Quebec Indy Gets TV Deal

[Phil Parent]

Montreal-based Top Of The World Wrestling, promoted by Sylvain Grenier, has announced last night that they have come to an agreement with RDS (Which airs all of the Montreal Canadiens' games, the largest french speaking sports network in the world.) on a TV deal which will see their shows being aired in the traditional Quebec wrestling timeslot, on Sunday mornings. The first tapings will be on Septemver 28th. Raymond Rougeau (that's a slap in the face of his brother...) and Pierre-Carl Ouellet will be the announcers. Rougeau is a great announcer, PCO not quite so.

Here is the official press release, in French.

TOW GROSSES ACQUISITIONS
Je suis très heureux et honoré d'annoncer que MM Raymond Rougeau et Pier Carl Ouellet (PCO) sont membres de la famille de la TOW. Raymond Rougeau sera animateur a la description en compagnie de PCO qui lui ajoutera ces analyses colorées lors des émissions de la TOW à RDS2 dont les enregistrements auront lieu le 28 septembre prochain, les billets seront disponibles d'ici quelques jours entre autre sur ticketpro.com

I'm flabbergasted that an indy from here got back on TV, and it wasn't Rougeau Gym. Oh well, maybe Jacques will allow his boys to work for TOW....probably not.

As far as the roster goes, from the top of my head that you would know... you have Sylvain Grenier of course, former IWS champ Dru Onyx, former Rougeau Gym standouts Eric Mastrocola and Handsome JF, Sexxxy Eddy and Darkko. I would expect them to bring in Steen and LuFisto, and more former Rougeau Gym guys.

Hell, I know for a fact that JJ Rougeau and his dad are estranged at the moment, and that JJ is on a sabbathical from wrestling. That would be a MAJOR coup for them.

[Crusty Ruffles]

Wow. Horrible timing for LuFisto to be moving to Florida.

[Steveweiser]

Don't know, LuFi impressed in her AAA stint, so maybe she'll be used when they start their US TV deal next year.

[Surfer Sandman]

Aug 18, 2013 1:40:22 GMT -5 Crusty Ruffles said:

Wow. Horrible timing for LuFisto to be moving to Florida.

Whoa, I thought that she retired?

[siredger]

Nope. She still operates and wrestle for NCW Femmes Fatales but she's been out with a knee injury for the past couple of months, dunno how long before she returns.

As for the indy itself, of course I'm happy because that means exposure for our local talent like Franky The Mobster, Dru Onyx and etc. I also assume that eventually, they're gonna bring a top indy star once in a while for a special attraction. But keep in mind that RDS2 is pretty much the ESPN2 here in Quebec and I know that not all cable providers (like mine) carry the network, although most major providers do. Still, I'm happy to see Ray Rougeau back calling some action. Only wish that Jean Brassard would return as his color commentator (just for nostalgia kick) but I'll wish them the best of luck. If this can resurrect a long tradition, I hope they succeed.

[Crusty Ruffles]

LuFi actually came back last month.

[Phil Parent]

I wonder what the format will be though, 30 mins, 1 or 2 hours? Can't be too long. I expect an hour, cut it down to 45 minutes considering ads, 30 mins wrestling and 15 mins promos/hype/angles.

Also this could make or break TOW. So far, all they've done pretty much are those sponsored shows that are paid for by a local promoter and where any ticket sold is profit. They won't be able to do a sponsored show every week, or 2 per month or whatever for their tapings, they'll need to pay for it out of the gate money...

Which leads me to my third point... I would like to know who's paying who for the show here. Are RDS paying TOW or is TOW paying for their airtime. If RDS is giving them money, this could fly. If TOW pays for it, I'm afraid it will last a couple of months and kill them.

[siredger]

Pretty sure it's gonna be the 1-hour format, just like we used to have on Sunday mornings when I was a kid.

Honestly, as happy as I am, I'm still worried because we're talking about Sylvain Grenier and Marc Blondin, two guys who spent most of their time on TV goofing around and putting themselves and TOW over rather than describe the Impact Wrestling product. I would feel more comfortable with another promotion but the fact that Ray Rougeau and PCO will call the action makes it OK for now.

But still, I'd rather see NCW, NCW Femmes Fatales or NSPW in Quebec City with a TV deal instead.