Professional wrestling in Canada

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Part of a series on

Professional wrestling

History

* History of professional wrestling
* By year
* Early wrestling championships
* Gold Dust Trio
* 1980s boom
* Black Saturday
* 1994 NWA World Title Tournament
* Monday Night Wars
* Attitude Era
* 2000 All Japan Pro Wrestling mass exodus
* The Invasion
* Wednesday Night Wars

Notable promotions

* All Elite Wrestling
* All Japan Pro Wrestling
* All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling
* All Star Wrestling
* American Wrestling Association
* Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre
* Extreme Championship Wrestling
* Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling
* Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling
* Jim Crockett Promotions
* Joint Promotions
* Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide
* Maple Leaf Wrestling
* National Wrestling Alliance
* New Japan Pro-Wrestling
* Pro Wrestling Noah
* Ring of Honor
* Soft Ground Wrestling
* Stampede Wrestling
* Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling
* Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
* UWF International
* Women of Wrestling
* World Championship Wrestling
* World Wonder Ring Stardom
* WWE
* Others

Notable people

Early 20th Century

* George Hackenschmidt
* The Great Gama
* Frank Gotch
* Billy Sandow
* Toots Mondt
* Ed Lewis
* Jack Pfefer
* Jim Londos
* Salvador Lutteroth
* Lou Thesz

Mid 20th Century

* Gorgeous George
* El Santo
* Sam Muchnick
* Mildred Burke
* The Fabulous Moolah
* Blue Demon
* Verne Gagne
* Karl Gotch
* Rikidōzan
* Stu Hart
* Bruno Sammartino

1970s and 1980s

* Terry Funk
* Harley Race
* Gordon Solie
* Antonio Inoki
* Giant Baba
* Mil Máscaras
* André the Giant
* Carlos Colón
* Dusty Rhodes
* Ric Flair
* Jim Crockett Jr.
* Big Daddy
* Vince McMahon
* Dynamite Kid
* Satoru "Tiger Mask" Sayama
* Hulk Hogan
* Randy Savage
* Hisashi Shinma
* Akira Maeda

1990s

* Ted Turner
* Sting
* The Great Muta
* The Undertaker
* Jim Ross
* Mitsuharu Misawa
* Kenta Kobashi
* Toshiaki Kawada
* Atsushi Onita
* Antonio Peña
* Eric Bischoff
* Paul Heyman
* Jim Cornette
* Bret Hart
* Shawn Michaels
* Kevin Nash
* Scott Hall
* Vince Russo
* Stone Cold Steve Austin
* The Rock
* Paul "Triple H" Levesque

2000s

* Chris Jericho
* Jeff Jarrett
* Eddie Guerrero
* Rey Mysterio
* Brock Lesnar
* John Cena
* Hiroshi Tanahashi
* Místico

2010s and 2020s

* CM Punk
* Bryan Danielson
* Roman Reigns
* Kazuchika Okada
* Kenny Omega
* Tony Khan
* Nick Khan
* Cody Rhodes

By region

* Australia
* Bolivia
* Canada
* China
* France
* India
* Israel
* Japan
* Mexico
* New Zealand
* Puerto Rico
* Russia
* Saudi Arabia
* United Kingdom
* United States

Styles

* British wrestling
* All-in style
* Mountevans rules
* Catch-as-catch-can
* Cruiserweight
* X Division
* Hardcore
* Intergender
* Lucha libre
* Midget
* Mini-Estrella
* Puroresu
* Shoot style
* U-Kei
* Women's

Concepts

* Attire
* Masks
* Wrestling singlet
* Wrestling shoe
* Backyarding
* Blading
* Championship
* World Heavyweight
* Dirt sheet
* Glossary of terms
* Kayfabe
* Gimmick
* Face
* Heel
* Shoot
* Heat
* Job
* Push
* House show
* Match types
* Music
* Rib
* Ring name
* Sports entertainment
* Tag team
* Weight classes
* Wrestling ring

Culture

* Cauliflower Alley Club
* Cauliflower ear
* Comic books
* Films
* Luchador films
* Magazines
* Paintings
* Gustave Courbet
* Thomas Eakins
* William Etty
* George Luks
* Ribera Steakhouse
* Ten-bell salute
* Video games
* Wrestling personalities in politics
* Zubaz

Media outlets

* Botchamania
* Box y Lucha
* Dark Side of the Ring
* Fighting Spirit Magazine
* Live Audio Wrestling
* OSW Review
* Power Slam
* Pro Wrestling Illustrated
* Súper Luchas
* Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Controversies

* Animals in professional wrestling
* Chris Benoit double-murder and suicide
* Death of Owen Hart
* Mass Transit incident
* Montreal Screwjob
* Murder of Bruiser Brody
* Murder of Rikidōzan
* Premature deaths
* Speaking Out
* United States v. McMahon
* Vince McMahon sex trafficking scandal
* WWE–Saudi Arabia relationship

Lists

* Attendance records
* Championships
* Matches rated 5 or more stars by Dave Meltzer
* Moves
* Promotions
* Rivalries
* Rosters
* TV shows
* Wrestling families

Related topics

* Combat sport
* Comparison of professional wrestling and mixed martial arts
* Martial arts
* Mock combat
* Pankration
* Shootfighting
* Sport wrestling
* Amateur
* Catch
* Shoot
* Submission
* Lancashire
* Luta Livre
* Pehlwani
* Stage combat
* Theatre

* v
* t
* e

The history of Professional wrestling in Canada dates back to the founding of Maple Leaf Wrestling, which opened in 1930 and was the first known professional wrestling company in the country.[1] Many Canadian wrestlers including Bret Hart, Roddy Piper, Edge, Chris Jericho, and Kenny Omega have gone on to achieve worldwide success.

Culturally, Canadian wrestling has been an overspill of American wrestling with a generally similar ring style and business methodology. Four major NWA territories were based out of Montreal, Toronto, Calgary and Vancouver each (with a lesser fifth booking office in Moncton). By the mid 1980s, Titan Sports, the parent company of the World Wrestling Federation, had bought out the first three territories (although Calgary was later sold back to its previous owner) and the fourth was in terminal decline. Montreal and Toronto would become major WWF cities, both hosting pay per view events for the company in the 1990s and 2000s.

## Notable promotions

[edit]

### NWA Territories era

[edit]

* Stampede Wrestling (Alberta)
* Maple Leaf Wrestling (Ontario)
* Grand Prix Wrestling (New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia)
* Grand Prix Wrestling (Quebec)
* Lutte Internationale (Quebec)
* NWA All-Star Wrestling (British Columbia)
* Northland Wrestling Enterprises (Ontario)

### Independents

[edit]

See also: List of independent wrestling promotions in Canada

* Border City Wrestling
* Elite Canadian Championship Wrestling
* High Impact Wrestling
* International Wrestling Syndicate
* Northern Championship Wrestling
* NCW Femmes Fatales
* Smash Wrestling[2][3][4]

## Bilinguality

[edit]

Canada is an English/French bilingual country[5] and French is the dominant language in Quebec, home of the old Grand Prix Wrestling and Lutte Internationale promotions. Accordingly this territory used both languages with dual language ring announcements,[6] separate English and French commented broadcasts and either language used for promotional interviews. This tradition was continued later by the WWF on Canadian television with its French language segment Le Brunch de Pat hosted in French by veteran wrestler Pat Patterson either translating interviews from English speaking guests or else conversing in French with Francophone wrestlers.[7]

Many professional wrestling terms used in Quebec French differ radically from those used in professional wrestling in France, such as for example tag team wrestling which is called "combat d'Equippe" in Quebec[6] but "Catch á Quatre" in France.[8] or the falls of a Best of three falls match which are challed "Chutes" in Quebec and "Manches" in France. This extends even to the point of using different terms - "lutte" versus "catch" - for professional wrestling itself.

## Canadian wrestlers overseas

[edit]

Note: † denotes wrestler is deceased

* A-1
* Abdullah the Butcher
* Akam
* Jason Anderson
* John Anson
* Fred Atkins †
* Ben Bassarab
* Chris Benoit †
* Brute Bernard †
* Sinn Bodhi
* Rick Bognar †
* Bob Boyer
* Max Boyer
* Dino Bravo †
* Tyler Breeze
* Eric Young
* Ethan Page
* Josh Alexander
* Gino Brito
* Farmer Brooks †
* Traci Brooks
* Bulldog Bob Brown †
* Kerry Brown †
* Leo Burke †
* Samson Burke
* Don Callis
* George Cannon †
* Christian (Cage)
* Melissa Coates †
* Carly Colón (through his mother)
* Steve Corino
* Crazzy Steve
* Dave McKigney †
* Scott D'Amore
* Paul Diamond
* Shawn Spears
* John Quinn †
* René Duprée
* Edge
* Ron Garvin
* George Gordienko †
* Archie Gouldie †
* Johnny Powers †
* Sylvain Grenier
* Hart wrestling family
* Stu Hart †
* Smith Hart †
* Bruce Hart
* Keith Hart
* Dean Hart †
* Bret Hart
* Owen Hart †
* Natalya
* Teddy Hart
* Davey Boy Smith Jr.
* Chris Jericho
* Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson (through his father)
* Rocky Johnson †
* Billy Red Lyons †
* Tyson Kidd
* Gail Kim
* Ricky Hunter†
* Gene Kiniski †
* Klondike Bill †
* Ivan Koloff †
* Killer Karl Krupp †
* Killer Kowalski †
* The Spoiler †
* Whipper Billy Watson †
* Jinder Mahal
* Michael Elgin
* Rick Martel
* Rosa Mendes
* The Missing Link †
* Geeto Mongol †
* Kenny Omega
* Kyle O'Reilly
* John Hill †
* Maryse Ouellet
* Pierre-Carl Ouellet
* Kevin Owens
* Tony Parisi †
* Pat Patterson †
* Roddy Piper †
* Lanny Poffo †
* Mighty John Quinn (aka The Kentucky Butcher) †
* Ava Raine (via her father and grandfather)
* Bobby Roode
* Joe E. Legend
* Jacques Rougeau
* Raymond Rougeau
* Ruffy Silverstein
* Sandy Scott †
* Mike Sharpe †
* Tiger Ali Singh
* Tiger Joe Tomasso †
* Lance Storm
* Trish Stratus
* Robert Evans
* John Tenta †
* Johnny Devine
* Test †
* Luna Vachon †
* Maurice "Mad Dog" Vachon †
* Paul "Butcher" Vachon †
* Taya Valkyrie
* Vampiro
* Val Venis
* Petey Williams
* Sami Zayn
* Tyson Dux
* Waldo Von Erich †
* Yvon Robert †
* Bobby Nelson †
* Skull Murphy †
* Hans Schmidt †
* Kurt Von Hess †
* Sailor White †

## See also

[edit]

* Canada portal

* Canadian Death Tour
* Montreal Screwjob

## References

[edit]

1. ^ Jun 30, foxsports; ET, 2017 at 10:28p (2016-11-17). "WWE's 10 Greatest Canadian Wrestlers of All Time". FOX Sports. Retrieved 2019-05-15.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
2. ^ "Guest column: Smash Wrestling's growth has been a wild ride".
3. ^ "Deals: DHX, Super Channel, Fight Network".
4. ^ "Preview: The Summit: SHIMMER, Smash, RISE, Femme Fatales (8/10/19)". 8 August 2019.
5. ^ Toolkit, Web Experience (30 March 2014). "Canada's official languages and you". www.clo-ocol.gc.ca.
6. ^ a b 37:20 "C'est un combat d'equippe- a tag team match" French/English bilingual ring announcement by MC, International Grand Prix Wrestling May 1974
7. ^ "Le Brunch de Pat" segment with Andre the Giant, WWF television 1986
8. ^ "Un grande combat de Catch a Quatre" - commentary at 0:24 by Daniel Cazal, Le Catch, Jean Corne & René Caballe vs Jacky Richard & Guy Renault, transmitted on Antenne 2, France, October 12, 1981

* v
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* e

Professional wrestling by country

Americas|

* Professional wrestling in Mexico
* promotions
* Professional wrestling in the United States
* independent promotions
* women's promotions
* Professional wrestling in Puerto Rico
* Professional wrestling in Canada
* independent promotions

Asia|

* Professional wrestling in China
* Professional wrestling in Israel
* Professional wrestling in Saudi Arabia
* Professional wrestling in Japan
* promotions

Europe|

* Professional wrestling in the United Kingdom
* promotions
* Professional wrestling in France
* Professional wrestling in Russia

Oceania|

* Professional wrestling in Australia
* promotions
* Professional wrestling in New Zealand
* promotions

Attendance records|

* Europe
* Japan
* Mexico
* Puerto Rico
* United Kingdom

Related|

* Promotions
* women's
* South America

* v
* t
* e

Professional wrestling in Canada

Notable active promotions|

Border City Wrestling
Great Canadian Wrestling
International Wrestling Syndicate
Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling
Northern Championship Wrestling

Femmes Fatales
Prairie Wrestling Alliance

Defunct promotions|

* All-Star Wrestling
* BSE Pro
* Elite Canadian Championship Wrestling
* Canadian Wrestling Association
* Eastern Sports Association
* Grand Prix Wrestling
* High Impact Wrestling
* Hart Legacy Wrestling
* International Wrestling Alliance
* Lutte Internationale
* Maximum Pro Wrestling
* Stampede Wrestling

Governing bodies and
interpromotional alliances|

* AWA Superstars of Wrestling (2005–2007)
* National Wrestling Alliance (1948–2017)
* United Wrestling Network (2013–2020)
* Pro Wrestling Alliance (2024)

Television and streaming channels|

* Fight Network
* TNA+
* Sportsnet 360
* WWE Network (Canada)
* The Sports Network

Other|

* Attendance records
* Canadian Death Tour
* Hart wrestling family
* Superstars of Wrestling
* WWE in Canada
* Montreal Screwjob

* Category

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