| Lionel Giroux | |
|---|---|
| Ring name(s) | Little Beaver |
| Billed height | 4ft 4in (130 cm)[1] |
| Billed weight | 60 lbs (27 kg)[1] |
| Born | 1935[2] St. Jerome, Quebec[2] |
| Died | December 4, 1995 (aged 60)[3][4][5][6] |
| Debut | 1950[1] |
| Retired | 1987 |
Lionel Giroux (1935 - December 4, 1995) was a Canadian midget wrestler who is best known by his ring name Little Beaver. His most famous appearance was in a six-man match at WrestleMania III for the World Wrestling Federation.
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Lionel Giroux began his wrestling career in 1950, at the age of fifteen,[1] and then began to wrestle for promoters in Quebec. He, along with Sky Low 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.[7][5] Giroux helped to create the comedy matches that have since become a trademark for midget wrestling in Canada and the United States.[7] In 1973, Giroux won the Pro Wrestling Illustrated Midget Wrestler of the Year award.
His last in-ring appearance was at WrestleMania III in the Pontiac Silverdome in Pontiac, Michigan in 1987, at the age of 52.[5] Giroux, wrestling as Little Beaver, teamed with Hillbilly Jim and Haiti Kid defeating King Kong Bundy, Little Tokyo and Lord Littlebrook after Bundy was disqualified for attacking Little Beaver.[8][9] During the match, Giroux suffered a back injury at the hands of Bundy, which forced him to retire from professional wrestling.[5] In a 1998 interview with King Kong Bundy, Bundy said he hoped that he wasn't responsible for Giroux's early death, saying he wouldn't want that on his conscience.[10]
Giroux died on December 4, 1995 of emphysema.[3][4][5] In 2003, Giroux was inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame.[1][7]