See also

References

  1. ↑ Hollyday, Bob (February 25, 2007). "Wrestling's toughest tour - northern Manitoba". Winnipeg Sun. Retrieved 2019-01-03.
  2. ↑ F4W Staff (September 8, 2015). "WWE NETWORK: STONE COLD PODCAST RECAP FEAT. EDGE & CHRISTIAN COVERAGE". Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Figure Four Online. Retrieved 2019-01-03.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. ↑ "Best Pro Wrestling Road Stories: The Good, the Bad and the Bizarre!". ProWrestlingStories. Retrieved 2019-01-03.
  4. ↑ Staff (July 2, 2010). "Corner Brook's "T-Bone" sizzling on the independent wrestling scene". The Western Star. Retrieved 2019-01-03.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 May, Vern (September 9, 2016). "Top 15 Star Wrestlers Who Survived the Canadian "Death Tour"". The Sportster. Retrieved 2018-02-03.
  6. ↑ Couper, Earle (January 24, 2013). "Barry's ready to let the Goode times roll". Comox Valley Record. Retrieved 2019-01-03.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Kamchen, Richard (4 February 2008). "Wrestlers brace for Northern Manitoba "Death Tour"". Canadian Online Explorer. Archived from the original on 3 February 2018. Retrieved 3 February 2018.
  8. ↑ Kozina, Tony (August 21, 2017). "Kozina's Road Diaries: Finally, the end of the road". SLAM! Wrestling. Retrieved 2019-01-03.
  9. ↑ Penton, Kirk (February 22, 2014). "Condello wrestling doc a winner". Winnipeg Sun. Retrieved 2019-01-03.
  10. 1 2 Staff (August 18, 2014). "Edge And The Winter Death Tour". Wrestlers Who Nearly Died In Travelling Incidents. WhatCulture. p. 2. Retrieved 2019-01-03.
  11. ↑ Hart, Smith (January 28, 2016). "Happy birthday to my treasured son Matthew". Smith Hart official page. Facebook.com. Archived from the original on 31 December 2018. Retrieved 2019-01-03.
  12. ↑ Soucek, Andrew (May 19, 2018). "RECAP AND REVIEW: Killing the Town on recap of Winnipeg tour, Lance the "fence builder," death trips, why do wrestlers call each other "brother?"". PWPodcasts.com. Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 2019-01-03.
  13. ↑ Lilley, R.J (February 26, 2018). "Jak Lydon on Northern Tour: "An Amazing Experience"". Manitoba Wrestling Network. Retrieved 2019-01-03.
  14. ↑ Murphy, Jan (March 17, 2016). "Ontarian Diemond shining brightly in pro wrestling". Kingston Whig-Standard. Retrieved 2019-01-03.
  15. ↑ "Bob Wayne's story: A crazy ride in a crazy business". Canoe.com. November 10, 2013. Retrieved 2019-01-03.
  16. ↑ "Aurora". Profile. Online World of Wrestling. Retrieved 2019-01-03.
  17. ↑ Staff (February 7, 2013). "2013 Future Legend Finalist". Cauliflower Alley Club. Archived from the original on 4 September 2014. Retrieved 2019-01-03.
  18. ↑ Waldman, Jon (June 2, 2001). "Chris Jericho comes home to Winnipeg". SLAM! Wrestling. Retrieved 2019-01-03.

Further reading

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