Lou Thesz

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Lou Thesz
(1916 - 2002)

Real Name:	Lajos Tiza (or Aloysius Martin Thesz?)
Nickname in Japan:	Tetsujin (Iron Man)
Birth:	1916/04/24 in Banat, Michigan * He had been telling that he was from St. Louis, Missouri where his family moved to when he was three years old. However, it was because of the tough life his parents had to go through in a Michigan small town and Thesz wanted to forget that.
Debut:	1932/09 in East St. Louis, Illinois
First Match in Japan:	61min time limit draw against Rikidōzan on 1957/10/07
Last Match:	defeated by Masahiro Chono on 1990/12/26 in Hamamatsu, Japan at the age of 74
Death:	2002/04/28
Titles: MWA World World Heavyweight (Ohio) AWA World Heavyweight (Boston) NBA/NWA World Heavyweight [3] World Heavyweight (Montreal) [4] NWA Texas Heavyweight NWA World Heavyweight [3] World Heavyweight (Los Angeles) World Heavyweight (Maryland) AWA World Heavyweight (Ohio) NWA International Heavyweight Pacific Coast Tag Team (Vancouver) WWA World Heavyweight (Los Angeles) TWWA World Heavyweight NWA United States Junior Heavyweight (Mid-America) NWA Southern Junior Heavyweight UWA World Heavyweight United States Heavyweight (Mississippi) NWA Southern Heavyweight (Nashville)
Hall of Fame Inductions: Stampede Wrestling World Championship Wrestling (1993) The Wrestling Observer Newsletter (1996) fj.rec.sports.prowrestling (1996) International Wrestling Institute and Museum (1999) The Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum (2002) National Wrestling Alliance (2005) WWE Legacy (2016)
Pictures Giant Baba & Antonio Inoki - True Legends of Puroresu Jumbo Tsuruta & Giant Baba Fritz Von Erich vs. Giant Baba
Articles The Value of Amateur Wrestling by Lou Thesz March, 1997 The Greatest Wrestler of All Time... by Lawrence Maddry THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT, July 27, 1994 "Visiting the Stars " by Aline Mosby United Press, April 1, 1954 "No Gimmicks" by Harold Scarlett Houston Post, December 5, 1965 "Old-Timers Grapple With Today's Stars" by Bob Broeg St. Louis Post-Dispatch, October 12, 1997 "Even at 85 years of age, Lou Thesz is tough" by Denny Burkholder WrestleLine.com (defunct), May 17, 2001 Vox Populi, Vox Dei "Lou Thesz lives on in the minds of Japanese" Asahi Shimbun, May 2, 2002
Match Results 1966: The year Lou Thesz last ruled mats International Heavyweight Title Defenses
Links THE WAY I REMEMBER IT: LOU THESZ by Dick Steinborn (courtesy of WHATEVER HAPPENED TO ...? Home Page)
Pictures with Sam Muchnick with Ed "Strangler" Lewis with Kirk Dougls - and "Little" Michael Douglas sitting on Thesz with Rikidōzan and Banboku Ohno, Japan Pro-Wrestling Commissioner with Rikidōzan with Giant Baba and NWA International Heavyweight Title Belt with Muhammad Ali - the greatests in wrestling and boxing with Nick Bockwinkel and Bill Robinson in 1990s

After being trained by the wrestling legends such as George Tragos, Ed "Strangler" Lewis, and Ad Santel, Lou Thesz became the greatest wrestler of this century. As the Unified World Heavyweight champion, he made a record of 936 consecutive wins between 1948 and 1955 when pro-wrestling was respected as a professional sport in the United States. He was the first world heavyweight champion to step on the Japanese soil when "World Heavyweight Title" meant a lot in the sport. He was one of the greatest rivals of Rikidōzan, and many wrestlers who would later become big stars in Japan, including the stars like Antonio Inoki and Giant Baba, aimed to be like Thesz. There has not been any undisputed world heavyweight champion in professional wrestling since Lou Thesz.

Credits for pictures and images are given to these sites/people.

Lou Thesz (1916 - 2002)

Lou Thesz
(1916 - 2002)