Les Thornton (9 April 1934 – 1 February 2019) was a British professional wrestler who competed in Great Britain, Japan, European and North American regional promotions throughout the 1970s and 1980s including Joint Promotions, Stampede Wrestling, the World Wrestling Federation and the National Wrestling Alliance.
| Les Thornton | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 9 April 1934 Manchester, England, United Kingdom |
| Died | 1 February 2019 (aged 84)[1] Calgary, Alberta, Canada |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Les Thornton Henri Pierlot Checkmate |
| Billed height | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[2] |
| Billed weight | 225 lb (102 kg)[2] |
| Trained by | Billy Riley The Snake Pit |
| Debut | 1957 |
| Retired | 1991 |
Professional wrestling career
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Thornton participated in cricket, football, boxing and rugby as a youth. He served in the British Navy, being stationed in Korea, where he continued boxing. Thornton later played professional rugby before being convinced to give pro wrestling a try by wrestler Bomber Bates. Thornton trained at Billy Riley's gym in Wigan, known infamously as the Snake Pit, where he built his foundation in amateur and catch wrestling.[3][4] During his career, he was considered one of the best junior heavyweights in the world at one time simultaneously holding both the WWF and NWA World Junior Heavyweight titles,[5] and would later hold NWA title five times. He had matches against Tiger Mask, Gino Hernandez, The Cobra, K J Anderssen, Dynamite Kid, Terry Taylor, Gerald Brisco, Al Madril and Tatsumi Fujinami. As a result of the hostile takeover by the WWF of Georgia Championship Wrestling, Thornton joined the WWF, but in the "Hogan Era" as it stood, Thornton was used as a jobber and would help develop young wrestlers, including Mick Foley.[6] Thornton was Mick Foley’s tag team partner in Foley's first ever WWF match against The British Bulldogs. Against heavyweights he fought Harley Race, Billy Robinson, Gene Lewis, Pedro Morales and Dory Funk Jr. He was known for his stiff forearm uppercuts, over the knee backbreakers and suplexes. Near the end of his career, he formed his own promotion in Calgary called Canadian Independent Wrestling Federation (CIWF), which included wrestlers like Ricky Fuji and Big Titan, among others.
Championships and accomplishments
edit- All Japan Pro Wrestling
- World's Strongest Tag Determination League Technique Award (1980) - with Billy Robinson[7]
- Championship Wrestling from Florida
- Georgia Championship Wrestling
- Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling
- Middle Atlantic States Wrestling
- MASW National Heavyweight Championship (1 time)[8]
- National Wrestling Alliance
- NWA Big Time Wrestling
- NWA Texas Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Tony Charles[9][10]
- NWA Hollywood Wrestling
- NWA Mid-America
- NWA New Zealand
- Pacific Northwest Wrestling
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- PWI ranked him # 320 of the 500 best singles wrestlers of the PWI Years in 2003
- Ring Around The Northwest Newsletter
- Tag Team of the Year (1977) with Lonnie Mayne[11]
- Southeastern Championship Wrestling
- Stampede Wrestling
- Western States Sports
- NWA Western States Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Jerry Kozak
- World Wrestling Council
1Records are unclear as to where Thornton was when he received the title for the first time nor is it known as to which NWA affiliated promotion he was wrestling for at the time.
References
edit- ^ "LES THORNTON PASSES AWAY | PWInsider.com". www.pwinsider.com.
- ^ a b c Shields, Brian; Sullivan, Kevin (2009). WWE Encyclopedia. Dorling Kindersley. p. 184. ISBN 978-0-7566-4190-0.
- ^ Oliver, Greg (February 23, 2005). "Les Thornton: A life on the road". Slam Wrestling. Retrieved May 3, 2023.
- ^ Mooneyham, Mike (February 9, 2019). "From Snake Pit to America, Les Thornton made his mark in pro wrestling". The Post and Courier. Retrieved May 3, 2023.
- ^ "Former NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion Les Thornton Passes Away". WrestlingNewsSource. February 3, 2019.
- ^ Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2006). Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
- ^ "PUROLOVE.com". www.purolove.com.
- ^ Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2000). Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
- ^ Will, Gary; Duncan, Royal (2000). "Texas: NWA Texas Tag Team Title [Von Erich]". Wrestling Title Histories: professional wrestling champions around the world from the 19th century to the present. Pennsylvania: Archeus Communications. pp. 275–276. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
- ^ "NWA Texas Tag Team Title [E. Texas]". wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved December 27, 2019.
- ^ Rodgers, Mike (2004). "Regional Territories: PNW #16". KayfabeMemories.com.
- ^ Whalen, Ed (host) (December 15, 1995). "Stampede Wrestling Hall of Fame: 1948-1990". Showdown at the Corral: A Tribute to Stu Hart. Event occurs at 27:55. Shaw Cable. Calgary 7.
- ^ "Stampede Wrestling Hall of Fame (1948-1990)". Puroresu Dojo. 2003.
Further reading
edit- Foley, Mick. Have A Nice Day: A Tale of Blood and Sweatsocks. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1999. ISBN 0-06-103101-1
- Funk, Terry and Scott E. Williams. Terry Funk: The Hardcore Legend. Champaigne, Illinois: Sports Publishing LLC, 2005. ISBN 1-58261-991-3
- Johnson, Weldon T. and Jim Wilson. Chokehold: Pro Wrestling's Real Mayhem Outside the Ring. Philadelphia: Xlibris Corporation, 2003. ISBN 1-4010-7217-8[self-published source]
- McCoy, Heath. Pain and Passion: The History of Stampede Wrestling. Toronto: CanWest Books, 2005. ISBN 0-9736719-8-X
External links
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- SLAM! Wrestling - Les Thornton: A life on the road[usurped] by Greg Oliver
- SLAM! Wrestling: Les Thornton - What you DIDN'T know![usurped] by Terry Taylor
- The Way It Was - Les Thornton at the Wayback Machine (archived October 28, 2009) by Percival A. Friend
- Championship Wrestling from Florida: Les Thornton
- Profile at OWW