The Death Tour

SLAMDANCE FILM FESTIVAL 2024 REVIEW! Despite the fact that it’s “fake,” wrestling is not easy on the body nor the mind when it keeps wrestlers away from loved ones while on the road. Add a treacherous, long trek through Canada’s frozen and isolated north, and you have a recipe for a breakdown. The Death Tour, directed by Stephan Peterson and Sonya Ballantyne, is a documentary that chronicles the taxing Canadian indie wrestling tour that takes place in winter.

The film chronicles the journey spearheaded by legendary Canadian wrestling promoter Tony Condello, who has been running it for over 50 years. The Death Tour got its name by being “the most grueling tour in pro wrestling.” The tour is where some of the wrestling greats from Canada got their start, such as Chris Jericho (who is a producer). The wrestlers have a nervous running joke about when their van crosses over frozen lakes, with the possibility of the ice cracking and sinking into the freezing water.

Besides that, the arduous drives, long tours, and ice-cold conditions make it tough on everyone. The specter of death looms over it all. But it truly arrives in the form of indigenous people who commit suicide in the small towns that the Death Tour visits. The communities are so small that they all know about one another, and a sad wave of death spreads like social cancer at some of the stops, which threatens to cancel the wrestling shows.

“…indigenous crowds are not used to seeing much of any type of live entertainment…so these shows mean a lot to them.”

Condello is a no-nonsense guy, even as an octogenarian. He lets his wrestlers know that if they break his rules about no drugs or getting into fights with fans, he’ll leave them where they are on the tour with no ride home. He also has his wrestlers speak out about social issues such as gangs and drug abuse to the young crowds when they get into town before the day of the matches. The indigenous crowds are not used to seeing much of any type of live entertainment because they are so isolated, so these shows mean a lot to them.

The Death Tour follows some interesting people besides Condello, such as Sage Morin, a.k.a. “The Matriarch.” She’s part of the Saddle Lake Cree Nation in Central Alberta and clearly cares a lot about her community. She tragically lost her eldest son to a drunk driver who crashed into a restaurant that they were eating at. She’s the first indigenous woman to wrestle in these towns. It’s clear that Sage inspires kids in the crowd while the bouts give her a bit of a catharsis at the same time. Dez Loreen, a.k.a. “The Eskimofo,” is the founder of the first and only wrestling promotion in the Arctic Circle and is also a wrestler who cares deeply for his fellow indigenous people.

Another strong female warrior is Sarah McNicoll, a.k.a. “McKenrose the Scottish Warrior.” Her thick French accent makes her a bit self-conscious, but the kids really love her, which propels her confidence. Sean Dunster, a.k.a. “Massive Damage,” is a guy who found wrestling fame in the 1990s and is out on tour in hopes of restarting his career.

The Death Tour is highly engaging whether or not you love wrestling because you can relate to these people and their struggles. The wrestling scenes are a fun bonus for fans who get to see what kind of intense work is needed to get a foot in the door of the business. Both the fans and the wrestlers feed off of one another, which makes for some beauty in the valley of death.

The Death Tour screened at the 2024 Slamdance Film Festival.