Packed away in an unsuspecting church in Preston is a rowdy group of eager athletes wanting to make their mark on the indie-pro wrestling scene, but their days performing in Cambridge are numbered.
After years of hard work, the only pro wrestling school in Cambridge has been forced to leave its current home, leaving the school in limbo.
The owner of Cross Body Pro Wrestling (CBPW) and professional wrestler, Ben Ortmanns is no stranger to being kicked out of an existing gym in search of a new location.
"I don't want to make it seem like we're bad tenants, but we've just been forced to leave due to circumstances out of our control," he said.
After being at a gym in Kitchener for a number of years, Ortmanns and CBPW found a church that was willing to rent its gym.
Knox Preston Presbyterian Church provided the wrestling school and its athletes with a place to train and perform while helping supplement the income of a church that was seeing a decline in revenue from its congregation.
After years of body slams and chokeholds, the church amalgamated with several other religious institutions and one of the first decisions they made was to remove the wrestling club.
"Basically the only decision that they were able to come up with was that pro wrestling and their church, was not going to be a good idea if they were gonna try to attract new people," said Ortmanns. "That's the part that sucks. It's like the only thing that they were able to decide on mutually that they didn't want us there."
The school provided an opportunity for ordinary people who may have been big fans of the sport and wanted to see what it takes to get into the ring. Students range from forklift drivers to salespeople. CBPW offered them a unique way to get active and live out a dream most people don't get the chance to.
This decision to close the gym has made Ortmanns question what he will do to bring back CBPW, the school and what the future of his organization will look like.
Waiting for the perfect opportunity and space is key to reopening the gym. Ortmanns adds he doesn't even know how to describe what he's looking for, but he also never planned on moving into a church either.
"If anybody would have ever told me that we would be operating our business, out of a church, I would have laughed and I would have been like you're ridiculous," he said. "I would have never in a million years thought a church would be like a perfect venue."
Over the last few weeks, Ortmanns has felt like he has failed his students by not having a place for them to train and grow as athletes. Despite not having a physical home, his students are influencing and impacting the indie-pro wrestling scene all over Ontario, performing at some of the highest levels.
His main production company that filmed all of CBPW events has gone on to film major events all over the province and is now one of the top choices for pro wrestling production.
"My students are kind of a bit everywhere right now," he said. "But they're also doing a lot of different things and accomplishing a lot of different things and that's what makes me really proud of them."
Ortmanns was planning on his last match being a part of his Family Feud show in Cambridge, a series CBPW runs inspired by the game show of the same name.
In what was all set to be his final hurrah, the day of the event was also the move-out day set out by the church.
"I find myself in this very strange position where like I'm kind of on the back, like I'm 1,000 per cent on the back end of my wrestling career just because my concussions have just totalled up too much. So I have to take care of myself and I promised myself that would be my last match," said Ortmanns.
With the change of plans, he will use the last remaining matches of the International Wrestling Syndicate in Montreal as an exit for his professional career. By the end of the summer, Ortmanns will have officially retired.
After appearing in matches all over Canada and wrestling in the WWE, Ortmanns is finally ready to hang it up and help those around him reach their full potential.
While his days of jumping off the top ropes and flipping people in front of crowds may be almost over, he remains dedicated to providing the best instruction and coaching possible to anyone who wants to learn from him.
"It's goodbye for now, but this won't be the last time you hear from Cross Body," Ortmanns said.
