Over the past few months, the hottest talk in wrestling has been the opening of the proverbial ‘Forbidden Door’ between promotions such as All Elite Wrestling and IMPACT. Traditionally, wrestling’s major promotions are hesitant at best to work with each other, with the WWE receiving the brunt of the criticism for their perceived lack of want to work with other wrestling organizations.

However, that hasn’t always been the case. Throughout their history, the WWE/WWF have shown they’re willing to co-promote shows and exchange talents with some of the world’s biggest promotions. One example of this was a late-90s excursion to All Japan Pro Wrestling by a number of WWF stars, including Vader, Bart Gunn, and the man now known as PCO, Pierre Ouellet.

When we recently chatted for Love Wrestling, the French Canadian Frankenstein shared some stories about his time in the Far East as part of the WWF talent exchange.

“I really enjoyed Kobashi,” PCO began when asked about his experiences in Japan. “The way he was with everybody. Like, he was one of the top Japanese guys. I mean, now it has changed a lot with, you know, talent from the US and from Canada, but back then some guys like Misawa or Kawada, the were really in their own corner and they wouldn’t mix up that much with anybody. I had matches with them where the ref was coming to me and telling me what I would have to do during my match against them. My full match at Budokan – what’s the name of the hall with 15,000 seats?”

“Korakuen Hall?” I floated to him, proven wrong seconds later.

“No, similar like that,” PCO responded before continuing the story.

“But, anyways, it’s something like that, but that’s not the name. I don’t know why I can’t give it to you. But, the main event was Vader and Kawada I think.

Anyways, I was like the third match on top of the bill. It was me and Taue and the whole match was called by a ref. So, it’s just weird.”

“Weird to say the least!” I laughed.

The former Ring of Honor Heavyweight Champion grinned before pressing on.

“Jun Akiyama was also super cool. I wrestled Jun Akiyama and Kobashi in a couple of tag matches, so they were cool. Every time that I’ve wrestled with Kobashi it was super, super nice, super cool. When he hits you with that lariat, though, every night, I’d get concussed kind of. My head was hitting the mat so hard that I’d seen stars. He was too cool, super cool. And, Akiyama was easy to work, too. I had a blast.”

“I teamed a lot with Vader. It was cool. He was super over at this time in Japan. He was one of the iconic names of Japan. So being his tag partner was like, it was cool. So I really enjoyed a month there in Japan. It was 18 days, the tour, but with some days in between. I was there my first time – no, my second time – for 30 days. That’s cool.”

“What is the relationship like with Vince McMahon nowadays?” I asked the French Canadian Frankenstein. “I’d have to assume working for a different promotion you wouldn’t talk all that often. But, you have mentioned in the past, you know, showing up at the Bell Center getting into see him. What is the relationship there now?

“I haven’t talked to him in a super long time,” PCO admitted. “The only person that I’ve talked to lately was Bruce Prichard before he got rehired because he was doing the gorilla position for MLW in 2018. So I had met him at Pro Wrestling Tees for a signing. We took some pictures together and it was cool to see each other and then after that, he became my producer for MLW.

And then, he left and went back to Vince. I haven’t heard of him since then, but there was some cool times with Bruce. When he wasn’t with WWE, he was different than when I met him when I worked for them at MLW. He was more like, cool and himself and didn’t have to play a role that much. I just had a great time around him. Other than that, all the other people that I know there, it’s because I’ve met them on the scene before I signed my contract, and then they got hired. Guys like WALTER, Riddle, some of the guys behind the scenes, but to tell people that I met them in 2019. I don’t know how Vince is like these days. You hear all kinds of stories from the boys, but to experience something myself I can’t really tell you.”

Please credit Spencer Love/Love Wrestling with any of the above quotes and transcriptions.

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.

At only 22-years-old, Mariah May has already accomplished what many life-long professional wrestlers have aspired to their entire careers. In 2019, just over a year after beginning her in-ring career, “The Glamour” earned the opportunity for a WWE tryout in front of the likes of William Regal and Sarah Stock.

Not only did I have to ask her about the tryout itself as part of our upcoming chat for Love Wrestling, but as a wrestler from the United Kingdom, whether or not it meant a little bit extra to try out in front of a British wrestling legend like Regal.

“What do you think you got out there, and what do you think people saw on you that got you those opportunities so early in your career?” I asked her.

“I think it’s just like, I work really, really hard,” The Glamour began. “But, I also I’m smart about the things that I do. I think for me, before I ever started training, I was like ‘you need to build a brand. You’re a business, you’re always a business, even when you sign under a company, you’re still a business. You’ve got to give them something for them to give you that platform and that opportunity and that wage. For me, I’ve always had that ingrained in my head since I was 17 years old. So, I’ve always been about just building these platforms, because the hardest part sometimes is getting people to know you. Getting that exposure. You know, if you don’t know the right people in a lot of industries, if you don’t know people, you don’t get a chance. Whereas now we have social media, and it’s like, well, you don’t need to know someone to get your foot in the door, you could just kick that door down now because you can make a name for yourself on there. So for me, it was just about sharing my personality, sharing my journey. I share all my training, I share gym stuff, I vlog when I do my shows that weekend! I vlog the whole journey, the diet, the workout, the shows, the highlights, the matches, and I just put it all out there. And I’m just like, this is me, I’m here to make a name. I’m here to do things that independent wrestlers aren’t really doing and give you that access.”

May laughed before giving an example of her above-and-beyond mentality to get noticed.

“With WWE I actually modeled their shirts!” she chuckled. “I was the first one to do it. They sent me their merch to model, so I think WWE knew who I was when I was like 18. So, when I started training and stuff, I know they were watching me, and I just worked really, really hard, and I just – I sacrificed everything just to really put the time into wrestling. That pays off. And then, obviously, I was lucky enough to get a tryout, which was just the most amazing experience ever.

I am so grateful and blessed to have had that. It’s just all about working hard and putting yourself out there. I think that last part is really, really important.”

It’s a mentality that, in my brief experience of interviewing stars from the United Kingdom, has remained consistent. Whether speaking to a brand-new British superstar or a United Kingdom legend, that work ethic is a thread that seems to tie all UK superstars together in the most positive of ways. Of course, as a non-Brit myself, I could only assume that legendary grit has been something passed down from the earliest days of Britwres.

That, naturally, led the conversation to one of Britain’s biggest legends, William Regal.

“I might be being presumptive here, or assuming a little bit, but getting the opportunity to try out in front of William Regal, who, at least as an outsider, had such an influence on British wrestling, did that mean a little bit extra to you? Or, what was the experience like as far as the tryout went?”

“Yeah, it meant so much,” May began. “I mean, I grew up watching William Regal, and there was Sarah Stock there. There were some incredible people there, the producers, there were so many people who have done a lot for British wrestling, and like you said, legends like William Regal. To be able to show them what you can do and to get feedback from them – I mean, in a sense, it was literally three days of training with them. Like, how lucky to be able to get that tutelage, to get that coaching from these just legends.”

“Literally the best of the best, yeah,” I interjected.

May nodded in agreement before continuing. “I just felt so blessed to do that. The tryout itself was incredible. I learned so much, and it was good to kind of show what you’ve been working on, too. That was really gratifying, to kind of get that opportunity to show your hard work.

For me, I was just trying to be a sponge and just take everything in. I remember walking into the PC, and obviously, there’s one of the UK now, which, that’s just crazy, right? That there’s a Performance Center in the UK, that’s amazing. Just walking in there and just seeing the WWE ring. Honestly, like, I could just feel it. You know what I was saying about revving the engine? I could just feel those butterflies the whole time. But, I just went into just game face mode, and I was like, ‘I need to make these three days count, and then you can go home and you can cry, and you can just have your moment.’ You know, ‘you can go home and you can kind of be like, ah,’ but you know, for me, it was just game face.”

“I just tried to be a sponge and just absorb it, because above all else, obviously, it is a tryout, but it’s training and it’s a chance to train with some of the best. Also, I got to try out with some amazing women British wrestlers, too. So that was really, really cool, too.”

“Is there any specific advice they gave you that you would be willing to share?” I inquired.

The Glamour was quick to respond.

“Yeah, for me, obviously, I had had three matches. So, they were just like, ‘you’ve got the tools, just get the experience. We want to see you just get yourself out there and just learn how to work.’ That’s what it’s all about. And that’s kind of – you know, I said to you earlier, I just want to just kind of do some stuff for myself, like wrestle internationally and make a name for myself.”

“I remember just before lock down, I was really just loving that part of the journey. I think sometimes people talk about it like it’s the horrible bit, but I mean, maybe it just gets better. I don’t know. For me, I’ve really been enjoying just – like, I did seven shows in a row. I did the All Star, which is throughout the half term, our school holidays here. I had shows either side of the weekend, different shows. I actually traveled for an entire week, I got to wrestle every single day. That’s my dream. That’s what I’ve always wanted to do. Of course, would I’d love to be on a big stage one day? Absolutely. But, I’m loving this part of the journey. And, that’s kind of what they said, was just enjoy this and get that experience.

”

Please credit Spencer Love/Love Wrestling with any of the above quotes used.