The Beast (wrestler)
| Yvon Cormier | |
|---|---|
Cormier in 1999
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| Born |
November 3, 1938 Dorchester, New Brunswick, Canada |
| Died | March 4, 2009 (aged 70) Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada |
| Family | Cormier |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | The Beast Ivan The Lumberjack Joe Gump Pierre LeBelle |
| Billed height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) |
| Billed weight | 250 lb (110 kg) - 255 lb (116 kg) |
| Trained by | Les Ruffen |
| Debut | 1963 |
Yvon Cormier (November 3, 1938 – March 4, 2009) was a Canadian professional wrestler. Competing primarily under the ring name The Beast, he and his three wrestling brothers made up the Cormier wrestling family. He wrestled in many countries but regularly returned to Canada, where he competed for the Eastern Sports Association (ESA) and the ESA-promoted International Wrestling (IW). He also competed in the Calgary, Alberta-based Stampede Wrestling for many years.
Cormier was born into a family of thirteen children, of which four of the brothers became professional wrestlers, and another became a referee. His wrestling brothers were Leo Burke (Leonce Cormier), Bobby Kay (Romeo Cormier) and Rudy Kay (Jean-Louis Cormier). The oldest brother, Malcolm, worked as a referee under the name Mel Turnbow. As a teenager, he worked in the woods, shoed horses, and drove heavy equipment. He met Emile Dupré in 1957, who told him to consider a career in professional wrestling. Cormier began training, and later moved to Indianapolis, Indiana to continue his preparation under trainer Les Ruffen, and made his debut in 1963. At first, he used the ring name Pierre Lebelle before switching to Ivan the Lumberjack. In Texas, he was known as Joe Gump. When he later ventured to the Mid-Atlantic territory, Jim Crockett, Sr. named him The Beast. At that time, he had thick, untamed hair and a large, curly beard.
The Beast spent part of his early career competing for Stampede Wrestling, where he faced such wrestlers as Stu Hart. He won his first championship there in 1966. He defeated Stampede veteran Dave Ruhl to win the Calgary version of the NWA Canadian Heavyweight Championship. Later that year, he dropped the title to Ruhl. He gained a different title the following year, however, when he teamed with Bob Sweetan to defeat the Christy Brothers (Bobby and Jerry) for the Calgary version of the NWA International Tag Team Championship on July 12, 1967.
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