Édouard Carpentier

Infobox Wrestler
name = Édouard Carpentier
names = Édouard Carpentier Flying Frenchmen Eddy Wiechoski


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weight = 230 lbs.cite web|url=http://slam.canoe.ca/SlamWrestlingBios/carpentier.html|title=Canadian Hall of Fame: Edouard Carpentier|publisher=SLAM! Wrestling|accessdate=2008-04-30]
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birth_date = July 17 1926
birth_place = Roanne, Loire, France
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Édouard Carpentier (born July 17 1926) is a retired French professional wrestler who garnered several world championships in a career that spanned the 1950s into the 1970s.

Early life

Born Édouard Wiecz on July 17 1926 in Roanne, Loire, France to a Russian father and a Polish mother, he joined the French underground resistance during the period of German occupation during World War II and was subsequently awarded the Croix de Guerre and the Croix des combattants medals by the French government at the close of the war.

He moved to Montreal, Canada in 1956, becoming a Canadian citizen. He also became an all around athlete with gymnastic skills.

Career

An early proponent of "scientific" wrestling, Carpentier was a crowd favorite who delighted fans with acrobatic leaps from the turnbuckles and a variety of other aerial maneuvers such as flying head scissors. He was one of the first wrestlers to regularly use such maneuvers. He was always a face, or "good guy," in his bouts and was paired with 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 between Lou Thesz on June 14 1957. 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 the American Wrestling Association and other organizations, all with their own world titles. He was later recognized as the first holder of the AWA's Omaha version of the World Heavyweight Championship. He eventually dropped the belt to Verne Gagne.

After his retirement, Carpentier operated a school for teaching professional wrestling skills. His most famous student was André the Giant. He also operated in the early 1980s as a babyface colour commentator, alongside heel play-by-play host Guy Hauray, for the Montreal-based Grand Prix Wrestling, and then, together for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), when the WWF bought the Montreal territory in 1985. They hosted the French edition of the WWF TV show "Superstars", sold to French-speaking countries. He was replaced by former French-Canadian wrestler Raymond Rougeau in 1992.

In wrestling

*Finishing and signature moves
**Flying head scissors
**Cartwheel
**Somersault

*Managers
**Bob Langevin

Championships and accomplishments

*National Wrestling Alliance
**NWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time, disputed)

*Atlantic Athletic Commission
**World Heavyweight Championship (Boston version) (1 time)

*American Wrestling Association
**World Heavyweight Championship (Omaha version) (1 time)

*International Wrestling Alliance
**IWA World Heavyweight Championship (Chicago version) (1 time)

*Lutte Internationale (Montreal)
**Canadian International Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
**Canadian International Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Mad Dog Vachon

*Montreal Athletic Commission/International Wrestling Alliance
**International Heavyweight Championship (Montreal version) (5 times)

*NWA Hollywood Wrestling
**NWA Americas Heavyweight Championship (1 time)

*Stampede Wrestling
**Stampede Wrestling Hall of Fame [ cite web |url=http://www.wrestling-titles.com/canada/ab/hof.html |title=Stampede Wrestling Hall of Fame (1948-1990) |accessdate=|date= |year=2003|publisher=Puroresu Dojo ]

*World Wrestling Association (Los Angeles)
**WWA World Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
**WWA World Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Bob Ellis (First)

*Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards:*Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 1997)

References

External links

* [http://slam.canoe.ca/SlamWrestlingBios/carpentier.html Carpentier] at the SLAM! Wrestling Canadian Hall of Fame