Stephen Petitpas (born November 14, 1957) is 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 ...

Professional wrestling career

Petitpas was born in Soest, Germany. He grew up in a French household in Shediac,

New Brunswick New Brunswick is a Provinces and Territories of Canada, province of Canada, bordering Quebec to the north, Nova Scotia to the east, the Gulf of Saint Lawrence to the northeast, the Bay of Fundy to the southeast, and the U.S. state of Maine to ...

. Petitpas lived in a small

Acadian The Acadians (; , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Today, most descendants of Acadians live in either the Northern American region of Acadia, ...

house with a professional wrestler,

Emile Duprée Emile Duprée (born Emile Goguen; October 20, 1936 – September 17, 2023) was a Canadian professional wrestler and promoter. He was also the father of former WWE wrestler René Duprée, and lived in Pointe-du-Chêne, New Brunswick. Early lif ...

, living across the street. Petitpas would watch Duprée train in his backyard. By the time he was thirteen and fourteen, Petitpas was putting up the ring for Duprée. By the age of 15 he was 6 feet 3 inches tall and weighed 220 pounds. Petitpas refereed some matches for Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling (AGPW), Duprée's wrestling promotion. When some wrestlers quit AGPW, Petitpas became involved as a wrestler at Duprée's invitation. While in the

Maritimes The Maritimes, also called the Maritime provinces, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces: New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The Maritimes had a population of 1,899,324 in 2021, which makes up 5.1% of ...

, Petitpas always wrestled as a

face The face is the front of the head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may affect th ...

(fan favorite). Petitpas traveled around the world to compete during his career, including wrestling tours of Germany, Japan, and India. He had five matches against

Ric Flair Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949), known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American retired professional wrestler. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, Flair's career spanned 50 years. He is ...

for the

NWA World Heavyweight Championship The NWA World's Heavyweight Championship is a men's professional wrestling Professional wrestling championship#World championships, world heavyweight championship owned and promoted by the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), an American professiona ...

but was unable to win the title belt. In AGPW, Petitpas held several titles, including the AGPW International Heavyweight Championship, which he won in 1985 by defeating Super Destroyer. He also won the AGPW Maritimes Heavyweight Championship on two occasions, winning the inaugural title and later defeating Super Destroyer to regain the belt. Wrestling in the

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

-based Lutte Internationale, Petitpas competed under 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 ...

Sheik Ali. He portrayed a

heel The heel is the prominence at the posterior end of the foot. It is based on the projection of one bone, the calcaneus or heel bone, behind the articulation of the bones of the lower leg. Structure To distribute the compressive forces exerted ...

(villain) character and was managed by Eddie "The Brain" Creatchman and "Pretty Boy" Floyd Creatchman. He competed against such wrestlers as

Rick Martel Richard Vigneault (born March 18, 1956) is a Canadian retired professional wrestler, trainer, and television presenter, better known by his ring name, "The Model" Rick Martel. He is best known for his appearances with the American Wrestling As ...

, Dino Bravo, and Abdullah the Butcher. He was given an opportunity to compete for the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) but did not get to wrestle in any of the matches because Martel, who ran Lutte International, became concerned about how they would impact Petitpas's schedule and status in Lutte International. While competing for the company, Petitpas teamed with

Richard Charland Richard Charland (born September 26, 1956) is a Canadian professional wrestler. Professional wrestling career Early career (1972-1980) Richard Charland became a wrestler with the encouragement by Mad Dog Vachon. The mat legend had met Charla ...

in 1986 to win the Canadian International Tag Team Championship by defeating Dan Kroffat and Tom Zenk. When Duprée decided to stop promoting shows, he sold AGPW to Petitpas and

Leo Burke Léonce Cormier (June 29, 1948 – July 24, 2024) was a Canadian professional wrestler. He was born in Dorchester, New Brunswick. He competed across Canada, in several American promotions, and wrestled internationally for Puerto Rico's Worl ...

. In 1988 and 1989, he ran shows in addition to operating the Atlantic Wrestling School. His most famous trainee at the school was Robert Maillet, who went on to wrestle in the WWF as Kurrgan. Petitpas found it difficult to compete with the WWF in the Maritimes and ultimately closed his promotion. Canadian wrestler Buddy Lane has called Petitpas's career "the biggest waste of talent ever" in wrestling, as Petitpas was given opportunities to wrestle for larger companies but chose to remain in the Maritimes. He has three children, a daughter and two sons.

Championships and accomplishments

* Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling **AGPW International Heavyweight Championship (1 time) **AGPW Maritimes Heavyweight Championship (2 times) **AGPW North American Tag Team Champion (3 times) - with The Great Malumba (1 time) and

(2 times) * Lutte Internationale ** Canadian International Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) - with

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Petitpas, Stephen 1957 births 20th-century male professional wrestlers 20th-century Canadian professional wrestlers Canadian male professional wrestlers German male professional wrestlers Living people People from Shediac Professional wrestlers from New Brunswick Stampede Wrestling alumni 20th-century Canadian sportsmen