La Résistance is a
professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...
tag team
Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establish ...
and former
stable
A stable is a building in which livestock, especially horses, are kept. It most commonly means a building that is divided into separate stalls for individual animals and livestock. There are many different types of stables in use today; the ...
who performed for
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and var ...
. The name of the team is a reference to the
French Resistance
The French Resistance (french: La Résistance) was a collection of organisations that fought the German occupation of France during World War II, Nazi occupation of France and the Collaborationism, collaborationist Vichy France, Vichy régim ...
.
History
World Wrestling Entertainment
Debut
The stable was created when WWE aired
vignettes of two arrogant "Frenchmen" (
Sylvain Grenier and
René Duprée, who are both actually French-Canadians) attacking the United States and its policy from a French news studio.
Grenier and Duprée made their first appearance on the April 28, 2003 edition of ''
Raw'' as La Résistance by attacking then-babyface,
Scott Steiner
Scott Rechsteiner (born July 29, 1962), better known by the ring name Scott Steiner, is an American professional wrestler currently signed to the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA).
Steiner is perhaps best known for his time in World Championshi ...
. Steiner had made remarks two weeks earlier comparing France to hell and Grenier and Duprée were offended. La Résistance went on to feud with Scott Steiner and
Test
Test(s), testing, or TEST may refer to:
* Test (assessment), an educational assessment intended to measure the respondents' knowledge or other abilities
Arts and entertainment
* ''Test'' (2013 film), an American film
* ''Test'' (2014 film), ...
who was forced to be Steiner's tag team partner by
Stacy Keibler, La Résistance ended up defeating Steiner and Test at
Judgment Day
The Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Reckoning, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, Doomsday, Day of Resurrection or The Day of the Lord (; ar, یوم القيامة, translit=Yawm al-Qiyāmah or ar, یوم الدین, translit=Yawm ad-Dīn, ...
on May 18, 2003 in the team's pay-per-view debut. Their most notorious insult to the United States came on
Memorial Day
Memorial Day (originally known as Decoration Day) is a federal holiday in the United States for mourning the U.S. military personnel who have fought and died while serving in the United States armed forces. It is observed on the last Monda ...
in 2003 when they interrupted ''Raw'' announcer
Lilian Garcia
Lilián Annette Garcia (born August 19, 1966) is a Spanish-American ring announcer, singer and podcaster best known for her time with WWE. She is currently announcing for the Professional Fighters League (PFL).Doyle, Dave"Former WWE ring announce ...
as she was singing
America the Beautiful
"America the Beautiful" is a patriotic American song. Its lyrics were written by Katharine Lee Bates and its music was composed by church organist and choirmaster Samuel A. Ward at Grace Episcopal Church in Newark, New Jersey. The two neve ...
. After several minutes of Grenier calling America barbarians and saying that France would not allow the US to be the
police force
The police are a constituted body of persons empowered by a state, with the aim to enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citizens, and to prevent crime and civil disorder. Their lawful powers include arrest and th ...
of the world, the sound of glass shattering suddenly filled the arena when
Steve Austin cleared the ring of La Résistance and said some unflattering remarks about the French nation.
On the May 26, 2003 edition of ''Raw'', Grenier defeated
Rob Van Dam
Robert Alexander Szatkowski (born December 18, 1970) is an American professional wrestler and actor better known by his ring name Rob Van Dam (frequently abbreviated to RVD). He is best known for his tenures in Extreme Championship Wrestling ...
in a
Flag match to win a
World Tag Team Championship
The world tag team championship is the name usually given to the primary tag team championship (professional wrestling), championships in professional wrestling Professional wrestling promotions, promotions.
Nomenclature
The name of the promo ...
shot. Grenier and Duprée went on to win the World Tag Team Championship from
Kane and Rob Van Dam at
Bad Blood.
Addition of Robert Conway
In mid 2003 the decision was made to add a third member,
Rob Conway
Robert Thomas Conway Jr. (born November 28, 1974), is an American professional wrestler. He is known for his work with World Wrestling Entertainment, where he performed under his real name and as Robért Conway. Post-WWE, he is also known for hi ...
, who posed as an American serviceman being abused by Grenier and Duprée. When
The Dudley Boyz came out to attack La Résistance they brought Conway in the ring with an American flag. Once the Dudley Boyz had their backs turned to Conway, he attacked them with the American flag and then tore it off the pole and laid it on top of them.
La Resistance lost the titles at
Unforgiven 2003 in a three on two handicapped tables match to the
Dudley Boyz
The Dudley Boyz (also known as Team 3D) are an American professional wrestling tag team that consisted of kayfabe half-brothers Bubba Ray Dudley (Mark LoMonaco) and D-Von Dudley (Devon Hughes). The team was also joined by various Dudley family ...
. The trio went on to
feud
A feud , referred to in more extreme cases as a blood feud, vendetta, faida, clan war, gang war, or private war, is a long-running argument or fight, often between social groups of people, especially families or clans. Feuds begin because one par ...
with several other tag teams, including
Hurricane and Rosey, and the team of
Garrison Cade and
Mark Jindrak before Grenier suffered a back injury in October 2003. Duprée and Conway would hold the team together until Grenier's return on the March 15, 2004 edition of ''Raw'', but the stable was broken up the very next week when Duprée was drafted in a lottery by WWE's other brand,
SmackDown.
At
WrestleMania XX
WrestleMania XX was the 20th annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It featured professional wrestlers from both of the promotion's two brands divisions – Raw a ...
, La Résistance competed in a Fatal 4-Way match for the World Tag Team Championship where
Booker T Booker T or Booker T. may refer to
* Booker T. Washington (1856–1915), African American political leader at the turn of the 20th century
** List of things named after Booker T. Washington, some nicknamed "Booker T."
* Booker T. Jones (born 1944 ...
and
Rob Van Dam
Robert Alexander Szatkowski (born December 18, 1970) is an American professional wrestler and actor better known by his ring name Rob Van Dam (frequently abbreviated to RVD). He is best known for his tenures in Extreme Championship Wrestling ...
retained the titles.
Conway and Grenier
While Duprée went to ''
SmackDown'' and established his French Phenom persona, Conway and Grenier were left to keep La Résistance together as a unit. (neither Duprée nor the La Résistance tag team changed their entrance music.) Conway began being billed as Robért Conway (pronounce Robe-air), and he and Grenier began being announced as hailing from
Quebec City
Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the metropolitan area had a population of 839,311. It is t ...
(later changed to simply the
Province of Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirteen ...
) instead of France and wore new ring attire with the blue and white colours of Quebec along with the traditional
fleur-de-lis
The fleur-de-lis, also spelled fleur-de-lys (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a lily (in French, and mean 'flower' and 'lily' respectively) that is used as a decorative design or symbol.
The fleur-de-lis has been used in the ...
. Several months after the loss of Duprée, La Résistance went on to defeat
Edge
Edge or EDGE may refer to:
Technology Computing
* Edge computing, a network load-balancing system
* Edge device, an entry point to a computer network
* Adobe Edge, a graphical development application
* Microsoft Edge, a web browser developed by ...
and
Chris Benoit
Christopher Michael Benoit (; May 21, 1967 – June 24, 2007) was a Canadian Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He worked for various pro-wrestling promotions during his 22-year career including most notably the WWE, World Wrestlin ...
for the World Tag Team Titles in Grenier's home town of
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
,
Quebec
Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
to a standing ovation.
With the help of
Raw
Raw is an adjective usually describing:
* Raw materials, basic materials from which products are manufactured or made
* Raw food, uncooked food
Raw or RAW may also refer to:
Computing and electronics
* .RAW, a proprietary mass spectrometry dat ...
General Manager
A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...
Eric Bischoff
Eric Aaron Bischoff (born May 27, 1955) is an American television producer, professional wrestling booker, and performer. He is best known for serving as Executive Producer and later Senior Vice President of World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and ...
, La Résistance managed to keep hold of the titles for five months, but at the first interactive
PPV
PPV, ppv or pPv may refer to:
Technology
* Pay-per-view on cable or satellite television
* People Powered Vehicle, a human-powered vehicle from 1970
* Police Pursuit Vehicles, the most common police vehicles in the United States and Canada
Scienc ...
Taboo Tuesday
WWE Cyber Sunday (originally known as WWE Taboo Tuesday) was an annual professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE), a professional wrestling promotion based in Connecticut. Established in 2004, th ...
they had to defend their titles against the two Superstars who were not voted for by the fans to get a
World Heavyweight Championship shot at
Triple H
Paul Michael Levesque (born July 27, 1969), better known by the ring name Triple H, is an American business executive, actor, and retired professional wrestler currently serving as the chief content officer for WWE. He is widely regarded as on ...
. This stipulation meant they would either face the team of Edge and Benoit, Edge and
Shawn Michaels
Michael Shawn Hickenbottom (born July 22, 1965), better known by his ring name Shawn Michaels, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE as Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative. Widely regarded as one of ...
, or Benoit and Michaels.
During Taboo Tuesday, the announcement was made that Shawn Michaels had been voted for a title shot with 38.72% of the vote compared to Edge's 33.42% and Benoit's 27.86%; this meant La Résistance would meet Edge and Benoit in a rematch of their championship victory five months earlier. They would lose the titles to Edge and Benoit, even though Edge left the arena half-way through the match leaving Benoit to win the match on his own. As Grenier and Conway invoked their rematch clause thirteen days later on Raw, the dissension between Benoit and Edge would continue and finally be their undoing as La Résistance won the titles back. Soon after, on the November 15, 2004 edition of Raw, La Résistance lost the World Tag Team Championship again, this time to
Eugene and
William Regal
Darren Kenneth Matthews (born 10 May 1968), better known by the ring name William Regal, is an English retired professional wrestler. He is known for his over 20 years spent in WWE, as both a performer and an on-screen authority, and for his ti ...
.
Grenier and Conway managed to win the World Tag Team Championship for the third time together and fourth since the creation of the stable. This championship win was a rare one since it was won at a Raw-brand
house show
A house show or live event is a professional wrestling event produced by a major promotion that is not televised, though they can be recorded. Promotions use house shows mainly to cash in on the exposure that they and their wrestlers receive du ...
on January 16, 2005 in
Winnipeg
Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...
,
Manitoba
Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...
. This time, La Résistance defeated Regal and
Jonathan Coachman
Jonathan William Coachman (born August 12, 1973), also known as "The Coach", is an American sports analyst and former professional wrestling personality currently signed to WWE and XFL.
Early life
Before embarking on an announcing career in pro ...
, who was taking the place of the
legitimately injured Eugene (who would miss several months due to a left patella tear at ''
New Year's Revolution)''. Grenier and Conway soon lost the belts back to Regal and his tag team partner
Tajiri, on an episode of ''Raw'' taking place from Tajiri's hometown of
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...
,
Japan
Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...
.
La Résistance repeatedly attempted to regain the gold (mainly on ''
Sunday Night Heat'') from Regal and Tajiri in many different matches but just fell short during each one. During their "last shot" for the gold the team thought they had won back the titles only to have the decision reversed by referee
Mike Chioda
Michael Joseph Chioda (born August 1, 1966) is a retired American professional wrestling senior referee, who most recently worked for All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Before his release on April 15, 2020, Chioda was the longest-tenured referee in WWE ...
due to La Résistance's Grenier pinning Tajiri, not Regal, who was the legal man. La Résistance went on to lose the match.
On the March 14 episode of ''Raw'', La Résistance were defeated by
The Rockers
The Rockers were an American professional wrestling tag team consisting of Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty who teamed from 1985 to 1992. The team worked for NWA Central States Wrestling, the American Wrestling Association, Continental Wrestli ...
(
Shawn Michaels
Michael Shawn Hickenbottom (born July 22, 1965), better known by his ring name Shawn Michaels, is an American retired professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE as Senior Vice President of Talent Development Creative. Widely regarded as one of ...
and
Marty Jannetty
Fredrick Martin Jannetty (born February 3, 1960) is an American professional wrestler who has worked for promotions including the World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment (WWF/E), the American Wrestling Association (AWA), World Championship Wres ...
) in a Rockers's Reunion. At
WrestleMania 21
WrestleMania 21 was the 21st annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE). It was held for wrestlers from the promotion's Raw and SmackDown! brand divisions. The event too ...
, La Résistance competed in a 30-man Battle Royal which was won by
Booker T Booker T or Booker T. may refer to
* Booker T. Washington (1856–1915), African American political leader at the turn of the 20th century
** List of things named after Booker T. Washington, some nicknamed "Booker T."
* Booker T. Jones (born 1944 ...
.
While this was to be their last chance to win back the gold from Regal and Tajiri, the team were given one more chance during a Tag Team Turmoil match during
Backlash
Backlash may refer to:
Literature
* '' Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women'', a 1991 book by Susan Faludi
* ''Backlash'' (Star Wars novel), a 2010 novel by Aaron Allston
* Backlash (Marc Slayton), comic book character
* ''Backla ...
. In the match, La Résistance managed to eliminate the champions but were still unable to win the match and regain the titles as they were defeated by the winners of the match,
Rosey and The Hurricane
The Hurricane and Rosey (also known unofficially as The Super Heroes) were a professional wrestling tag team in World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) based on the Raw brand. While in the WWE, their ring personas were those of a duo of superheroe ...
. The next night on ''Raw'', La Résistance tried again to win the titles in a match against the new champions but were unsuccessful again. They would feud with Hurricane and Rosey, having various filler matches on multiple pay-per-view events.
Disbanding
Grenier and Conway went into singles competition with announcers claiming that the members of La Résistance were trying to "one up" each other in singles matches without the other man in their corner. This saw Conway defeat a
jobber
Jobber may refer to:
Athletics
* Job (professional wrestling) - A professional wrestler who routinely loses a match.
* Wichita Jobbers, a minor league baseball team in the Western Association from 1905 to 1911
Commerce
* A person or corporation ...
and
Val Venis
Sean Allen Morley (born March 6, 1971), better known by the ring name Val Venis, is a Canadian retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Entertainment (WWF/WWE) from ...
, while Grenier was defeated by both Val Venis and
Chris Jericho
Christopher Keith Irvine (born November 9, 1970), better known by the ring name Chris Jericho, is an American-Canadian professional wrestler and singer. He is currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he is the leader of the Jeri ...
before both men competed in a triple threat match (against
Intercontinental Champion
A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and world championships, a ...
Shelton Benjamin
Shelton James Benjamin (born July 9, 1975) is an American professional wrestler. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand under his real name.
He is also known for his work in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and Pro Wres ...
for the title), Benjamin won the match, not long after the La Résistance members began to argue and fight. This altercation between the two led to a taped main event match on June 6, 2005, for the June 12 episode of ''
Sunday Night Heat''. This match saw Rob Conway portray the
heel
The heel is the prominence at the posterior end of the foot. It is based on the projection of one bone, the calcaneus or heel bone, behind the articulation of the bones of the lower Human leg, leg.
Structure
To distribute the compressive for ...
character, and defeat Sylvain Grenier.
On June 30, 2005, Grenier and Dupree were last minute trades in the
2005 WWE Draft, which saw Grenier leave ''Raw'' to go to ''SmackDown!'' and Dupree come back to ''Raw''.
Reformations
On April 3, 2006 Rene Duprée and Rob Conway teamed together in a
dark match
Professional wrestling has accrued a considerable amount of jargon throughout its existence. Much of it stems from the industry's origins in the days of carnivals and circuses. In the past, professional wrestlers used such terms in the presence ...
before ''Raw'', in a losing effort against
The Highlanders
While in WWE Developmental Territory,
Ohio Valley Wrestling
Ohio Valley Wrestling (OVW) is an American professional wrestling promotion and former developmental promotion based in Louisville, Kentucky. The company is currently run by Al Snow and Matt Jones and Louisville mayor elect, Craig Greenberg.
O ...
, Conway and Grenier briefly reteamed as La Résistance in a match on November 15, 2006 to earn an
OVW Southern Tag Team Championship
The OVW Tag Team Championship formerly known as the OVW Southern Tag Team Championship is the tag team titles of Ohio Valley Wrestling. Created in 1997, the first champions were Nick Dinsmore and Flash Flanagan. There have been 177 reigns shared b ...
match by defeating the reigning champions,
Cody Runnels
Cody Garrett Runnels Rhodes (''né'' Runnels; born June 30, 1985) is an American professional wrestler and actor. He is currently signed to WWE, where he performs on the Raw brand. Rhodes is also known for his time in All Elite Wrestling (AEW ...
and
Shawn Spears
Ronnie William Arneill (born February 19, 1981) is a Canadian professional wrestler and professional wrestling trainer currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under the ring name Shawn Spears, where he is a current member of The Pinnac ...
. However the team would not win the title match.
On February 20, 2007 as La Résistance Dupree and Grenier made their return as a tag team on the
ECW ECW may refer to:
Professional wrestling
* Extreme Championship Wrestling (originally Eastern Championship Wrestling), a professional wrestling promotion that operated from 1992 to 2001
* The Alliance (professional wrestling) (originally the WCW/E ...
brand defeating
Los Luchas
Los Luchas is a Mexican professional wrestling tag team that consists of Phoenix Star and Zokre. They are best known for their reign as NWA World Tag Team Champions and their tenure in Pro Wrestling Guerrilla (between 2003 and 2009).
History
Ori ...
. but on March 1, 2007, Dupree was suspended due to a violation of the Health and Wellness policy. This left Grenier and Conway to team together again in OVW and dark matches for the next couple months until May 11, 2007 when Conway was released from WWE.
On July 26, 2007 Duprée was also released from his WWE contract. On August 13, 2007 Grenier was released from his WWE contract officially ending the WWE careers of all three La Résistance members.
Independent circuit (2008–2009, 2016–2017)
On August 30, 2008, Grenier and Conway, as La Résistance, defeated Jay Phenomenon and Karl Briscoe to win the NCW Tag Team Championships.
On March 21, 2009, Grenier and Conway as La Résistance defeated Les Titans (Bishop and Chakal) to become the new TOW Tag Team Champions. On September 25, 2009, they lost the titles when they were defeated by
Al Snow
Allen Ray Sarven (born July 18, 1963) is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Al Snow. He is best known as a wrestler for Smoky Mountain Wrestling, Extreme Championship Wrestling, and World Wrestling Entertainment. Sn ...
and
Pierre Carl Ouellet
Carl Joseph Yvon Ouellet (born December 30, 1967) is a Canadian professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, PCO (originally a contraction of his long-term former ring name Pierre Carl Ouellet, but now standing for Perfect Creation One) ...
.
On November 5, 2016, Grenier and Duprée reunited to defeat Michael Von Payton and Platinum Preston Perry at Great North Wrestling: Star Stampede in Hawkesbury, ON.
On November 6, 2016, Duprée and Grenier were part of a four corners Tag Team match for the CRW Tag Team Championships against the champions TDT (Mathieu St-Jacques and Thomas Dubois) and two other teams 3.0 (Scott Parker and Shane Matthews) and The Holy Alliance (Genesis and Paul Rosetti), TDT went on to retain the titles.
On August 12, 2017, Grenier and Duprée defeated Kryss Thorn and Scotty O'Shea to win the Canadian Wrestling Federation Tag Team Championship.
Members
Championships and accomplishments
*Canadian Wrestling Federation
**CWF Tag Team Championship (1 time, current) – Duprée and Grenier
*Fortitude Wrestling Entertainment
**FWE Tag Team Championship (1 time, current) – Conway and Grenier
*
Northern Championship Wrestling
Northern Championship Wrestling (Les Promotions NCW Inc.) is an independent professional wrestling promotion based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.
History
Founded in 1986 by François Poirier and Phil Bélanger in Joliette, Quebec as the Amateur ...
**NCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – Conway and Grenier
*Top of the World Wrestling
**TOW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – Conway and Grenier
*
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and var ...
**
World Tag Team Championship
The world tag team championship is the name usually given to the primary tag team championship (professional wrestling), championships in professional wrestling Professional wrestling promotions, promotions.
Nomenclature
The name of the promo ...
(
4 times) – Duprée and Grenier (1) and Conway and Grenier (3)
*
Wrestling Observer Newsletter
The ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON'') is a newsletter that covers professional wrestling and mixed martial arts.
Founded in print in 1982 by Dave Meltzer, the ''Wrestling Observer'' website merged with Bryan Alvarez's ''Figure Four We ...
**
Worst Tag Team (2003) – Duprée and Grenier
References
External links
Brawling for Baguettes: October 2003
{{DEFAULTSORT:Resistance, La
ECW (WWE) teams and stables
WWE teams and stables
WWE World Tag Team Champions
Independent promotions teams and stables