Dave McKigney (June 9, 1932 – July 4, 1988) 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 ...

, also known by his

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 ...

, The Bearman. He is best known for wrestling bears and training Terrible Ted. His appearance as a scruffy beard and long hair. He appeared in Canada with

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

Maple Leaf Wrestling Maple Leaf Wrestling was the unofficial name of a Canadian professional wrestling promotion owned by Frank Tunney and based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada during the 1970s and 1980s. Founded in 1930, Maple Leaf was a territory of the National Wrestli ...

, and across the border for the

World Wide Wrestling Federation Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC) was an American sports promotion company. Run by Vincent J. McMahon from the 1950s until the 1980s, the company was originally a professional wrestling and boxing promotion and later became the holding company ...

, in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Early life

Born in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

. At age 17, he began wrestling at amateur wrestling level in the Toronto area. McKigney began training in the early 1950s as he was trained by Red Garner in Southern Ontario.

Professional wrestling career

Early career

Started wrestling in Toronto for

as the "Flying Frenchman' Jacques Dubois. He would start training Terrible Ted, an

American black bear The American black bear (''Ursus americanus''), or simply black bear, is a species of medium-sized bear which is Endemism, endemic to North America. It is the continent's smallest and most widely distributed bear species. It is an omnivore, with ...

, stood 7"0 and weighed 600 lbs. Ted was declawed and detoothed, and travelled with a carnival in his early years, When the carnival went bankrupt in the early 1950s, McKigney adopted and trained him. On Boxing Day in 1958, before 8,250 fans, "Terrible" Ted defeated his mentor McKigney at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto. He wrestled three more matches for Maple Leaf Wrestling to start 1959, then headed to

in Calgary, working Stampede Wrestling's

territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, belonging or connected to a particular country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually a geographic area which has not been granted the powers of self-government, ...

across Alberta and Saskatchewan. He also had a couple of matches for Tri-State Sports in Idaho. With Terrible Ted, McKigney eventually grew out his hair long and had a scruffy beard and wrestled under the Bearman and Wildman gimmicks.

Canada

McKigney was a big name in Canada mainly at Maple Leaf Wrestling in Toronto as the Canadian Wildman. He went to

Stu Hart Stewart Edward Hart (May 3, 1915 – October 16, 2003) was a Canadian sport wrestling, amateur and professional wrestling, professional wrestler, wrestling Booker (professional wrestling), booker, professional wrestling promotion, promoter, and ...

's Stampede Wrestling in Calgary in 1959 and used his name as Gene Dubois, Pierre Dubois and Dave Dubois. MicKigney often teamed with The Wolfman. On July 13, 1966, McKigney offered $3,000 to anyone who could pin Ted. The challenge was accepted and met by John Szigeti (a 36-year-old welder who wanted the money for truck repairs), who pinned Ted "for maybe 15 seconds" before McKigney pried him free. McKigney and promoter Howard Darvin refused to pay the prize, so Szigeti sued them in May 1968. He would sometimes wrestle in Japan even defeating Japanese legend

Antonio Inoki (born ; 20 February 1943 – 1 October 2022) was a Japanese professional wrestler, Glossary of professional wrestling terms#school, professional wrestling trainer, martial arts, martial artist, politician, and Promoter (entertainment), promot ...

by disqualification, the United States in Michigan and Ohio. McKigney would wrestle until his death.

United States

McKigney made appearances in Alabama,

Georgia Championship Wrestling Georgia Championship Wrestling is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The promotion was affiliated with what had been the world's top sanctioning body of championship titles for decades b ...

World Wrestling Association The World Wrestling Association (WWA) (Asociación Mundial de Lucha Libre in Spanish language, Spanish) is a lucha libre promotion based in the Tijuana-area of Mexico. It was founded in 1986 by Benjamin Mora Jr.. It featured some of Mexico's best ...

and

American Wrestling Association The American Wrestling Association (AWA) was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 until 1991. It was founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo. The promotion was born out of the Minneapolis ...

. In 1974 while wrestling in the American Wrestling Association, McKigney would lose to a young

Roddy Piper Roderick George Toombs (April 17, 1954 – July 31, 2015), better known as "Rowdy" Roddy Piper, was a Canadian professional wrestler and actor. In professional wrestling, Piper was best known to international audiences for his work with the Wo ...

World Wide Wrestling Federation

In 1969, McKigney made his debut in the Northeast US for the

as Jean Dubois or sometimes spelled Gene Dubois. His biggest victory in WWWF was when he defeated

Lou Albano Louis Vincent Albano (July 29, 1933 – October 14, 2009) was an Italian-American professional wrestler, manager and actor, who performed under the ring/stage name "Captain" Lou Albano. He was active as a professional wrestler from 1953 until 1 ...

. Dubois would have two titles shots against WWWF Champion

Ivan Koloff Oreal Donald Perras (August 25, 1942 – February 18, 2017) was a Canadian professional wrestler, better known by the ring name "the Russian Bear" Ivan Koloff, where he was billed from Russia and, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, ...

. He would stay with the company until 1972.

Japan

In 1975 McKigney had a stint for

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Puroresu, Japanese professional-wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotion founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, and based in Nakano, Tokyo. It is currently majority owned by card-game company Bushiroad, with TV As ...

where he feuded with Seiji Sakaguchi and

. His biggest victory was win over Japanese legend

by disqualification. Inoki got his revenge by defeating the Canadian Wildman.

Late career

By the late 1970s McKigney wrestled mainly in Toronto and Detroit's Big Time Wrestling into the 1980s.

Personal life

He trained his step-daughter, Rachel Dubois, who wrestled for a brief period in the 1970s. On July 2, 1978, in Aurora, Ontario, McKigney left the door open on the cage of his second bear, Smokey, while he answered the phone. Smokey entered McKigney's house and mauled his girlfriend, 30-year-old Lynn Orser, to death. As a result, both bears were taken away by the Ontario Humane Society. Smokey showed no signs of rabies as of July 5, but was under a 14-day quarantine. McKigney's only possible explanation was that bears sometimes act unpredictably during mating season. On July 4, 1988, in

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region of Labrador, having a total size of . As of 2025 the population ...

, McKigney was driving to a wrestling show with Adrian Adonis (Keith A. Franke, Jr.) and twin brothers William "Mike Kelly" Arko and Victor "Pat Kelly" Arko. Driver Victor Arko swerved to avoid hitting a moose on the Trans-Canada Highway and crashed the van, killing him, Franke and Victor. William was injured but survived. McKigney's son, 8-year-old Davey Jr., witnessed the accident from a following vehicle.

Championships and accomplishments

*Big Bear Promotions **North American Heavyweight Title * Canadian Wrestling Hall of Fame **Class of 2016

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:McKigney, Dave 1932 births 1988 deaths Canadian male professional wrestlers Professional wrestlers from Toronto Stampede Wrestling alumni Road incident deaths in Canada Accidental deaths in Newfoundland and Labrador 20th-century Canadian sportsmen