PAGE OF FAME: Announcers & Writers

Michel Normandin (right) talks to Yvon Robert

Fernand St-Marie

Announcers & Writers
Photos courtesy of Paul Leduc
Norm Kimber
Toronto ring announcer for many years under Frank Tunney. He continued to be the ring announcer when the WWF took over the area until they dropped the Brantford TV tapings in 1986.
Ron Morier
Host of Vancouver's wrestling TV show for many years. Would always say hello to the shut-ins watching at home. Recipient of Gene Kiniski's trademark interview closer: "I'd like to thank everyone for allowing me into their homes via TV, and as usual Ron, you did a great job."
Michel Normandin
Host of Montreal's TV wrestling in the 1950s and the radio voice of Montreal Canadiens hockey on CBC.
Joe Perlove
Covered pro wrestling for the Toronto Star for many years. Was able to be humorous without crossing into condescension. Died in 1966. Outside of wrestling, he's remembered as one of Canada's top horse racing writers, where he maintained his irreverent style.
"The late Joe Perlove used to cover the "rassles," as he used to call them, for the Star. What went on in the ring and what appeared in the paper the next day had very little in common. Perlove was one of the most entertaining writers ever to work in this town, and wrestling gave him the chance to let his imagination run wild." (By Jim Hunt, from the TORONTO SUN, February 6, 1990)

Fernand St-Marie
Ring announcer for Grand Prix Wrestling in Montreal and the son-in-law of Michel Normandin. Did bilingual introductions that ended with "C'est lui, that's him..." followed by the wrestler's name. Funny thing was, I immediately understood the "c'est lui" part, but it took years until I clued in that the end of that line was "that's him." All that time, I thought it was something in French I didn't understand!
Ed Whalen
Long-time host of Calgary's Stampede Wrestling. Did an awesome job of getting heels over through the 70s when Stampede Wrestling regularly drew more heat than any other TV show I've ever seen (the feud between The General's Army -- featuring King Curtis -- and Mark Lewin, Dan Kroffat, and Larry Lane was by far the hottest feud I saw growing up. It was so strong on TV that promoter Frank Tunney even brought in Curtis and Lewin to Toronto to do a cage match -- with no local build-up). People who only started watching Stampede Wrestling in the 80s never understood that to regular viewers, he was as much a star of the show as any wrestler. Also did play-by-play for Calgary Flames hockey, but the strangest thing was hearing him do political commentary on a radio show in Calgary that I happened to catch in Toronto in the late 1980s.