Sydney Steele and CAM!!ikaze compete in an exhibition match at the Pure Power Wrestling media preview event for Whoop-Up Days 2025. (Photo: Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

Pure Power Wrestling main eventing Whoop-Up Days

Jul 31, 2025 | 1:41 PM

Attendees at Whoop-Up Days this year can take in some high-quality, family-friendly professional wrestling.

Pure Power Wrestling (PPW) will put on its show, Hot Summer Night, at the Agri-food Hub & Trade Centre on Friday, August 22, 2025, starting at 7:00 p.m.

Paul Kingsmith, Director of Event Development at Lethbridge & District Exhibition (LDE), says he is excited to see PPW return to Lethbridge’s largest summer festival.

“This will be the third year that we’ve tag-teamed with them to put on an event, and it just adds so much to the fair. There’s such a long history of professional wrestling being part of fairs, both here in Lethbridge and around the province, around the country,” says Kingsmith.

He adds, “Pure Power Wrestling is one of the best independent productions out there, so to work with them, to have them come in and put on a show, it just adds so much to what we do at Whoop-Up Days.”

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A contract signing was held at a media preview event on Thursday for the Hot Summer Night main event, where former PPW Heavyweight Champion Tyler “Hard” Knox will take on “The Last Jerk Standing” Joshua Kirby. The contest will be a Bunkhouse Brawl match, which is described as a “no-rules street fight where anything goes.”

Knox and Kirby offered very different takes on what happened to their once-flourishing friendship.

The two started as rivals in PPW and later became tag team champions.

“I thought he was my best friend, but when I got hurt, [Kirby] sort of abandoned me and joined up with Chris Moneysworth and has let that become sort of a parasitic relationship,” says Knox. “I’m going to try and save Joshua Kirby.”

Kirby, on the other hand, described Knox as a “fake friend.”

“Tyler Knox used the success of Joshua Kirby to propel himself into the main event scene, to win the PPW Heavyweight Championship,” Kirby explained. “The truth of it all is, he wouldn’t have been anywhere near that position if it wasn’t for Joshua Kirby.”

Personal issues aside, both competitors say they are excited to once again be part of Whoop-Up Days.

Knox believes it is a great opportunity to expand PPW’s reach and perform in front of people who have never experienced live professional wrestling or lapsed fans who could potentially get back into it.

Kirby feels that newer and larger venues like the Agri-food Hub & Trade Centre give PPW a more premium feel and help to elevate what they do.

With running shows at Whoop-Up Days and the VisitLethbridge.com Arena in recent years, Kirby says he has noticed fan attendance increasing and a rise in popularity for professional wrestling in southern Alberta.

The 15-year-old company put on its highest-attended show to date earlier this year, with 457 fans packing the Fritz Sick recreation centre.

PPW’s Hot Summer Night will also feature stars such as PPW Champion Travis “The Heat” Copeland, Sydney Steele, Dewey Robson, Brady Blaze and more.

Tickets for the show can be purchased at AgriFoodHub.ca, and they include same-day admission to Whoop-Up Days.

Sydney Steele and CAM!!ikaze compete in an exhibition match at the Pure Power Wrestling media preview event for Whoop-Up Days 2025. (Photo: Lethbridge News Now)

READ MORE: Whoop-Up Days returns Aug. 19-23, 2025