PROFILE
BIOGRAPHY
Francine Fournier, (born February 19, 1972) normally simply Francine, is a former American professional wrestling valet best known for her work in 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 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 onscreen girlfriend and manager. On August 26 Richards turned on her, interfering in a catfight between Francine and Beulah McGillicutty. Richards' interference allowed Beulah to pin Francine for the victory, and Francine lost her wrestler to Beulah and Raven. 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.
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, whom she had been dating offscreen for at least a year previous; Francine did not publicly reveal her relationship with Dreamer until after she began working with him. In 2000 she left Dreamer (as part of the then-current storyline; their offstage relationship continued unabated) and managed Raven, then Justin Credible until ECW declared bankruptcy in March 2001.
On June 26, 2002 Francine participated in the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling lingerie battle royal. She made appearances with Major League Wrestling in 2003, and was later involved with the Women's Extreme Wrestling (as a "General Manager") and Hottest Ladies of Wrestling promotions.
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 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. Francine was reportedly involved in a backstage confrontation with former ECW valet Dawn Marie at the event (the two have a history of conflict). 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.
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 competed against Kelly Kelly in bikini contests (dubbed "Extreme Body Contests") held at house shows. However, Francine was largely kept off of television during the brand's initial months sans a brief appearance on the August 1, 2006 episode of ECW on Sci Fi. Francine finally made her television debut that night as she appeared backstage and shunned Paul Heyman alongside several other members of the ECW roster.
Soon after, it was reported that WWE head Vince McMahon was not particularly fond of Francine, thus explaining her lack of television time by that point. Apparently, upon seeing her in person backstage for the first time, McMahon went up to Vice President of Talent Relations John Laurinaitis and asked him as to who would hire someone that "looked like that" because he believed that she didn't live up to the vaunted "WWE Diva standard." It was largely believed that Francine would be released from her contract as soon as her program with Kelly Kelly on the house show circuit had run its course. Francine's saving grace was that she could be used to put over fellow ECW Vixen Kelly Kelly in bikini contests by making her look good in comparison to her as they were looking to push the 19-year-old model.
Despite the rumblings of a forthcoming release from WWE, it seemed as though that Francine had finally secured a stable television role with the company as she 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." In the meantime, ECW.com had posted several photos from a recent photo shoot, not to mention two articles in which her talents were put over by her fellow ECW peers. Given the recent promotion by the company, Francine seemed to be in line for a push. However, the angle between the four individuals was dropped for undisclosed reasons and Francine was left off television the preceding three weeks in which she was available to appear.
Francine was released from her WWE contract on October 12, 2006. The unpublicized reason given for her release was that Vince McMahon disliked her look. Also, fellow ECW Diva Trinity's recent return to action from a severe knee injury ultimately sealed her fate.
On November 9, 2006, Francine announced via her MySpace page stating that she had decided to retire from the wrestling business. She said she wanted to start a family and lead a normal life. She says there is a small chance she will work on a show in the future, but it will only be a select numbers of shows, mainly to catch up with friends.
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