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| Auditorium Verdun |
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| Location: Boulevard Cerf-Volant, close to the intersection of Lasalle Blvd and de L'Eglise (Church) Street in Verdun borough of Montreal Built: 1939 Fact: The Auditorium is seldom the main practice ice of the Montreal Canadiens of the National Hockey League. Forbidden in the Montreal city limits, Verdun hosted many�popular Kick boxing and Ultimate Fighting Shows. Also hosted some great martial arts shows... Many hockey greats, like Denis Savard and Pat Lafontaine started their road to fame in this arena. An Annex, build in the 70s, with the renovation of the fa�ade, was renamed the Denis Savard Arena. |
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| Copyright 2004, DeUxKonE, Montr�al, Qc |
| Since 1938, the Verdun Auditorium was a venue of all kinds of sorts. The pride of Verdun residents, it presented all kinds of events: hockey, boxing, kick boxing, ultimate fighting, martial arts as well as trade shows and all sort of entertainments alike... As for Pro wrestling, the Auditorium was the "home" of Grand Prix Wrestling in the 70s, as opposed to the Paul Sauv� Arena for Les As de la Lutte. The promotion featured the Vachon brothers, the Leduc brothers (the two families had feuds in the tradition of the Hatfields and the McCoys), Don Leo Jonathan, Edouard Carpentier, Gilles Poisson, the Crazy Kiwis and others. It also hosted other promotions like Superstars of Wrestling and Celebrity Wrestling, but Grand Prix is attached forever with the Auditorium itself... Varoussac came rarely, but for the reason that the Paul Sauve Arena was commissionned for a Occult Sciences show held every year. Frank Valois did stage a Russian Chain Match in 1981 between Dino Bravo and Zarinoff Leboeuf. The WWF came for a few shows, but for taping purposes. Fans were quite deceived of their presence, as matches were rather a showcase of a top wrestler beating a jobber, taped for TV viewing later on Maple Leaf Wrestling. (one way matches mainly). In 1995, Jacques Rougeau wanted to start a major federation with a few wrestlers. The first show was at the Auditorium. The crowd liked it, but a few weeks later, the promotion folded. He tried again between 2000 and 2003 with Lutte Internationale 2000, a show featuring his students of his wrestling school and some former superstars, including Jacques himself, Pierre Carl Ouellet, King Kong Bundy, Raymond Rougeau and a few others. Shows had a mixed review for fans, as Rougeau's style is rather old school and being family oriented rather than hardcore... However, the Auditorium remains a great venue for wrestling, as the Paul Sauv� Arena does not exist anymore... and accessible by subway... |
| Quebec Wrestling |