History Wrestling / LouThesz

** He also ran his own wrestling promotion called Universal Wrestling Association ([[NamesTheSame not to be confused with the Mexican promotion with the same name]], which he also worked for) based in Nashville with Buddy Lee and Danny Davis (mostly to compete against the NWA promotions of Nick Gulas, Lee Fields and Roy Welch) that only lasted less than a year in 1976.

* CoolTeacher: According to Mark Fleming, Thesz wasn’t a SadistTeacher like Wrestling/KarlGotch or to a lesser extent Wrestling/BillyRobinson, he describes him as patient, gentle when applying holds and not abusive to his students.

* OddFriendship: Was always on good terms with George "GorgeousGeorge" Wagner, who would in many ways the the antithesis of the style of pro wrestling that Thesz represented. Thesz would always stress Wagner's legitimate mat credentials in interviews, and Wagner was always willing to do business with Thesz even when it meant doing jobs. Thesz was similarly well disposed towards Gene Kiniski, a former CFL player with no wrestling background. Kiniski couldn't hang with Thesz in a shoot, but it never stopped him from trying and Thesz loved him for it.

* BaldOfAwesome: As he got older.

As usual, you can find the basics at [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Thesz The Other Wiki]].

* LesserOfTwoEvils: Thesz was generally a baby face, but if the local champion was also a baby face Thesz wasn't above using cowardly tactics like stalling or illegal strikes like closed fists to put him away while Thesz was the traveling champion.

* CombatPragmatist: Whenever Thesz had an opponent in the corner, he would place his elbow on either the side of the opponent’s face or sometimes on other parts of their bodies then using his other arm’s hand to slap his other fist to make his elbow jab into his opponent’s body.

** Wrestlers he had a hand in training include Wrestling/BruiserBrody, Dory Funk Jr., Nick Bockwinkel, Wrestling/JumboTsuruta, Wrestling/KiyoshiTamura, Mark Fleming, Dick Hutton, Wrestling/GeneLebell and Masahiro Chono.

* TheApprentice: To Wrestling/EdStranglerLewis, Ad Santel, and George Tangos.

* CaptainErsatz: ''Videogame/FireProWrestling'' uses him and {{Wrestling/Rikidozan}}, unsurprisingly.

* ForeignWrestlingHeel: Was one in Japan, and even agreed to put over Wrestling/{{Rikidozan}} to give the Japanese fans a hero to rally behind. He also ended up giving the JWA the NWA International Title, a semi-unsanctioned title Thesz defended overseas, and which is still part of the All Japan Triple Crown.
* GameBreakingInjury: Dropped the NWA World Heavyweight Title belt to Whipper Billy Watson on account of an ankle injury. One it was healed Thesz returned and regained the belt.
* HumiliatingWager: Thesz unmasked a large number of wrestlers, including Red Scorpion, Masked Scorpion, Le Masque, Zebra Kid([[Wrestling/RingOfHonor not that one]]), Masked Terror, The Red Raider, The Professional [[TagTeam #2]], and Masked Grappler. The Red Scorpion case was especially humiliating because Thesz beat him in two straight falls and took his NWA Hawaii Heavyweight Title.

* StartMyOwn: Rikidozan was the first challenger to the NWA World Heavyweight Title in Japan and Thesz wrestled him to several one hour time limit draws there, basically creating the Japanese pro wrestling industry as we know it. Thesz wanted to spend more time there, because the Japanese were paying him better than anyone else, but World Title defenses were determined by member votes, which concluded Japan had enough already, so Thesz created the NWA International Heavyweight Title basically for the purpose of dropping it to Rikidozan, though he did go through Europe with it before doing so, to build up some legitimacy for it.

* BadassGrandpa[=/=]RingOldies: At age 50 he was the oldest NWA World Heavyweight Champion until Tim Storm defeated Jax Dane at age 51. Thesz wrestled in ''seven'' different decades, and had his last match at the age of '''74'''.

* TheApprentice: To Ed "Strangler" Lewis, Ad Santel, and George Tangos.

Born Lajos Tiza in Banat, Michigan, Lou Thesz (1916-2002) was an American {{Professional Wrestl|ing}}er. He is best known for his six reigns as Wrestling/{{N|ationalWrestlingAlliance}}WA [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/nwa/world/nwa-h.html World Heavyweight Champion]] and for inventing such moves as the Lou Thesz Press, later used by everyone from Wrestling/StoneColdSteveAustin to Wrestling/MickieJames, the STF, popularized by Masahiro Chono, who in turn came up with the STS variation used by Wrestling/JohnCena, and the powerbomb, popularized by [[Wrestling/SidEudy Sid Vicious]], [[Wrestling/{{Vader}} Big Van Vader]], and Wrestling/KevinNash and used by too many wrestlers to start listing them here. He started his career in the 1930s and had his last match, against Chono, one of his students, in ''1990''. While he was primarily a singles wrestler, he also held the [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/canada/bc/nwa/bc-pc-t.html NWA (Vancouver) Pacific Coast Tag Team Title]] with the Outlaw (Dory Funk Sr.), and the [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/us/tn/cwa/awa-s-t.html NWA Southern (Tennessee) Tag Team Title]] with Wrestling/JackieFargo. He also competed for the Lucha Libre Internacional promotion in Mexico (governed by the UWA), for Wrestling/JerryLawler's CWA promotion in Memphis and won the Legends Battle Royal at a Wrestling/{{WWE}} house show at the Brendan Byrne Arena in East Rutherford, NJ on November 6, 1987. He was inducted into the ''[[Wrestling/TheWrestlingObserverNewsletter Wrestling Observer Newsletter]]'' Hall of Fame in 1996.

* AlternateCompanyEquivalent: More so alternate regional equivalent, being one of the men to establish professional wrestling as we know it in the United States of America (or at least as it was known [[DorkAge until 2001]]) the way Wrestling/{{Rikidozan}} did for Japan and Wrestling/ElSanto did for Mexico.

* LivingLegend: Come on. Just read his damn biography and tell me he wasn't.

!!! "Lou Tropes Press"

-->''"When people ask how I stay so active and look younger than my years, or some cheeky bastard asks how I keep up with a wife 30 years my junior, I tell them my secret is choosing my ancestors wisely. I don't think they'd believe the truth: because I am a wrestler."''

—>''"When people ask how I stay so active and look younger than my years, or some cheeky bastard asks how I keep up with a wife 30 years my junior, I tell them my secret is choosing my ancestors wisely. I don't think they'd believe the truth: because I am a wrestler."''