He eventually met Devin Chittick and Scott Savage through various local wrestling events and began his training with the pair in Sheet Harbour, Nova Scotia in June 2000.
In 2001, Vance Nevada arrived in Nova Scotia and assisted in securing new booking opportunities for Steen, who had recently become the first ever MainStream Wrestling Champion on July 21.
[1] Steen travelled to Winnipeg, Manitoba with Top Rope Championship Wrestling and took part in Tony Condello's Northern Hell Tour during early 2002.
After the demise of RAW, Steen continued competing with MSW and appeared on various other dates throughout the region, most notably, losing in the first round of the first Maritime Cup to the eventual winner Bobby Rude.
Steen returned for the second annual Maritime Cup featuring independent wrestlers in Canada including "Wildman" Gary Williams, Duke MacIsaac, Scott Savage and Tony Armstrong.