Fernand Levis Valois (December 17, 1921 – December 31, 1998) was a

French Canadian French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French people, French colonists first arriving in Canada (New France), France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of ...

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 ...

, promoter and actor who was best known to fans in Quebec, United States and Europe as Frank Valois. He was the promoter for Montreal's

Lutte Internationale Lutte Internationale (; "International Wrestling") was a professional wrestling promotion based in Montreal from 1980 until 1987. The promotion was founded by Frank Valois, André the Giant and Gino Brito as Promotions Varoussac (VAlois, ROUSSim ...

in the 1980s.

Professional wrestling career

Trained by lightweight world champion Eugene Trembley as an amateur, Valois started wrestling in 1940 at the age of 18 in Montreal for promoter

Eddie Quinn Edmund R. Quinn (May 22, 1906 – December 14, 1965) was an American manager and professional wrestling promoter in Canada and the United States. He grew up in Massachusetts and organized boxing and wrestling events in New England and such cities ...

. He also worked in Quebec City and other towns in Quebec. In 1944, he moved to the United States to work for Boston promoter

Paul Bowser Paul Forbes Bowser (May 28, 1886 – July 17, 1960) was an American professional wrestling promoter who was active from the 1920s to the 1950s in the Boston area.Tim Hornbaker,Paul Bowser Biography" 2006 Wrestler Bowser grew up on a farm in we ...

. His career nearly came to a screeching halt in 1945 when a driver ran a red light and hit Valois' car. He survived the accident but it left a scar in his face. Valois continued to wrestle and was described in 1947 as "strictly a scientific grappler who relies upon speed, agility, and aggressiveness to win." He was a good babyface but also excelled as a heel, causing riots and enraging fans by hitting his opponents with his dreaded atomic drop finisher. The legality was challenged and upheld by the NWA in 1954. He started competing in Europe in 1949, developing a rough and tough style which included him using a cobra hold. Mainly worked in Switzerland. In fact, he was that successful in Europe that he was filming around 20 movies with top French actors. Valois also served as a bodyguard in France for Georges Pompidou and Charles de Gaulle. In 1952, he left Europe and went to Toronto to work for

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 also worked in other Ontario towns. In 1953, he worked in Hawaii. Then in 1954 returned to work for Eddie Quinn in Montreal and Ottawa. On March 10, 1959, Valois and Andre Bollet won the

NWA Texas Tag Team Championship The WCWA Texas Tag Team Championship was the secondary professional wrestling tag team championship promoted by the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex area-based World Class Wrestling Association (WCWA). The championship was originally known as the NWA ...

defeating Chief Big Heart and Chief Little Eagle, holding the belts for a month until they dropped it back to Chief Big Heart and Chief Little Eagle. He also competed in Japan in 1960 where Valois teamed with Dan Miller and defeated Rikidozan and Michiaki Yoshimura to win the

All Asia Tag Team Championship The is a professional wrestling tag team title in Japanese promotion All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). Originally, it was the top tag team title in the JWA, but its status became secondary once the NWA International Tag Team Championship was brou ...

in a tournament final. They only held the titles for five days dropping it to Rikidozan and

Toyonobori , known in sumo and professional wrestling as or simply by his ''shikona'' , was a Japanese professional wrestler and sumo wrestler. Sumo career Toyonobori performed as a sumo wrestler from 1947 to 1954. Professional wrestling career Japanes ...

. Throughout the 1960s he worked in the United States. From 1963 to 1965 he worked in Florida and the Mid-Atlantic. Valois returned to Europe in 1965 working in France. In 1966, Valois met Andre Roussimoff who was known as Andre the Giant, and years later, notably became his business manager and advisor. He occasionally wrestled on the undercard of shows where Andre was working as a headliner in the 1970s. In 1969, he returned to Japan. In 1972 he made his debut for Montreal's brand new Grand Prix promotion. He lost to Andre the Giant in a match in Pittsburgh in 1973. From 1973 to 1975 he worked 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 ...

based in New York City. Valois retired as a wrestler in 1978.

Lutte Internationale

After retiring from wrestling, Valois in 1980 joined Andre the Giant and

Gino Brito Louis Gino Acocella (born May 18, 1941), better known by his ring name Gino Brito, is a retired Canadian professional wrestler and promoter. He was most popular in Montreal. As Louis Cerdan, he was a WWWF Tag Team Champion with fellow Italian-C ...

and formed Lutte Internationale (; "International Wrestling") also known as Promotions Varoussac (VAlois, ROUSSimoff, and ACcocella Promotions) the latter made up of the first letters of their family names. Lutte Internationale succeeded All-Star Wrestling and

Grand Prix Wrestling Grand Prix Wrestling (GPW) was a professional wrestling promotion run and owned by Emile Duprée. It toured parts of New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia. It has no connection with Paul Vachon's Grand Prix Wrestling promotion of Mo ...

as Quebec's top wrestling promotion for most of the 1980s. Andre's manager Frank Valois had the necessary business experience to run a wrestling company. Valois retired as a promoter in 1986 a year before the promotion went bankrupt in June 1987.

Personal life

Valois passed away on New Year's Eve 1998 at 77. He was posthumously inducted into the Quebec Hall of Fame in 2010.

Championships and accomplishments

* Southwest Sports, Inc. / Big Time Wrestling **

( 1 time) - with Andre Bollet (1) *

Japan Wrestling Association The , also known as the Japan Pro Wrestling Association and the Japanese Wrestling Association (JWA), was the first professional wrestling promotion to be based in Japan. It operated from 1953 to 1973. History JWA under Rikidōzan (1953–1963 ...

(1 time) - with Dan Miller *Quebec Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame **Class of 2010

References

General * * Specific

External links

Frank Valois at OWW.com
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Valois, Frank 1921 births 1998 deaths Canadian male professional wrestlers Professional wrestlers from Montreal Professional wrestlers from Quebec Stampede Wrestling alumni 20th-century Canadian sportsmen