Yvon Cormier

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.

Cormier 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.

In 1969, The Beast became the first holder of the IW North American Heavyweight Championship.

On August 5, he gained a second title when he teamed with his brother Rudy Kay to defeat The Fabulous Kangaroos (Al Costello and Don Kent) to win the ESA International Tag Team Championship.

Three weeks later, he dropped the North American title to The Stomper (Archie Gouldie), who became his longtime rival.

He then began competing for the Amarillo, Texas-based territory of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA).

He won the NWA Western States Heavyweight Championship and held it for several months before losing it in a match against Ricky Romero on February 2, 1970.

Two months later, on April 4, The Beast teamed with Bull Ramos to win the NWA Western States Tag Team Championship by defeating Terry Funk and Romero.

They continued to face Funk and Romero and dropped the title to them later that year.

On July 27, The Beast regained the IW North American Heavyweight Championship from The Stomper and held it for over two months.

He lost the championship to Eric Pomeroy that October.

While competing in the ESA, The Beast also had another reign as International Tag Team Champion, this time while teaming with his brother Leo Burke.

They held the title until dropping it on August 3, 1971, to The Beast's former partner Freddie Sweetan and former rival Eric Pomeroy.

The Beast had two more reigns with the ESA International Tag Team Championship that year, however.

Four weeks after dropping it to Sweetan and Pomeroy, he regained the title from them with the help of his new partner Archie Gouldie, with whom The Beast had once feuded over the North American Heavyweight Championship.

The title reign lasted for a little over a month before Pomeroy and Sweetan regained the championship trophy.

Pomeroy and Sweetan held the title for only one week, however, as The Beast recruited his brother Rudy Kay to help him win the championship back on October 12.

This time, the brothers' reign lasted for just over seven months.

Sweetan eventually regained the title while teaming with Mike Dubois on May 16 the following year.

Over a year passed before The Beast won another championship.

In the summer of 1973, Sweetan was holding the ESA Tag Team Championship with Kurt von Steiger when The Beast teamed with Bobby Kay, the only one of his brothers with whom he had not held a tag team championship, and regained the trophy.

Once again, however, Sweetan won the title back on July 31 along with partner Mr. X. During the ESA off-season, The Beast returned to Texas and reformed his tag team partnership with brother Leo Burke.

In January 1974, the brothers defeated Don Fargo and Hank James to win the NWA Western States Tag Team Championship.