A long-standing Canadian indie veteran of over 20 years, Tyson Dux has wrestled them all. From Border City Wrestling (BCW) in Windsor, Ontario to Smash Wrestling in Toronto, from Absolute Intense Wrestling (AIW) to All American Wrestling (AAW). Along the way he’s performed from small “bingo halls” to large arenas, also working for the likes of WWE, IMPACT Wrestling, Ring of Honor and All Japan. And this week, “The Wrestling Machine” Tyson Dux is a guest trainer in Orlando at the WWE Performance Center.
https://twitter.com/TysonDux/status/1039301888716562432
Originally from Sunny Corner, New Brunswick, Tyson Dux has spent much of the last two decades in Southwestern Ontario, living in the Windsor and London area. An early star with Windsor’s BCW, he’s performed with the company since 2000, after debuting in 1997 at 18 years old. A former BCW Can-Am Heavyweight Champion and 2x BCW Can-Am Tag Team Champion, Dux honed his teaching skills working alongside Scott D’Amore at the Can-Am Wrestling School, where he watched future stars like Bobby Roode, Eric Young, Rosemary, KUSHIDA, “Canadian Destroyer” Petey Williams and others go through the drills. One man whose seen Dux’ growth as a wrestler and trainer is BCW’s Jeffrey Kavanaugh.
“I’ve always said that Tyson is the best unsigned talent in the world. Whether it was bad timing or politics, he never got his true chance,” Kavanaugh told us. “But that’s a positive, as far as I’m concerned, when it comes to being a guest trainer. Who better to show you, not only some amazing moves, etc, but also be able to share some of his experiences, both positive and negative with the students at the PC. That is invaluable, in my opinion”
In 2002, WWE came calling first, although it was merely for use as “local wrestler”, where he appeared in dark matches in the Toronto and Detroit area, as well as appearing on WWE Velocity against Chavo Guerrero. He would go to work for WWE in enhancement roles for a good part of 2003 as well, mostly dark matches, although he’d have another singles appearance on Velocity against Matt Hardy V1.0, as well as WWE Tag Team Championship match against champions La Resistance (Rene Dupree & Sylvain Grenier) on Sunday Night Heat, tagging with fellow BCW wrestler (and future WWE Superstar) Bobby Roode.
He would continue to work the Canadian indies and enhancement for WWE until 2006, when he briefly joined TNA/IMPACT Wrestling as part of a new incarnation of Team Canada, appearing in the World X Cup 2006 Final Gauntlet at TNA Sacrifice ’06 (Team Canada won that year, thanks to Petey Williams). He would make another appearance with TNA in 2008 for the 2008 World X Cup. The following year, he would make his Ring of Honor debut, facing Tyler Black (now WWE Superstar Seth Rollins) at ROH Death Before Dishonor VII and followed that up in 2010 with matches against Kenny King, Eddie Edwards and another PPV appearance at Death Before Dishonor VIII, where he competed in the #1 Contenders Gauntlet for the ROH World Championship against Colt Cabana, Steve Corino, Shawn Daivari, Eddie Edwards and eventual winner, Roderick Strong. He would return to ROH in 2014 against Michael Elgin and Mike Bennett, and in 2015 faced current NXT Champion Tomasso Ciampa.
In 2013, he made his debut with Toronto’s Smash Wrestling, where he’s spent the bulk of the past five years as the company’s heart and soul. A perennial pro, Dux won the Smash Championship in 2016, becoming the first Canadian to hold the title (following Matt Cross, Alex Shelley, Johnny Gargano, and Mark Haskins) and then retaining it for a record 435 days. During his tenure with Smash, he became more than just a performer. He became an invaluable asset to the management and creative, according to Smash executive James Kee.
“Tyson is legitimately one of the best professional wrestlers I’ve ever seen – and I’ve ever seen teach. He’s the dude that, you know… he doesn’t demand respect – he’s very humble – but being around him you know you HAVE to respect him. He’s that fantastic of a human being,” James told us. “Although I’ve never had the opportunity to train in wrestling with him – we do talk creative and direction and he’s a wealth of knowledge. I know he’s an incredible teacher – but he’s also an incredible listener which makes him an amazing collaborator. He’s the king of “purpose” – Orlando will get the chance to learn what Tyson is teaching them – but also the why – why he’s teaching them what he is.”
In 2016, Tyson Dux returned to the WWE for the first time since a dark match against Chuck Palumbo before a Saturday Night’s Main Event special from Toronto in 2007. But this time, it was on the WWE Network, as part of the first ever WWE Cruiserweight Classic, representing Canada, in a match up against emerging British superstar Zack Sabre Jr.
Through it all, Tyson has remained fiercely loyal to the Canadian – particularly the Ontario – independent scene, working not only for Smash and BCW, but Destiny World Wrestling, Capital City Championship Combat (C4), Superkick’D, Alpha-1, Barrie Wrestling and Quebec’s Federation de Lutte Quebecoise (FLQ), to name just a few. He’s always either working the top stars coming through, such as Cody Rhodes, Kevin Steen, or Zack Sabre Jr., or helping elevate the emerging Canadian talent working their way. He recently moved to London, Ontario where he opened his own school, Tyson Dux Wrestling Factory. And now he’s bringing his 20+ years experience to Orlando to work with the recruits at WWE’s Performance Center.
