Author Archives: Ryan Plessl

Cody Rhodes Wants Sami Zayn At Wrestlemania!

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Cody Rhodes is rooting for Sami Zayn this weekend at the Elimination Chamber.

Cody Rhodes, Sami Zayn, and Roman Reigns have quite possibly the best storyline in all of professional wrestling right now.

Cody won the Royal Rumble event to earn his opportunity to face Roman at Wrestlemania. Roman is currently involved in a feud with Sami Zayn though, after Sami betrayed Roman and the rest of the Bloodline at the Royal Rumble.

Sami Zayn and Roman Reigns chapter of this story will supposedly come to a close this weekend when the Elimination Chamber comes to Canada.

Sami Zayn was having some doubts going into the match this weekend though. He decided to come to Monday Night RAW this week and get some clarification on some comments Cody Rhodes made the previous week on RAW. Cody had stated that he thinks he could be facing Sami at Wrestlemania, not the Tribal Chief Roman Reigns.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CoX61bNpudr/?igshid=NDk5N2NlZjQ=

Sami said he was confused by this comment as he’s a major underdog going into this match. Cody doubled down on his comments though and he stated that he wanted to see Sami Zayn win this weekend in Montreal, and face him at Wrestlemania.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CooEaUBpg97/?igshid=NDk5N2NlZjQ=

The truth is that Cody Rhodes will probably get his wish to face Sami Zayn at Wrestlemania, but it’ll likely come in the form of a triple threat match with the Tribal Chief Roman Reigns.

Theirs no chance Roman loses his titles at the Elimination Chamber, but their is sure to be some controversy involving the Bloodline and/or Cody that takes place, which will inevitably lead to Sami facing both Cody and Roman at the biggest Pay Per View (PPV) of the year.

Watch Sami Zayn take on Roman Reigns February 18th at the Elimination Chamber!

Prime BJJ Series Takes Over BCIT!

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New jiu jitsu tournament Prime BJJ Series took over the British Columbia Institute Of Technology (BCIT) last weekend.

Prime BJJ series is a local jiu jitsu tournament that is fast growing in the community. The event is run by jiu jitsu enthusiasts Ian Hamill, Rafael La Porta, and Eduardo Cadena.

Their most recent event took place February 11th at the BCIT Burnaby campus. The owners of the event said BCIT was a great fit for their tournament:

“BCIT is becoming a very popular location to setup and run Brazilian Jiu Jitsu events, most organizers seem to come here now. The staff are very helpful and with experience behind them from many other tournaments they are very knowledgeable to our requirements, a big shout out to Mikayla Wong, who was our direct contact, thank you. The facilities are exactly what we require, with access to change facilities and washrooms, making the day easier for everyone. Location wise it is fairly centrally situated for people to get too, access is easy, with plenty of parking available and EV charging spots as well.”

The tournament was a very well run event. This was largely due to the large staff the tournament had to help out, live streams of all the matches that took place throughout the day, and the owners constantly running around to help out with every competitors needs. Even with a professional run event though, all tournaments come with difficulties. Ian Hamill decided to amplify his difficulties and responsibilities for the day by challenging himself to compete in the event at the same time he was running it:

“Well, I will admit it was hard, it was a long Friday setting up, and an early start Saturday solving issues and completing setup, my matches started at 11:15, I weighed in no problems then waited my turn, I had a tough opponent in the Masters 3 Division (yes I’m old), but overcame his skills to win 2 out of 3 and take the gold. From there it was a dash to the podium and change to get back to work to help make the day success and special for all the other athletes.

But I have to say that without the amazing volunteer staff and extremely knowledgeable and professional Referees we would not have had this event work as well as it did, so the thanks from the Organizers goes to them.”

Prime BJJ Series did a fantastic job of allowing all competitors the chance to showcase and test their skills in a competitive, professional environment.

Their next event will be held on June 3rd at the BCIT Burnaby campus.

B.C Wrestling Hosts Zones!

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B.C hosted Wrestling Zones this past weekend.

Zones is a large event for B.C wrestling and the turnout was huge, with tons of wrestlers coming out to show off their skill set.

This was great to see considering the state of B.C wrestling in the past few years.

When covid-19 started back in 2020 its no secret that gyms, sports clubs, and other forms of physical activity were sidelined for a very long time. After awhile sports like baseball, soccer, and hockey were allowed to resume and gyms were open, all under social distancing guidelines.

The sport of wrestling though was cast aside and deemed not important or suitable for social distancing regulations on multiple occasions.

Schools started cutting their wrestling programs when they reopened in the latter half of 2020. Wrestling clubs in the lower main land were forced out of their usual practice spots in schools and forced to shut down or relocate, often in mixed martial arts gyms. The clubs would run practices once a week which was barely enough to help them stay open.

Now that the pandemic has slowed down schools are starting to reopen their programs, tournaments like Zones are starting to pop back up, and wrestling clubs are able to move in to bigger spaces, all with no need for social distancing.

After all this time its nice to see a sport with such rich history finally flourishing again in B.C.

Prime Is Very Expensive In Canada!

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Logan Paul and KSI’s sports drink Prime has taken the world by storm this past year.

Logan Paul and KSI started out their journey as enemies. The pair met in the boxing ring twice. Both fights went the distance and both fights had major controversy and drama surrounding them when it came to who won. Logan and KSI decided to put their differences aside though and started a drink company together in early 2022.

They named the drink Prime, and branded it as a sports energy drink. Prime has grown so much in the past year that they now sponsor the football team Arsenal F.C, they are the official drink of the UFC, and Prime even had its own Super Bowl commercial.

Many Canadian fans of Logan and KSI are disappointed in this drink though. This is largely because the drink is nearly impossible to get in Canada. Very few stores carry the drink, and when they do one bottle costs nearly $8! This is an insane amount to charge for a single drink, but it’s the norm when it comes to selling Prime in Canada.

Prime prides itself on being a Gatorade competitor but it’ll be hard to surpass them when its so hard to actually acquire the drink.

If Logan and KSI want to continue growing this company, they’re going to have to up production of the drink in a massive way.

Winning Isn’t Everything When You’re Joe Burrow!

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Joe Burrow may not be in the Super Bowl this year, but hes still the hottest commodity in football right now.

Joe Burrow is the lead quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals. Joe suffered a bad rib injury in his first year with the team and was taken out for the season. These past two years though Joe has comeback with a vengeance. Last year he led the Bengals to their first Super Bowl in thirty plus years and this year helped his team reach the AFC championship finals.

While Joe and the Bengals may have lost both those games, Joe’s stock continues to skyrocket. In fact, Joe seems to be more popular then the game of football itself at times.

Joe’s popularity is largely due to his popularity on social media.

Joe doesn’t post often on social media, so fans have decided to post content for him.

Edits of Joe Burrow have gone viral on social media, as people are obsessed over how Joe dresses, his attitude, and of course, his amazing football skills. Many social media content creators have claimed Joe as their own husband and even said that Joe is made for them.

So while Joe may have had some struggles these past few years on the field, he continues to be the best thing in football right now. This just goes to show that winning isn’t everything.

Oliver Taza Is Soaring To New Heights!

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Oliver Taza is a Lebanese-Canadian professional Jiu jitsu fighter who has soared to new heights as of late.

Just last weekend Oliver Taza had a fantastic match against 10th planet black belt Ben Eddy. You can read about that match and Oliver Taza’s rise to the top of the Jiu jitsu world here:

Lookout For Oliver Taza!

Last night Oliver Taza competed once again, this time on the Enigma Jiu Jitsu stage.

Oliver faced off against tough black belt Shawn Melanson. Taza was able to dominate the match getting the same takedown twice, passing the guard, and locking up a tarekoplata submission. Shawn Melason was able to defend the submission by rolling through to relieve the pressure, but Taza was able to sweep Shawn and take top position to get the finish.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CokYg6SpzLM/?igshid=NDk5N2NlZjQ=

This win made Oliver Taza the new middleweight Enigma Jiu Jitsu champion.

Taza’s coach John Danaher was very impressed with Oliver’s win, in particular his takedowns.

Danaher posted a long winded Instagram post about the efficiency of Oliver’s takedown game last night.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/ColQO-Guq3b/?igshid=NDk5N2NlZjQ=

Danaher finished his post saying; “now that’s good jiu jitsu!”

This is a impressive compliment coming from the best Jiu jitsu coach in the world.

This win once again proves that Oliver Taza is soaring to a new level in his jiu jitsu journey, and is on trajectory to be one of the best in the world.

Raptors VS Pistons Goes Down to The Wire!

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Toronto Raptors got the close win today against the Pistons.

It’s always a close one when these two teams face off. The last time these two teams played back in November the final score was 115-111 for the Raptors. The game before that the Pistons won 108-106.

This game was expected to be close as well as the Pistons are currently 14th in the east and the Raptors are 10th.

The Raptors were on fire early in this game but Detroit answered back with a late three pointer to end the first period making the score 32-29 going into the second.

The Pistons tied up the game early in the second but the Raptors were able to stay in it. The Pistons weren’t slowing down though and they closed the period with a one point lead.

A good effort on both sides of the court from Pascal Siakam and Fred VanVleet saw the Raptors once again take the lead in the third period. This time they were able to hold on to the lead and increase the point gap to seven points to end the quarter.

The fourth quarter was more of the same for the Raptors to start off, and the Raptors increased their lead to as much as thirteen points. But Detroit fought back once again bringing the lead down to three points with just ten seconds left in the game.

the Pistons were able to get two more points and it looked like they were going to complete the comeback.

The Raptors were able to hold on though thanks to VanVleets efforts at the free throw line. Final score 119-118 for the Raptors.

https://www.instagram.com/p/ColC9QUvOmf/?igshid=NDk5N2NlZjQ=

VanVleet finished the game with thirty-five points. This was a much needed game for VanVleet’s moral.

The Raptors play the Magic Tuesday night at home.

Canada’s Rated R Superstar Is Back!

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The Rated R Superstar is officially back in the WWE.

Canadian wrestler Edge was known as the Rated R Superstar for most of his career. This was due to his risqué storylines, his level of violence in the ring, and his sexual innuendo remarks that he would make on live television.

This was okay at the time because the WWE was in its attitude era, where the superstars got away with more outlandish gimmicks.

The past few years the WWE has switched to being fully PG though and Edge has been a more tame version of himself. He’s gotten a lot older and no longer plays into the Rated R Superstar gimmick.

However, on live television the other night, the Rated R Superstar returned.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CokvXspJkr3/?igshid=NDk5N2NlZjQ=

While walking to the ring with his wife Beth Phoenix, Edge gave Beth a little slap on her behind. Beth pretended to be un pleased by this and gave Edge a stern finger and told him “stop.”

Beth then let a little smile creek through though and Edge smiled, looking proud of himself.

While the WWE may be PG now it’s nice to see the Rated R Superstar hasn’t changed.

Edge and Beth Phoenix will face off against Finn Balor and Rhea Ripley at the Elimination Chamber February 18th.

Conor McGregor Met Ariel Helwani Ten Years Ago!

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Conor McGregor and Ariel Helwani met ten years ago this month.

Conor McGregor is without a doubt the most influential figure in Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) history.

Conor holds many records in the octagon. He was the first ever two division champion, he holds the record for most pay per view (PPV) buys, and he holds the record for fastest knockout in a championship fight.

Before Conor was the biggest star in UFC history though, he was just a young kid with a dream.

Canadian mixed martial arts (MMA) journalist Ariel Helwani was one of the first to recognize Conor’s talent.

When Conor was just stating to come up the ranks he did a interview with Ariel Helwani. The two men had a great conversation and Ariel said that he recognized right away that McGregor had superstar potential.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CoYIMg_Dirx/?igshid=NDk5N2NlZjQ=

That interview took place ten years ago now. Both men have soared in popularity since their first meeting and their paths have gone in very different directions. The two have always stayed in touch though and reconnected to celebrate this special ten year anniversary. Ariel posted a clip of the interview to his Instagram and Conor commented his appreciation and admiration for Ariel.

It was a nice moment between the two and fans are happy to see that Conor is in good spirits as of late. Fans hope to see the Conor of ten years ago return when he faces Micheal Chandler in the octagon for his next fight.

Will Gadd’s Incredible Climb!

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Only nine people have survived going down Niagara Falls. Popular Canadian mountain climber Will Gadd decided to attempt becoming the first ever person to go up the falls.

Will Gadd is a athlete, motivational speaker, and professional mountain climber.

Will decided one day that he would attempt to climb the falls using modified ice picks, crampons, and specially designed prototype ice hooks.

Will estimated that this climb would be a W16+ climb which is considered to be nearly impossible in the climbing community.

However, Will still decided to attempt this feat and climbed the frozen Niagara Falls. This feat proved to be incredibly difficult as the frozen temperatures of the falls raining down on him that weren’t frozen, combined with the already treacherous climbing conditions made the climb incredibly difficult.

Will persevered though and made it to the top of the falls becoming the first ever person to do so.

This feat took place nearly 8 years ago, but now Red Bull has collaborated with Will to make him a short film.

Click this link to watch Will Gadd’s epic climb as a short film here:

https://www.redbull.com/ca-en/films/frozen-falls