At the end of July, 365 Pro Wrestling took over the parking lot of Wheelie's – a motorcycle cafe/bar in the Victoria's industrial district – for what was ostensibly their season closer, Rock Bay Throwdown. It was a fantastically fun show, packed with talent, charisma and whole lot of shenanigans – a proper send off to a pretty fucking amazing year. (I say this as someone who attends almost every bi-weekly show 365 throws here in my hometown Victoria.) This was the final image that night...

Photo by Tyson Elder, courtesy of Rocktographers.

It was a fitting image to head into a break on; the fearless leader and founder of 365 Pro Wrestling, Eddie Obsourne, wearing the proverbial crimson mask. It's become an oddly familiar site to those of us who attend these shows regularly. While this kind of tviolence isn't the norm for 365, it happens often enough it could very well lead to one believing that Osbourne actually enjoys the bloodletting associated with some of his more wild 365 encounters. “I don’t know if I love it. I just wanna make sure if that stuff is going on I’ll be part of it to try and make sure everyone is safe at the end. If anyone’s damaged, hopefully it’s just me,” Osbourne reflects on the gore, talking to me in the BC home of 365 at the First Met United Church in Victoria, a few days before the company welcomed a venue full of bloodthirsty maniacs to 365's annual Night of Violence this past June. “Doing a whole night of it is scary. It never used to be – I could watch people jump off everything, do all these things. But now… when Max (Benson) and Rose had that match it was so intense and I was like, 'Wow, you guys scared me!' Seeing Rad Dad and Inferno in their Ladder Match and stuff, it’s like holy shit, I’m scared for these people now. Not scared, maybe just nervous, because there’s a lot of big bumps.” Osbourne's voice is overflowing with warmth when he talks about the wrestlers who fill out the 365 cards, many of which are students of the Pro Wrestling Academy, an endeavour he started two decades ago, in the distant land of Ontario.

“PWA started June 22, 2005, so we’re at 20 years. It started as a promotion. I was at the Hart Brothers’ school in Ontario…the only Hart there was Smith. He was cool. Awesome guy but he wasn’t like Calgary like I originally kind of thought. The guy who ran it was kind of a piece of work, but all the trainers there were amazing humans. When they got too busy I was at a point where I was nowhere near ready to teach, but I had a little bit more than the guys in front of me so I’d try to get them to that point and then learn as much as I could when I could get the other trainers to come. So I took over the school somehow, which was crazy,” reflects Osbourne, thinking back to those early days across the country in Ontario, where he set out to follow his wrestling dreams. “We called it Headlocks & Takedowns Academy. Then I realized there’s no promotions really. When I was wrestling, it was going to upstate New York or Western Virginia or Montreal. It was going away to wrestle a lot, there wasn’t a ton of promotions in Ontario. All my buddies are here, we’re all trained and ready to go but not many opportunities so I decided to take the plunge and start running shows.”

Oops, Eddie did it again! Photo by the mighty Darren Ho.

If you go to a 365 show now – here on the west coast or out in Ontario where the company also runs sold out shows – it is packed with people seemingly rabid for 365's brand of wrestling. But, of course, what happens currently is just the tip of iceberg, and doesn't happen without all the hard work underneath that no one really sees. “I went in with no knowledge. I had mentors that were wrestlers, but no promoter that took me under their wing to help me out. There was no one to really study and learn from. It was just a bunch of wrestlers trying to figure out how to make this thing work. It was hard to get people in seats. Learning how to get those posters out there, who to talk to about radio, etc. I didn’t know what to do. It was challenging to be the boss of something.” But in the challenges, there's always sprouts of something good to keep you going. “The surprising part was just how much people want to work to help you with getting bigger and better and GROW. I’ve never done PWA or 365 on my own. I’ve had such a community and people behind me. It wouldn’t be here without them. There’s so many of them. There’s phases – sometimes they come and go, sometimes they’re here forever. I’ve had some guys with me since the beginning.”

Osbourne officially had his first match on September 15, 2001. As he approaches a quarter century of wrestling, he's quick to answer when I ask him what keeps him going. “I love it. It’s fun. If it wasn’t fun, I’d quit. If I wasn’t having a good time, I’d leave. There things to learn all of the time, because it’s always changing” This is man who just really fucking loves wrestling, who has grown with wrestling and is always thinking about wrestling. “Wrestling, from when I started to now, is so different, but it’s also so much the same. The goal is the same now, to get the reaction, but the way we do it might be different now. I used to be in faces, trying to start fights, saying some stuff that makes me go 'Oi!' Now it’s maybe a little more tame but also all the fans are here, not as wrestling fans always, but people who want to come out and get away from the world.”

But this article isn't actually about the fans and what they want. It's not about 365 and how dope it is. This is about EDDIE OSBOURNE and how much he absolutely rules. It's important to give props to someone who spends so much of his time working to help those around him shine. In addition to my silly 5 Questions, I had to the take the opportunity to ask a guy with nearly a quarter-century between the ropes about some of my favourites in his ridiculously long list of opponents. Surprise, the big dawg smiled big and answered warmly about each and every person I asked him about.

Brody King – Big tough dude. Gave me a lot. In Vancouver when we worked, it was one of my favourite matches. I felt that he helped make me look bigger than I am. He elevated me. He came in and did a great job of what superstars are supposed to do, make that local guy look bigger, and he did it. He was kind and he was tough. I really enjoyed the war in the ring with him.

Haviko – He’s one of my best friends. He helps me train people. Him and Nolan James, we’re kind of the Three Amigos. He’s been with me a lot. He’s up here the same amount of time I am. In the ring, I like wrestling him because he is smaller than me and everyone thinks he’s the underdog, so sometimes he can get a big tackle on me or hit something people don’t expect. He’s really good technically and I really enjoy going to the office with him.

Steve Carino – Aw man, he helped make me when I was younger. He was our champion in PWA and then I finally Booker E’d it and put myself over with the belt. But those matches with him made me better every single time. I wish he’d come back so we could do more. Just recently talking about maybe doing something with his kid. That might be kinda cool. But Steve Carino is a class act. He taught me what a professional is too. He came in, he was ready to work. Yeah, he’s the man.

Krofton – The man. Love that guy. We are Guilty by Association. We used to get in trouble together a bit. It was just fun. Or one of us would get into trouble and the other would always have the others back. It’s a brotherhood like that. He’s always had my back and I got his back. We have shared many special moments in the ring together but one that stands out was winning tag titles and being able to whisper to him, “They didn’t want you to have this and you made it happen because these people love you.” That was a really cool moment in the ring and no one can take it away from him even though they didn’t want him to have it.

Samoa Joe – I thumbed him in the bum. <laughs> And I shouldn’t have. That day was a crazy day. I had Samoa Joe as an opponent and I thought, “I’m gonna have fun here and I’m going to make all these guys laugh.” And then I did it. I realized it was dumb. He was an awesome guy. I had too much fun, well not too much fun in the ring. It was such a good match. I thought we click well together. He hit me with something and I thought, “Alright I’m gonna do this, I’m gonna grab him and he see what he does,” and he did exactly what I thought he would do. We just had that instant chemistry that was kind of crazy for a guy as good as Samoa Joe. I really enjoyed wrestling him and wish I had more chances to. Super talented, nice guy. It was neat because we didn’t have everything planned out. To see the people react when he beat me for our title, jump up like “Samoa Joe is our champion!” It was awesome to see someone like that recognize our local people. He was really nice to the fans and I’ll always remember that.

The community that I've found myself become a part of over the last five years doesn't exist without Eddie Osbourne – and, as he's quick to point out, the people around him! - and I'm so grateful for all of his hard work, in and out of the ring. It was an honour to get some time with the only man I'll encouragingly chant “Kill! Kill!” and have him answer not just wrestling questions, but the silly things we call the 5 Questions.

He’s really a sweet guy! I swear! Photo by Darren Ho.

1. What’s the first album you remember buying with your own money?
Phew, I don’t know. I didn’t have money. I remember borrowing Xzibit Restless. That was awesome. Really enjoyed that one. Ian Habanero used to come out to “Front to Back” in our backyard, that’s an amazing song. I really got hooked on “Best of Thing.” Man, I think Britney Spears might have actually been the first one I paid money for. I got money and went and bought Britney.

I listen to everything. The guys are always making fun of me. I love rap, hardcore rap. I like stuff that people haven’t heard. And then I like the saddest song on the radio. Funny how it works like that. They all make fun of me for it. It’s just moods. You can get amped up with anything.

While we're talking music...Who made the Wrestling Personified theme?
Danny O from Toronto. He’s rapped there, he’s famous there. An awesome dude. He made it himself. Ian Habanero – I gotta give a shout out to him. He made one for me, a version of it, a little bit different. It just didn’t come out as clean and polished as we wanted and he had no way to do it at the time. Danny O was talking about doing music so I asked him, “Can you take this and make it a little bit different?” And he did and it’s awesome.

(BEHOLD the best entrance music. RIP)

2. If you could spend the day with anyone living or dead, who would it be and what would you do?
I think it’d be family members. I got a quite few that aren’t here anymore. It would just be cool to get together with all the family so they can see what we’ve been up to. Our family is all doing different things – none of them really like wrestling, but they’re cool with it now. Everyone is doing their own thing and it’s pretty cool to see.

3. When’s the last time you did something for the first time?
I don’t try things. I’m set in routine. Wrestling is life, life is wrestling. Damn. Oh, I think I tried to wear a red shirt. A non-black shirt! All I wear is black shirts, but I thought “Oh this isn’t going to work for me,” and I went right back to the black shirts.
How long did it last? Did you get through a day with it?
Oh no. It felt weird. Yeah. I don’t do many different things.

4. What’s the last thing that made you cry, happy or sad tears?
Maybe not full-out crying, but I was emotional at the King of the Island. Because seeing Max (Benson) come back was such a great moment and he had a huge run into the finals. And then just…Travis (Williams) came on no sleep. He just had a huge weekend and then he went and wrestled his ass off. To see those guys giving their all for 365 meant a lot to me. Yes, they did it for them and did it for the company, but it was really special because they worked so hard for me. It was really cool see them create a new bond. It brought them closer, in the finals, going through all that. Everyone on that card worked so hard. I was really proud of that event, the finals, the whole thing with Max and Travis was really special for me. It was cool, we had Rose back which was nice, facing Liiza who is always killer in the ring. It was so good. Everyone in the back was happy, smiling and encouraging each other. That’s like, what I wanted to accomplish was a locker room where everyone loves and supports each other, matches where people are having a great time. It was a big night. Now it’s like, “How do we top that?”

5. Normally we only have one guest question but I actually got two for you today because the second one back was so good. The first one is from Casey Ferreira…What is the biggest non-wrestling influence on your work?
I guess it would be family. Because they’re still there for me. Even though everyone else is like, “This is crazy.” My older brothers were all like, “What are you doing?!” Then one of them started getting me running, working hard, getting into better shape and then another one was like, “Do it. You can do it. I believe in you.” My youngest brother knew I was going to be poor as hell coming out to Ontario, trying to live this dream and follow this thing, he’s giving me $100. My whole family was backing it. My parents paid a lot of money for me to go wrestling school. It’s not like today. It was a substantial amount of money. I thought “I can’t disappoint them. I can’t come back after a week because it was too hard.” There was no way I was ever going to quit, no matter how hard or painful. I left everything to go to Ontario to learn. The family has always been there for me. My lady somehow puts up with me still doing this. I’m gone quite a bit. I leave Tuesday and I’m back Thursday in the morning. Then I’m gone Friday, Saturday, sometimes Sunday. I’m not home all the time. I’m trying to teach people wrestling and then I’m running wrestling shows. And I’m trying to be there for my kid as well. So yeah, the biggest influence on me is family.

6. Second guest question is from Rashad Tyson…If you could try one food again for the first time, what food would you try?
I’m simple…lasagna. A taste that I love. I still love it. I eat it whenever I can. When I go out I eat it. I’m not special. I’m not fancy. That’s what I would eat. I love it.
What’s the best lasagna you remember having?
Oh my mom’s. It’s never better than mom’s. My step dad is an amazing cook and my mom learned a ton from him too. Now they just cook amazingly. She lives in Fort McMurry though so we don’t get the dinners we used to. But I think they’re moving back in the next year so, so it’ll be nice to go over there and get those ol’ dinners again.

Go see Eddie and all the amazing wrestlers of 365 when they're around you! All ages are welcome! One of the best things is seeing all the kids being as into it as weird 40+ adults! It is the best time, all of the time. This has my super-duper-100%-guaranteed-life-affirming-joy-bomb stamp of approval.

You can hit 365prowrestling.com for all the dates and details. 365slam is where you get them tickets.
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