Welcome to the deep dive. Imagine for a moment
that you are a kid. OK. Sitting in the bleachers
of your local arena, you're surrounded by the
smell of stale popcorn, a spilled beer, and you
are just cheering at the absolute top of your
lungs for these larger than life heroes stepping
through the ropes. It's an intoxicating environment,
especially when you're young. Exactly. You are
completely hooked. Now, I want you to imagine
growing up to actually cross that barricade,
stepping inside the ring yourself and eventually
becoming one of the most dominant. iconic villains
in the entire canadian independent wrestling
scene yeah that is quite the pivot it really
is and that is exactly the journey we are taking
you on today we are exploring the fascinating
life the grueling career and the undeniable legacy
of john cosman and if you follow the squared
circle particularly up in the canadian prairies
you definitely know him oh absolutely you know
him by the name that drew massive heat for over
a decade principal richard pound It really is
a remarkable story of just pure perseverance
and reinvention. And to guide us today, the source
material we are working with is a very comprehensive
Wikipedia article. It details his life, his championships,
his decades -long career. It paints a highly
vivid picture. And, you know, when we think of
professional wrestling's history, the tendency
is to immediately focus on the global megastars.
The guys headlining the massive pay -per -views,
sure. Exactly. But if you truly want to understand
the lifeblood of this industry, you really have
to look at the regional mainstays. The true backbone
of the business is built on the shoulders of
workers like John Cosman. The guys carrying the
territory night after night. Right. These are
the guys who mentor the green talent and they
keep that grassroots passion for the sport alive
when the national cameras aren't rolling. Okay,
let's unpack this because to understand the principle,
we really have to start with the fan. Makes sense.
So John Cosman was born in Regina, Saskatchewan
on August 28th, 1964. And his origin story starts
right there in the audience. Just a kid in the
crowd. Yeah. He grew up going to local house
shows with his father, just taking in the incredible
spectacle of it all. And if you have ever sat
in the crowd and thought to yourself, you know,
I want to do that. Oh, yeah. You know exactly
the kind of obsession that starts to take root.
And that proximity to the local scene. It led
to a really crucial connection for him. Cosman
didn't just, you know, buy a ticket and go home.
Right, he hung around. He embedded himself in
the local wrestling community. And he eventually
struck up a very close friendship with Bob Leonard.
That is a huge name in that era. Absolutely.
A highly respected wrestling photographer. And
in the territory days, the boys didn't just let
anyone into the inner circle. It was a very protected
business back then. Highly protected. Who you
knew was really the only way to get a foot in
the door. And in 1984, Bob Leonard opened that
door for him. He introduced Cosman to an absolute
legend, Archie Gouldy. Archie Gouldy, the Mongolian
stomper himself. Yep. That is, I mean, that is
not a light introduction. You don't just walk
into a gym with a guy like that and ask to play
wrestler. No, you definitely do not. But Cosman,
he was a big guy. He was six foot zero. build
at 240 pounds and he was ready to bump he began
training under gouldy shortly after that introduction
which had to be intense oh incredibly they worked
together for six ruling months before cosman
finally made his professional debut in stampede
wrestling in that six months of training under
someone as notoriously tough as gouldy that would
have been a total trial by fire Our sources note
his debut in Stampede was in early 1985. Though
I think some records say it might have been slightly
earlier. Yeah, some historical records suggest
he might have actually started taking bookings
as early as October 1983. But regardless of the
exact date, once he crossed the ropes, he hit
the traditional unforgiving wrestling circuit.
The grind. The real grind. We're talking about
packing into a car and doing the Maritimes loop
during the summer with Emile Dupre's Grand Prix
wrestling. And he wasn't Cosman then, right?
He was working under the ring named Danny Young.
Exactly. Danny Young. I just find it so fascinating
to picture him. paying his dues on those long
tours, like seven days a week, setting up the
ring, working a match, tearing it down and driving
hundreds of miles to the next town. It weeds
out the people who don't truly love it very quickly.
Yeah. And he didn't limit himself to just Canada.
He followed his mentors, Archie Goldie and Leo
Burke, all the way down to Texas. Right, worked
for Joe Blanchard. Yeah. So he was getting this
incredibly diverse, hands -on education, learning
how to work entirely different crowds in completely
different territories. Because that is how you
learn the craft before there were these centralized
developmental systems we see today. You had to
work different regions to understand psychology.
Learn what makes people tick in Texas versus
Nova Scotia. Precisely. But eventually, he found
his primary home. For the next five years, Cosman
worked almost exclusively for Stampede Wrestling
out of Western Canada. Becoming a real trusted
mainstay for them. Very trusted. He had a notable,
very fierce, gritty feud with Kerry Brown during
that time. And he stayed dedicated to Stampede
right up until the promotion had to close its
doors in 1990. And that brings us to a massive,
really sobering shift in his story. Stampede
closes in 1990. The bottom falls out. It's devastating
for the local guys. If you've ever had to pivot
your career in your late 20s or early 30s, you
can imagine the weight of this moment. You dedicate
your entire life to a highly specific physical
skill, and suddenly the market for it in your
area just vanishes. And to understand why that
happened, you really have to look at the macroeconomics
of wrestling at the time. By 1990, Vince McMahon's
national expansion had essentially crushed the
traditional territory system. Yeah, it just couldn't
compete with the cable TV money. Local promotions
couldn't compete with the production value of
national television, period. So when Stampede
closed, it wasn't just a business shuttering.
It was an entire regional ecosystem collapsing.
So what does he do? Cosman retired from the ring.
He transitioned into civilian life, working as
a security guard for the next several years.
Wow. You go from drawing heat in front of packed
arenas to walking a quiet beat in a uniform.
The contrast is incredibly stark. It really highlights
the precarious nature of the independent wrestling
business. There was absolutely no safety net.
You have to wonder how much that just ate at
him on those quiet shifts. Oh, I'm sure it did.
Because he did try to dip his toes back into
the business on the training side in 1995. He
and another worker named Venom spent three months
training a new crop of talent for the Prairie
Wrestling Alliance. But that didn't pan out,
did it? No. The promoter ultimately pulled the
plug, and the project was scrapped before it
even got off the ground. It's the constant stop
-and -start reality of the indie scene. But Cosman
clearly couldn't shake the bug. By 1997, he starts
getting involved with Wild West Wrestling when
they began running towns in Saskatchewan. Shaking
off the ring rust. Exactly. Here's where it gets
really interesting because the true turning point
of his career doesn't happen in a ring at all.
No, it happens backstage. Right. Backstage at
a World Wrestling Federation house show in Regina,
Cosman is hanging out with his old friend Bob
Leonard, and they're joined behind the curtain
by actual wrestling royalty Bruce and Owen Hart.
It's just a fascinating scenario to picture.
You have this massive corporate WWF machine running
a show, and off in the corner, these Canadian
prairie legends are just putting their heads
together. Brainstorming. Right. They were brainstorming
a brand new in -ring persona. for Cosman. Something
distinct that could potentially secure him a
tryout with the WWF office. They understood that
being a good hand wasn't enough anymore. You
needed a gimmick that popped. And what they came
up with was brilliant. The character of Principal
Richard Pound. It's so good. But hold on. If
he had the hearts helping him and he even had
conversations with Jim Cornette about this concept
for the WWF, why didn't he just hold out for
a spot in New York? Why bring the character back
to the Indies? Because the machine doesn't just
hand you a spot based on a backstage pitch. A
tryout is just an opportunity to get looked at.
Right. You have to prove it works. Exactly. Cosman
needed a place to actually hone the principal
character in front of a live crowd. He needed
reps to figure out the mannerisms, the cadence
of the promos, how the crowd would react. You
can't workshop that on national television. That
makes perfect sense. So in 1999, Bruce Hart reopens
Stampede Wrestling and Cosman makes his grand
debut as Principal Richard Pound. And he doesn't
just debut. No, he dominates. He immediately
becomes one of the top heels in the territory.
forms a faction with the absolute perfect name,
the Honor Roll. It's brilliant. If you think
about the psychology of an authority figure heel.
It is incredibly effective. The strict, condescending
principal figure draws immediate visceral heat
because it's universally relatable. We all have
that teacher. Everyone in that crowd has had
a run -in with a disciplinarian. Cosman wasn't
just relying on his physical size anymore. He
was utilizing elite -level psychology. He would
talk down to the audience, grade his opponents,
and just use that innate human resentment of
authority to control the room. It's a masterclass
in character work, and the promoters recognized
it because the gold quickly followed the gimmick.
Oh, absolutely. Let's look at the timeline, because
the turn of the millennium was an absolute peak
for him. On November 5th, 1999, he's in a three
-way dance in Calgary against Tigrecon and Greg
Pollock. Cosman wins, capturing the Stampede
British Commonwealth Mid -Heavyweight Championship.
Which was a big deal. A huge deal. He was the
first person to hold that title since the original
promotion closed 10 years prior. Putting a revived
championship on a new character is a massive
sign of trust from the booking committee. They
trusted him to legitimize that belt and carry
the legacy of the promotion. And he proved them
right. A few months later, in April of 2000,
he reaches the top of the mountain. He defeats
Tatanka to win the Stampede North American Heavyweight
Championship. What's fascinating here is the
strategy behind that specific booking. Tatanka
was a globally recognized television star with
significant WWF exposure. Everyone knew him.
Right. So for a regional indie territory like
Stampede, bringing in a name like Tatanka and
having your homegrown heel, Principal Pound,
defeat him, it does something crucial. It elevates
the local guy. It tells the local audience that
your champion is on the exact same level as the
guys they see on cable TV. It legitimizes the
entire territory. It's the ultimate rub. And
it kept Cosman hovering right on the edge of
the global stage. In May of 2001, when the WWF
was touring Alberta, Cosman was invited backstage
at Monday Night Raw alongside other Canadian
indie standouts like Wildman Gary Williams. Exactly.
Being invited backstage at Raw isn't just a courtesy,
it's an evaluation. They're sizing you up. Yes.
And that presence led directly to the WWF bringing
him down for a formal tryout match in the Washington
area, Tacoma or Seattle the very next month.
Wow. Furthermore, his reputation as a standard
bearer for Stampede was so solid that he was
chosen to represent the promotion at the fourth
annual Brian Pillman Memorial Show in Cincinnati,
Ohio in August of 2001. And that Pillman Memorial
show, that was a highly respected interpromotional
event. It brought together workers from all the
major companies and the top indies. It was a
big stage. Cosmin wrestled East Coast Wrestling
Association veteran J .R. Ryder on that card.
It just proves that even if he wasn't the guy
on your TV screen every week, he was deeply respected
by his peers across the entire industry. But
wrestling is always a cycle. The title picture
shifted, as it always does. Yeah. He dropped
the mid -heavyweight title to Tiger Mahatma Khan
in June of 2000 in a match where the winner actually
earned the right to face Sabu. Oh, wow. And he
eventually dropped the North American title to
his collaborator, Bruce Hart, in April 2001 after
a nearly year -long reign. Which transitions
us into the twilight years of his career. But
we aren't talking about a guy quietly fading
away here. Not at all. In 2002, he was negotiating
with Sonny Onu to do a tour of Great Britain
with Wrestle Express. In 2003, he is back in
the ring with Bruce Hart, working the undercard
of the monumental Stampede Wrestling 50th anniversary
show in Calgary. He was still grinding. a true
testament to his longevity and his love for the
business. In late 2004, he was battling guys
like Wavell Starr and Zack Mercury in Renegade
Wrestling. Keep him busy. Very. He officially
left Stampede in 2005, but he just kept touring
Western Canada, bringing the principal persona
to various independent promotions. And one of
the most prominent homes for him in this later
era was High Impact Wrestling Canada, or HIW,
operating right out of his hometown of Regina.
This is where the storytelling gets so deeply
personal and dramatic. Yeah, I want to slow down
and look at... March of 2006 for a second. Yes,
the Honky Tonk Man angle. Yeah. This is local
booking at its absolute finest. It really is.
So Cosman's working for HIW, and he's in a tag
match. He teams with tailor -made Todd Myers
against Big Daddy Cash and the Honky Tonk Man.
Cosman's team takes the loss. But the very next
night, they book Cosman in a singles match against
Honky Tonk Man. And this is where the psychology
of real -life history is weaponized for an angle.
Exactly. Cosmin loses the singles match, but
not clean. He loses thanks to outside interference.
And the person who interferes and costs him the
match. Bob Leonard. Bob Leonard, his lifelong
friend. The photographer who introduced him to
Archie Gouldy decades ago. The man who sat backstage
with him in the hearts to create the principal
persona in the first place. Bob Leonard turns
on him. When you think about the emotional investment
of a hometown crowd, that is the ultimate betrayal.
They knew the history. The Regina audience knew
the real life history between Cosman and Leonard.
When you weave that authentic, decades -long
friendship into the narrative of a match, it
creates a visceral reaction that you simply cannot
manufacture with a fake storyline. It's so good.
It shows how deeply embedded Cosman and his circle
were in crafting compelling local drama. It makes
the local shows feel just as important as anything
happening in a massive stadium. But outside the
ring, thankfully, that brotherhood remained completely
intact. The wrestling fraternity is a very unique
bond. It really is. Just a month later, in April
2006, Cosmin attended a recognition night banquet
in Memrum Cook, New Brunswick. That was a highly
unique gathering. It was part of a bluegrass
music festival and a fundraiser for the local
volunteer fire department. Talk about a local
vibe. Yeah. They were honoring the legendary
Cormier brothers, Leo, Yvonne, Rudy K., and Bobby
K. Cosman was there rubbing shoulders with promoters
like Al Zink and Bov Leonard, alongside legends
like Emile Dupri, Hubert Gallant, Rick Martel,
and Butcher Vachon. It's just a beautiful portrait
of the community behind the curtain. These men
spent their lives battering each other in the
ring, drawing blood and sweat. And here they
are coming together for a fire department fundraiser
and a bluegrass festival. It really humanizes
the grueling reality of the business. It absolutely
does. But the physical toll of that business,
it's inescapable. You can only take so many bumps.
Your body keeps the score. After a two -year
absence from HAW, Cosman returned in July 2009
for the Pilo Bones Rumble X8. And in true veteran
fashion, he didn't just return. He won the entire
30 -man rumble. An incredible high note. But
time is the one opponent nobody goes over on.
We march forward to October 2013, back in Regina.
Cosman wrestles his final match against his longtime
rival, King Cash. An end of an era. Just a couple
of weeks after that bout, he was forced to officially
retire due to illness. The final bell had rung
on a nearly three -decade career. Wow. 30 years.
So what does this all mean? When we look back
at the entirety of John Cosman's life, what is
the final ledger of his legacy? The accolades
speak to a deeply respected career. He was a
four -time HIW Central Canadian Heavyweight Champion.
He held the GDW Championship. Tons of hardware.
And in 2014, he was recognized by his peers on
a massive scale when he received the Men's Wrestling
Award from the Cauliflower Alley Club, which
is a highly prestigious fraternal organization
for professional wrestlers. That's a huge honor.
It's an acknowledgement from the boys that you
put in the work and respected the business. And
the emotional climax of his journey happened
in October 2015. At HIW's Monster Brawl event
in Regina, John Cosman was officially inducted
into the HIW Hall of Fame, and the man who inducted
him, his longtime friend, his occasional on -screen
rival, and the man who helped start it all back
in the 80s, Bob Leonard. An incredibly poignant
bookend to their story. Sadly, just over a year
later, on November 28, 2016, John Cosman passed
away at the age of 52. Yeah. If we connect this
to the bigger picture, Cosman's story transcends
the mechanical details of a wrestling career.
This is a narrative about a man who dedicated
his entire life to a highly demanding art form.
Through all the ups and downs. He experienced
the gritty realities of touring the continent
and the harsh economic lows of pivoting to a
security guard when the territory system collapsed.
Yet he persevered. He literally reinvented himself
into the principal. And in doing so, he left
an indelible mark on the Canadian independent
sports scene. You really did. This raises an
important question for all of us about how we
define and view success within our own fields.
John Cosman didn't become a wealthy fixture on
global cable television. He wasn't on stadium
billboards. But he became a legitimate, feared,
and respected legend in his own territory. He
achieved exactly what that kid sitting in the
stands with his dad dreamed of doing. He commanded
the ring and made the crowd feel something unforgettable.
That is beautifully stated. And as we wrap up
today, I want to leave you with a thought to
mull over that stems from Cosman's localized
legacy. We just talked about a man who built
an absolute dynasty of character work in the
prairies, largely outside the view of the global
Internet machine. Right. With the way modern
technology and social media have completely globalized
everything from sports to music, you have to
wonder, will we ever see another true territory
legend like Cosmin? Or is the era of the deeply
rooted hometown hero, the person who can be a
massive star in one province and walk down the
street unnoticed in another, is that gone forever?
As our world gets smaller, are we losing the
magic of the local legend? That's a great question.
Thank you so much for joining us on this deep
dive into the life and career of Principal Richard
Pound. It's been a privilege to analyze his journey
with you. Take care and keep exploring.