Ed Hellier and Mark Koval announce the end of an era for Steel Domain Wrestling

By Jason Powell, ProWrestling.net Editor (@prowrestlingnet)

Promoters Ed Hellier and Mark Koval issued the following statement regarding the future of the Minnesota-based Steel Domain Wrestling independent promotion.

26 years…….. For just over a quarter of a century, Steel Domain Wrestling (SDW) has been promoting some of the best wrestling events in the upper Midwest. What began as an opportunity to assist a friend in the wrestling community, Ray Webbe, became a launching pad for future stalwart talents like, Ken Anderson, CM Punk, Colt Cabana, Adam Pearce, Ace Steel, among others. It also provided a platform for local veterans who still had “plenty of gas left in the tank” along with fresh upstarts looking to begin their careers.

For years, SDW became a place synonymous with great wrestling and even better fans. We are extremely proud of everything we did, and accomplished, but after 26-years every story has to come to an end and this coming Friday, January 26th, 2024, at Super Card 4, we (SDW) will have our final show. This isn’t a reason for sadness, instead one of happiness and celebration. If you would’ve told us in 1998 that we’d still be promoting shows in 2024 we would’ve told you, “you were crazy”, we are profoundly humbled and grateful to have had the run we did. What started as St. Paul Championship Wrestling, before becoming SDW, has been something we’ve been extremely passionate about, but running shows for 26-years has required contributions by so many.

We want to thank some of the people that have helped us over the years. We don’t want to forget anyone, but if we do, we apologize in advance. To our mentors, Nick Bockwinkel and Sheik Adnan Al-Kaissie, thanks for taking the time and teaching us what to do, and more importantly, what not to do. To our families, we know being the wife or child of a wresting promoter isn’t always easy.

Thanks for always being supportive, we couldn’t have done this without you all. To everyone who helped to make the shows happen, from the ring-crew, and music techs, Fred & Jason Yerke, Rick & Sharon Schaefer, our ring announcer and production manager, Travis Sharpe, and to guys like Larry Lubbers, who for years, was one of the first people to get there and last to leave, we know it isn’t easy work and we can’t thank you all enough for what you meant to SDW. To the unsung heroes that helped things run smoothly, from working at the ticket table or helping with security, friends like Darla Staggs, Loretta Lyons, and Security Chief, Kevin Walsh. Thank you for always being there for us.

Thank you to all the production professionals that helped to make SDW “tick”. People like Jay Soltis, Commissioner Morris Merrill, Ken Resnick, and Mick Karch were all responsible for adding color to the paintings that were occurring in the ring, your contributions and dedication over the years will always be appreciated. Thanks to Razzlin’ Rick for reporting our results for those who couldn’t make it.

To all the wrestlers who worked for us, whether at the West St. Paul Armory, the Bloomington Event Center (Knights of Columbus) and everywhere in-between, you were the reason we became one of the best promotions in the Midwest. We thank you for every bump you took, all the miles, for braving the elements by coming from all over the Midwest, and beyond, to entertain the fans of SDW.

And most importantly, thank you to the fans who have always stood by us. From the early days until today, we were proud to have the privilege to entertain you. We’ve loved every cheer, and the jeers just as much. We’ve been proud to see multiple generations of fans come to shows and we hope you know how much we’ve appreciated all of it! Over the coming days we will be posting some memories, personal highlights and talking more about some of the individuals that helped us along the way.

What’s next? We feel strongly that we didn’t want SDW to be lost to the annuls of time so we are happy to announce that MAW will be helping to keep our legacy alive. They will be assuming many of our summer events as we trust them to provide the fans the quality and professionalism they grown to know from SDW. They also have other plans to help preserve our history that will be released in due time, but we ask our fans to support them as they’ve always supported us.

In closing, we’d like to invite everyone out to, SDW/MAW Super Card 4, this coming Friday January 26th at the Bloomington Event Center (Knights of Columbus). We have Al Snow coming in for a meet and greet and he will also be in action with the others SDW (and MAW) stars. Doors open at 6:00 pm, show starts at 7:30 pm. Let’s all celebrate 26-years together, we’d love to see you there! Sincerely, Ed Hellier/Mark Koval (SDW Promoters)

Powell’s POV: I spent many nights at the West St. Paul Armory watching SDW during the early years of the promotion. The promotion name was inspired by Ace Steel and Danny Dominion, who brought a crew of young wrestlers from Chicago that included CM Punk, Adam Pearce, and Colt Cabana. It was also the first place that I saw Shawn Daivari, Ken “Mr. Kennedy” Anderson, Austin Aries, Lacey, and Rain, along with local favorites such as Horace the Psychopath, Scott Zappa, Matt Burns, my favorite referee Frank Stool (yes, I’m intentionally snubbing Rob Page and Jay Soltis!), and many more. It was a treat to have such an entertaining independent promotion just a short drive from my home at the time and to see so many young wrestlers early in their careers before several became big stars. Thanks to Ed for his hospitality over the years and best of luck to him and his family going forward.