SLAM! Wrestling Canadian Hall of Fame: Mr. Gillis
REAL NAME: Greg Gillies
BORN: June 14, 1963 in Cornach, Saskatchewan
AKA: Doby Gillis, Mr. Gillis, The Lion (Puerto Rico), Mr. Atlas (Mexico), Greg Montana (Kansas City)
5"9", 240 pounds
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Mr. Gillis.
Courtesy ECCW.
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The ECCW champ Mr. Gillis has pressure both on the job and in the ring.
Before ever starting in pro wrestling, he worked -- and continues to
work -- as a pressure welder.
But it's in the ring that he deals the most punishment.
"I'm a hard-hitter. I like power moves," he explained to SLAM! Wrestling
down the line from Vancouver.
"I'm not a tall man. I look fairly intimidating because I'm about as wide
as I am tall. So, in the ring, I move quite quick for my stature. So I move
fast and I hit hard. When I clothesline someone, they know they've been
clotheslined."
He's been wrestling since 1985, off and on with regular work on
construction sites.
The Mr. Gillis gimmick is a good fit for the extreme-style wrestling in the
NWA-affiliate ECCW, which runs shows in the Pacific Northwest.
"My ring persona kind of demands authority, so it's Mr. Gillis," he said --
with authority of course.
He's a fanatic bodybuilder, and works out as much as he can.
"I've loved bodybuilding for twenty years. It's been a passion. It's been
like my religion. It's basically what's kept me sane through the turmoils of
life," alluding to his ex-wife and two children who live in Regina.
Besides B.C. and the Pacific Northwest, he has spent time in Mexico as Mr.
Atlas, Puerto Rico as The Lion, Missouri as Greg Montana, and Germany, Tennessee and Florida.
He was trained by the likes of
Leo Burke,
Ron Ritchie, Ron Starr,
Bulldog Bob Brown and Stomping Paul Pellering in and around Calgary.
It was Bulldog Brown that had the most impact on him.
"We became good friends. I stayed with him. I did a stint in Kansas City,
and he put me up. I was young, in my early twenties, and pretty green
actually to the business. He sort of took me under his wing and he did some
good things for me, which I appreciated. I did stay in touch with him fairly
constantly until his passing."
Up next for Gillis is a shot at the NWA Canadian title at the 50th
anniversary NWA show on October 24th. In that match, he faces two other
representatives from the Canadian promotions -- E.Z. Ryder from the
Winnipeg-based CWF and Slater Jeffries from the Sarnia, Ontario-based Maple
Leaf Wrestling.
But when SLAM! Wrestling talked to him, he had just gotten off the phone
with a friend in ECW, and is hoping to land there in the near future.
"I believe they're going to do some good things in the next couple of
years, so I'd like to be a part of it," Gillis said.
But are you hardcore enough?
"Yeah, I believe so. Probably, I guess, if you call splashing people off a
cage through a table hardcore..."
Apparently the style of that Extreme promotion from the East Coast has
caught on way over on the West Coast.
-- By GREG OLIVER, SLAM! Sports
Memories
I was in the ECCW Arena the night Mr. Gillis dove off the top of the cage
driving his oppenent through that table and winning the ECCW Heavyweight
Belt. It was an amazing move when you consider the size of Mr. Gillis.
ECCW is a great promotion and if you ever get a chance to see it, do it!!
Ryan - lynnelee@sprint.ca
