Promotion

# Great White North Wrestling

Great White North Wrestling (GWN) is a Canadian regional promotion, headquartered in Toronto. The promotion regularly travels throughout Southern Ontario and Western Quebec to put on shows, working a circuit that includes multiple regular venues in the Greater Toronto Area, as well as trips as far west as Thunder Bay, as far east as Quebec City, with four major pay-per-view shows a year (two in Toronto, one in Ottawa, and one in Montreal). The owner (and head of Creative) is Gary Booker, who once worked as head of creative for World Elite Wrestling (WEW) but quit to start his own promotion after becoming frustrated with WEW’s inability to get with the times.

## Supports and Struggles

### Cable TV Deal

While GWN isn’t a huge promotion - it’s bigger than some, but smaller than the really big fish in the industry - they’ve actually got a weekly TV deal (Wednesday nights on TSN!), thanks to Booker’s (now ex-) marriage to a major exec at Bell Media. They’re only two years into a 20-year deal, so Booker’s ex couldn’t get rid of them if he tried… but that doesn’t stop him finding other, petty ways to express his frustration, like (so far) ensuring that the show only airs in markets that GWN actually performs in.

### Inclusive Culture

Gary firmly believes in the principle that anyone can get over if Creative gives them the right material; further, he spent years making friends out of many of the better creative minds in the business. What this means is that the creative team can work with wrestlers of all stripes, and have mastered the art of turning a performer’s perceived weaknesses into strengths and giving genuine opportunities to anyone who’s willing to work.

### Green as Grass Roster

Gary’s departure from WEW was the sort of epic bridge-burning that filled the dirt sheets for weeks. Unfortunately, it’s had the side effect of WEW’s management quietly making it clear that they’ll blacklist anyone in the industry who “shoulda known better than to work for that asshole upstart”. While he’s managed to attract a few veterans through personal and family connections, many experienced independent wrestlers gave him a pass. As a result, the bulk of the roster is made up of rookies who figure they wouldn’t have a shot at the big leagues until after everyone’s forgotten the drama anyway and graduates the Booker Academy.

### Hostile Silent Partner

Gary’s ex-husband Jack still has his position at Bell Media, and by all reports it was a pretty ugly split. Fortunately for GWN, Jack can’t get their TV deal canceled without cause, but having a TV exec who’s looking for an excuse to shut you down puts some handcuffs on what the promotion can let its performers get away with on-camera.

After Episode 3, GWN adds

### National Reach

GWN now books shows all across Canada, attracting crowds outside their "core" area and getting requests from fans to come to their city. Still no INTERNATIONAL shows and all the paperwork (and opportunities!) that involves, but you can now see people from Vancouver to St Johns rocking GWN gear. It also means we get more attention, good and bad, from dirt sheets and online wrestling fans.

### Mythic Moments

From now on, any roll that is a natural 12+ on 2d6+stat (or a natural 12 on 2d6 even with a stat penalty) can be a Mythic Moment. The performer spends ALL their Momentum (minimum 1) and uses the Mythic version of the result (page 131). This is a moment that will be included in your highlight reel, and probably in your promotion's graphics, forever.

Each Move can only be made Mythic \*once\* between each Promotion tier-up. So far, no moves have been made Mythic in the current set.

After Episode 6, GWN adds

### Motivated Roster

GWN's performers are often very new to the trade, but pro-wrestling at GWN is what they want to do. They're willing to tolerate low pay, lousy accommodations, and minimal expense accounts to make sure that the promotion does well.

## Championships

### GWN Nine Provinces Championship

With a lineage that dates back to the very first years of kayfabe wrestling (it was created in 1925, when Newfoundland was still a British territory), the 9P Championship spent most of the 20th century with the Booker Family’s Rodeo Wrestling. When Gary decided to go bigger, his brother Greg came on as head trainer - and brought the belt with him. The current holder is Jennifer “Bonesaw” McGraw, the fan-favorite daughter of famous old-school wrestler Jeb “Bonesaw” McGraw.

### Confederation Cup

Actually a trophy rather than a belt, the Confederation Cup is vacated every year on July 1; a tournament is held over the next two months to determine the new cup holder, and then it’s defended like any other championship until the next July. Whoever is holding the Cup when it’s vacated becomes the #1 contender for the 9P Championship at the August show in Ottawa. The current holder is Silvio “La Serpiente” Ortiz, who threatens to take it back to Mexico as “revenge for the atrocity you Canadians call poutine”.

### GWN East to West Championship

The promotion’s tag titles, it’s tradition (insofar as a championship only a year old can have traditions) that the East to West Championship is always defended in a match with some form of stipulation: in the last 12 months there have been cage matches, no-disqualification matches, triple threats, and a variety of other ‘gimmick’ matches. The current holders are the Free Rai team of Amano Rai and Mark Freeman, who won the belts in a grueling “I Quit” match and recently made waves on social media by showing them off in their wedding photos.