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No one knows exactly when pro wrestling really started in Québec. Like the USA and Canada though, we had our county fairs with rides, midways, sideshows, acrobats, farm animals, etc. And also a strongman contest. As a passage of Germaine Guèvremont's "Le Survenant" mentionned, the hero, a man just passing by and spending a year with a family near Sorel, Québec, wrestled a man during a county fair in a strongman contest. In many books about pro wrestling, this is how it started. A wrestler came with his manager and a ring, and challenged anyone in the audience to beat him. Of course there was a reward for beating the wrestler, but any challenger trying failed, to the pleasure of the manager, who kept it until the next stop. But at a certain point, one challenger beats the wrestler and earn the reward to the displeasure of the promoter, who lost at least part of the earnings received by the midway promoter. However, to avoid another humiliation, the manager proposed to the winner, a chance to join the bandwagon and earn money while wrestling his superstar protégé- Of course, he would make more money because he would charge an entrance fee. And of course he would also make a challenge contest to find new recruits for his show. This is partly how pro wrestling started.
Then it moved into venues such as parish halls (with sometimes approbations from the ruling clergy at the time), sports gyms and improvised outdoor venues, in which wooden stands were built in a squared form, hosted pro wrestling as well as variety shows, circuses and boxing matches. (These existed in Montréal-North and the Plateau Mont-Royal district in Montréal).
Henri Dufresne
(from Archives) |
One of the first major venues in Montréal was the Mont-Royal Arena, which was located corner Mont-Royal and St-Urbain streets in the Plateau district. Many wrestlers did have success here, like Henri Dufresne (recognized as the first successful wrestler coming from Québec) and French champion Henri Deglane. However, on a certain night of 1932, a young and talentful kid from Verdun, out fresh from a famed wrestling camp in the Laurentians, would paved the path to Québec's pro wrestling success: Yvon Robert.
After a short while, Robert went to the United States to improve his techniques. Wrestling in Montréal was still in a momentum, trying to fit into the major league circuit with a few major superstars. But with Robert's success in the U.S., it would be oblivious that sooner or later, Québec wrestling would make its way... Then Yvon Robert met Eddy Quinn near Boston, who was a small town promoter. Quinn took the young prodige under his wing and brought him to success, until that night when Robert beat Pat O'Connor for the NWA belt. Then Quinn's boss, who was head of the Boston promotion, sent him to Montréal to rule the NWA chapter in that city. However, to be major, you need a big sports venue. The Forum was the answer...
The Montréal Forum didn't have a good promotion, as Tommy Gorman had several responsibilities at the time, one as general manager of NHL teams Maroons and Canadiens (the first had success, the second was sinking and also mourning the lost of a superstar named Howie Morenz). In order to merge the two teams and bring back the Canadiens to success, Gorman sells the wrestling promotion rights to Eddy Quinn. It was the start of a beautiful friendship between Montréal and pro wrestling...
Next chapter: The 40's and Yvon Robert
Copyright © 1999, Productions Leduc 2000
ltd, Montrèal, QC.
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