One Step Forward, Two Steps Back
Another wrestling year ends early due to injury
Within a span of just 15 days, Marty Sugar has hit both ends of the emotional spectrum: elation and despair. Saturday, August 27 saw Marty return to the mainland for this first time in over six months, attending a non-promotional wrestling card in Coquitlam. Essentially, it was a joint venture between Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling and Just Wrestling, but the show itself was being organized by "outlaw" wrestling promoter, Terry Joe Silverspoon. In front of a large outdoor crowd, Sugar opened the show by snagging his first professional wrestling victory, getting the three-count on Kid Xtreme after a Sugarbuster (sitdown "X-factor" facebuster). Afterwards, Sugar was tired but ecstatic.
"It's been six months since I've had an actual wrestling match," Sugar said, "but my perserverance and tenacity paid off. Plus a little luck never killed anybody. If the Kid had hit his moonsault, I doubt that Win Number One would be in the books."
For a visual pictorial of the match itself, CLICK HERE.
At the end of the afternoon event, Sugar almost walked away with another victory, in an impromptu 10-Man Battle Royale. After teaming up to eliminate the 6-10 Nate Daniels, it was Disco Fury and Marty Sugar finding themselves the last two men in the match. Showing mutual respect, the two decided to share the victory, when Silverspoon got on the mic and demanded the two men fight it out to the finish. Instead, the two men decided to play "Rock, Paper, Scissors" -- but in Japanese.
"The reason for doing it in Japanese was pure showmanship," Sugar said, "seeing as how Disco has wrestled in Japan several times, and when I went on holiday there last fall I was asked to take part in a Sumo tournament."
"Which, come to think of it, probably wasn't the compliment I initially perceived it to be," the 250-pound Sugar mused, with a sigh.
After a tie with scissors, Fury and Sugar had another go-round, with Marty's paper beating Disco's rock. As Sugar raised his hands in triumph, Disco connected with a kick below the belt, tossing the agonized Sugar over the top rope to the concrete for the victory. In a show of frustration, Marty responded by throwing a temper tantrum on the cement.
"I'm trying really hard to be a fair and honest person," Sugar stated, "but it had been a long, hot, sweaty day, and I deserved that victory!"
And then came the bad news: on Saturday, September 10, Sugar tore his MCL, while working out.
"I've been exercising harder lately, doing a log of jogging to lose weight," Sugar said, "I guess I really overdid it."
After several hours in the emergency room at Nanaimo General, and another five days waiting for the swelling to subside enough for proper diagnosis, the official word is that the tear is only partial. However, the injury most definitely will put Sugar on the shelf for the rest of 2005. This is the third straight year that the "wrestling season" has come to a screeching halt due to injury: in 2003 it was a separated right shoulder; in 2004 it was a hairline fracture in the left ankle.
"This injury was the worst, because there was a lot more potential this fall," Sugar said. "Although I had to turn down the most recent Northern Tour [with the Maniac Wrestling Alliance in August] due to family commitments, the financial constraints that have been holding me back this summer were almost over. Now, it's back to square one and more 'wait till next year' garbage to try and digest."
With Sugar's in-ring wrestling career in jeopardy, how will this affect his position as Commissioner of Just Wrestling? On August 19 and 20 at the Vancouver Island Exhibition in Nanaimo, Sugar had shown a different style than the fans were used to: fairness.
"Sure, I am disappointed and frustrated with this injury," Sugar said, "but I'm not going to turn around and take my frustrations out on the wrestlers or the fans. Originally, this 'Commissionary Position' was all about me grabbing some attention; but now it's evolved into a responsibility that I have decided to take seriously."
"I'm not going to let people like Scotty Mac, or Mike Dempsey, or Brian Sommers abuse my personal friendship anymore," Sugar added, "because this is a business, not a Boys Club. Everyone needs to be held accountable for their actions: whether that be Scotty Mac refusing to defend the North American Title [which Sugar stripped of Scotty on August 20], or Ice cheating to steal the Intensity Title from Cremator [again, on August 20]."
"Sooner or later, everyone has to attone for their actions," Sugar said, a serious look on his face, "even The Big Bad Sugar Daddy."
