Byrne Brothers Bring Family Legacy to the PBR Canada National Finals

AIRDRIE, Alta. – The Byrne name is synonymous with bull riding and bullfighting in Canada.

Led by patriarch Ryan Byrne, the family legacy spans generations. Ryan fought bulls professionally for 15 years, working some of the sport's most prestigious events, including the Calgary Stampede and the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo. He paved the way for his three sons, Bo, Jesse, and Tanner, to build careers within the same arena dirt.

Jesse Byrne became a mainstay on the PBR's Unleash The Beast tour and is often mentioned among the greatest bullfighters the sport has seen. His younger brother, Tanner Byrne, began his career as a rider, winning the 2015 PBR Canada Championship before making his transition into bullfighting at the end of 2019, continuing the family tradition from a different angle.

While it won't be the first time two Byrne brothers have fought bulls together in PBR Canada competition, this November's PBR Canada National Finals inside Rogers Place in Edmonton will mark the first time Jesse and Tanner will work side-by-side at the championship event.

"He actually brought it up that this would be our first Finals fighting together," Tanner said. "So it's a pretty amazing feat for brothers to be selected for the PBR Canada Finals. It's definitely something neither of us take lightly. Anytime you get voted in for a Finals, that's a huge accomplishment. It's a pretty cool feeling knowing that we're both going to stand out there and do our jobs as brothers. And anytime you get to work with a guy like him, who's that talented and skilled, who can read bulls and has your back. It feels pretty good."

Tanner's road to bullfighting began on the back of bulls. He claimed event titles on the Unleash The Beast tour and qualified for the PBR World Finals four times. Throughout that career, Jesse was in the arena, ready to throw himself in harm's way for his brother's safety.

"I think I had reckless confidence to start with. I kind of lived my bull riding career like every one of them could be the last. I tied my hand in there as tight as it could get and hoped for the best," Tanner said. "Early on, especially, it was either I was staying on or getting in a wreck, and Jesse kind of knew that. So he was always on the ball, ready to go, making sure he was there to protect me."

"Everybody always asked him, 'Is it different? Do you do more for your brother?' The thing with him is he's just that skilled and that good that you've got to block that out, even if it is your brother. You've got a job to do, and every one of those guys was his brother. He had to do the same job every time. I think if he let me get run over, he'd probably get some heat from my dad or uncles or the family members."

"With Jesse, there's been numerous times where I'd be going down in the well or in a bind where I thought it might be career-ending or a really bad one,” Tanner continued. “And I'd come out of it smelling like a rose because of some move that he did, jumped on his head or quietly picked the bull up off me, stuff a lot of people don't even see."

Tanner had long made it known that he would one day trade his bull rope for cleats. When that moment came in 2019, he leaned on Jesse not just for encouragement but also for gear, and guidance.

"It was always the joke in our locker room when I was riding bulls, 'When are you going to make the switch?'" Tanner said. "At the schools and practice pens growing up, we all fought together—Bo, Jesse, Scott—and everybody knew I had it in me."

"When I brought it to them, nobody was really surprised. There was a lot of support. Jesse drove up here. He lives eight hours from me and came to the practice pens to help me get set. When I went to my first event, he sent me everything I needed: the knife, the shorts, all the gear."

Before heading to Rogers Place for the National Finals on November 14–15, the Byrne brothers returned to another storied venue: SaskTel Centre in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, which hosted the final regular season PBR Canada Cup Series event last weekend.

The SaskTel Centre, just up the road from the Byrne’s hometown of Prince Albert, holds a special place in their hearts. Tanner competed there early in his career in the Canadian Cowboys Association (CCA), and it's where he claimed his 2015 PBR Canada Championship. Jesse was voted to fight bulls at the PBR Canada National Finals in Saskatoon from 2009 to 2015. Their uncle, Scott Byrne, retired from the sport in the same building that year.

"I did my first CCA Finals there. I wouldn't even want to guess the year, but I was like 11 or 12," Tanner said. "It was my first time riding there, and we were getting on some bigger bulls that were probably too big and strong for me, but I did okay. I got past a few of them and also got hung up on about three-quarters of them, dragging around the SaskTel Centre over and over. Jesse and Rick Hodgson at that time had to save my butt more than once on some big, scary bulls that we were all pretty nervous about."

But even with all those memories, nothing compares to what awaits next month in Edmonton.

With PBR Canada bigger than it has ever been, and the 2025 national title on the line, Tanner is soaking in the moment.

"The atmosphere of that place, of PBR Canada, what it's grown to be, the money that's added for these guys, obviously I'm a huge fan of bull riding. I always have been," Tanner said. "And when these young guys now can make a living in Canada and make a lot of money and get to ride at the finals at Rogers Place, it's incredible."

"There's nothing much better. When we look back on that years from now, once it sinks in, that's going to be a pretty cool memory to have. Pictures of us both out there together, protecting the guys, at the biggest event in Canada. I can't wait to get to Rogers Place next month."