Francine Fournier
Encyclopedia
Francine Fournier known simply as Francine, is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 former professional wrestling
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...

 valet
Manager (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a manager is a secondary character paired with a wrestler for a variety of reasons. The manager is often either a non-wrestler, an occasional wrestler, an older wrestler who has retired or is nearing retirement or, in some cases, a new wrestler who is breaking into the...

 most known for her work in Extreme Championship Wrestling
Extreme Championship Wrestling
Extreme Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion that was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1992 by Tod Gordon and closed when his successor, Paul Heyman, declared bankruptcy in April 2001...

.

Extreme Championship Wrestling

Fournier decided to train to be a professional wrestler after seeing a commercial for a training school in 1993. She trained with J.T. Smith
John T. Smith
John T. "J.T." Smith is an American professional wrestler, best known for his appearances in Extreme Championship Wrestling in the 1990s.-Tri-State Wrestling Alliance:...

 for approximately one year at the House of Hardcore. She worked for Extreme Championship Wrestling
Extreme Championship Wrestling
Extreme Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion that was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1992 by Tod Gordon and closed when his successor, Paul Heyman, declared bankruptcy in April 2001...

 (ECW) at house show
House show
A house show is a professional wrestling show run by a major promotion that is not televised, though they can be recorded. Promotions use house shows mainly to cash in on the exposure that they and their wrestlers receive during televised events, as well as test reactions to matches, wrestlers, and...

s until the owner of ECW Paul Heyman
Paul Heyman
Paul Heyman is an American entertainment producer, best known for his career in professional wrestling as a promoter, manager, commentator and journalist. He is also an occasional actor in film....

 booked her to appear on television. In the summer of 1995, she debuted in ECW as a devoted fan of Stevie Richards
Stevie Richards
Michael Manna is an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Stevie Richards. Also known by his ring names, Steven Richards and Dr...

 and later became his manager
Manager (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a manager is a secondary character paired with a wrestler for a variety of reasons. The manager is often either a non-wrestler, an occasional wrestler, an older wrestler who has retired or is nearing retirement or, in some cases, a new wrestler who is breaking into the...

 and on-screen girlfriend. The new partnership angered both Richards's tag team
Tag team
Tag team professional wrestling is a variation in which matches are contested between teams of multiple wrestlers. A tag team may comprise two wrestlers who normally wrestle in singles competition, but more commonly are made of established teams who wrestle regularly as a unit and have a team name...

 partner Raven
Scott Levy
Scott Anthony Levy , better known by his ring name Raven, is an American professional wrestler, wrestling producer, wrestling writer, and occasional author and actor currently working for Juggalo Championship Wrestling , where he is co-holder of the JCW Tag Team Championship, as well as other...

 and Raven's valet Beulah McGillicutty. This rivalry eventually led to several catfights between the women. Richards eventually turned on Francine due to the influence of Raven.

Francine then allied herself with The Pitbulls
The Pitbulls
The Pitbulls were a professional wrestling tag team that consisted of "Pitbull #1" Gary Wolfe and "Pitbull #2" Anthony Durante. They were best known for their tenure in Extreme Championship Wrestling, where they were one-time World Tag Team Champions...

 tag team, who had left Raven's Nest, adopting a leather-clad dominatrix
Dominatrix
Dominatrix or mistress is a woman or women who takes the dominant role in bondage, discipline and sadomasochism, or BDSM. A common form of address for a submissive to a dominatrix is "mistress", "ma'am", "domina" or "maîtresse"...

 persona to fit with the Pitbulls' gimmick. She led The Pitbulls to a victory over Richards and Raven for the ECW Tag Team Championship
ECW Tag Team Championship
The Extreme Championship Wrestling World Tag Team Championship was a professional wrestling world tag team championship in Extreme Championship Wrestling...

s on September 16, 1995. At Cyberslam '96 Francine and the Pitbulls defeated The Eliminators
The Eliminators
The Eliminators were a professional wrestling tag team that consisted of Perry Saturn and John Kronus who were best known for their time in Extreme Championship Wrestling between 1995 and 1997.-History:...

 and Richards in a Dog Collar match
Professional wrestling match types
Many types of matches, sometimes called "concept" or "gimmick matches" in the jargon of the business, can be found in the form of performing art that is professional wrestling....

 when Fournier pinned Richards after he was superbombed by the Pitbulls. She also led Pitbull II
Anthony Durante
Anthony Durante was a professional wrestler best known as "Pitbull #2" as one half of the tag team The Pitbulls, with "Pitbull #1" Gary Wolfe.-WWF:...

 to win the ECW Television Championship from Shane Douglas
Shane Douglas
Troy Alan Martin is an American professional wrestler and promoter, better known by his ring name "The Franchise" Shane Douglas. In the course of his career, which has spanned nearly three decades, Douglas has wrestled in Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling and briefly...

, who had insulted her earlier in the program.

On July 13, 1996 at Heatwave, Francine turned on The Pitbulls and became the manager of Shane Douglas. Referred to as his "Head" Cheerleader, she twice helped him become ECW World Heavyweight Champion. During this time, she could also occasionally be found at ringside in support of Douglas' Triple Threat
Triple Threat
The Triple Threat was a professional wrestling heel stable that existed in Extreme Championship Wrestling from 1995 to 1998. It was Shane Douglas's answer to Ric Flair's Four Horsemen...

 teammates Chris Candido
Chris Candido
Christopher Raul Candito was an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Chris Candido...

 and Bam Bam Bigelow. Bigelow, however, legitimately broke her pelvic bone while performing a press slam on her. In November 1998, she was by Douglas's side when he defeated Bigelow for the Television Championship. She remained Douglas's manager until he left ECW in 1999, at which point she became the manager of Tommy Dreamer
Tommy Dreamer
Thomas James "Tom" Laughlin is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Tommy Dreamer. He is currently working for various promotions on the independent circuit. He is best known for his time spent with Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment...

. In 2000, she left Dreamer and managed Raven and then Justin Credible
Peter Polaco
Peter Joseph Polaco is an American professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation under the ring name Justin Credible. He is also known for his earlier stint with the WWF under the ringname Aldo Montoya...

 until ECW declared bankruptcy on April 4, 2001.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling

On June 26, 2002, Francine participated in the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling is a privately held professional wrestling promotion founded by Jeff Jarrett and Jerry Jarrett. The company broadcasts its events on television and the Internet fifty two weeks a year with over a million weekly viewers on its primary television program, Impact...

 (TNA) lingerie
Lingerie
Lingerie are fashionable and possibly alluring undergarments.Lingerie usually incorporates one or more flexible, stretchy materials like Lycra, nylon , polyester, satin, lace, silk and sheer fabric which are not typically used in more functional, basic cotton undergarments.The term in the French...

 battle royal
Battle royal (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a battle royal is a multi-competitor match type in which wrestlers are eliminated until one is left and declared winner...

 for the Miss TNA Crown. On TNA's debut weekly PPV, Francine and Elektra had an in ring argument, leading Elektra to name Francine the reason for ECW's bankruptcy. In the match, Francine was eliminated by Elektra, Shannon and Miss Joni. She was upset that she lost, so she began to whip Ed Ferrera
Ed Ferrera
Edward Ferrara is a professional wrestling storyline writer, most notably for the World Wrestling Federation and World Championship Wrestling, often alongside Vince Russo. Ed Ferrara began his work in television production and writing, contributing to shows such as Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV...

 with his own belt. Francine then got back in the ring and started to whip Taylor Vaughn
Cathy Dingman
Katherine Dingman is a professional wrestler and valet she is known for her work in TNA, WCW, WWF and various independent promotions. She briefly appeared as B.B. in the WWF from late 1999 to early 2000...

 with Ferrera's belt after she won the match.

The next week the two women had a match against each other. Francine took a leather strap out of her boot and started to whip and choke Taylor with it. Referee Scott Armstrong grabbed it and took it away but Taylor grabbed it from the him and proceeded to whip and choke Francine with it. Armstrong tried to stop her, but Taylor hit him too causing her to be disqualified. Commentator Ed Ferrara got into the ring to help Francine, telling her she was the winner. Francine then put Ferrara's hand on her breast and slapped him for touching it, then whipped him with the leather strap.

Two weeks later Francine attacked Jasmine St. Claire while she was being interviewed by Goldylocks. The two had a match later that night which resulted in both women being stripped to their underwear. It ended in a disqualification after interference by The Blue Meanie and Francine was taken away on a stretcher. This was her last appearance in TNA.

Independent circuit

She made appearances with Major League Wrestling
Major League Wrestling
Major League Wrestling is a professional wrestling promotion that markets its presentation around hybrid wrestling, which encompasses and showcases many different forms of wrestling. MLW's mission is to present itself as an alternative to sports entertainment...

 in 2003 as Michael Shane
Matt Bentley
Matthew James "Matt" Bentley is an American professional wrestler best known for his work in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling by the ring name Michael Shane. He was trained by his cousin, former World Wrestling Entertainment wrestler Shawn Michaels, and he took the name Michael Shane as a play on...

's manager and was later involved with the Women's Extreme Wrestling
Women's Extreme Wrestling
Women's Extreme Wrestling , also known as Women's Erotic Wrestling, is an all woman professional wrestling promotion based in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with offices in New York City, New York. They are notable because their storylines usually are filled with erotic and sexual themes...

 and Hottest Ladies of Wrestling promotions
Professional wrestling promotion
A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling. Promotion also describes a role which entails management, advertising and logistics of running a wrestling event...

. In 2005, She also appeared in Delaware Championship Wrestling, where she feuded with Talia Madison
Velvet Sky
Jamie Szantyr is an American professional wrestler currently working for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the ring name Velvet Sky. She is a former TNA Women's Knockout Champion and TNA Knockouts Tag Team Champion with her former Beautiful People partners Madison Rayne and Lacey Von Erich...

 and Noel Harlow.

On June 10, 2005 Francine appeared at the ECW reunion show Hardcore Homecoming
Hardcore Homecoming
Hardcore Homecoming was a series of professional wrestling events which were advertised as a reunion of talent from the defunct Extreme Championship Wrestling promotion....

, where she acted as the valet of Shane Douglas. On June 12, she appeared at World Wrestling Entertainment
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...

 (WWE) produced ECW One Night Stand
ECW One Night Stand (2005)
ECW One Night Stand was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by World Wrestling Entertainment . It was held on June 12, 2005 at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York, New York. The main event was a tag team match between The Dudley Boyz and the team of Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman...

 reunion pay-per-view
Pay-per-view
Pay-per-view provides a service by which a television audience can purchase events to view via private telecast. The broadcaster shows the event at the same time to everyone ordering it...

, interfering in the main event of Tommy Dreamer
Tommy Dreamer
Thomas James "Tom" Laughlin is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Tommy Dreamer. He is currently working for various promotions on the independent circuit. He is best known for his time spent with Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment...

 and The Sandman
Jim Fullington
James "Jim" Fullington better known by his ring name Sandman, is an American professional wrestler, best known for his career with Extreme Championship Wrestling , where he developed into a "Hardcore Icon"...

 versus The Dudley Boyz
Dudley Boyz
Team 3D was a professional wrestling tag team, consisting of Brother Ray and Brother Devon, formerly sporadically joined into a stable by Brother Runt on several intervals...

. After she kicked Dreamer in the crotch
Groin attack
A groin attack is an attempt to cause pain to the groin area of one's opponent. The technique can be quickly debilitating, due to the large number of sensitive nerve endings in the penis and testicles of males, as well as the highly innervated vulva of females. A sufficiently powerful blow may...

, Francine was attacked by Dreamer's wife and former valet, Beulah McGillicutty. On June 19, Francine apologized to her fans via her website for not disclosing that she was going to appear at One Night Stand, stating that the WWE had asked her to keep her appearance a surprise.

World Wrestling Entertainment

Francine then signed a contract to appear on the newly created Extreme Championship Wrestling brand
WWE Brand Extension
WWE, formerly the World Wrestling Federation and World Wrestling Entertainment , currently promotes its core business of professional wrestling through two "brands" named after their two major television shows Raw and SmackDown...

. She made her first appearances with the promotion in house show
House show
A house show is a professional wrestling show run by a major promotion that is not televised, though they can be recorded. Promotions use house shows mainly to cash in on the exposure that they and their wrestlers receive during televised events, as well as test reactions to matches, wrestlers, and...

s, normally competing in bikini contest
Bikini contest
A bikini contest is a beauty contest where women compete against each other in bikinis.Bikini contests can take place in bars, nightclubs, at beaches, and beauty pageants. Related companies regularly sponsor such contests to discover and attract new talents to promote their products...

s with Kelly Kelly. Francine eventually began acting as the valet of fellow "ECW Original" Balls Mahoney
Balls Mahoney
Jonathan Rechner better known by his ring name Balls Mahoney , is an American professional wrestler...

 in his feud with Kevin Thorn
Kevin Fertig
Kevin Matthew Fertig is an American professional wrestler. He is best known for working with World Wrestling Entertainment under the ring names Mordecai and Kevin Thorn....

 to even the odds against him and Ariel
Shelly Martinez
Shelly Leonor Martinez is a Mexican American model, actress, professional wrestler and valet. She is known for her work with World Wrestling Entertainment on its ECW brand under the ring name Ariel and for Total Nonstop Action Wrestling under the ring name Salinas as valet to The Latin American...

, Thorn's valet. Francine made her return to television on the September 19, 2006 episode of ECW on Sci Fi. On the following week's show, she made her in-ring debut as she wrestled Ariel to a no-contest in an "Extreme Catfight." She was released from her WWE contract on October 12, 2006.

Semi-retirement

Following her release from WWE, Francine announced her imminent retirement from professional wrestling on November 9, 2006. She also made appearances with Women's Extreme Wrestling
Women's Extreme Wrestling
Women's Extreme Wrestling , also known as Women's Erotic Wrestling, is an all woman professional wrestling promotion based in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with offices in New York City, New York. They are notable because their storylines usually are filled with erotic and sexual themes...

 (WEW) and made frequent appearances at autograph signings. In WEW, she managed Amber O'Neill.

On June 27, 2009, Fournier held an ECW reunion show entitled "Legends of the Arena", and proceeds from the show will be donated to the American Cancer Society
American Cancer Society
The American Cancer Society is the "nationwide community-based voluntary health organization" dedicated, in their own words, "to eliminating cancer as a major health problem by preventing cancer, saving lives, and diminishing suffering from cancer, through research, education, advocacy, and...

. On August 8, 2010, Fournier appeared via pre-taped video at Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling
Total Nonstop Action Wrestling is a privately held professional wrestling promotion founded by Jeff Jarrett and Jerry Jarrett. The company broadcasts its events on television and the Internet fifty two weeks a year with over a million weekly viewers on its primary television program, Impact...

's ECW reunion show, Hardcore Justice
Hardcore Justice (2010)
Hardcore Justice was a professional wrestling pay-per-view event produced by Total Nonstop Action Wrestling , which took place on August 8, 2010 at the TNA Impact! Zone in Orlando, Florida...

.

Personal life

Fournier is of Québécois heritage. She is from a Catholic family.

Francine worked for a life insurance
Life insurance
Life insurance is a contract between an insurance policy holder and an insurer, where the insurer promises to pay a designated beneficiary a sum of money upon the death of the insured person. Depending on the contract, other events such as terminal illness or critical illness may also trigger...

 company before entering the world of professional wrestling. In 2005, Fournier and Missy Hyatt
Missy Hyatt
Melissa Ann Hiatt is an American professional wrestling valet, better known by her ring name, Missy Hyatt. She gained the majority of her fame while working for World Championship Wrestling and Extreme Championship Wrestling....

 opened a online reality fansite.

Fournier got married on June 7, 2008 and gave birth to her first child, a daughter named Molly Rose, on July 28, 2009. In 2008, both her father and sister died of cancer within a few days of each other.

In wrestling

  • Finishing moves
    • DDT
      DDT (professional wrestling)
      In professional wrestling a DDT is any move in which the wrestler has the opponent in a front facelock, and falls down or backwards to drive the opponent's head into the mat...

       (ECW
      Extreme Championship Wrestling
      Extreme Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion that was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1992 by Tod Gordon and closed when his successor, Paul Heyman, declared bankruptcy in April 2001...

      ) / Termination (WEW
      Women's Extreme Wrestling
      Women's Extreme Wrestling , also known as Women's Erotic Wrestling, is an all woman professional wrestling promotion based in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania with offices in New York City, New York. They are notable because their storylines usually are filled with erotic and sexual themes...

      )

  • Signature moves
    • Hoochie-canrana (Diving hurricanrana)
    • Bronco buster

  • Nickname
    Nickname
    A nickname is "a usually familiar or humorous but sometimes pointed or cruel name given to a person or place, as a supposedly appropriate replacement for or addition to the proper name.", or a name similar in origin and pronunciation from the original name....

    s
    • "The Head Cheerleader"
    • "The Queen of Extreme"

  • Wrestlers managed
    Manager (professional wrestling)
    In professional wrestling, a manager is a secondary character paired with a wrestler for a variety of reasons. The manager is often either a non-wrestler, an occasional wrestler, an older wrestler who has retired or is nearing retirement or, in some cases, a new wrestler who is breaking into the...

    • Amber O'Neill
    • Balls Mahoney
      Balls Mahoney
      Jonathan Rechner better known by his ring name Balls Mahoney , is an American professional wrestler...

    • Triple Threat
      Triple Threat
      The Triple Threat was a professional wrestling heel stable that existed in Extreme Championship Wrestling from 1995 to 1998. It was Shane Douglas's answer to Ric Flair's Four Horsemen...

       (Bam Bam Bigelow and Chris Candido
      Chris Candido
      Christopher Raul Candito was an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Chris Candido...

      )
    • Justin Credible
      Peter Polaco
      Peter Joseph Polaco is an American professional wrestler, best known for his appearances with Extreme Championship Wrestling and the World Wrestling Federation under the ring name Justin Credible. He is also known for his earlier stint with the WWF under the ringname Aldo Montoya...

    • Shane Douglas
      Shane Douglas
      Troy Alan Martin is an American professional wrestler and promoter, better known by his ring name "The Franchise" Shane Douglas. In the course of his career, which has spanned nearly three decades, Douglas has wrestled in Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Championship Wrestling and briefly...

    • Tommy Dreamer
      Tommy Dreamer
      Thomas James "Tom" Laughlin is an American professional wrestler better known by his ring name Tommy Dreamer. He is currently working for various promotions on the independent circuit. He is best known for his time spent with Extreme Championship Wrestling and World Wrestling Entertainment...

    • The Pitbulls
      The Pitbulls
      The Pitbulls were a professional wrestling tag team that consisted of "Pitbull #1" Gary Wolfe and "Pitbull #2" Anthony Durante. They were best known for their tenure in Extreme Championship Wrestling, where they were one-time World Tag Team Champions...

       (Pitbull #1 and Pitbull #2
      Anthony Durante
      Anthony Durante was a professional wrestler best known as "Pitbull #2" as one half of the tag team The Pitbulls, with "Pitbull #1" Gary Wolfe.-WWF:...

      )
    • Stevie Richards
      Stevie Richards
      Michael Manna is an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Stevie Richards. Also known by his ring names, Steven Richards and Dr...

    • Raven
      Scott Levy
      Scott Anthony Levy , better known by his ring name Raven, is an American professional wrestler, wrestling producer, wrestling writer, and occasional author and actor currently working for Juggalo Championship Wrestling , where he is co-holder of the JCW Tag Team Championship, as well as other...

    • Michael Shane
      Matt Bentley
      Matthew James "Matt" Bentley is an American professional wrestler best known for his work in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling by the ring name Michael Shane. He was trained by his cousin, former World Wrestling Entertainment wrestler Shawn Michaels, and he took the name Michael Shane as a play on...

    • Ron "The Truth" Killings

External links

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