Fédération Française de Catch Professionnel
First professional wrestling promotion in France / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Fédération Française de Catch Professionnel (French pronunciation: [fedeʁɑsjɔ̃ fʁɑ̃sɛːz də katʃ pʁɔfɛsjɔnɛl]; lit. 'French Federation of Professional Wrestling'; FFCP) is a professional wrestling promotion based in France, originally active from 1933 until 1989.[1] and later revived in the 21st century. The organization was founded by Raoul Paoli and functioned as a governing body somewhat similar to the U.S.-based National Wrestling Alliance, the British Joint Promotions, the German VdB or the Spanish CIC (Corporación Internacional de Catch). With Henri Deglane as its headliner,[2] the promotion set a number of attendance records in the 1930s[3][4] that remained unbroken in France and continental Europe until the arrival of the World Wrestling Federation in the late 1980s.[5] In 2006, the promotion was revived by former FFCP wrestler Marc Mercier who ran several national tours in conjunction with his Catch Academy wrestling school in 2007–08,[6] and again in 2018.
Acronym | FFCP |
---|---|
Founded | 1933 |
Defunct | 1989 (reactivated 2006) |
Style | Professional wrestling, Sports entertainment |
Headquarters | Paris, France (1933–1989) Wissous, France (2006–) |
Founder(s) | Raoul Paoli |
Owner(s) | Raoul Paoli (1933–1960) Roger Delaporte (1960–1989) Marc Mercier (2006–) |
Website | ffcatch.fr |