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Lou Thesz

Nickname: The Iron Man

Height: 6' 2"

Weight: 225 lbs.

From: St. Louis, MO

Birthday: Apr 24th

Pro Debut: April 5, 1934

Aliases: Louis Thesz, Don Louis Thesz

Feds Worked For: NWA-West, TSW, AWA, NWA, WWF, Alex Turk Promotions (Canada), Al Haft Sports (IL/OH), All Japan Pro Wrestling (Japan), All Star Wrestling (OR/WA/Canada), All Star Wrestling (NE/SD), Atlantic Athletic Commission (MA), Big Time Wrestling (Canada), Big Time Wrestling (MI/OH), Capitol Wrestling Corporation, Central States Wrestling (IA/KS/MO), Championship Wrestling from Florida (FL), Championship Wrestling USA (OR), Clark Sports, Inc. (IL), Continental Wrestling Association (AL/TN), Daro, Inc. (CA), Eastern Sports Enterprises (NJ/NY), Empresa Mexicana de la Lucha Libre (Mexico), Fred Kohler Enterprises (IL), Georgia Championship Wrestling (GA), Gulas Wrestling Enterprises (TN), Gulf Athletic Club (TX), Gulf Coast Championship Wrestling (AL/MS), Harry Light Booking Office (MI), International Championship Wrestling (KY/MS/TN), International Wrestling (Canada), International Wrestling Association (FL/GA/MA/NC/NJ/NY/OH), International Wrestling Enterprise (Japan), Japan Wrestling Association (Japan), Louisiana Wrestling Enterprises (AL/LA/MS), Lucha Libre Internaciónal (Mexico), M & M Promotions (NM/TX), Manhattan Wrestling Enterprises (NJ/NY/DC), Maple Leaf Wrestling (Canada), Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling (NC/SC), Mid-Pacific Promotions (HI), Midwest Wrestling Association Ohio (OH), Mike London Sports (AZ/CO/NM), Minnesota Boxing & Wrestling Club (MN), Mississippi Valley Sports Club (MI/MO), National Wrestling Federation (NJ/NY/OH/PA), New Japan Pro Wrestling (Japan), Northwest Wrestling Promotions (Canada), NWA Big Time Wrestling (TX), NWA Chicago (IL), NWA Detroit (MI), NWA Hollywood (CA), NWA Indianapolis (IN), NWA Iowa (IA), NWA Los Angeles (CA), NWA Mid-America (AL/TN), NWA Montreal (Canada), NWA Nebraska (NE), NWA New Mexico (NM), NWA San Francisco (CA), NWA Upstate (NY), NWA Vancouver (Canada), P. L. Pinkie George Promotions (IA), Pacific Coast Athletic Club (CA), Pacific Northwest Wrestling (OR/WA), Provincial Sports Association (Canada), Ray Fabiani Sports, Inc. (PA), Rocky Mountain Sports Enterprises (CO/NM), Southwest Sports (TX), St. Louis Wrestling Club (MO), Stampede Wrestling (Canada), Terminal Athletic Club (OH), Trans World Wrestling Alliance (PA), Tri-States Sports (ID/OR/WA), Universal Wrestling Association (Mexico), Upstate Athletic Club (NY), Western Athletic Club, Inc. (OR/WA/Canada), World Wrestling Alliance (IN), Wrestling Promotions, Inc. (AZ)

Finisher: The Thesz Press

Signature Moves: The Stepover Toehold Facelock (STF)

Career Highlights: -AJPW/NWA International Champion
-AWA (Boston) World Champion
-AWA (Indiana/Ohio) World Champion
-ICW United States Champion
-MWA Ohio Champion
-NAWA/WWA Champion
-NWA (Los Angeles) World Champion
-NWA (Mid-America) Southern Tag Team Champion (w/ Jackie Fargo)
-NWA Missouri Champion
-NWA (Montreal) World/International Champion (2x)
-NWA Rocky Mountain Champion
-NWA Southern Champion
-NWA Southern Junior Heavyweight Champion (3x)
-NWA Texas Champion (2x)
-NWA (Vancouver) Pacific Coast Tag Team Champion (w/ The Outlaw)
-NWA World Champion (8x)
-SWS Texas Champion (4x)
-TSW United States Tag Team Champion (w/ Jack Brisco)
-TWWA Champion
-UWA Champion
-WWA Champion
-WWA International Television Tag Team Champion (w/ Art Thomas)

Affiliates: Jackie Fargo, The Outlaw, Jack Brisco, Art Thomas

Notable Feuds: Hans Schabnel, Jack Washburbn, Red McIntyre, Bill Longson, Ernie Dusek, Buddy Rogers, Fred Curry, Sr., Killer Kowalski, Gene Kiniski, Pat O'Connor, Bobby Managoff, Billy Watson, Buddy Rogers, Bill Longson, Enrique Torres, Johnny Valentine, Dick Hutton, Ray Eckert, Yvon Robert, Wilbur Snyder, Hans Schmidt

Other Facts: -Full name was Alouysius Martin Thesz. Some sources list it as Lajos Tiza.
-Son of pro wrestling promoter Martin Thesz
-Born in Banat, MI. When he was 2, his family moved to St. Louis, MO. He later moved to Norfolk, VA
-Sometimes billed from Phoenix, AZ
-Considered by many the greatest technical wrestler ever.
-Was introduced to Greco-Roman wrestling at age 8. His father was a Greco-Roman wrestler in Hungary.
-Trained for pro wrestling by Ad Santel, Ed Lewis, & George Tragos
-Began wrestling at the age of 17 in and around the St. Louis area.
-In 1949, there were two champions, the National Wrestling Association champion (Thesz) and the National Wrestling Alliance champion (Orville Brown), who were scheduled for a match in St. Louis. Brown was in a terrible auto accident, that pretty much ended his career, so Thesz was declared the champion, which ended up being the dominant championship worldwide in pro wrestling through 1984. What's notable about this historically, is that Brown was supposed to win that match, not Thesz. Largely due to that title reign, Thesz went on to be regarded as one of the greatest wrestlers of all-time.
-Over the next 3 years, he would unify his title with the AWA (Boston) World Title and the NWA (Los Angeles) World Titles, creating a Unified World Title which he would hold for almost 8 years!
-Held the NWA world title from November 27, 1949, to March 15, 1956. This is the longest NWA World Title reign of anyone.
-With all title reigns combined, he held the NWA Championship for 10 years, three months and nine days (3,749 days total), longer than anyone else in history.
-One of only 11 documented wrestlers to have competed in seven different decades. (1930s - 1990s)
-Was Nick Bockwinkel's first opponent.
-Wrestled his final match on December 26, 1990. He lost to Masahiro Chono. At the time of this bout, Thesz had an artificial hip, but was still able to compete.
-Worked as commissioner for the Korean-based WWA.
-Until the time of his death, Thesz remained active in a handful of charities and was president of the Cauliflower Alley Club.
-He made appearances at serious projects and/or promotions with regard to what he preferred to call "the truer forms of wrestling."
-Won Pro Wrestling Illustrated's Stanley Weston Award and PWI Editor's Award in 1982
-Inducted into the WCW Hall of Fame in 1993
-Inducted into the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame in 1996
-Inducted into the George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 1999
-Passed away April 28, 2002. His body was cremated and most of the ashes were spread on a riverbank in Missouri. Some were spread among the empty wine bottles and trash alongside the Sportatorium in Dallas, TX. Other portions were spread in Miami, Houston, & Hawaii.
-Posthumously inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum in 2002
-Posthumously inducted in the NWA Hall of Fame in 2005
-His biography, "Hooker", was written by Kit Bauman with his assistance and was released in 2011
-Posthumously inducted into the Legacy Wing of the WWE Hall of Fame in 2016
-Posthumously inducted into the International Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2021