Hubert Gallant
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Hubert Gallant (born November 12, 1955) is a
Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
retired professional wrestler and trainer who competed in North American regional promotions during the 1970s and early 1980s including
Stampede Wrestling Stampede Wrestling was a Canadian professional wrestling promotion based in Calgary, Alberta. For nearly 50 years, it was one of the main promotions in western Canada and the Canadian Prairies. Originally established by Stu Hart in 1948, the prom ...
and
Emile Dupree Emil or Emile may refer to: Literature *''Emile, or On Education'' (1762), a treatise on education by Jean-Jacques Rousseau * ''Émile'' (novel) (1827), an autobiographical novel based on Émile de Girardin's early life *''Emil and the Detective ...
's
Grand Prix Wrestling Grand Prix Wrestling (GPW) is a professional wrestling promotion run and owned by Emile Duprée. Grand Prix Wrestling has recently finished the 2013 Rising Sun In The Maritimes Tour. Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling tours parts of New Brunswick, P ...
as well short stints in the
National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and former professional wrestling governing body operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA ...
, specifically the Mid-South and Carolinas regions. Among the wrestlers he trained are "Wildman" Gary Williams and
Hangman Hughes Mike Hughes (born November 17, 1974) is a Canadian professional wrestling, professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Hangman Hughes. Hughes has competed on the North American independent promotions throughout the late 1990s and early 2 ...
.


Professional wrestling career


Early career

Born in the rural countryside on the outskirts of
Shediac, New Brunswick Shediac (official in both languages; ''Shédiac'' is colloquial French) is a heavily Acadian town in Westmorland County, New Brunswick. The town is home to the famous Parlee Beach and is known as the "Lobster Capital of the World". It hosts ...
, Gallant played hockey during his teenage years and, often attending wrestling events at the Jean-Louis Lévesque Arena, was a childhood fan of wrestler
Leo Burke Léonce Cormier (born June 29, 1948) is a Canadian retired professional wrestler. He was born in Dorchester, New Brunswick. He competed across Canada, in several American promotions, and wrestled internationally for both Puerto Rico's World Wr ...
growing up. Gallant had been working as a machine operator when, at age 19, he contacted
Rudy Kay Jean-Louis Cormier (June 24, 1942 – May 25, 2008) was a Canadian professional wrestler, best known by his ring name Rudy Kay. Cormier competed primarily in Canada and often formed a tag team with his brothers; together, they are known as th ...
to be trained as a professional wrestler. Gallant, who at the time weighed , was advised to increase his weight and began training with a local bodybuilder eventually he weighing in at around after six months. Beginning his training with Emile Dupree and the Cuban Assassin in late 1974, he eventually made his professional debut as "Larry Roberts" wrestling a 15-minute match on May 2, 1975. He would later tour the Maritimes with Dupree's Grand Prix Wrestling and International Wrestling during the summer and in Montreal before the end of the year. After spending early 1976 competing in International Wrestling, Leo Burke was able to arrange Gallant to tour the United States with the
National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and former professional wrestling governing body operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA ...
wrestling in the
Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...
-area and
Jim Crockett Promotions Jim Crockett Promotions Inc. is a family-owned professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, restarted by Jim Crockett's son and Jim Crockett Jr's brother, David Crockett. Founded in 1931, the promot ...
in
North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
as "Herb Gallant". In early 1977, he would team with Keith Franks in a tag team match against
Ric Flair Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949), known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American professional wrestler. Regarded by multiple peers and journalists as the greatest professional wrestler of all time, Flair has had a career spanni ...
and
Greg Valentine Jonathan Anthony Wisniski (born September 20, 1951) is a retired American professional wrestler, better known as Greg "The Hammer" Valentine. He is the son of wrestler Johnny Valentine. Over five decades, Valentine held more than 40 championship ...
on January 1 and, following their loss, he would be defeated by Franks five days later. He would also team with Bill Dromo against
Kim Duk or Kim Duk ( ko, 김 덕/金 徳) (born February 7, 1948) is a retired Koreans in Japan, Zainichi-Korean Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, better known under his ring name . He was also known by the name Tiger Chung Lee in the World ...
&
The Masked Superstar William Reid "Bill" Eadie (born December 27, 1947) is an American retired professional wrestling, professional wrestler who has competed under the names of Ax as part of Demolition (professional wrestling), Demolition and The Masked Superstar. H ...
as well as with
Rick McGraw Richard McGraw (March 19, 1955 – November 1, 1985) was an American professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) under the ring name "Quickdraw" Rick McGraw from 1980 until his death in 1985. ...
against the
Hollywood Blondes The Hollywood Blonds is a name used by several professional wrestling tag teams over the years. The original Blonds were Buddy Roberts and Jerry Brown, who used the name in the 1970s. Rip Rogers and Ted Oates wrestled as The Hollywood Blonds in t ...
during the next two months.


Stampede Wrestling

After returning to Canada, Gallant began wrestling for
Stu Hart Stewart Edward Hart (May 3, 1915 – October 16, 2003) was a Canadian amateur and professional wrestler, wrestling booker, promoter, coach, trainer, football player and sailor. He is best known for founding and handling Stampede Wrestling, a ...
's Stampede Wrestling during the summer of 1977. While in Calgary, Gallant gained a strong following in the promotion and was credited by promoters Stu Hart and Bob Leonard as one of their key stars during his 8-year career in the promotion feuding with the Cuban Assassin, Duke Myers and often teaming with Leo Burke against
Bret Hart Bret Hart (born July 2, 1957) is a Canadian-American retired professional wrestler, currently signed to WWE under a legend's contract. A member of the Hart wrestling family and a second-generation wrestler, he has an amateur wrestling backgr ...
and
The Dynamite Kid Thomas Billington (5 December 1958 – 5 December 2018), best known by the ring name the Dynamite Kid, was a British professional wrestler. Trained by former wrestler "Dr Death" Ted Betley, he competed in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), ...
. After a brief return to Charlotte during 1978, in which he wrestled his former trainer Rudy Kay in a 30-min. match, he began teaming with Moose Morowski in Calgary and Charlotte. Splitting his time between the Maritimes and Calgary, he declined offers to tour Japan and Germany instead wishing to remain in Calgary. He later teamed with Keith Hart to win the Stampede Wrestling International tag team titles from the Cuban Assassin and
Norman Frederick Charles III Norman Frederick Charles III (25 July 1941 22 August 2019) was an English professional wrestler who was known worldwide under the name Murphy the Surfie. Initially Charles competed both in North American and international promotions as part of ...
on April 29 before losing the titles to
Raul Raul, Raúl and Raül are the Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Galician, Asturian, Basque, Aragonese, and Catalan forms of the Anglo-Germanic given name Ralph or Rudolph. They are cognates of the French Raoul. Raul, Raúl or Raül may re ...
and Fidel Castillo September 9, 1978. With Leo Burke, together they advanced to the finals of a championship tournament to fill the vacant Stampede International tag team titles before losing to The Dynamite Kid & Mr. Sekigawa on December 21, 1979. The two would win the Grand Prix Wrestling North American tag team titles on June 26, 1980 before losing the titles to the Cuban Assassin and Bobby Bass that same year. During 1981, he defeated Bruce Hart for the Stampede Wrestling British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Championship on March 13 and soon began teaming with Kerry Brown against Bruce and Keith Hart the following month before losing a 6-man tag team match with Brown and Jude Rosenbloom against
Jim Neidhart James Henry Neidhart (February 8, 1955 – August 13, 2018) was an American professional wrestler known for his appearances in the 1980s and 1990s in the World Wrestling Federation as Jim "The Anvil" Neidhart, where he was a two-time WWF Tag T ...
, Bruce and Keith Hart in
Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...
, Alberta on April 18. Losing the title to former tag team partner Keith Hart on May 9, the following year he would team with Jude Rosenbloom losing to
Hercules Ayala Ruben Cruz (July 14, 1950 – January 22, 2020) was a Puerto Rican professional wrestler, better known by his ring name Hercules Ayala. He competed in Canadian and international wrestling promotions including the eastern Canadian Grand Prix Wres ...
&
Kung Fu Chinese martial arts, often called by the umbrella terms kung fu (; ), kuoshu () or wushu (), are multiple fighting styles that have developed over the centuries in Greater China. These fighting styles are often classified according to common ...
in the opening rounds of the 1982 Stampede International Tag Team Tournament in March 1982. In 1984, he began teaming with Danny Davis defeating Bruce Hart &
Davey Boy Smith David Smith (27 November 1962 – 18 May 2002) was an English professional wrestler. Born in Golborne, Lancashire, Smith is best known for his appearances in the United States with the World Wrestling Federation under the ring names Davey Bo ...
on February 27 to regain the tag team titles although the titles were eventually vacated following a match with
Philip Lafond Philippe Lafon (born September 16, 1961) is a Canadian professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with the World Wrestling Federation as Phil Lafon and with All Japan Pro Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling under the rin ...
& Ben Bassarab several weeks later. He and Davis would fail to regain the titles at the later tournament for the vacant titles being eliminated by
The British Bulldogs The British Bulldogs were a professional wrestling tag team consisting of cousins Davey Boy Smith and Dynamite Kid. They competed throughout the 1980s in Britain, North America and Japan and have consistently ranked among the top tag teams in h ...
in the semi-finals on March 31, 1984. After undergoing back surgery later that year, Gallant spent six months recuperating before returning to active competition. However, after teaming with Kerry Brown to lose to
Wayne Ferris Roy Wayne Farris (born January 25, 1953), better known by the ring name The Honky Tonk Man, is an American retired professional wrestler. He previously wrestled for World Championship Wrestling (WCW) and World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE) ...
&
Ron Starr Bobby Eugene Nutt (April 3, 1951 – June 8, 2017), better known by his ring name Ron Starr, was an American professional wrestler. Starr was a mainstay for numerous wrestling territories throughout the 1970s and 80s, capturing almost three doze ...
in the tournament finals for the Stampede International tag team titles in October 1985, limited mobility as well as the birth of his first son forced him into semi-retirement touring with Grand Prix Wrestling during the next two years before retiring in 1986.


Retirement

After his retirement, Gallant settled down with his wife Claire and his two sons Jocelin and Jason in Cap-Pele, New Brunswick where he resumed his career as a machine operator hauling wood and buying woodlots although he would continue to train younger wrestlers for Grand Prix Wrestling during the 1990s, most notably Gary Williams and Mike Hughes. An accomplished musician, he has also appeared as a guitarist playing with Francis Cormier and the Bluegrass Diamonds while touring the Maritimes provinces.


Championships and accomplishments

*TransCanada Wrestling **Maritime Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Leo Burke 1977 *Grand Prix Wrestling **GPW North American Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Leo Burke *International Wrestling **Global Tag Team Championship (2 or 3 times) - with Rudy Kay *
Stampede Wrestling Stampede Wrestling was a Canadian professional wrestling promotion based in Calgary, Alberta. For nearly 50 years, it was one of the main promotions in western Canada and the Canadian Prairies. Originally established by Stu Hart in 1948, the prom ...
**
Stampede British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Championship The Stampede Wrestling British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling title for lighter wrestlers in the Canadian promotion Stampede Wrestling Stampede Wrestling was a Canadian professional wrestling promotion ba ...
( 1 time) **
Stampede International Tag Team Championship The Stampede International Tag Team Championship was the main tag team title in the Canadian professional wrestling promotion Stampede Wrestling. It was created in 1958 as the NWA International Tag Team Championship (Calgary version). When promote ...
(
2 times "2 Times" is a song co-written and recorded by British Italian-based singer Ann Lee. It was released in 1999 as the lead single from her debut album, ''Dreams'' (1999). The single entered and peaked at number two on the UK Singles Chart. Outside ...
) - with Keith Hart and Danny Davis


References


External links

*
Gary Will's Canadian Pro Wrestling Page of Fame
{{DEFAULTSORT:Gallant, Hubert 1955 births Acadian people Canadian male professional wrestlers Living people People from Shediac Professional wrestlers from New Brunswick Sportspeople from New Brunswick Stampede Wrestling alumni 20th-century professional wrestlers Stampede Wrestling British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Champions