Lou Thesz
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Lou Thesz | |
|---|---|
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| Statistics | |
| Ring name(s) | Lou Thesz |
| Billed height | 6 ft 2 in (188 cm) |
| Billed weight | 225 lb (102 kg) |
| Born | April 24, 1916 Banat, Michigan |
| Died | April 28, 2002 |
| Billed from | St. Louis, Missouri |
| Trained by | George Tragos, Ad Santel & Ed "Strangler" Lewis" |
| Debut | 1932 |
| Retired | 1979, last match in 1990 |
Aloysius Martin Thesz (April 24, 1916 – April 28, 2002), better known as Lou Thesz, was a legendary professional wrestler and six time World Heavyweight Champion. He is widely considered by his peers and experts alike to be one of the most influential people in the history of professional wrestling. Among his many accomplishments, he is credited with inventing popular professional wrestling moves such as the Lou Thesz press, STF and the original powerbomb.
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[edit] Wrestling career
Born in Banat, Michigan, Thesz moved to St. Louis when he was a young boy. His emigrant parents hailed from the former Austro-Hungarian Empire. As a teenager, he trained in amateur wrestling with legendary shooter Ad Santel. Thesz made his professional wrestling debut in 1932, at the age of 16. He soon met Ed Lewis, the biggest wrestling star of the 1920s, who taught a young Lou the art of hooking (the ability to stretch your opponent with painful holds). The two would form a lasting friendship. By 1937, Thesz had become one of the biggest stars in the St. Louis territory, and on December 29 he defeated Everett Marshall for the National Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Title, the first of many World Heavyweight Championships. As a result, Thesz became the youngest World Heavyweight Champion in history, at the age of 21. A record which stands to this day. Thesz dropped the title to Steve "Crusher" Casey in Boston six weeks later. He would win the title again in 1939, once again defeating Marshall, and again in 1948, defeating Bill Longson.
In 1948, the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) was formed, the purpose being to create one World Champion for all the various wrestling territories throughout North America. Orville Brown, the reigning Midwest World Heavyweight Title holder, was named the first champion. Thesz, at the time, was head of a promotional combine that included fellow wrestling champions Longson, Bobby Managoff, Canadian promoter Frank Tunney and Eddie Quinn, who promoted in the St. Louis territory where NWA promoter Sam Muchnick was running opposition. Quinn and Muchnick ended their promotional war, and Thesz' promotion was absorbed into the NWA. Part of the deal was a title unification match between Brown and Thesz, who held the National Wrestling Association's World Title. Unfortunately, just weeks before the scheduled bout, Brown was involved in an automobile accident that ended his career. He was forced to vacate the championship and the NWA awarded the title to the #1 contender, Thesz. Thesz was chosen for his skill as a hooker to prevent double crosses by would-be shooters who would deviate from the planned finish for personal glory.
Between 1949 and 1956, Thesz set out to unify all the existing World Titles into the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. In 1956 he defeated Baron Michelle Leone in Los Angeles for the California World Heavyweight title and became the first undisputed World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion since the days of Frank Gotch and Georg Hackenschmidt. Thesz finally dropped the Title to Whipper Billy Watson in 1956, and took several months off to recuperate from an ankle injury. He regained the title from Watson seven months later.
1957 was an important year for Thesz; on June 14th, the first taint to Thesz' claim of undisputed Champion occured in a match with gymnast-turned-wrestling star, Edouard Carpentier. The match was tied at two falls apiece when Thesz claimed a back injury and forfeit the last fall. Carpentier was declared the winner, but the NWA chose not to recognize the title change, deciding a championship could not change hands due to injury. Despite the NWA's decision, there were some promotions who continued to recognize Carpentier's claim to the World Heavyweight title. During 1956 and 1957, Thesz would have three legendary matches with Verne Gagne. The first two ended in draws and in the third bout, Thesz got DQed. That same year, Thesz became the first wrestler to defend the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in Japan, wrestling Rikidozan in a series of 60 minute draws. Their bouts popularized pro wrestling in Japan, gaining the sport mainstream acceptance. Realizing he could make more money in the land of the rising sun, Thesz petitioned to the NWA promoters to regularly defend the belt in Japan. His request was turned down, and Thesz asked to drop the title to his own hand picked champion, Dick Hutton, rather than Thesz's real-life rival and the more popular choice, Buddy Rogers. Thesz would embark on a tour of Europe and Japan, billing himself as the NWA International Champion; this title is still recognized as a part of All Japan Pro Wrestling's Triple Crown.
In 1963, Thesz came out of semi-retirement to win his sixth World Heavyweight Championship from Buddy Rogers, at the ripe age of 46. Legend has it that Rogers was having second thoughts about dropping the title, and Thesz responded by saying, "we could do this the easy way or the hard way" . He would hold the title until 1966 when, at the age of 49, he was dethroned by Gene Kiniski.
Thesz wrestled on a part-time basis over the next 13 years, winning his last major Title in 1978, in Mexico, becoming the inaugural Universal Wrestling Alliance Heavyweight Champion at the age of 62, before dropping the championship to El Canek a year later. Thesz officially retired in 1979, after a match with Luke Graham. He remained retired for the most part, before wrestling his last match in 1990 at the age of 73, against his protege, Masahiro Chono.
[edit] Post-wrestling career
After retiring, Thesz became a promoter, color commentator, trainer and occasionally, a referee for important matches. Some famous matches he refereed include:
- Antonio Inoki vs. Tatsumi Fujinami at Tokyo Gym, 09/19/85
- Big Van Vader vs. Shinya Hashimoto in the IWGP Championship Tournament Finals at Tokyo Dome, 4/24/89,
- Super Vader vs. Nobuhiko Takada in the UWFi Championship Tournament Finals at Meiji Jingu Stadium, 8/19/94
- Ric Flair vs. Dusty Rhodes for the NWA Heavyweight Championship, 9/17/81[1])
Thesz became the president of the Cauliflower Alley Club in 1992, an organization for retired pro wrestlers; a position he held until 2000. He became a trainer for the Union of Wrestling Force International, and lent the promotion one of his old NWA Title belts, which they recognized as their own World Title. As an announcer, Thesz was the color commentator for International World Class Championship Wrestling's weekly television show. In 1999, he opened the Thesz-Tragos Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame for professional wrestling stars with a successful amateur background at the International Wrestling Institute & Museum in Newton, Iowa, where he was an inaugural inductee. Thesz was honored by a ceremony at a WWF PPV named Badd Blood, in 1997, as being both the youngest and oldest World Heavyweight Champion at ages 21 and 49, respectively. Although Verne Gagne had actually broken this record in 1980, when he held the AWA Championship at 54.
Thesz wrote an autobiography, Hooker, considered to be one of the best books written on the subject of professional wrestling; privately published, the book is currently out-of-print.
Thesz underwent a successful triple bypass surgery for an aortic valve replacement on April 9, 2002, but died due to complications on April 28, 2002 in Orlando, Florida, four days after turning 86[1].
[edit] Finishing and signature moves
- Greco-Roman Backdrop (Belly to back suplex)
- Double wrist lock
- STF
- Lou Thesz press
- Original powerbomb
[edit] Championships and accomplishments
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- AWA World Heavyweight Championship (Boston version) (1 time)
- AWA World Heavyweight Championship (Ohio version) (1 time)
- International Wrestling Enterprise
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- TWWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- International Wrestling Institute and Museum
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- 1999 inductee to the George Tragos/Lou Thesz Hall of Fame
- Montreal Athletic Commission
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- World Heavyweight Championship (Montreal version) (4 times)
- World
- Regional
- NWA Pacific Coast Tag Team Championship (Vancouver version) (1 time) – with The Outlaw
- NWA Southern Heavyweight Championship (Nashville version) (1 time)
- NWA Southern Junior Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
- NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship (3 times)
- NWA United States Heavyweight Championship (Mississippi version) (1 time)
- NWA United States Junior Heavyweight Championship (Mid-America version) (1 time)
- Other
- 2005 inductee to the NWA Hall of Fame
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- NWA World Heavyweight Championship (3 times)
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (inducted in 1996)
- Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
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- 2002 Pioneer Era inductee to the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
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- Inductee to the Stampede Wrestling Hall of Fame
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- UWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
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- 1993 inductee to the WCW Hall of Fame
- World Wrestling Association (Los Angeles)
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- WWA World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
[edit] Trivia
- Thesz is the only man to have wrestled in seven different decades (1930s-1990s).
- Until 1980, Thesz was the only youngest and oldest World Heavyweight Champion.
- Thesz held all of his world titles a total of 4,938 days (a total of 13 years), more than anyone in professional wrestling history.
- Thesz was the first NWA World Champion to defend the title outside North America (in Japan).
[edit] References
- Dave Meltzer & John F. Molinaro (2002). Top 100 Pro Wrestlers of all Time. Winding Stair Press. ISBN 1-55366-305-5.
