Daniels living the dream

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This article was published 18/03/2022 (1509 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Roddy Piper, Chris Jericho, Kenny Omega… and Chad Daniels?

Daniels, a 20-year-old from the Maples whose real last name is Osinski, has a long way to go before he cracks Winnipeg’s professional wrestling Mount Rushmore, but an upcoming opportunity could help him eventually get there.

Daniels is the lone Manitoban chosen to compete in Wrestling Academy — a new Canadian-based competition run by former WWE superstar Jacques Rougeau.

There will be four winners chosen from a group of 40 up-and-coming grapplers from across the country. The winners — one male, one female, and a tag-team — will receive $5,000 and a trip to Atlanta to train at one of the most prestigious wrestling schools in the world, The Nightmare Factory, for three months. The first round takes place May 15 and June 26 with shows at Club Soda in Montreal where the performers will be voted on by fans in the audience, viewers tuning in via YouTube, as well as a panel of expert judges. The top 20 wrestlers will advance to the second round on Aug. 14 and the final, featuring eight standouts, takes place Aug. 28. The match results don’t matter as the voting is all based on which wrestlers stand out the most.

Daniels will appear on the May 15 card in a 3 vs. 3 match.

“It would mean the absolute world to win,” said Daniels, who’s wrestling in Flin Flon this weekend. “I don’t cry often, but with that, I would probably shed some tears. It would change my life. Going to Atlanta, you never know who’s going to walk through the doors of the training facility.”

Daniels graduated from the final class of the Lance Storm Wrestling Academy in Calgary in 2019 before the Canadian wrestling legend closed the school. He’s new to the game as he’s only been working shows for the past year and a half, but wrestling has been a part of Daniels’ story since, well, Day 1.

“When my mom was pregnant, they drove to the hospital and right before she gave birth to me, my dad was in the waiting room watching Monday Night Raw. So, it’s kind of like I was born into loving wrestling,” Daniels said.

Wrestling Academy’s Rougeau was literally born into wrestling as his father Jacques Sr. and brothers Armand and Raymond all wrestled. He and Raymond were a tag-team in the WWE in the late ’80s called The Fabulous Rougeaus. When Raymond retired in 1990, Rougeau became a singles competitor and played the character of an evil RCMP officer known as The Mountie. The cattle prod-wielding Rougeau would go on to beat Bret Hart for the Intercontinental Championship in 1992. Rougeau would eventually return to tag-team action and win the WWE tag titles as a member of The Quebecers with Pierre Ouellet.

“When I saw Chad’s video, I kind of fell in love with it as he gives the same dropkicks that I used to give. He’s such a great athlete and when I talk with him over the phone, he’s got so much class and respect. I don’t know if he’s like that everywhere else, but with me, he’s first class. I love him to death,” said Rougeau in a video call.

“The thing that people don’t realize is how important it is for them to vote. One day, maybe, Chad Daniels will be a superstar. Maybe in All Elite Wrestling (where fellow Winnipeggers Jericho and Omega perform) or somewhere else. And maybe one day he’ll come to your city and you’ll be able to tap him on the shoulder and say ‘Hey, you’re here because I voted for you!’ It’s so important the people of Winnipeg get behind Chad Daniels and vote for him.”

Rougeau, 61, used to have his own wrestling school before shutting it down in 2018. His three sons wrestled as well, but they all moved on from the business as they didn’t have the same passion for it as their father.

“One day, after 75 years of wrestling, it was the end of the Rougeau family in wrestling,” said Rougeau, who trained current WWE superstar Kevin Owens.

“I found it very hard and then COVID hit and I actually didn’t have any more reason to live, to be honest with you. I don’t know anything else in life.”

But this idea has gotten Rougeau back to doing what he loves. There’s a singing competition in Montreal with a similar concept and Rougeau figured why not do the same thing with wrestling? He didn’t know what it was going to turn into, but it has grown tremendously and several sponsors have hopped on board. The competition’s website (www.lutteacademie.ca/en/) also has countless videos of wrestling legends such as The Undertaker and Jake “The Snake” Roberts offering words of support for the academy.

It’s the perfect platform for someone like Daniels to get noticed. The young Winnipegger knows he has to work on his character and that there’s still a lot to learn, but Daniels — who’s been making a name for himself with a local promotion called Canadian Wrestling’s Elite — is confident that he can make it big.

“When I look at someone like Jericho or someone like Omega, I think to myself, ‘Why not me?’” said Daniels.

“If I put in enough work and train hard, I mean, I can accomplish anything I want… There’s really nothing in life that I’ve wanted to do other than pro wrestling.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31