WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.759 Welcome to today's deep dive. You are stepping 00:00:03.759 --> 00:00:08.019 into a world today that is equal parts dazzling, 00:00:08.279 --> 00:00:12.560 grueling, and absolutely fueled by sheer unfiltered 00:00:12.560 --> 00:00:15.000 passion. Yeah, that's definitely the right way 00:00:15.000 --> 00:00:17.280 to put it. Right. We are talking about the regional 00:00:17.280 --> 00:00:20.059 professional wrestling circuit. You already know 00:00:20.059 --> 00:00:22.160 the massive stadium shows you see on television, 00:00:22.559 --> 00:00:25.140 the pyrotechnics, the global superstars with 00:00:25.140 --> 00:00:27.420 merchandise empires. The stuff everyone knows. 00:00:27.640 --> 00:00:30.269 Exactly. But beneath all that corporate glitz 00:00:30.269 --> 00:00:33.429 is a foundation built on local armories, freezing 00:00:33.429 --> 00:00:36.770 cold road trips and hometown heroes who bleed 00:00:36.770 --> 00:00:39.609 for their craft just to get a reaction from a 00:00:39.609 --> 00:00:41.310 few hundred people. It's a completely different 00:00:41.310 --> 00:00:44.210 reality. It really is. And our source material 00:00:44.210 --> 00:00:46.670 today is the Wikipedia page of a man who lived 00:00:46.670 --> 00:00:49.710 and breathed that exact reality, John Cosman. 00:00:49.789 --> 00:00:51.530 He dominated the Western Canadian independent 00:00:51.530 --> 00:00:53.649 circuit for decades. By the time we're done here, 00:00:53.789 --> 00:00:56.130 you're going to intimately understand the man 00:00:56.130 --> 00:00:59.530 behind his legendary in -ring alter ego. Principal 00:00:59.530 --> 00:01:02.090 Richard Pound. Principal Richard Pound. Our mission 00:01:02.090 --> 00:01:05.049 for you today is to trace the complete life cycle 00:01:05.049 --> 00:01:08.530 of a true territory wrestling pillar. We're gonna 00:01:08.530 --> 00:01:11.530 follow his journey from a starry -eyed kid in 00:01:11.530 --> 00:01:14.510 the crowd with his dad all the way to a dominant 00:01:14.510 --> 00:01:18.090 heel holding championship gold. Yeah. Cosman's 00:01:18.090 --> 00:01:20.730 story is a master class in career reinvention. 00:01:21.000 --> 00:01:24.480 It exposes the grinding, unglamorous reality 00:01:24.480 --> 00:01:27.060 of the business, and it highlights the immense 00:01:27.060 --> 00:01:30.019 power of local networking. We want you to see 00:01:30.019 --> 00:01:32.640 exactly how a lasting wrestling persona is built 00:01:32.640 --> 00:01:35.280 from scratch. Okay, let's unpack this. We need 00:01:35.280 --> 00:01:37.400 to set the scene in Regina, Saskatchewan. This 00:01:37.400 --> 00:01:40.780 is throughout the 1970s and early 80s. Cosman 00:01:40.780 --> 00:01:43.840 wasn't born into a wrestling dynasty. No, not 00:01:43.840 --> 00:01:46.469 at all. He was a fan. Super fan. He spent his 00:01:46.469 --> 00:01:48.290 youth attending local house shows with his father, 00:01:48.469 --> 00:01:50.370 just soaking in that visceral atmosphere. You 00:01:50.370 --> 00:01:51.989 know the vibe. Oh, absolutely. The smell of the 00:01:51.989 --> 00:01:54.090 popcorn, the echo of the mat slamming in a small 00:01:54.090 --> 00:01:57.109 arena, the heat of a local crowd. He was mesmerized 00:01:57.109 --> 00:01:59.930 by it. And he wanted to cross over that guardrail 00:01:59.930 --> 00:02:01.909 and do it himself. And making that leap from 00:02:01.909 --> 00:02:04.049 the grandstands to the locker room during that 00:02:04.049 --> 00:02:06.290 era was notoriously difficult. It was basically 00:02:06.290 --> 00:02:09.289 a closed society. Right. Completely. The business 00:02:09.289 --> 00:02:11.669 was heavily gate -kept. Outsiders were viewed 00:02:11.669 --> 00:02:13.710 with extreme suspicion. You couldn't just, you 00:02:13.710 --> 00:02:16.650 needed to have trusted in. And for Cosman, that 00:02:16.650 --> 00:02:19.750 entry point arrived in 1984, but it didn't come 00:02:19.750 --> 00:02:22.129 from a promoter. Right. And it didn't come from 00:02:22.129 --> 00:02:24.610 a veteran worker. It came through a wrestling 00:02:24.610 --> 00:02:27.349 photographer named Bob Leonard. That seems like 00:02:27.349 --> 00:02:29.250 an unconventional key to the kingdom, honestly. 00:02:30.330 --> 00:02:32.270 How does befriending a ringside photographer 00:02:32.270 --> 00:02:34.490 actually get you a ticket into the locker room? 00:02:34.680 --> 00:02:37.439 Well, what's fascinating here is the unique ecosystem 00:02:37.439 --> 00:02:41.159 of the kayfabe era. In the 1980s, protecting 00:02:41.159 --> 00:02:43.819 the business was paramount. Right. Maintaining 00:02:43.819 --> 00:02:47.060 the illusion at all costs. Exactly. But a photographer 00:02:47.060 --> 00:02:49.199 like Bob Leonard was a rare exception to the 00:02:49.199 --> 00:02:51.939 outsider rule. He was a constant fixture at ringside. 00:02:52.180 --> 00:02:54.719 He was trusted by the boys in the back. He understood 00:02:54.719 --> 00:02:57.199 the unwritten rules of the locker room. And most 00:02:57.199 --> 00:02:59.439 importantly, he had the ear of the veterans. 00:02:59.599 --> 00:03:02.659 Ah, so he had social capital. Tons of it. Leonard 00:03:02.659 --> 00:03:05.210 vouched for Cosman. And that endorsement was 00:03:05.210 --> 00:03:07.250 absolute gold. It earned him an introduction 00:03:07.250 --> 00:03:10.069 to the legendary Archie Gouldy. And Gouldy takes 00:03:10.069 --> 00:03:12.969 him on, and they don't mess around at all. Cosman 00:03:12.969 --> 00:03:15.490 goes through six intense months of training under 00:03:15.490 --> 00:03:19.310 him. Just brutal foundational work. It's not 00:03:19.310 --> 00:03:21.930 glamorous. Not even a little bit. Taking bumps 00:03:21.930 --> 00:03:24.270 into your spine aches, running the ropes until 00:03:24.270 --> 00:03:26.509 your back is bruised, learning the mechanics 00:03:26.509 --> 00:03:29.139 of actually calling a match in the ring. It all 00:03:29.139 --> 00:03:32.159 leads to his 1985 debut in stampede wrestling. 00:03:32.759 --> 00:03:34.280 But getting your foot in the door is just step 00:03:34.280 --> 00:03:37.539 one. Once he debuted, Cosman immediately entered 00:03:37.539 --> 00:03:39.639 his dues paying phase. Time to hit the road. 00:03:39.900 --> 00:03:42.960 Yeah, he hits the road touring the Maritimes 00:03:42.960 --> 00:03:45.580 with Emile Dupree's Grand Prix Wrestling. The 00:03:45.580 --> 00:03:47.979 Maritimes tour is infamous for being an absolute 00:03:47.979 --> 00:03:50.120 crucible. Oh, it's notorious. He's traveling 00:03:50.120 --> 00:03:52.719 with his trainer Archie Goldie and Leo Burke 00:03:52.719 --> 00:03:55.099 working under the early ring name Danny Young. 00:03:55.360 --> 00:03:57.680 It is the ultimate grind. You are looking at 00:03:57.680 --> 00:04:00.500 endless highway, driving across eastern Canada, 00:04:01.099 --> 00:04:03.379 performing in a different small town every single 00:04:03.379 --> 00:04:04.979 night. And we're talking about the 80s here. 00:04:05.120 --> 00:04:08.680 Exactly. You are dealing with varying ring conditions, 00:04:08.860 --> 00:04:11.259 navigating pure exhaustion, and learning how 00:04:11.259 --> 00:04:14.860 to read wildly different crowds on the fly. It 00:04:14.860 --> 00:04:17.560 forces a worker to figure out exactly who they 00:04:17.560 --> 00:04:20.920 are in the ring. Trial by fire. Literally. He 00:04:20.920 --> 00:04:23.300 even ventured down to the United States to work 00:04:23.300 --> 00:04:26.420 the Texas territory for Joe Blanchard. It's that 00:04:26.420 --> 00:04:30.139 classic territory era hustle, chasing the work, 00:04:30.439 --> 00:04:32.399 learning different regional styles, and building 00:04:32.399 --> 00:04:34.970 a repertoire. His roots were always in Canada 00:04:34.970 --> 00:04:38.029 though. He eventually anchors himself back in 00:04:38.029 --> 00:04:40.370 Stampede Wrestling for a solid five -year run. 00:04:40.649 --> 00:04:43.009 A hometown promotion. Yeah. He's mixing it up 00:04:43.009 --> 00:04:45.430 with guys like Cary Brown, building his reputation, 00:04:45.970 --> 00:04:48.490 working stiff programs. He's literally living 00:04:48.490 --> 00:04:51.290 his childhood dream, working for the very promotion 00:04:51.290 --> 00:04:53.529 he watched as a kid with his dad. It's a great 00:04:53.529 --> 00:04:56.610 story. It is. Until 1990, when the entire landscape 00:04:56.610 --> 00:04:58.970 shifts. Right. Stampede Wrestling closes its 00:04:58.970 --> 00:05:01.730 doors. The traditional territory system was collapsing 00:05:01.730 --> 00:05:04.329 everywhere under the weight of national television 00:05:04.329 --> 00:05:06.839 expansion. leagues were just eating up the territory. 00:05:07.040 --> 00:05:09.519 They were and when your home promotion folds 00:05:09.519 --> 00:05:12.819 the reality of the independent grind hits incredibly 00:05:12.819 --> 00:05:16.360 hard. The spotlight turns off and Cosman actually 00:05:16.360 --> 00:05:19.120 retires. Yeah. He steps away from the ring and 00:05:19.120 --> 00:05:21.480 takes a job working as a security guard. I want 00:05:21.480 --> 00:05:23.560 you to really sit with that psychological pivot 00:05:23.560 --> 00:05:26.860 for a second. It's heavy. One week you are Danny 00:05:26.860 --> 00:05:29.620 Young Working a hot program with Cary Brown in 00:05:29.620 --> 00:05:31.800 front of screaming fans who are living and dying 00:05:31.800 --> 00:05:34.899 by your every move, the adrenaline rush is unmatched. 00:05:35.060 --> 00:05:38.160 You're a local superhero. Or villain. Right. 00:05:38.519 --> 00:05:40.939 And the next week, you are standing in a quiet 00:05:40.939 --> 00:05:44.399 hallway in a security uniform. It highlights 00:05:44.399 --> 00:05:47.220 the profound financial and emotional precariousness 00:05:47.220 --> 00:05:50.319 of the wrestling business. The incredibly specific 00:05:50.319 --> 00:05:53.420 skills you master in the squared circle do not 00:05:53.420 --> 00:05:56.360 easily translate to a standard nine to five resume. 00:05:56.540 --> 00:05:58.139 It has to be maddening. You know the itch never 00:05:58.139 --> 00:06:00.459 really goes away. It rarely does for the lifers. 00:06:00.579 --> 00:06:03.240 He tried to dip his toes back in around 1995. 00:06:03.860 --> 00:06:06.300 He partnered with a worker named Venom and they 00:06:06.300 --> 00:06:08.579 spent three months training a new crop of guys 00:06:08.579 --> 00:06:11.100 for the Prairie Wrestling Alliance. A noble effort 00:06:11.100 --> 00:06:14.060 to give back. It was. But the promoter ultimately 00:06:14.060 --> 00:06:16.420 just pulls the plug before the promotion even 00:06:16.420 --> 00:06:19.060 gets off the ground. That's a heartbreaking indie 00:06:19.060 --> 00:06:21.879 wrestling reality right there. Promises are made, 00:06:22.259 --> 00:06:24.540 funding dries up, and the workers are left holding 00:06:24.540 --> 00:06:27.899 the bag. It's tough. But a true territory guy 00:06:27.899 --> 00:06:31.800 rarely stays away forever. By 1997, Wild West 00:06:31.800 --> 00:06:34.279 Wrestling starts running towns in Saskatchewan, 00:06:34.740 --> 00:06:37.139 and Cosman is drawn right back into the orbit. 00:06:37.399 --> 00:06:39.199 Here's where it gets really interesting, because 00:06:39.199 --> 00:06:42.240 his return sparks one of the most brilliant creative 00:06:42.240 --> 00:06:44.459 summits I've ever heard of. It's a great moment. 00:06:44.600 --> 00:06:47.259 It's 1997. The World Wrestling Federation is 00:06:47.259 --> 00:06:50.339 running a house show in Regina. Cosman is backstage. 00:06:51.019 --> 00:06:53.660 And he sits down to brainstorm a brand new persona 00:06:53.660 --> 00:06:57.360 with the specific goal of securing a WWF tryout. 00:06:57.800 --> 00:07:00.060 The holy grail. Right. And look at the minds 00:07:00.060 --> 00:07:02.279 in this room. It's Cosman, his old friend Bob 00:07:02.279 --> 00:07:04.990 Leonard, Bruce Hart and Owen Hart. That is an 00:07:04.990 --> 00:07:07.290 incredible gathering of wrestling intellect, 00:07:07.470 --> 00:07:09.689 just a massive amount of psychology in one room. 00:07:09.870 --> 00:07:11.670 I can only imagine the pitches bouncing off the 00:07:11.670 --> 00:07:14.250 walls. They recognized that pure work rate wasn't 00:07:14.250 --> 00:07:16.750 going to turn heads in the late 90s. W. W. S. 00:07:17.029 --> 00:07:19.410 You needed a gimmick with teeth. You needed a 00:07:19.410 --> 00:07:21.490 character that instantly provoked a visceral 00:07:21.490 --> 00:07:23.769 reaction from the crowd. You needed a character 00:07:23.769 --> 00:07:26.250 that people wanted to see get beat up. Exactly. 00:07:26.670 --> 00:07:29.290 They even pitched the resulting concept to Jim 00:07:29.290 --> 00:07:32.470 Cornet, who was heavily involved in WWF creative 00:07:32.470 --> 00:07:34.329 at the time. And they spent and the next couple 00:07:34.329 --> 00:07:37.230 of years refining it. So when stampede wrestling 00:07:37.230 --> 00:07:40.829 resurrects itself in 1999, John Cosman doesn't 00:07:40.829 --> 00:07:43.430 just return. No, he doesn't. He walks through 00:07:43.430 --> 00:07:46.889 the curtain as Principal Richard Pound, the tyrannical 00:07:46.889 --> 00:07:49.649 heel leader of a faction called the Honor Roll. 00:07:49.930 --> 00:07:53.089 As a heel gimmick. It is psychologically bulletproof. 00:07:53.389 --> 00:07:55.529 It's brilliant. Think about the mechanics of 00:07:55.529 --> 00:07:58.550 generating heat. A principle represents absolute, 00:07:58.949 --> 00:08:01.870 unquestionable authority. It taps into every 00:08:01.870 --> 00:08:04.670 fan's latent childhood resentment of arbitrary 00:08:04.670 --> 00:08:07.649 rules and strict discipline. Everyone had that 00:08:07.649 --> 00:08:09.689 one principle they couldn't stand. Right. So 00:08:09.689 --> 00:08:12.370 the moment he steps out, demanding silence, scolding 00:08:12.370 --> 00:08:15.350 the announcer or threatening detention, the crowd's 00:08:15.350 --> 00:08:18.110 instinct is pure rebellion. It's so visceral. 00:08:18.250 --> 00:08:21.290 It provides the baby faces with the perfect authoritarian 00:08:21.290 --> 00:08:24.430 regime to topple. It's a master class in working 00:08:24.430 --> 00:08:26.410 a crowd without having to take a single bump. 00:08:27.069 --> 00:08:30.860 And the heat was immediate. The fans absolutely 00:08:30.860 --> 00:08:33.620 despised him, which means the character was a 00:08:33.620 --> 00:08:36.120 massive success right out of the gate. A home 00:08:36.120 --> 00:08:38.399 run. He takes this momentum straight to the top 00:08:38.399 --> 00:08:42.480 of the card. In November 1999, he's in Calgary 00:08:42.480 --> 00:08:44.679 for a three way dance against Tiger Khan and 00:08:44.679 --> 00:08:48.720 Greg Pollock. He wins, walking out as the stampede. 00:08:48.909 --> 00:08:50.990 British Commonwealth mid -heavyweight champion. 00:08:51.070 --> 00:08:53.710 Which is a highly significant title. Huge. He 00:08:53.710 --> 00:08:56.169 was the first person to hold that specific belt 00:08:56.169 --> 00:08:58.470 since Stampede had previously closed a decade 00:08:58.470 --> 00:09:01.529 earlier. He essentially became the standard bearer 00:09:01.529 --> 00:09:03.809 for the promotion's revival. He wasn't done collecting 00:09:03.809 --> 00:09:06.590 hardware either. By April 2000, he's beating 00:09:06.590 --> 00:09:10.169 Tatanka. Tatanka? Yeah, a worker with major international 00:09:10.169 --> 00:09:12.710 TV exposure. He beats him to win the Stampede 00:09:12.710 --> 00:09:15.169 North American Heavyweight Championship. He is 00:09:15.169 --> 00:09:18.269 operating at his absolute peak. dripping in championship 00:09:18.269 --> 00:09:20.649 gold. But staying at the summit indefinitely 00:09:20.649 --> 00:09:23.029 is impossible in this business. The belts are 00:09:23.029 --> 00:09:25.230 narrative devices and they have to move to keep 00:09:25.230 --> 00:09:28.009 the territory fresh. The story has to keep moving. 00:09:28.429 --> 00:09:32.009 Always. By June 2000, he drops the mid -heavyweight 00:09:32.009 --> 00:09:35.269 title to Tiger Mahatma Khan. That one stings 00:09:35.269 --> 00:09:38.269 particularly hard because the winner earned a 00:09:38.269 --> 00:09:41.360 high -profile match against Sabu. Oh man. Yeah, 00:09:41.539 --> 00:09:43.679 missing out on working with an extreme icon like 00:09:43.679 --> 00:09:46.460 Sabu is a tough pill to swallow for any worker. 00:09:46.720 --> 00:09:48.340 And then the North American heavyweight title 00:09:48.340 --> 00:09:51.919 goes next. In April 2001, he loses it to Bruce 00:09:51.919 --> 00:09:54.940 Hart. His old brainstorming partner. The very 00:09:54.940 --> 00:09:57.340 guy who sat in that backstage room and helped 00:09:57.340 --> 00:09:59.340 him create the principal character. That's the 00:09:59.340 --> 00:10:01.919 poetry of the business. You build a monster together 00:10:01.919 --> 00:10:03.980 and then you tear it down together for the fans. 00:10:04.120 --> 00:10:06.460 It's a beautiful thing. But even as the local 00:10:06.460 --> 00:10:09.899 titles shifted, that ambition from the 1997 brainstorm 00:10:09.899 --> 00:10:12.720 was still burning. If we connect this to the 00:10:12.720 --> 00:10:15.440 bigger picture, you have to admire the relentless 00:10:15.440 --> 00:10:17.840 drive it takes to maintain your spot at the top 00:10:17.840 --> 00:10:20.440 of a territory while constantly angling for a 00:10:20.440 --> 00:10:22.620 look from the global leagues. He was getting 00:10:22.620 --> 00:10:26.779 agonizingly close too. May 2001, the WWF is in 00:10:26.779 --> 00:10:29.649 Alberta broadcasting Monday Night Raw. Cosman 00:10:29.649 --> 00:10:31.970 is backstage mingling with guys like Wild Man 00:10:31.970 --> 00:10:34.149 Gary Williams. Just being in that environment 00:10:34.149 --> 00:10:36.610 is huge. He doesn't get put on TV that night, 00:10:36.990 --> 00:10:40.009 but the networking pays off. The WWF invites 00:10:40.009 --> 00:10:42.450 him to an official tryout match in the Tacoma 00:10:42.450 --> 00:10:45.210 and Seattle area the very next month in June. 00:10:45.389 --> 00:10:48.129 Securing that tryout is a massive validation 00:10:48.129 --> 00:10:50.389 of his work. It proves he was firmly on the radar 00:10:50.389 --> 00:10:53.009 of the largest promotion in the world. The hard 00:10:53.009 --> 00:10:55.769 work paying off. And later that summer, in August, 00:10:56.090 --> 00:10:58.509 his reputation earns him a spot representing 00:10:58.509 --> 00:11:02.049 Stampede at the Brian Pillman Memorial Show in 00:11:02.049 --> 00:11:05.250 Cincinnati. That was a hugely respected interpromotional 00:11:05.250 --> 00:11:07.730 event. Working in front of the boys, honoring 00:11:07.730 --> 00:11:09.990 Pillman, he wrestles an East Coast Wrestling 00:11:09.990 --> 00:11:12.789 Association veteran, JR Ryder. Right. He doesn't 00:11:12.789 --> 00:11:15.019 get his hand raised. But simply being booked 00:11:15.019 --> 00:11:17.799 on that card speaks volumes. It absolutely does. 00:11:17.860 --> 00:11:20.159 It shows that even without national TV exposure, 00:11:20.399 --> 00:11:23.059 his peers across the industry knew exactly who 00:11:23.059 --> 00:11:25.440 Principal Richard Pound was. He was a known entity. 00:11:25.679 --> 00:11:27.980 He was navigating the very edge of the big time. 00:11:28.440 --> 00:11:31.820 By early 2002, he was even negotiating a UK tour 00:11:31.820 --> 00:11:34.700 with Wrestle Express. He was determined to keep 00:11:34.700 --> 00:11:37.360 his momentum going, proving that a regional talent 00:11:37.360 --> 00:11:40.220 could command international respect. And he kept 00:11:40.220 --> 00:11:42.899 that hustle alive. well into what we might call 00:11:42.899 --> 00:11:46.120 his twilight years in the ring. Around 2005, 00:11:46.480 --> 00:11:48.279 he steps away from Stampede and starts taking 00:11:48.279 --> 00:11:51.379 bookings across Western Canada. He eventually 00:11:51.379 --> 00:11:53.600 becomes the veteran anchor for High Impact Wrestling 00:11:53.600 --> 00:11:56.580 Canada, HIW, right back in Regina where it all 00:11:56.580 --> 00:11:59.049 started. Returning to his hometown territory 00:11:59.049 --> 00:12:02.250 allowed him to really lean into the kind of wild, 00:12:02.690 --> 00:12:05.049 localized storytelling that makes independent 00:12:05.049 --> 00:12:08.309 wrestling so deeply beloved by its die -hard 00:12:08.309 --> 00:12:11.590 fans. You want wild storytelling. Look at what 00:12:11.590 --> 00:12:14.610 happens in March 2006. He's booked in a two -night 00:12:14.610 --> 00:12:17.269 program with the legendary Honky Tonk Man. That's 00:12:17.269 --> 00:12:19.590 incredible. Night one is a tag match. Cosman 00:12:19.590 --> 00:12:22.070 and his partner Todd Myers take the loss against 00:12:22.070 --> 00:12:24.330 Big Daddy Cash and Honky. Sitting the stage. 00:12:24.649 --> 00:12:27.159 Night two is the payoff singles match. Principal 00:12:27.159 --> 00:12:30.059 Richard Pound versus the honky tonk man. A classic 00:12:30.059 --> 00:12:32.519 old school booking. Cosman takes the loss again, 00:12:32.519 --> 00:12:34.399 but it's the finish that makes it legendary. 00:12:35.080 --> 00:12:37.200 He loses because of outside interference from 00:12:37.200 --> 00:12:40.179 a heel manager. Yeah. And that manager. Tell 00:12:40.179 --> 00:12:42.820 him. Bob Leonard. The layers of irony there are 00:12:42.820 --> 00:12:45.779 just spectacular. Think about it. The man who 00:12:45.779 --> 00:12:49.000 vouched for him in 1984, the man who got him 00:12:49.000 --> 00:12:51.419 into the business, the guy sitting in the room 00:12:51.419 --> 00:12:54.360 when they created the principal gimmick, is now 00:12:54.360 --> 00:12:57.720 the on -screen villain executing a run -in to 00:12:57.720 --> 00:13:01.159 cost him a marquee match 22 years later. It perfectly 00:13:01.159 --> 00:13:03.539 illustrates the brilliant blurring of reality 00:13:03.539 --> 00:13:06.419 in kayfabe. They leveraged a legitimate decades 00:13:06.419 --> 00:13:09.100 -long brotherhood, twisted it into a betrayal 00:13:09.100 --> 00:13:11.720 narrative, and gave the Regina fans an incredibly 00:13:11.720 --> 00:13:14.080 memorable finish. That's so good. That requires 00:13:14.080 --> 00:13:16.840 immense trust between two performers. You only 00:13:16.840 --> 00:13:18.559 do that kind of angle with someone you consider 00:13:18.559 --> 00:13:21.440 family. It's pure magic, and his commitment to 00:13:21.440 --> 00:13:23.919 the region extended way beyond the ring itself. 00:13:24.000 --> 00:13:26.950 He was everywhere. The very next month, April 00:13:26.950 --> 00:13:30.009 2006, he travels to Memramcook, New Brunswick. 00:13:30.009 --> 00:13:32.210 Okay. He's attending a recognition night banquet 00:13:32.210 --> 00:13:34.269 for the Cormier Wrestling Brothers. Yeah. But 00:13:34.269 --> 00:13:36.509 get this set up. The event also doubles as a 00:13:36.509 --> 00:13:39.169 bluegrass music festival. Ain't Andy. A fundraiser 00:13:39.169 --> 00:13:41.250 for the local volunteer fire department. That 00:13:41.250 --> 00:13:43.450 is the quintessential grassroots experience right 00:13:43.450 --> 00:13:46.230 there. Right. It highlights how deeply integrated 00:13:46.230 --> 00:13:48.549 these workers were in their communities. It wasn't 00:13:48.549 --> 00:13:51.649 just a gig. It was a lifestyle. You've got wrestling 00:13:51.649 --> 00:13:54.850 veterans like Rick Martel and Emile Dupre eating 00:13:54.850 --> 00:13:57.529 dinner to the sound of banjos to help buy fire 00:13:57.529 --> 00:13:59.830 equipment. You simply don't get that level of 00:13:59.830 --> 00:14:01.649 community fabric in the corporate league. No, 00:14:01.649 --> 00:14:05.529 you don't. It is a wildly specific subculture. 00:14:05.690 --> 00:14:08.230 He stayed in the thick of it for years, winning 00:14:08.230 --> 00:14:11.409 the Puyallup Bones Rumble in 2009, outlasting 00:14:11.409 --> 00:14:15.090 29 other guys in his hometown. Incredible stamina. 00:14:15.210 --> 00:14:18.309 But the bump card eventually fills up. The physical 00:14:18.309 --> 00:14:22.639 toll is undeniable. In October 2013, he works 00:14:22.639 --> 00:14:25.000 his final match against a longtime rival named 00:14:25.000 --> 00:14:28.000 King Cash. Shortly after, illness forced him 00:14:28.000 --> 00:14:30.419 into an unexpected retirement. A forced exit 00:14:30.419 --> 00:14:33.000 is always a bitter pill for a worker. When your 00:14:33.000 --> 00:14:35.019 body or your health makes the decision for you, 00:14:35.120 --> 00:14:37.279 it leaves a lot of unresolved emotion. It'd have 00:14:37.279 --> 00:14:39.679 to be incredibly tough to process. But the industry 00:14:39.679 --> 00:14:41.460 makes sure he got his flowers while he was still 00:14:41.460 --> 00:14:44.580 around to appreciate them. In 2014, the Cauliflower 00:14:44.580 --> 00:14:47.320 Alley Club which is a highly prestigious fraternal 00:14:47.320 --> 00:14:49.879 organization for wrestlers, honored him with 00:14:49.879 --> 00:14:52.279 their Men's Wrestling Award. A huge honor from 00:14:52.279 --> 00:14:55.639 his peers. And in October 2015, HIW officially 00:14:55.639 --> 00:14:57.960 inducted him into their Hall of Fame at the Monster 00:14:57.960 --> 00:15:00.419 Brawl event in Regina. And his inductor, Bob 00:15:00.419 --> 00:15:03.460 Leonard. Wow. Bringing the entire journey completely 00:15:03.460 --> 00:15:06.919 full circle. It's incredibly poetic. John Cosman 00:15:06.919 --> 00:15:10.139 sadly passed away a year later on November 28th, 00:15:10.139 --> 00:15:13.649 2016, at just 52 years old. Far too young. Far 00:15:13.649 --> 00:15:17.090 too young. So what does this all mean? When you 00:15:17.090 --> 00:15:19.330 look at the journey from a fan in the Regina 00:15:19.330 --> 00:15:22.490 grandstands to the despised principal Richard 00:15:22.490 --> 00:15:25.850 Pound, it's a testament to unyielding dedication. 00:15:26.289 --> 00:15:28.250 I want you to really think about the passion 00:15:28.250 --> 00:15:30.690 it takes to grind in that regional circuit. It 00:15:30.690 --> 00:15:32.879 takes a special kind of person. the humility 00:15:32.879 --> 00:15:35.360 to take those first agonizing bumps in freezing 00:15:35.360 --> 00:15:38.080 maritime arenas, the quiet resilience to put 00:15:38.080 --> 00:15:40.440 on a security uniform when the promotion folds, 00:15:40.919 --> 00:15:43.379 keeping the fire alive in the dark, and the sheer 00:15:43.379 --> 00:15:45.419 creative genius to sit down with your friends 00:15:45.419 --> 00:15:47.419 and reinvent yourself into a character that makes 00:15:47.419 --> 00:15:49.539 people buy a ticket just to yell at you. Success 00:15:49.539 --> 00:15:52.279 in this business isn't exclusively measured by 00:15:52.279 --> 00:15:54.820 WrestleMania main events or global merchandising 00:15:54.820 --> 00:15:58.580 deals. Sometimes true success is becoming the 00:15:58.580 --> 00:16:01.419 absolute undisputed pillar of your own territory. 00:16:01.419 --> 00:16:04.320 I completely agree. John Cosman was a champion, 00:16:04.600 --> 00:16:06.919 a locker room leader, and a hometown legend who 00:16:06.919 --> 00:16:10.320 kept the local scene breathing for decades. And 00:16:10.320 --> 00:16:12.320 this raises an important question for you to 00:16:12.320 --> 00:16:14.779 consider as we wrap up today's deep dive. Lay 00:16:14.779 --> 00:16:17.370 it on us. Think about the entertainment, the 00:16:17.370 --> 00:16:20.009 arts, or the industries you consume daily. We 00:16:20.009 --> 00:16:22.309 always celebrate the billionaires and the megastars 00:16:22.309 --> 00:16:25.230 at the very top. But how much of that massive 00:16:25.230 --> 00:16:27.909 industry's foundation is actually built on the 00:16:27.909 --> 00:16:30.529 backs of thousands of local dedicated principal 00:16:30.529 --> 00:16:33.909 Richard Pounds, the unsung regional heroes who 00:16:33.909 --> 00:16:36.009 keep the art form alive in their hometowns when 00:16:36.009 --> 00:16:38.429 the cameras aren't rolling. That is a fascinating 00:16:38.429 --> 00:16:40.350 thread to pull on. It really makes you appreciate 00:16:40.350 --> 00:16:43.110 the local guys in every field. Exactly. We want 00:16:43.110 --> 00:16:44.950 to thank you so much for joining us to explore. 00:16:44.840 --> 00:16:47.340 the incredible life and legacy of John Cosman. 00:16:47.779 --> 00:16:49.379 We hope you enjoyed this journey through the 00:16:49.379 --> 00:16:51.679 trenches of the squared circle. Thanks for listening. 00:16:52.000 --> 00:16:54.860 Until next time, keep digging deeper and we'll 00:16:54.860 --> 00:16:56.240 catch you on the next deep dive.