Rolland "Red" Bastien (January 27, 1931 – August 11, 2012) was an American

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

best known for his time in Capital Wrestling Corporation where he was a 3 time WWWF United States Tagteam champion with his kayfabe brother, Lou Bastien.

Professional wrestling career

He took part in football and

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, or other liquid, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Locomotion is achieved through coordinated movement of the limbs and the body to achieve hydrodynamic thrust that r ...

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and broke in on Midwest

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s, fighting local toughs and learning wrestling the hard way. Turning professional, he began in

Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = List of sovereign states, Count ...

and toured the United States with great success. Bastien was small for a wrestler at 185 pounds, but he was quick, vigorous, fast and employed a wide assortment of aerial moves. His teachers were Henry Kolln, Einar Olsen, Joe Pazandak and

Verne Gagne Laverne Clarence Gagne (February 26, 1926 – April 27, 2015) was an American amateur and professional wrestler, football player, wrestling trainer, and wrestling promoter. He was the owner and promoter of the Minneapolis-based American Wrestli ...

, and his peak years were from 1959 to 1971. His favorite finishing moves were the dropkick, flying head scissors, atomic drop and abdominal stretch. Bastien teamed up with Lou Klein to form the Bastien Brothers tag team and, in 1960, won the United States Tag Team Championship from Eddie and Jerry Graham in April 1960. They won the title twice more in 1960, from the Grahams and then from the

Fabulous Kangaroos :''This team is not to be mistaken for the similarly named team The Royal Kangaroos of Jonathan Boyd and Norman Frederick Charles III'' The Fabulous Kangaroos were a professional wrestling tag team who existed in various forms from 1957 until 19 ...

( Roy Heffernan and Al Costello). Bastien went on to win several more tag team championships. Bastien was the frequent

tag team Tag team wrestling is a type of professional wrestling in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. Tag teams may be made up of wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of establish ...

partner of Billy Red Lyons. The duo unmasked wrestler Don Jardine in 1972. Bastien was the booker in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County wi ...

. In 1964, Bastein appeared in the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF) and teamed briefly with champion

Bruno Sammartino Bruno Leopoldo Francesco Sammartino (October 6, 1935 – April 18, 2018) was an Italian-born American professional wrestler, best known for his work with the World Wide Wrestling Federation (WWWF, now WWE). There, he held the WWWF World Heavyw ...

. He returned for one match in

Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as The Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh and Eighth avenues from 31st to 33rd Street, above Pennsyl ...

in June 1970 (his last appearance there), being pinned by

Professor Tanaka Charles J. Kalani Jr. (January 6, 1930 – August 22, 2000) was an American professional wrestler, professional boxer, college football player, soldier, actor, and martial artist who, in fighting rings, was also known as Professor Toru Tanaka, o ...

but prior to that, putting on an amazing performance, dominating most of the match. He had a hot main event run in

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in the late 1960s, including memorable bouts with

Johnny Valentine John Theodore Wisniski (September 22, 1928 – April 24, 2001), better known by his ring name Johnny Valentine, was an American professional wrestler with a career spanning almost three decades. He has been inducted into four halls of fame fo ...

. In the mid to late '70s, he returned to the WWWF/WWF, wrestling under a mask as "Texas Red". In his retirement, Bastien became a trainer and a promoter, and discovered future wrestlers Steve "Sting" Borden and Jim "The Ultimate Warrior" Hellwig at a

Gold's Gym Gold's Gym International, Inc. is an American chain of international co-ed fitness centers (commonly referred to as gyms) originally started by Joe Gold in Venice Beach, California. Each gym offers a variety of cardio and strength training eq ...

and convinced them to become professional wrestlers. Bastien and professional wrestling

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities ...

Rick Bassman formed an alliance of wrestlers called Powerteam USA, of which Borden and Hellwig were a part. The team debuted in November 1985, and after the other two members left the group, Borden and Hellwig continued to tag together.

Personal life

Bastien was good friends with fellow wrestler

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

and was the

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at his

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. Bastien served as president of the

Cauliflower Alley Club The Cauliflower Alley Club is a non-profit fraternal organization, which includes a newsletter and website, comprising both retired and active professional wrestlers and boxers in North America. Established in 1965 by Mike Mazurki and Art Abra ...

for six years from 2001 to 2007, but was reported in 2010 to be suffering from

Alzheimer’s disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As ...

, his health progressively getting worse. Bastien died on August 11, 2012, at age 81.

Championships and accomplishments

* American Wrestling Alliance :* AWA World Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with Lou Bastien *

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 owned and founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo. The territory was originally part o ...

:* AWA World Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) - with Hercules Cortez and replacement partner The Crusher (1) * Capitol Wrestling Corporation :* NWA United States Tag Team Championship ''(Northeast version)'' ( 3 times) - with Lou Bastien *

:*President (2001-2007) *

Championship Wrestling from Florida Championship Wrestling from Florida (CWF) was the corporate and brand name of the Tampa, Florida wrestling office existing from 1961, when Eddie Graham first bought into the promotion, until 1987, when it closed down. It is also referred to a ...

NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship The NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship was a major title in Championship Wrestling from Florida, USA and is now the major title in NWA Florida Wrestling Alliance. It started in 1937 and was abandoned in 1949. It was picked back up in 1966 by C ...

( 1 time) :* NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship ''(Florida version)'' ( 1 time) * George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame ** Class of 2007 * International Wrestling Alliance (Japan) :* IWA Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Bill Howard *

NWA All-Star Wrestling NWA All Star Wrestling (sometimes referred to as NWA Vancouver) is a Canadian professional wrestling promotion, based in Vancouver, British Columbia. All-Star Wrestling folded in 1989 but returned in 2007 no longer affiliated with the National Wr ...

:* NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship ''(Vancouver version)'' ( 1 time) - with Jim Hady * NWA Big Time Wrestling :*

NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship The NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling title that has existed since the 1930s. Though its exact date of creation isn't known, it is among the oldest championships used in professional wrestling today. The title has us ...

(

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) :*NWA Texas Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)* :* NWA Texas Tag Team Championship (

) - with Billy Red Lyons (1) and Tex McKenzie (1) * NWA Hollywood Wrestling :* NWA Americas Heavyweight Championship (

) :*

NWA Americas Tag Team Championship The NWA Americas Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling tag team title in the National Wrestling Alliance's NWA Hollywood Wrestling based out of Los Angeles, California. The championship began as the WWA World Tag Team Championship ...

( 1 time) - with Victor Rivera :* NWA International Television Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) - with Bearcat Wright *

Pacific Northwest Wrestling Pacific Northwest Wrestling (PNW) (also known as Big Time Wrestling and Portland Wrestling) is the common name used to refer to several different professional wrestling companies, both past and present, based in Portland, Oregon, United States. T ...

:* NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship (

) - with Andre Drapp (1) and Roy Heffernan (1) :*

Pacific Coast Junior Heavyweight Championship The Pacific Coast Junior Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship that was contended for in the Pacific Northwest from the early 1940s until 1957. When the title was retired in 1957, it was the top singles title in th ...

( 1 time) *Professional Wrestling Championship :*Lifetime Achievement Award (2006) *

Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame The Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame (PWHF) and Museum is an American professional wrestling hall of fame and museum located in Wichita Falls, Texas currently closed to water leaks. The museum was founded by Tony Vellano in 1999, and was previ ...

**Class of 2018 Inducted under Executive and under Tag Team as a member of The Flying Redheads. *

World Championship Wrestling (Australia) World Championship Wrestling was an Australian professional wrestling promotion that ran from 1964 until 1978. History The promotion gained publicity through television programs on the Nine Network, which were presented at noon on Saturdays and ...

:* IWA World Tag Team Championship ( 3 times) - with Mario Milano

References

External links

Online World of Wrestling profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bastien, Red 1931 births 2012 deaths 20th-century professional wrestlers American male professional wrestlers Masked wrestlers Deaths from Alzheimer's disease Neurological disease deaths in Minnesota Professional wrestlers from North Dakota Professional wrestling executives Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum Stampede Wrestling alumni AWA World Tag Team Champions NWA Florida Heavyweight Champions NWA Southern Heavyweight Champions (Florida version) NWA Americas Tag Team Champions NWA Americas Heavyweight Champions IWA World Tag Team Champions (Australia)