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| The Baillargeon Brothers |
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| Born: St-Michel de Bellechasse Quebec (south shore of Quebec City) Birth years of the brothers Jean (1915), Charles (1917) Adrien (1918), Lionel (1921) Paul (1922), Antonio (1928) |
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| Copyright 2004, DeUxKonE, Montr�al, Qc |
| Qu�bec Wrestling |
| They were six strong men from the Bellechasse county south of Qu�bec City. Sons of Joseph Baillargeon, who was a milkman, a lumberjack, a butcher and a farmer, they noticed since their young age that they inherited from both their families the streinght that would make them so famous. |
| It was Jean who started all this. He answered a challenge made by a wrestler in Qu�bec City in 1947 to lift a very heavy weight. Jean impressed everyone at La Tour Arena that he shadowed the poor wrestler who was the only one able to lift such a heavy load... Then, he invited his brothers to put an act together and do a strongman demonstration show. Along with the Dionne Brothers, a duo of acrobats, the six brothers toured from 1947 to 1949 around Qu�bec, the Maritimes, New England and Ontario. They drew crowds everywhere. Their show consisted of streingth demonstrations, acrobatics and human pyramids. |
| In 1949, all brothers started pro wrestling. In general, everyone earned championship belts except Charles, who stopped his career in 1955 due to a car accident. They wrestled legends such as Lou Thesz, Yvon Robert, Wladek Kowalski, Don Leo Jonathan, Pat O'Connor and so on. Antonio, who shortened his name to Tony when he wrestled, was the most known member in pro wrestling because of his long career from 1949 to 1976. |
| Today, two of the famous brothers, Paul and Charles, are still alive. |
| Source�: Tribute to the famous Baillargeon Brothers by R�jean L�vesque, (in french, �ditions la Plume d'or) |