'A dream for everybody who wrestles': Alberta man makes debut on WWE Raw
'My Twitter had totally blown up with support messages after that match'
Michael Richard Blais's dream came true when he took a beating in Portland.
It happened Monday, during a World Wrestling Entertainment match against Braun Strowman.
The announcers called it a handicap match, because Blais and three other wrestlers all took on Strowman, a WWE superstar who weighs almost 400 pounds.
Still, Blais saw it as an opportunity to get his foot in the door and get noticed.
"This is the first time I'm on major TV," said the Edmonton-based wrestler. "I'm on WWE Raw. That's a dream for anyone who wrestles."
Though it wasn't a featured one-on-one match, just getting in there was a fantastic opportunity for Blaise, said Prairie Wrestling Alliance co-owner Kurt Sorochan.
Blaise, 26, fought his first match at age 15. By then he'd already been training for years. Monday's appearance was the first time he's been part of a WWE event.
He wrestles most notably in the Prairie Wrestling Alliance, which holds events in Calgary and Edmonton.
He was once a man who fans cheered for. Then he became a heel — in wrestling terms, a bad guy. Despite that, the boos have turned to words of support from fans since his WWE Raw appearance.
"My Twitter had totally blown up with support messages after that match," said Blais. "And it is cool.
"But I still want them to hate me."
He got his early training in Calgary through Stampede Wrestling, but has since travelled to North Carolina and Missouri for more training.
He hopes his recent TV appearance leads to more attention from the WWE.
"The biggest thing for me is to get an actual tryout at the performance centre out of this. I feel very confident if I had an actual tryout, and they saw all the stuff I can do in the ring, there's probably a chance that I could get hired."
In the meantime, he'll keep his day job doing data entry for an oilfield company. And he'll spend his nights and weekends wrestling in as many events as possible.