Acronym GPW Headquarters Moncton, New Brunswick | Founded 1960s; 2001 Founder(s) Emile Duprée | |
Owner(s) Emile Duprée (1977-1986?; 2001-present)
Paul Peller (1986-1992?)
Mike Zinck (2001) Formerly Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling (1977-1991)
Canadian Championship Wrestling (1992) | ||
Grand Prix Wrestling is a wrestling promotion run and owned by Emile Duprée. Grand Prix Wrestling has recently finished the 2013 Rising Sun In The Maritimes Tour. Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling tours parts of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia. It has no connection with Paul Vachon's Grand Prix Wrestling promotion of Montreal in the 1970s.
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Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling
Originally known as Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling (AGPW), the regional circuit has been around since the early 1960s. During the 60s and the 70s AGPW was so popular it became a hit in the Maritimes. AGPW cards were held in Moncton, New Brunswick on Monday nights, Halifax, Nova Scotia on Thursdays, Berwick, Nova Scotia on Saturday evenings and along other small towns in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island.
Every summer, there were two big titles up for grabs: The United States Heavyweight Title and the North American Tag Team Title. Other titles included the European Heavyweight Title and the Maritime Heavyweight Title. The European Heavyweight Title was held more by Killer Karl Krupp than any other superstar and The Maritime Heavyweight Title was held most often by Stephen Petitpas. During the late 1980s, the United States Heavyweight Title was changed to the International Heavyweight Title.
Comeback
Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling is back in 2013 for a summer tour. The roster features former WWE wrestler Rene Dupree, All Japan Pro Wrestling star Seiya Sanada, She Nay Nay, Bellatrix Star Erin Angel, the fabulous midgets Lil' Fabio and Lil' Poppa Pump, The Masked Thunderbolt, Kwan Chang, Jeremy Prophet, Bobby Sharp, Spiderman and Japanese star, Daiki Inaba. The tour kicks off in Borden-Carleton, Prince Edward Island with a show featuring a special guest appearance by Japanese legend The Great Muta. The tour continued with Prince Edward Island shows in Souris and O' Leary. Nova Scotia shows included: Springhill, Bridgewater, two in Berwick, Tatamagouche, Truro, Cheticamp, North Sydney, Baddeck and Antigonish. The New Brunswick portion of the tour included shows in: Cocagne (3 times), Neguac, Lameque, Chipman, Fredericton Junction, Blacks Harbour, Baie St. Anne, Minto, Petit-Rocher, Doaktown and Sunny Corner. The tour was very successful and it brought a lot of escalation toward what is now known as the 2014 New Era Tour that will feature former WWE Superstar Rene Dupree, Wrestle-1 star Yasufumi Nakanoue, Butcher Vachon, Bobby Sharp, Jeremy Prophet, the return of the Cuban Assassin and many more. Towns featured on the tour will be New Brunswick Towns: Neguac, Black's Harbour and Minto. Prince Edward Island Towns: O'Leary, Borden-Carleton and Souris. And Nova Scotia Towns: Sydney, Baddeck, Berwick, Truro and Springhill.