{"id":89881,"date":"2021-04-22T14:00:31","date_gmt":"2021-04-22T18:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/?p=89881"},"modified":"2021-04-21T14:42:09","modified_gmt":"2021-04-21T18:42:09","slug":"wrestlecinema-mad-dog-the-butcher-the-last-villains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2021\/04\/22\/wrestlecinema-mad-dog-the-butcher-the-last-villains\/","title":{"rendered":"WrestleCinema: Mad Dog &#038; The Butcher: The Last Villains"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong><em>Mad Dog &amp; The Butcher: The Last Villains<\/em><\/strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, is Thomas Rinfret\u2019s documentary about Montreal\u2019s infamous Vachon wrestling family and is told from the perspective of the family\u2019s last surviving member, <strong>Paul \u201cThe Butcher\u201d Vachon<\/strong>. <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Both wrestling fans and non-fans will enjoy\u00a0<\/span><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The Last Villains<\/span><\/em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, as it dives into Vachon&#8217;s life and memories. Despite his age &#8211; and the toll that years in the ring and multiple battles with illnesses have taken on him &#8211; Vachon is a larger-than-life and charismatic figure who loves to tell a story.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"CUFF.Docs 2020: THE LAST VILLAINS, MAD DOG AND THE BUTCHER\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/n8_NGo8FsAY?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><em>The Last Villains<\/em> timeline alternates between the past and the present, cutting from the grainy footage and pop songs of a bygone era, to the modern-day, where Vachon and his wife travel the US and Canada in their mobile home, attending wrestling conventions, family gatherings, and meeting fans. <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Vachon describes how his older brother, <strong>Maurice Vachon<\/strong>, began his career as an amateur wrestler, coming in seventh at the 1948 Olympic Games. Yet it wasn\u2019t until Maurice developed his unhinged \u201cMad Dog\u201d persona that he succeeded in the showbiz world of professional wrestling. <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">And succeed he did. With his frightening promos and violent tactics in the ring, \u201cMad Dog\u201d Vachon influenced the likes of <strong>Bruiser Brody<\/strong>, <strong>George \u201cThe Animal\u201d Steele<\/strong>, <strong>Mick Foley<\/strong>, and every other lunatic wrestling character to follow.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">It wasn\u2019t long before Paul became \u201cThe Butcher,\u201d and joined his brother in the ring. They\u2019d be followed by their sister <strong>Vivian Vachon<\/strong>, and later Paul\u2019s daughter, the late <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2021\/03\/11\/the-pioneers-the-triumph-tragedy-of-luna-vachon\/\" target=\"_self\">Luna Vachon<\/a><\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">. The Vachons became stars in the wrestling hotbed of Montreal, a scene which included the likes of <strong>Andre the Giant<\/strong> and <strong>Pat Patterson<\/strong>. <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Paul and Maurice traveled the world together and enjoyed success both as singles and as a tag team. Maurice won the <strong>American Wrestling Association<\/strong> (AWA) World Heavyweight Championship five times, and the brothers together held numerous championships in both the AWA and the <strong>National Wrestling Alliance<\/strong> (NWA).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The Vachon Brothers\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/GH7wvhWmlLI?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The wrestling fame led to the Vachons also starring in a number of films. Paul notes wryly that he was killed in every movie he was ever in. <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Unlike other wrestling families like the Harts or the Von Erichs, however, who were the babyface stars of their respective territories; the Vachons were among the biggest heels for decades, before fans finally embraced them as hometown heroes.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Sadly though, one thing the Vachons had in common with other wrestling families was the number of tragedies they had to endure, and\u00a0<\/span><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The Last Villains<\/span><\/em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> doesn\u2019t shy away from the negative impact the wrestling lifestyle can have both on an individual and on an entire family.\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Vachon admits, <em>\u201cThe wrestling life has had more of an effect on my family than I have.\u201d<\/em> At the same time, he also says that he wouldn\u2019t change a thing. <\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">To the film\u2019s credit,\u00a0<\/span><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The Last Villains<\/span><\/em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"> doesn\u2019t make a point of view or put words in Vachon\u2019s mouth. It takes a hands-off approach, allowing \u201cThe Butcher\u201d to tell his own story.\u00a0<\/span><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Whatever sacrifices he\u2019s had to make, Vachon has clearly loved the life he\u2019s chosen for himself. The film captures a man who loves to entertain and tell stories, something which he did with great success throughout his storied career.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">To find out more on how you can watch\u00a0<\/span><\/em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Mad Dog &amp; The Butcher: The Last Villains<\/span><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, check out the official\u00a0<\/span><\/em><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Lesderniersvilains\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Facebook page<\/span><\/em><\/a><em><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">.<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Stay tuned to the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/\" target=\"_self\">Last Word on Pro Wrestling<\/a>\u00a0for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>Looking to talk wrestling, pro football, or any number of sports? Head on over to the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/boards\/index.php\" target=\"_self\">LWOS Boards<\/a>\u00a0to engage in conversation with fellow fans!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Mad Dog &amp; The Butcher: The Last Villains, is Thomas Rinfret\u2019s documentary about Montreal\u2019s infamous Vachon wrestling family and is told from the perspective of the family\u2019s last surviving member, Paul \u201cThe Butcher\u201d Vachon. Both wrestling fans and non-fans will enjoy\u00a0The Last Villains, as it dives into Vachon&#8217;s life and memories. Despite his age &#8211; [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3801,"featured_media":89933,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2,7205],"tags":[1145,7656,7657,7558,7658],"class_list":["post-89881","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-history","tag-luna-vachon","tag-maurice-vachon","tag-paul-vachon","tag-vivian-vachon","tag-wrestlecinema"],"modified_by":"Brandi Wagner","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89881","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3801"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=89881"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/89881\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/89933"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=89881"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=89881"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=89881"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}