Lionel Giroux (January 14, 1934 – December 4, 1995) was a Canadian

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

, better known by the

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name or nickname used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons ...

Little Beaver. He is best known for his appearance in a

six-man tag team match Much like the singles match, tag team professional wrestling matches can and have taken many forms. Just about any singles or melee match type can be adapted to tag teams; for example, hardcore tag team matches are commonplace. Tag team ladder m ...

WrestleMania III WrestleMania III was a 1987 professional wrestling pay-per-view (PPV) List of WWE pay-per-view events, event produced by the WWE, World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE). It was the third annual WrestleMania and held on March 29, 1987, at the ...

in 1987.

Professional wrestling career

Lionel Giroux began his wrestling career in 1949, at the age of fifteen, and then began to wrestle for promoters in

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

. He, along with Sky Low Low, became two of the most famous midget wrestlers in wrestling who had enough drawing power to command a large portion of the live gate for wrestling events. Giroux helped to create the comedy matches that have since become a trademark for midget wrestling in Canada and the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. In 1973, Giroux won the

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publishing Group. The maga ...

Midget Wrestler of the Year award. Little Beaver 1952

His last in-ring appearance was at WrestleMania III in the

Pontiac Silverdome The Pontiac Silverdome (also known as the Silverdome) was a stadium in Pontiac, Michigan. It opened in 1975 and sat on 199 acres (51 ha) of land. When the stadium opened, it featured a fiberglass fabric roof held up by air pressure, the fi ...

Pontiac Pontiac most often refers to: * Pontiac (Odawa leader) ( – 1769), Native American war chief *Pontiac (automobile), a former General Motors brand Pontiac may also refer to: Places and jurisdictions Canada * Pontiac, Quebec, a municipality ** Apo ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

, in 1987, at the age of 52. Giroux, wrestling as Little Beaver, teamed with

Hillbilly Jim James Morris (born July 5, 1952) is an American retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and current radio host, better known by his ring name, Hillbilly Jim. He is best known for his appearances with the WWE, World Wrestling Federa ...

and fellow midget wrestler the Haiti Kid, defeating

King Kong Bundy Christopher Alan Pallies (November 7, 1955 – March 4, 2019) was an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, stand-up comedian and actor better known by his wrestling gimmick and ring name, King Kong Bundy. Under this gimmick, he ...

and his midget tag-team partners Little Tokyo and

Lord Littlebrook Eric Henry Edward Tovey (3 January 1929 – 9 September 2016), known professionally as Lord Littlebrook, was an English midget wrestler. He enjoyed his greatest success during the 1970s, when he held the NWA World Midget's Championship. He was a ...

, after Bundy was disqualified for attacking Little Beaver. During the match, Giroux suffered a back injury at the hands of Bundy after he was bodyslammed and had an elbow dropped on him by the Bundy, which forced him to retire from professional wrestling (through the match Beaver had "annoyed" Bundy including elbowing him in the stomach, delivering a drop kick that had literally no effect, and slapping him with his

moccasin A moccasin is a shoe, made of deerskin or other soft leather, consisting of a sole (made with leather that has not been "worked") and sides made of one piece of leather, stitched together at the top, and sometimes with a vamp (additional pane ...

which Bundy claimed "stung like a son-of-a-bitch"). In a 1998 interview Bundy said he hoped that he wasn't responsible for Giroux's early death, saying he wouldn't want that on his conscience. A few months after WrestleMania III, during a match at the

Boston Garden The Boston Garden was an arena in Boston, Massachusetts. Designed by boxing promoter Tex Rickard, who also built the third iteration of New York's Madison Square Garden, it opened on November 17, 1928, as "Boston Madison Square Garden" (later ...

that aired later on

WWF Prime Time Wrestling ''WWF Prime Time Wrestling'' was a professional wrestling television program that was produced by the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). It aired on the USA Network from January 1, 1985, to January 4, 1993. A precursor to ''Monday Night Raw'', ''P ...

, Giroux (again as Little Beaver) was in Hillbilly Jim's corner for a match against the

One Man Gang George Gray (born February 12, 1960) is an American retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler, better known by his ring name (The) One Man Gang. For three years in the WWE, World Wrestling Federation (WWF), he was Akeem "The Africa ...

. In a comical match eventually won by Hillbilly via a countout, Beaver got involved on several occasions, including antagonizing Gang's manager, Slick, throughout the match and hitting the back of Gang's head with a broom after the match was finished. The Gang finally caught Little Beaver in the ring and after delivering a blow that sent him sprawling, he followed Slick's orders to hit Beaver with his 747 Splash.

Death

Giroux died on December 4, 1995, of

emphysema Emphysema is any air-filled enlargement in the body's tissues. Most commonly emphysema refers to the permanent enlargement of air spaces (alveoli) in the lungs, and is also known as pulmonary emphysema. Emphysema is a lower respiratory tract di ...

. In 2003, Giroux was inducted into the

Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame The Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame (PWHF) and Museum was an American professional wrestling hall of fame and museum located in Wichita Falls, Texas; following the postponement of its 19th induction ceremony, planned for May 2020, and an annou ...

Championships and accomplishments

National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and governing body owned by Billy Corgan and operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA be ...

NWA World Midget's Championship The NWA World Midget's Championship was the National Wrestling Alliance's midget wrestling singles championship. Large parts of the championship history is undocumented due to lack of documentation of Midget wrestling for large periods of time fro ...

(2 times) **

NWA Hall of Fame The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) Hall of Fame is an American professional wrestling hall of fame maintained by the NWA. It was established in 2005 to honor select wrestling personalities, mostly alumni of the NWA. Inductees receive commemor ...

(Class of 2012) *

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 Wrestling Hall of Fame 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 ...

(Class of 1995) *''

'' ** Midget Wrestler of the Year (1973) *

**Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame Inductee (2003) * Other ** Midgets' World Championship (3 times) **Midgets' World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jim Corbett

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1934 births 1995 deaths Canadian male professional wrestlers Deaths from emphysema Faux Native American professional wrestlers Midget professional wrestlers People from Saint-Jérôme Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum 20th-century male professional wrestlers 20th-century Canadian professional wrestlers 20th-century Canadian sportsmen NWA Texas Heavyweight Champions