SPORTS
Volume 19 No. 2 OTTAWA, ONTARIO FEBRUARY 2009 – SECTION B
Crusher Kline Cryderman tackles
dream job in squared circle
ity to run shows there. It was visitor
JOHNATHAN MONK
The Ottawa Construction News
friendly, complete with dorm rooms and a
full kitchen “so you could stay there full
Plenty of middle-aged men grew up in ride while you were learning.”
Canada idolizing Hulk Hogan during the As it turned out, Snow proved to be a
World Wrestling Federation superstar’s hands-on trainer, genuinely focused on
heyday in the 80s. helping his students perfect their in-ring
However, not many wanted to be him so abilities.
badly that they dropped everything and set Cryderman developed a strong and last-
off on their way to the land of opportunity ing friendship with Snow and wound up
to become him. living in a back room of his facility for
But that’s precisely what Wayne Cry- eight years.
derman did. Snow’s story is, interestingly, quite sim-
Now 40, Cryderman bolted from the ilar to that of Cryderman’s.
comfy confines of Osgoode, Ontario and Snow had decided he wanted to pursue
took flight to pursue his dream in the U.S. professional wrestling by the age of 14 but
with barely a penny in his pocket when he had a difficult time breaking into the busi-
was just a young man coming out of col- ness.
lege. He eventually attended a professional
After playing a year of football at wrestling tryout camp held by Ole and
Mount Allison University, Cryderman got Gene Anderson where he met Jim Lan-
himself in shape, saved up some money caster, a promoter of Ohio’s Midwest
and headed out on his mission in life. He Championship Wrestling. Lancaster agreed
scouted various wrestling schools to deter- to train the youngster.
mine which one would give him the proper Snow toured all over the world and fol-
training. lowing a tour of Japan, he made his Ex-
His search eventually landed him in treme Championship Wrestling debut as
Lima, Ohio. Body Slammers was a rep- “The Snowman” Al Snow. From there, he
utable training facility run by none other wrestled for Smoky Mountain Wrestling
than then-WWF star Al Snow. and eventually the WWF. During his time
“I didn’t know who Al Snow was,” Cry- with WWF, Snow performed under the
derman recalls with a chuckle, admitting he gimmicks of Shinobi, Avatar and Leif Cas-
wasn’t a follower of the independent circuit sidy. Snow added another gimmick to his
at that time. “Al was just a genuine, repertoire — a mascot mannequin’s head
straightforward, nice guy. He sat me down — and his WWF career took off.
and said I’ll teach you everything I know Under Snow’s tutelage, Cryderman was
and the rest will be up to you.” ready for his first big fight. And it was a
Snow’s facility was in an old theatre that
sat about 300 people, allowing for the abil-
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Continued on page B3
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