YORKTON - You could start an extended discussion by asking many people whether professional wrestling is a sport.
For the purpose of this week’s article at least I am suggesting it qualifies because I want to shed some light on a new documentary that I, as someone who grew up watching Stampede Wrestling any Saturday farm work did not get in the way of is most certainly intrigued to see.
If you liked the bad guys of wrestling you would have loved The Great Gama Singh when I was younger and watching the weekly bouts out of Calgary.
I was a good guy fan; Danny Kroffat probably my favourite, so I was probably booing every dirty trick Singh managed back then.
At that point Dad was keeping wrestling in the same vein as Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny but for me – it was all real.
Of course now the realities that come with age have shown reindeer sadly can’t fly, Easter bunnies do not hide chocolate eggs for us to find, and wrestling is choreographed like a Russian ballet with about the same level of athleticism.
But that doesn’t mean wrestlers don’t have stories to tell, which brings me to ‘Singhs in the Ring’ a new documentary which delves into the life of Gama Singh, best-known for his time wrestling with Canadian Stampede Wrestling .
The film featuring wrestling stars such as Bret Hart, Chelsea Green, and Jinder Mahal,
Producer Shane Fennessey is one of the driving forces behind the film. Noted for heading to China in 2018, to explore the history of ice hockey in the country leading up to the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, and co-produced two feature documentaries: Making Coco: The Grant Fuhr Story on Edmonton Oilers dynasty goaltender Grant Fuhr, and The Bailey Experience, about Canadian Olympic gold medal sprinter, Donovan Bailey, the Singh film was a natural to get involved with.
Fennessey said Gamma Singh was “the first of his family born in Canada,” and when a youth as he watched television “there were not that many brown athletes for him to key onto.”
Gamma Singh would become that person for others when he eventually took to the pro wrestling ring, someone youth could see, recognize and aspire to become.
That doesn’t mean it was easy for Singh who was largely blazing a new path.
Fennessey said an important facet of the film “is what he went through – the hardships.”
It’s also a story about family.
“He (Gamma) had the opportunity for a much bigger career with the WWE,” said Fennessey, but instead he stayed around Calgary to be with family.
Fennessey said being able to fully delve into the story of the family was essential in taking on the project, to the point they asked the question “is everything on the table,” to talk about.
He added after seeing the film the family was “a little embarrassed” noting “they are very humble people.”
The film has been making its rounds showing at a few film festivals, and Fennessey said the response has been positive.
And bigger things lie on the horizon, with the film headed to Crave this month (October 20), and work ongoing to take the film to India.
