Lionel Giroux (January 14, 1934 – December 4, 1995) was a Canadian

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

, better known by the

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name 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, or projecting ...

Little Beaver. He is best known for his appearance in a

six-man tag team match Much like the singles match, tag team professional wrestling matches can and have taken many forms. Just about any singles or melee match type can be adapted to tag teams; for example, hardcore tag team matches are commonplace. Tag team ladder m ...

at WrestleMania III in 1987.

Professional wrestling career

Lionel Giroux began his wrestling career in 1949, at the age of fifteen, and then began to wrestle for promoters in

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

. He, along with

Sky Low Low Marcel Gauthier (July 21, 1928 to November 6, 1998) was a Canadian professional midget wrestler who wrestler under the ring name Sky Low Low (a reference to Sky Hi Lee). Professional wrestling career Known by his midget wrestler persona "Sky Low ...

, became two of the most famous midget wrestlers in wrestling who had enough drawing power to command a large portion of the live gate for wrestling events. Giroux helped to create the comedy matches that have since become a trademark for midget wrestling in Canada and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. In 1973, Giroux won the Pro Wrestling Illustrated Midget Wrestler of the Year award. Little Beaver 1952

His last in-ring appearance was at WrestleMania III in the Pontiac Silverdome in

Pontiac Pontiac may refer to: *Pontiac (automobile), a car brand *Pontiac (Ottawa leader) ( – 1769), a Native American war chief Places and jurisdictions Canada * Pontiac, Quebec, a municipality **Apostolic Vicariate of Pontiac, now the Roman Catholic D ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...

in 1987, at the age of 52. Giroux, wrestling as Little Beaver, teamed with Hillbilly Jim and fellow midget wrestler the

Haiti Kid Raymond Kessler is a Haitian retired professional wrestler, who has dwarfism, and wrestled under the name Haiti Kid in the World Wrestling Federation. Professional wrestling career He started his career in the WWWF as a babyface in 1971, teaming ...

, defeating King Kong Bundy and his midget tag-team partners Little Tokyo and

Lord Littlebrook Eric Henry Edward Tovey (3 January 1929 – 9 September 2016), known professionally as Lord Littlebrook, was an English midget wrestler. He enjoyed his greatest success during the 1970s, when he held the NWA World Midget's Championship. He was al ...

, after Bundy was disqualified for attacking Little Beaver. During the match, Giroux suffered a back injury at the hands of Bundy after he was bodyslammed and had an elbow dropped on him by the Bundy, which forced him to retire from professional wrestling (through the match Beaver had "annoyed" Bundy including elbowing him in the stomach, delivering a drop kick that had literally no effect, and slapping him with his

moccasin A moccasin is a shoe, made of deerskin or other soft leather, consisting of a sole (made with leather that has not been "worked") and sides made of one piece of leather, stitched together at the top, and sometimes with a vamp (additional panel o ...

which Bundy claimed "stung like a son-of-a-bitch"). In a 1998 interview Bundy said he hoped that he wasn't responsible for Giroux's early death, saying he wouldn't want that on his conscience. A few months after WrestleMania III, during a match at the

Boston Garden The Boston Garden was an arena in Boston, Massachusetts. Designed by boxing promoter Tex Rickard, who also built the third iteration of New York's Madison Square Garden, it opened on November 17, 1928, as "Boston Madison Square Garden" (late ...

that aired later on WWF Prime Time Wrestling, Giroux (again as Little Beaver) was in Hillbilly Jim's corner for a match against the

One Man Gang George Gray (born February 12, 1960) is an American retired professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, (The) One Man Gang. For two years in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), he was Akeem "The African Dream". Prior to this, he was ...

. In a comical match eventually won by Hillbilly via a countout, Beaver got involved on several occasions, including antagonizing Gang's manager, Slick, throughout the match and hitting the back of Gang's head with a broom after the match was finished. The Gang finally caught Little Beaver in the ring and after delivering a blow that sent him sprawling, he followed Slick's orders to hit Beaver with his 747 Splash.

Death

Giroux died on December 4, 1995 of

emphysema Emphysema, or pulmonary emphysema, is a lower respiratory tract disease, characterised by air-filled spaces ( pneumatoses) in the lungs, that can vary in size and may be very large. The spaces are caused by the breakdown of the walls of the alve ...

. In 2003, Giroux was inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame. Giroux was cremated after his death.

Championships and accomplishments

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 ...

NWA World Midget's Championship The NWA World Midget's Championship was the National Wrestling Alliance's midget wrestling singles championship. Large parts of the championship history is undocumented due to lack of documentation of Midget wrestling for large periods of time fro ...

(2 times) **

NWA Hall of Fame The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) Hall of Fame is an American professional wrestling hall of fame maintained by the NWA. It was established in 2005 to honor select wrestling personalities, mostly alumni of the NWA. Inductees receive commemorat ...

(Class of 2012) * Stampede Wrestling **

Stampede Wrestling Hall of Fame Stampede Wrestling was a Canadian professional wrestling promotion based in Calgary, Alberta. For nearly 50 years, it was one of the main promotions in western Canada and the Canadian Prairies. Originally established by Stu Hart in 1948, the pro ...

(Class of 1995) *'' Pro Wrestling Illustrated'' ** Midget Wrestler of the Year (1973) * Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame **Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame Inductee (2003) * Other ** Midgets' World Championship (3 times) **Midgets' World Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Jim Corbett

References

External links

* {{Authority control 1934 births 1995 deaths Canadian male professional wrestlers Deaths from emphysema Faux Native American professional wrestlers Midget professional wrestlers People from Saint-Jérôme Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum 20th-century professional wrestlers