Édouard Carpentier

Édouard Carpentier was a French professional wrestler who garnered several world championships in a career that spanned the 1950s into the 1970s.

Career

Born Edouard Wiercowicz on July 17, 1926 in Roanne, Loire, France to a Russian father and a Polish mother, he joined the French underground resistance during the period of German occupation during WW2, and was subsequently awarded medals by the French government at the close of the war.

He moved to Montreal, Canada and became an all around athlete with great gymnastic skills. An early proponent of "scientific" wrestling, Carpentier was a crowd favorite who delighted fans with acrobatic leaps from the turnbuckles and a variety of other aerial manoeuvres such as "flying head scissors." He was always a face, or "good guy," in his bouts, and was paired with numerous villains, perhaps the most well known of whom was the legendary Killer Kowalski.

After his retirement, Carpentier operated a school for teaching professional wrestling skills.He also worked in late 80's-early 90's for French TV channel Canal + where he operated as a babyface colour commentator, alongside heel play-by-play host Guy Hauray, for the French edition of the World Wrestling Federation TV show "Superstars" (he would be replaced by former French-Canadian wrestler Raymond Rougeau)