‘The Grippler’ seeks hands down wins at arm-wrestling series in Los Angeles

Ian Carnegie believes he can go “over the top” when it comes to the World Armwrestling League.

On Thursday, The Grippler (Carnegie’s arm-wrestling nickname) hopes to add to his 15-6 record when he competes at the league’s Supermatch Showdown Series in Los Angeles.

Standing six-foot-one and weighing in at 350 pounds, Carnegie arm-wrestles in the super heavyweight division, currently as a right-hander only, but typically competing with both hands.

“(My) short-term goals are to win every match presented to me and then ultimately become the No. 1 arm-wrestler on the planet,” he said.

The sport is in Carnegie’s DNA. The son of Gary Carnegie, a Canadian army vet, and Diane “Vivian” Vachon (yes, those Vachons), a Canadian wrestling queen and Hall of Famer, The Grippler was born in Pembroke on Feb. 5, 1980. His father was stationed at CFB Petawawa at the time.

His uncles Maurice “Mad Dog ” Vachon and Paul “The Butcher” Vachon are both hall-of-fame wrestlers.

He is cousin to WWE superstar Trudy “Luna” Vachon.

If you want to catch Carnegie in action, viewers can stream the WAL Supermatch Showdown Series on the B/R Live app, or in Canada you can stream at walunderground.com.

The event takes place in Los Angeles on Thursday beginning at approximately 10:30 EST.