As one of the most well-respected and longest-tenured Canadian wrestlers on the scene today, there are few better equipped to talk about gaining recognition above the 49th parallel than PCO. Over the past five years, the French Canadian Frankenstein has experienced a career revitalization like no other, not only for his incredible in-ring work but for his innovative promotional ideas and anything-goes attitude towards getting his brand out to the world.
When we recently chatted for Love Wrestling, I asked the former ROH Heavyweight Champion his thoughts on what Canadians and fans could be doing in order to grow both their own names and the wrestling scene as a whole.
“[With] the differences for you between the Canadian professional wrestling scene when you were coming up versus now, have you found that it’s a bit more difficult for Canadians now to find exposure in professional wrestling? Or, have you maybe found that the industry has changed in the Great White North since you started to break in?”
“It’s tough. I think it’s tough for the Canadian guys to get some exposure. That’s just the way I see it,” PCO replied. “There’s plenty of great talent in Canada, all over Canada from Vancouver to the Maritimes. I don’t know why, but there is no eyes on them. No eyes at all. I mean, most of the wrestlers that have made it into ‘major leagues,’ they’ve been wrestling in the States forever. I mean, for so many years. They’ve made a name for themselves on the indie scenes in the States. It’s hard because not everybody can have [a] work permit or things like that. It just makes it harder for a Canadian to make it, but there’s ways.”
“You just have to be creative, I guess,” he continued. “It’s just part of the ‘how bad do you want to make it.’ In a way that prepares you for different, other stuff. This ain’t the easy business, you know? So you have – like when I said that I ran like 70 kilometers, I mean, that’s part of the deal. You know, you run into so much adversity and so many bumps along the road that you have to be mentally prepared to accept everything as a good thing. From that point on, okay, now what can I do to get to the next step? It’s how you evolve, and then that’s how eventually you have success.”
With the talent in Canada perhaps receiving a little less recognition that deserved, I asked PCO if there were any individuals from above the 49th parallel that deserved a little shine.
“Are there potentially any Canadians out there right now that have caught your eye in the last little bit any that you maybe feel are underrated, deserve more of an opportunity, whatever other buzzwords you can throw on it?”
The French-Canadian Frankenstein was quick to respond.
“There’s a team called TDT. These guys are a really good tag team. They were on many shows with either Cody or names that have wrestled against them, and I think they’d do well. I think it’s just a matter of timing for them because everybody knows them. Jeremy Prophet, Mike Bailey. A bunch of other guys. There’s quite a few. Marko Estrada. It could go on and on. I could probably do a bunch of other names.”
Please credit Spencer Love/Love Wrestling with any of the above quotes and transcriptions.
