Claude Giroux (wrestler)
Encyclopedia
Claude Giroux is a Canadian
-born midget wrestler
whose career spans over 20 years. He is still active in the Canadian Independent circuit
. Giroux's biggest exposure came when he performed as Doink The Clown
's sidekick Dink in the World Wrestling Federation
between 1993 and 1995. Outside of his stint as Dink the Clown, Giroux also performed in the WWF as Tiger Jackson in the 1980s and as The Macho Midget and Little Hulkster in the later half of the 1990s.
under the name “Tiger Jackson”. With Midget Wrestling being seen as a sideshow to the “tall version”, Giroux tended to travel from promotion to promotion instead of staying in one area for a long time. In the early days of his career, Giroux wrestled in many National Wrestling Alliance
territories, for the World Wrestling Council
in Puerto Rico
, and in Germany
, as well. Giroux also made appearances in the World Wrestling Federation
from 1982, often teaming with his brother Lionel Giroux
who wrestled as ”Little Beaver”.
In late 1992, Jackson signed on with the WWF and started to team up with The Bushwhackers
in their feud against The Beverly Brothers. The Beverly Brothers recruited “Little Louie” to even the sides but to little success falling to the combination of the Bushwhackers and Tiger Jackson time and again including a prime time loss on the “Road to WrestleMania IX
” Special shown on March 28.
and Mascara Sagrada. In the 1990s, Claude Giroux followed that tradition after working for the WWF for about 6 months, appearing as miniature versions of several full-sized wrestlers.
Doink the Clown
, who had a second Doink come out to interfere in the match. During a match between Doink and Randy Savage
on Monday Night Raw
, Giroux climbed out from under the ring dressed like a miniature version of Randy Savage (instantly dubbed the Macho Midget). The sight of the Macho Midget distracted Doink long enough to be rolled up for a loss after Doink’s own tactics were turned on him. After his debut, Giroux helped Randy Savage out a few times but also went back to teaming with the Bushwhackers, this time working as ”The Macho Midget.”
(at the time played by Ray Apollo, the fourth and last wrestler to play Doink on a regular basis in the WWF). Dink was introduced as a present to Doink the Clown by Santa Claus
himself on an edition of WWF Superstars of Wrestling
that aired on November 27, 1993. From then on, Dink accompanied Doink to ringside and took part in the clown antics played on opponents. While acting as a manager, Giroux occasionally also wrestled as Dink, twice on Pay Per View. Dink’s first PPV appearance was on March 20, 1994 at WrestleMania X
, teaming with Doink to face Bam Bam Bigelow and Luna Vachon in a losing effort. Dink’s second PPV appearance came at the 1994 Survivor Series
where he was joined by fellow “Mini Clowns” Pink and Wink to make up the team Clowns’R’Us to face Jerry Lawler
and his three “Mini Kings” – Sleazy, Cheesy and Queasy. After losing the match, all six midgets attacked Jerry Lawler and chased him from the ring.
as Tiger Jackson when the company toured through Montreal
, which has been Giroux’s home territory since leaving the WWF.
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
-born midget wrestler
Midget wrestler
A midget professional wrestler is a dwarf or person of short stature who competes in professional wrestling. The heyday of midget wrestling was in the 1950s and 1960s, when wrestlers such as Little Beaver, Lord Littlebrook, and Fuzzy Cupid toured North America, and Sky Low Low was the first holder...
whose career spans over 20 years. He is still active in the Canadian Independent circuit
Independent circuit
In professional wrestling, the independent circuit or indy circuit refers to the many independent promotions which are much smaller than major televised promotions. They are roughly analagous to a minor league for pro wrestling, or community or regional theatre.Specific promotions on the...
. Giroux's biggest exposure came when he performed as Doink The Clown
Doink the Clown
Doink the Clown is a professional wrestling gimmick, originally used by Matt Osborne in the World Wrestling Federation from 1993 to 1995. Since Osborne's departure from the WWF, the character has been played by several wrestlers, primarily on the independent circuit, as well as in sporadic special...
's sidekick Dink in the World Wrestling Federation
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
between 1993 and 1995. Outside of his stint as Dink the Clown, Giroux also performed in the WWF as Tiger Jackson in the 1980s and as The Macho Midget and Little Hulkster in the later half of the 1990s.
Tiger Jackson
Giroux made his debut in the late 1970s after being trained by Little Brutus and Hall of Famer Sky Low LowMarcel Gauthier
Marcel Gauthier was a Canadian professional midget wrestler who worked as Sky Low Low. He had a longtime feud with Farmer Brooks.-Professional wrestling career:...
under the name “Tiger Jackson”. With Midget Wrestling being seen as a sideshow to the “tall version”, Giroux tended to travel from promotion to promotion instead of staying in one area for a long time. In the early days of his career, Giroux wrestled in many National Wrestling Alliance
National Wrestling Alliance
The National Wrestling Alliance is a wrestling promotion company and sanctions various NWA championships in the United States. The NWA has been in operation since 1948...
territories, for the World Wrestling Council
World Wrestling Council
The World Wrestling Council is one of Puerto Rico's two main professional wrestling promotions, the other one being the International Wrestling Association....
in Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
, and in Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, as well. Giroux also made appearances in the World Wrestling Federation
World Wrestling Entertainment
World Wrestling Entertainment, Inc. is an American publicly traded, privately controlled entertainment company dealing primarily in professional wrestling, with major revenue sources also coming from film, music, product licensing, and direct product sales...
from 1982, often teaming with his brother Lionel Giroux
Lionel Giroux
Lionel Giroux 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.-Career:...
who wrestled as ”Little Beaver”.
In late 1992, Jackson signed on with the WWF and started to team up with The Bushwhackers
The Bushwhackers
The Bushwhackers were a professional wrestling tag team that also competed as The Sheepherders during their long career. They wrestled in the World Wrestling Federation and Jim Crockett Promotions as well as a nearly 40 year run on the independent wrestling circuit...
in their feud against The Beverly Brothers. The Beverly Brothers recruited “Little Louie” to even the sides but to little success falling to the combination of the Bushwhackers and Tiger Jackson time and again including a prime time loss on the “Road to WrestleMania IX
WrestleMania IX
WrestleMania IX was the ninth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation. The event took place at Caesars Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada on April 4, 1993 and was the first WrestleMania event held outdoors...
” Special shown on March 28.
Imitating others
In Mexico there is a tradition for the midget wrestlers to imitate “full sized” wrestlers such as Mascarita SagradaMascarita Sagrada
Mascarita Sagrada is a Mexican Mini Luchador enmascarado and one of the most well known Mexican Minis of the modern era. He is the original Mascarita Sagrada although there have been several wrestlers who have used the same gimmick through the years...
and Mascara Sagrada. In the 1990s, Claude Giroux followed that tradition after working for the WWF for about 6 months, appearing as miniature versions of several full-sized wrestlers.
Macho Midget
Giroux’s first “imitation” gimmick came as a direct result of the antics of the heelHeel (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a heel is a villain character. In non-wrestling jargon, heels are the "bad guys" in professional wrestling; the term heel coming from the term take to you heels, which means to run away which heel champions tend to do to avoid losing their titles.storylines...
Doink the Clown
Doink the Clown
Doink the Clown is a professional wrestling gimmick, originally used by Matt Osborne in the World Wrestling Federation from 1993 to 1995. Since Osborne's departure from the WWF, the character has been played by several wrestlers, primarily on the independent circuit, as well as in sporadic special...
, who had a second Doink come out to interfere in the match. During a match between Doink and Randy Savage
Randy Savage
Randall Mario Poffo , better known by his ring name "Macho Man" Randy Savage, was an American professional wrestler, best known for his time with the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling .Savage held twenty championships during his professional wrestling career and was a...
on Monday Night Raw
WWE RAW
WWE Raw ) is a sports entertainment television program for WWE that currently airs on the USA Network in the United States...
, Giroux climbed out from under the ring dressed like a miniature version of Randy Savage (instantly dubbed the Macho Midget). The sight of the Macho Midget distracted Doink long enough to be rolled up for a loss after Doink’s own tactics were turned on him. After his debut, Giroux helped Randy Savage out a few times but also went back to teaming with the Bushwhackers, this time working as ”The Macho Midget.”
Dink the Clown
Giroux’s most known “imitator” role was as “Dink the Clown,” the slapstick partner of Doink the ClownDoink the Clown
Doink the Clown is a professional wrestling gimmick, originally used by Matt Osborne in the World Wrestling Federation from 1993 to 1995. Since Osborne's departure from the WWF, the character has been played by several wrestlers, primarily on the independent circuit, as well as in sporadic special...
(at the time played by Ray Apollo, the fourth and last wrestler to play Doink on a regular basis in the WWF). Dink was introduced as a present to Doink the Clown by Santa Claus
Santa Claus
Santa Claus is a folklore figure in various cultures who distributes gifts to children, normally on Christmas Eve. Each name is a variation of Saint Nicholas, but refers to Santa Claus...
himself on an edition of WWF Superstars of Wrestling
WWF Superstars of Wrestling
WWF Superstars of Wrestling is a professional wrestling television program produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It debuted on September 6, 1986...
that aired on November 27, 1993. From then on, Dink accompanied Doink to ringside and took part in the clown antics played on opponents. While acting as a manager, Giroux occasionally also wrestled as Dink, twice on Pay Per View. Dink’s first PPV appearance was on March 20, 1994 at WrestleMania X
WrestleMania X
WrestleMania X was the tenth annual WrestleMania professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by the World Wrestling Federation. It took place at Madison Square Garden in New York, New York on March 20, 1994. The central focus of the pay-per-view was the WWF Championship, which was defended...
, teaming with Doink to face Bam Bam Bigelow and Luna Vachon in a losing effort. Dink’s second PPV appearance came at the 1994 Survivor Series
Survivor Series (1994)
Survivor Series was the eighth annual Survivor Series pay-per-view professional wrestling event produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It took place on Thanksgiving Eve, November 23, 1994 at the Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio, Texas...
where he was joined by fellow “Mini Clowns” Pink and Wink to make up the team Clowns’R’Us to face Jerry Lawler
Jerry Lawler
Jerry O'Neil Lawler is an American professional wrestler, wrestling commentator, musician, businessman, commercial artist and film actor, known throughout the wrestling world as Jerry "The King" Lawler. He is currently signed to WWE, working on its Raw brand as the color commentator and occasional...
and his three “Mini Kings” – Sleazy, Cheesy and Queasy. After losing the match, all six midgets attacked Jerry Lawler and chased him from the ring.
After the WWF
When the Dink gimmick was phased out by 1995, Giroux left the WWF as well, working mainly on the independent circuit ever since. In 1997, Giroux made a one-off appearance for World Championship WrestlingWorld Championship Wrestling
World Championship Wrestling, Inc. was an American professional wrestling promotion which existed from 1988 to 2001. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, it began as a regional promotion affiliated with the National Wrestling Alliance , named Jim Crockett Promotions until November 1988, when Ted Turner and...
as Tiger Jackson when the company toured through Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
, which has been Giroux’s home territory since leaving the WWF.
Championships and accomplishments
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter
- Worst Worked Match of the Year (1994) with DoinkMatt OsborneMatthew "Matt" Wade Osborne is an American semi-retired professional wrestler. Osborne is a second generation wrestler, being son of "Tough" Tony Borne, but he is best known as the first wrestler to portray the character of Doink the Clown, which he still uses to this day.-Independent...
, Pink and Wink vs. Jerry LawlerJerry LawlerJerry O'Neil Lawler is an American professional wrestler, wrestling commentator, musician, businessman, commercial artist and film actor, known throughout the wrestling world as Jerry "The King" Lawler. He is currently signed to WWE, working on its Raw brand as the color commentator and occasional...
, Sleazy, Queasy and Cheesy at Survivor SeriesSurvivor Series (1994)Survivor Series was the eighth annual Survivor Series pay-per-view professional wrestling event produced by the World Wrestling Federation . It took place on Thanksgiving Eve, November 23, 1994 at the Freeman Coliseum in San Antonio, Texas...
- Worst Worked Match of the Year (1994) with Doink