Today we’d like to introduce you to Les Allier
Les , we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Local Pro Wrestling was supposed to be a 1 and done event. After convincing my wife to let me put on an event I began putting in the work To promote my first Pro Wrestling show in over 15 years.
I wanted to keep it close to the house so it was easy to promote and to get sponsors.
After my wife said Yes, my next step was to get permission from another promoter in the neighboring town. I called several times left messages, then one day around 7 o’clock in the morning my phone rang and it was “Pops”. I literally had just woke up so my brain did not register who it was. He repeated This is ‘Pops”. I responded OK(Still not registering) then he said Afa The Wild Samoan. I sat up and Hello Sir we had a little conversation and I asked him for his permission to run a wrestling show a few miles away. He said Yes.
Now you may ask why would I call another promoter and ask permission, well I am an old school guy and that is the way I was Trained, to respect those who came before me.
After looking at several buildings I found the perfect venue to hold our first show. We set the date of October 5th 2019.
Now being away from the wrestling business for 15 years I didn’t really have to many contacts that were still wrestling, so booking a show was a bit tougher than I thought it would be. I ended up using some wrestlers from when I wrestled in the early 2000s and some newer guys.
I reached out to Local Businesses Like Champions Barber shop, and Corellis Pantry to be sponsors for the show.
I asked a friend if she wanted to run the food stand and donate the money to a local charity she is a part of.
And for the next 2 months I flyered, postered and bandit signed all over Clermont.
October 5th comes and at 630 a crowd started to form out side the gym. 7pm Doors opened and 8 pm the great Joe Fitzpatrick sang the National Anthem to kick off the show. We had about 150 people in the crowd that night. Which for a first time show is pretty good.
After the show was over and everything was cleared out of the venue there was a sense of accomplishment. I was happy. My wife was glad the show was over and went well. However it went a little too well, Dave from Corellis pantry asked if we wanted to do a show in the parking lot of Corellis. I suggested we do a Free show and do it as a toy drive. He agreed and in December we held our second show. The toys that we collected were donated to Christmas across Southlake. We then reached out to a few other venues and were able to hold a show in Groveland at the Puryear Building on February 29th.
Then the world shut down a few weeks later.
I thought that was it, that was the end of Local Pro Wrestling. After several months of the world being closed, Desantis opened Florida back up and I figured we should come back with a bang. We held Fightfest 2 at the Harley Davidson in Clermont. We had food trucks, vendors, bounce houses, and Pro Wrestling this event was free to everyone that showed up had a blast.
We then booked Winter Wonderslam 2 in Clermont our Christmas Toy Drive. Then in January we Headed north and held a fund raiser for the Apopka VFW. Then we went to Lebrons Batting Cages, then The RDV sportsplex, and then to the Jim Beech Center in Ocoee.
One day while scrolling through Facebook I see a picture of a camel, yes a camel, he had just been purchased by The Showcase of Citrus. The Showcase of Citrus had just relocated and I saw the picture of the new venue. I went by and did some measurements, spoke to the Owner Tara and we agreed to hold 1 show to see how it goes. The date was March 4th 2023. Needless to say we have been there once a month since then. We currently run shows there every last Saturday of the month. Local pro Wrestling just celebrated our 5th year of hosting shows. I joke about it with the guys saying it was supposed to be a 1 and done, yet here we are.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
The road is never smooth for me as I prefer to go on my own path.
I put my crocs in Sportsmode and always go full steam ahead.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I trained to be a pro wrestler back in the mid 1990’s. Moved to Florida in 1998 to be a stuntman. I auditioned for Pirates Dinner Adventure and got hired. I worked there for 6 years during those 6 years not only did I meet my wrestling tag team partner, I met my lifetime tag team partner Stephanie…
Jerrelle Clark, my wrestling partner and I won Championships together, But my wife Stephanie gave me 2 kids that mean the world to me andnover 25 years of happiness.
What sets me apart from others…. Well in the real world, I’m straightforward and say what I want to say, some are ok with it others get offended but they know it is how I feel and that is that. In the professional wrestling world I like to think that my vision of what pro wrestling is sets me apart. Our shows are family friendly, I don’t step on others toes, and I try to make all of our fans happy with the way we run our shows.
Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
During Covid I learned that there are 3 types of people, those that comply, those that don’t and Me. I tried to make light of it. For example when masks were mandatory in stores I wore a Luchador mask to make people laugh.
Pricing:
- Ticket 20 adults
- Ticket 10 kids
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.LOCALPROWRESTLING.com
- Instagram: https://Instagram.com/localprowrestling
- Facebook: https://Facebook.com/localprowrestling
- Twitter: https://X.com/lpwfl
- Youtube: https://YouTube.com/@localprowrestling
