Ever since he was a kid, the ‘Outlaw’ Scott Chase knew he wanted to be a professional wrestler.
Chase, who has had an exceptional wrestling career that started in 1998, reflected on his early experiences wrestling with his friends in Brantford.
“My friends and I had a wrestling league on Marlborough Street where I grew up. We had some king-size mattresses in the backyard [and] we made them into a ring. And we’d come out of the garage and have music! We had such a blast [making] these belts out of cardboard and garbage bags,” Chase said. “I joke around, that I have been making money since grade five from wrestling because neighborhood kids would give quarters to come and watch us. My friends and I would always split what we made.”
Along with wrestling with his friends, Chase gained much of his influence by watching it on television.
“One of earliest memories that stands out for me is when I was watching [wrestling] with my dad and my grandpa on a Saturday afternoon…watching Ray ‘the Crippler’ Stevens getting pile driven on the concrete a bunch of times. I was just a kid and I thought that killed him [but] I was enthralled by it. Ever since then, I’ve just been completely obsessed with wrestling,” said Chase.
As many of his friends in the community started to follow other career paths, Chase knew early on that it would lead to something bigger.
“My friends were just doing it for fun and exercise; [and] some of them are real estate agent gurus and teachers now. But I knew I could do this! I played hockey and football and even played tennis and rugby, yet it was just never the same thing for me compared to wrestling,” he explained. “I remember, even as a little kid, I would just practice my wrestling moves on pillows [and] practice doing my autograph.”
Although Chase believed he would make it as a wrestler, he still had a feeling it wouldn’t work out because of the lack of resources and opportunities to grow as a professional.
“I wrestled in high school [and then] went to police foundations in college. I had two dreams when I was a kid—one was to be a police officer and the other one was to be a pro wrestler. But to be honest, I didn’t know if I was going to make pro wrestling happen, because it wasn’t like it is now,” continued Chase. “Back then, you had to be introduced to someone; you couldn’t type in wrestling school on Google and then find something…it was just a lot different. It was very underground.”
However, Chase caught a break when his best friend urged him to go to a wrestling promotion at the Ohsweken Speedway.
“My friend was a DJ for the Six Nations radio and he asked me to come out [as he was] doing the ring announcing…He then introduced me to a wrestling promoter by the name of Nick Nitro,” he explained.
That chance meeting provided Chase with the opportunity he needed to become a professional wrestler.
“I started going to [Nick Nitro’s| school and never looked back [and] it started from a friend bringing out and introducing me to the right person,” noted Chase.
Chase would then cut his teeth in the circuit as part of a tag team.
“I started in a tag team called The Texas Hell-Razors [with] ‘Tyrant’ Eric Dawson. And our manager was, at the time, Angel Williams. [She] turned into Angelina Love and would become a [a multiple-time women’s world champion],” Chase continued. “We traveled the States and Canada as a tag team for a few years. And then after that, we all of a sudden [went our] separate ways…it was probably about 2002 when I started doing singles, winning several heavyweight championships throughout Ontario. At one point, I had five or six titles at the same time.”
Chase, who made it to the Pro Wrestling Illustrated top 500 wrestlers list in 2010, has also had the opportunity to fight many acclaimed wrestlers including Quinson Valentino.
“[Valentino] was a key wrestler back in the late 1990s and early 2000s. [He] did a couple of Smackdown events…but we always had great chemistry in the ring,” said Chase. “Reggie Marley and the Ebony Express, I always thought were a great rivalry for me [and] The Highlanders, Robbie, and Rory McAllister; I always [had] great matches with them. Cody Deaner was another good wrestler…I also fought the New Age Outlaws [‘Road Dogg’ Jesse James and ‘Badd Ass’ Billy Gunn], which was a big career highlight for me.”
Chase, who is only one of two wrestlers from Brantford to make it into the Canadian Pro-Wrestling Hall of Fame (the other being Joe ‘Killer’ Christie), has also utilized his experience to mentor younger wrestlers as well as expand the reach of the sports within the community.
“I’ve been working with ️’Pretty’ Ricky Willdy for about a year now; he’s an up-and-coming wrestler from Brantford. I’ve [also] been the general manager for Brantford Wrestling. We’ve done the Santa Claus parade and ran a show for the Rotary Club…We are [looking to do] another show in the new year [and to increase] our involvement in the community,” said Chase.
While Chase has achieved his dream to be a professional wrestler by being focused on what he wanted to do, he offered some words of wisdom for the next generation of wrestlers.
“Try to develop a thick skin, because you’re going to get told by people that probably haven’t done as much as you, that you’re not good enough,” Chase explained. “There’s a lot of support in wrestling…but there’s also a lot of mischievousness where people are trying to take your spot. So, I would say to never doubt yourself [and] to just stay focused on your goals.”
