Police in North Bay are investigating an odd theft.
Steel parts of a wrestling ring were stolen and sold for the scrap metal fee, just a couple of weeks before a big event is supposed to be staged.
Northland Wrestling owner Dan Pigozzo is making sure everything is accounted for after the steel beams of his 30-year-old wrestling ring were stolen last Friday.
He was not impressed.
“Angry, very angry that someone would do this, not only to me, but to the community." said Pigozzo.
He says when one of his employees informed him the steel bars were missing; he made some calls to the junkyard thinking the thief wanted to make a quick profit off the steel. The mats, tarp and wood were left untouched.
Eventually, he found the bars and discovered they were sold for $120. He got them back, but some are bent, and the springs are still missing.
North Bay police are now investigating.
"First one I could ever think of, of a wrestling ring being stolen. The complainant did some digging around as well, but other parts of it are still outstanding and the investigation is still ongoing." said John Schultz, a North Bay police constable.
Getting the bars back is not the end of the story for the Northland Wrestling owner.
"I have some leads, and you know what they say about karma, and we've got some pretty good leads on who would do this." said Pigozzo.
With less than three weeks until the marquee fight night, the 3rd Miller Memorial Cup, Pigozzo has to either find the old springs or buy new ones and then put the ring back together for use.
"One way or the other, whether I have to go out and rent a ring or somehow come up with the thousands of dollars it would cost to buy a ring, that show is going to happen." said Pigozzo.
And he now has a message for the thief or thieves:
"The show will and must go on. The $120 that might have been put in your pocket, was it worth it?"
