One of the top female wrestlers on the indy scene in Canada, Chantal, joined me for an exclusive interview with PWMania.com. We discussed the AEW Dark appearance she had to miss and the reason behind it, her potential bookings in South Africa, being the NBWA Women’s Champion, her interest in Impact Wrestling, her upcoming Liberty Pro appearance in Memphis and so much more.
Below is the complete PWMania.com interview with indy sensation Chantal:
You’re the current NBWA Women’s Champion. I think you just won that title, if I’m not mistaken. So tell me about winning that title and who you defeated? And I know there’s a big show coming up on November 26. Who are you going to be defending the title against?
“So, I won that title. It was vacant. Obviously, it was a new title for Capital City Wrestling in Fredericton. And my match was against Nakoma Tala, who is from New Jersey. So I’m super happy that I got to wrestle her. So I won the title, very happy to be able to represent that for my area in New Brunswick. And I had a one title defense this month against MacKenrose, she’s from Quebec. And my next title defense is November 26 and it’s going to be against LuFisto. So I’m really excited for that.”
Wow, that’s a huge match! You against Lufisto. Will that be streamed anywhere?
“Oh, absolutely. It’s going to be on YouTube.”
So let’s get into AEW. You were scheduled for AEW Dark when AEW was in Toronto. Unfortunately weren’t able to make the show. So why don’t you tell us what happened?
“So I got this through The Wrestling Academy, this project that I took part of, and QT Marshall selected me out of the four final girls as a second prize. I didn’t make it in the finals, but as a second prize, it was a dark match. So I was lucky enough to be chosen for that. I got all the information prior to the actual show taking place in Toronto, so a few days before, they just send us an email telling us that they require a blood work and all that for safety purposes. So that’s not a problem. But I was not able to get those results in time. I mean, I don’t blame our health system like they are short staffed. What would have taken seven to eight days to get a result back took probably thirteen, fourteen days. So that’s the unfortunate thing about it is I was not able to go and have a match without that.”
How tough was it for you to make that call that you couldn’t make the AEW Dark tapings and who did you actually speak to? Did you have to call QT Marshall?
“So I spoke to Shawn Dean, Captain Shawn Dean, he is the person that’s taking charge of AEW Dark matches, and he’s the one who actually originally reached out to me to give me all the details on what they need, what they require and all that so I sent him an email back. He said that’s not a problem, maybe in the near future again, so I’m going to really stay up to date to see if they come back to Canada. And I’m just going to make my way there and hopefully I can get a second shot and I’ll just work extra hard for that one.”
Did they leave the door open for you to be at another set of AEW Dark tapings? Does it have to be in Toronto? Could it be in the States if you’re traveling?
“I’m not sure how it works in the States. I’m not quite sure if you need like the actual visa to be able to perform on TV for that. So that might be more complicated. But definitely if they come back. It’s not the type of thing where it’s because you weren’t able to make it, you have a rain check for the next time. No, I actually have to go by myself and introduce myself again and go through all of that. And if they do need someone, then at least I’ll be there. But yeah, it’s the type of thing where I’m just, it’d be easier in Canada, obviously, I would have to look into how it works in the States. And I wouldn’t be opposed to go and do that down that way either.”
Did you find out who your who your opponent was going to be? Because I know Athena wrestled Jody Threat and then Alexia Nicole. Were you supposed to take on Athena or you aren’t sure?
“Well, I’m not 100% sure. But I do believe that Jody Threat was a very last minute call. So I was thinking probably Athena, but I’m not 100% sure.”
So how did you handle the situation knowing the AEW appearance couldn’t happen? And have you moved on knowing that it’s just a matter of time before you get that opportunity again.
“I tried to stay positive. Of course, at first I was very, like, you know, I wouldn’t say depressed, obviously I kept my hopes up like there’ll be more opportunities. That’s the beautiful thing about wrestling is if as long as you keep working hard, there will be opportunities that will be presented to you as long as you go to them. So I’ve just been fortunate enough to have a lot of different opportunities that I just keep thinking, it’s okay, it’ll happen, whether it’s this one or some other company, you just keep doing what you’re doing and something good will come out of it.”
Impact Wrestling is making its return to Canada in March in Windsor, Ontario. Will you be trying to get on one of those shows when Impact Wrestling comes back in March?
“That is the plan. Yes. Absolutely.”
Awesome. I got my fingers crossed, because I’m thinking Killer Kelly versus Chantal would be a terrific match.
“That would be a pretty cool match. I’d like that, too.”
What about Killer Kelly and Chantal teaming up and going after the Impact Wrestling knockouts tag team titles? I think you and Killer Kelly have a similar persona and I think you guys would mesh well, what do you think?
“That would be pretty intense. Yeah, I’m all for it.”
On October 29, you were wrestling for IHW and you faced newcomer Karma Rayne. Tell me about newcomer Karma Rayne and how did the match go?
“The match went really well. So she’s fairly new in the business. She just started wrestling. So obviously the match was very basic. And it went well. It went really well.”
Did you get the victory in the match?
“I got the victory. So that was on the pre show and then I had another match against Kris Hicks on the main show. “
On December 4, you have a show with PWU in Halifax and according to the post, you will be there with fellow Legit faction members, Charlie Hubley and Hollywood Cole. How did you join up with Legit?
“Ah, well, that was always the plan. We’ve been traveling a lot, all three of us. And I just think that all of us three, we’d like bring a lot to the table working together, especially in Nova Scotia, where I’m more of the face of New Brunswick, where all the fans are always excited and I’m always excited to see them because that’s where I’m from. But in Nova Scotia I was never opposed to turning heel. And so we kind of pitched that idea. And they were very much on board with it. And I just turned the last show against the fans. And so the next show on December 4 will be the first evil Chantal in a bar show.
So do you prefer being a heel or do you prefer being a babyface?
“I prefer being a babyface, just simply because that’s all I’ve ever been kind of since I started. But now that wrestling is more natural to me, because of how long I’ve been doing it as opposed to when I just started, I don’t have to overthink about it, all the details, so much. So going in the heel direction is becoming more natural to me and I’m starting to really like it.”
You posted on social media that titles are a girl’s best friend. So you have the one title, which title do you think you’ll be chasing after next?
“To be honest with you, my next one, I’m hoping that it’s just a title and not a woman’s title. Hollywood Cole just won the UCW heavyweight title. I mean, we are now in a team in Nova Scotia. But if it does change hands, I wouldn’t be opposed to taking that from that person. But honestly, I don’t have my eye on a specific title currently. But I’m sure that I’ll make that decision pretty, pretty quick. Just because a New Year is about to start, because wrestling’s kind of calming down, there’s not many shows in December. So I’ll be able to really sit down and think of what I want for the future and what I will be going for.”
On December 10, which happens to be my birthday, you’re headed to Memphis, Tennessee for Liberty Pro. Tell me about how that booking came about?
“So when I was touring in Saskatchewan back in June, I was fortunate enough to have met Jewells Malone who after that tour, retired. So I was rooming with her during that tour. And we were just talking and she just really liked what I have accomplished so far and the passion that I had for it. And she started like, giving me like all these recommendations for these places outside Canada. So I’ve reached out to a few places and saying that she recommended me and a lot of them were really pleased to hear that and Liberty Pro was one of them and so I’m very, very excited to make my way there. Memphis is obviously known for its wrestling history. And it’s just amazing how it happened. Because when I was in Vegas last month, at the CAC conference, Jerry Lawler was talking, giving all these stories about Memphis and I just found it so interesting. Like I was sitting down, I was listening to him and I was like that must have been so nice, just old school wrestling back in the day. And now I’m heading that way. Obviously, it’s not at all the same as it used to be. But just the fact that it’s in Memphis, and I’m really, really happy about that.”
Congratulations on that terrific booking. Do you plan on being booked more in the US in 2023?
“Yes, I plan on it. That’s my ultimate goal to go more in the States in 2023. If anywhere else than Canada and the States that would be awesome as well. So we’ll see. I’ve been in contact with South Africa. I just did a podcast with one of the promotions over there. So that would be pretty big.”
So there is interest in you with a South African promotion?
“So I connected with the promoter and the promoter was the one who got his podcast guy to do a podcast with me. Just so that they could introduce me to their fans and eventually bring me in the next year.”
At the end of 2023 what you hope to have accomplished?
“More bookings in the United States and hopefully somewhere else than the United States and Canada. I just want to travel if I don’t make it in the big company the traveling part is what really like makes me feel alive and make makes me really happy. So I just want to accomplish traveling as much as I can with wrestling.”
Lewis Carlan can be found on Twitter at @ShootingUpNorth
