Tokyo Pro Wrestling is the name of two unrelated Japanese professional wrestling promotions. Despite their common name, they did not share management, promotional style, or talent in any way.
68-411: The original Tokyo Pro Wrestling operated from 1966 to 1967. In mid-1966, Japan Wrestling Association president Michiharu Toyonobori resigned his position and left the promotion, taking along with him some talent , including Katsuhisa Shibata (father of current All Elite Wrestling star Katsuyori Shibata ) and the future Rusher Kimura (Masao Kimura). Antonio Inoki , who was coming back from
136-450: A brief note that Thesz wrote saying, "this sounds like something I would have enjoyed." Thesz was frequently seen in attendance at NCAA wrestling events and was a lifelong supporter of amateur wrestling . He made occasional visits to top collegiate universities in the country, most notably striking up friendships with Old Dominion University head coach Gray Simons and University of Iowa head coach Dan Gable . In 1992, Thesz became
204-552: A class man". AEW wrestler Claudio Castagnoli named Thesz his "dream" tag team partner and said, "He [Thesz] personifies wrestling. He represents everything that I think it should be. He's a class act, and he was a workhorse for the company, while at the same time being a student of the game. He was completely legit. I would have loved a chance to go one-on-one with him or to work alongside him". Japanese wrestler Rikidōzan , who had several matches with Thesz in Japan, considered Thesz to be
272-556: A combined total of ten years, three months and nine days (3,749 days) – longer than anyone else in history. In Japan , Thesz was known as the " God of Wrestling' " (like his Belgian counterpart, Karl Gotch ) and was called " Tetsujin ", which means "Ironman", in respect for his speed, conditioning and expertise in catch wrestling . Alongside Karl Gotch and Billy Robinson , Thesz later helped train young Japanese wrestlers and mixed martial artists in catch wrestling. A successful amateur wrestler in his youth and an ardent supporter of
340-499: A dog breeder and trainer for Dogs for Defense and later as a supervisor for the Todd Houston Shipyard. He divorced his first wife in 1944 and at the shipyard, Thesz met his second wife, Fredda Huddleston Winter, with whom he fathered three children: Jeff Thesz, Robert Thesz and Patrick Thesz. Thesz's second marriage came to an end after he and Fredda divorced in 1975. He married Charlie Catherine Thesz and remained with her for
408-501: A downward spiral. The promotion was briefly reborn as Shin ( New ) Tokyo Pro Wrestling but remained in an even bigger obscure status. One of its top trainees, Shigeo Okumura , ended up spending more time competing for AJPW and eventually joined it in 2000, following the Pro Wrestling Noah split. Japan Wrestling Association The Japan Pro Wrestling Alliance ( 日本プロレス協会 , Nihon Puroresu Kyōkai ) , also known as
476-513: A legitimate injury to his knee and multiple medical deferments. Owing to his wrestling background, he taught hand-to-hand combat defense for medics before being discharged in 1946. Thesz remained in good health through his older years, however after undergoing triple bypass surgery for an aortic valve replacement on April 9, 2002, he died due to complications weeks later on April 28, four days after his 86th birthday, in Orlando, Florida . Thesz
544-536: A long excursion to the United States , chose to join him and create a new venture, Tokyo Pro Wrestling. Tokyo Pro's biggest rising star was Inoki, who feuded with Johnny Valentine over the "United States" heavyweight title (as Valentine had held in California , Michigan and Ontario , he was "recognized" as champion by Tokyo Pro so as to lose the belt to Inoki). Inoki's feud with Valentine cemented him not only as
612-401: A rising star, but also as a tough wrestler who could take on anyone, any style, anywhere. Nevertheless, problems between Toyonobori and his business backers led him and Isao Yoshiwara to dissolve the promotion in 1967 and replace it with Kokusai Puroresu Kaisha (International Wrestling Enterprise/International Pro Wrestling), which would promote on a larger scale in Japan and eventually become
680-468: A single tour, were booked. Lou Thesz Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Aloysius Martin Thesz (April 24, 1916 – April 28, 2002), known by the ring name Lou Thesz , was an American professional wrestler . Considered to be one of the last true shooters (legitimate wrestlers) in professional wrestling and described as
748-487: A strong amateur wrestling background. Thesz became the first inductee alongside George Tragos, Ed "Strangler" Lewis and Frank Gotch . He served on the Board of Directors and also did part-time coaching on the wrestling mats at the museum. Thesz was married three times. His first marriage to Evelyn Katherine Ernst on March 22, 1937. Thesz was convalescing from a severe knee injury suffered in 1939 and from 1941 to 1944 worked as
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#1732876276421816-534: A student of Rikidōzan, in what turned into a legitimate shoot contest. Originally scheduled for three falls, Ōki shot on Thesz in the first round. Ōki's move to shoot on Thesz ended things fast, as Thesz wounded him to the point that Ōki was stretchered off. He would hold the NWA title until 1966 when, at the age of 50, he lost it to Gene Kiniski . On May 29, 1968, in Bombay, Dara Singh 's victory over Lou Thesz earned Dara Singh
884-695: Is speculation that this match may have been a legitimate shoot contest. Thesz later told wrestling historian Mike Chapman that he was there to wrestle competitively, which he did, and ended up winning the match, but was unsure if he actually won or Marshall dropped the title to him. He later dropped the title to Steve "Crusher" Casey in Boston six weeks later. He won the National Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Championship in 1939, once again defeating Marshall, and again in 1948, defeating Bill Longson . In 1948,
952-504: Is strongly considered by many to be the greatest professional wrestler of the 20th century. Among his many accomplishments in the sport, he is credited with inventing a number of professional wrestling moves and holds such as the belly-to-back waistlock suplex (later known as the German suplex due to its association with Karl Gotch ), the Lou Thesz press , stepover toehold facelock (STF), and
1020-762: The Japan Pro Wrestling Association and the Japanese Wrestling Association ( JWA ), was the first professional wrestling promotion to be based in Japan . It operated from 1953 to 1973. Rikidōzan , a former rikishi ( sumo wrestling practitioner) who had debuted as a Western-style professional wrestler in 1951, decided in 1953 to establish a territory that would represent the National Wrestling Alliance in Japan. In those early days, Japanese professional wrestlers came from out of
1088-465: 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 Championship 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
1156-665: The University of Missouri , took a liking to Thesz and respected his willingness to work hard and follow instruction. He trained under the watchful eye of Tragos for nearly four years at the National Gym in St. Louis. Tragos, who had a well-deserved reputation as a dangerous catch wrestler, decried the emerging performance-related aspects of the sport and instead coached young men to be true, authentic professional wrestlers. Tragos specifically taught Thesz submission wrestling and how to wrestle from
1224-640: The original powerbomb . Thesz was the first wrestler to ever hold the NWA International Heavyweight Championship, which became a part of what is now the Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship under All Japan Pro Wrestling. Thesz was also the first UWA World Heavyweight Champion for the now defunct Universal Wrestling Association in Mexico, where he won the title after defeating Mil Máscaras on July 26, 1976. Thesz
1292-520: The sumo or judo ranks; former sumotori usually used their shikona (Rikidōzan, Azumafuji , Toyonobori , etc.) while former judokas usually used their real names or modifications of them ( Masahiko Kimura , Michiaki Yoshimura, etc.) Rikidōzan pushed himself as the top star of the promotion, first battling other Japanese wrestlers such as Kimura and Toshio Yamaguchi, but found a strong niche in feuds with American wrestlers such as Lou Thesz , The Destroyer and Bobo Brazil . In 1957 he defeated Thesz to win
1360-482: The "most intensive training period of my life". Throughout his career, Thesz continued to train under Santel whenever he was in the California area. The training he received under Santel would help establish Thesz as one of the most dangerous grapplers in the world. Thesz later met legendary former champion Ed "Strangler" Lewis in St. Louis and was encouraged to challenge Lewis to a friendly contest. Although Thesz lost
1428-500: The "quintessential athlete " and a "polished warrior who could break a man in two if pushed the wrong way", Thesz is widely regarded as one of the greatest wrestlers and wrestling world champions in history, and possibly the last globally accepted world champion. Thesz won various version of the World Heavyweight Championship seven times, including three reigns as NWA World Heavyweight Champion , which he held for
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#17328762764211496-434: The 15-minute contest, Lewis was impressed by Thesz's skills and later became his manager and trainer. Lewis later described Thesz as "lithe as a panther and exceptionally fast. He moves with the speed of a lightweight." As his trainer, Lewis taught Thesz extremely painful and potentially crippling submission holds that would help him when facing opponents that refused to lose. Thesz made his professional wrestling debut at
1564-484: The California World Heavyweight title and became the closest any wrestler had been to being undisputed world heavyweight wrestling champion since Danno O'Mahony in 1936. 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 14,
1632-649: The International Wrestling Institute and Museum in Waterloo, Iowa , where he was an inaugural inductee. In October 1997, Thesz was honored by a ceremony at World Wrestling Federation 's (WWF) Badd Blood as being both the youngest and oldest world heavyweight champion at ages 21 and 50, respectively (technically, Verne Gagne holds the record for oldest champ, when he held the AWA World Heavyweight Championship in 1980 at age 54, which
1700-557: The NWA's decision, there were some promotions who continued to recognize Carpentier's claim to the NWA World Heavyweight Championship. That same year, Thesz became the first wrestler to defend the NWA World Heavyweight Championship in Japan , wrestling Rikidōzan in a series of 60-minute draws . Their first match notably started as a legitimate contest as Rikidōzan believed himself to be a far superior wrestler. Thesz quickly dominated Rikidōzan and easily beat him to win
1768-647: The National Wrestling Association, and considered Harley Race to have broken this record when he won a seventh reign in 1983. The World Heavyweight Championship of the National Wrestling Association existed from 1929 through 1949, until it was unified with the world championship used by the National Wrestling Alliance. While the title is best known as the NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship, Thesz's reigns with
1836-629: The PWA Champion's Grail, a new championship merging the lineage of Rikidozan and Toyonobori's 1962 Toyonaka trophy with the Wrestling Retribution Project trophy won by Kenny Omega in Hollywood in 2011. This is not an exhaustive list, as the JWA was the only Japanese promotion until 1966 and many wrestlers, both Japanese who competed for a brief time and then retired, or foreigners who came for
1904-457: 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 Heavyweight Championship. Unfortunately, just weeks before the scheduled bout, Brown was involved in an automobile accident that ended his career, and he
1972-509: The World Championship. According to Thesz, Singh (who was 12 years younger than Thesz) was "an authentic wrestler, and was superbly conditioned." For these reasons, Thesz had no problem losing to Dara Singh. 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
2040-415: The age of 17, performing in undercard matches around the St. Louis territory whilst still working at his father's shoe repair shop. However, Thesz spent most of his early career honing his craft under the tutelage of George Tragos in both catch and freestyle wrestling, and later with Ad Santel . When not taking a local booking, Tragos arranged Thesz with competitive workouts with top collegiate wrestlers in
2108-616: The age of 62, before dropping the championship to El Canek a year later. Thesz wrestled a match with Luke Graham in 1979 billed as his retirement match and considered himself retired after this, though he did continue to wrestle exhibition matches periodically through the 1980s. On November 16, 1987, Thesz won a World Wrestling Federation "legends" battle royal featuring Killer Kowalski , Nick Bockwinkel , Gene Kiniski , Edouard Carpentier and other legends. He finally wrestled his last public match on December 26, 1990, in Hamamatsu , Japan at
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2176-470: The age of 74, against his protégé, Masahiro Chono . This makes him one of the only male professional wrestlers, along with Abdullah The Butcher , to wrestle in seven different decades. After retiring, Thesz remained involved in the wrestling industry. He later became a special guest referee , promoter and trainer. He became the commissioner and occasional trainer for the shoot-style promotion Union of Professional Wrestling Forces International , and lent
2244-626: The best competitive catch wrestler but he was very good in his time." Thesz is an inaugural member of several professional wrestling halls of fame , including the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum , Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame , NWA Hall of Fame , WCW Hall of Fame , and the George Tragos/Lou Thesz Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame which is subsequently named after both one of his trainers along with Thesz himself. On April 2, 2016, Thesz
2312-494: The bottom. Thesz remembered Tragos saying, "any fool can start on top. If you start at the bottom, you learn to wrestle." Ray Steele also served as a coach and mentor to Thesz during this time. Thesz also studied under German-born catch wrestler Ad Santel , who was known for his feud with the Kodokan judo school. Thesz studied under Santel for up to five days every week during a 6-month stay in California and remembered it being
2380-556: The company, taking his old championship belt back with him. His specific criticisms included the use of power bombs, deriding them as unrealistic despite his own use of them and their later use in MMA fights. As an announcer, Thesz was the color commentator for International World Class Championship Wrestling 's weekly television show. He was highly critical of modern-day professional wrestling and described it as 'choreographed tumbling', showcasing little to no actual wrestling skills. He commented on
2448-422: The county, and caught the eye of Tom Packs, a professional wrestling promoter in St. Louis. Packs met with Thesz and asked if he wanted to wrestle professionally and Thesz accepted. Thesz later said he would have continued his amateur career had he not been asked. Packs sent Lou to George Tragos for further coaching. George Tragos, a feared Greek Olympic freestyle wrestler, catch wrestler and wrestling coach at
2516-749: The direct followers to the JWA World League. Therefore, respectively, the G1 Climax for the NJPW and the Champion Carnival for the AJPW are considered the direct descendants of the original World League. The following is a list of the winners of each edition: NWA Tag League ( NWAタッグ・リーグ戦 , NWA taggu rīgu-sen ) , also called World Tag League, was a professional wrestling tournament annually held by Japanese Wrestling Association from 1970 till 1972. The 1973 edition
2584-735: The direct followers to the JWA World Tag League. Therefore, respectively, the G1 Tag League for the NJPW and the World's Strongest Tag Determination League for the AJPW are the indirect descendant of the original World Tag League. In fact, in 2012, NJPW renamed the G1 Tag League the World Tag League. The following is a list of the winners of each edition: In 2024, the revival of Maple Leaf Pro Wrestling lead by Scott D'Amore established
2652-491: The first fall. Rikidōzan accepted defeat and they worked the rest of the match. Their bouts popularized professional 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 championship belt in Japan, but 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
2720-451: The first men to beat a member of the Gracie family in over fifty years, beating Renzo Gracie by unanimous decision in an MMA fight. Kit Bauman, co-writer of Thesz's autobiography Hooker , received a magazine mailed by Thesz that included a story on the sport of pankration , an Ancient Greek combat sport that blended wrestling and boxing (and considered an early precursor to MMA), with
2788-415: The first taint to Thesz' claim of undisputed champion occurred in a match with gymnast-turned-wrestling star, Edouard Carpentier . The match was tied at two falls apiece when Thesz claimed a legitimate back injury and forfeit the last fall, thus Carpentier was declared the winner; however, the NWA chose not to recognize the title change, deciding a championship could not change hands due to injury. Despite
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2856-526: The fundamentals for his later success. He trained in Greco-Roman wrestling under the guidance of his father for several years until transitioning to folkstyle wrestling in high school, where he was a successful competitor on his school team. He also trained in boxing as a teenager. Thesz dropped out of high school by age 14 to work at his father's shoe repair business and began training in freestyle wrestling at Cleveland High School due to his father knowing
2924-409: The greatest wrestler of all time and lamented that "after the match with the world's greatest wrestler, fights with other run-of-the-mill wrestlers became unappetizing for me". Three-time NCAA heavyweight champion and NWA World Heavyweight Champion Dick Hutton said that Thesz was the best man he ever met, in any type of wrestling (both competitive and performance). Hutton later said that Thesz
2992-590: The late 1960s by International Wrestling Enterprise , which featured the first major World heavyweight championship based in Japan, the IWA title . The JWA's top stars, Giant Baba and Antonio Inoki left to form their own promotions ( All Japan Pro Wrestling and New Japan Pro-Wrestling , respectively) in 1972. With its top drawing cards gone, the JWA was therefore out of business the following year. World Big League ( ワールド大リーグ戦 , wārudo dai rīgu-sen ) , later renamed to simply World League ( ワールドリーグ戦 , wārudo rīgu-sen )
3060-523: The more popular choice, Buddy Rogers . Thesz would embark on a tour of Europe and Japan, billing himself as the NWA International Heavyweight Champion ; this title is still recognized as a part of All Japan Pro Wrestling 's Triple Crown Heavyweight Championship . In 1963, Thesz came out of semi-retirement to win his sixth world heavyweight championship from Buddy Rogers at the age of 46. In 1964, he infamously faced Kintarō Ōki ,
3128-698: The president of the Cauliflower Alley Club (CAC), an organization recognizing and supporting retired wrestlers, boxers and actors who enjoyed an association with wrestling. He served as CAC's president until 2000. In 1999, he helped establish 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. The hall of fame honors professional wrestlers with
3196-451: The promotion one of his old NWA championship belts, which they recognized as their own world title. With the promotion he spent one week every month in Japan teaching the wrestlers techniques in catch wrestling. However, by 1993 his enthusiasm for the UWFi waned as the company started moving away from its shootfighting style and favoring performers over wrestlers, and he soon severed relations with
3264-460: The region. Thesz then worked the Iowa , Nebraska , Minnesota and California territory, continuing to compete on the undercards while honing his craft on the road. Thesz notably worked out with top amateurs trained by Billy Thom, head coach of the 1936 U.S. Olympic wrestling team , and old carnival wrestlers around the region including Earl Wampler, who became his mentor and occasional workout partner on
3332-581: The rest of his life. Thesz lived in Norfolk, Virginia for much of his later life and started a wrestling school called the Virginia Wrestling Academy in 1988. One of Thesz's protégés Mark Fleming became head coach of the academy. He wrote an autobiography , Hooker: An Authentic Wrestler's Adventures Inside the Bizarre World of Professional Wrestling . Thesz was drafted into the army in 1944, despite
3400-453: The rise of mixed martial arts and favourably compared it to his early days as a competitive catch wrestler. Through his friendship with his student Gene LeBell , Thesz had an association with Gokor Chivichyan and LeBell's Hayastan MMA Academy. He remained active as a wrestling coach, holding seminars in Virginia and later Florida. One of his most famous students, Kiyoshi Tamura , was one of
3468-503: The road. 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 American Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Championship in a grueling three hour match, the first of many world heavyweight titles , which also made Thesz became the youngest world heavyweight champion in history, at the age of 21. There
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#17328762764213536-446: The sport in his later years, he helped establish, in addition to being a member of its inaugural class, the George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame , which honors successful professional wrestlers with a strong amateur wrestling background, and is a charter member of several other halls of fame, including: WCW , Wrestling Observer Newsletter , Professional Wrestling and WWE's Legacy Wing . Alonysius Martin Thesz
3604-462: The third most important men's promotion, after New Japan and All Japan , which would appear in 1972. Tokyo Pro-Wrestling is also the place where Haruka Eigen , who was still active into his 60s wrestling for Pro Wrestling Noah , debuted. He joined Inoki and Shibata in going back to JWA. The new version of Tokyo Pro Wrestling was started by former All Japan Pro Wrestling and Super World of Sports wrestler Takashi Ishikawa in 1994, and it
3672-531: The title that would be the JWA's top title thereafter, the NWA International Heavyweight Championship . As a newly found hero to the war-weary Japanese masses, Rikidōzan expanded into several business ventures. It resulted in his murder at the hands of a gangster in 1963 , at the peak of his fame. After Rikidōzan's death in 1963, the company continued to operate as the nation's premier (and only male) wrestling circuit until challenged in
3740-465: The toughest men he has ever known. Wrestling promoter Sam Muchnick considered Ed "Strangler" Lewis as the greatest legitimate wrestler he had ever seen, with Thesz, Ray Steele , Joe Stecher , Jim Londos and John Pesek "only a few steps behind Lewis." Fellow catch wrestler Billy Robinson considered Thesz to be the greatest professional wrestler of all time, saying "everybody respected professional wrestling because of Lou Thesz. He may not have been
3808-454: The wrestling coaches. He quickly became an accomplished freestyle wrestler, competing in city-wide intramurals and regional tournaments in the 160 lb division. At aged 16, Thesz then gained further training in freestyle wrestling under John Zastro. Thesz credited Zastro for elevating his wrestling and became his regular sparring partner. Thesz won several amateur titles and became one of the most dominant freestyle wrestlers of his weight class in
3876-552: Was "the only man I ever faced in the ring, professional or amateur, who was faster than I was." National judo champion, grappler and professional wrestler Gene LeBell said that he considered Thesz to be one of his 'teachers', saying "Lou Thesz, Karl Gotch and Vic Christy all taught me a lot about grappling... From Thesz I learned how to hurt people. He had a little bit of a sadistic side". LeBell also mentioned that he learned most of his submission grappling from Thesz. LeBell also considers Thesz, Ed "Strangler" Lewis and Karl Gotch as
3944-407: Was a professional wrestling tournament annually held by Japanese Wrestling Association from 1959 till 1972. The 1973 edition was not held as JWA folded that year. Wrestlers from all over the world participated in the various editions of the tournament, as it was meant since its beginning to be a world tournament. It had been one of the most important pro-wrestling tournaments of its time, because it
4012-528: Was also spoken in the Thesz household but the children did not learn it. In addition to public school, he also had to attend German school every Saturday until he was eight. He was fluent in German and English. Thesz's father was a national Greco-Roman wrestling middleweight champion in his native Hungary and introduced Lou to the sport as a young boy. At eight years old, Lou began a tough and thorough education in Greco-Roman wrestling under his father, which provided
4080-639: Was born in Banat , Michigan on April 24, 1916. His father, Martin, was a working-class shoemaker of Hungarian and German descent; his mother, Katherine ( née Schultz ), also of German descent, hailed from the Austro-Hungarian Empire . His family moved to St. Louis in Missouri when he was a young boy. Thesz and his three sisters grew up speaking German at home and he did not start learning English until he entered kindergarten at age five. Hungarian
4148-671: Was forced to vacate the championship and the NWA awarded the title to the No. 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 National Wrestling Alliance Worlds Heavyweight Championship . In 1952, he defeated Baron Michele Leone in Los Angeles for
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#17328762764214216-401: Was named the second greatest professional wrestler of all time behind Ric Flair in the magazine article "100 Wrestlers of All Time" by John Molinaro, edited by Dave Meltzer and Jeff Marek. Former NCAA champion and NWA World Heavyweight Champion Jack Brisco named Thesz his all-time favorite professional wrestler by saying that "Lou Thesz was my idol. He was a great wrestler, a great example,
4284-428: Was not held as JWA folded that year. Wrestlers from all over the world participated in the various editions of the tournament, as it was meant to be a world tournament. It was created in 1970 as the tag team counterpart of World Big League. Its prestige led Antonio Inoki and Giant Baba to create in their respective promotions, New Japan Pro-Wrestling and All Japan Pro Wrestling , tournaments which were presented as
4352-548: Was one of the many independents that arose following SWS's collapse. In 1996 they found a businessman by the name of Kotaro Ishizawa who was willing to bankroll the promotion using his bike messenger business, which enabled Ishikawa to bring foreigners, namely Abdullah the Butcher , 2 Cold Scorpio , and Sabu . It was their peak year, when they were able to hold feuds against WAR and UWFI , but economic problems relating to Kotaro Ishizawa's business' collapse sent Tokyo Pro Wrestling on
4420-515: Was one of the very few (and for some years after its creation the only) pro-wrestling tournament of its time to be considered representative of the entire pro-wrestling world. In 1970, JWA created a tag team counterpart of the World League, known as World Tag League . Its prestige led Antonio Inoki and Giant Baba to create their own respective promotions, New Japan Pro-Wrestling and All Japan Pro Wrestling , tournaments which were presented as
4488-511: Was posthumously inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame as an inaugural member of the "Legacy" wing. Thesz's first NWA World Heavyweight Championship reign began when he was awarded the championship by the NWA board of directors, rather than him winning the championship in a National Wrestling Alliance-affiliated promotion. The National Wrestling Alliance regarded Thesz as a record-setting, six-time champion, recognizing his three additional reigns from
4556-401: Was the first ever TWWA World Heavyweight Champion for the now defunct International Wrestling Enterprise as well. Thesz and "The Outlaw" ( Dory Funk Sr. ) were the first ever NWA Pacific Coast (Vancouver) Tag Team Champions. In 1999, his name was given to the George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame for professional wrestling stars with a successful amateur background at
4624-440: Was tied by WWF owner Vince McMahon in 1999; Thesz has since been supplanted as the oldest NWA World Heavyweight Champion by former champion Tim Storm (who was born on February 18, 1964), who won the title at age 52 by defeating Jax Dane on October 21, 2016). In 1999, a large group of professional wrestling experts, analysts and historians named Thesz the most influential NWA World Heavyweight Champion of all time. In 2002, Thesz
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