SLAM! Wrestling Canadian Hall of Fame: Nelson Veilleux
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Nelson Veilleux. -- Greg Oliver, CANOE
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REAL NAME: Nelson Veilleux
BORN: January 4, 1967 in Montreal
5'8", 245 pounds
Nelson 'Le Trappeur' Veilleux has a good job now, a job that he's happy
with. But he'd give it up for wrestling if a really great opportunity
presented itself.
"I have a good job now, but if I could have a good break, I would go for
a wrestling career," said the 14-year veteran, who is a co-ordinator for
psychiatric people in workshop.
Veilleux had been a fan since his was three years old, and in 1986, it
was a dream come true for him to be learning the ropes in Montreal from
Edouard Carpentier and
Frenchy Martin. The two legends taught him
different aspects of the mat game. "One showed me the technical, the
other one showed me what happens in the ring," he recalled backstage at
the International Wrestling 2000 gala in Montreal in late December 1999.
In his debut match in 1988, Veilleux lost to Sylvain Le Tigre at the
Centre Paul Sauvé in Montreal.
He came into the sport just as the main International Wrestling office
in Montreal was dying off. Veilleux never got a big break, but is still
happy with the way things have turned out.
For one, through wrestling he met one of his best friends -- Quebecer
and former pirate
Pierre Carl Ouellet.
"We were tag team champions in South Africa, in Germany, France," said
Veilleux of his work with Ouellete. "[He's] a good friend now, like a
brother."
Dressed in animal skins, and carrying various traps, 'Le Trappeur'
certainly has a unique gimmick, but he comes by it honestly -- his
grandfather was in fact a trapper.
During the summer, Veilleux wrestles maybe three or four times a month,
and that goes down to once or twice a month in the winter. The stagnant
Quebec scene can only be improved by one thing, he believes. "I think
when someone has the TV, it's going to change [in Quebec]. TV is
everything now."
-- By GREG OLIVER, SLAM! Wrestling
Memories
Nelson Veilleux always made me laugh. During the '80s at The Montreal Forum, he would job to Steve Lombardi and then double as a ref later in the card. You have to remember, the guy just got his eyelids whipped off by Lombardi and then he'd be reffing the main event. D'oh!
Harris Black
