Int'l Wrestling - Montreal #5 Page #2

It would take years before “The Brain” could  be done with Bravo.  Once International Wrestling was well implanted, Creatchman would manage, other than his team of Lefebvre and Martin, guys like  Kamala, Abdullah the Butcher, the Long Riders, Sheik Ali and even the Original Sheik, in 1987, before the promotion’s demise.

I talked about the ongoing feud between the Rougeau Brothers and the Jos Leduc / Abdullah the Butcher pairing previously. Now, even though it wasn’t on a regular basis, Creatchman managed for a little while Gilles “The Fish” Poisson, a Quebecer strong man who had lifted a car live on TV in the early 80s on Superstars of Wrestling  and feuded with Bravo in the mid 70s  in the Vachons’ Grand Prix Wrestling.  Actually, Creatchman would get associated with anyone who could be a serious contender to Bravo’s belt—even if it was going to be a short term association. (I remember seeing Poisson on his own on a few occasions, and seeing him along with Creatchman some other times.)

In 1986, as the WWF had started to recruit IW’s top stars such as the Rougeaus and Jos Leduc,  it was soon clear that Bravo was going to leave the area too eventually, so  IW needed new blood to take over.  That very same year, Eddie Creatchman’s son, “Pretty Boy” Floyd, had become another successful manager in the area—actually, he and his father were the only managers in the area, if not for Deepak Singh, who briefly managed Abdullah the Butcher in 1987.  It is Floyd Creatchman who was finally able to “get rid” of Bravo, as his protege, The Great Samu (Samula Anoai), won the  International Title on  June 30th of 1986. 

Samu took profit of Bravo’s stomach surgery to take his title as Gino Brito, Sr., Bravo’s all-time friend, threw in the towel, seeing his buddy couldn’t come back and was hurting. (Fifteen years later, I guess that kind of  interference in Bravo’s match would’ve led  to a feud between Bravo and Brito, a la “Good Friends, Better Enemies”!) People claimed that Bravo had come back too soon after his injury.  He tried to gain his title back, for a sixth time, but failed as Samu was now established one of the top 3 stars on the territory—along with Steve Strong and Rick Martel.

By the middle of 1986, Floyd Creatchman had more men in his stable than his own father, but both men seemed to work together towards the same goal: grabbing each and every belt around the place. They already had the International Title, the most coveted belt in town, and they quickly needed more. Floyd formed a team with former jobber in Grand Prix Wrestling in the 70s but good worker Richard “The Boss” Charland and “Pretty Boy” (yes, another one) Chuck Simms, a bleached-blond reportedly from California. The newly born team rapidly became holder of the International Belts, defeating  the team of Dan Kroffat and Tom Zenk, who had previously beaten Eddie Creatchman’s Long Riders (Bill and Scott Irwin). 

Simms and Charland kept the titles for a few months until Kroffat would come back with his new partner, Armand Rougeau,  youngest of the Rougeau brothers, and bring back the tag team straps on the fans’ side.

By the end of 1986, Eddie Creatchman had almost disappeared from the territory, for reasons I don’t know. Floyd had taken over.  He had formed another team with Man Mountain Moore—a 6’6’’, 350 lbs. monster who, quite honestly, didn’t really look good in a wrestling  ring—, and Frenchie Martin, who would leave too, a few months later, for the French broadcasting  of  WWF programs in Quebec. Floyd was also leaning on Sheik Ali (Stephen Pettipas) to become a top notch on the territory, something that never really happened, Ali  REALLY  lacking charisma.

The last feud the Creatchmans were involved with is the one against Steve Strong, who had become a babyface—the number one face after Martel’s departure for McMahonland. Strong had turned his back on Floyd for one single reason: he didn’t appreciate Floyd getting title shots for Sheik Ali and Samu against Bravo, while all he had to deal with was Rick Martel.  Strong wanted the belt too but felt he never had the opportunity to win it.

Floyd Creatchman, by the middle of 1986, had his own segment on the weekly shows, called “Creatchman Corner” (not very original, but anyway…). On one of those shows, Strong came in (1987) and discussed  his issues with Floyd, but was  attacked by Floyd’s protegees, Charland and Ali—and the Creatchmans  had many more  guys who could take care of Strong: Gilles Poisson, Man Mountain Moore, the Long Riders, Bruiser Brody, Kendo Nagasaki, and Eddy had also “brought” Hercules Ayala from WWC Puerto Rico. 

After a few matches between Strong and Creatchman’s henchmen, a feud started to take place between Strong and Kendo Nagasaki. Unfortunately, I couldn't tell how it all ended, as it occurred during the very last months of International Wrestling.

Needless to say the Creatchmans were very important for IW and all of Quebec’s wrestling history. Personally,  I preferred Eddie, with his dark glasses, his cane, his green and red  coats stating he was “The Brain” or “The Boss”.  Floyd was not a bad manager though. He was even more annoying than his father; he had a voice that drove you crazy and was a Jimmy Hart-like thin, weak guy who would get pummeled on a few occasions—I felt sorry for him, last week, when I looked back at some of the matches involving Bruiser Brody and Abdullah the Butcher on Quebecer soil, from 1987, as Floyd couldn’t control Brody  (who could?) and was hit by that late all-time great hardcore gladiator.  Man, I miss those days and God bless Eddie Creatchman, one of the most important figures in the history of professional wrestling  in Montreal, who died in the mid 90s.

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