Where Wrestling's Regional History Lives!
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Where Wrestling's Regional History Lives! |
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- Daren Gleason
T.V. WRESTLING: THE MEN BEHIND THE MICROPHONE In my last column, I examined the character of the manager and went on to underline just how important that role was and is to the promotional aspect of a wrestling company. This time out, I'll be taking a look at the men who called the action on television for the various Quebec promotions. Although their part in the wrestling universe may not be as glamorous as the manager's, the men behind the microphone can be just as influential a forcein putting over characters and storylines to the fans. Even though professional wrestling had enjoyed significant popularity in Montreal dating as far back as the late 19th century (with regular shows doing fairly well at the old Mount Royal Arena), the industry really took off here under the deft promotional hand of ex-boxer Eddie Quinn. A native of Massachusetts in the United States, Quinn took over the local reigns from Jack Ganson in 1939, having been granted a license by the Montreal Athletic Commission. Basing his operations out of the Montreal Forum, home to the NHL's Canadiens, Quinn began to steadily re-invent the game by introducing those now-familiar elements of glitter and mayhem into his shows. It was in stark contrast to Ganson's concept of promoting serious, no-frills wrestling cards.
With local star Yvon Robert headlining his shows, Quinn's
"Canadian
Athletic Promotions" company grew steadily throughout the 1940's.
A series of
bouts between Robert and Gorgeous George drew record crowds to the
Forum late
in the decade, but it was the emergence of national Canadian
television which
saw pro wrestling really explode in popularity.
Signing on the air in 1952 with the English-language Canadian
Broadcasting
Corporation (CBC) and the French-language Societe Radio-Canada (SRC),
local
Of course, Montreal already boasted a strong
grappling
tradition, but the debut of televised wrestling opened up the
spectacle to a
whole new audience. The program was an instant hit and spawned one of
French-Canadian broadcasting's first TV stars: Michel Normandin.
To any Montrealer of a certain age, be they English or French, his
name is
legendary. A man of immense talent and energy, Normandin began his
career in
1935 and first gained fame by broadcasting sports for French-speaking
troops overseas during World War II. He later received the Order of the
British
Empire in honor of his outstanding work. He was the French-language
voice of
the Montreal Canadiens for 12 years but also amazingly had long stints
doing
play-by-play for the old Montreal Royals minor-league baseball team,
the
Canadian Football League's Montreal Alouettes and even served on
Montreal's
City Council for six years.
To describe Normandin's style to those unfortunate enough to have
never heard
him, the word "intense" immediately comes to mind. Even if
you couldn't
understand French, Normandin's impeccable diction, colorful style and
raw
emotion in describing the action could be appreciated by everybody,
regardless of language or culture. Yes, he was that good. He also
became
famous all over the country for his trademark "un...deux...trrrrrrrois!!!"
catchphrase when counting out a pinfall. By the autumn of 1955,
professional
wrestling was actually running a close second to hockey in popularity
with dramatically. He briefly handed the booking reigns over to local wrestler Bob "Legs" Langevin, but things failed to improve. More...
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