 Carpentier in 1973 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Édouard Ignacz Weiczorkiewicz (1926-07-17)17 July 1926 |
| Died | 30 October 2010(2010-10-30) (aged 84) |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Édouard Ignacz Weiczorkiewicz Édouard Carpentier Édouard Weiczorkiewicz Carpentier Flying Frenchman[1] Eddy Wiechoski[2] |
| Billed height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)[3] |
| Billed weight | 230 lb (100 kg)[1] |
| Billed from | Montreal, Quebec, Canada[3] |
| Debut | 1953 |
| Retired | November 16, 1987 |
Édouard Ignacz Weiczorkiewicz[4] (July 17, 1926 – October 30, 2010),[5] better known by hisring nameÉdouard Carpentier, was a French and Canadianprofessional wrestler,gymnast, and member of theFrench Resistance duringWorld War II.
Carpentier began his wrestling career in Europe asEddy Wiechoski, before being brought to Canada by promotersEddie Quinn in 1956, where he quickly became a popularbabyface. Over the course of his career, Carpentier held multiple world heavyweight championships, including theNWA World Heavyweight Championship and theWWA World Heavyweight Championship.
Nicknamed "The Flying Frenchman", Carpentier championed ahigh-flying wrestling style, and was known for his athletic manoeuvres including "back flips, cartwheels and somersaults".[2] After retiring from wrestling, he became a colour commentator forLutte Internationale and later theWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF).
Édouard Ignacz Weiczorkiewicz (Russian:Эдуард Виецз) was born in 1926 inRoanne,Loire, to aRussian innkeeper father and aPolish mother.[1] He developed an interest ingymnastics andGreco-Roman wrestling from a young age, and became an all-around athlete.[1]
DuringWorld War II, at the age of 16, he was captured and imprisoned byGerman occupation forces.[6] He was sent to a concentration camp outsideParis, but escaped captivity, and promptly joined theFrench Resistance.[6] After the war, he was awarded both theCroix de Guerre and theCroix du combattant medals for his service.[1]
After the war, Weiczorkiewicz obtained a degree inphysical education. He qualified as an alternate for the French Gymnastics Team at both the1948 and1952 Summer Olympics, though he did not compete.[7] He was also part of the French national team at the1950 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships.[8]
Weiczorkiewicz was introduced to professional wrestling by his friend, film starLino Ventura. Prior to his acting career, Ventura had been a successful wrestler under the ring name "The Italian Rocket" Lino Borrini.[6] Ventura initially employed Weiczorkiewicz as astuntman, doubling forEddie Constantine, but suggested to he take up wrestling.[7] He initially used thering name "Eddy Wiechoski".[2]
In 1956, Weiczorkiewicz was spotted by Canadian wrestlerLarry Moquin. Impressed by the young Frenchman's athleticism and ring ability, he recommended him to promotersEddie Quinn andYvon Robert.[6] Robert offered Weiczorkiewicz a contract to wrestle inMontreal, and Weiczorkiewicz moved there later that year. He adopted the ring name "Edouard Carpentier," after boxerGeorges Carpentier, and was billed as the "European Heavyweight Champion."[6] He later became a naturalised Canadian citizen.[1]
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 therope-aided twisting headscissors.[1] He was always afan favourite in his bouts and was matched against numerousvillains, perhaps the most well known of whom was the legendaryKiller Kowalski.
In 1961, he was one of several Montreal wrestling stars to be featured inWrestling (French:La lutte), aNational Film Board of Canada documentary.[9]The highpoint of his career was hisNWA World Heavyweight Championship reign from 1956 to 1957. He won the title in a disputed contest againstLou 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 theWorld Heavyweight Championship. He eventuallydropped the belt toVerne Gagne. The Omaha title was unified with theAWA World Heavyweight Championship in 1963.[10]
Carpentier headlinedMadison Square Garden three times in 1962 with tag team partnerBobo Brazil. They had two main events againstBuddy Rogers & HandsomeJohnny Barend; another against Rogers &Killer Kowalski. He teamed numerous times withAntonino Rocca, as well as withVittorio Apollo. In solo matches at the Garden, he defeatedGiant Baba,Skull Murphy, Magnificent Maurice, andHans Mortier in 1963.[11] After working for WWWF, Carpentier returned to work in Europe and Canada.
In 1967, he returned to the WWWF as a popular babyface feuding withGorilla Monsoon,Baron Mikel Scicluna,George Steele,Toru Tanaka andLuke Graham (wrestler). He sometimes teamed withBruno Sammartino. Carpentier left the WWWF in 1968.[12][13][14]
From 1969 to 1972, Carpentier worked for Verne Gagne'sAmerican Wrestling Association in Minneapolis. During the 1970s, Carpentier worked in various territories in the States, Japan and Canada in Montreal and Toronto.
In 1980, Carpentier worked for Montreal'sLutte Internationale until 1984.
On November 16, 1987, Carpeniter returned to theWorld Wrestling Federation for a one-night appearance at a house show in East Rutherford, New Jersey participating in a Legends Battle Royal won byLou Thesz. After that, he retired from wrestling at 61 years old.
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-basedLutte Internationale, and then, together for theWorld Wrestling Federation, when the WWF bought the Montreal territory in 1985. They hosted the French edition of the WWF television showSuperstars, sold to French-speaking countries.[1] He was replaced by former Québécois wrestlerRaymond Rougeau in 1992.
On 30 October 2010, Carpentier died of aheart attack at his home inMontreal, 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.[4]
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