Gene Petit aka Cousin Luke (Hillbillies) passes away.

[Crappler El 0 M]

Phil Varlese of Coastal Pro Wrestling sent out the word that former WWF wrestler Cousin Luke of the Hillbillies (with Uncle Elmer and Hillbilly Jim) has passed away. He is not to be confused with Bushwhacker Luke.

R.I.P.

[MolotovMocktail]

Damn. RIP.

I forget, did he replace Cousin Junior, or did Junior replace him?

[Crappler El 0 M]

Cousin Luke replaced Cousin Junior.

[CMWaters]

*Plays a slow, sad piano version of "Don't Go Messin' With A Country Boy" for him.

Never seen his work, but still kinda sad to hear.

Is Hillbilly Jim the last of the group or is this Cousin Junior still alive too? I heard Uncle Elmer passed a while ago.

[jason1980s]

Junior passed away a few years ago. I think his real name was Lanny Keane.

There may be another family member still living. The WWE Encyclopedia has a pic of Junior with a large Hillbilly (looks like Bob Orton with his curly brown hair, only taller). I met King Kong Bundy a few months ago and he didn't know who the guy was. Nikolai didn't know either but assumed, like I would, he was a guy who may not have made it to a house show or TV but had his photo taken.

[Ultimo Gallos]

Sept 29, 2013 19:01:00 GMT -5 CMWaters said:

*Plays a slow, sad piano version of "Don't Go Messin' With A Country Boy" for him.

Never seen his work, but still kinda sad to hear.

Is Hillbilly Jim the last of the group or is this Cousin Junior still alive too? I heard Uncle Elmer passed a while ago.

Elmer died back in the 90s.

[El Pollo Guerrera]

Rest in peace, sir.

[lildude8218]

Sept 29, 2013 19:04:25 GMT -5 jason1980s said:

Junior passed away a few years ago. I think his real name was Lanny Keane.

There may be another family member still living. The WWE Encyclopedia has a pic of Junior with a large Hillbilly (looks like Bob Orton with his curly brown hair, only taller). I met King Kong Bundy a few months ago and he didn't know who the guy was. Nikolai didn't know either but assumed, like I would, he was a guy who may not have made it to a house show or TV but had his photo taken.

I went through History of WWE and found this:

WWF @ San Diego, CA - Sports Arena - August 7, 1985 (7,224)
Tiger Chung Lee defeated Jack Armstrong (w/ Hillbilly Jim)

WWF @ Anaheim, CA - Convention Center - August 10, 1985 (3,500) (Card probably took place on a different date since Hillbilly appeared in Elmer's corner at a televised MSG show on the same day)
Tiger Chung Lee defeated Jack Armstrong (w/ Hillbilly Jim)



Jack Armstrong had done jobs here and there for the company throughout that year. I don't have a copy of the Encylopedia but here's a picture/bio of Armstrong if that helps. www.onlineworldofwrestling.com/bios/j/jack-armstrong/

[jason1980s]

Good find. I don't think Jack is the guy in the WWE_E. I think the guy in that is probably in his late 20s at most and Jack had been around for a while it looks.

[willywonka666]

Ok, why was Cousin Jr. replaced? Was a reason given on air in kayfabe?

[Mochi Lone Wolf]

He helped a good friend of my family into the wrestling business for a while.

R.I.P.