Little Beaver (wrestler)
| Little Beaver | |
|---|---|
| 200px | |
| Birth name | Lionel Giroux |
| Born | 1935[1] Saint-Jérôme, Quebec, Canada[1] |
| Died | Script error: The function "death_date_and_age" does not exist.[2][3][4][5] |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Little Beaver |
| Billed height | 4ft 4in (130 cm)[6] |
| Billed weight | 60 lb (27 kg)[6] |
| Debut | 1950[6] |
| Retired | 1987 |
Lionel Giroux (1935 – December 4, 1995) was a Canadian midget wrestler who is best known by his ring name Little Beaver. His most famous appearance was in a six-man match at WrestleMania III for the World Wrestling Federation.
Contents
Career
Lionel Giroux began his wrestling career in 1950, at the age of fifteen,[6] and then began to wrestle for promoters in Quebec. He, along with Sky Low Low, became two of the most famous midget wrestlers in wrestling who had enough drawing power to command a large portion of the live gate for wrestling events.[4][7] Giroux helped to create the comedy matches that have since become a trademark for midget wrestling in Canada and the United States.[7] In 1973, Giroux won the Pro Wrestling Illustrated Midget Wrestler of the Year award.
His last in-ring appearance was at WrestleMania III in the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan in 1987, at the age of 52.[4] Giroux, wrestling as Little Beaver, teamed with Hillbilly Jim and fellow midget wrestler the Haiti Kid, defeating King Kong Bundy and his midget tag-team partners Little Tokyo and Lord Littlebrook, after Bundy was disqualified for attacking Little Beaver.[8][9] During the match, Giroux suffered a back injury at the hands of Bundy after he was bodyslammed and had an elbow dropped on him by the 458 lb (208 kg) Bundy, which forced him to retire from professional wrestling (through the match Beaver had "annoyed" Bundy including elbowing him in the stomach, delivering a drop kick that had literally no effect, and slapping him with his Moccasin which Bundy claimed "Stung like a son-of-a-bitch").[4] In a 1998 interview Bundy said he hoped that he wasn't responsible for Giroux's early death, saying he wouldn't want that on his conscience.[10]
A few months after Wrestlemania III on an edition of WWF Prime Time Wrestling, Giroux (again as Little Beaver) was in Hillbilly Jim's corner for a taped match against the One Man Gang at the Boston Garden. In a comical match (eventually won by Hillbilly via a countout), Beaver got involved on several occasions, including hitting the Gang over the back of the head with a broom after the match was finished. The 450 lb (200 kg) Gang finally caught Little Beaver in the ring and after delivering a blow that sent him sprawling, he followed the instructions of his manager Slick and hit Beaver with his 747 Splash.[11]
Death and legacy
Giroux died on December 4, 1995 of emphysema.[2][3][4] In 2003, Giroux was inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame.[6][7]Giroux was Cremated after his death.
Championships and accomplishments
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- NWA World Midget's Championship (2 times)
- NWA Hall of Fame (Class of 2012)[12]
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- Midget Wrestler of the Year (1973)
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- Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame Inductee (2003)
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ One Man Gang squashes Little Beaver
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
