Inside Montreal, journalist Louis-Philippe Messier travels mostly on the run, his office in his backpack, on the lookout for fascinating subjects and people. He speaks to everyone and is interested in all walks of life in this urban chronicle.

A Montreal teacher who wants to end bullying at school has stunned her students by revealing her secret profession: a wrestler.

The careers of professional wrestler and history and literature teacher do not seem particularly compatible... and yet!

Not only does Jessika Neri combine the two vocations, but the contrast is so great between her two "characters" that it's hard to imagine the fighter in a jersey when she's wearing a teacher's uniform and it's hard to imagine. to imagine her as an intellectual when she struts flamboyantly in the arena.

"It's a bit like in Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde: the serious, polite and diligent teacher and the fearsome athlete in the ring with the sharp tongue," explains Michael Cohen, director of communications for the English Montreal School Board. .

Like almost everyone at the school where Ms. Neri teaches, Mr. Cohen was unaware of this "double life."

“It was while organizing a conference against bullying at school with the wrestler Jacques Rougeau that I learned that Jessika Neri has also been the fighter Jessika Black for almost 10 years! »

Like a superheroine, Ms. Neri had always preferred to keep her two professional identities separate.

"Even me, her friend who works with her, she waited years before telling me about her life as a wrestler," said co-worker Megan Folkins.

Coming out of the closet

"I managed to convince Jessika that it was a great opportunity to come out of the closet in front of her students as part of my lecture on bullying, since, let's face it, it's sure that the wrestling experience helps him hold his class better! laughs well-known ex-wrestler Jacques Rougeau.

Mr. Rougeau moved the hundreds of students gathered in the gymnasium by recounting an episode of assault he suffered backstage at the WWF in the 1980s: a certain Dynamite Kid wanted to "put him in his place" by kicking his ass...

Some teachers are sometimes intimidated by school children. That doesn't seem to be the case with Jessika Neri/Black.

"She's liked and knows how to make herself respected," Alys, 17, a student of hers, told me.

“I love revealing my other life to my students who have sometimes known me for years,” exclaims Ms. Neri.

“I decided to show my young people that it is possible to pursue your dreams even if it seems very original and even if you start late. »

Ms. Neri is 36 years old. She started wrestling at age 27. Her husband, Jeremy Barnoff, is also a wrestler. The two participate in the Lutte Académie tournament organized by Jacques Rougeau, a reality show to win an internship in an American elite league.

Inspiration

Ms. Neri says she became a better teacher through struggle.

"It's two performances, teach or struggle. It is necessary to maintain the attention, to surprise, to entertain. I can't react in class like my character would in the arena, but it helps me keep my emotions in check if I'm confronted. »