This past Saturday local wrestler and promoter James 'High Octane' Lanham and the rest of the ICW Central West crew left it all in the ring in Cowra Civic Centre to raise money for Emma's Tongue Cancer Charity all in the memory of James' late girlfriend Emma Butler who sadly passed away from tongue cancer last year.
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A large and even more vocal than usual audience was on hand and hung on every action packed moment presented to them by the group of wrestlers, referees and commentators that came from everywhere from Canberra, Sydney, Newcastle, Cootamundra, Wagga Wagga, Orange, Goulburn and even as far as Tasmania just for this event.
Lanham said he was amazed at how the fundraising event was received by the community and performers.
"I'm over the moon with how it went," he said.
"We had one of our biggest crowds ever, I think as big as could be reasonably expected in a community recovering from and still fearful of the pandemic.
"Even though we had some talent withdrawals last minute we still had a stacked match card that everyone enjoyed, many of the wrestlers coming from Newcastle and Sydney had to brave the floods, storms and resultant horrible traffic conditions to get here which I'm sure the fans and definitely myself really appreciate."
He said it was also fantastic to see the support given to the event by the sponsors.
"The new venue management, technicians and staff made sure the venue, new seating map and configuration both looked great and everything ran smoothly despite being unfamiliar with wrestling," he said.
"While the costs of running these shows has increased substantially between the generous donation from Cowra Council, local sponsors Cowra Carpet Cleaning, Yellow House Cowra, Brother Fox Barbershop and Cowra Hire plus contributions from the Butler Family this event was not only made possible to run but able to raise a lot of money for Emma's Tongue Cancer Charity.
"While I've also had to put a lot of my own money into this with absolutely no funds coming back to me, I'm more than happy to do it.
"Running this event purely to raise money for the charity started by the Butler family was an easy one to make, I believe if you are in the position to help people in a bad situation you really should.
"Emma's whole life revolved around helping people through her role as a mental health nurse and while she was battling cancer she was even doing a Master's in public health so she could help the COVID-19 situation."
While the funds raised from ticket sales will take a few days to come in Lanham said everything was on track for the show to have raised a significant amount for Emma's Tongue Cancer Charity.
"From funds that have already been raised from sponsors, merchandise sales on the night, the raffle, the wrestlers and ring crew who generously chose to donate their payments back to the charity and donation tins we have already raised $2,344 and still have our share of the ticket money to come," he said.
"We have also received some very generous donations to the charity online, including a very large donation from one wrestler and another from a local person.
"If you would like to donate to the charity, you can do so by sending funds to Regional Australia Bank, Account name: Emma's Tongue Cancer Charity, Account No: 100480605, BSB: 932000 or by Paypal using this email: 86tcancer@gmail.com .
The show itself provided much entertainment for the diverse throng of fans on hand representing several demographics and really showing just how far and varied the reach of ICW Central West's unique brand of sports entertainment really is.
In results from the card, 'Birdman' Phil Picasso beat Jake Gibson, Reverend De'ath defeated Sam Driver, Tank outlasted Dozer, the team of The Dad Squad (Nick Maltino and Mike Kelly) beat Sam Driver and Jake Gibson, Barry 'The Swooper' Blake won a five-way multi-man insanity match outlasting James Hellfire, 'C-Factor' Chris Stevens, Dozer and Alistair Fleming to win the Wild West contract that entitles him to any match of his choosing, anywhere, anytime.
'C-Factor' Chris Stevens defeated Alistair Fleming, Tank beat Super Crimson Mask to raise the 2022 Alan Lanham memorial championship trophy and in the last man standing main event James 'High Octane' Lanham outlasted Addicus Slain in a draining and hard fought bout to be crowned the inaugural Emma Butler memorial champion and retain the ICW Central West championship.
After the match special guests the Butler family and Mayor Bill West presented the championship belts and the wrestlers thanked the fans wholeheartedly.
Emma's mother Alexandra spoke passionately about what they want to achieve with the charity explaining funds from this event will go to buying and providing throat scopes to dentists and doctors in Cowra and surrounding areas that will help detect tongue cancer early and save people's lives.
Alexandra then presented Mayor West with a throat scope to donate to a deserving local medical practitioner.
Referees were John Crossfire and Malakai Reinhard.
Commentary was provided by Doble Arrendajo, Mike Kelly and High Octane, while John Crossfire was crowned Most Valuable Inmate.
Lanham thanked all those who had attended on the night and taken part in the event.
"The whole experience was overwhelmingly positive," he said.
"Feedback from fans has all been positive and the lovely things many of the audience said to me after the show was so touching, it still makes me emotional thinking about it.
"I want to thank everyone who contributed to the show in any way, everyone who turned out has done something truly amazing here and I'll always appreciate and remember it.
"We will be donating a portion of funds from all future Emma Butler memorial pro wrestling shows to the charity and continue to raise awareness," he said.
Fans wanting to see more live pro wrestling action from ICW Central West are encouraged to attend the Festival of International Understanding on Saturday, April 2, at Bryant Park Cowra where ICW Central West will be setting up their ring and putting on some matches for carnival attendees.
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