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| Paul Sauv� Arena |
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| Location: Southwest corner of Pie IX boulevard and Beaubien Street in the Rosemont borough of Montreal. Built: 1960 Demolished: 1996 Fact: A Metro (subway) station was planned to be built nearby. |
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| Copyright 2004, DeUxKonE, Montr�al, Qc |
| For the 60s to the 80s wrestling crowd, this was the Mecca of the sport in Montreal, a venue so convenient for the sport, in which we have regret to tear it down for corporative and residential reasons... In the mid-60s, Johnny Rougeau and partner Bob Langevin created "Les As de la Lutte" (Wrestling Aces) and made the arena its main venue for wrestling shows, let alone the Forum for bigger galas (well, PPVs were not created yet). It ran from 1965 to 1975. Monday nights were crowded with wrestling fans coming from all over Montreal and surroundings, either by bus or by car. And with the wrestling show "Sur le Matelas" (On the Mat) running on CFTM 10 (now TVA network) for promotions and publicity, shows were always well attended... When Wrestling Aces folded, five years passed before the other big promotion run by Frank Valois, Gino Brito, Dino Bravo and Andre the Giant, named Varoussac, renamed later International Wrestling. Until 1987, the Arena was the theater of many wrestling shows, also supported by a wrestling show called "Les �toiles de la Lutte" presented on TELE 7 in Sherbrooke and its english counterpart, Superstars of Wrestling on CFCF 12. The Arena was torn down in 1996, suffering from too many losses and the fact that the lack of maintenance left the arena in big decay, thus restoring this venue would have been quite expensive. Besides the Arena, which showed Ice Hockey, Trade shows and the Olympic Volleyball preliminaries in 1976, it had a curling hall turned bingo hall, a gymnasium, a restaurant and a bowling center. Special thanks to Danielle LaFrance for this rare photo of this venue ! |
| Quebec Wrestling |