Francine (wrestling)

Francine Fournier
Born	(1972-02-19) February 19, 1972 Bear, DE
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)	Francine
Billed height	5 ft 7 in (170 cm)
Billed weight	126 lb (57 kg)
Trained by	J.T. Smith
Debut	1993
Retired	December 2006

Francine Fournier (born February 19 1972) known simply as Francine is a former American professional wrestling valet most known for her work in Extreme Championship Wrestling.

Career

Extreme Championship Wrestling

Francine worked for a life insurance company before deciding to become a professional wrestling valet. She was hired by Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) in December 1993 and trained with J.T. Smith at the ECW House of Hardcore training school, of which she was the first graduate. In the summer of 1995, she debuted in ECW as a devoted fan of Stevie Richards, and she later became his on-screen girlfriend and manager. Although Richards was a part of Raven's Nest, Francine was not, as she hated Raven's valet, Beulah McGillicutty. This eventually led to ECW's first all-female "catfight" match on August 26, with Richards as the special guest referee. During the fight, Richards turned on her, allowing Beulah to win. Richards' interference was due to Raven's controlling influence. Francine then allied herself with The Pitbulls tag team, who had left Raven's Nest, adopting a leather-clad dominatrix persona to fit with the Pitbulls' gimmick. She gained a measure of revenge by leading The Pitbulls to a victory over Richards and Raven for the ECW Tag Team Championships on September 16, 1995. At Cyberslam '96 Francine and the Pitbulls defeated The Eliminators and Richards in a Dog Collar Match when Fournier pinned Richards after Richards was Superbombed by the Pitbulls.

On July 13 1996 at Heatwave, Francine turned on The Pitbulls and became the manager of Shane Douglas, who she twice helped become ECW World Heavyweight Champion. During this time, she could also occasionally be found at ringside in support of Douglas' Triple Threat teammates Chris Candido and Bam Bam Bigelow. She remained at the side of Douglas until he left ECW to return to World Championship Wrestling, at which point she became the manager of Tommy Dreamer,. In 2000, she left Dreamer and managed Raven, then Justin Credible until ECW declared bankruptcy in March 2001. During her time with the company, Francine was powerbombed through tables and was on the receiving end of many piledrivers, as well as The Eliminators' Total Elimination.

Total Nonstop Action Wrestling

On June 26 2002, Francine participated in the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling lingerie battle royal 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. Unfortunately for Francine she was eliminated by Elektra, Shannon and Miss Joni. Francine was upset that she lost, so she began to whip Ed Ferrera with his own belt. Francine then got back in the ring, and started to whip Taylor Vaughn with Ed 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 in 2003 as Michael Shane's manager and was later involved with the Women's Extreme Wrestling (as a "General Manager") and Hottest Ladies of Wrestling promotions. In 2005, She also appeared in Delaware Championship Wrestling, where she feuded with Talia Madison and Noel Harlow.

ECW reunions

On June 10 2005 Francine appeared at the ECW reunion show Hardcore Homecoming, where she acted as the valet of Shane Douglas. On June 12, she appeared at World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) produced ECW One Night Stand 2005 reunion pay-per-view, interfering in the main event of Tommy Dreamer and The Sandman versus The Dudley Boyz. After she kicked Dreamer in the crotch, 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

On May 5 2006, World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) announced that Francine had signed a contract to appear on the newly created Extreme Championship Wrestling brand. She made her first contracted appearance with the promotion on June 24 2006 at a house show held in the New Alhambra Arena, defeating Kelly Kelly and Trinity in a bikini contest. In the preceding few months, Francine frequently was beaten by Kelly Kelly in bikini contests (dubbed "Extreme Body Contests") held at house shows, designed to get Kelly Kelly over with the crowd. Francine made her television debut that night as she appeared backstage and shunned Paul Heyman alongside several other members of the ECW roster.

Francine eventually began acting as the valet of fellow "ECW Original" Balls Mahoney in his feud with Kevin Thorn to even the odds against him and Ariel, 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.

Following her release from WWE, Francine announced her imminent retirement from professional wrestling on November 9 2006. She has, however, returned to Women's Extreme Wrestling and makes frequent appearances at autograph signings.

In wrestling

• Finishing and signature moves
  • DDT (ECW) / Termination (WEW)
  • Stunner
  • Catfighting with her opponent
  • Coochie-canrana (Diving hurricanrana)
  • Tuna-canrana (Bronco buster)

• Nicknames
  • The Beast Master
  • The Head Cheerleader
  • The Queen of Extreme
  • The Royal Bitch

• Wrestlers managed by Francine
  • Balls Mahoney
  • Bam Bam Bigelow
  • Chris Candido
  • Justin Credible
  • Shane Douglas
  • Tommy Dreamer
  • Angel Orsini
  • Pitbull #1
  • Pitbull #2
  • Stevie Richards
  • Raven
  • Michael Shane
  • So Cal Val
  • Human Tornado

• Entrance themes
  • "Paradise City" by Guns N' Roses (Used in both ECW and the independent circuit)
  • "Excessive Force" (Used while a part of the ECW brand)

Personal life

Fournier previously dated Tommy Dreamer in their ECW days before Tommy got married to Trisa Hayes. She got married on June 7, 2008.

External links

• Online World Of Wrestling Profile
• OWOW Profile
• Template:MySpace