Canadian professional wrestler (1926?2010)
Edouard Carpentier
|
---|
Carpentier in 1973.
|
Birth name
| Edouard Ignacz Weiczorkiewicz
|
---|
Born
| (
1926-07-17
)
17 July 1926
Roanne
,
Rhone-Alpes
, France
[1]
|
---|
Died
| 30 October 2010
(2010-10-30)
(aged 84)
Montreal
,
Quebec
, Canada
[2]
|
---|
|
Ring name(s)
| Edouard Ignacz Weiczorkiewicz
Edouard Carpentier
Edouard Weiczorkiewicz Carpentier
Flying Frenchman
[1]
Eddy Wiechoski
[3]
|
---|
Billed height
| 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
[4]
|
---|
Billed weight
| 230 lb (100 kg)
[1]
|
---|
Billed from
| Montreal, Quebec, Canada
[4]
|
---|
Edouard Ignacz Weiczorkiewicz
[2]
(
Russian
:
Эдуард Виецз
; July 17, 1926 ? October 30, 2010)
[5]
was a French-born Canadian
professional wrestler
, better known by his
ring name
,
Edouard Carpentier
. Over the course of his career, Carpentier held multiple world heavyweight championships, including the
NWA World Heavyweight Championship
and the
WWA World Heavyweight Championship
. Nicknamed "The Flying Frenchman", Carpentier was known for his athletic manoeuvres including "back flips, cartwheels and somersaults".
[3]
Early life
[
edit
]
Weiczorkiewicz was born in 1926 in
Roanne
,
Loire
,
France
to a
Russian
father and a
Polish
mother.
[1]
He joined the French resistance during
World War II
under the
German occupation
and was awarded the
Croix de Guerre
and the
Croix du combattant
medals by the French government at the close of the war.
[1]
He moved to
Montreal
,
Quebec
in 1956 and became a Canadian citizen.
[1]
He also became an all around athlete with gymnastic skills.
[1]
Professional wrestling career
[
edit
]
At the outset of his career, Carpentier wrestled in Europe as "Eddy Wiechoski".
[3]
Carpentier was a crowd favourite, one of the first wrestlers to delight fans with acrobatic leaps from the turnbuckles and a variety of other aerial manoeuvres such as the
rope-aided twisting headscissors
.
[1]
He was always a
fan favourite
in his bouts and was matched against numerous
villains
, perhaps the most well known of whom was the legendary
Killer Kowalski
.
The highpoint of his career was his
NWA World Heavyweight Championship
reign from 1956 to 1957. He won the title in a disputed contest against
Lou Thesz
on 14 June 1957.
[1]
Some NWA territories and officials recognized the disputed win as a legitimate title change, while others did not. This led to the split of the NWA and led to the creation of other organizations, all with their own world titles. He was later recognized as the first holder of the Omaha version of the
World Heavyweight Championship
. He eventually
dropped
the belt to
Verne Gagne
. The Omaha title was unified with the
AWA World Heavyweight Championship
in 1963.
[6]
Carpentier headlined
Madison Square Garden
three times in 1962 with tag team partner
Bobo Brazil
. They had two main events against
Buddy Rogers
& Handsome
Johnny Barend
; another against Rogers &
Killer Kowalski
. He teamed numerous times with
Antonino Rocca
, as well as with
Vittorio Apollo
. In solo matches at the Garden, he defeated
Giant Baba
,
Skull Murphy
, Magnificent Maurice, and
Hans Mortier
.
[7]
After his retirement, Carpentier operated a school for teaching professional wrestling skills.
[1]
He also operated in the early 1980s as a babyface colour commentator, alongside heel play-by-play host Guy Hauray, for the Montreal-based
Lutte Internationale
, and then, together for the
World Wrestling Federation
, when the WWF bought the Montreal territory in 1985. They hosted the French edition of the WWF television show
Superstars
, sold to French-speaking countries.
[1]
He was replaced by former Quebecois wrestler
Raymond Rougeau
in 1992.
Death
[
edit
]
On 30 October 2010, Carpentier died of a
heart attack
at his home in
Montreal
, aged 84. He had also suffered a heart attack in 2000. Carpentier had been in poor health for many years, battered from his acrobatic, high-flying style.
[2]
Championships and accomplishments
[
edit
]
- ^
Carpentier was awarded the title by disqualification when Thesz could not continue the match due to a back injury. For 71 days, the NWA recognized the title as being in dispute between Carpentier and Thesz.
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
j
k
"Canadian Hall of Fame: Edouard Carpentier"
. SLAM! Wrestling. Archived from the original on December 8, 2012
. Retrieved
2008-04-30
.
{{
cite web
}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (
link
)
- ^
a
b
c
Greg Oliver (2010-11-01).
"Edouard Carpentier dead at 84"
. Slam! Sports. Archived from the original on July 14, 2012
. Retrieved
2013-03-04
.
{{
cite news
}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (
link
)
- ^
a
b
c
Howard, Gary (2007).
The Rassler from Renfrew: Larry Kasaboski and the Northland Wresting Enterprises
. General Store Publishing House. p. 145.
ISBN
978-1-897113-59-2
.
- ^
a
b
Shields, Brian; Sullivan, Kevin (2009).
WWE Encyclopedia
.
DK
. p.
91
.
ISBN
978-0-7566-4190-0
.
- ^
Mathieu Boulay, Agence QMI (2010-11-01).
"Edouard Carpentier n'est plus"
(in French). Canoe Sports. Archived from the original on July 9, 2012
. Retrieved
2013-03-04
.
{{
cite news
}}
: CS1 maint: unfit URL (
link
)
- ^
Johnson, Steven; Oliver, Greg; Mooneyham, Mike (2013).
The Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame: Heroes and Icons
.
ECW Press
. p. 102.
ISBN
978-1-77090-269-5
.
- ^
Cawthon, Graham (2013).
the History of Professional Wrestling Vol 1: WWF 1963 - 1989
. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.
ISBN
978-1492825975
.
- ^
Whalen, Ed (host) (December 15, 1995). "Stampede Wrestling Hall of Fame: 1948-1990".
Showdown at the Corral: A Tribute to Stu Hart
. Event occurs at 15:38.
Shaw Cable
.
Calgary 7
.
- ^
"Stampede Wrestling Hall of Fame (1948-1990)"
. Puroresu Dojo. 2003.
External links
[
edit
]
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