Rise of a Star

[smartman]

I was asking in kayfabe terms as clearly Young is going to cost Renee the title not in a RL way. Wendi was such a megastar in the making. I really wonder sometimes what women's wrestling would have been if they hadn't screwed her over.

[kinnikuniverse]

Nah, mate, people have been waiting so long for renée to beat hardy for the title. No way they're gonna screw her over again. Fans would be angry. Hell, i would be angry. That would be a massive dick move. This ain't TK booking lol.

[Old School Fan]

All-Star Wrestling @ Montreal Forum*
November 11, 1968 - Montreal, Quebec
Attendance - 20,890

 

Miss X I & II defeated Carmen Thompson & Linda Moody when Miss X I clotheslined and pinned Thompson.

Veteran competitor Mary Jane Mull got a spirited match from young France Létourneau, but Mull came away the victor when she used a full-nelson slam on Létourneau for the pin.

Julie Painchaud defeated Annette Dupuis when Painchaud used a side suplex for the pinfall on Dupuis.

Georgia Hase & Judy Sowinski thought they would have an easy match against up-and-coming blonde fan favorites Sabrina Lafleur & Rosalie Paiement, who gave the heel tandem a few scares with their improving technical skills.  From the first, it was rough going for both teams with neither gaining the advantage.  Then Hase began to dominate Lafleur, only to have Sabrina brilliantly escape.  Then Paiement tagged in and took it to Hase, forcing her to tag in Sowinski.  After a wild melee with both teams tagging in and out, Hase and Lafleur collided in the center of the ring and both women collapsed in a daze.  Sowinski, quick to seize the opportunity, grabbed Lafleur and bodyslammed her, then lifted Hase upon Lafleur for the pin and ended the match in the heel duo's favor, much to the fans' chagrin.

Penny Banner got the better of Marianne Duchesne when Banner used the sunset flip to get the pinfall win.

Former NWA United States Women's Champion Mae Young faced off against France Gall in a battle of experience vs. youth, with Young using her extensive knowledge of the sport and her size advantage to dominate the smaller Gall during much of the match, though the spirited Gall would have her moments as she used her acrobatic and technical prowess to throw Young for a loop.  At one point, Young ensnared Gall in the dreaded Guillotine, but the spunky young French beauty refused to concede.  Gall’s courage infuriated Young, provoking the frustrated veteran to use dirty moves to bring Gall down, ending when Young got her in the Alligator Clutch to finally force Gall's submission.  Young continued to keep Gall in the Alligator Clutch after the bell rang, but when the referee threatened to reverse his decision and disqualify her, Young finally let Gall go, then got up, raised her arms in victory and gloated as the fans booed Young.

The match between Earlene Brown and Baby Rocco, guaranteed not to be the second coming of Lou Thesz vs. Édouard Carpentier by any measure, was a donnybrook from the get-go as the two big women battled it out, made more so when Mae Young, fresh off her earlier win over France Gall, showed up at ringside during the match to stand in Rocco's corner and even got involved on Rocco's behalf, choking Brown against the ropes while Rocco kept the referee occupied.  Brown soon got her second wind and battled back against Rocco after Gall, despite still feeling lingering effects from getting tied in knots by Young, came out to confront the devious veteran wrestler/manager and soon came to blows again.  Young soon tossed Gall into the ring and followed her in as the match degenerated into a brawl, forcing the referee to throw the match out as a double-disqualification.  Post-match, Brown got the fans on their feet when the 250-pound ex-Olympian hoisted up the 225-pound Rocco and bodyslammed her, then went over and hammered Young with a forearm smash, then whipped her to the ropes and clotheslined her out of the ring to save Gall from the beating Young had been inflicting on her.

Canadian Women's Tag Team Championship - Two out of Three Falls

Barbara LaMarche & Claire Lepage defeated Shirley Hardman & Diane Syverson, two falls to one, to become the first Canadian Women's Tag Team Champions.

⦁    First fall - Hardman pinned Lepage with a fisherman suplex.
⦁    Second fall - Hardman and Syverson were disqualified for excessive double-teaming against Lepage.
⦁    Third fall - LaMarche flattened Syverson with a cross-bodyblock for the title-winning pinfall.

NWA United States Women's Championship

Judy Arnold's title was up for grabs when the popular star was confronted by a determined Margot Bouchard.  Bouchard worked on Arnold's right leg by bending it over the ropes, but Judy's courage kept her from submitting.  Miraculously, Arnold staged a comeback that got Bouchard backpedaling.  Out of desperation, Bouchard resorted to choking Arnold on the ropes, then got herself disqualified by slugging the referee when he tried to intervene.  Arnold took advantage of Bouchard's distraction when she pushed the rulebreaker away with her feet as she attempted to resume her attack on the champion, who then got to her feet and mounted her own attack that climaxed with her dropkicking Bouchard to the canvas and sending her scurrying out to ringside, where Bouchard berated Arnold as the latter was handed her United States title belt as the fans cheered.

Canadian Women's Championship - Two out of Three Falls

Renée Martel's quest to regain the title she controversially lost to Françoise Hardy (C) in July reached its climax as she overcame Hardy, two falls to one, to become a two-time Canadian Women's Champion (with Yvon Robert, former multiple-time World Heavyweight Champion and one of Martel's co-trainers, serving as special guest referee).

⦁    First fall - After an evenly-fought first few minutes, Hardy took control of the match and eventually used a three-quarter nelson hold to maneuver Martel into a pin to score the first fall.
⦁    Second fall - Martel surged back to even the match at one fall apiece when she floored Hardy with a flying forearm smash off the ropes for the pin, raising the hopes of the capacity Forum crowd.
⦁    Third fall - After being dominated during the third fall as a frustrated Hardy resorted to more rulebreaking, Martel got the fans going by staging a blistering comeback against the champion, only for them to be disappointed as Hardy dodged a dropkick attempt by Renée and retook control - but as Hardy scooped her up for a bodyslam, Martel seized the moment, caught Hardy and rolled her into a small package for the three-count from Robert for the winning pin, setting the fans off with the loudest cheers of the night as Renée recaptured the Canadian title in front of nearly 21,000 screaming fans.

No sooner was Martel awarded the Canadian Women's title belt by Robert, however, than Margot Bouchard ran into the ring from the locker rooms and blindsided the new champion with a vicious attack, with Hardy then joining in for a two-on-one gang-up on Renée.  After a few moments of being double-teamed, Martel soon got help when Judy Arnold charged in and went after Bouchard, evening the odds for a moment until the tide soon turned against the fan favorites again when Mae Young, Shirley Hardman, Diane Syverson and Baby Rocco all ran in and went on the attack, making it six-on-two against Martel and Arnold.  After about a minute of Hardy and the other heels overwhelming Martel and Arnold (with the fans fearing for the well-being of the latter two as the crowd screamed for help for them), the cavalry soon arrived when Barbara LaMarche, Claire Lepage, France Gall and Earlene Brown charged to the ring to even the sides as a virtual battle royal broke loose for a few moments before the babyface side, led by Martel and Arnold, finally got the upper hand and cleared Hardy and the Queen's Court members out, climaxing with Brown bodyslamming Rocco again, while Renée dropkicked Hardy through the ropes to the ringside floor and Arnold clotheslined Bouchard against the ropes, then threw her over the top rope onto the edge of the ring and then to the floor.  As Hardy, Bouchard and the rest of the heels backed off while making threats at Martel and the babyface group, the fans went wild again as Renée picked her newly-reclaimed Canadian Women's title belt up from the canvas and hoisted it over her head in celebration while Arnold, Brown, LaMarche, Lepage and Gall, soon joined by fellow babyfaces Penny Banner, Julie Painchaud, Sabrina Lafleur, Rosalie Paiement and France Létourneau, all congratulated her to cap off the night.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Prediction results: (Thanks to all who made their predictions for this card)

The Blonde Bomber - 9/10

 

All-time prediction results:

Herrbear - 78/107

Lord Byron - 43/61

The Blonde Bomber - 42/50

Hitman74 - 10/12

Theheel - 7/10

Dalton - 6/6

auto45 - 5/6

Sco_xY2Jx - 2/6

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

* During the spring and summer of 1968 following the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Montreal Forum was extensively renovated inside and out (as shown above) and had its seating capacity increased to seat 17,959 for hockey games, with potentially more for wrestling events.  Even with the expanded seating, thanks to heavy promotion and hyping of the women's supercard in the local media, the Forum ended up literally packed for the event (with up to a third of the fans in attendance being children, with whom Renée Martel has been increasing her fanbase).

Edited December 16, 2022 by Old School Fan
Forgot to include important detail

[Just here to look]

Françoise Hardy is finally defeated! I am so glad I finally gave this a read because this may be one of my favourites here I’ve read so far. Excited to see where this goes in the future, I will 100% be keeping up with it.

[kinnikuniverse]

Renée being popular with children? Lol, sorry for laughing, its just that IRL, I associate renée, michelle and all the other IRL singers with old people cause i cannot imagine young people ever liking them.

Anyways, surprised the forum was packed for an all-women show,  even considering this is the late 60s with the civil rights, sexual revolution and stuff taking place. I guess having Johnny Rougeau, the biggest star in Quebec, vouching for women's wrestling, as well as charismatic stars like renée and michelle helps.

 

The more i read about Renée's rise to the top, the more i'm like "oh god, the fall is gonna suck" due to me still having her IRL drug problems in the back of my mind...

 

A more positive headcannon i now have, however, is that Rick Martel, born Richard Vigneault, uses the name Martel in honor of Renée lol. It'd actually fit, since Rick was born in 1956, so he'd be 10-12 years old at this point in time. Who knows, maybe Renée might be Rick's first crush or something lol

 

Also, its so weird for a 21st century wrestling fan like me to see moves like the bear hug or a belly to belly suplex being used as a finisher lol. Like, a piledriver and sleeper hold, i can understand, cause those moves are actually deadly IRL and the sleeper is a real martial arts move in BJJ and judo and stuff, but a bear hug?? Lol

Edited December 16, 2022 by kinnikuniverse

[The Blonde Bomber]

I too was surprised at the 20000+ fans in the forum. But it is Quebec’s favorite daughter making her triumphant shot for the belt she was robbed of. Francoise was great in her reign as champ, a good foreign heel for Martel to overcome akin to the men’s main titles with the foreigners going after the hometowners. 

 

The show went really well, Earlene body slamming Baby Rocco was a good moment especially since Rocco didn’t lose either. I wonder if AGWA will have the footage or they’ll still be able to build a match between the two as neither ever having slammed the other. 
 

One thing I do wish is that finish of the show was Renee standing tall with Yvon Robert and maybe the other girls running down to celebrate with her. A clean positive way to end the show. That would be My preference, but I do understand wanting to have some chaos as well.

[Old School Fan]

On 12/16/2022 at 7:52 AM, Just here to look said:

Françoise Hardy is finally defeated! I am so glad I finally gave this a read because this may be one of my favourites here I’ve read so far. Excited to see where this goes in the future, I will 100% be keeping up with it.

Thanks, glad you like how it's gone so far, so stay tuned, as they say...  🙂

[Old School Fan]

On 12/16/2022 at 8:25 AM, kinnikuniverse said:

Renée being popular with children? Lol, sorry for laughing, its just that IRL, I associate renée, michelle and all the other IRL singers with old people cause i cannot imagine young people ever liking them.

Well, back when they were starting out in the 1960s IRL, their target audience was the then-younger generation, so there's that.

On 12/16/2022 at 8:25 AM, kinnikuniverse said:

Anyways, surprised the forum was packed for an all-women show,  even considering this is the late 60s with the civil rights, sexual revolution and stuff taking place. I guess having Johnny Rougeau, the biggest star in Quebec, vouching for women's wrestling, as well as charismatic stars like renée and michelle helps.

In the storyline, I'd surmise that quite a few attendees who went to that Forum all-woman wrestling event were there out of curiosity, to see how such an event would go - and if they were pleasantly surprised by the quality and presentation of the matches (particularly the three main events), they'd end up leaving as new fans.  You'd also be right about Johnny Rougeau's backing of the ladies because of his belief in them, their abilities, their striving to be as good and as talented as the guys and their desire to elevate women's wrestling and make it as respectable as it was when Mildred Burke was wrestling (unlike Fabulous Moolah, whose "women's wrestling as sideshow" mentality held back women's wrestling IRL and did the same ITTL prior to the rise of both Rougeau's girls and Mildred Burke's trainees, both of which Renée is part of here).  🙂

 

On 12/16/2022 at 8:25 AM, kinnikuniverse said:

A more positive headcannon i now have, however, is that Rick Martel, born Richard Vigneault, uses the name Martel in honor of Renée lol. It'd actually fit, since Rick was born in 1956, so he'd be 10-12 years old at this point in time. Who knows, maybe Renée might be Rick's first crush or something lol

Hmm, perhaps...  😏

 

[Old School Fan]

On 12/17/2022 at 7:59 AM, The Blonde Bomber said:

I too was surprised at the 20000+ fans in the forum. But it is Quebec’s favorite daughter making her triumphant shot for the belt she was robbed of. Francoise was great in her reign as champ, a good foreign heel for Martel to overcome akin to the men’s main titles with the foreigners going after the hometowners. 

The "Quebec versus the world" concept in Lutte Internationale in the 1980s IRL had its genesis in a similar concept with Johnny Rougeau's All-Star Wrestling in the 1960s (Baron Von Raschke, Ivan Koloff, Abdullah, The Sheik, etc. taking on local favorites), so I decided on going with that here ITTL and applying it to ASW's women's division as well.  The big crowd for the all-women show was based on the one for the actual card that took place in Montreal on November 11, 1968 IRL (though with no women wrestlers present, as women did not get to compete in Quebec IRL until at least the early 1970s, when Vivian Vachon was starting out with her brothers' Grand Prix promotion).

Edited December 21, 2022 by Old School Fan
Info added

[Old School Fan]

Going behind the scenes during the November 11 women's supercard...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Backstage in the locker room area of the Montreal Forum, Johnny Rougeau was going over notes for the night's supercard on his clipboard when Mae Young came through the curtain into the staging area.  "Oh, man, that was quite a match," Mae proclaimed, "and I hardly even broke a sweat out there."

"It went that easy, eh?" Johnny said as he looked up from the clipboard.

"Well, for me, anyway," Mae admitted, "though I think my worthy opponent might feel a bit differently when she comes through the curtain."

A moment later, France Gall, Mae's aforementioned opponent in the previous match, passed through the curtain next, feeling somewhat stiff.  "Ohh, je pense que je vais avoir besoin d’un chiropraticien après ce match," she complained as she stopped for a moment to try to crack her back.

"Wait, what'd she say?" Mae, who did not speak French, then asked.

"Ah, France was saying she thinks she needs a chiropractor after your match," Johnny said with a chuckle.

"Oh, does she mean the Alligator Clutch I used to finish the match?" Mae said.  "I mean, she wrestled in Europe before coming here, right?  With all that technical stuff they do over there, I'da thought she'd be used to getting tied up in knots when she wrestles."

"Well, yeah, we do do things different here wrestling-wise than they do back in Europe," Johnny admitted with a shrug.  "So how do you think France did in the match?"

"She did alright for herself out there, considerin' she's only been at it for three years," Mae said.  "I think the kid's got real potential to make it in the biz, but considerin' her size, the best way to do that would be to match her against opponents closer to her size or put her in tag team bouts."

"Comment ça?" a puzzled France asked Johnny; although her grasp of English had improved somewhat since her arrival in Canada five months earlier, she was not yet at the point where she could follow full conversations in English.

"Mae a dit que vous avez bien fait pour vous-même dans le match et elle pense que vous avez le potentiel d’aller loin dans la lutte," Johnny, translating for Mae, told France, who smiled at the compliment.

"And after I get back down to Los Angeles, I'll speak with Mildred Burke and recommed France to her, see if she'd be willing to give the kid a tryout," Mae continued, "especially when that tape of tonight's matches arrives at her office."

"Oh, so that's what those TV trucks out behind the Forum are there for?" Renée Martel, who had just arrived on the scene a moment earlier, then spoke up.

"That's part of it," Johnny confirmed regarding the mobile production trucks from two of Montreal's TV stations, the English CFCF and the French CFTM, "but I've got bigger plans beyond just recording the matches."*

"Well, if they're there for more than that, I just hope they got my good side," Mae joked, drawing a laugh from Renée and Johnny, with France laughing along to go along, even though she did not understand everything that was said.

"Mae, every side's your good side," a grinning Renée remarked in reply with a clap to Mae's shoulder, at which the veteran wrestler laughed.

"And they say flattery gets you nowhere," Mae joked again before heading back to the locker rooms.

After Mae left, France turned to Renée and asked**, "So, what else did Mae say after she said I had potential?  I tried following along, but...you know."

"She said she wants to refer you to Mildred Burke so you can get a tryout with her," Renée explained.  "Mildred's one of the wrestlers who trained me and she's one of the best trainers there is, and I also consider her my mentor."

"Ah, that sounds good," France said.  "How good of a trainer is she?"

"She was good enough of a wrestler that she held the World Women's Championship for almost 18 years," Renée said, "so it's a safe bet that she's a very good trainer - in fact, she trained about half the girls on tonight's roster, including Mae."

"Now that sounds very good," France said with a grin.  "But if she learns that my English isn't that far along yet, what then?"

"About that, I'd say just keep practicing your English skills," Renée recommended.  "And if you're asked to head down to Los Angeles, I'd have to come along with you to help out and translate for you if needed - and if Mildred hears you're connected to me, I'm pretty sure she'll ask me to go with you anyway," she added with a grin.  "She wants the wrestlers who work for her to be the best they can be, but she's a decent lady too, so you've got no worries."

"Oh, good," a relieved France said.  After a pause, she then asked, "Now there's something else - who's this Fabulous Moolah I've been hearing about?"

"So all this time you've been wrestling in Canada, you haven't found out about her yet?" Renée said, surprised to discover that bit of news.  When France shook her head to confirm she had not, Renée continued with a small giggle, "Oh, boy...do you have a half-hour to listen?"

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

* Exactly what Johnny Rougeau has planned for those match tapes will be explained in a future post.

** Translated from the original French here for reader benefit.

Edited December 22, 2022 by Old School Fan

[Captain Kremmen]

Good to see Renee' win the strap back. Also nice to see women's wrestling presented in a serious sporting manner.

IRL, women's wrestling in the WWE, no matter how hard they try, still can't get past the 'it's just a farce' stigma IMO. It's better than in the past but what does that really mean in today's wrestling world?

Maybe I missed it, but can I ask how you came to the attendance figure?

Why is it I picture you looking like that Kiniski picture. 🙂

 

 

[The Blonde Bomber]

3 minutes ago, piperrulz said:

Good to see Renee' win the strap back. Also nice to see women's wrestling presented in a serious sporting manner.

IRL, women's wrestling in the WWE, no matter how hard they try, still can't get past the 'it's just a farce' stigma IMO. It's better than in the past but what does that really mean in today's wrestling world?

Maybe I missed it, but can I ask how you came to the attendance figure?

Why is it I picture you looking like that Kiniski picture. 🙂

 

 

https://www.cagematch.net//?id=1&nr=233254
 

Here’s how he got the attendance figure.

[Old School Fan]

All-Star Wrestling @ Colisée de Québec
November 15, 1968 - Quebec City, Quebec
Attendance - 12,000+

 

Buster Lloyd defeated Dale Roberts by pinfall following a headbutt.

Dutch Brink & Larry Moquin defeated Ron & Terry Garvin when Moquin pinned Ron Garvin.

Margot Bouchard defeated France Gall by pinfall following a spinebuster slam.

Canadian Women's Tag Team Championship - Two out of Three Falls

Barbara LaMarche & Claire Lepage (C) defeated Shirley Hardman & Diane Syverson, two falls to one, when hometown heroine LaMarche scored the winning pin in the third fall by using a reverse rollup to pin Syverson.

Canadian Women's Championship

Renée Martel (C) defeated Françoise Hardy in a closely-contested bout when Renée used a crucifix cradle to pin Hardy.

ASW Canadian Heavyweight Championship

Marcel Martel defeated Hans Schmidt (C) to win the title when Martel avenged the knee injury he had suffered at Schmidt's hands in Quebec City in July when he used the figure-four leglock to force Schmidt's submission.

ASW World Tag Team Championship

Gino Brito & Tony Parisi defeated Baron Von Raschke & Waldo Von Erich (C) to win the title when Parisi pinned Von Erich following a senton splash.

ASW World Heavyweight Championship

Johnny Rougeau defeated Ivan Koloff (C) to win the title, two falls to one.

⦁    First fall - Koloff pinned Rougeau with a kneedrop.
⦁    Second fall - Rougeau evened the match by catching Koloff in a backslide pin.
⦁    Third fall - Rougeau won the fall and the match by subduing Koloff with the sleeperhold.

 

[kinnikuniverse]

NORDIQUES!!!

 

Sorry, just seeing le colisée makes wish for the nordiques returning so much...

 

Holy crap, that is a big card. Glad all the matches ended cleanly. Every wrestling match in the world should end cleanly IMO, but that's my inner Puro fanboy in me saying that.

 

That said, i think Johnny made a mistake not putting over the Garvins in the opener. IMO, the money feud for the tag team titles should be Brito and Parisi vs the Garvins or Leducs. Hell, bring in Pat Patterson and Ray Stevens and the Vachons for a title shot or two. That would put the tag team division on the map.

 

15 hours ago, piperrulz said:

Good to see Renee' win the strap back. Also nice to see women's wrestling presented in a serious sporting manner.

IRL, women's wrestling in the WWE, no matter how hard they try, still can't get past the 'it's just a farce' stigma IMO. It's better than in the past but what does that really mean in today's wrestling world?

 

 

Japanese women's wrestling has always been miles ahead of western women's wrestling in terms of match quality and being taken seriously...which is ironic, considering how backwards japanese society is at times lol

Edited December 24, 2022 by kinnikuniverse

[Old School Fan]

The latest issue of All-Star Wrestling's arena program details highlights from the title changes that took place during the big events in Montreal and Quebec City the week before:

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

 

Meanwhile on Page Two, Margot Bouchard attempts to draw heat for herself regarding the outcome of the Renée Martel-Françoise Hardy Canadian Women's title match in Montreal:

[kinnikuniverse]

Hey, i actually have been thinking about it, speaking of joshi...is Renée gonna do a tour of japan for AJW at one point? It'd be very interesting to see her react to the culture, language barrier and how stiff the japanese women wrestlers are. Plus, it would also give her the opportunity to try playing as a heel against the local stars Aiko Kyo and Jumbo Miyamoto, playing her submission wrestling pedigree by presenting her as a cold, emotionless wrestling machine.

 

Not only that, there could be a small scene where she tries reading mangas or watch an anime of the time on TV, like Astro Boy, Tetsujin 28 or Dororo, or hell, just watching the original Godzilla or Ultraman on TV one night.

Edited December 25, 2022 by kinnikuniverse

[Old School Fan]

On 12/25/2022 at 8:28 AM, kinnikuniverse said:

Hey, i actually have been thinking about it, speaking of joshi...is Renée gonna do a tour of japan for AJW at one point? It'd be very interesting to see her react to the culture, language barrier and how stiff the japanese women wrestlers are.

That's actually something I gave thought to doing early on while I was writing the diary and planning out what Renée would be doing as she advances in her career.  It won't happen right away, but thanks to the association ITTL between the AGWA (her home-away-from-home when she's not working the Montreal territory) and All Japan Women, it just might happen in due time...

[Old School Fan]

In the wake of the success of the supercard the previous week, the Montreal Gazette, the city's main English-language newspaper, published an article that sprung a surprise on wrestling fans who happened to be reading through the sports section:

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Johnny Rougeau's TV Christmas gift to the wrestling fans

The all-female wrestling supercard recently presented by All-Star Wrestling at the Forum on Remembrance Day turned out to be a huge success, thanks in large part to Johnny Rougeau helping to organize the event with All-Star promoter Bob Langevin, and to heavy promotion on local radio, television and the newspapers - but for fans who missed out on seeing the event due to it selling out the Forum (drawing nearly 21,000 fans, many of which likely came out of curiosity over seeing a wrestling card composed entirely of women), Rougeau has a plan to allow those fans to get to see what happened.

While all-girl wrestling events are a commonplace thing down in California and the American Southwest (where the American Girls' Wrestling Association, owned and operated by former World Women's Wrestling Champion Mildred Burke, is based and holds many of its cards as well as having its own syndicated TV show) and women's wrestling is a staple of the pro wrestling scene in Japan (thanks again, in large part, to Ms. Burke), even though matches featuring the girls are now a regular part of All-Star Wrestling cards in Montreal and around Quebec thanks to Rougeau championing the women's side of the sport, an all-female wrestling event in Montreal - let alone the rest of Canada - was virtually unheard of until Rougeau, the top wrestling star in Quebec and the current five-time World Heavyweight Champion, decided to take a chance on the ladies and their grappling talents.  

The end result of that supercard, which combined popular local talents (including Renée Martel, the two-time Canadian Women's Champion and a huge favorite among fans of the ladies, and Margot Bouchard, All-Star's top female villain and the one the fans love to boo and hiss at most) with stars brought in from the AGWA (including its popular United States Women's Champion, Judy Arnold, and the tough rulebending tag team of Shirley Hardman and Diane Syverson, all of whom are familiar faces to Montreal fans due to past tours through All-Star), saw fans who attended the show leave at the end of the night singing its praises, including the quality of the card itself, the ladies' skill levels and the competitiveness of the matches.

Not wanting the fans who were turned away from the Forum event to miss out due to the sellout, Rougeau had planned ahead and contacted the program directors at Montreal's two privately-owned TV stations, the English CFCF and the Francophone CFTM (both of which carry All-Star's taped programs on Saturday afternoons locally), to bring their production trucks to the Forum on the morning of that night's event to get set up.

"Personally, I'm glad that the women's event turned out as successfully as it did," Rougeau admitted.  "Even with the popularity of women's wrestling in Montreal, there was no guarantee that a card made up entirely of women would've been successful.  Between the expenses of bringing in the TV trucks to record the matches and flying in American stars to take part in the event and lock up with the local girls, my main concern was that All-Star Wrestling could've ended up taking a bath financially if the fans had chosen to mostly stay away.  The fans came out to see what the card would be like and their curiosity and faith were rewarded that night, especially with the main events."

It is those matches that the local fans are singing the praises of that Rougeau is planning to present on TV - but not on All-Star Wrestling's regular programs, Superstars of the Mat on CFCF and Sur le Matelas on CFTM.  Instead, Rougeau has negotiated with the two stations to put on a two-hour weeknight prime-time special, tentatively set to air in early December, that will consist of selected matches (including the card's three main events) along with recorded interviews and, in a strategic move, will air simultaneously on the same night and time on both CFCF and CFTM.  As CFTM is also the flagship station for a loose coalition of French-language independent stations in Quebec (including CFCM in Quebec City and CJPM in the Chicoutimi-Jonquière region*), Rougeau's special will also air on those linked stations day-and-date.

In addition, the CTV affiliate in Ottawa, CJOH-TV (which is also available over the air in Montreal via that station's repeater in nearby Cornwall, Ontario), will also carry the primetime special on the same night for the residents of the National Capital Region cities of Ottawa, Hull and Gatineau; also, as there is no privately-owned commercial French TV station in the National Capital Region at present (the only Francophone station in the area is the state-owned Radio-Canada station in Ottawa, CBOFT), as a public service for the region's Francophone wrestling fans, All-Star contacted Hull French-language radio station CJRC** about providing French audio play-by-play commentary in simulcast with the TV special on CJOH, which the Francophones can watch with their TV volumes turned down while listening to the CJRC radio commentary.

Rougeau's ambitions for his TV special are not limited to just the above-mentioned cities, however; for the French-language version of the special, he has gotten in touch with several privately-owned Radio-Canada affiliates in Sherbrooke, Trois-Rivières, Rimouski, Rivière-du-Loup, Matane and Carleton-sur-Mer (each of which are the only station in their respective cities) to syndicate the special to.  The stations in those cities would require the approval of Radio-Canada to pre-empt that network's regular programming for that night to air the women's wrestling special from CFTM, but popular demand from each station's viewing audience may lead to that approval being granted.

Also, Rougeau is planning on syndicating the English version of the special nationally to stations (primarily CTV affiliates), some of which carry their own wrestling programs or those produced by other stations, in other major Canadian cities, including Toronto, Halifax, St. John's, Winnipeg, Regina, Saskatoon, Calgary, Edmonton and Vancouver, to air at their leisure, as well as to privately-owned CBC affiliates in smaller markets like Sudbury, London, Windsor and the Port Arthur-Fort William region*** in Ontario.  Two versions of the English-language version of the special will be offered by Rougeau; a version with the original play-by-play commentary as aired on CFCF, and a commentary-free version for stations that wish to add their own announcers to do play-by-play.  A tape of the matches will also be sent to the AGWA from which to show highlights on its syndicated TV program in the United States.

"I'm aware that some other cities outside Quebec have their own wrestling TV shows, produced by the promotions that operate in those cities, like Vancouver, Calgary and Toronto," Rougeau said.  "In turn, they supply their programs to stations in other cities where that promotion might hold events.  I contacted the promoters in those cities to tell them about my special and they've all shown interest, but some wondered if they could get a version where they could add their own commentary to the matches, so that's where I decided to offer two versions of the English special.  I also spoke to Verne Gagne about it since his AWA show airs in Winnipeg via an American border station and he got in touch with that station, but they weren't able to clear their schedule due to network commitments, so Verne gave the go-ahead to talk to the CTV station in Winnipeg about airing the special instead.

"In any case, with the recent success of the November 11 Forum show, I want other wrestling fans across Canada to see how the event went and who took part," Rougeau continued.  "If they like what they see, that will create a popular demand for the ladies to start making more appearances at other wrestling events in Canada, which will benefit everyone involved all around - the ladies, because they get more work; the promoters, because they draw more fans to their events by adding the ladies; and the fans, because they get to see the girls that they saw on TV live in person and to see them put their talents to work."

Rougeau took a gamble with his all-female wrestling show last week and it paid off royally; now it remains to be seen how the TV broadcast of that event across Canada fares.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

* The Quebec cities of Chicoutimi and Jonquière, along with the nearby town of La Baie, were merged in 2002 to form the current city of Saguenay.

** CJRC, the French-language radio station in Hull (now part of Gatineau), Quebec that originally signed on at 1150 AM in June 1968, moved to 104.7 FM in 2007 and changed to its present callsign of CKOF-FM in 2011.

*** The Ontario cities of Port Arthur and Fort William were merged in 1970 to form the current city of Thunder Bay.

[kinnikuniverse]

2 hours ago, Old School Fan said:

 

 

 

2 hours ago, Old School Fan said:

 

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

* The Quebec cities of Chicoutimi and Jonquière, along with the nearby town of La Baie, were merged in 2002 to form the current city of Saguenay.

 

Actually, we still refer to Jonquiere and chicoutimi as their own cities, even after the merger.

 

Also, damn, that is ambitious. Wonder if this whole national broadcast thing would work...not to mention i'd believe that a few promoters would see this as an attempt by Johnny to "Go National", if ya know what i mean...

Edited December 29, 2022 by kinnikuniverse

[Old School Fan]

On 12/29/2022 at 9:43 AM, kinnikuniverse said:

Also, damn, that is ambitious. Wonder if this whole national broadcast thing would work...not to mention i'd believe that a few promoters would see this as an attempt by Johnny to "Go National", if ya know what i mean...

Now that you bring that up, that (i.e. some promoters assuming that Johnny Rougeau might be using his syndicated TV special as an attempt to "go national") is an issue that could be touched on in an upcoming chapter...

[Old School Fan]

American Wrestling Association @ Winnipeg Civic Auditorium
November 22, 1968 - Winnipeg, Manitoba
Attendance - 4,000

 

Al Tomko defeated Mike Riker* by pinfall following a top-rope kneedrop.

Pampero Firpo used his "El Garfio" clawhold to get the submission win from Luke Brown.

Canadian Women's Championship

Renée Martel (C) defeated Françoise Hardy by pinfall with a crucifix cradle.

Two Out of Three Falls

Billy Red Lyons & Bill Watts defeated Larry Hennig & Harley Race when Watts powerslammed and pinned Race in the third fall after each team had scored one fall.

Two out of Three Falls

The Crusher defeated Dr. X in two straight falls.

⦁    First fall - Crusher pinned X following a Bolo Punch.
⦁    Second fall - Crusher got the win when X bailed out of the ring and was counted out.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

* Mike Riker was an early ring name used by Mike York (real name Mike O'Leary), who later teamed with Frank Monte in the Alaskans tag team.

 

[Old School Fan]

Once again, it's bonus content time - and this time around, in the wake of news about matches from the November 11 women's supercard being recorded to televise, here's a look at an ad for the English-language version of the special, as it would've looked ITTL for the Montreal edition of TV Guide and for the Montreal Gazette (whose design is similar in appearance to the TV Guide ad for AGWA Women's Pro Wrestling from a few posts back):  😁

And since Johnny Rougeau had the special made in both English and French, here's the equivalent ad for the French version, as it would've looked in TV Hebdo (the Quebec French version of TV Guide) and in Le Journal de Montréal, that city's main French-language paper:

Edited January 2, 2023 by Old School Fan

[kinnikuniverse]

...eh, the french is good enough 😛

 

Curious to see how it does. Hope that Michel Normandin and édouard Carpentier is gonna commentate on the french broadcast. They're as iconic to quebec wrestling broadcasts as René lecavalier was to french hockey broadcasts.

 

EDIT: nevermind, Normandin died in 1963...shit.

 

EDIT 2: ah, i actually found the perfect no.2 option: Fernand Ste-Marie, who was a radio host at the time, but would end up being the commentator for the vachons Grand Prix wrestling in the 70s. He can host along with Carpentier.

 

EDIT 3: if ya want a better translated version of the french flyer, here it is:

 

"Les Étoiles de la lutte Féminine s'affrontent dans le Cercle Carré pour la Suprématie! Voyez (insert names here) et d'autres lutteuses chevronnées dans le feu de l'action aux heures de grandes écoute!

 

Johnny Rougeau Présente: Les femmes de la lutte!

Edited January 3, 2023 by kinnikuniverse

[Old School Fan]

All-Star Wrestling @ Paul Sauvé Arena
November 25, 1968 - Montreal, Quebec

 

Brute Martin defeated Dale Roberts by pinfall following a powerslam.

Buster Lloyd & Chin Lee defeated Larry Moquin & Eddie Auger when Lloyd pinned Auger following a headbutt.

Renée Martel & France Gall defeated Françoise Hardy & Margot Bouchard when Renée forced Hardy to submit to the Alligator Clutch.

 Édouard Carpentier & Antonio Baillargeon defeated Hans Schmidt & Bulldog Brower by disqualification when Brower threw Baillargeon over the top rope.

ASW World Tag Team Championship - Two Out of Three Falls

Gino Brito & Tony Parisi (C) defeated Matt Gilmore & Doug Kent when Kent submitted to Brito's figure-four leglock in the third fall after each team had scored one fall.

Two out of Three Falls

Jacques Rougeau defeated Abdullah the Butcher in two straight falls.

⦁    First fall - Abdullah was disqualified for attacking the referee.
⦁    Second fall - Rougeau won via referee stoppage when Abdullah could not continue due to excessive blood loss.

 

Edited January 6, 2023 by Old School Fan

[The Blonde Bomber]

Love me some new posts in this dynasty. This dynasty made me wanna add more wrestlers and story to Quebec in the CV77 Data I’ve been working on. Thanks for your great work!