The wrestling world is mourning the loss of Gerard Etifier, a.k.a. “Champagne” Gerry Morrow.
The native of Martinique died this past Monday, according to Dave Meltzer of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter.
Morrow was an unheralded figure who created a home for himself in Calgary and became a stalwart of the Stampede Wrestling group through its various iterations, and remained a fixture in the city. He also had a large presence in Japan, wrestling for all the major groups, including New Japan Pro Wrestling and All Japan.
I’m struggling to find the words. He was a mentor and a friend. He taught me more about wrestling than any other. He taught me how to work, and he taught me how to have fun in the ring. So many incredible memories. While I am crying now, I take comfort in knowing, he knew how much he meant to me. I told him every time I saw him. RIP Champagne Gerry Morrow – Lance Evers
In a rare interview from September 1999 with Greg Oliver, Morrow spoke of his upbringing and being one of nine children. His siblings included brother Eddie, who was twelve years his senior.
The two were not close growing up, as Eddie lived in Paris, but he would become a pro wrestler first, with Gerry to follow. His inevitable career was delayed as his mother did not approve of Gerry becoming a wrestler, but after her death, his father pushed him to pursue it.
Morrow gained experience training in France and Japan, with the latter becoming his home for many years.
He worked for IWE in Japan from 1971 until 1980. The first iteration of the IWE shut down in 1967 but re-launched with new financing and a broadcast deal with network TBS (Tokyo Broadcast System) on Wednesday nights.
Morrow would wrestle as Jiro Inazuma low on the cards, often losing or wrestling to a draw. In 1974, Smith Hart was sent to IWE, and the following year, Morrow would arrive in Stampede Wrestling and become the company he was forever linked with.
He ventured to Calgary with brother Eddie in November 1975 and immediately won the promotion’s tag titles from Mr. Hito & Gil Hayes, a championship Morrow would hold seven times throughout his career with various partners.
Calgary was still a pitstop with IWE being his primary focus, with other Canadian stops including Vancouver for Al Tomko’s All-Star Wrestling and Grand Prix Wrestling in Montreal during this era.
Morrow would form a team with ex-CFL player George Wells, who was a five-time All-Star and part of the Grey Cup-winning Hamilton Tiger Cats team in 1972. Together, they won the Stampede tag titles in February 1978 from Mr. Hito and Michel Martel (the older brother of Rick Martel) but only held onto the belts for two days.
Morrow ended his regular tours of IWE in 1980, with the promotion going out of business shortly thereafter, with its remaining stars dispersing to NJPW and AJPW.
Morrow would make Stampede and All-Star Wrestling his primary gigs and started going to Puerto Rico, teaming with The Cuban Assassin (David Sierra) for WWC and winning its North American, World Tag Team, and Caribbean tag titles.
In 1983, he went on his first tour of All Japan Pro Wrestling and over the next year wrestled matches with Jumbo Tsuruta, Genichiro Tenryu, Terry Funk, Ricky Steamboat, Ashura Hara, and Mighty Inou,e and would team with Bruiser Brody and Chavo Guerrero Sr.
In February 1984, he teamed with Thomas Ivy, losing to Hara & Takashi Ishikawa in a match for the vacant All-Asia tag belts.
Later that year, he shifted to New Japan Pro Wrestling and was booked in the year-end MSG Tag League (a precursor to the World Tag League) and teamed with Andre the Giant, with Morrow the designated fall guy. The pair finished third in the standings behind winners Antonio Inoki & Tatsumu Fujinami in a Tag League, including then WWF champion Hulk Hogan.
The first iteration of Stampede Wrestling ended in September 1984 after the company was sold to Vince McMahon for a reported $1 million, to be paid over several years. McMahon paid Stu Hart $250,000 upfront and promised ten percent of the gates in Stu’s cities that WWF would take over, and gain Stampede’s television slot.
Within a year, McMahon reneged on the deal, and Stampede was able to re-launch in the fall of 1985. Some of the key talent, including Bret Hart and The British Bulldogs, were now working for McMahon a new crop would include Jushin Thunder Liger, Owen Hart, Chris Benoit, Brian Pillman, and airing nationally in Canada on TSN.
Morrow didn’t skip a beat without Stampede during the dark period, as a regular for NJPW and still being booked consistently for All-Star Wrestling in British Columbia.
In 1985, continuing with NJPW, he wrestled several matches against Keiji Muto in the future star’s rookie year and added to the who’s who list of talent Morrow was often sharing the ring with. His final tour of New Japan occurred in the summer of 1985 as he settled in Calgary with the revamped outfit.
Morrow would stick around through the middle of 1989 as the promotion was going down. Owen Hart had left for the WWF, Brian Pillman left, and Stu’s losses were piling up, and he called it a day in January 1990.
Over the years, many revivals were attempted with area regulars always keeping their eyes and ears open for the return of Stampede Wrestling.
In his later years, Morrow was revered as a generous mentor toward future stars Benoit, Johnny Smith, Adam Copeland, Jay Reso, Chris Jericho, and Lance Storm (Lance Evers) and many others.
Storm spoke so highly of Morrow throughout his career, and due to being one of the few wrestlers to maintain an online presence since 1999, is probably responsible for many younger fans being aware of Morrow. He would cite Morrow as the person he learned more from than anyone in the industry.
In July 2000, Storm wrote, “Gerry is a master of ring psychology. Gerry is an incredible heel who knows how to run a match. Ring psychology and having a match make sense, is what in my opinion, separates great workers from good wrestlers. More than anything, his work ethic and love for this business. I’ve never seen Gerry do anything selfish in the ring. When you lay matches out with Gerry, you really learn how logical and basic a match can be, then when you wrestle that same match, you realize how great and easy it can be as well”.
Morrow selected bookings in various spots throughout Canada and went on several international tours to Japan and South Africa in the ‘90s, and his last recorded match was listed in January 2002 in Winnipeg.
Morrow still made appearances in Calgary, including for a service last year after Leonce Cormier, a.k.a. Leo Burke, passed away.
Morrow was 75 years old, and we extend our condolences to his family and friends.
