Brownstein: The Death Tour’s wrestlers bring life to struggling Indigenous communities – Montreal Gazette
Sep 05, 2024
The uplifting, surprisingly touching documentary of the same name follows pro wrestlers as they engage with young audiences in remote northern towns.
They call it the Death Tour — “the hardest tour there is in sports,” according to one combatant. No doubt. No four-star hotels or restaurants here.
This tour featuring decidedly quirky pro wrestlers has been taking place every winter across remote Indigenous communities in the frozen tundra of northern Manitoba for the last 50 years.
If the elements, the exhaustion and the hits in the ring (no matter how contrived) don’t take their toll on the fighters, their emotions often do. The wrestlers often get personally involved in the lives of their young audiences, who come from villages that are hit hard by poverty and suicide. The performers, many of whom are Indigenous, can easily relate.
