Professional wrestling in Canada

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "Professional wrestling in Canada" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (March 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

|

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 War
* 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
* DDT Pro-Wrestling
* Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling
* Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling
* Jim Crockett Promotions
* Joint Promotions
* Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide
* Major League Wrestling
* Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling
* National Wrestling Alliance
* New Japan Pro-Wrestling
* Pro Wrestling Noah
* Ring of Honor
* Soft Ground Wrestling
* Stampede Wrestling
* Titanes en el ring
* Tokyo Joshi Pro-Wrestling
* Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
* UWF International
* Women of Wrestling
* World Championship Wrestling (Australia)
* World Championship Wrestling (United States)
* World Wonder Ring Stardom
* WWE
* Raw
* SmackDown
* NXT
* Evolve
* Others

Notable men

Early 20th century (Before 1949)

* Bert Assirati
* Billy Riley
* Billy Sandow
* Ed "Strangler" Lewis
* Frank Gotch
* George Hackenschmidt
* The Great Gama
* Jack Pfefer
* Joe Stecher
* Jim Londos
* Lou Thesz
* Martin "Farmer" Burns
* Orville Brown
* Salvador Lutteroth
* Toots Mondt

Mid 20th century (1950 − 1969)

* Blue Demon
* Bruno Sammartino
* Buddy Rogers
* Danny Hodge
* Dick "The Destroyer" Beyer
* Édouard Carpentier
* El Santo
* Freddie Blassie
* Gene Kiniski
* Gorgeous George
* Karl Gotch
* Rikidōzan
* Sam Muchnick
* Stu Hart
* Verne Gagne

1970s

* Abdullah The Butcher
* Akira Maeda
* André the Giant
* Antonio Inoki
* Baron von Raschke
* Big Daddy
* Billy Robinson
* Carlos Colón
* Dory Funk Jr.
* Dusty Rhodes
* Ernie Ladd
* Giant Baba
* Gordon Solie
* Harley Race
* Jack Brisco
* Mil Máscaras
* Negro Navarro
* Nick Bockwinkel
* Terry Funk

1980s

* Bobby Heenan
* Dynamite Kid
* Genichiro Tenryu
* Hulk Hogan
* Jim Crockett Jr.
* Randy Savage
* Ric Flair
* Ricky Steamboat
* Roddy Piper
* Satoru Sayama
* Stan Hansen
* Ted DiBiase
* Vince McMahon

1990s

* Akira Taue
* Antonio Peña
* Atsushi Onita
* Bret Hart
* Eric Bischoff
* Jim Ross
* Jushin Liger
* Keiji Muto
* Kenta Kobashi
* Kevin Nash
* Mick Foley
* Mitsuharu Misawa
* Owen Hart
* Paul Heyman
* Ron Simmons
* Scott Hall
* Shawn Michaels
* Sting
* Steve Austin
* The Rock
* The Undertaker
* Toshiaki Kawada
* Triple H
* Vince Russo

2000s

* AJ Styles
* Batista
* Brock Lesnar
* Chris Jericho
* Eddie Guerrero
* Edge
* Hiroshi Tanahashi
* Jeff Hardy
* Jeff Jarrett
* John Cena
* Kurt Angle
* Místico
* Naomichi Marufuji
* Randy Orton
* Rey Mysterio
* Samoa Joe

2010s − 2020s

* Bryan Danielson
* CM Punk
* Cody Rhodes
* Jon Moxley
* Kazuchika Okada
* Kenny Omega
* Kota Ibushi
* Nick Khan
* Roman Reigns
* Rossy Ogawa
* Seth Rollins
* Tetsuya Naito
* Tony Khan
* Will Ospreay
* Zack Sabre Jr.

Notable women

Early & Mid 20th century (1900 − 1974)

* Chabela Romero
* Cora Livingston
* Donna Christanello
* Ethel Johnson
* Irma González
* June Byers
* La Dama Enmascarada
* Mae Young
* Mildred Burke
* The Fabulous Moolah

Late 20th century (1975 − 1999)

* Aja Kong
* Akira Hokuto
* Bull Nakano
* Chigusa Nagayo
* Chyna
* Dump Matsumoto
* Jackie Sato
* Lady Apache
* Lioness Asuka
* Madusa Miceli
* Manami Toyota
* Megumi Kudo
* Miss Elizabeth
* Sherri Martel
* Wendi Richter

2000s

* Awesome Kong
* Ayako Hamada
* Beth Phoenix
* Faby Apache
* Gail Kim
* Lita
* Madison Eagles
* Marcela
* Nanae Takahashi
* Sara Del Rey
* Stephanie McMahon
* Trish Stratus

2010s

* Alexa Bliss
* Asuka
* Bayley
* Becky Lynch
* Charlotte Flair
* Iyo Sky
* Kairi Sane
* Mayu Iwatani
* Meiko Satomura
* Mercedes Moné
* Princesa Sugehit
* Ronda Rousey

2020s

* Bianca Belair
* Giulia
* Liv Morgan
* Rhea Ripley
* Sareee
* Syuri
* Toni Storm
* Utami Hayashishita

Notable tag teams and stables

Mid 20th Century − 1970s

* Assassins
* Blackjacks
* Blond Bombers
* The Duseks
* Fabulous Kangaroos
* First Family
* Kalmikoffs
* Los Misioneros de la Muerte
* Sharpe Brothers
* Valiant Brothers
* Wild Samoans

1980s

* Brain Busters
* British Bulldogs
* Bushwackers
* Crush Gals
* Demolition
* Fabulous Freebirds
* Four Horsemen
* Hart Foundation
* Heenan Family
* Los Infernales
* Mega Powers
* Midnight Express
* Revolution
* Road Warriors
* Rock 'n' Roll Express
* Steiner Brothers

1990s

* Cho-Ten
* Dangerous Alliance
* D-Generation X (New Age Outlaws)
* Doom
* Dudley Brothers and the Dudley Boyz
* Dungeon of Doom
* Heisei Ishingun
* Holy Demon Army
* Jado & Gedo
* Kai En Tai
* Las Cachorras Orientales
* Los Gringos Locos
* Miracle Violence Connection
* New World Order (Outsiders)

2000s

* Age of the Fall
* Apollo 55
* Beer Money, Inc.
* The Briscoes
* Brothers of Destruction
* Burning
* Colony
* Edge & Christian
* Evolution
* Hardy Boyz
* Kings of Wrestling
* Latin American Xchange
* Los Guerreros
* Main Event Mafia
* Motor City Machine Guns
* Tencozy
* Voodoo Murders

2010s and 2020s

* The Addiction / SCU
* American Wolves
* Blackpool Combat Club / Death Riders
* Bloodline (Usos)
* Bullet Club
* Chaos
* Elite
* FTR
* Golden Lovers
* Judgment Day
* Los Ingobernables (de Japón)
* Los Perros del Mal
* New Day
* Oedo Tai
* Queen's Quest
* Shield
* Undisputed Era (reDRagon)
* Wyatt Family
* Young Bucks

By region

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

Styles

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

Concepts

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

Culture

* Backyard wrestling
* Cauliflower Alley Club
* Cauliflower ear
* Comic books
* Fantasy wrestling
* Films
* Luchador films
* Magazines
* Paintings
* Gustave Courbet
* Thomas Eakins
* William Etty
* George Luks
* Rib
* 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
* Solowrestling
* Súper Luchas
* WrestleCrap
* Wrestling Observer Newsletter

Controversies

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

Lists

* Attendance records
* Championships
* Families
* Halls of fame
* 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
* Theatresports

* 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, Trish Stratus 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 par équipe" in Quebec[8] but "Catch á Quatre" in France.[9] or the falls of a Best of three falls match which are called "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
* Ava (via her father and grandfather)
* Jason Anderson
* John Anson
* Fred Atkins †
* "Speedball" Mike Bailey
* 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 †
* Chelsea Green
* 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 †
* Angelina Love
* The Spoiler †
* Whipper Billy Watson †
* Jinder Mahal
* Michael Elgin
* Santino Marella
* Rick Martel
* Rosa Mendes
* The Missing Link †
* Geeto Mongol †
* Kenny Omega
* John Hill †
* Kyle O'Reilly
* Maryse Ouellet
* Pierre-Carl Ouellet
* Kevin Owens
* Tony Parisi †
* Pat Patterson †
* Roddy Piper †
* Lanny Poffo †
* Mighty John Quinn (aka The Kentucky Butcher) †
* 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. ^ 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. ^ 37:20 "C'est un combat par équipe- a tag team match" French/English bilingual ring announcement by MC, International Grand Prix Wrestling May 1974
9. ^ "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
* t
* 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 Iran
* 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

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
* Maple Leaf Wrestling
* Maximum Pro Wrestling
* Stampede Wrestling
* Prairie Wrestling Alliance

Governing bodies and
interpromotional alliances|

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

Television and streaming channels|

* Fight Network
* Netflix
* WWE Network
* Sportsnet 360
* TNA+
* The Sports Network

Other|

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

* Category

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template