Early history (1980–84) The promotion was founded by
Frank Valois,
André the Giant and
Gino Brito as
Promotions Varoussac, the latter made up of the first letters of their family names (VAlois, ROUSSimoff, and ACcocella).
Montreal had been regarded as a wrestling capital since the 1930s, however, the close of All-Star Wrestling and
Grand Prix Wrestling in 1975 left the city without a major company. Brito was eager to bring pro wrestling back to Montreal and persuaded fellow Grand Prix alumni
André the Giant and manager Frank Valois to join in the venture. Andre was one of the most recognizable stars in the world at the time. Montreal was a second home for the French-born wrestler who owned a restaurant and had other business interests in the city. Between the two of them, Brito and Andre could bring in major U.S. stars though their contacts with the
American Wrestling Association and
World Wide Wrestling Federation. Andre's manager Frank Valois had the necessary business experience to run a wrestling company. The group believed that by using the traditional model of bringing in international stars to challenge local Quebec wrestlers, as well as taking the best qualities of All-Star and Grand Prix Wrestling, they could revive Quebec's wrestling scene. Several different promoters had tried to start companies in Montreal with little success. One exception was Jack Britton who promoted shows under the "Olympia Pro Sports" banner from 1977 to 1980. Brito and his partners bought out his father's promotion during this period. The promotion's flagship show "Les Étoiles de la Lutte" (The Stars of Wrestling), hosted by
Édouard Carpentier and Guy Hauray, became one of the highest-rated French-language television programs in the province. Their first major show was held on August 25, 1980, at the sold-out
Paul Sauve Centre where Andre the Giant battled Hulk Hogan in the main event. This was the first meeting between the two superstars in Canada, the initial U.S. bout taking place two weeks earlier at
Showdown at Shea, preceding their more famous showdown at
WrestleMania III by seven years. The Paul Sauvé Centre was the promotion's original home arena. They occasionally visited
Verdun Auditorium, the arena for rival Grand Prix Wrestling, when the Paul Sauvé Centre was booked for an annual Occult Sciences show. Varoussac Promotions' most noted event there was headlined by Dino Bravo and Zarinoff Leboeuf in a
Russian Chain match in 1981. On July 26, 1982, Lutte Internationale premiered at the
Montreal Forum bringing pro wrestling back to the venue after a six-year absence. Although never holding a stadium show like its predecessors, many of Lutte's shows at the Montreal Forum drew higher attendance figures than any other local promotion. This helped establish Robinson as one of Lutte's most hated wrestlers. He was finally deposed as champion by Dino Bravo on September 21, 1983. Bravo also feuded with
Masked Superstar, also managed by Alfred Hayes, for much of the year. During the territory-era of pro wrestling,
managers were an integral part of a successful promotion. The Quebec territory was a unique area given that it was a bilingual province. As the promotion was watched by English and French-speaking fans, it was necessary for managers to be fluent in both languages.
Eddie "The Brain" Creatchman was the most notable of these heel managers. He was the longtime nemesis of Dino Bravo and managed many of the foreign wrestlers who challenged the heavyweight champion. Much like
Bobby Heenan and
The Heenan Family who harassed
WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan in the U.S., Creatchman made it his mission to run Bravo and other fan favorites out of the territory.
Association with the World Wrestling Council In addition to its co-promotional agreements with the AWA and WWF, Lutte Internationale strongest and most lasting relationship was with the
World Wrestling Council.
Abdullah the Butcher, who was one of Lutte's top "heel performers" during the mid-1980s, was the earliest WWC mainstay. As part of its talent exchange agreement, Joe Lightfoot and Pierre "Mad Dog" Lefebvre traveled to Puerto Rico where they won the
WWC World Junior Heavyweight Championship and
WWC North American Heavyweight Championship respectively.
Bob Della Serra, who initially competed in Promotions Varoussac as
masked wrestler The UFO, joined
Don Kent as the new version of
The Fabulous Kangaroos as Johnny Heffernan, the
kayfabe son of original Kangaroo
Roy Heffernan, winning the
WWC World Tag Team Championship in 1982. Longtime Quebec stars
Frenchy Martin and
Jos LeDuc also returned to Canada after the formation of Lutte Internationale in 1984. Arguably the best known import from the WWC was
King Tonga who feuded with Dino Bravo over the Canadian International Heavyweight Championship between 1984 and 1985.
Lutte Internationale / International Wrestling (1984–85) In early 1984, André the Giant sold his shares in Promotions Varoussac and left for the
World Wrestling Federation.
Rick Martel and Tony Mule purchased André's shares. By this time, Dino Bravo had also become a co-owner. With the change of ownership, it was decided to rename the promotion to Lutte Internationale (International Wrestling). Brito and Valois also produced a new television series, "Lutte Internationale" (International Wrestling), when Carpentier and Hauray signed with WWF at the end of the year. An English-language version was produced by
George Cannon and Milt Avruskin in
Windsor, Ontario. It aired locally in Montreal and was syndicated in other parts of the country. The Canadian International Television Championship was also introduced on "Les Étoiles de la Lutte" as a secondary title that undercard wrestlers could compete for.
Leo Burke defeated
Richard Charland in a tournament final to become the first champion. After the match, Charland attacked Burke and destroyed his trophy turning heel in the process. Lutte Internationale soon began promoting outside the Montreal area. It regularly visited
Hull,
Quebec City,
Sherbrooke,
Verdun and other cities in southern Quebec. The promotion typically focused on summer tours as most arenas were used for hockey during the winter season. It also visited
Ottawa,
Edmundston New Brunswick and parts of the
Northeastern United States. Many of these house shows later aired on Lutte's television show. Many of their bouts took place in Montreal and Quebec City, the hometowns of Bravo and Martel respectively, and the traditional rivalry of the cities was played up. Their first bout was on March 5 in Quebec City but Martel failed to win the belt. A rematch was held at the Montreal Forum a week later with former
NWA World Heavyweight Champion Pat O'Connor as the
special guest referee. The event drew 11,400 fans and saw Martel, a longtime "babyface", booed for the first time in his career. Martel failed to win the belt from Bravo and eventually left for the
American Wrestling Association. Their first encounter took place on June 24, 1985, at the Montreal Forum where thousands in attendance witnessed the Garvins deliver a ferocious beating to the tag team champions. Before the match got started, Jimmy Garvin's valet
Precious blinded Jacques Rougeau with her perfume leaving Raymond at the mercy of their American opponents. After several minutes of the Garvins double-teaming Raymond,
Jacques Rougeau, Sr. came out to help his son. The elder Rougeau also fell victim to the Garvins and sustained a serious back injury when Jimmy Garvin put Rougeau, Sr. in a
Boston crab while Ronnie Garvin hit him a knee-drop from the top turnbuckle. The Montreal crowd was enraged as Jacques, Sr. was carried to the locker room on a stretcher. The incident was later referred to as "St. John the Baptist's Day Massacre". In late 1985, Tyler joined forces with Abdullah the Butcher, Jos Leduc, and manager Eddie "The Brain" Creatchman to take control of Lutte Internationale from the promotion's "babyfaces". Tyler targeted Heavyweight Champion Dino Bravo while Abdullah the Butcher and Jos Leduc went after Tag Team Champions The Rougeau Brothers. The Rougeaus were then coming off their feud with The Garvins. Their upcoming battle with the Creatchman-Tyler group was intended to be a major storyline for the company heading into 1986. Abdullah the Butcher and Raymond Rougeau wrestled a few matches before a tag team bout was signed for December 28, 1985, in Sudbury, Ontario. The feud was cut short after Tyler, the group's leader, was killed in a car accident with fellow wrestler Pierre "Mad Dog" Lefebvre and referee Adrien Desbois, near the
Laurentides Wildlife Reserve on
Christmas Day. They were returning from a wrestling event in
Chicoutimi,
Quebec. The Rougeaus departed for the WWF two months later.
Relationship with the World Wrestling Federation (1985–86) Though Lutte Internationale was enjoying unprecedented success in Quebec, WWF promoter
Vince McMahon began pushing into Canada as part of
its national expansion efforts in the early 1980s. In early 1984, the WWF drove George Cannon's "
Superstars of Wrestling" promotion out of business and took over its television series on
CFCF 12. Several young up-and-coming wrestlers including
Bruno Sammartino Jr.,
Mike Rotunda,
Mike Shaw and
Rick Steiner also spent time in Montreal.
Carpentier and Hauray join the WWF Like his battles with
National Wrestling Alliance promoters in the U.S., McMahon assumed he could outperform the Montreal promotion with its superior television programming. On May 29, 1984,
Pat Patterson held a surprise WWF television taping at the Verdun Auditorium in an attempt to run against Lutte's show. McMahon underestimated the popularity of Lutte Internationale and the show drew poorly despite
WWF World Heavyweight Champion Hulk Hogan and
"Dr. D" David Shultz headlining the show. The first "Lutte vs. WWF" show was held at the Forum on August 26, 1985. It was headlined by a tag team match with Dino Bravo and King Tonga battling
Nikolai Volkoff and
The Iron Sheik. The interpromotional series, which consistently drew between 15,000 and 21,000 fans, was very successful financially and proved to be one of the most popular programs in Quebec wrestling history. The final show was to have a "
Champion vs. Champion match" between Dino Bravo and Hulk Hogan. It was originally planned to be held at
Olympic Stadium in Montreal which had the potential of breaking the city's all-time attendance record. The venue was later changed to the Montreal Forum and the bout was advertised for January 13, 1986. The "Lutte vs. WWF" finale never happened After six shows, the WWF pulled out of the deal and signed an exclusive contract with the venue in February 1986.
Steve Strong quickly established himself as Lutte's top heel after feuding with Martel during 1986. One of the few stars to remain with Lutte was Richard Charland who helped bolster the promotion's tag team division. Other future stars to appear in Lutte were
Alofa,
Billy Fury,
Kevin Kelly, and
Toshiaki Kawada. Brito also looked to the WWC to supply wrestlers. A top star for Lutte during its final years, Abdullah the Butcher became a "babyface" and was booked against fellow WWC stars
Bruiser Brody Floyd Creatchman later joined CFCF sports staffer Ron Francis as the announcing team for "Lutte Internationale" during its last year on the air. In their final year of operation, Lutte toured Ontario and held shows in
Toronto,
Sudbury, and
Thunder Bay. The company, however, went bankrupt in June 1987, less than a year after the WWF's talent raids. Lutte's final show in Verdun, Quebec featured Abdullah the Butcher wrestling Gino Brito in the main event. After Lutte closed,
Pat Patterson convinced Brito to be the WWF promoter in Montreal, a job Brito held for four years. ==Lutte Internationale 2000==