John Trudeau, aka "Johnny Phoenix", was born May 30, 1980 in New Orleans, Louisiana. His Father, Luke Trudeau, owns the Baratarian tavern in the French Quarter of New Orleans, and his Mother, Marie Trudeau, serves as a nurse at the New Orleans Memorial Medical Center. John Trudeau attended De La Salle High School and competed on the high school wrestling team. At age 16, he was introduced to the world of Professional Wrestling and quickly decided that it was the profession for him. After High School graduation, Trudeau was hired on as a talent for the Southern Wrestling Alliance (SWA). He wrestled under the persona John Lafayette, and earned the title “The Big Easy” due to the number of “jobber” matches he was scheduled to fight. After a year in the SWA, Trudeau signed on with the MWCWF, in August of 1999.

In the MWCWF, Trudeau wrestled under the persona “Johnny Aces”. His gimmick was a gambling shark, later it evolved into a mob-style enforcer. After two years wrestling as Johnny Aces, the MWCWF chose to give him a significant push by tying his character, Johnny Aces, into a storyline involving a fictional depiction of the MWCWF corporate office known as “The Administration”. This push became far more significant than the MWCWF had anticipated due to the storyline's initial segment, scripted by Trudeau himself.

The Introduction of Johnny Aces as “The Hitman” came in a segment involving the lead superstar of the MWCWF at the time, Jesse King. King (who was a baby-face during this storyline) had just received the MWCWF World Championship title the weekend before the segment, which aired on MWCWF’s Monday Night Meltdown. In the segment, which aired in April of 2001, King’s limo was driven into the parking structure of the United Center in Chicago, IL; when the limo was parked, it was revealed that Johnny Aces was the driver. Johnny Aces went to the back of the limo, opened the door for Jesse King, then promptly began to pummel King with a tire iron, then proceeded to assault King, dragging him through the United Center until finally leaving King broken, bloody, and unconscious in an unmarked dressing room. The segment ended with Johnny Aces turning to King and telling him “The Administration sends their regards”. The storyline implied that King nearly had his career ended due to the attack, and had King out of action until the pay-per-view later that month. The segment was so brutal that it solidified Johnny Aces as a superstar heel in the MWCWF. Trudeau continued to wrestle in this gimmick until he left the MWCWF.

In February of 2003, Johnny Aces defeated the MWCWF Hardcore Champion (and Trudeau's closest friend), Kaster Troy, in an impressive and devastating hardcore match that lasted over 90 minutes, to become the second MWCWF Hardcore champion. The match was voted as the "Top Match of 2003" by the MWCWF fans and was revered as one of the greatest matches of MWCWF by many critics. Aces went on to hold the title for 89 days before losing it to Pollox Troy.

In November of 2004, Aces secured a victory over Jesse King to become the MWCWF Heavy Weight Champion. He lost the belt to Jesse King after a 29 day reign.

In August of 2005, Trudeau’s home was lost when Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans. At the time, Trudeau was in disputes with MWCWF over contract negotiations, and so he waited until September of 2005 to tend to his losses and his family in New Orleans. The storyline for his character had him in a feud with an up and coming superstar, Tommy Blaze. In the storyline the Administration had set their sights on ending Blaze’s career using Johnny Aces. Johnny Aces and Tommy Blaze had been set in a match at the September Pay-per-view. However, during the airing of Thursday Night Clash three days before the Pay-Per-View, in response to Trudeau’s absence at that engagement (due to Trudeau returning to New Orleans for a few days before the Pay-Per-View to check up on family and friends), a segment was run in which Blaze was shown presumably driving Johnny Aces into the parking garage of the Arena (in a mockery of Johnny Aces definitive segment) and setting off a car bomb, implying that he had maimed or killed Johnny Aces. The card for the Pay-Per-View was changed to have Blaze face off against another MWCWF talent. When Trudeau returned, he was informed that his contract had not been renewed and that his services were no longer needed. The insult and disrespect shown by the MWCWF in the events that led up to Trudeau’s exit from the company caused Trudeau to take some time off from wrestling.

After a year hiatus, (in which Trudeau bulked back up to Heavy Weight Status and assisted his Father with reopening the Baratarian Tavern) John Trudeau was contacted by Alexander Remis (at the suggestion of Paul and Charles Troy) to be a talent in the VCW. After his debut at a house show on June 20, 2007, which tested the crowd’s reaction to his stage presence, VCW promoters chose to script a feud between Trudeau, wrestling under the persona Johnny Phoenix, and VCW powerhouse Kaster Troy rather than focus him on the hardcore title. Also at the initial house show, Johnny Phoenix was paired up with a young up and coming talent, Backlash, to see how well he worked in cooperative competition. This pairing was so well received by fans that VCW promoters had the two pair up after a challenge set down by the reigning tag team, the Regulators. The persona of Johnny Phoenix had its television debut on the premier airing of VCW’s Monday Night Showdown.

Vital Statistics
Height: 6'3"
Weight: 230 lbs
Hometown: New Orleans, LA
Date of Birth: May 30, 1980
Theme: "Fuel" by Metallica
Disposition: Neutral

Accomplishments
06/21/98 - 07/01/99 - Wrestled for the SWA
08/18/1999 - 09/20/05 - Wrestled for the MWCWF
06/10/07- Joined the VCW

Moves
Johnny Phoenix is a rough wrestler and a superior showman; he is hardcore and technical, with an acrobatic flair. He'll beat his opponents down with kicks and punches, hold them in painful submission moves and is know for his frequent use of chairs and other loose object as weapons.

Setup Moves

• Atomic Drop/Low Blow
• Ground and Pound
  

Finisher

• The "Bourbon Street Hangover":Phoenix will send his opponent reeling with a well placed Superkick (often times this will be preceded with a taunt).
• "Phoenix Sleeper" - A Crossface Chickenwing

Trademark Moves

• "Burning Cradle" - An STS
• Top Turnbuckle, Springboard Moonsualt - Performed on a downed opponent after running up the turnbuckle
  
• Shining Wizard
• "The Louisiana Shuffle" - WIth his opponent laying face up on the mat, Phoenix will perform a dance like, shuffling sidestep, dropping a quick elbow onto his opponent.
  

Taunt
With his pinky finger and thumb stuck out, and the other three fingers slightly bent, Phoenix will raise his hand, thumb up, and tip it back at the wrist, bringing the no downturned thumb towards his lips. This move has been referred to in different ways, all of which are equally used. This taunt has been referred to as: "Tipping back the beers/drinks" (due to the resemblance of holding a long neck beer bottle and tipping it back to his mouth. Also closely matching the hangover reference of his finisher move), "Playing the jazz" (referencing the close resemblance to one playing the jazz trumpet), and "Calling Home to New Orleans" (Referencing Phoenix's hometown and loosely tying into the Bourbon Street reference of his finisher move).

Common Moves

• DDTs
• Figure-4
• Spear
• Kicks and Knee Strikes
• Enziguri
• Leg Drop Bulldog
• Missile Drop Kick
• Diving Elbow
  

Ring Entrance
Fire explodes from the stage, creating a brief wall of flame. From behind it, out walks Phoenix, pointing to the crowd and motioning for the fanfare. He gives an occasional handshake or high five to his fans while making his way to the ring, a bright expression on his face. When he reaches the ring he climbs onto the apron, grabbing ahold of the top rope and glancing out to the crowd a moment before kicking a leg over the second rope and slipping into the ring. He moves to the center of the ring, sometimes giving a simple shuffle two step, and giving off an exuberant presence. After a moment in the center, Phoenix climbs up on the turnbuckle raising his arms and performing his signature taunt, playing up to the crowd, repeating this for each turnbuckle, before hopping down and turning to prepare for the match at hand.

Trivia

• Johnny Aces held the nickname the “Ragin’ Cajun” as a result of his brutal and hardcore style of fighting.
• The “Burning Table Match” proposed by Johnny Phoenix on the debut of Monday Night Showdown is a nod to a signature action that Trudeau’s persona, Johnny Aces, used to perform. When putting wrestlers “out of commission” under the orders of the Administration, Johnny Aces would assault them backstage or in an office, place them on a table, and set them on fire.
• The use of the name “Phoenix” is in response to the ending of the Johnny Aces persona, referencing the mythical bird that was reborn from its own ashes.
• Has wrestled under three different persona's; The “Big Easy” John Lafayette (SWA), The “Ragin’ Cajun” Johnny Aces (MWCWF) and Johnny Phoenix (VCW)
• Was one half of the tag team "Fire & Lightning" with Backlash
• John Trudeau and VCW's head legal consultant Laci Giminano began a real life relationship after a storyline was run within the first month of Monday Night Showdown's airing in which Phoenix and Giminano began a romantic affair. The relationship came to an end in early 2007.