Michel Lamarche (February 9, 1947 – January 5, 2019) was a Canadian professional wrestler, known by his ringnames Alexis Smirnoff and Michel "Justice" Dubois (''Mike "The Judge" Dubois''), who competed in North American regional promotions including the

National Wrestling Alliance The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and former professional wrestling governing body operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA ...

, including the Mid-South, Central States,

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States Georgia may also refer to: Places Historical states and entities * Related to the ...

and San Francisco territories, as well as brief stints in

International Wrestling Enterprise International Wrestling Enterprise (国際プロレス興行;, ''Kokusai Puroresu Kogyō'') was a professional wrestling promotion in Japan from 1966 to 1981. Founded by Isao Yoshihara, it was affiliated with the American Wrestling Association ...

, the

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 ...

and the

World Wrestling Federation World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc., d/b/a as WWE, is an American professional wrestling promotion. A global integrated media and entertainment company, WWE has also branched out into other fields, including film, American football, and vario ...

during the 1970s and 1980s.

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1970-1974)

Born in Saint-Lin, Quebec, Lamarche was involved in amateur wrestling as a teenager before training under Edouard Carpentier for a career in professional wrestling. Making his debut as "Michel 'Justice' Dubois" in 1970, he wrestled for Montreal promoter Bob Langevin during the early part of his career and, after spending six months in the Kansas City-area, he returned to Canada becoming a major villain or "

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 Human leg, leg. Structure To distribute the compressive for ...

" in Quebec and the Maritimes region. Winning the International Tag Team titles with Fidel Castillo in 1970, the two were billed as the "European Tag Team Champions" while touring

Georgia Championship Wrestling Georgia Championship Wrestling was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Atlanta, Georgia. The promotion was affiliated with what had been the world's top sanctioning body of championship titles for decades before, the National W ...

in January 1971 defending the titles against

Doug Somers Douglas Duane Somerson (September 22, 1951 – May 16, 2017) was an American professional wrestler known by his ring name "Pretty Boy" Doug Somers. He worked in the American Wrestling Association (AWA) in the mid-1980s as part of a tag team with " ...

Bobby Shane Robert Lee Schoenberger (August 25, 1945 – February 20, 1975), better known as Bobby Shane, who also wrestled as Bobby Schoen and as The Challenger, was an American professional wrestler known for his time in NWA Florida in the late 1960s and e ...

, Jack & Jim Dalton, and The Assassins. During the match against The Assassins Castillo suffered a major cut by Assassin #1 during a match at the

Atlanta Municipal Auditorium Atlanta Municipal Auditorium, originally known as the ''Auditorium and Armory'', was an auditorium in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. It was constructed with funds raised by a committee of Atlanta citizens and then sold to the city of Atlanta. The stru ...

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

, on January 29, 1971. Lamarche also participated in a 14-man championship tournament for the vacant NWA Georgia Heavyweight title being eliminated by Assassin #2 in the opening rounds on February 5, 1971. He also appeared at an event for the

World Wide Wrestling Federation Capitol Wrestling Corporation Ltd. was an American sports promotion company. It was run by Vincent J. McMahon from 1953 to 1982. Operating as the Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC), the company was originally a professional wrestling and boxing ...

defeating Frank Holtz at the Civic Arena in

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

, on March 24, 1972. Between 1970 and 1974, he faced many of the top stars in the region including

Johnny Rougeau Jean Rougeau (June 9, 1929 – May 25, 1983) was a professional wrestler better known as Johnny Rougeau. Rougeau started wrestling in 1951 as Johnny Rougeau after an amateur wrestling career. In 1956, he was joined by his brother, Jacques Rougeau ...

Abdullah the Butcher Lawrence Robert Shreve (born January 11, 1941), better known by the ring name Abdullah the Butcher, is a Canadian retired professional wrestler. He has a reputation for being involved in some of the most violent and bloody hardcore wrestling matc ...

, The Sheik, and

Mad Dog Vachon Joseph Maurice Régis Vachon (September 14, 1929 − November 21, 2013) was a Canadian professional wrestler, best known by his ring name Mad Dog Vachon. He was the older brother of wrestlers Paul and Vivian Vachon, and the uncle of wrestl ...

as well as his former trainer Edouard Carpentier eventually winning the Montreal International Championship before leaving for the United States once again.

National Wrestling Alliance (1975-1978)

After a two-year stint in the Mid-Atlantic territory teaming with Freddie Sweetan, Lamarche began wrestling for the Funk brothers in their Texas based promotion as "Mike 'The Judge' Dubois" in 1974 eventually winning the Texas Heavyweight Championship before moving on the Carolinas where he teamed with

Jacques Goulet Jacques Goulet (baptised April 17, 1615 – November 26, 1688) was a pioneer settler to Canada who was part of the Percheron immigration movement recruited to colonize the shores of the Saint Laurence River at Québec in New France (now part of th ...

for two years, later losing to

Dino Bravo Adolfo Bresciano (; August 6, 1948 – March 10, 1993) was an Italian-Canadian professional wrestler and promoter, better known by the ring name Dino Bravo (). After training under Gino Brito, he started his career in Montreal in the 1970s, wo ...

Tim Woods George Burrell Woodin (July 28, 1934 – November 30, 2002) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring names, Mr. Wrestling and Tim Woods. Collegiate wrestling career Woodin received a degree in agricultural engineering f ...

in the finals of a championship tournament for the vacant

NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship The NWA Mid-Atlantic Tag Team Championship was a tag team title defended in the National Wrestling Alliance's NWA Mid-Atlantic territory. The championship was originally created in the summer of 1968 and was originally named the NWA Atlantic Co ...

on April 10, 1977. While touring with

Ivan Koloff Oreal Donald Perras (August 25, 1942 – February 18, 2017) was a Canadian professional wrestler, better known by the ring name "The Russian Bear" Ivan Koloff. He was the third wrestler to hold the WWWF Championship. Early life Perras was b ...

, he later began wrestling as "Alexis Smirnoff" in San Francisco during 1977. While in the area, he advanced to the finals of a 10-man championship tournament to fill the vacant NWA U.S. Heavyweight Championship being eliminated by Pat Patterson on March 12 although he later defeated Patterson for the title a month later on April 16, 1977. Although losing the title to Dean Ho on July 16, he later faced masked wrestler

Texas Red Texas Red or sulforhodamine 101 acid chloride is a red fluorescent dye, used in histology for staining cell specimens, for sorting cells with fluorescent-activated cell sorting machines, in fluorescence microscopy applications, and in immunohis ...

as well as wrestling against

Pepper Gomez José "Joseph" Serapio Palimino Gomez (April 21, 1927 – May 6, 2004) was an American professional wrestler and bodybuilder, better known by his ring name, Pepper Gomez. Known for his exceptional abdominal muscles, he would allow rivals to per ...

in a "taped fist" match on November 13, 1977. He wrestled veterans such as

Ray Stevens Harold Ray Ragsdale (born January 24, 1939), known professionally as Ray Stevens, is an American country and pop singer-songwriter and comedian, known for his Grammy-winning recordings "Everything Is Beautiful" and "Misty", as well as novelty ...

Harley Race Harley Leland Race (April 11, 1943 – August 1, 2019) was an American professional wrestler, promoter, and trainer. Race wrestled in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), the American Wrestling Association (AWA), the World Wrestling Federatio ...

and The Sheik as well as younger wrestlers including

Sgt. Slaughter Robert Rudolph Remus (born August 27, 1948), best known by his ring name Sgt. Slaughter, is a voice actor and retired American professional wrestler who is currently signed to WWE in the ambassador program. From the late 1970s to the early 198 ...

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 hi ...

and

Jimmy Snuka James Reiher Snuka (born James Wiley Smith; May 18, 1943 – January 15, 2017) was a Fijian American professional wrestler. He is better known by the ring name Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka. Snuka wrestled for several promotions from the 1970s to 2010 ...

during his time in San Francisco. The following year, he also wrestled in the St. Louis-area teaming with "Bulldog" Bob Brown,

, Jack Krueger and Joe Palardy in early 1978. On April 28, he wrestled two matches in one night substituting for Buddy Wolff in a singles match losing to Pat O'Connor and later teaming with Doug Somers and Bennie Ramirez in a 6-man tag team match to defeat Kevin Sullivan, Terry Gibbs and "Sailor" Art Thomas.

Japan (1977-1979)

In 1977, Lamarche signed with the

and began touring Japan three times a year. During his stay in Japan, he became extremely successful wrestling IWA World Heavyweight Champion

Rusher Kimura was a Japanese professional wrestler, best known by his ring name . He was a five-time IWA World Heavyweight Champion, making him a five-time world champion. Sumo wrestling career He was a sumo wrestler under the ''shikona'' Kinomura, a dir ...

in a steel cage match on July 26, 1978. He also teamed with The Atomic wrestling to a double count-out against IWA Tag Team Champions Great Kusatsu & Animal Hamiguchi on January 8 and defeating Kimura in a rematch on January 28 in a best of three falls match (as the third pinfall was via disqualification, Kimura retained the title). He did, however, defeating

Ronnie Garvin Roger Barnes (born March 30, 1945) is a Canadian former professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, "Rugged" Ronnie Garvin. He is best known for his appearances with Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federati ...

for the NWA Southeastern title knocking him out at the Knoxville Night of Champions on May 18, before losing the title back to Garvin on June 1, 1979. Returning to Japan, he defeated Kimura in their third encounter finally winning the IWA World Heavyweight Championship on July 21, 1979, before losing the title back to Kimura four days later. He spent much of his later career in Japan, making over 30 tours to the country and later wrestled for

All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW/AJP) or simply All Japan is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion established on October 21, 1972 when Giant Baba split away from the Japanese Wrestling Association and created his own promotion. Many wrestlers had left with Baba, ...

and

New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion based in Nakano, Tokyo. Founded on January 13, 1972, by Antonio Inoki, the promotion was sold to Yuke's, who later sold it to Bushiroad in 2012. TV Asahi and Amuse, Inc. own minority shares ...

having memorable matches against

Giant Baba , best known by his ring name , was a Japanese professional wrestler, promoter, and professional baseball player. He is best known as a co-founder of All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), a promotion he founded in 1972 along with Mitsuo Momota ...

and

Antonio Inoki Muhammad Hussain Inoki (born ; February 20, 1943 – October 1, 2022) was a Japanese professional wrestler, martial artist, politician, and promoter of professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. He was best known by the ring name , a homag ...

as well as American wrestlers

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 Heavywei ...

Ric Flair Richard Morgan Fliehr (born February 25, 1949), known professionally as Ric Flair, is an American professional wrestler. Regarded by multiple peers and journalists as the greatest professional wrestler of all time, Flair has had a career spanni ...

Terry Funk Terrence Funk (born June 30, 1944) is an American retired professional wrestler, rapper, disc jockey and actor. Funk is known for the longevity of his career – which spanned more than 50 years and included multiple short-lived retirements – a ...

Bruiser Brody Frank Donald Goodish (June 18, 1946 – July 17, 1988) was an American professional wrestler who earned his greatest fame under the ring name Bruiser Brody. He also worked as King Kong Brody, The Masked Marauder, and Red River Jack. Over the yea ...

Stan Hansen John Stanley Hansen II (born August 29, 1949) is an American retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. Hansen is known for his Glossary of professional wrestling terms#S, stiff wrestling style, which he attributes to his poor eyesigh ...

and The Destroyer.

Return to North America (1979-1983)

Returning from Japan, he made a last appearance in the Mid-South region in a handicap match with Tank Patton, substituting for

Blackjack Lanza John Mortl Lanzo (October 14, 1935 – December 8, 2021) was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Blackjack Lanza. Along with his long-term tag team partner, Blackjack Mulligan, Lanza was one-half of The Blackjacks: ...

, against

Dick the Bruiser William Fritz Afflis (June 27, 1929 – November 10, 1991) was an American professional wrestler, promoter, and former NFL player, better known by his ring name, Dick the Bruiser. During his NFL days he played four seasons with the Green Bay Pac ...

in St. Louis on November 24, 1978. Teaming with Koloff throughout the U.S. between 1979 and 1981, he and Koloff won the NWA Georgia Tag Team Titles from

Ole Anderson Alan Robert Rogowski (born September 22, 1942), better known by the ring name Ole Anderson (), is an American retired professional wrestler, referee, manager, and promoter. Part of the Anderson family, Anderson was a founding member of the influen ...

& Jack Briscoe in March 1980 before losing the titles to

Tony Atlas Anthony White (born April 23, 1954) better known by his ring name Tony Atlas is an American bodybuilder, powerlifter, and professional wrestler who has held multiple titles and championships in each sport. He is also known by his bodybuilding ti ...

& Kevin Sullivan a month later. Although later regaining the titles on April 26, they lost the titles to the

Minnesota Wrecking Crew The Minnesota Wrecking Crew was originally a professional wrestling tag team that was formed by Gene and Lars Anderson but since then has featured a number of wrestlers who wrestled under the Anderson family name despite not being blood related. ...

for a final time on June 8, 1980, before leaving Georgia. He also lost to IWA World Heavyweight Champion Rusher Kimura on November 22, 1980, and to United Heavyweight Champion

Jumbo Tsuruta , better known by his ring name , was a Japanese professional wrestler who wrestled for All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW) for most of his career, and is well known for being the first ever Triple Crown Heavyweight Champion, having won the PWF Heavyw ...

in a best of three falls match with Lamarche taking the first pinfall in 45 seconds, although Tsuruta took the other two falls to retain his title on October 27, 1981. Settling with his family outside San Francisco the following year, Lamarche made occasional appearances in Hawaii and Australia in between touring Japan and later returned to Montreal to team with Mad Dog Lefebvre for a time winning the International Tag Team Championship from

Gino Brito Louis Gino Acocella (born May 18, 1941), better known by his ring name Gino Brito, is a retired Canadian professional wrestler and promoter. He was most popular in Montreal. As Louis Cerdan, he was a WWWF Tag Team Champion with fellow Italian-C ...

& Tony Parisi before losing the titles to Raymond Rougeau, Sr. & Pat Patterson.

Return to Japan (1982-1984, 1986-1987)

A participant in the 10th annual

Champion Carnival The is a professional wrestling tournament held by All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW). The tournament is also known by the nickname and is sometimes abbreviated to CC. Created by AJPW founder Giant Baba, the tournament has been held annually since ...

tournament in early 1982, he also lost to United Heavyweight Champion

on April 11, 1982, and also team with

against then International Tag Team Champions Jumbo Tsuruta & Giant Baba on April 3 before again losing to Tsuruta in a rematch for the United National Heavyweight title on April 12, 1983. Teaming with

, he again failed to win the International Tag Team Championship from Tsuruta & Baba losing to the tag team champions on February 28, 1984. During July 1986, he teamed with

Bad News Allen Allen James Coage (October 22, 1943 – March 6, 2007) was an American judoka and professional wrestler. He won medals for the United States at several international judo competitions, including the heavyweight bronze medal at the 1976 S ...

defeating

Yoshiaki Fujiwara is a Japanese Professional Wrestler and trainer. He is famous for his long career in wrestling, having worked in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), Pro Wrestling ZERO-ONE (ZERO-ONE), and the two incarnations of shoot style promotion Universal Wrest ...

Kazuo Yamazaki is a Japanese retired professional wrestler, wrestling instructor and commentator who is known for his work in New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), and shoot-style promotions Universal Wrestling Federation (UWF) and UWF International (UWFi). He curr ...

on July 20 and fought to a double count-out with

Seiji Sakaguchi is a Japanese retired professional wrestler and judoka, Sakaguchi holds a 7th dan red and white belt in Judo. Sakaguchi was a mainstay of New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) and also competed for the World Wide Wrestling Federation and the Nati ...

George Takano , born June 23, 1958, is an American-Japanese retired professional wrestler better known under the ring name . He was also billed from Uganda under the alias The Cobra, a masked wrestler persona. He worked for various Japanese and American wres ...

on July 27 although, with Johnny Mantell, lost a 6-man tag team match to Antonio Inoki,

Kengo Kimura is a Japanese retired professional wrestler, best known under the ring name and for his many years working for New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW) in Japan. Professional wrestling career Japan Wrestling Association (1972–1973) Kimura made his pr ...

and Tastumi Fujinami on July 29. After losing to Antonio Inoki & Kengo Kimura on August 1, he later appeared in a series of matches for New Japan Pro Wrestling in Tokyo's

Sumo Hall is a form of competitive full-contact wrestling where a ''rikishi'' (wrestler) attempts to force his opponent out of a circular ring (''dohyō'') or into touching the ground with any body part other than the soles of his feet (usually by thr ...

teaming with Hacksaw Higgins against

& George Takano on August 5, 1986 and with

Scott Hall Scott Oliver Hall (October 20, 1958 – March 14, 2022) was an American professional wrestler. He was best known for his tenures with World Championship Wrestling (WCW) under his real name and under the ring name the Diamond Studd and with the ...

against Takano and

Umanosuke Ueda was a Japanese professional wrestler, better known by his ring name . During his wrestling career, Ueda primarily stood out for wrestling with bleached blonde hair, a practice which was rare in his day but later became more common. His ring ...

on June 12, 1987.

World Wrestling Federation (1983-1986)

While on the east coast, he also wrestled matches for the

during the early 1980s wrestling several matches against WWF Intercontinental Champion

Tito Santana Merced Solis (born May 10, 1953), better known by the ring name Tito Santana, is a retired American professional wrestler and middle school teacher. Santana has stayed a babyface his entire career and he is best known for his appearances with ...

in late 1984 as well as George Wells, and teamed with The Spoiler against

Bret Hart Bret Hart (born July 2, 1957) is a Canadian-American retired professional wrestler, currently signed to WWE under a legend's contract. A member of the Hart wrestling family and a second-generation wrestler, he has an amateur wrestling backgr ...

and

David Sammartino David Lugogo Sammartino (born September 29, 1960) is an American personal trainer and semi-retired professional wrestler. He is the son of former WWWF/WWF World Heavyweight Champion, Bruno Sammartino. Professional wrestling career Early caree ...

in several tag team matches during early 1985. After a short lived feud with

Ivan Putski Józef Bednarski (born January 21, 1941) is a Polish former professional wrestler and bodybuilder, best known by the ring name Ivan Putski. He was given the nicknames "The Polish Hammer" and "Polish Power". Putski is a former WWF World Tag Team ...

and

Rocky Johnson Rocky Johnson (born Wayde Douglas Bowles; August 24, 1944 – January 15, 2020) was a Canadian professional wrestler. Among many National Wrestling Alliance titles, he was the first Black Georgia Heavyweight Champion as well as the NWA Televisio ...

, he faced

André the Giant André René Roussimoff (; 19 May 1946 – 28 January 1993), better known by his ring name André the Giant, was a French professional wrestler and actor. Roussimoff was known for his great size, which was a result of gigantism caused by exce ...

Ted Arcidi Theodore Arcidi (born June 16, 1958) is an American former professional wrestler, actor and powerlifter from the United States of America. He is known to be the first man in history to bench press over 700 pounds in competition, establishing an ...

Pedro Morales Pedro Antonio Morales (October 22, 1942 – February 12, 2019) was a Puerto Rican professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances in the United States with Worldwide Wrestling Associates (WWA) and the World Wide Wrestling Federation ...

Tony Garea Anthony Gareljich (born 20 September 1946) is a New Zealand retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Tony Garea. He is best known for his appearances in the United States with the World Wide Wrestling Federation/World Wrestl ...

Dan Spivey Daniel Eugene Spivey (born October 14, 1952) is an American retired professional wrestler best known under the ring names "Dangerous" Dan Spivey, Dangerous Dan The Left Hand Man, Danny Spivey, Mr. America, and Waylon Mercy, and initially worked ...

Blackjack Mulligan Robert Deroy Windham (November 25, 1942 – April 7, 2016), better known by his ring name Blackjack Mulligan, was an American professional wrestler and American football player. He was the father of wrestlers Barry and Kendall Windham, father-in ...

and substituted for

Nikolai Volkoff Josip Hrvoje Peruzović (October 14, 1947 – July 29, 2018), better known by his ring name Nikolai Volkoff, was a Yugoslav-American professional wrestler best known for his time in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). Although Volkoff often p ...

in several tag team matches with

The Iron Sheik Hossein Khosrow Ali Vaziri ( fa, حسین خسرو علی وزیری, romanized: Hossein Xosrô 'Ali Vaziri; born March 15, 1942), better known by his ring name the Iron Sheik, is an Iranian retired professional wrestler, amateur wrestler and a ...

during early 1986 including a match against WWF World Tag Team Champions

Greg "The Hammer" Valentine Jonathan Anthony Wisniski (born September 20, 1951) is a retired American professional wrestler, better known as Greg "The Hammer" Valentine. He is the son of wrestler Johnny Valentine. Over five decades, Valentine held more than 40 championships ...

Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake Edward Harrison Leslie (born April 21, 1957) is an American retired professional wrestler, best known for his work in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) under the ring name Brutus "The Barber" Beefcake. He later worked for World Championship ...

on January 23 before eventually leaving the WWF after declining a request to cancel his contract with the IWA.

Later career (1986-1988, 1999)

During the last years of his career, he worked for the American Wrestling Association teaming with Yuri Gordienko feuding with the Midnight Rockers for several months, eventually losing to the Midnight Rockers and

Curt Hennig Curtis Michael Hennig (March 28, 1958 – February 10, 2003) was an American professional wrestler. He performed under his real name for promotions including the American Wrestling Association (AWA), the World Wrestling Federation (WWF; now WWE) ...

in a 6-man tag team match with

and "Playboy" Buddy Rose at the supercard Battle by the Bay in June 1986. He later pinned Leon "Bull Power" White during a 6-man tag team match with

Boris Zhukov James Kirk Harrell (born December 13, 1959) is an American retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his appearances with the American Wrestling Association (AWA) and the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) under the ring name Boris Zhukov ...

and Yuri Gordyenko against Greg Gagne and Earthquake Ferris at the supercard Blood On The Sand in October 1986, although he soon left the promotion by the end of the year. Following his retirement in 1988, he eventually opened a wrestling school and appeared in commercials for car dealerships in the San Francisco-area and the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 194 ...

. He also appeared in several movies during the 1980s including ''Bad Guys'', ''

Body Slam Professional wrestling throws are the application of professional wrestling techniques that involve lifting the opponent up and throwing or slamming them down. They are sometimes also called "power" maneuvers, as they are meant to emphasize a wrest ...

'', ''Alcatraz 2000'' and frequently appeared on the television series ''

The Fall Guy ''The Fall Guy'' is an American action/adventure television series produced for ABC and originally broadcast from November 4, 1981, to May 2, 1986. It starred Lee Majors, Douglas Barr, and Heather Thomas as Hollywood stunt performers who moonli ...

''. In 1999, Dubois made a one-time appearance for promoter Jacques Rougeau, Jr.'s International Wrestling 2000 coming out of retirement to team with Ronnie and

Jimmy Garvin James Williams (born September 25, 1952) is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring names "Gorgeous Jimmy" Garvin and Jimmy "Jam" Garvin. A member of The Fabulous Freebirds, Garvin is best known for his appearances wit ...

in a 6-man tag team match against Jacques and Raymond Rougeau and their father

Jacques Rougeau, Sr. Jacques Rougeau Sr. (May 27, 1930 – July 1, 2019) was a Canadian professional wrestler. He was the father of wrestlers Jacques Rougeau, Armand Rougeau and Raymond Rougeau. Career Rougeau started wrestling in 1956 with his brother, Johnny Rougea ...

in Montreal on August 9, 1999.

Personal life

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 Abram ...

's Facebook page posted the following about Lamarche on January 4, 2019: "Alexis Smirnoff is in hospice care in Marietta, Georgia, with kidney failure. The prognosis is grim. Please keep Alexis and his family in your thoughts and prayers." Smirnoff died on January 5, 2019.

Championships and accomplishments

* Big Time Wrestling ''(San Francisco)'' ** NWA United States Heavyweight Championship ''(San Francisco version)'' ( 1 time) ** NWA World Tag Team Championship ''(San Francisco version)'' ( 1 time) – with

Bob Roop Robert Michael Roop (born July 22, 1942) is an American retired amateur wrestler and professional wrestler whose career spanned high school, college, the United States Army, amateur and professional wrestling. He was an American heavyweight Gr ...

**Men's Wrestling Award (2018) * Central States Wrestling **

NWA Central States Heavyweight Championship The NWA Central States Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling championship that served as the main title for the National Wrestling Alliance promotion, NWA Central-States Championship Wrestling. For most of its existence, however, t ...

( 1 time) ** NWA World Tag Team Championship ''(Central States version)'' ( 1 time) – with

Bob Brown Robert James Brown (born 27 December 1944) is a former Australian politician, medical doctor and environmentalist. He was a senator and the parliamentary leader of the Australian Greens. Brown was elected to the Australian Senate on the Tasman ...

Eastern Sports Association The Eastern Sports Association, often referred to in the business simply as "the Maritimes," was a Canadian professional wrestling promotion based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. It ran during the spring and summer months from 1969 to 1976. History The ...

ESA International Tag Team Championship Eastern Sports Association The Eastern Sports Association, often referred to in the business simply as "the Maritimes," was a Canadian professional wrestling promotion based in Halifax, Nova Scotia. It ran during the spring and summer months fro ...

( 4 times) – with Fred Sweetan *

NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship The NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship was the top tag team championship in Georgia Championship Wrestling from 1968 to 1980, when it was replaced with the NWA National Tag Team Championship. The title was revived in 1998 by Music City Wrestling ...

( 1 time) – with

*International Wrestling Association (Montreal) ** Montreal International Heavyweight Championship (1 time) **Montreal International Tag Team Championship (1 time) with Fidel Castillo *

** IWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *

Lutte Internationale Lutte Internationale (; "International Wrestling") was a professional wrestling promotion based in Montreal from 1980 until 1987. The promotion was founded by Frank Valois, André the Giant and Gino Brito as Promotions Varoussac (VAlois, ROUSSimof ...

** IW International Heavyweight Championship ( 1 time) ** IW International Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) – with Pierre Lefebvre **

IW North American Heavyweight Championship This is a list of people who held the "North American Heavyweight Title" under the banner of ''International Wrestling'' (IW) from 1969 to 1984. The promotion was owned by the Eastern Sports Association from 1969 until 1976. The IW promotion ends w ...

( 1 time) *

** NWA Southeastern Heavyweight Championship ''(Northern Division)'' ( 1 time) ¹ *

Pro Wrestling Illustrated ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publish ...

**Ranked No. 319 in the top 500 best singles wrestlers of the ''

PWI 500 ''Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' (''PWI'') is an American internationally sold professional wrestling magazine that was founded in 1979 by publisher Stanley Weston. ''PWI'' is headquartered in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, and published by Kappa Publishi ...

'' in 2003

Notes

¹NWA records aren't clear as to which promotion he was working for at the time he won the championship. While usually defended in

Southeastern Championship Wrestling Continental Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion based in Knoxville, Tennessee, and Dothan, Alabama from 1985 until 1989, owned by Ron Fuller. The promotion evolved out of the NWA-affiliated Southeastern Championship Wr ...

, it was occasionally defended in other NWA affiliated promotions..

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Smirnoff, Alexis 1947 births 2019 deaths Canadian male professional wrestlers Faux Russian professional wrestlers Professional wrestlers from Quebec Deaths from kidney failure 20th-century professional wrestlers NWA Georgia Tag Team Champions