The Decibel - How The Matriarch tackled trauma in the wrestling ring

Episode Date: June 20, 2025

Sage Morin’s life changed on May 19, 2013. A tragedy altered her family forever, and Sage was left to pick up the pieces, all while navigating her own deep grief and a complicated legal system.More than a decade later, the trauma of her loss has become a badge of resilience and healing. Sage’s transformation is literal: She enters a wrestling ring, donning the character of a proud Cree fighter, inspiring a new generation of Indigenous youth.Jana G. Pruden, feature writer for The Globe, tells the story of Sage and her rebirth into The Matriarch.Questions? Comments? Ideas? Email us at [e-mail]

And we'll go around and I'll get you in here and then you can reverse that. Reverse it. Yeah, just reverse it. This is Sage Moran, also known as the matriarch. I'm going into this, like this. Yeah. And then I'm gonna, ah! She's a wrestler and is rehearsing for her show

in Edmonton, Alberta. Squeeze out, arm drags in there. You're gonna stay down. If you're listening to this and haven't been to Indie Wrestling, it's really fun, it's really strange, and it's just a place where you can and should, you know, scream and cheer and boo and kind of anything goes.

And that's Jana Pruden. She's a feature writer at The Globe. Jana's been following Sage's story well before her time as a professional wrestler. That's because Sage's start in wrestling was born out of an intense personal tragedy. I wanted to do this story because, I guess because I am a crime reporter and I do a lot of stories at the time something terrible happens, but I'm really interested in what happens in the weeks and months and years after, Sage's terrible event changed her life and became national news. But a decade on, she's turned her grief into a creative pursuit. And she's become an inspiration for Indigenous youth. So today, we hear from Jana and from Sage about her transformation

into the matriarch. I'm Maynika Ramen-Wilms, and this is The Decibel from The Globe and Mail. Still in the headlock. And so if I have you up here, you're gonna pull my hair and take me to the corner. Ah, my hair, my hair. Ah, the big show day.

Yeah. Are you nervous before a show or how do you feel? Yeah, honestly, like, I mean, I am not as nervous as I was in the beginning and I'm actually able to, I guess, be a little bit more present and decompress and like enjoy it because I remember some of my first matches just feeling like I had blinders on or like, and just almost feeling kind of like a blackout. I'm just like, I don't even know what happened.

Sage Morin is a 38 year old Indigenous woman from the satellite Cree Nation. She's the mom of Quinton, who's 12 years old, and she is a professional wrestler. So do you have stuff you have to do right now? I think where they're like, obviously fixing the ropes and stuff. So I think we'll probably just kind of just kind of start settling in. And it's kind of started spreading out and getting my stuff ready and slowly. It's funny, it's such a process. It's almost like my Clark Kent voice. Literally just like, you know. And then yeah, so I'll change into my contacts and start getting my hair done

and then get my makeup on and then get changed and it's slowly turning into a different person. Well I first heard about Sage Morin years ago when her son Gio was killed and that was this case that I think the whole city heard about. It was something that obviously rocked me and my family to our core. It was the summer of 2013. At the time, Gio was two years old and Quinton was five months old. And Sage and her husband went out to have dinner

to celebrate Gio's success with potty training. He'd had, you know, a milestone or a breakthrough, and they went out to celebrate and they were sitting on the patio in the sun. It was a beautiful day and they were cheersing with glasses of water and there was a Shirley Temple coming for Gio. And Sage told me this was a moment of like pure happiness, where she had everything that she ever wanted. And then this blue SUV came hurtling into the patio and hit Gio, pinned him to the wall. Also, since Sage and her husband flying, they were both injured.

The baby, Quentin, was tossed to a wall in his car seat, hit the wall, and luckily survived. He landed upside down in his car seat, but he survived. But Gio did not and he died from his injuries. The driver of that vehicle was a man named Richard Suter and he had been at another restaurant in the same parking lot, had had a drink there and left. He was arguing with his wife, fighting with his wife and drove into the patio. Yeah, I mean at the scene I think it was just mayhem. People pulled him out of the vehicle,

people started attacking him, he was arrested. There were indications to people at the time that he was impaired. And so it was investigated as a drunk driving incident. And really the way that happened, it felt, at that time, it felt to me that it was something that they were trying to just like sweep under the rug. Because the guy who killed my son refused to blow, and he refused to take like any accountability,

and was just problematic in that way right from day one. From police cells, you know, you have the right to call a lawyer, and he called a legal aid line and a lawyer there advised him not to do the breathalyzer, which is the wrong advice. This lawyer admits that he did that and so Richard Suter didn't blow. So he was charged with refusing a breathalyzer. But one of the things functionally that that means is that we will never really know if he would have blown over or not. A lot of people do consider this an impaired driving crash, an impaired driving death.

Sage and her family absolutely do. You know, was it a matter of hitting the gas instead of the brake? I guess we truly will never know. Like right after this outlet, like my son passed on Sunday, and I think it was Monday night that I was out passing out like flyers in my neighborhood, telling people like what had happened, and really kind of quickly started this campaign, I guess, like Justice for GEO. And we really, really, it was almost like a call out for our community to come and support us and stand with us.

And they did, you know, it was so incredible how our community really showed up for us. incredible how our community really showed up for us. And then another thing that kept it in the forefront of the public mind in Edmonton is Sage herself. That she started this Justice for Geo campaign within days. So it was a case that really never left the public attention and that had some truly, I think, shocking moments to it too. And a story that I did actually cover and work on when I worked for the Edmonton Journal was that some men came to Richard Souter's house late at night in

the winter one night and they took him, he was wearing a housecoat, and they blindfolded him and drove him out of town and they cut off his thumb and left him in the snow. You know, Sage told me that a lot of people suspected that it had something to do with her or her family, and it didn't. So I just want to make that really, really clear too, that this isn't because of Sage, this isn't because of her family at all.

This is something that vigilantes did that ultimately played a role in him getting a lower sentence than he would have. So it took five years for the case to wind through all the levels of court from the original sentencing to the court of appeal and all the way to the supreme court. And ultimately Richard Souter served 10 months in jail. And one thing that is notable about the case is that in the Supreme Court decision, it really reaffirmed this law and this idea that the penalty for refusing a breathalyzer is the same or should be the same as being impaired at the time of a fatal car crash. And one of the first organizations to really kind of get behind us and wrap their arms around us was

Monster Pro Wrestling. I'd never even been to a live wrestling show at that point. I had no idea who these people were but they put on a show for Gio and they made a little belt with his name on it. And they had our family sit in front row and they called us into the ring and they gave us this little belt while the whole crowd was like chanting Gio's name. And that's here, like in this building, you know? And it was just such a moment.

Like this is literally a month or two after my son passed. So everything was really, really still fresh on my healing journey. But that moment, even still now, even after I've talked about this for like a hundred times, but it's still like, it gives me goosebumps thinking about that moment because it was just so beautiful. We'll be right back. At this point I had invested probably over $40,000 in my mental health and just like keeping myself alive. I'd probably had like all types of modalities of therapy

and really found a lot of healing just in our traditional ways. And as indigenous people, I mean, we all were oral people, and everything, all of our greatest lessons and all of our greatest teachings are all done through storytelling. And so I think it's really, yeah, just a really hand-in-hand way that of course, of course Indigenous people love wrestling, you know, it's a storytelling.

And then somehow it just came into my understanding that Sage Morin, who was the mom of GEO, was now wrestling. And I thought that was really interesting, and I thought it would make a great story. I'd say maybe like nine years down the road is when Massive reached out to me. He kind of seen me kind of stepping out of my cave a little bit more. Sean Dunster or the tattoo terminator Massive Damage.

I just had seen her online doing a bunch of stuff, looked like she's kind of coming out a bit. So I said, hey, you want to try some wrestling? You want to do some announcing or reffing or get us some shows and I'll give you some money. Like, whatever. What do you think? I want to wrestle, she says. I got 10 brothers. I've been wrestling all my life. So she came and started throwing all my guys around and I'm like, yeah, this will be a good fit. When I first was asked to kind of start wrestling, I immediately knew that I didn't want to just be a wrestler

who happened to be indigenous. I wanted to be an indigenous wrestler and have that like identity at the forefront. And then, so like I said said when I started thinking about like you know who the strong women in our Cree culture are it's like without a doubt like the the strongest and the highest would definitely be like the matriarch you know like and so like I said that's kind of how I wanted to aspire to be is that strong kind of lead through love and like have like a responsibility to the people kind of person. It's really cool to watch

Sage get ready because there is this transformation that happens. She comes early so she has all this time to do her hair and makeup and everything but also I think it is this emotional and mental transformation that takes place. And when we were there in November was the first day of this new outfit. You know it's like bright green, it has traditional indigenous floral designs on it, these like bright green tassels hanging off of her cleavage and her knees and her forearms and so it's a really like powerful, colorful, joyful look. I mean I remember the beginning of it it was hard because again here's a girl that's full of trauma. She has nine million things on her plate. So getting her to show up was hard.

There was a few times I had to have her take her off shows and stuff because she just wasn't progressing and wasn't ready. And when I did that, when I took her off shows, then all of a sudden that attendance was a lot better. And then she really started picking it up and stuff. But I had to tell her like, if you're not gonna be serious,

then I'm not gonna be serious. This whole thing, like I said, when I started wrestling, was really in connection with my son. I feel like Gio has guided me to here and it's weird. Like I feel more connected to him and I feel more connected to myself when I'm wrestling. And so it's almost like this whole wrestling thing has been a gift from Gio, because like he, as a kid, was such a rough house kid too.

Like he was always playing around and being crazy and like putting his cousins in chokeholds and stuff. So I think that he would think that this is really, really cool to have his mom as a wrestler. I really think she's a beacon of hope and inspiration for a lot of little indigenous kids. Not just little girls, I think she's a beacon of hope and inspiration for a lot of little indigenous kids, not just little girls, I think kids. Because they see another indigenous person that is doing something they love to do and kicking butt at doing it. So, you know, that's what she'll probably give to the business. I think she'll be a beacon of hope for a lot of these kids that are, you know, struggling with, you know, suicide, alcoholism, drugs, all of it.

It's loneliness. Having a tough place to grow up where there's nothing around to do. So that's where I think she'll come in. It feels important when they see this Indigenous woman come out and I'm not a villain and I'm not a victim I'm victorious and it's something that they can get behind and I think having that kind of representation is really important

because We spend a lot of time We spend a lot of time telling our sad stories, you know, and there is so much of that like trauma out there and they are important stories to tell. But I think our trauma leads to our resiliency, which is an even more important story to tell. I do hear a lot of stories about healing, about resilience, I cover a lot of stories like that. And, you know, people go on trips,

they climb a mountain, they do all kinds of things. But when you think about wrestling, and this is, you know, this is wrestling, wrestling. This is costumes and people screaming and it's independent wrestling. So you're in like a community center and it's over the top and it's kind of corny and it's cheesy and it's wild and that's not really what you think about as, you know, a therapeutic modality after trauma. And I think something that really interested me was

how is this thing, this wrestling, this wild independent wrestling, the thing that has brought her so much healing and helped her rebuild her life, and also that it's the place where she's able to give so much to other people. It really became quite quickly bigger than me and really bigger than wrestling even and getting out into some of the communities that we've been to.

I always go back to these Indigenous communities. That's always my favourite place to perform and to be. It doesn't matter like how many fans you have or like how like big the venue will be. These res shows always feel like I call them my moccasin square garden. Cause to me that's like the top. There is where it really, I mean like here in Edmonton,

it's great to be with friends and family, but going into the indigenous communities, it feels bigger than me, and it feels bigger than wrestling, because I remember what it was like being, you know, an indigenous youth, and not really feeling like there was anything out there for me. And it feels like such a big important job

you know and a really really special and like it makes me emotional because it's a it is it's a really special role to play it feels really important for the youth to see but also for me and I really hope that they understand like what a key component that that has all been in my healing, you know? And just like, like I said, pushing me to want to be a better person, to be like worthy of like, you know,

guiding some of these children or being a role model or like having, you know, like sometimes you like have these kids come up to you and tell me things like you make me not wanna give up on life or you show me how to be strong and it's like things like that just hit you so hard. It doesn't matter what's in the envelope at the end of the night like that's priceless

And so it yeah, like I said, it's really been medicine And I'm writing about the matriarch I see you got an autograph from her. What do you think about her? I like her a lot and she's my favorite. She's your favorite and how come? Because she's native like me. She's very kind. That's it, right? Like it's just that connection

and going back to like our Cree teachings of Wakota-win, it's very much like we are all connected and not just in the bad, you know? It's like when one of us wins, we all win and so sometimes just being able to see that, you know? She's native like me and she wins, you know? It's a different narrative than these kids have been given their entire lives. And so that's when it becomes very grand and very big. And like, I feel so small and I don't feel like, sorry, like the therapist. I don't feel worthy of that role sometimes. It's been hard, it's been a struggle for me. And so just trying to, like I said,

wrestling allows us that opportunity to be who we wanna be. To me, there's an obvious metaphor that's happening there that's like you are someone who has kept getting up and that you're doing that now in the ring and you're showing that. Is that something you think about consciously? Yeah, and I mean, like, it's interesting

that you use that phrase because even going back to, right, I guess, like, the beginning of this chapter of my story was when I lost my son. And at the funeral when they were lowering him down, we had a very, like I've always been very spiritually connected and I've always had a close connection to my culture. And so we had like my uncles and my brothers and my cousins there with their hand drums and they were singing prayer songs as they were lowering my son's casket down. And I remember Allure was a part of me that just wanted to jump into that hole too. And I just collapsed on the ground and

my uncles and my cousins, they kept singing these prayer songs that we sing in the sweat and the song is called bemote and my mom she came to me and she picked me up and she told me like the song singing they're singing bemote that means to get up and to walk again. Yeah, and it... It got up, like I got up, and I've continued to get up, but it's still... You know, it's still like, I can't hear that song without breaking down. You know...

People tend to say, and especially like early on, it was really hard to hear like, you're so strong because people didn't really see what was going on behind. You know, people didn't see like that I didn't even wanna be alive, you know, like, and that that fight was so intense for me. Like I didn't feel strong at all. And now I get to, like I said,

go out and be that strong person, you know? And it's almost like a fake it till you make it cause now I feel like, I feel stronger and I feel like the support and the love and accomplishment, which is something that I feel like was always missing in my life. I don't think I really had like a moment where I felt like I had accomplished much to be proud of. And before I started wrestling, I felt really incredibly alone. I lived on my own and I share custody with my son.

So one week he's with me and one week he's with his dad. And so for a week, I'm just like by myself and I would go to work. I would like fall into that routine of like going to work and coming home and just being depressed and crying my eyes out by myself. And nobody knew that. And I would lay there at home and think, like, nobody, I am not important to anybody and nobody even notices and like if I were to die today like nobody would even notice or like miss me or like people probably wouldn't even notice

until it started to smell or something you know like that's what I would honestly think and it was such a like dark thought to realize that it was honestly probably the truth too, you know. And really wrestling changed all of that because now it's like, if I don't show up to practice, I will hear about it. I couldn't go longer than three days without somebody noticing that I'm gone. Wrestling has enriched my life so much through that. Not just physically, but emotionally and mentally and family-wise.

Like I said, I didn't feel important and I didn't feel loved and I didn't feel accomplished before I started wrestling. And then it's really like it's undeniable you know like when you step into that ring and you feel the energy all around you it's it's it's palpable. So it is a really amazing gift and like I said it's just like medicine like a self, I don't know how else to describe it. Patriot! Patriot! Patriot! Patriot! Patriot! Patriot! Patriot! Patriot!

This episode was produced by Kasha Mihailovic. Field recording by Amber Bracken. Our producers are Madeleine White, Michal Stein, and Allie Graham. David Crosby edits the show. Adrian Chung is our senior producer, and Matt Frainer is our managing editor. Thanks so much for listening, and I'll talk to you soon.