WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:03.779 Okay, so let's try a thought experiment. If I 00:00:03.779 --> 00:00:07.360 asked you to picture the ultimate survivor in 00:00:07.360 --> 00:00:09.419 the wrestling business, someone who has seen 00:00:09.419 --> 00:00:11.259 literally every side of the industry that comes 00:00:11.259 --> 00:00:13.560 to mind. I mean, naturally, you probably think 00:00:13.560 --> 00:00:15.800 of the big TV stars, right? Right. The guys that 00:00:15.800 --> 00:00:18.579 are on posters for 40 years. Exactly. The household 00:00:18.579 --> 00:00:22.359 names. But today, for this deep dive, we are 00:00:22.359 --> 00:00:25.780 going to look at a map of wrestling history that 00:00:25.780 --> 00:00:28.579 is... completely different. We're going to pull 00:00:28.579 --> 00:00:31.559 on a thread that starts in the golden era of 00:00:31.559 --> 00:00:34.840 Montreal wrestling. Oh yeah. Drags us through 00:00:34.840 --> 00:00:37.380 the absolute torture chamber of the heart dungeon 00:00:37.380 --> 00:00:40.920 in Calgary. really weird with a character named 00:00:40.920 --> 00:00:43.640 Frank Einstein, and we will get to that, I promise. 00:00:43.780 --> 00:00:45.939 And it somehow ends up on international television 00:00:45.939 --> 00:00:49.100 in 2024. It is a wild trajectory. We are looking 00:00:49.100 --> 00:00:51.740 at a career that essentially serves as the connective 00:00:51.740 --> 00:00:53.560 tissue for Canadian wrestling. We really are. 00:00:53.799 --> 00:00:54.979 We're talking about Karl the Duck. Now, I'll 00:00:54.979 --> 00:00:56.899 be honest, before digging into this stack of 00:00:56.899 --> 00:01:00.039 research, I knew the name, but I didn't realize 00:01:00.039 --> 00:01:02.560 just how much ground this guy has covered. It's 00:01:02.560 --> 00:01:05.900 expansive. It really is. Yeah. And our mission 00:01:05.900 --> 00:01:08.319 today isn't just to look at his win -loss record. 00:01:08.640 --> 00:01:11.819 It's to figure out how a guy manages to stay 00:01:11.819 --> 00:01:15.799 relevant, active, and physically capable in a 00:01:15.799 --> 00:01:17.879 business that usually chews people up and spits 00:01:17.879 --> 00:01:20.500 them out by age 35. Yeah. And that is the key 00:01:20.500 --> 00:01:23.680 theme here, survival. Right. Karl Leduc is the 00:01:23.680 --> 00:01:26.579 definition of a wrestling survivor. He didn't 00:01:26.579 --> 00:01:29.019 just exist in these different eras. He adapted 00:01:29.019 --> 00:01:32.620 to them. He went from the territory days to the 00:01:32.620 --> 00:01:34.760 corporate expansion of the 90s to the indie boom. 00:01:34.980 --> 00:01:37.459 And he's still standing in the ring today. which 00:01:37.459 --> 00:01:39.799 is incredible. And just to give you an overview 00:01:39.799 --> 00:01:42.040 of where we're pulling this from, we've got a 00:01:42.040 --> 00:01:44.280 ton of biographical data, career statistics, 00:01:44.620 --> 00:01:47.140 and specific legacy details surrounding Leduc's 00:01:47.140 --> 00:01:49.700 life. A really solid foundation of sources. Yeah, 00:01:49.700 --> 00:01:51.739 and just looking at the sheer variety of his 00:01:51.739 --> 00:01:54.319 career. You were spanning from the mid -90s, 00:01:54.420 --> 00:01:57.540 WWF, all the way to teenage wrestling in 2024. 00:01:57.859 --> 00:02:00.519 That is a massive spread. Most guys from his 00:02:00.519 --> 00:02:02.340 rookie class are probably selling insurance or 00:02:02.340 --> 00:02:04.219 dealing with bad knees on the couch right now. 00:02:04.280 --> 00:02:06.060 Or they've completely disappeared from the public 00:02:06.060 --> 00:02:09.280 eye. But to understand how LaDuke lasted this 00:02:09.280 --> 00:02:12.080 long, you really have to look at the foundation. 00:02:12.639 --> 00:02:15.180 You can't build a skyscraper on quicksand, and 00:02:15.180 --> 00:02:17.379 you can't build a 30 -year wrestling career without 00:02:17.379 --> 00:02:20.360 a serious origin story. So let's go back to the 00:02:20.360 --> 00:02:25.919 beginning. September 24th, 1974. Montreal. Karl 00:02:25.919 --> 00:02:29.379 LaDuke is born. And right away, he's not just 00:02:29.379 --> 00:02:31.979 a random kid. He is born into the business. He 00:02:31.979 --> 00:02:34.759 is. He's the son of Paul LeDuc. Now for those 00:02:34.759 --> 00:02:37.020 of us who didn't grow up in Quebec in the 70s, 00:02:37.219 --> 00:02:40.020 give us some context. How big of a deal is the 00:02:40.020 --> 00:02:42.699 name LeDuc in that world? Oh, it's royalty. In 00:02:42.699 --> 00:02:45.039 Quebec, wrestling was, and honestly still is, 00:02:45.139 --> 00:02:47.300 a cultural institution, almost like religion 00:02:47.300 --> 00:02:50.219 or hockey. The Leduc family was absolutely integral 00:02:50.219 --> 00:02:52.919 to that scene, so Karl grows up with this intense 00:02:52.919 --> 00:02:55.400 pressure. Because he isn't just Karl. Right. 00:02:55.520 --> 00:02:57.960 He's Paul Leduc's kid. Yeah. And that opens doors, 00:02:57.979 --> 00:03:00.400 sure, but it also puts a massive target on your 00:03:00.400 --> 00:03:02.659 back. You really have to prove you belong. Exactly. 00:03:02.879 --> 00:03:04.860 And he didn't take the easy route to prove it, 00:03:04.860 --> 00:03:06.120 did he? I mean, he could have just stayed in 00:03:06.120 --> 00:03:07.860 Montreal and had his dad teach him the ropes 00:03:07.860 --> 00:03:10.050 in a nice, comfortable gym. He could have. It 00:03:10.050 --> 00:03:12.969 would have been the logical safe choice. But 00:03:12.969 --> 00:03:15.969 he didn't do that. No. He did the exact opposite. 00:03:16.090 --> 00:03:18.530 He packed his bags and went west. He went to 00:03:18.530 --> 00:03:21.490 Calgary. To the Heart Dungeon. The infamous Heart 00:03:21.490 --> 00:03:24.129 Dungeon. I see this term thrown around constantly 00:03:24.129 --> 00:03:27.949 in wrestling documentaries. The Dungeon? It sounds 00:03:27.949 --> 00:03:30.530 cool, like a marketing term, but looking at the 00:03:30.530 --> 00:03:33.030 notes here, it was a literal basement. It was 00:03:33.030 --> 00:03:35.550 the literal basement of the Hart family home. 00:03:35.750 --> 00:03:38.930 Wow. Low ceilings, wood paneling, mats that hadn't 00:03:38.930 --> 00:03:41.889 been cleaned in decades, and just a permanent 00:03:41.889 --> 00:03:44.770 smell of sweat and mildew. So not exactly a state 00:03:44.770 --> 00:03:46.370 -of -the -art performance center. Not at all. 00:03:46.370 --> 00:03:50.129 It was a torture chamber. And his trainers were 00:03:50.129 --> 00:03:52.770 Stu Hart and Bruce Hart. I mean, Stu Hart is 00:03:52.770 --> 00:03:55.310 legendary for being a tough guy. But the research 00:03:55.310 --> 00:03:57.409 mentions something very specific here. Oh, I 00:03:57.409 --> 00:03:58.969 know what you're going to say. It says, Carl 00:03:58.969 --> 00:04:02.789 was filmed in the documentary Hitman Heart, Wrestling 00:04:02.789 --> 00:04:04.729 with Shadows. Which, by the way, is arguably 00:04:04.729 --> 00:04:07.030 the best wrestling documentary I ever made. I 00:04:07.030 --> 00:04:08.389 highly recommend checking it out if you have 00:04:08.389 --> 00:04:09.930 it. But he wasn't just standing in the background 00:04:09.930 --> 00:04:12.430 holding a towel. The notes say he was being stretched 00:04:12.430 --> 00:04:17.129 by Stu Hart. Yeah. OK, pause. When we say stretch, 00:04:17.250 --> 00:04:21.350 are we talking about, like, intense yoga calisthenics? 00:04:21.449 --> 00:04:24.370 I really wish it were yoga. Right. No, in wrestling 00:04:24.370 --> 00:04:27.250 jargon, stretching is a euphemism for submission 00:04:27.250 --> 00:04:30.269 wrestling designed to inflict maximum pain. Ouch. 00:04:30.970 --> 00:04:33.670 Yeah. Stu Hart's philosophy was that if you wanted 00:04:33.670 --> 00:04:36.370 to be a pro wrestler, which is scripted, you 00:04:36.370 --> 00:04:38.149 first had to know how to handle yourself in a 00:04:38.149 --> 00:04:40.629 real fight. That makes sense. So he would take 00:04:40.629 --> 00:04:42.850 these young guys down to the basement and apply 00:04:42.850 --> 00:04:45.889 joint locks, bend their limbs in completely wrong 00:04:45.889 --> 00:04:48.870 directions and grind their faces into the mat 00:04:48.870 --> 00:04:51.410 until they screamed. And Stu was an older man 00:04:51.410 --> 00:04:53.230 by this point, right? He was, but he was made 00:04:53.230 --> 00:04:55.350 of steel. The man had grip strength that was 00:04:55.350 --> 00:04:57.990 unreal. And the fact that Leduc is documented 00:04:57.990 --> 00:05:01.589 enduring that, literally screaming in pain while 00:05:01.589 --> 00:05:04.449 Stu Hart twists his ankle, I feel like that tells 00:05:04.449 --> 00:05:06.930 you everything about his mental toughness. It 00:05:06.930 --> 00:05:09.069 really does. It wasn't about learning how to 00:05:09.069 --> 00:05:11.470 fall down safely. It was about learning how much 00:05:11.470 --> 00:05:14.350 pain you could tolerate without quitting. So 00:05:14.350 --> 00:05:16.490 it's basically a hazing ritual that gives you 00:05:16.490 --> 00:05:20.490 a PhD in toughness. Precisely. If you can survive 00:05:20.490 --> 00:05:24.000 Stu Hart's basement... A match in front of a 00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:27.339 hostile crowd is a vacation. I bet. That training 00:05:27.339 --> 00:05:29.660 instills a level of grit that you just don't 00:05:29.660 --> 00:05:31.459 see in modern training centers where everything 00:05:31.459 --> 00:05:34.379 is padded and safe. It explains why 30 years 00:05:34.379 --> 00:05:37.540 later, Leduc is still able to go. He was hardened 00:05:37.540 --> 00:05:40.100 in the fires of Calgary. So he survives the dungeon. 00:05:40.139 --> 00:05:42.160 He's got the pedigree. He's got the toughness. 00:05:42.459 --> 00:05:46.360 Now we fast forward to 1996. A big year. The 00:05:46.360 --> 00:05:49.720 WWF, which is now WWE, comes calling. This is 00:05:49.720 --> 00:05:51.860 the big time. This is the global stage. It is, 00:05:51.860 --> 00:05:53.379 but you have to look closer at the data. It's 00:05:53.379 --> 00:05:55.779 a very weird, specific kind of big time. Yeah, 00:05:55.779 --> 00:05:59.319 I'm looking at the dates here. August 2, 1996. 00:06:00.060 --> 00:06:03.019 The venue is the Molson Center in Montreal. Right. 00:06:03.519 --> 00:06:04.879 Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but the Molson 00:06:04.879 --> 00:06:06.680 Center was brand new at that time. That was the 00:06:06.680 --> 00:06:08.620 shiny new replacement for the Montreal Forum. 00:06:08.699 --> 00:06:11.300 It was a massive deal for the city. And the notes 00:06:11.300 --> 00:06:15.420 say, Carl LaDuc wrestled the first ever wrestling 00:06:15.420 --> 00:06:17.980 match in that building. Yeah. That is a heck 00:06:17.980 --> 00:06:20.500 of a trivia fact. He christened the place. Think 00:06:20.500 --> 00:06:22.420 about the pressure of that. You're the local 00:06:22.420 --> 00:06:24.740 boy. It's the biggest wrestling company in the 00:06:24.740 --> 00:06:26.839 world and the biggest new arena in your home 00:06:26.839 --> 00:06:29.720 city. You're setting the tone for the whole night. 00:06:29.819 --> 00:06:32.259 You are the very first impression the crowd gets. 00:06:32.579 --> 00:06:35.740 And he delivered. He defeated Justin Hawke Bradshaw. 00:06:35.860 --> 00:06:38.000 Which is significant. Because Bradshaw became 00:06:38.000 --> 00:06:41.920 a huge star later on. Yeah. JBL world champion. 00:06:43.279 --> 00:06:45.740 But here, Luddock beats him. Right. Bradshaw 00:06:45.740 --> 00:06:49.060 was six foot six, a big Texas brawler. For the 00:06:49.060 --> 00:06:52.279 WWF to book the local kid to beat their big monster 00:06:52.279 --> 00:06:54.579 tells you they completely understood the value 00:06:54.579 --> 00:06:56.819 of the Leduc name in Montreal. They knew the 00:06:56.819 --> 00:06:58.819 crowd would just go crazy for it. Exactly. But 00:06:58.819 --> 00:07:00.819 then the timeline gets really interesting. The 00:07:00.819 --> 00:07:04.379 very next night, August 3rd, they're in Quebec 00:07:04.379 --> 00:07:07.699 City. Leduc is in the ring again. But this time 00:07:07.699 --> 00:07:10.250 he's facing Owen Hart. Now this is a dream match 00:07:10.250 --> 00:07:12.709 for Pyrrhus. Totally. You have the Dungeon graduate, 00:07:12.930 --> 00:07:14.930 Leduc, against the favorite son of the Hart family, 00:07:15.110 --> 00:07:17.750 Owen. And Leduc loses this one. Yep. But then 00:07:17.750 --> 00:07:21.189 the next night in Ottawa, August 4th, he beats 00:07:21.189 --> 00:07:24.370 Bradshaw again. It's like a sandwich. Win -loss 00:07:24.370 --> 00:07:27.420 -win. It's classic booking psychology. How so? 00:07:27.620 --> 00:07:30.459 Well, in Montreal, Le Dirk is the hero. He has 00:07:30.459 --> 00:07:33.360 to win to send the crowd home happy or get them 00:07:33.360 --> 00:07:35.199 excited early. Right, because it's his hometown. 00:07:35.399 --> 00:07:38.480 Exactly. In Quebec City, Owen Hart is also a 00:07:38.480 --> 00:07:40.560 massive fan favorite because of the Hart family 00:07:40.560 --> 00:07:43.019 connection across Canada. And Owen was a much 00:07:43.019 --> 00:07:45.360 higher ranked star on the roster. OK, so Le Dirk 00:07:45.360 --> 00:07:47.740 takes the loss there. He does the job, as they 00:07:47.740 --> 00:07:51.000 say. He takes the loss to elevate Owen. Then 00:07:51.000 --> 00:07:53.139 in Ottawa, they give him his win back against 00:07:53.139 --> 00:07:56.000 Bradshaw. It seems like he was being used very 00:07:56.000 --> 00:07:57.980 strategically. I'm looking at the rest of his 00:07:57.980 --> 00:08:00.279 opponents beating Aldo Montoya, losing to the 00:08:00.279 --> 00:08:03.199 Sultan. But the notes highlight something really 00:08:03.199 --> 00:08:05.259 crucial here. What's that? It says he worked 00:08:05.259 --> 00:08:07.740 for the WWF only when they were in Quebec and 00:08:07.740 --> 00:08:09.939 Eastern Canada. Yeah. So was he not a full -time 00:08:09.939 --> 00:08:12.279 employee? This is what we call a territorial 00:08:12.279 --> 00:08:14.759 use of a star. In the old days, wrestling was 00:08:14.759 --> 00:08:18.079 divided into regional territories. By the 90s, 00:08:18.180 --> 00:08:21.220 the WWF had gone global. But they still used 00:08:21.220 --> 00:08:23.540 that old logic sometime. Oh, I see. They knew 00:08:23.540 --> 00:08:26.279 Karl Leduc sold tickets in Quebec. Did the fans 00:08:26.279 --> 00:08:29.480 in Arizona know who he was? Probably not. Exactly. 00:08:29.920 --> 00:08:32.659 So why fly him to Phoenix? They used him as a 00:08:32.659 --> 00:08:35.039 special attraction for his specific region. That 00:08:35.039 --> 00:08:37.620 makes so much sense. It's super efficient. You 00:08:37.620 --> 00:08:39.860 plug him in where he's a celebrity, and you leave 00:08:39.860 --> 00:08:42.059 him home where he's unknown. It's a mutually 00:08:42.059 --> 00:08:44.399 beneficial arrangement, but it also pigeonholes 00:08:44.399 --> 00:08:46.960 him a bit. He was the king of Quebec, but breaking 00:08:46.960 --> 00:08:49.559 out of that box to become a national U .S. star 00:08:49.559 --> 00:08:51.799 is a whole different challenge. Well, he certainly 00:08:51.799 --> 00:08:53.860 tried to break out of the box or maybe he just 00:08:53.860 --> 00:08:56.600 tried to blow the box up because this leads us 00:08:56.600 --> 00:08:59.179 to what is possibly my favorite part of this 00:08:59.179 --> 00:09:01.120 entire deep dive. I think I know what's coming. 00:09:01.240 --> 00:09:04.039 Segment three, the stampede era and the identity 00:09:04.039 --> 00:09:08.220 crisis. Oh, yes. So after the WWF stint, the 00:09:08.220 --> 00:09:10.259 sources place him back in stampede wrestling 00:09:10.259 --> 00:09:13.950 in Calgary in 1997. and then again in 1999. Right 00:09:13.950 --> 00:09:16.870 back to his roots. Stampede is the Hart family 00:09:16.870 --> 00:09:21.549 promotion, but in 1999 he returns and he is not 00:09:21.549 --> 00:09:25.370 Karl the Duke. He adopts a new persona. Prepare 00:09:25.370 --> 00:09:29.120 yourself. The name is Frank Einstein. Yes. Frank 00:09:29.120 --> 00:09:31.879 Einstein. I have so many questions. Is it a pun 00:09:31.879 --> 00:09:35.600 on Frankenstein? Is it Francois Einstein? Was 00:09:35.600 --> 00:09:38.379 he a genius monster? What was happening here? 00:09:38.460 --> 00:09:41.799 This is the beautiful absurdity of late 90s wrestling. 00:09:41.820 --> 00:09:44.299 It's wild. You have a guy who is a legit tough 00:09:44.299 --> 00:09:48.220 guy, six foot three, 250 pounds, dungeon trained. 00:09:48.960 --> 00:09:51.340 But just being a tough guy sometimes isn't enough 00:09:51.340 --> 00:09:53.840 to get noticed. You need a hook. You need a gimmick. 00:09:53.940 --> 00:09:55.840 You need a character. You know, Frank Einstein. 00:09:56.090 --> 00:09:58.149 It sounds like a cheap Halloween costume. It 00:09:58.149 --> 00:10:00.429 does, but think about it. It is memorable. If 00:10:00.429 --> 00:10:02.190 you look at a poster and see Frank Einstein, 00:10:02.250 --> 00:10:04.230 you're going to ask, who is that? That's true. 00:10:04.330 --> 00:10:07.049 It sticks in your brain. It's campy, sure, but 00:10:07.049 --> 00:10:10.029 wrestling thrives on camp. I guess so. And to 00:10:10.029 --> 00:10:11.730 be fair, it wasn't a total flop. He actually 00:10:11.730 --> 00:10:14.009 found success with it. The sources list a championship 00:10:14.009 --> 00:10:16.009 accomplishment during this Frank Einstein phase. 00:10:16.090 --> 00:10:18.509 That's right. He held the Stampede International 00:10:18.509 --> 00:10:21.070 Tag Team Championship. With a partner named, 00:10:21.549 --> 00:10:25.399 and wait for it, Dick Reigns. Frank Einstein 00:10:25.399 --> 00:10:27.759 and Dick Reigns. It sounds like a buddy cop movie 00:10:27.759 --> 00:10:31.919 from 1988. It really does. But jokes aside, holding 00:10:31.919 --> 00:10:34.539 a title in Stampede Wrestling is a legitimate 00:10:34.539 --> 00:10:37.100 honor, right? Even if the name was silly. Oh, 00:10:37.100 --> 00:10:39.899 absolutely. The lineage of those belts includes 00:10:39.899 --> 00:10:43.120 The Dynamite Kid, Davey Boy Smith, Bret Hart. 00:10:43.379 --> 00:10:46.080 Yow, so heavy hitters. Getting your name in that 00:10:46.080 --> 00:10:48.980 history book validates you as a worker. It means 00:10:48.980 --> 00:10:50.980 the promoters trusted you to carry the show. 00:10:51.179 --> 00:10:53.639 It proves that behind the silly name, he could 00:10:53.639 --> 00:10:55.860 actually go in the ring. The notes also mention 00:10:55.860 --> 00:10:58.440 a brief detour, his only appearance in the United 00:10:58.440 --> 00:11:01.559 States in 1998 for Music City Wrestling in Nashville. 00:11:01.919 --> 00:11:03.580 Which is interesting because it shows he was 00:11:03.580 --> 00:11:06.179 testing the waters south of the border. Nashville 00:11:06.179 --> 00:11:08.440 was a hotbed for wrestling back then. But just 00:11:08.440 --> 00:11:10.919 a one -off. Yeah, the fact that it was a one 00:11:10.919 --> 00:11:12.960 -off suggests it didn't click. Or maybe he just 00:11:12.960 --> 00:11:14.779 realized his bread and butter was back home in 00:11:14.779 --> 00:11:17.320 the north. Which brings us perfectly to the next 00:11:17.320 --> 00:11:20.019 phase of his life. He's done the torture dungeon. 00:11:20.399 --> 00:11:22.679 He's done the WWF cameo. He's been the monster, 00:11:22.879 --> 00:11:26.259 Frank Einstein. Now post 2000, he comes home. 00:11:26.799 --> 00:11:28.559 He becomes the guardian of Quebec wrestling. 00:11:28.700 --> 00:11:30.919 This is the shift from talent to cornerstone. 00:11:31.220 --> 00:11:33.480 He stops chasing the road and starts building 00:11:33.480 --> 00:11:35.919 the foundation. He returns to the Quebec independent 00:11:35.919 --> 00:11:38.919 circuit. The list of promotions here is extensive. 00:11:39.200 --> 00:11:41.639 Northern Championship Wrestling, the Canadian 00:11:41.639 --> 00:11:44.019 Wrestling Association, the International Wrestling 00:11:44.019 --> 00:11:47.120 Syndicate. All vital indies. But the big one 00:11:47.120 --> 00:11:50.940 is the FLQ. The Federation Lute Quibiquas. Which, 00:11:50.960 --> 00:11:52.919 according to the notes, he has co -owned since 00:11:52.919 --> 00:11:56.139 2001. And this brings us full circle to the beginning, 00:11:56.299 --> 00:11:58.299 right? Because this was his father's promotion. 00:11:58.639 --> 00:12:01.139 He is literally taking over the family business. 00:12:01.379 --> 00:12:03.419 And we really need to pause on how hard that 00:12:03.419 --> 00:12:06.240 is. Why is that? Independent wrestling promotions 00:12:06.240 --> 00:12:08.360 go out of business every single day. It is a 00:12:08.360 --> 00:12:10.460 notoriously difficult industry to make money 00:12:10.460 --> 00:12:13.259 in. I can imagine. For LaDuck to keep the FLQ 00:12:13.259 --> 00:12:16.360 brand alive and running for over 20 years, that 00:12:16.360 --> 00:12:19.220 requires an insane amount of grunt work. We're 00:12:19.220 --> 00:12:22.080 talking booking venues, setting up rings, dealing 00:12:22.080 --> 00:12:24.980 with no -show wrestlers, advertising. He's not 00:12:24.980 --> 00:12:26.759 just a wrestler anymore, he's a businessman. 00:12:27.620 --> 00:12:30.159 A custodian of the culture. Exactly. And part 00:12:30.159 --> 00:12:32.779 of keeping that culture alive is... making sure 00:12:32.779 --> 00:12:35.259 there's a next generation. He becomes the educator. 00:12:35.580 --> 00:12:37.580 This is where the return on investment from the 00:12:37.580 --> 00:12:39.980 Hart dungeon really kicks in. You don't get trained 00:12:39.980 --> 00:12:42.220 by Stu Hart and keep that knowledge locked away. 00:12:42.340 --> 00:12:44.779 You pass it on. You have a moral obligation to 00:12:44.779 --> 00:12:47.779 pass it on. We have some notable students listed 00:12:47.779 --> 00:12:49.980 here. The big one that jumped out at me is Eric 00:12:49.980 --> 00:12:52.549 Young. Huge name. For those who don't know, Eric 00:12:52.549 --> 00:12:56.230 Young has been on TV for decades. TNA champion, 00:12:56.509 --> 00:12:59.309 WWE, NXT. He's known for being one of the most 00:12:59.309 --> 00:13:01.470 versatile guys in the world. And knowing that 00:13:01.470 --> 00:13:03.929 Karl Leduc trained him makes perfect sense. Well, 00:13:04.070 --> 00:13:05.909 so. Eric Young is known for being able to do 00:13:05.909 --> 00:13:08.009 comedy, serious wrestling, hardcore matches. 00:13:08.129 --> 00:13:10.490 He can do it all. Leduc had that same versatility. 00:13:10.570 --> 00:13:12.389 He could be the serious shooter in the dungeon 00:13:12.389 --> 00:13:15.049 or the Frank Einstein character. That makes a 00:13:15.049 --> 00:13:17.490 lot of sense. He passed that adaptability directly 00:13:17.490 --> 00:13:20.289 onto Young. He also trained Alex Silva, another 00:13:20.289 --> 00:13:23.350 notable name. And then in the summer of 2021, 00:13:23.769 --> 00:13:26.690 he makes it official. He opens the Leduc Pro 00:13:26.690 --> 00:13:29.539 Wrestling Academy in Montreal. And I love the 00:13:29.539 --> 00:13:32.000 specific wording the source uses here. It says 00:13:32.000 --> 00:13:34.159 he resurrected the heart dungeon philosophy. 00:13:34.299 --> 00:13:36.820 That sounds terrifying for the students. It probably 00:13:36.820 --> 00:13:39.419 is, but it's necessary. As the business gets 00:13:39.419 --> 00:13:42.100 more athletic and high flying, some of the grit 00:13:42.100 --> 00:13:44.240 can get lost. The actual toughness part of it. 00:13:44.500 --> 00:13:47.820 Exactly. Leduc is ensuring that the old way, 00:13:48.259 --> 00:13:50.309 the... Respect the business, protect yourself, 00:13:50.450 --> 00:13:53.090 make it look real, doesn't die out. He's bringing 00:13:53.090 --> 00:13:55.750 that Calgary basement mentality to a warehouse 00:13:55.750 --> 00:13:57.610 in Montreal. I can only imagine the screaming. 00:13:57.850 --> 00:14:00.210 Stretch him. Oh, yeah. But here's the thing that 00:14:00.210 --> 00:14:02.230 really surprised me. Usually when a guy opens 00:14:02.230 --> 00:14:04.549 a school, it means he's retired. He's the old 00:14:04.549 --> 00:14:06.870 coach with the whistle. Right. But Karl Ledeck 00:14:06.870 --> 00:14:09.990 isn't done. This brings us to the final segment, 00:14:10.850 --> 00:14:13.190 the modern surprise. This caught me off guard, 00:14:13.330 --> 00:14:15.909 too, I got to say. We are talking about 2024. 00:14:16.560 --> 00:14:21.159 The event is TNA Wrestling's Countdown to Slammiversary. 00:14:21.700 --> 00:14:24.460 TNA is a major international company. They're 00:14:24.460 --> 00:14:27.720 in Montreal for a big show. And who walks out? 00:14:27.919 --> 00:14:30.659 Carla Duke. And he doesn't just wave to the crowd. 00:14:31.259 --> 00:14:33.980 The notes say he competes in a dark match, battle 00:14:33.980 --> 00:14:37.840 royal. OK, jargon check. Dark match. Does that 00:14:37.840 --> 00:14:39.840 mean they turn the lights off? Is it a secret 00:14:39.840 --> 00:14:43.409 fight club? No. Not quite. A dark match is a 00:14:43.409 --> 00:14:45.809 match that happens before the TV cameras start 00:14:45.809 --> 00:14:47.909 rolling. It's for the live crowd in the arena 00:14:47.909 --> 00:14:50.490 only. Okay, so why do they do that? It's usually 00:14:50.490 --> 00:14:52.789 used to warm up the audience, get them cheering 00:14:52.789 --> 00:14:55.370 and excited before the main broadcast starts. 00:14:55.429 --> 00:14:57.629 So the pressure is really on to get the crowd 00:14:57.629 --> 00:15:00.509 loud. Exactly. And who better to get a Montreal 00:15:00.509 --> 00:15:03.090 crowd loud than the local legend? And he wins. 00:15:03.289 --> 00:15:05.710 He wins the battle royal. Think about the physical 00:15:05.710 --> 00:15:08.690 reality of that. He is 51 years old at this point. 00:15:08.860 --> 00:15:13.679 Wow. The source lists him at 6 foot 3, 251 pounds. 00:15:14.059 --> 00:15:16.600 That is a lot of mass to move around. Especially 00:15:16.600 --> 00:15:19.059 after taking bumps for 30 years. Your knees, 00:15:19.279 --> 00:15:21.279 your back, your neck. Most people can't get out 00:15:21.279 --> 00:15:23.340 of bed without groaning at that age. He is the 00:15:23.340 --> 00:15:26.019 rowing people over the top rope. It's incredible. 00:15:26.200 --> 00:15:28.580 It validates everything we've talked about today. 00:15:29.080 --> 00:15:31.399 The dungeon training gave him the physical base 00:15:31.399 --> 00:15:34.120 to survive. The territory days taught him how 00:15:34.120 --> 00:15:36.259 to work the crowd so he doesn't have to do backflips 00:15:36.259 --> 00:15:38.700 to get a reaction. That's the worker aspect of 00:15:38.700 --> 00:15:40.779 the business. He knows he doesn't need to do 00:15:40.779 --> 00:15:44.379 a 450 splash. He just needs to be Carla Duke, 00:15:44.600 --> 00:15:47.539 look at the crowd, throw a solid punch, and they 00:15:47.539 --> 00:15:50.659 love it. That is wisdom. So let's zoom out here. 00:15:51.080 --> 00:15:53.480 What does this all mean for you as a listener? 00:15:53.929 --> 00:15:56.129 When we look at Carl LaDuke, we aren't looking 00:15:56.129 --> 00:15:58.289 at the guy who main -evented WrestleMania ten 00:15:58.289 --> 00:16:01.029 times. No. We are looking at a guy with his own 00:16:01.029 --> 00:16:03.879 action figure in... the big box stores. But we 00:16:03.879 --> 00:16:06.080 are looking at something arguably more important 00:16:06.080 --> 00:16:08.500 for the actual ecosystem of wrestling. We're 00:16:08.500 --> 00:16:11.259 looking at the backbone. Exactly. He represents 00:16:11.259 --> 00:16:13.879 the working class hero of the industry. He's 00:16:13.879 --> 00:16:16.419 the guy who bridged the gap. He took the traditions 00:16:16.419 --> 00:16:19.600 of the 70s and 80s, the Hart family wisdom, the 00:16:19.600 --> 00:16:21.799 Quebec territory pride, and he carried them on 00:16:21.799 --> 00:16:24.360 his back through the 90s, the 2000s, and delivered 00:16:24.360 --> 00:16:27.320 them safely to the 2020s. He's like a time traveler 00:16:27.320 --> 00:16:29.730 who kept a flame lit. From getting stretched 00:16:29.730 --> 00:16:32.429 by Stu Hart to training Eric Young to popping 00:16:32.429 --> 00:16:35.620 the crowd in 2024. And it leaves you with a really 00:16:35.620 --> 00:16:38.240 provocative question to think about regarding 00:16:38.240 --> 00:16:41.179 how we define success in this business. Legacy 00:16:41.179 --> 00:16:44.220 versus fame. Right. We usually measure a wrestler's 00:16:44.220 --> 00:16:46.480 worth by their bank account or the number of 00:16:46.480 --> 00:16:49.200 televised championships they held. But does the 00:16:49.200 --> 00:16:51.720 true value of a wrestler actually lie in those 00:16:51.720 --> 00:16:53.919 things? Or does it lie somewhere else? Exactly. 00:16:54.440 --> 00:16:56.840 Does it lie in the students they train, like 00:16:56.840 --> 00:16:59.480 Eric Young? Does it lie in the specific local 00:16:59.480 --> 00:17:02.200 culture they keep alive, like the FLQ in Montreal? 00:17:02.519 --> 00:17:05.279 That is a fascinating point to end on because 00:17:05.279 --> 00:17:08.059 without guys like Karl Leduc, the local scenes 00:17:08.059 --> 00:17:10.740 die. And if the local scenes die, where do the 00:17:10.740 --> 00:17:12.700 big stars come from? You don't have an Eric Young 00:17:12.700 --> 00:17:14.819 without a Karl Leduc. You don't have a vibrant 00:17:14.819 --> 00:17:17.539 Montreal wrestling scene in 2024 without someone 00:17:17.539 --> 00:17:20.420 doing the dirty work in 2001. Leduc might not 00:17:20.420 --> 00:17:23.440 be the face on the global poster, but he is the 00:17:23.440 --> 00:17:25.440 concrete foundation that the poster stands on. 00:17:25.859 --> 00:17:28.740 And frankly, anyone who can survive being stretched 00:17:28.740 --> 00:17:31.480 by Stu Hart and is willing to call himself Frank 00:17:31.480 --> 00:17:34.319 Einstein. deserves a standing ovation in my book. 00:17:34.579 --> 00:17:37.339 A true survivor. What a ride. Thanks for joining 00:17:37.339 --> 00:17:39.299 us on this deep dive into the career of Carla 00:17:39.299 --> 00:17:41.380 Duck. We'll catch you on the next one. Keep asking 00:17:41.380 --> 00:17:41.960 questions.