Local promoter and wrestler James ''High Octane'' Lanham has purchased a new wrestling ring made to allow his ICW Central West shows to continue in Cowra.
With the purchase of the ring a date has been set for the next Emma Butler Memorial Wrestling Show.
James' late girlfriend Emma tragically passed away from tongue cancer at 34.
Her memorial event will be held on Saturday, October 26.
''It`s been a massive financial outlay and a huge undertaking but it`s finally done and now ICW Central West can get back to doing what we do best, promoting family friendly wrestling shows for our loyal fanbase in Cowra, as well as for those who travel to the events," Lanham said.
''The ring we were using has reached the end of it`s lifespan in it`s current state and had gotten to the point after 20 years of regular use from three different wrestling promotions for shows and training, as well as use as a boxing training ring, that it was not safe to wrestle in or to set up on a regular basis."
After looking into all the options, Lanham made the decision to have a new wrestling ring made from scratch locally so he could continue doing what he`s most passionate about.
''I looked into all the options and really did my research and got advice from local businesses and veterans of the wrestling community," he said.
''After looking into the possibility of refurbishing the old ring or importing a ring from the US it was clear that the best option for myself and ICW Central West, as well as the local community was to find someone who could manufacture a ring locally.
''Chernco engineering came on board to construct the metal frame of the ring and were an absolute pleasure to deal with,' Lanham said, explaining how patient and diligent the engineers and welders at Chernco were.
''Unlike boxing rings there is no standard design or dimensions for wrestling rings and blueprints from the US are a closely guarded secret.
''Using photos and measurements of other modern 'drop and lock' flexibeam rings and the ICW Canberra ring as reference for materials and some of the dimensions, the crew at Chernco put together an amazing ring for a place that`s never made one before and is of a higher quality than I`ve ever seen in any ring that I`ve put up and worked in before.
''The simpler design, that doesn`t need bolts and uses interchangeable parts that aren`t numbered, will make for a far quicker and easier set up and pack up.
"The even surface and much tighter cable ropes will make for even more exciting and fast paced wrestling," he said.
Once the metal frame was complete, at a cost of $11,000, 27 construction grade timber planks were purchased from Cowra's Jeff`s Joinery at cost of just over $3,000.
''The staff at Jeff`s were incredibly helpful and it felt good to support a local business,'', Lanham said.
In fact, James' new ring has pumped approximately $15,000 of the nearly $18000 it cost into the local economy, something Lanham is very proud of.
''It was the right thing to do, to support local business where I could with this project, especially after all the support so many in Cowra have given me in running my shows since the first one in 2013,' he said.
''With the exception of the cable ring ropes, which are a very specialized item and had to be purchased from a ring manufacturer in the US for $1800 including shipping, and the custom apron skirts that my late girlfriend Emma`s family donated the cost of and feature Emma`s Tongue Cancer Charity logo, everything was purchased locally.
"This includes the jigsaw mats that were bought from local MMA trainer Shane Kerr as well as some additional mats donated by the very generous Lusi Austin.
"Luckily some of the parts of the old ring, such as the turnbuckle pads and newer canvas, which Cowra Council generously donated the cost of in 2018, can be used on the new ring''.
The Emma Butler Memorial Show 2024 will be held at the Uniting Church Hall at the corner of Kendal and Darling street on Saturday, October 26.
Door open at 5:30pm with the show starting at 6pm.
All proceeds from the raffle on the night and $1 from every ticket sold will be donated to Emma`s Tongue Cancer Charity, a registered charity started by Emma`s family that has used funds raised thus far, including the $2,739 raised by the inaugural Emma Butler Memorial Show in 2022, to purchase early cancer detection scopes that have been donated to doctors and dentists in Cowra as well as Emma`s hometown area of Wellington and Dubbo.
''We are also hoping to have some T-shirts made with the Emma`s Tongue Cancer Charity logo on them if we can find an affordable place to source them and will donate funds raised from those T-shirt sales to the charity," Lanham said.
''The match card is already set and will begin being advertised soon.
''We have all your favourites like Birdman Phil Picasso, Barry ''the Swooper'' Blake, John Crossfire, Dozer, Jake Gibson, Big James, Alistair Fleming, Tank among others as well as the villains you love to hate such as Rex, Addicus Slain, Super Crimson Mask and many more'.
''There`ll also be some new faces courtesy of our friends at Newcastle based promotion Suplex such as Oberon`s CJ Young, Arama and others."
As always line-up is subject to change due to unforeseen circumstances such as injury and scheduling conflicts.
Despite having recently reduced his wrestling schedule due to concussion related health issues, James will definitely be wrestling on the show and defending his Emma Butler Memorial Championship.
''I`ve been seeing concussion specialists recently and due to issues that have been discovered have had to make the hard decision to limit my schedule to only promoting and wrestling on the one show a year that being the show I run annually for Emma,'' Lanham said.
''We`ve all loved performing at local events like the Festival of International Understanding and the Cowra Show but the physical, mental and financial toll has really added up for myself and many of the talent so I`ve had to limit what I`m doing so I can continue to promote and perform on the wonderful community event in The Emma Butler Memorial Wrestling Show.
"Cost of living pressures and increased travel expenses are making it hard for wrestlers to travel which also makes running more than one show a year in Cowra very difficult too."
Tickets are already selling well on the Humanitix website. You can find the ticket link and event information from the ICW Central West Facebook page.
Tickets are only available online. There will, at this stage, be no sales at the door.
Cowra Community Enterprise will be selling food and drinks and there will be wrestling merchandise such as shirts, photos and posters for sale.
After the show there will be speeches and presentations as well as an opportunity to meet the wrestlers, referees and commentary team for autographs and photos.
Ticket link: https://events.humanitix.com/the-emma-butler-memorial-wrestling-show