Life is funny sometimes.
Last week, the Force de Montréal women’s ice hockey team paid tribute to the First Nations with a ceremony and a jersey created especially for the occasion. One of his players, Brooke Stacey, hails from the Kahnawake Mohawk community.
During the day and because of the ceremony, I just wondered how Billy Two Rivers was doing. I had met him a couple of times but it had been years since I had heard from him. I even checked to see if I still had his number. And since I still had him, I told myself I had to call him. A week later, on February 12, he died at the Kateri Memorial Hospital Center in Kahnawake at the age of 87.
His death also ended a lineage of Mohawk wrestlers from Kahnawake that stretched back to the early 20th century.
Chief War Eagle and Don Eagle, two influences
In fact, Billy Two Rivers’ professional wrestling roots trace back to one of Quebec’s most successful light heavyweights, John Joseph Bell, better known as Chief War Eagle.
“In the 1920s there were a lot of wrestlers in Kahnawake. They had formed a small organization among themselves and were wrestling here in the arena, Billy Two Rivers told me in the late 2000s. Chief War Eagle was already a professional wrestler and between trips he helped young people in the area to improve. He wrestled at light heavyweight. He weighed about 175 pounds. He wrestled in Michigan, Illinois and Ohio. He wrestled through the 1920s and 1930s and had won a Michigan and Ohio area light heavyweight title.
Originally from Kahnawake, War Eagle later coached and oversaw the career of his son, Carl Donald Bell. The latter started his career under the name Don Eagle in the 1940s and quickly became a television star in the USA with his colorful clothes. He won the AWA title from Paul Bowser in Boston (not to be confused with Verne Gagne’s AWA) on May 23, 1950, but in June 1953 he was injured after a fight against Wladek Kowalski. With herniated discs in his back and two broken ribs, he takes a break.
Born on May 5, 1935 in Kahnawake, Billy was a lacrosse player when Eagle returned home and decided to take the youngster under his wing.
“Don Eagle injured his back and had to stop wrestling. He and his father took us to various lacrosse competitions. One day he suddenly offered to coach me for wrestling,” Billy recalled.
Then Eagles’ injuries healed and a year later, as he prepared to return to professional wrestling, he decided to take Billy with him to the United States. Before making his debut in the arena, Billy accompanies Eagle there. Occasionally, the two will perform live before a fight, dancing native dances to the delight of the crowd. Native American wrestlers have always been popular with viewers.
In the US before Montreal
Contrary to what was reported by several media outlets, Billy finally gets his baptism of fire in the Detroit Arena on January 12, 1954, beating Ferenc Siksay. He was only 18 years old then. For his part, Eagle paid the price for the finals, while a young Maurice Vachon also fought there. Billy then continues his career in the state of Ohio, where his mentor has established himself and where he is very popular.
Also in 1954, Billy began teaming with another First Nations wrestler, Kit Fox. A Comanche from Oklahoma, he became better known a few years later for his association with fellow wrestler Chief Big Heart. In addition to Ohio, Billy is also making his debut in the neighboring state of Kentucky and in the hot Florida sun by the end of the year. In Florida, Eagle and Two Rivers played their first team games.
Like any good snowbird, it stays in the southern United States until spring, then moves up the East Coast and makes its multi-state debuts. The Smith brothers, as well as the Dusek brothers, are among their most common opponents. Back then, Billy was nicknamed “the human eel” because of his speed and ease of getting out of the holds.
Once, a patron at a bar in Charlotte, North Carolina, wanted to prove to Billy that he’d found the perfect shot that he couldn’t shake. After the customer applied his grip well, Billy lifted him in the air with one arm, opened the commercial refrigerator door with the other, set the man down and closed the door, saying that this was his aspirations to become a , should cool wrestlers!
Finally, on September 21, 1955, Billy made his Montreal debut, and the Forum at that, against veteran Leo Numa. He stayed in Quebec for a while, wrestling in Sherbrooke and Quebec. And it’s the same refrain every year. Billy wrestles primarily in the United States, with some appearances in Quebec, mostly outside of Montreal.
North Carolina and England, the promised lands
On March 31, 1959, Billy won his first career title. Along with Charlotte native George Becker, they defeated brothers Al and John Smith to win the NWA Mid-Atlantic Southern Titles. They remain champions until July 6 of the same year, losing the titles in Charlotte to Mr. Moto and Duke Keomuka.
Of all the states, Billy knows the greatest success in North Carolina. In the fall of 1959, newspapers reported that more people had watched promoter Jim Crockett’s fight last year than in any previous year. It is also written that Billy Two Rivers is one of the most popular among young people.
Ironically, this is when Billy leaves the Territory to go to England.
“I had the choice of going to Calgary or England. I decided to toss a coin and England won!” Billy told me with the utmost sincerity.
On October 6, 1959, Billy made his debut on European soil, specifically in Hinckley, England, against Ray Apollon in the final of the evening. He then defeated Gwyn Davies at the legendary Royal Albert Hall before making two television appearances. Equipped with his headgear, his colorful clothes, with a flashy haircut (which we will call mohawk for a long time), he performs his dance on stage and finishes his opponents with a “tomohawk chop”, his first appearances on television have the imagination young people and made them instant stars.
Billy was so popular that a child even had his hair cut like him, but as the more conservative English school would not allow it, he had to reconcile having it cut differently.
“The country was hooked. One of the most colorful characters in British wrestling history. Undoubtedly a big name in British professional wrestling due to the huge impact of his headdress and haircut when he first appeared in 1960, at a time when western films were still popular.
We still talk today about his fights against wrestlers like Kendo Nagasaki and Dennis Mitchell. He faced almost every known heavyweight of the era. He made it to finals almost everywhere he wrestled and was constantly chased by fans for autographs. At an equestrian competition in England, a horse will even be named Billy Two Rivers!
From the autumn of 1959 to the spring of 1965, Two Rivers wrestled primarily in England, with some visits to Scotland, Wales, Ireland, France and Africa. Also, a fight against Jack Pye on October 7, 1961 in Belfast drew 12,000 people.
During those six years he returned to North America a number of times. He fought in the Carolinas for the summer of 1960 and fall of 1962 and a full year between the fall of 1962 and fall of 1963. He returned to Quebec to work in the summer of 1963, while the Territory, without television, is no longer what it was was.
The Grand Prix wrestling adventure starring Johnny War Eagle
After quitting regular wrestling in England, Billy returned to the Jim Crockett promotions, primarily teaming with Suni War Cloud, aka Chef Crazy Horse. They fight against the villains of the time, like the Tolos, Rip Hawk and Swede Hanson, Brute Bernard and Skull Murphy, as well as the Von Stroheims. In 1966 he participated in the World League tournament presented by the JWA, where he competed against, among others, Mr. Moto, Umanosuke Ueda and Giant Baba.
However, in 1967, after a 13-year career, Billy took a break. He returned to Quebec and became more involved in his community. In 1968 he became vice president and coach of the Caughnawaga Indians (former name of Kahnawake) of the Quebec Lacrosse League. His team is eliminated in the semifinals by the Athlétiques de Drummondville.
Then, after a hiatus of a few years, he returned to wrestling as the Grand Prix adventure began. It’s Paul Vachon thinking of getting him.
“I thought it was important to have an Aboriginal wrestler for our fans,” recalled Paul Vachon when I called him to tell him about Billy’s death. And having fought with him in England, I immediately thought of him.
In fact, Vachon and Two Rivers had fought a number of times in 1965, including once at the Royal Albert Hall.
We decide to put Billy in a team with a Quebecer named Rolland Frenière. After starting out like many others at the prestigious Loisirs St-Jean-Baptiste in the 1960s, he began to be known under the Johnny War Eagle moniker, working in Oregon and Minnesota on the recommendation of Maurice Vachon. . It was Maurice who suggested that he play the role of an aborigine and named him Johnny War Eagle, a nod to Chief War Eagle.
Paul Vachon therefore sees it as the perfect pair: Billy Two Rivers and Johnny War Eagle, a team nicknamed “The Indians”, a term no longer in use today but used extensively in the 1970s.
“In the beginning it bothered me that there were fake Indians. As I got older, I understood the importance of making money from characters for promoters. They were ambassadors just like us and respected our culture in their character. Little Beaver, for example, was held in high esteem by the Aboriginal community because his character respected the traditions of our ancestors,” recalled Billy, adding that he got along well with Johnny War Eagle.
A dream team division!
Two Rivers and War Eagle were among the very first shows presented by the new organization beginning in May 1971. Amongst others they fought against the Vachon brothers and the Hollywood Powders, their two biggest rivals. Late that year, on December 5, 1971, a final between the Vachons and the duo Two Rivers and War Eagle drew 7,000 spectators at the Colisée in Quebec. Ten days later, the pair faced off against Baron von Raschke and Blackjack Mulligan in the first-ever Grand Prix event at the Montreal Forum. Remember that Paul Vachon, the group’s promoter, was unable to fight in Montreal due to Athletic Commission regulations. They will also face off against the Green Hornets and the team consisting of Gilles Poisson and Zarinoff Leboeuf.
In this rivalry between Grand Prix and Aces de la Lutte, the Grand Prix team division is one of the strengths of the organization and is joined by Vachon, Leduc, Poudrés d’Hollywood, as well as Gino Brito and Dino Bravo, Two Rivers and War Eagle some of the most commonly used teams. Undoubtedly, in those few years, he was best known in his native province. Oddly enough, and while the history of Grand Prix team titles isn’t the most complete, he and War Eagle never won them.
Masters in Montreal
Billy had only returned to England for a few weeks in the winter of 1973, but with the decline of Grand Prix Wrestling late in the year, he returned there one last time, remaining there until late March 1974. He also took the opportunity to fight in Germany.
He’s still fighting in Quebec, but not at the same pace. He works for all organizations that existed between 1974 and 1976, namely Lutte Celebrité, Lutte Grand Circuit and the Rougeau family’s Aces de la Lutte. Then, shortly after selling the As de la Lutte and two days after the end of the Montreal Olympics, he won the title recognized by the Montreal Athletic Commission by defeating Serge Dumont on August 3, 1976 at Verdun. will act as his only singles title. He will lose it to Sailor White two months later. In the summer of 1977 he officially retired after a career spanning over 20 years.
Chief of the Mohawk Council and the Oka Crisis
This retirement is explained by the beginning of a career change. In 1978 he was elected chairman of the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake and remained so until 1998, serving ten consecutive terms. An achievement of which he was very proud. If he had fought all his life, he could keep doing it, but this time for his community. Additionally, he was the right arm of Mohawk Council of Kahnawake Grand Chief Joe Norton during the 1990 Oka Crisis.
“This was the most difficult time in Kahnawake’s recent history,” the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake said in a statement Monday morning after his death. Both colorful and outspoken, he never shied away from challenging government officials or correcting anti-Kahnawake opponents for their misinterpretations of the community’s position or place in history.
Kanien’kéha, Two Rivers, a passionate defender of the Mohawk language, was also very proud of a gesture he has made in recent years.
“I inducted all the local wrestlers at once to the Hall of Fame in Amsterdam, New York. It was a form of injustice that no other Hall of Fame had indigenous figures in its membership,” he reminded me.
Vachon, Leduc and I
“The last time I saw him was in Amsterdam, New York for the Wrestling Hall of Fame. I liked him, Billy,” Paul Vachon told me on the phone today.
For his part, former wrestler Paul Leduc recalled giving him a job.
“I got on well with him. He was an old school wrestler. We’ve teamed up a few times. Years later, when I was working in security at Phillips, I hired him for labor disputes from time to time.”
Personally, I was fortunate to meet Billy in Amsterdam, New York as part of the then-based Wrestling Hall of Fame, but also in Toronto for an alumni night hosted by journalist, author and historian Greg Oliver. I also visited him at his home two or three times. I interviewed him and he allowed me to scan a photo book he had.
I still remember a phone call just before my first visit to his home in Kahnawake. I had never been to Kahnawake before. So I asked Billy for his address to put into my GPS. And Billy laughed and told me he didn’t have an address. Then he gave me directions like right, left, straight ahead, with a description of his house. I found myself in the end, but I’ll admit that if I ever got lost, not having a very precise address stressed me out. Then I told myself I was going to see Billy Two Rivers and that everyone should know where he lived!
I remember that he was very quick-witted, deadpan and a very proud man of his origins. I got on very well with him. His passing makes me very sad.
I wish I had thought of calling her sooner. I would have liked to thank him again for the time he gave me, for the stories he told me.
Quebec has a rich history in professional wrestling and Kahnawake is well represented there. Unfortunately, she just lost her memory with the departure of Billy Two Rivers. I just hope I can honor it now.
Goodbye Billy! Thank you for everything.