The Event Spotlight at Montreal Moonsault is a semi-regular column focusing on the top shows the region has to offer. Sometimes we will spotlight big name events, sometimes it will be can't miss events that might not be on your radar. This week, I had the pleasure of sitting down with Jorge Morillas, NCW wrestler and organizer of the upcoming Lucha Libre Contra El Cancer benefit show.
mtlmoonsault: Who are you and how did you get into wrestling?
luchalibremtl: The name is Jorge Morillas, better known as Fuego Rudo in the ring. As most males (and many females) of my generation, I grew up watching the likes of Hogan, Macho Man, Andre The Giant, Hart Foundation, The Rockers, to name a few. Through the years, I would watch it for a while, tune out for another while, watch it again... it wasn't until the Attitude Era and the Monday Night Wars that I became a true blue regular fan of the sport. The show Tough Enough though made me appreciate the craft, the hard work and natural abilities it takes to actually become a wrestler. Long story short, my little brother Carlos had found the NCW wrestling school, signed up, trained, and started working shows. I followed shortly after, and it's been an amazing 9 year ride so far... I say so far, because it's not over yet!
mtlmoonsault: What kind of show are you organizing and what can we expect from this show?
luchalibremtl: What I'm proposing is not your average wrestling show... I've always loved the Mexican lucha libre culture. In fact, my in-ring persona is a masked luchador. There aren't enough qualified masked wrestlers in the province to go full blown masked luchadors, but I try to emphasise on those characters, and bring a hispanic flair to the event. For example, in 2012, we had a live Mariachi band playing at intermission, and the cantine was serving everything from empanadas to paella. So you can basically expect a mix of great athelticism, colorful characters, a strong hispanic flavor, and all for a noble cause that is cancer research. Everybody wins!
mtlmoonsault: Where is the show taking place?
luchalibremtl: The venue is situated at 10015 ave De Bruxelles, in Montreal North. It is where Les Promotions NCW, collaborator since day 1, hold their bi-weekly events. The first two editions were held in a church hall on Belanger (corner of Christophe-Colomb), which was a great venue. However, that also meant that after the show, we had to load the ring and equipment back into the truck, take it back to the NCW locker, which was two flights of stairs up (and with only 6 or 7 people, dead tired, to bring up the equipment). I wouldn't get home until past 4 AM. This year, I went the simple route. Same venue as NCW, storing and clean up is quick, and then we could ALL (wrestlers and fans) head to an after party and enjoy the fruits of our labors. It's a lot of work, but it should also be fun!
mtlmoonsault: When is the show?
luchalibremtl: Saturday September 27th. The idea of the show, in it's current format, came about in Spring of 2011. Figured that we'd give ourselves some months to get everything organized. At this time of year, everyone is back at work or in school, weather is still decent enough, so we're minimizing the "excuses" for not coming to the show.
mtlmoonsault: Why are you putting on this show?
luchalibremtl: When it comes to cancer, everyone's got their sob story... and here's mine, so bear with me!
Back in 92, I lost a childhood friend to leukimia. Hit me pretty hard, first time I really dealt with death, and someone of my own age too. So cancer was already a cause I took to heart back then.
Fast forward to February 2007. I had been training to become a wrestler for just over a year at that point, and the idea of a benefit show started to swim around in my head. I started planning it out, had picked out a potential venue, made a first draft of a card and such. I invite my best friend out for a beer one night, so I could pitch the idea to him. Noticed he had a scar on his neck. Once we sat down for a drink, I asked about it. In his usual "don't worry about me, it's nothing" tone, he mentioned his girlfriend had noticed a lump. It ended up being a tumor. He played it off, and we went back to talking about my show. In June 2007, three days after his 24th birthday, he passed away. Had a hard time getting over it.
Everything comes in threes... In the summer of 2010, my parents were supposed to go to Spain on vacation, but my dad, recently retired, had this nagging cough he couldn't shake off. My mom forced him to go get it checked out. After anti-biotics didn't work, the clinic referred my dad to St-Mary's hospital, who sent instead to the Jewish General Pulmonary Oncology department. My dad tried to hide the cancer from us so we wouldn't worry. But it kept getting worse, and worse, and worse... March 10th 2011, his last words were to my mom... "Llevame al hospital, que ya no puedo" (take me to the hospital, i can't anymore). At 11:45 the next morning, he took his last breath.
That day, one of my closest friends, Christina Maniates, told me that WE decide whether we let something like this beat us down, or if we become stronger from it. I decided to take this negative, and turn it into a positive! For my dad, for Antoine Hallé, for Dana Alcalde, for everyone who was taken from us too soon from this horrible disease, I decided to finally go forth with the idea of a benefit wrestling show and make a difference! This show brings people together, this show inspires others, this show helps cope with the loss of loved ones. What better way to honor their memory, show support, raise funds and have one hell of a good time than by coming down to Lucha Libre Contra El Cancer.
mtlmoonsault: Where can we follow you and get more information?
The event will be posted regularly as a reminder, and information on the show will also start popping up more and more as the show approaches.
To purchase pre-sale tickets (15$ for adults, 10$ for children 12 and under):
- you can send a PayPal payment to luchalibremtl@hotmail.com ; i will then mail you the tickets
- you can head to Libreria Española, 3811 boul. St-Laurent and ask at the cash
- you can head to Les Promotions NCW inc shows on Sept. 6th and 20th, 10015 ave De Bruxelles, and ask at the merch table. T-Shirts of the event are also available.
I want to thank Jorge Morillas for taking the time to be a part of this interview. You can follow him on Facebook and don't miss his show Lucha Libre Contra El Cancer on September 27th.
