René Duprée
René Duprée | |
---|---|
Birth name | René Goguen |
Born | [1][2] Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada[1] | December 15, 1983
Spouse(s) |
Kanako Goguen (m. 2009) |
Family | Emile Duprée (father) |
Professional wrestling career | |
Ring name(s) | René Duprée[3] Gedon[4] Geddon[4] René Bonaparte[1] René E. Duprée[2] René Rougeau[2] |
Billed height | 6 ft 3 in (191 cm)[5] |
Billed weight | 260 lb (118 kg)[5] |
Billed from | Paris, France[1] |
Trained by | Emile Duprée[1] |
Debut | 1996[1] |
René Goguen[2] (born December 15, 1983),[2] better known by his ring name René Duprée (French: [ʁəne dypʁe]; Japanese: レネ・デュプリ, romanized: Rene Dyupuri) is a Canadian professional wrestler. He is currently signed to Pro Wrestling Noah where he is a former two-time GHC Tag Team Champion.
Goguen is best known for his tenure in
He is the first wrestler in WWE to win a title as a teenager.
Professional wrestling career
World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment
Ohio Valley Wrestling (2002–2003)
In April 2002 Goguen signed with the World Wrestling Federation making him the youngest wrestler to sign with the WWF at the age of 18. On October 9, 2002, Goguen debuted under the ring name, René Duprée, after his father, defeating Johnny Jeter. Duprée would team up with various wrestlers in dark matches on SmackDown! and Raw, while also competing in Ohio Valley Wrestling until April 2003.
La Résistance (2003–2004)
After weeks of vignettes airing, Sylvain Grenier and Duprée made their first appearance on the April 28, 2003, episode of Raw as La Résistance by attacking Scott Steiner.[6] Steiner had made remarks two weeks earlier comparing France to hell and Grenier and Duprée were offended. La Résistance went on to feud with Scott Steiner and Test, who was forced to be Steiner's tag team partner by Stacy Keibler. La Résistance ended up defeating Steiner and Test at Judgment Day on May 18, 2003, in the team's pay-per-view debut.[7]
On June 15, 2003, La Résistance won the
The third member of La Résistance, Rob Conway, was originally introduced as an unnamed American serviceman being abused by Grenier and Duprée.[10] On the August 18 episode of Raw, when The Dudley Boyz came out to attack La Résistance, they brought Conway into the ring with an American flag.[10] Once the Dudley Boyz had their backs turned, Conway attacked the Dudley Boyz with the American flag and then tore it off the pole and laid it on top of them.[10] Conway, now renamed to Robért Conway, joined Duprée and Grenier and the trio began carrying the French flag to ringside and singing the French national anthem before their matches. La Résistance lost the World Tag Team Championship to the Dudley Boyz at Unforgiven in a three-on-two handicapped tables match.[11] The trio went on to feud with several tag teams, including the Dudley Boyz, The Hurricane and Rosey, and Garrison Cade and Mark Jindrak.
In October 2003, Grenier suffered a back injury, resulting in Duprée and Conway holding the tag team together. At Armageddon, La Résistance competed in a Tag Team Turmoil match for the World Tag Team Championship which was won by Ric Flair and Batista. At the Royal Rumble, Duprée competed in the 30-man Royal Rumble match where he eliminated Matt Hardy before getting eliminated by Rikishi. At WrestleMania XX, La Résistance (Duprée and Conway) competed in a Fatal four-way tag team match for the World Tag Team Championship but failed to win the titles. Grenier returned in March 2004, thus reuniting the trio. The reunion did not last long, as Duprée was drafted to the SmackDown! brand in the 2004 WWE Draft Lottery on the March 22 episode of Raw.[12]
Championship pursuits (2004–2005)
Duprée made his SmackDown! debut on the March 25, 2004, episode of SmackDown!, defeating Billy Kidman.[13] He briefly had a talk show on SmackDown!, called "Cafe de René", but his only guest was Torrie Wilson as the segment was cancelled after only one night. Duprée wrestled Wilson to a draw on the April 29 edition of SmackDown!.[14] For several months, pursued the United States Championship, held by John Cena. After an incident that happened during his "Cafe de René" (the same incident involving Torrie Wilson), Duprée challenged Cena to a championship match. The match was granted by SmackDown! general manager Kurt Angle and it took place at Judgment Day. Cena retained the championship at Judgment Day when he pinned Duprée after executing an F-U.[15] At The Great American Bash, Duprée competed in a Four-way elimination match for the United States Championship which saw Cena retain once again.
After losing to Cena, he focused on the
On the March 24, 2005, airing of SmackDown!, he was "sacrificed" by
Brand switches (2005–2007)
On June 30, Duprée became one of the last minute trades in the 2005 WWE Draft Lottery, which saw him jump from SmackDown! back to Raw.[20] On the July 4 edition of Raw, Duprée redebuted with his French Phenom gimmick and defeated Val Venis on the same night.[21] Duprée began cutting promos using a new quote referring to himself as "Simply Phenomenal". Duprée also began a winning streak against superstars such as The Hurricane, Matt Striker and Tajiri before suffering a near career-ending hernia in mid-September.
Once Duprée was cleared to wrestle, WWE sent him back to Ohio Valley Wrestling for training before returning to WWE. On October 19, 2005, Duprée returned to OVW facing Robert Fury in a no-contest. On February 21, 2007, La Resistance defeated Kofi Kingston and David Hart Smith in what would be Duprée's final appearance in OVW.
On the August 8, 2006, episode of ECW on Sci Fi, a promo aired with Duprée, sporting a clean shave and long hair, announcing that he would be debuting for the ECW brand soon.[22] Promos aired throughout the rest of August showing Duprée taking pictures, posing in mirrors, and working out, while claiming he is "the most extreme athlete in ECW history". Duprée made his ECW debut on September 12, 2006, defeating Balls Mahoney.[23] On the February 20, 2007, episode of ECW on Sci Fi, Duprée reformed La Résistance with Sylvain Grenier, but the team's reunion was short-lived after Duprée was suspended at the start of March and sent to rehab after violating the Health and Wellness policy.[24]
Duprée returned to the ring at WWE's new developmental territory Florida Championship Wrestling on June 26, 2007, and defeated Steve Madison. However, he was released from his WWE contract a month later on July 26, 2007, by his own request.[25] In an interview with Chris Van Vliet in 2021, Duprée revealed the Chris Benoit double-murder and suicide was his main reason for leaving the company.[26]
Independent circuit (2007–2012)
After leaving WWE, Goguen wrestled primarily on the European independent circuit and Japan. He made his debut for
On November 11, 2012, made his debut on the American independent circuit when Duprée lost to the Dynamic Sensation in a four corners match which also included Dan Maff and Devon Moore for Pro Wrestling Syndicate in Rahway, New Jersey. In May, Rene and his father restarted Grand Prix Wrestling and featured talent from All Japan Pro Wrestling and other assorted talent.
Hustle (2007–2009)
Goguen debuted for the Japanese promotion Hustle on August 15, 2007, under the name "René Bonaparte", defeating fellow WWE alumnus Tajiri. After debuting, René became a member of President Nobuhiko Takada's Takada Monster Army thus continuing his winning streak. Bonaparte and Wataru wrestled their grudge match was on September 22, with the stipulation being that Wataru's wife, Eiko, was to become the wife of the winner of the match. Bonaparte defeated his tag team partner Sakata via disqualification, thus winning Eiko.
After a brief hiatus, Bonaparte made his return to the promotion in January 2008 and defeated Tajiri. His undefeated streak came to an end on January 17, when he and Giant Vabo lost to Tajiri and
All Japan Pro Wrestling (2008, 2010–2011, 2013)
On June 22, 2008, Goguen debuted for All Japan Pro Wrestling under his René Duprée ring name and defeated Manabu Soya. During his short stint in 2008 he aligned himself with the Voodoo Murders stable where he teamed up with TARU mostly.
On January 2, 2010, Duprée returned to AJPW and rejoined Voodoo Murders by filling in the final spot for a Voodoo Murders vs Gurentai tag team match which he lost, later on in the night he lost a seventeen-man battle royal. In April, he participated in 2010's
During an AJPW international tour in
Wrestle-1 (2013–2014, 2019–2020)
While still officially the Gaora TV Champion, Duprée made a surprise appearance at the AJPW splinter promotion Wrestle-1's
Duprée was due to return to Wrestle-1 on September 1, 2019, as part of the Pro Wrestling Love in Yokohama event but was unable to attend due to flight trouble.[35] Enfants Terribles leader Shotaro Ashino announced that Duprée had joined the faction. On September 15, 2019, Duprée teamed with Ashino, Kuma Arashi and Yusuke Kodama in a losing effort.[36] He teamed with Arashi in the 2019 Wrestle-1 Tag League, going undefeated in the round robin portion of the tournament before losing to T-Hawk and Shigehiro Irie in the final.[37] Wrestle-1 financial issues meant Duprée would not return to the promotion and would eventually close on April 1, 2020.[38]
Return to the independent circuit (2015–2021)
On January 24, 2015, Duprée made his first post Wrestle-1 appearance for the Canadian Wrestling Federation (CWF) defeating Tyson Dux.[39]
On May 20, 2015, Duprée began touring with his father promotion Atlantic Grand Prix Wrestling from May 2015 through August 2015.[40] On April 29, 2017, Duprée defeated Hannibal to become the new GNW Canadian Champion as part of the 2017 AGPW tour in O'Leary, Prince Edward Island.[41]
On May 26, 2017, Duprée competed for What Culture Pro Wrestling as part of their World Cup tournament where he was defeated by Michael Elgin due to disqualification in the first round of the Canadian qualifier.[42]
On June 30, 2017, Duprée unsuccessfully defended his GNW Canadian Championship in a three-way elimination match against Wes Brisco and Hannibal, Brisco went on to win the championship.[43]
On August 12, 2017, Duprée and Sylvain Grenier defeated Kryss Thorn and Scotty O'Shea to win the Canadian Wrestling Federation Tag Team Championship.[44]
On February 9, 2018, Duprée debuted in Singapore Pro Wrestling (SPW) at SPW Repentless, but was defeated by "The Statement" Andruew Tang.[45]
Pro Wrestling Noah (2020–2022)
Duprée signed with Pro Wrestling Noah as a member of Takashi Sugiura's Sugiura-gun stable. He made his in-ring debut teaming with fellow Sugiura-gun member, El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. to defeat Kenoh and Masa Kitamiya.[46] Duprée and Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. would enter in the Global Tag League, where they won by defeating AXIZ in the finals.[47] On April 19, 2020, they defeated Naomichi Marufuji and Masaaki Mochizuki to win the GHC Tag Team Championship.[48]
On July 26, 2020, it was announced that Duprée and Wagner Jr. vacated the GHC Tag Team Championships.[49] On April 30, 2022, Duprée made his return after a near two year absence due to the COVID-19 pandemic teaming with Wagner Jr. defeating the team of Daiki Inaba and Masato Tanaka.[50] On May 4, 2022, Duprée and Wagner Jr. defeated Takashi Sugiura and Hideki Suzuki to reclaim the GHC Tag Team Championships they previously were forced to vacate.[51] On May 21, 2022, Duprée and Wagner Jr. lost the GHC Tag Team Championships to the team of Michael Elgin and Masa Kitamiya.[52][53]
Personal life
Goguen's father, Emile, was also a professional wrestler and a promoter.[1][54]
After leaving WWE, Goguen adopted several tattoos, including flame patterns on his forearms and lower legs,[55] the kanji characters for Japan (日本) on his left deltoid and pectoral,[55][56] and a large crucifix spanning across his back.[57]
On October 14, 2009, Goguen married in Japan.[58][unreliable source?][59]
He hosts a podcast titled Cafe De Rene.[60]
Championships and accomplishments
Bodybuilding
- Mr. Canada Bodybuilding National Champion (2001)[4]
Professional wrestling
- All Japan Pro Wrestling
- American Wrestling Rampage
- Canadian Wrestling Federation
- CWF Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Sylvain Grenier[64]
- Federation de Lutte Quebecoise
- FLQ Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with The Beast King FTM[65]
- Great North Wrestling
- GNW Canadian Championship (1 time)[66]
- Pro Wrestling Noah
- Southside Wrestling Entertainment
- SWE Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[69]
- Ultimate Championship Wrestling
- UCW Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Sylvain Grenier[70]
- World Wrestling Entertainment
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter
- Worst Tag Team (2003) with Sylvain Grenier[73]
References
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- ^ Canadian Online Explorer. Retrieved 2009-03-24.
- ^ Axel Saalbach. "Duprée's profile at WrestlingData". Wrestlingdata.com.
- ^ a b c d "Cagematch profile".
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- ^ "René Duprée Quit WWE After the Chris Benoit Tragedy". YouTube.
- ^ AWR European Invasion 2009 - Tag 13 Cagematch.de Retrieved 2010-05-30
- ^ cagematch (September 20, 2010). "Voodoo Murders Challenge for the AJPW Unified Tag Titles". Cagematch. Retrieved 2010-09-20.
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- ^ "NOAH Global Tag League 2020 - NOAH TV Match #6 « Events Database « CAGEMATCH - The Internet Wrestling Database". Archived from the original on 2020-08-06.
- ^ "Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr, campeón de parejas en Japón". 19 April 2020.
- ^ "Rene Dupree & El Hijo Del Dr. Wagner Jr Vacate GHC Tag Team Championships". 26 July 2020.
- ^ "NOAH Majestic 2022". 30 April 2022.
- ^ "Rene Dupree & El Hijo de Dr. Wagner Jr. win GHC tag titles". 4 May 2022.
- ^ "NOAH Dream On 2022 Final".
- ^ "Dream on 2022 Final".
- ^ Defelice, Robert (17 September 2023). "Emile Dupree Passes Away At The Age Of 86". FightFul.com. Retrieved 17 September 2023.
- ^ a b "Duprée's new tattoos".
- ^ "Duprée's new tattoos, pic 2".
- ^ "Duprée's new tattoos, pic 3".
- ^ "The French Phenom Gets Hitched". Renecuurentdestination.blogspot.com. 2010-01-18. Retrieved 2010-03-06.
- ^ "Rene Dupree's passion lies in Japan, Europe". 17 August 2010.
- ^ "Renee Dupree Talks NJPW vs. NOAH, Compares Will Ospreay To Paul London | Fightful News". Fightful. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
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