Rolland Garland "Red" Bastien (1931-2012)

    Red Bastien was born in Bottineau, North Dakota on January 27, 1931. He was an athlete while in high school and began his professional career as a wrestler in carnivals in the Midwest. He competed in the Chicago area from 1956 and was noted for his aerial moves. He held the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team titles several times that decade, teaming with Andre Drapp and Roy Heffernan. He partnered with Lou Klein as the Bastien Brothers, to capture the WWWF U.S. Tag Team Championship in 1960. They held the titles several times, battling Eddie and Jerry Graham and the Fabulous Kangaroos. Bastien also teamed frequently with Billy Red Lyons in the 1960s and early 1970s. 

    He was AWA Tag Team champ with Hercules Cortez and the Crusher in the early 70s, before moving on to the World Class Championship Wrestling in Texas, where he held the Texas title and the tag team belts with Tex McKenzie. He retired from the ring later in the decade, but remained as a trainer and promoter. Bastien was instrumental in advancing the careers of Steve "Sting" Borden and Jim "Ultimate Warrior" Hellwig in the mid-1980s, forming Power Team USA with them and two other body builders he discovered at a Gold's Gym. He was active in the Cauliflower Alley Club for retired wrestlers in his later years, serving as president from 2001-2007. Red Bastien passed away of Alzheimer's disease on August 11, 2012 in Dallas.

Hillcrest Mausoleum
Sparkman-Hillcrest Memorial Park
Dallas

COORDINATES

32° 52.105, -096° 46.826