Louie Tillet, who was a big part of Championship Wrestling From Florida as a booker and wrestler, has passed away. The WON reports that Tillet passed away on Wednesday at the age of 90. No word on the circumstances around his passing.
Tillet’s wrestling career started in 1956 and ran through 1979 and worked for a number of the wrestling territories of the era including CWF, Georgia Championship Wrestling, Pacific Northwest Wrestling, NWA Mid-America and more. Born in Quebec, Tillet was billed from Bordeaux, France and worked largely as a babyface. Tillet was the booker in CWF and was the person who gave Hulk Hogan (then Terry Boulder) the nickname of “Hulk.”
Tillet and CWF owner Eddie Graham brought Dusty Rhodes and Dick Murdoch into the territory, where Rhodes ended up becoming a major star as a babyface. Tillet worked feuds with Rhodes, Murdoch, Jack Brisco, Jose Lothario, Hiro Matsuda and more during his in-ring career and had multiple runs with Junior Heavyweight Championships in various promotions, as well as a number of tag team titles. He was the NWA Georgia Heavyweight Champion in May and June of 1966.
Tillet also booked in southern California, where he helped elevate Chavo Guerrero Sr. via a win over Ernie Ladd. Tillet booked Guerrero’s feud against Roddy Piper, which was the latter’s first main event push.
Following his retirement from the business, Tillet worked in real estate and ran restaurants. His final match was in August of 1982 at a Southeastern Championship Wrestling event in Birmingham, Alabama.
On behalf of 411, our condolences to the family, friends and fans of Mr. Tillet.
