The motivation to start a pro wrestling promotion typically comes from a personal place: a desire to create something new, building an alternative vision within a saturated wrestling region or investing years of fandom into a new passion.
All are true for DUSK Pro Wrestling founder Parm Singh Mann, but it didn’t originally manifest that way.
“[My friends] are graduating from university and getting jobs, like one of them is getting their full doctorate… they were sharing exciting news. I was just like, ‘Yeah, well, I was thinking of starting a wrestling promotion,” Singh recalled during a recent appearance on the LGBT In The Ring podcast.
“By that point, I’ve already said it out loud. I guess I have to commit now.”
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Thus DUSK Pro was spoken into existence. Now, two years later, the promotion prepares for its latest card, “Adoration,” on March 29 thanks to Mann’s followthrough and continuing want to provide another option to the growing Vancouver, B.C. wrestling scene.
“The Bi Bendy Brown Boy” has seen a lot of change within his home region’s wrestling environment during his six years in the ring: the death of formerly famed promotion ECCW due to #SpeakingOut allegations, the rise of irreverent promotions BOOM! Pro Wrestling and Glam Slam and more young talent feeling empowered ply their craft thanks to nurturing training environments like the one Mann has at Lion’s Den Dojo.
DUSK Pro fits into that picture as a blending of pro wrestling presentations. Fans get everything from humor, high-flying and character-driven work to mat-based wizardry from the likes of Nicole Matthews and Daniel Makabe.
In fact, Makabe is scheduled to main event “Adoration” against another top technician, out Ring of Honor star Trish Adora, continuing the trend of Mann pitting Makabe against women that match his skillset well.
It’s fitting considering that Mann originally imagined DUSK Pro as an all-women’s promotion, but that isn’t the only evolution the promotion presents.
“I want to give rookies some chances because I feel that the Vancouver scene is very good in a lot of ways, but we have our own problems. We can be very cramped,” Mann said.
“We’re kind of in a weird critical mass of an amazing new crop of students but not as many places for them to work… I’d love to have a spot for people to just have the matches they want, no frills attached.”
That thought process can be seen up and down “Adoration’s” card with matches featuring regional names like Re:Loaded, Bambi Hall and Rashad Tyson, burgeoning national stars Travis Williams and Judas Icarus and grapplers just starting their in-ring journeys like The Moral Panic and Joey Tran.
It’s what makes DUSK Pro Vancouver wrestling’s best-kept secret that shouldn’t be a secret to anyone going forward.
DUSK Pro’s “Adoration” takes place Friday, March 29, from Vancouver’s BMO Theatre at 7pm PDT.
Check out the full interview with Parm Singh Mann and other LGBTQ figures in pro wrestling on the LGBT In The Ring podcast. New episodes release every Thursday on all podcast platforms with bonus content releasing monthly on patreon.com/lgbtringpod.
