When Steve Ingraham was growing up in Quesnel, he would play in the woods around Barlow Creek. When his alter-ego needed a name for striking fear into the hearts of opponents and drawing fans to identify with his entertainment wrestler persona, he reached back to those Cariboo kid days and cut off a slice of nostalgia. He became the Barlow Creek Butcher.
In his last bout, a Primetime Entertainment two-day wrestling event at the Prince George Civic Centre, the Barlow Creek Butcher went in with a bloodthirsty attitude and came out with a championship belt around his meat chopper’s apron.
“The highlight of the event was the first-ever Northwestern title change, as the Barlow Creek Butcher triumphed over Brayden Goss in a thrilling match that had the audience on the edge of their seats,” said Primetime Entertainment CEO Davy Greenlees.
“This is the very first singles title I’ve ever held,” said Ingraham, after the blood and sweat had been mopped up. “I just show up every day, work hard, and see what happens. Vance Nevada (Canadian Wrestling Hall of Famer) is a real mastermind in our locker room and he told me it was my time, to take the ball and run with it, and I came out with the Primetime Northwestern Championship. So now I have to represent the company as well as myself.”
The Barlow Creek Butcher has certainly been slicing and dicing his way into contention. Ingraham got into various rings about 50 times, last year, a staggering number for a northern B.C.-based character. He has been on the marquee for events by CanAm Wrestling, Vancouver Island Pro Wrestling, Thrash Wrestling, Big West Wrestling, and now he is also assisting with the coaching that Primetime does at their new training facility in Prince George, helping the next newcomers while also honing his own skills.
Ingraham’s development started with the captivating fantasy so many kids have when they first witness the grand athletic theatre of entertainment wrestling.
“I started watching wrestling when I was five, and it’s been a dream of mine since I was that age,” he said.
While generations of kids imagine being a wrestler, and even play at it with their friends, sometimes, Ingraham was serious about it. When he moved to Vancouver in his youth and met someone who did the training, the dominos were tipped over. He went to see how the rehearsals were done, joined in, then signed on with Elite Canadian Championship Wrestling as a future candidate.
After awhile, he moved to Calgary specifically to work with legendary Canadian wrestler-turned-coach Lance Storm who he now calls “an excellent trainer” whose lessons still form his career development.
He took some stints off from wrestling, citing mental health recharging and starting a family, as primary reasons.
On the most recent Primetime marquee with him was fellow Quesnel wrestler Rebel Knoxville, whom Ingraham credits with personal and professional support.
“Rebel Knoxville has been a friend of mine since our early 20s when I first went into it. He’s the guy who brought me back into wrestling and I’ll be forever thankful to him, for that,” he said. “Having kids of my own, I got back into the ring to show them that if you have a dream, you can achieve it if you work hard.”
Ingraham took a deliberate route to his signature character, as well. He was simply Steven Stone as his rookie moniker with Monster Pro Wrestling, but time in the ring and time with others in the industry led him to a character already paying off for him and the wrestling companies looking for strong lineups.
It was his friend Andrew Marcel, a dramatic/dark visual artist who works under his own nickname Andy Billy Art, who came up with the Barlow Creek Butcher suggestion, and Ingraham loved it.
Next, it was Vance Nevada who mulled over the possibilities and suggested the bloodstained apron and meatmonger’s pants.
The piece de resistance, though, was all Ingraham. The customized horror movie pig’s head mask was his way of becoming more than just an athletic character. With that mask, the outfit, and his ramshackle cleaver (which he spotted in the lost and found box at his day-job at a Prince George auto parts store), he is unforgettable on a mythical marketing level.
There is also no doubt what kind of character he is. This is no loveable hero. He’s a high-level “heel” as the bad guys in wrestling are called.
“I like people that I can scare people, intimidate my opponents, that’s a lot of fun,” said the counterintuitively affable Ingraham, who emphasizes how helpful entertainment wrestling has been on a personal level. “It gives me an outlet. When I have anger, being the heel is great because I can let out my emotions in a healthy way. And being the bad guy is fun, because it’s the total opposite of who I really am.”
As a wrestler, the Barlow Creek Butcher is a ground guy, not a high flier. He doesn’t leap off the top rope or do backflip kicks; he grapples and gouges, he shoves and kicks, looking for knockouts and submission holds.
Anyone who focuses on the theatrical elements might get distracted from the athletic prowess required for this sort of event. Even the skills required to avoid injury require significant training, let alone the physical demands of taking on an opponent (or two, or more, at a time).
“I’ve gotten some bumps and bruises along the way. I’ve broken my nose a couple of times, had some rib issues, but nothing enough to stop me getting in that ring. I’ll keep going until my wheels fall off,” he said. “You have to eat properly. There’s a lot of dedication to exercise. Cardio is a major factor; you can be a bigger guy but if you have cardio, you can still be an effective wrestler. I’ve been improving on these things, and learning how to pace myself in the ring so you time your cardio for the important moments. It’s a balance.”
Ingraham said the local region has some strong talent developing in the entertainment wrestling field. He cites John Gillespie as a promising up-and-comer due to his hard work on the details of the profession, and Wes “The Prospector” Barker is nothing short of superstar capable.
There are talks of a Primetime Entertainment event being staged in Quesnel, due to the influence of wrestlers like The Butcher and Rebel Knoxville. Those plans are still pending. What is known for certain is the next two-day event that will have the Barlow Creek Butcher on the ticket, and this time with a belt on the line. That happens April 12 and 13 at the Prince George Civic Centre “and we have some big stuff coming, it’ll make Primetime even bigger. I know I have some tough opponents coming up, just working on all the scheduling, so I can defend my belt. I’m not going to just let it go too easily.”
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