Lou Thesz

At 86 years old, Lou Thesz has this physical status:

Aloysius Martin "Lou" Thesz (April 24, 1916 to April 28, 2002) was an American professional wrestler.

He was a fifteen-time world champion and dominated the NWA World Heavyweight Championship three times – longer than anyone else in history.

Thesz is widely regarded as one of the best wrestlers of all time.

Among his numerous achievements in the sport, he is credited with inventing a variety of wrestling moves and holds, including the belly-to-back suplex (later known as the German suplex due to its relationship with Karl Gotch), the Lou Thesz press, stepover toehold facelock (STF), and the first powerbomb.

In addition to being a member of its inaugural class, he helped found the George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and is a founding member of several other halls of honor, including: WCW, Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Professional Wrestling, and WWE's Legacy Wing.

Thesz was known for his serious appearance, legal hebriality, and expertise in catch wrestling.

Early life

In 1916, thesz was born in Banat, Michigan. As a young child, his family moved to St. Louis. Martin, a shoemaker of Hungarian and German descent, and Katherine Schultz, both of German descent, were among the Austro-Hungarian Empire's working-class immigrant parents. At home, thesz and his three siblings spoke German, but they did not start learning English until he entered kindergarten at age five. In the Thesz household, hungarian was also spoken, but the children were not aware of it. In addition to public school, he had to attend German school every Saturday until he was eight years old. He was fluent in German and English.

Later life

Thesz stayed involved in wrestling after retiring. He later became a special guest referee, promoter, and tutor. He became the commissioner and occasional trainer for Wrestling Force International's shoot-style promotion Union, and lent the promotion one of his old NWA championship belts, which were rewarded as their own world championship. With the promotion, he spent a week in Japan teaching the wrestlers how to catch wrestle. However, his enthusiasm for the UWFi waned as the company began shifting away from its riflefighting style and favoring actors over wrestlers, and he soon broke his links with the organization, returning his old championship belt with him. Thesz, the color commentator for the International World Class Championship Wrestling's weekly television show, was an announcer.

He was highly critical of modern-day professional wrestling, describing it as 'choreographed tumbling,' despite his absence of any proper wrestling experience. He referred to the rise of mixed martial arts and likened it to his time as a competitive catch wrestler. Thesz met with Gokor Chivichyan and LeBell's Hayastan MMA Academy through his friendship with his student Gene LeBell. He remained a wrestling coach, giving seminars in Virginia and then Florida. Kiyoshi Tamura, one of the first students to defeat a member of the Gracie family in over fifty years, defeated Renzo Gracie by unanimous vote in a MMA battle. With a brief note that Thesz wrote, Kit Bauman, co-writer of Thesz's autobiography Hooker, was sent a magazine sent by Thesz containing a tale about pankration, an Ancient Greek combat sport that combined wrestling and boxing (and considered a early precursor to MMA). Thesz was often seen at NCAA wrestling tournaments and was a lifelong fan of amateur wrestling. He made occasional visits to top collegiate universities in the country, most notable for his interactions with Old Dominion University head coach Gray Simons and University of Iowa head coach Dan Gable.

Thesz became the president of the Cauliflower Alley Club (CAC), an organization that recognizes and supports retired wrestlers, boxers, and actors who enjoyed an association with wrestling. He served as CAC's president until 2000. In 1999, he founded the George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame, a hall of fame and museum located within the National Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum's Dan Gable Museum. Pro wrestlers with a strong amateur wrestling background are honoured in the hall of fame. Together with George Tragos, Ed "Strangler" Lewis, and Frank Gotch, thesz became the first inductee. He served on the Board of Directors and also did part-time instruction on the wrestling mats at the museum.

Personal life

Thesz was married three times. On March 22, 1937, he married Evelyn Katherine Ernst for his first marriage. Thesz was convalescing after suffering a severe knee injury in 1939 and serving as a dog breeder and instructor for Dogs for Defense in 1941 and 1944, then as a supervisor for the Todd Houston Shipyard. He divorced his first wife in 1944 and married Fredda Huddleston Winter, with whom he fathered three children: Jeff Thesz, Robert Thesz, and Patrick Thesz. After he and Fredda divorced in 1975, the couple's second marriage came to an end. Charlie Catherine Thesz married her and stayed with her for the remainder of his life. Thesz lived in Norfolk, Virginia, for a large portion of his later life, and founded the Virginia Wrestling Academy in 1988. Mark Fleming, one of Thesz's protégés, became the academy's head coach. Hooker: An Authentic Wrestler's Adventures Inside the Bizarre World of Professional Wrestling. Despite a legitimate injury to his knee and multiple medical delays, thesz was drafted into the army in 1944. He served hand-to-hand combat defense for medics before being discharged in 1946, owing to his wrestling experience.

In his younger years, thesz maintained his physical fitness in his younger years, but eight days later, in Orlando, Florida, he died due to complications weeks later.

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Professional wrestling career

When not currently working at his father's shoe repair shop, thesz made his professional wrestling debut at the age of 17. However, Thesz spent the bulk of his youth honing his craft under George Tragos' tutelage in both catch and freestyle wrestling, as well as Ad Santel. Tragos arranged competitive workouts for top collegiate wrestlers in the area when not booking a local one. Thesz spent time in Iowa, Nebraska, Minnesota, and California, as well as on the undercards, honing his craft on the road. Thesz was particularly successful with top amateurs trained by Billy Thom, head coach of the 1936 Olympic wrestling team, and veteran carnival wrestlers around the region, including Earl Wampler, who became his mentor and occasional workout partner on the road.

By 1937, Thesz was one of the finest athletes in the St. Louis area, and he defeated Everett Marshall in the American Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Championship in a thrilling three-hour match, marking the first appearance in the first two world heavyweight championships, when Thesz became the youngest world heavyweight champion in history at the age of 21. This match is believed to have been a legitimate shooting match, according to reports. Later, thesz told wrestling historian Mike Chapman that he was there to wrestle competitively and ended up winning the match, but was uncertain if he won or Marshall dropped the trophy to him. In Boston, Steve "Crusher" Casey took the title six weeks later. In 1939, he defeated Marshall once more, and then again in 1948, defeating Bill Longson.

The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) was established in 1948, with the aim of establishing one world champion for all the various wrestling territories in North America. Orville Brown, the reigning Midwest World Heavyweight Championship holder, was named the first champion. At the time, thesz was leader of a promotional team that included wrestlers Longson, Bobby Managoff, Canadian promoter Frank Tunney, and Eddie Quinn, who fought in the St. Louis territory, where NWA promoter Sam Muchnick was running in opposition. Quinn and Muchnick ended their promotional war, and Thesz's promotion was integrated into the NWA. Brown and Thesz, the National Wrestling Association's World Heavyweight Championships, were part of the alliance. Brown was involved in an automobile crash that ended his career, and he was forced to leave the tournament, and the NWA named the No. 141. Thesz, the country's top contender, is only one. Thesz was chosen for his ability as a "hooker" in order to discourage double crosses by incoming shooters who would depart from the intended finish for personal glory.

Thesz set out to unify all of the current world titles into the National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Championship between 1949 and 1956. He defeated Baron Michele Leone in Los Angeles for the California World Heavyweight Championship in 1952 and became the first wrestler to face undisputed world heavyweight wrestling champion since Danno O'Mahony in 1936. In 1956, Whipper Billy Watson was named in the top, but it took several months for the sz to recover from an ankle injury. Watson regained the title seven months afterward.

1957 was a pivotal year for Thesz; the first taint to Thesz's assertion of undisputed champion came in a match with gymnast-turned-wrestling star Edouard Carpentier on June 14th. When Thesz claimed a legitimate back injury and missing the last fall, Carpentier was named the champion; however, the NWA refused to recognize the contest, finding that a championship could not change hands due to injury. Despite the NWA's ruling, there were still some promotions that continued to celebrate Carpentier's victory in the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. In the same year, Thesz became Japan's first wrestler to defend the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, defeating Rikidzan in a series of 60-minute draws. Rikidzan's first match notably started as a legitimate match as Rikidzan believed himself to be a much better wrestler. Thesz dominated Rikidzzan and easily beat him to win the first fall. Rikidzzan accepted defeat and continued to work the remainder of the match. Professional wrestling in Japan has burgeoned in popularity, boosting the sport's mainstream acceptance. Thesz begged for more money in Japan's land of the rising sun, but the NWA rejected his appeal, and Thesz was forced to drop the title to his own handpic champion, Dick Hutton rather than Thesz's more popular rival and buddy, Buddy Rogers. Thesz will fly to Europe and Japan, naming himself as the NWA International Heavyweight Champion; this title is still regarded as a part of the All Japan Pro Wrestling's Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship.

Thesz won his sixth world heavyweight championship from Buddy Rogers in 1963. In 1964, he infamously defeated Kintaro Ohki, a Rikidzan student, in what became a legitimate shooting match. Ohki shot on Thesz in the first round after being scheduled for three falls. Ohki's attempt to fire on Thesz brought matters fast, as the soldiersz stabbed him to the point that Ohki was stretchered off. He would retain the NWA title until 1966, when he lost it to Gene Kiniski at the age of 50. Dara Singh's triumph over Lou Thesz earned Dara Singh the World championship on May 29, 1968 in Bombay. Singh, who was 12 years older than Thesz, was "an authentic wrestler" and had no issues losing to Dara Singh.

Over the next 13 years, the sz wrestled in Mexico, winning his first major title in 1978, becoming the inaugural Universal Wrestling Alliance Heavyweight Champion at the age of 62, before losing the championship to El Canek a year later. In 1979, thesz wrestled a match with Luke Graham billed as his retirement match, but he did continue to wrestle periodically throughout the 1980s. Masahiro Chono's protégé defeated him in his last public match in Hamamatsu, Japan, on December 26, 1990, aged 74. He and Abdullah The Butcher were among the few male professional wrestlers to fight in seven different decades, with Abdullah The Butcher being one of the few male professional wrestlers to compete in seven decades.

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