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| Jos Leduc |
| Real Name: Michel Pigeon Born: Montreal, Qc. 1944 Died: Atlanta, Georgia USA May 1st, 2004 Nicknamed: The Canadian Freight Train FACT: Nobody really knew that Paul and Jos were not brothers at all until Jos's death. However, both were linked very tight. A major U.S. diplomat met the duo once. He was deceived to see them wearing tuxedos and wanted the brothers to wear their lumberjack gear, with 'tuque' included ! Jos Leduc was not buried, his ashes were thrown at sea... |
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| Qu�bec Wrestling |
| Michel Pigeon only had a dream while being a policeman at the Manicouagan Electric Dam in the 60's and teaching judo�: being a pro wrestler. |
| Already a strongman and having the capabilities to do such a big job, he went to see matches at Baie-Comeau where he saw his future alter ego Paul Leduc back in 1965. Befriending with him, Paul soon tried to work something for Michel, considering that the latter has not been trained by a good wrestling school. |
| After spending two years in Mexico, Paul spoke to promoter Don Owens of Portland to bring the future Jos Leduc into action. It was a "�brother, come and save me�" storyline. Based on the Paul Bunyan legend, Jos would arrive as an heroic lumberjack saving his little brother (Paul was short) from the thugs who gave him a beating. After a crash training course given by Jack Britton, Jos went into action in the Pacific Northwest, giving the fans their money's worth by bullying every one who beated his brother. It was a smash success and even Paul thinks today that Vince McMahon wouldn't have done better... |
| Then, it's Montr�al, at the All-Star Wrestling Promotion held by Johnny Rougeau. He had a feud against the latter and his brother Jacques Sr, as well as Killer Kowalski, then moved to Grand Prix Wrestling to battle the Vachon Brothers (very epic fights between these two families). He was also accidentally involved in the Don Taylor incident in 1974 (Taylor refused to defend his belt, as it caused a controversial dispute between him, the Rougeaus and the Leducs), which caused the cancellation of one wrestling show at the Paul Sauv� Arena... |
| Afterwards, the brothers split due to Paul's sudden heart condition which forced him to retire from competition. Jos went to the States and was a big hit as a heel in the Memphis based CWA, fighting icons like Jerry "�the King�" Lawler (the wacky color commentator at WWF RAW IS WAR) and Superstar Bill Dundee. He also did some demonstrations as a strongman, cutting himself with his axe, pulling buses, pushing 505 pounds each time on the bench press and resisting at a six men tug-of-war. |
| He went back to Montr�al in 1984, part of the INTERNATIONAL WRESTLING promotion. He gave a hard time to heels like Pierre "�Mad Dog�" Lebfevre, Frenchy Martin and Tarzan Tyler's stable of brutes who didn't believe his strongman demonstrations, especially the Masked Superstar (Bill Eadie) who made a mockery of his acts on TV. Jos even avenged his brother again when he, as a referee, was attacked by the Tyler gang. On January 1985 though, he betrayed Armand Rougeau and gave the fans a taste of his heel attitude and joined Tarzan. His unruly behavior irritated at one point Frank Valois that he suspended him for two years... |
| Jos Leduc continued to tour several promotions around the southern States, where he settled. He was nicknamed the "�Canadian Freight Train�" by his fans. And for a reason�: his actions in the ring were rough and tough. In real life, he was married and had three kids, as well as being connected with his adoptive brother Paul.. At a point, he lived life at the extreme and that caused him many health and personal problems (he had diabetes). |
| On May 1st, 1999, Jos suddenly died from a lung disease while visiting a member of his family near Atlanta, Georgia. The press were stunned by discovering that his real name wasn't Leduc at all. The secret was kept at his best until he passed away... And brother Paul to remind us that life is only but a loan... |
| Source�: SlamWrestling, Paul Leduc and Gary Will's Canadian Wrestling Page of Fame. |
| Copyright 2004, DeUxKonE, Montr�al, Qc |
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