Republished by DeUxKonE, 2004
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| Chapter Eight: Into the 2000s | |||||||||||||||||
| As we enter the 20th century, the fate of Quebec pro wrestling is quite challenging. With a couple of Indy promotions like the NCW and the ICW in Montreal as well as new-born INTERNATIONAL WRESTLING 2000, seems that our pro wrestling is getting back on the track. But the American Menace stills looms as wrestling fans of today roots for the heroes of WWF or WCW they learned to watch when they grew up... With TV appealing and merchandising aplenty, how can we forget that the American product of pro wrestling has practically killed the show here. Well almost... It took the brains of one Ludger Proulx, some kids from Joliette and some veteran wrestlers screwed up by both major american promotions to revive the flame that was once held by Yvon Robert, Maurice Vachon, Johnny Rougeau, Eddie Creatchman, Dino Bravo, Rick Martel and others... | |||||||||||||||||
| What the local scene needs, is more exposure from the media. Already, the INFO-LUTTE web site and 514IndyWrestling, does a good job of trying to promote the local promotions, sometimes by participating directly in them. But let's not forget that only TV is the sole great promotion organ that can make a pro wrestling promotion works. | |||||||||||||||||
| Recently, Paul Leduc has talked about evolution in pro wrestling. Obliously, there is something evolving when we're talking about alternative ways to attract fans today: more stunts, more falls, more illegal tactics, more illicit weapons, more hardcore matches. Without forgetting that once pro wrestling was more scientific, this kind of combat would become today less than a bore. People want action, caracters that they would recognize in themselves and then excellent rivalries to keep the storyline moving. | |||||||||||||||||
| Going into the twenty-first century, wrestling will come back to a way where it used to be before. The young athletes and the veterans would mingle in minor Indy promotions while the top brass would still hold on to the major national wrestling promotions. However, with the power of TV (public, commercial and private...) and the way communications are today, it would be doubtful that mega-leagues like WWE would dissapear one of these days. Though the WWE is in jeopardy right now with the bad decisions of purchasing WCW and ECW, and going for disorganized Pro Football (Former XFL). | |||||||||||||||||
| What about the fate of Quebec in pro wrestling ? Right now, Jacques Rougeau has failed to create a major pro wrestling promotion in the province. Others tried, but mostly today money is the name of the game. Networks charge very high broadcasting rights (that only Infomercials companies like Guthy-Renker can afford, and pro wrestling is an indirect infomercial) so it is impossible to make a very profitable wrestling show. And since most of the wrestlers are doing this for fun and not being paid (only a few wrestle for money, and it shows on your wrestling entrance ticket...), I guess a TV weekly spot would mean a paycheque for them as they are artists. And doing a wrestling show can become a gruelling experience: only the insurances can eat up most of the profits due to the risks, not counting also the storylines, the outcome and especially the wrestlers' egos, which influates a lot on the future of the federations. And the staff who supports them all the way. These days, to make shows more interesting, wrestlers are moving from federation to federation. | |||||||||||||||||
| Many promotions were created in the early 2000s: Sunny War Cloud created the CCW in 2001 (which became recently the EWR, after he left). Paul Leduc put his Quebec Wrestling Federation with his family and son Carl to coach future wrestlers. Gino Brito has come back to promotion in Gatineau with the CPW (a touring promotion), while many regional promotions like JCW (Saguenay), CCW-Monter�gie, MWF (North and South Shore of Montreal) and others are doing well in the promotion business. The most likely to talk about is the IWS, a extremely hardcore federation showing mostly on Internet shows dedicated to an adult crowd, reason being that this promotion is backed off by a porn-film production company, who bring over their stars on almost every show... | |||||||||||||||||
| And our wrestlers. For the moment, they're polishing their moves. However, one of them will come out of the pack and one day will become the stuff that legends are made off , like Yvon Robert, Johnny Rougeau, Maurice Vachon, Dino Bravo, Rick Martel, Jacques Rougeau Jr and others. And keep the flame burning so no other major federation would barge in and gobble all the glory that our local pro wrestling scene has accumulated in the past 70 years... | |||||||||||||||||
| The Duke | |||||||||||||||||
| Back to the Welcome Page... | |||||||||||||||||
| Copyright 1999, Productions Leduc 2000 ltd, Montreal, Qc. Republished by DeUxKonE, 2004 |
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