Rene Goulet


Robert Bédard was a Canadian professional wrestler. better known by his ring name, the "Number One Frenchman" Rene Goulet.

Professional wrestling career

Goulet began his career in Quebec City, Quebec, in 1957, with his first match being against Gerard Dugas.
He spent the early part of his career traveling the territories, spending a significant amount of time in the AWA. He achieved his greatest fame in the 1970s and 1980s with the World Wrestling Federation, winning the WWWF Tag Team Championship with Karl Gotch in December 1971.
Goulet was well known as a very dependable wrestler who could always be trusted to have a good match. As a result, he was often selected to have matches with rookie wrestlers so he could carry the match. The list of wrestlers who had either had their first match or one of their first matches against Goulet includes Ric Flair, Chris Taylor, the Iron Sheik, Jim Brunzell, Greg Gagne and Ken Patera. In Japan, in 1981, he teamed with Andre The Giant. While in the AWA in the early 1980s he was known as "Sgt. Jacques Goulet" and used a claw hold he called "le scorpion". He was known for wearing a glove on just one hand, sometimes wearing a fancy glove from the locker room then changing to a more work-glove at the start of the match.
Goulet wrestled regularly until 1986, and he competed in a legends battle royal in the Meadowlands in 1987. He worked as a road agent for the WWF until 1997 and could frequently be seen coming to the ring to maintain control when wrestlers got into fights. He was an avid golfer and regularly competed in celebrity charity tournaments.
Goulet died on May 25, 2019. His death was reported that December.

Career accomplishments