| Dan Kroffat | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Philippe Lafon[1][2] |
| Born | (1961-09-16)September 16, 1961 (age 63)[3] Manitouwadge,Ontario, Canada[4][2] |
| Alma mater | NorQuest College[1] |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Black Sabbath Dan Kroffat[4] Danny Kroffat Phil Lafleur[4] Phil Lafon Philip Lafon Rocky Venturo[4] Rene Rougeau[4] Blue Blazer II |
| Billed height | 5 ft 11 in (180 cm)[5] |
| Billed weight | 231 lb (105 kg)[5] |
| Billed from | Montreal,Quebec, Canada |
| Trained by | Mr. Hito[4][5] |
| Debut | 1983[5] |
| Retired | 2014 |
PhilippeLafon (born September 16, 1961) is a Canadianprofessional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with theWorld Wrestling Federation asPhil Lafon and withAll Japan Pro Wrestling andExtreme Championship Wrestling under thering nameDan Kroffat.[1][2][6][4][5]
Lafon was born in Manitouwadge, Ontario, Canada, to his French-Canadian parents and raised inMontreal,Quebec, Canada.[2][4]
Lafon was discovered at a local gym in Canada byDavey Boy Smith andThe Dynamite Kid, and was subsequently trained in theHart Dungeon. In the Dungeon, he was trained byMr. Hito. He spent two years inStu Hart'sStampede Wrestling before leaving to work as "Rene Rougeau" in the Maritimes. During this time, he metThe Cuban Assassin, who helped him get booked in Japan.[4][2]
Kroffat was a longtime mainstay ofAll Japan Pro Wrestling with tag team partnerDoug Furnas as the Can-Am Express. The two men were paired together byGiant Baba.[4] It was there, that they had some of the most memorable tag team matches of the 1990s, including one match on May 25, 1992 withKenta Kobashi andTsuyoshi Kikuchi which receivedfive stars from theWrestling Observer Newsletter. The match is memorable for having one of the loudest crowds in pro wrestling history. With Furnas, Kroffat would win theAll Asia Tag Team Championship a record five times defeating the likes ofFootloose,The British Bruisers,The Patriot andThe Eagle, Joel Deaton and Billy Black.[7] As a singles wrestler, Kroffat also won theWorld Junior Heavyweight Championship on two occasions.[8]
The duo joined Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) in late 1996, having a series of matches against Sabu and Rob Van Dam. At Fright Fight 1997, Lafon and Furnas were defeated byShane Douglas and Chris Candido. In December 1997,The Sandman,Tommy Dreamer, Al Snow andTaz defeated Lafon, Rob Van Dam, Sabu and Doug Furnas. They won theECW World Tag Team Championship fromThe Full Blooded Italians on December 5. Their reign would not last long, however, as they went on to lose the belts toChris Candido andLance Storm the next day atBetter Than Ever. Prior to the team's tag team title success LaFon had made an unsuccessful attempt to dethrone ECW Champion Shane Douglas in singles competition. On the January 7, 1998 episode ofHardcore TV, LaFon, Doug Furnas, Rob Van Dam and Sabu lost to Al Snow, Taz, The Sandman and Tommy Dreamer in aneight-man tag team match.
Lafon and Furnas also formed a short-lived stable of "invaders" from the WWF with Lance Wright,Brakkus andDroz.[9][10][11][12]
A few months later, both men made theirWorld Wrestling Federation (WWF) debuts on November 17 at theSurvivor Seriespay-per-view.[4] After failing to win the Tag Team Titles the duo began a slow heel turn and developed an anti American wrestling fan gimmick similar to that of The Hart Foundation. AtIn Your House 13: Final Four, Lafon and Furnas got a shot at theWWF Tag Team Championship where they defeatedOwen Hart and the British Bulldog by disqualification but they did not win the titles. A few months into his WWF run, Lafon was in a car crash between Montreal and Ottawa.[4] AtWrestleMania 13, Lafon and Furnas competed in a Four-way elimination match to determine #1 contenders for the WWF Tag Team Championship which was won byThe Headbangers. AtIn Your House 14: Revenge of the 'Taker, Lafon and Furnas competed in a dark match where they defeatedThe Godwinns. He returned in the fall of 1997 as full fledged heels most notably as a part of Team Canada atSurvivor Series in his hometownMontreal. LaFon would make a few more appearances with Furnas afterwards, mostly on Shotgun Saturday Night (notably with one match being against the then-unknown Hardy Boyz), before they were later sent to ECW.
After leaving both WWF and ECW, Doug Furnas retired from wrestling and the pair went their own separate ways. Lafon wrestled in Mexico forConsejo Mundial de Lucha Libre in 1998 as the Blue Blazer II. He returned to All Japan between 2000 and 2001, then worked in the independents in Western Canada until his initial retirement in 2006.
Lafon was the Head Trainer of Monster Pro Wrestling (MPW) in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. On March 6, 2010 in Edmonton, he returned to the ring to compete with MPW after five years of being in retirement, due to nagging knee and shoulder injuries.[4] He would wrestle his last match in 2014.
In 2014, Lafon graduated fromNorQuest College with a diploma in social work.[1]
,Internet Wrestling Database