SMASH Will Attempt to Kick ALS by Having Chris Hero Wrestle A WHOLE LOT

The Knockout Artist is gonna KO dudes for charity this weekend
Photo Credit: Scott Finkelstein

SMASH Wrestling has quickly become Canada's premiere indie promotion, and it's not hard to see why. The company books some of the best American/International talent and mixes those wrestlers in with the Greater Toronto Area's fertile crop of native guys and dolls for a company that is both accessible and amazing. This Saturday, June 6, it will use its wrestling powers for GOOD in an attempt to help raise money for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, known better by either its abbreviation ALS or by its most famous victim, Lou Gehrig's disease, research. SMASH Kicks ALS will start at 7 PM local time at the Franklin Horner Community Centre in Ebiticoke, ON, and it will be headlined by a doozy of a match. Samoa Joe will take his barnstorming true independent contractor act north to take on Chris Hero. He will, however, not be Hero's only opponent that weekend. The next night, at the Cross Body Pro Wrestling Academy in Waterloo, ON, Hero will wrestle a gauntlet match, the length of which will be decided by YOUR donations.

The donation page is located right here. The length will correlate with the dollar amount that will be donated, with an aggregate donation of $1000 equating to one hour of wrestling. Hero will wrestle as many opponents he can crammed into the time allotted, win or lose, and given that Hero is one of the top wrestlers on the indie scene, well, you want him in that ring as an incentive to help eradicate a debilitating disease like ALS. As of right now, the dollar amount is at $1780, which means Hero will be wrestling for at least 90 minutes, if not more (not sure if the time levels are just plateaued at each half-hour or if it will be a true curve). He's gone 90 before in a single match against CM Punk, but that was just for narrative. This gauntlet will be to help sick people get better.

Of course, Hero's not the only guy in on this massive undertaking. The SMASH Kicks ALS card on Saturday is predictably loaded, including a huge 10-woman CAN-USA challenge match. On the Canadian side, Vanessa "Mount" Kraven, the prototypical LADY HOSS, will lead a squad into battle that includes Xandra Bale, "The Ontarian Suplex Machine" Courtney Rush, Portia BAH GAWD Perez, and crazy-ass Jewells Malone. The Americans will trot a formidable team into battle themselves: Candice LeRae, new Inspire Pro XX-Division Champion Veda Scott, Heidi GODDAMN Lovelace, and WSU World Champion Cherry Bomb. Of course, the Americans are one woman down, but they'll have a mystery teammate step forward on Saturday to even the sides. Other wrestlers of note appearing will be Johnny Gargano, the Super Smash Bros., Matt "Son of Havoc" Cross, and Pepper Parks.

SMASH Wrestling has great street cred, so this show was already must-see without the charity implications. But ALS is such a motherfucker of a disease that supporting fun wrestling that will help raise money for it over the two day period has to be on your must list. Hero possibly wrestling in excess of two hours is going to be a spectacle, since no one does that anymore, and because he will make damn sure that whatever he provides helps further the cause. Get your ass to the GTA if you can and support SMASH Wrestling this weekend. DO IT.