Marc Mercier

Marc Mercier
Born(1958-04-11)11 April 1958
Bourg-la-Reine, France
Died7 September 2026(2026-09-07) (aged 68)
OccupationsWrestler
Actor
Professional wrestling career
Billed height1.84 m (6 ft 1⁄2 in)
Billed weight224 kg (494 lb)
Trained byGuy Mercier
DebutSeptember 1977
Retired30 December 2008

Marc Mercier (French: [mˈaʁk mɛʁsjˈe]; 11 April 1958 – 7 September 2026) was a French professional wrestler and actor. He competed in the Fédération Française de Catch Professionnel (FFCP), achieving the title of World Champion from 1985 to 1989.

Life and career

Born in Bourg-la-Reine on 11 April 1958, Mercier was the son of Guy Mercier, also a wrestler. His uncle, also named Marc Mercier, was a member of the French Resistance who was killed in a German ambush on 14 August 1944. His first professional wrestling match was at the Élysée Montmartre in September 1977. He became French champion in 1979, European champion in 1981, and world champion in 1985, As well as several wrestling matches on French TV, Mercier also wrestled on Britain's ITV in 1988, unsuccessfully challenging Marty Jones for the World Mid Heavyweight Championship.

A fractured ankle during a match in Kyiv in March 1989 forced him into early retirement. He returned to the ring in 2002 with the organization Wrestling Stars before joining the International Catch Wrestling Alliance [fr] in 2005. In 2006, he re-created the FFCP, of which he was elected president, and founded the Catch Academy in Wissous. There, he encouraged young wrestlers to avoid dangerous wrestling moves. In 2013, he criticized the Fédération française de lutte et disciplines associées [fr] following the International Olympic Committee's decision to drop wrestling from the Olympic Games. On 16 February 2014, he announced his departure from the FFCP, but returned to the role of president after his successor, Artémis Ortygie, left the country.

In addition to his professional wrestling career, Mercier appeared on the screen as an actor and stuntman. He held minor roles in television series such as Cordier and Son: Judge and Cop [fr] and Une femme d'honneur [fr] before serving as Gérard Depardieu's stunt double in the 1998 film Asterix and Obelix vs. Caesar after the actor had suffered a car accident during the time of filming. He befriended Depardieu and his son, Guillaume.

Mercier died of oesophageal cancer on 7 September 2026, at the age of 68.

References

  1. ↑ "Marc Mercier". cagematch.net.
  2. ↑ "Former World Champion And Wrestling Legend Dies At 68 After Cancer Diagnosis Earlier This Year". NDTV. 9 September 2026. Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  3. ↑ "Quand le catch attaque". BFM TV (in French). 2 September 2009. Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  4. ↑ Askolovitch, Claude (25 August 2017). "Le pari fou de Hugo Mercier, marchand de sable 2.0". Vanity Fair (in French). Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  5. ↑ https://itvwrestling.co.uk/88.html
  6. ↑ Bergognon, Julien (5 March 2004). "Marc Mercier, tonton catcheur". Le Parisien (in French). Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  7. ↑ "La «Catch Academy» fait son show". 20 minutes (in French). 29 October 2007. Archived from the original on 10 May 2013. Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  8. ↑ Touboul, Karine (18 November 2012). "Ecoles de catch - Attention danger !". France-Soir (in French). Archived from the original on 18 November 2015. Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  9. ↑ Mercier, Marc (14 February 2013). "La lutte supprimée des JO : je suis déçu mais pas surpris, ce sport n'a pas su évoluer". Le Nouvel Observateur (in French). Archived from the original on 22 September 2022. Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  10. ↑ Jacquet, Jean-Rémy (19 May 2014). "FFCP : Artémis Ortygie quitte (déjà) son poste de présidente". VoxCatch (in French). Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  11. ↑ Simon, Cyril (2 January 2016). "Pourquoi Hollywood s'arrache désormais les catcheurs". Les Inrockuptibles (in French). Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  12. ↑ Vincelot, Sophie (12 August 2015). "Depardieu a frôlé la mort dans Astérix et Obélix contre César". Le Figaro (in French). Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  13. ↑ "«Depardieu, l'homme sans limites»: BFM TV essaye de suivre le train d'enfer de l'acteur voyageur". 20 minutes (in French). 18 February 2019. Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  14. ↑ Birden, Sébastien (5 February 2017). "Bougival : pour son premier film, il revient sur la vie de Guillaume Depardieu". Le Parisien (in French). Retrieved 10 September 2026.
  15. ↑ Jacquet, Jean-Rémy (8 September 2026). "L'ancien président de la FFCP Marc Mercier est décédé". VoxCatch (in French). Retrieved 10 September 2026.