Int'l Wrestling - Montreal #18 Page #2
And, of
course, the inevitable unmasking provided a perfect climax to the program while
establishing the youngster revealed under the hood as a guy who proved he could
hang with the stars at the top of the card. So, he was now on his way.
In 1965
when Johnny Rougeau revived wrestling in Quebec with his All-Star promotion, he
tended to shy away from the mask gimmick for the first few years. His initial
documented foray into the realm came in late 1968 via an enhancement duo simply
dubbed "Les Deux Masques" (The Two Masks). But Johnny really struck
box office gold when "Mr.X" rolled into town in the spring of 1971.
Managed by the hyperactive Eddy "The Brain" Creatchman, the towering X
(with his trusty claw hold) steamrolled all the way to the International title
by defeating no less an opponent than the then-unstoppable Jos Leduc on June
21st at the Forum. Although he only held the strap a couple of months, X helped
cement new champ Carlos Rocha's reputation with local fans via an
unmasking in early 1972. The man under the hood was revealed to be Tarzan
Zorra, a veteran worker who had often main evented here for Eddie Quinn back in
the 1950's. American fans might know him best as Hans Mortier, who regularly
battled Bruno Sammartino in the early WWWF years.
There's
also an interesting little tidbit to the Mr. X saga in Quebec. While doing some
Net research last year, I came across a 1970 photograph of the distinct Mr.X
costume and mask from Japan - except that it was obviously NOT Tarzan Zorra. In
fact, this X was veteran Jack Pesek. In that his X pre-dated the Quebec version,
this really piqued my curiosity. Well, as it turns out, Zorra was on that same
Japanese tour with Pesek, wearing a basic black mask and billed under his own
name. So I surmise that Zorra bought the costume from Pesek following the tour
and brought the Mr.X gimmick to Quebec in early '71. Fascinating stuff. Anyway,
the success of the Mr.X program spawned similar projects, including a good
Rougeau program with the masked Boston Strangler, capitalizing on the hit movie
starring Tony Curtis.
If Johnny
Rougeau was initially reluctant about the mask gimmick, his new promotional
rivals over at the fledgling Grand Prix Wrestling company dove into it, ummm,
head first. Two of the group's first imports were the original Destroyer (Dick
Beyer) and The Professional (Doug Gilbert), who was one of
rookie "Giant" Jean Ferre's (Andre The Giant) first serious
opponents. Beyer's popularity, in
particular, spawned a dizzying wave of Grand Prix masked "Destroyers"
to the point where there were at least half a dozen floating around at various
times.
One of the
early Grand Prix hit tag teams were the Green Hornets. The original team
consisted of mid-carder Fernand Frechette and none other than Michel
"Justice" Dubois. He was later replaced by Frechette's old regular
All-Star partner Cowboy Jones. A masked Patriot showed up for a while in early
1973, and by the latter stages of that year even Killer Kowalski himself started
donning a mask for no discernible reason other than his new toupee seemed to
have trouble staying glued on during long matches! The UFO (Bob Della Serra) was
a pretty big hit as the year drew to a close, thanks to his colourful attire
(remember, this WAS the 70's) - even if his mask was so cheesy that it looked as
if his mom made it for him! The blood red-garbed Scorpions started off in Grand
Prix then jumped to All-Star in early 1974.
Their identities aren't known but I seem to recall that they got quite a
bit of ink in the Apter mags and may have been known at some point in All-Star
as the Spidermen. In any case, they wrestled like veteran enhancement talent and
got some good play primarily because of a good gimmick and great (for the time)
costumes.
The Spring
of '74 saw Grand Prix's fortunes begin to decline dramatically. By this time the
promotion was beginning to implode due to the ongoing war with Rougeau and
increasing internal dissension amongst the handful of wrestlers/investors who
ran the company. They failed to follow up on their immensely successful Mad Dog
Vachon/Killer Kowalski feud of the previous summer and crowds were dropping.
Ironically, in a promotion which had overdosed its fans on masked men almost
from the start, one of Grand Prix's last great television angles involved
Edouard Carpentier's quest to unmask The Destroyer (# 567, by my count).
Although
the feud, such as it was, did briefly make the house show rounds, I suspect that
it was primarily designed as a TV affair to boost sagging ratings. In point of
fact, it was even acknowledged on television that this Destroyer wasn't really
in Carpentier's class and it was simply a case of Edouard teaching the fellow a
lesson by going after his mask. Well, finally, on the first Saturday afternoon
in May, it happened! Carpentier quickly pinned The Destroyer and unmasked him to
reveal none other than mid-carder Frenchy Martin under the hood! The CHLT-7
studio audience there in Sherbrooke for the TV tapings - always a hot crowd, by
the way - went absolutely bananas! So did I, albeit in front of the family
television set back home in Montreal. I was about 7 years old at the time and it
was my first real "mark out" moment. Just like sex (well, almost), you
always remember your first time).
All
kidding aside, the angle really did nothing to further Frenchy's career at the
time. He'd have to go to Puerto Rico some years later in order to finally hit it
big. But a few years ago, I was absolutely thrilled to discover that the
Carpentier/Destroyer unmasking is actually one of the few pre-International
Montreal TV episodes that is still known to exist! Thanks to my column-writing
predecessor here on the Montreal board, I was able to obtain a copy of one of my
most cherished early wrestling memories and can re-live those great Grand Prix
times over and over again to my heart's content.
And that's
as it should be.
At about
that same period, Montreal saw its first babyface masked man in All-Star as The
White Angel appeared on the scene and vowed to clean up the "sport".
Of course, masked good guys had been popular for decades in Mexico and most
North American fans were familiar with the high-flying antics of Mil Mascaras.
Southern U.S. fans were also treated to the heroics of Mr.Wrestling (Tim Woods)
and Mr.Wrestling II (Johnny Walker) in the 70's. But The White Angel was the
first one in Quebec. The guy under the hood was journeyman Michel Gagnon and the
gimmick might have gotten over more but for the fact that Gagnon was essentially
a junior heavyweight and didn't match up very well with big guns like Abdullah
The Butcher and Michel Dubois.
By 1976,
Rougeau had sold the dying All-Star (now known as "Superstar
Wrestling" but with basically the same personnel, titles and TV) and the
new owners began to forge more economically prudent talent exchanges with Dave
McKigney's and George Cannon's troupes based out of Ontario. The breakout stars
from that arrangement were the masked El Santos heel team which quickly captured
the tag team titles in a tournament early that year. Using local talent under
the hoods (one report has longtime McKigney veteran Duncan MacTavish playing
one) and having nothing whatsoever to do with the more famous El Santo
("The Saint") of lucha libre fame, this new tag team did, however,
have a link to the Mexican scene. Anyone who saw them perform would always
comment on their fantastic black & white costumes. Doing a little research,
I discovered that a famous lucha heel called El Cobarde ("The Cowardly
One") wore the exact same mask and costume earlier in the decade. Given
that our El Santos were of a larger build, it's obvious they weren't the
original luchadors. It was probably an idea they picked up while one or both
were touring Mexico. Nevertheless, they were one of the precious few new
wrestlers to build a reputation during one of the worst down periods for the
business in Quebec history.
As
an aside, for all of the language experts out there, the team was always billed
as "The El Santos" which was, in fact, a double mistake. First of all,
they should have been billed as "Los Santos," in the plural form,
since "El" translates into "The" in Spanish. So, literally,
announcers were calling them "The The Saints" all the time. A small
and fussy point I know, but it always bugged me. :)
A year
later in 1977, with Cannon's show the only remaining game in town, El Santos #1
& #2 continued on as the lead heel tag team. They alternated, at various
intervals, with other masked duos such as the returning Scorpions and a smaller
duo called "Los Villanos" (at least they got the grammar right this
time) who showed up around 1979 with outrageously bright yellow costumes and
masks that were even tougher on the eyes than those gold numbers the
Conquistadors used to wear in the WWF. But neither team could match the appeal
of the big boys in black & white.
By 1980,
Varoussac Promotions was formed and finally restored order to the chaotic
Montreal scene. Since all three initial investors (Frank Valois, Andre The Giant
and Gino Brito) were old Grand Prix alumni, the presence of masked men right
from the get-go was a given. A masked Avenger showed up for while and got some
choice spots on those early cards but he failed to make a significant impact. On
the other hand, one of the new promotion's first imported stars was none other
than our old friend Dick Beyer, the original (and greatest) Destroyer. Even
though he was nearing the end of a truly terrific career, Beyer could still
trade holds with the best of them and his superlative ring skills not only
helped erase the memory of all those hooded jobbers from previous
administrations, but also established the fledgling promotion's credibility as a
major league outfit with skeptical local fans. Beyer was even rewarded with a
brief International title reign in 1983 and, after a long career as a heel,
wound up riding off into the sunset as a babyface in Quebec.
As popular
as Beyer's Destroyer was, by far the biggest hooded star in the history of
International (and, perhaps, in the entire history of Quebec wrestling) was the
famous Masked Superstar (Bill Eadie). Having established a solid reputation as a
main event draw, particularly in Japan and the southern U.S., the Superstar was
brought into Montreal in 1983 on the recommendation
of Dino Bravo who had worked with Eadie a few years earlier in the Carolinas.
For those younger fans who only remember Eadie as the punching and stomping Ax
of Demolition in the WWF, I strongly suggest you seek out some tapes of him in
action as the Superstar. For a man of such a large frame, Eadie was a tremendous
worker who was vastly underrated throughout his tenure under the mask. He was
instantly plugged into a feud with Bravo for the International title and their
chemistry with each other in the ring was absolutely breathtaking by any era's
standards. Their program was an instant sensation. Managed by the effete Lord
Alfred Hayes, Superstar staged titanic battles with Bravo all over Quebec for
months on end.
One
interesting element I noticed about Eadie during this period was that he really
seemed to like Quebec. I recall a couple of interviews he did when Hayes wasn't
around where he showed up wearing a Montreal tourism t-shirt and actually broke
character to speak in a normal, calm voice about how he was enjoying his stay in
the province and what a wonderful city Montreal was. Not exactly the mantra of a
heel. I also remember that Superstar made many appearances in the smaller,
outlying towns on the Quebec circuit which was something no U.S. import ever
did. Hell, even local stars like Bravo and Rick Martel rarely made forays out to
the regions.
When Bravo
spun off into his classic feud with King Tonga in late 1984, the Superstar
entered into a thrilling program with veteran Jos Leduc. Unlike the technical
masterpiece that was his series with Bravo, the Leduc matches were old-fashioned
pier-six brawls with mayhem galore and big Jos shedding buckets of blood in the
process. Again, Superstar matched up well with a worker who was quite the
opposite of the more scientifically-oriented Bravo and their series provided
great support on the card for the Bravo/Tonga main events.
During the
tumultuous year of 1985, which saw the WWF making preparations to invade the
province, Eadie's Montreal appearances became more sporadic. Still, Superstar
did return for one last hurrah against Bravo at the Montreal Forum on the
afternoon of July 29th before 17,502 screaming fans. The day also marked the
last time International Wrestling would promote on its own in that building. In
a strange irony, Superstar was saved from being unmasked by another mysterious
masked man who interfered and attacked Bravo. That masked man turned out to be
none other than Jos Leduc!
If Eadie's
Superstar was a classic example of everything that was great about a masked
wrestler, then the "Luc Poirier experiment" was at completely the
opposite end of the spectrum. A muscular youngster with an exceptional build,
Poirier seemingly had the aesthetic required to make it big in a mid-80's
wrestling universe that was becoming increasingly obsessed with muscle-bound
cartoon caricatures. But appearances can often times be deceiving. Nevertheless,
the promotion was wisely thinking towards the future and was on the lookout for
the next potential local star who could someday carry the company. Based on his
look, they started grooming Poirier for that role. They even decided to revive
Eddie Quinn's tried-and-true old "Masked Marvel" gimmick in order to
help Luc test his wings. In the beginning, things looked somewhat promising. The
Marvel ("Le Merveille Masquee" in French) performed adequately enough
against limited competition in TV matches and his muscular build did set him
apart from your average enhancement talent.
Yet almost from the start you got that sinking feeling that this guy just wasn't going to make it. His occasional interviews, which started out shakily as all rookies do, failed to improve one iota as time marched on. Even more importantly, the progression of his in-ring abilities had stalled as well. Soon, rumours of Poirier dogging it in training sessions began to surface and now his dedication and work ethic was openly being questioned by both management and the fans. In October of 1984 it was decided to pull the trigger on a heel turn for the Marvel (now known as "The Mercenary") to see if that would put him over with the fans. It fizzled like a wet firecracker.
If it was
instantly clear that the timing of the turn was a mistake, the company
compounded the situation by panicking and by the end of the month, The Mercenary
was unmasked. Given the lofty expectations going in, the Poirier project was one
of the biggest flops in Quebec wrestling history. Luc went on to a brief tryout
with the WWF in 1985 and disappeared from the wrestling scene entirely until he
surprisingly re-surfaced over 10 years later as 1/4 of the short-lived
"Truth Commission" group.
As the end
drew near for International Wrestling, an influx of masked jobbers - always a
sign that a promotion is in trouble - started turning up. In another attempt to
cut costs, a fellow like Verne Siebert would wrestle under his own name in one
match and then don a hood (in his case as the masked "Spoiler") to
wrestle again. The only masked man of any renown during those final months was
Jason The Terrible who was in briefly as part of the WWC talent exchange from
Puerto Rico.
When
International died in 1987 and the WWF was the lone major promotion left in
Quebec, masks were pretty much already out of vogue in the Federation, save for
a brief run by Andre, Eadie and Blackjack Mulligan posing as The Machines from
Japan. And speaking of Japan, the great acrobatics of hooded
stars like Tiger Mask and Jushin "Thunder" Liger were missed
out on by Montrealers during the 1990's, as well as the outstanding highspots of
the Mexican luchadors. It took the ascension of WCW as a real competitive force
to Vince McMahon for all of those great foreign masked stars to finally get some
exposure here.
Nowadays in 21st century WWE, masks are being used primarily as merchandising tools. But there's no use in pining for the old days of wondering who's under the hood because those angles are virtually impossible to execute today. The anti-climax of Kane's unmasking was a textbook demonstration of how WWE writers painted themselves into a difficult corner. Since the actual identity of Kane was well known (Glen Jacobs), the only "mystery" left was in how ugly the make-up team was going to fix him up to look. It was a one-shot shock value (if even that) and it leaves the Kane character with very few options for the future. In any case, given the new realities of masks in today's wrestling, I suppose it's all we'll be able to look forward to.
NEXT
MONTH :
Why inter-promotional angles never work.