PAUL "BUTCHER" VACHON

Paul "Butcher" Vachon was born on a farm in rural Quebec and grew up as one of thirteen children.  The Vachons would go on to become one of Canada's legendary wrestling families. After working for a stint as a lumberjack, Paul followed his brother, Maurice, into the professional wrestling business in 1957.

Paul didn't, though, begin his career as a Vachon, rather he worked as Nicoli Zolotoff, a Russian billed from Windsor.  In Minneapolis he gained early success as one of the top young heels and even joined Ivan and Karol Kalmikoff for six-man tag team matches.  It was as Zolotoff that Paul would also gain his firs major wrestling title, the Texas Tag Team Title, which he won in Houston on September 20, 1957 with partner Ivan the Terrible (who would go on to fame as Pampero Firpo). 

After a stint in Hawaii holding the Hawaiian Tag Team Titles with Hard Boiled Haggerty, Paul returned to Texas under his own name.  He joined Maurice to win the Texas Tag Team Titles on November 8, 1960.

In the late 1960's, Paul became legendary in Georgia when, joined by "brother" Stan Vachon (also known as Stan Pulaski and Eric Pomeroy), he became a part of the South's leading heel tag team.  They traded the Southern Tag Team Titles from the popular Torres Brothers, Enrique and Ramon, in both June, September and December of 1967.  

In 1968, Maurice asked him to come to Verne Gagne's AWA and together they defeated all competition for over a year.  On August 30, 1969, the brother combination captured the AWA World Tag Team championship from Dick "The Bruiser" Afflis and The Crusher in Chicago, IL. The Vachon brothers would hold the titles for the longest uninterrupted period of time of any tag team up until that time before dropping them to Hercules Cortez and Red Bastien in Milwaukee, WI on May 15, 1971.

After dropping the belts, Paul ventured to Montreal where he became a top promoter and formed the Grand Prix promotion.  He and Mad Dog were teh territory's first recognized champions in 1971.

In 1976, Paul teamed with Chavo Guerrero to capture the NWA Americas Tag Team title from Crusher Verdu and Roddy Piper in Los Angeles, CA.  In addition to all of these titles and being a successful promoter, Paul didn't limit himself to North America as his wrestling career took him all over the world, including Pakistan and Southeast Asia.

In addition to Paul and Maurice, the wrestling Vachons include their late sister, Vivian, and Paul's daughter, Luna.  He is currently retired from professional wrestling and lives with his wife, Dee, in northern Vermont.

Visit the Paul Vachon Photo Gallery here!