Rene Dupree feature on French TV
by Tony DX
DETAILED REPORT OF RENE DUPREE ON FRENCH TV
As already mentioned on the site, Rene Dupree was the subject of a 10 to 15 minute piece Sunday on a "60 minutes"-style news show "7 à 8", broadcast
on the most watched French channel. I'll try to give you a recap as detailed as possible. For the record, the producers were inspired by a short article
published in a newspaper in France a few months back explaining how the French were the new evil foreigners in wrestling.
The report is introduced by one of the host of the show with the first of many mistakes to come saying Rene is 25, 260 pounds and from New Brunswick,
kicking things off to a great start. In the actual piece, they clarify he's 21 though. They show the Smackdown opening montage and briefly comment on the
supposed success of the show mentioning it airs (second mistake) on cable. It is explained that for a few months there has been a so-called revolution in the
industry and wouldn't you it, they talk about Rene Dupree and the Evil French gimmick. Archive footage from Raw airs with Rene and Sylvain Grenier's entrance
for a match against Rosey and The Hurricane.
On to footage of Greensboro, North Carolina. The journalist is there to follow Dupree for the day (this was at the 12/14 tapings). We are in a luxurious hotel, the
best in town according to the journalist I shall from now on call Pierre for briefness reasons and because it's his first name. It's noon and supposedly, Rene has just got up,
he's in the restaurant of the hotel for a first interview, all in French of course but subtitled nevertheless because he has a very heavy Canadian accent making it hard for a
French to understand everything he's saying. He says he tried to take the biggest stereotypes about the French for his character with the beret and the brash colors. He
thinks he is who the fans love to hate.
We are then treated to a brief background with pictures of him as a kid along with his dad whom they mention was a former wrestler but seemingly ignore his
past as promoter too. We also see Rene in what looks like bodybuilding competitions (he should try to get on Triple H's good side with this). He signed with the
WWF at age 17. They say he was the one who suggested the French gimmick to management (I'm guessing it's management here, in Pierre's own words, it
was to his "producer" whatever that's supposed to mean). Back to Rene who explains his character is just an extension of himself. He expresses his own
viewpoints as, just like his character, he was opposed to the war in Iraq.
Rene arrives at the Bi-Lo Center in Greensboro in a rental car that is not in Bob Holly's name I guess. Pierre compares the huge production trucks and
organization to a gigantic rock concert. He mentions Rene wrestles 300 days a year which I think is overestimated. Backstage, Pierre says there are 20 people
just for the make-up, the costumes and the EMT's. Luther Reigns, already in his gear, can be seen interacting with Bob Holly in the background.
We again go back to the outside where a group of fans trying to grab JBL's attention. They have literally a ton of Jakks figures with them to have them autographed, not for
sale, they specify. They say they love Rene cause he's cool and funny. Pierre asks them about his gimmick. They don't like his gimmick as much but "hey, it's
wrestling for you", they say. Some want to cheer him during the show, others to boo him but in good fun. They also say they're big fans of the French Tickler. Pierre asks
what it is and they do it, perfectly synchronized with one another. That was hilarious.
Inside the arena, Rene sits in the stands as wrestlers in the ring are stretching and talking with agents or other people. Among them I recognized Kurt Angle
and Sgt. Slaughter, there's a whole slew of others who are definitely not TV personalities. Pierre gets somewhat confused here as he explains that the wrestlers
are rehearsing the whole show for tonight under the direction of the "bookers" (yes, he called them like that). Rene meets Kenzo Suzuki and asks him who they
are facing tonight. "Rey and Rob" answers Kenzo who seems way cooler and less cartoonish that when in character.
Now Rene is changing in the locker room. Among the guys he shares the locker room with are RVD, Spike Dudley, Shannon Moore and a ref I don't know the
name of (he's skinny and rather new I think). Rene says he's been on the road fulltime for over a year now and is extremely tired (and believe me, it shows here,
more that what you can guess on TV). He's also deadly afraid of getting injured. On this subject, he says he's had five concussions , four teeth and his nose
broken. He's thankful that's just it for the moment. Pierre adds in the voiceover that even though the matches are staged, the injuries are real and frequent.
Because of that the careers are short but lucrative. According to him but obviously not according to the facts, the average salary is 50.000 euros (about US
40.000 $ I guess, not sure about the exchange rate lately). If you get over, it can be twice as much. During all of this, in the background, Funaki enters the
locker room and has a look that says : "Oops, I don't know what this camera is doing in there, maybe I should come back later". He also provides us with a
great homo-erotic moment as seconds later in the hallway, he's seen rubbing Shannon Moore's back with some kind of lotion as Dupree exits the room.
Pierre is in the crowd now as the show is about to begin. There are 5.000 people in there according to him. From the stands, the arena looks fuller compared to
the dim-lit crowds on TV. Starting the show is Jackie (not Moore nor Gayda) vs. Joy (not Giovanni) in what I presume was a dark match. Pierre notices there's a
good atmosphere until Rene comes out. We hear heavy boos and great crowd heat. Pierre interviews some fans who, shall we say, are not as enlightened as
those we saw outside earlier. A guy says he hates Rene because "he sucks, he must go back to France. He doesn't belong in the US". I can't argue with such
a brilliant and well thought-out argument. Another one says it's because he hates the US. Pierre asks him if he thinks it's true or if it's just for the show and get
this, the guy takes a few seconds to think about it and answers : "No, it's just for the money... I guess". A last one, who must be a Yokozuna fan since he's trying
to be as fat as his late hero and is succeeding, says with pizza in his hands that he insults the US, even during the national anthem. And here I thought the "evil
foreigner interrupting the US anthem" gimmick was clichéd and has never worked since the 80's because the fans were too clever now... That's why Vince is still the
#1 promoter and I'm not.
We see Rene and Kenzo's entrance directly taken from the Smackdown broadcast. Fifi is mentioned by name by Pierre, Hiroko is totally ignored. Draw your own
conclusions on this journalist's sexual preferences. He also calls their opponents "Mysterio the Latino and Van Dam the avenger". Guess it sounds better than
"Van Dam the stoner". Highlights are shown with Pierre describing every turn of events in the match as if it were an epic Shakespearean story. And the faces
come out on top of course.
Backstage, in what I guess is the area where they tape promos for house show advertising since there's a camera and a sheet as setup, we find Rene eating
an apple. He says he's tired and can't wait to go to bed. I hope he waited till the end of the show and watched the other matches or forget about getting in Trips'
good side now. Pierre asks him if it's France vs. USA everytime he steps in the ring. Rene says kind of, since his opponents were both Americans again tonight.
Pierre asks if it's because of that he lost. Rene doesn't know how to answer such a stupid question and so uses kayfabe to try to get out of answering seriously
and says their opponents were simply the better team but he and Kenzo will get their revenge on Sunday. He leaves the set and Pierre ends with this highly
philosophical conclusion: "Not easy to be French in pro wrestling". Ponder over that one, folks.
Back in the studio, one of the hosts of the show says Rene has decided to launch a singles career and wrestled his first match against the champion of the
United States last weekend. I don't know how serious journalists can come up with such well-researched and accurate information either.
Overall it was not bad mainly because it was totally objective and not condescending at all but it wasn't good either. It just could have been much worse. Rene didn't
seem very enthusiastic about having a camera following him around everywhere. He isn't a talkative type of guy at all. But at least he's probably the most well-known
current WWE wrestler in France now (well, besides Undertaker) thanks to this highly-rated show.
credit:
http://www.liveaudiowrestling.com/wo/news/headlines/default.asp?aID=12320
