Inducted by LWO4Life
Throughout wrestling history, there are very few wrestlers that you can honestly say are unmovable from the Mt. Rushmore of wrestling. Many debate more contemporary wrestlers, like Steve Austin, Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, and the Rock. But many forget the “George Washingtons” of Mount Rushmore. The ones who laid the foundation of the business we all enjoy watching. In wrestling, two names come to mind for that George Washington spot: Ed “the Strangler” Lewis and Lou Thesz.
If you truly are a wrestling fan, and I mean a deep wrestling fan, you’ll know that in 1963, Bruno Sammartino defeated Buddy Rogers for the WWWF World Heavyweight title. But what people often overlook is how Buddy Rogers having the title caused the split between the NWA and the WWWF at the time. In 1963, Buddy Rogers was the biggest attraction in the Northeast. At the time, Capital Wrestling Corporation was the largest territory in the nation. And because of this, whoever they wanted as champion was usually the person with the best. And well, CWC at the time was mainly a tag team territory, one person continued to draw large attendance month after month, and that person was Buddy Rogers. From 1961 to 1963, Rogers was not just the NWA champion; he was basically the Northeast territory champion, losing and winning the title often in Toronto, New York City, and Montreal. The NWA didn’t recognize any of these title changes (which is a shame because we would have had our first Black champion then in Bobo Brazil). Instead, they realized that the CWC and Buddy Rogers were ignoring the rest of the country. Rogers was not touring; he was staying close to his home base, and much of the country was unaware of the multiple title changes that were happening. So the NWA had to act.
So in 1963, the NWA set their number 1 challengers to retrieve the title. Enter Lou Thesz. Thesz might have been the greatest shooter of all time, but at this point, he’s enjoying his retirement. But with the wrestling business in trouble, the NWA called on Lou to ask a favor: get back the NWA title. The NWA sent Thesz to Toronto, and he would wrestle Buddy Rogers for the NWA title. The CWC did maybe the only thing it could do. On January 23, 1963, Lou Thesz beat Buddy Rogers in a one-fall match for the NWA title. CWC claimed the title change was illegitimate because they only recognize 2 out of 3 falls matches at the time. Officially, CWC would still recognize Buddy Rogers as their NEW World Wide Wrestling Federation Heavyweight title, and rename themselves the WWWF. That part will often get mentioned. But on the other side, Lou Thesz would take back the NWA title and defend it for the next three years, touring the nation and helping spread the wealth.
The Beginning
At the age of 14, Lou Thesz started high school and started training in folkstyle and freestyle wrestling. This sounds like a great beginning, except that for 6 years previously, Lou Thesz’s father had already been training him in Roman-Greco wrestling. Thesz was being built to be a true wrestling machine. At 14, Thesz also trained in boxing, and at 16, he’d train under the legendary John Zastro in St. Louis. Quickly becoming one of the most dominant wrestlers in the country, Thesz was recruited by pro-wrestling promoter Tom Parks. Thesz would then train under George Tragos for Catch as Catch Can wrestling. And so his journey began in pro-wrestling. He would train for 6 months under another Catch wrestler, Ad Santel, and then finally, he’d get the eye of pro-wrestling legend, Ed Lewis. It was Lewis who would then become his manager in the ring. I should mention that the majority of this is before 18 years old, as Thesz dropped out of school to continue his training.
The Attraction
By the age of 21, Lou Thesz was the top attraction in St. Louis. He built his resume by beating both top amateur wrestlers and carnival wrestlers. Had he not found pro-wrestling, Thesz said he’d have gone the amateur route. But he did go pro, and on December 29, 1937, Lou Thesz defeated Everett Marshall for the original version of the AWA World Heavyweight title at the tender age of 21. This would be the first of many world titles coming to Thesz. These titles included the original version of the NWA World Heavyweight title, beating Marshall again in 1939, as well as beating the inventor of the piledriver, Bill Longson, in 1948.
By this point, Thesz had evolved into a booker role. Thesz was one of the most important men in wrestling, as he was booking the St. Louis territory and was usually holding the world title. Thesz’s mission would become clear: unify all the world titles. Also, many territory owners came together to form the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), not be confused with the original NWA (National Wrestling Association). And so, from 1948 until 1958, Thesz was touring the country trying to collect all the belts. Along the way, he also lost some belts, which would lead to a split and create the lineage to the AWA World title (Minnesota). There was no more consequential wrestler than Thesz during this period. For 25 years, Lou Thesz was the name and face people knew for professional wrestling.
To close, I want to recognize Thesz for this great honor. Thesz is truly the bedrock in wrestling history. I, for one, am glad that in 2026, we are finally recognizing a true pioneer. Please welcome Lou Thesz to the Hall of Fame class of 2026.
