Athletes - Lou Thesz

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	Athletes - Lou Thesz

Lajos Tiza, translated from Hungarian to Aloysius Martin Thesz (April 24, 1916 – April 28, 2002), better known as Lou Thesz, was a professional wrestler and multiple time World Heavyweight Champion. He is widely considered by his peers and experts alike to be one of the most influential wrestlers ever. He is the only man to have wrestled in seven different decades.

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. He trained in amateur wrestling as a teenager, and 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 Thesz the art of hooking (the ability to stretch your opponent into pain using various 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, defeated Everett Marshall for the National Wrestling Assciation World Heavyweight Title, the first of his many World Heavyweight championships. By winning the title, Thesz became the youngest World Heavyweight Champion in history, at the age of 21. This record still stands today. Thesz would win the Title again in 1939, once again defeating Marshall, and in 1948, defeating Bill Longson.

In 1948, the National Wrestling Alliance was formed, the purpose being to create one World Champion for all the various territories throughout North America. Orville Brown, the reigning Midwest World Title holder was named the first Champion. He was scheduled to face Thesz, who held the National Wrestling Association's World Title, in a unification match. Unfortunately, just weeks before the 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. A well-known catch wrestler or "hooker", Thesz was chosen to hold the Title to prevent double crosses in the ring, by would be "shooters" who would go against the planned finish for their own personal glory.

Between 1949 to 1956, Thesz set out to unify all the existing World Titles into the NWA World Heavyweight Championship and became the first undisputed World Heavyweight wrestling champion since the days of Frank Gotch and Georg Hackenschmidt. During the 1940s and 1950s, it was not uncommon for Thesz to put on 250 exhibitions a year. Thesz finally dropped the Title to "Whipper" Billy Watson in 1956, but regained it from him later that year.

In 1957, Thesz became the first wrestler to defend the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in Japan, wrestling Rikidozan, the father of professional wrestling in Japan, in a series of matches. Their bouts popularized pro wrestling in Japan, gaining the sport mainstream acceptance. Realizing he could make more money in Japan, Thesz petitioned to the NWA promoters to regulary 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 the more popular choice, Buddy Rogers, Thesz' real-life rival.

In 1963, Thesz came out of semi-retirement to win his sixth NWA World Heavyweight Championship from Buddy Rogers at the age of 46. Thesz would hold the Title until 1966, when at the age of 50, he lost the title to 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 inaugral Universal Wrestling Alliance Heavyweight Champion. He was 62. He officially retired in 1979, after a match with Luke Graham. He stayed retired for the most part, aside from wrestling the occasional match. He wrestled his last match in 1990, at the age of 74, against his protege, Masahiro Chono, in Japan.

After wrestling

After retiring, Thesz became a promoter, trainer and occasionally, a referee for important matches. Some famous matches he refereed include:

Antonio Inoki vs. Tatsumi Fujiwara 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
Rick Flair vs. Dusty Rhodes for the NWA Heavyweight Championship, 9/17/81)

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.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Lou Thesz ]

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Athletes - Lou Thesz

Wrestling career

After wrestling

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