History Wrestling / LouThesz

* WorfHadTheFlu: Thesz went into his defense against Édouard Carpentier with a back injury. Thesz still wrestled him to a draw but decided to forfeit the title, believing he wouldn't be able to keep defending it without taking sometime off to recover. But NWA president Sam Muchnick later overruled Thesz, saying he was still champion until defeated, as he had been by Billy Watson when his ankle was injured, or formally stripped. Thesz won their rematch, regardless, but decisively enough for him to be satisfied. A decisive rubber match was stalled however when the promoter pushing Carpentier, Eddie Quinn, left the NWA and the board saw now point in continuing the saga.

** The Power Bomb, belly-to-back waistlock suplex(the popular name "German Suplex" comes from the mistaken belief Karl Gotch invented it), the stepover toehold facelock (STF) and the Lou Thesz press, naturally, are all credited to him.

* 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.

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

* CombatReferee: In a matches featuring Wrestling/RicFlair vs Wrestling/DustyRhodes, Wrestling/AntonioInoki vs Tatsumi Fujinami, Wrestling/BigVanVader vs Wrestling/ShinyaHashimoto, Nick Bockwinkel (w/Bobby Heenan) vs Wrestling/BruiserBrody, Antonio Inoki and Seiji Sakaguchi vs Shinya Hashimoto and Masahiro Chono...

* TheAce: Lou Thesz is technically the second NWA World Champion but is considered to be the first true "world" champion because he went around defeating the holders of rival belts to that claim and unifying them with his own.

* BadassGrandpa[=/=]RingOldies: He wrestled in ''seven'' different decades, and had his last match at the age of '''74'''.

* CombatReferee: In a match with Nick Bockwinkel (w/Bobby Heenan) and Wrestling/BruiserBrody.

* DefeatingTheUndefeatable: Anyone who was able to have an officially recognized victory for the title over Thesz would have done this.

* MusclesAreMeaningless: In the modern era when even lightweight wrestlers are often expected to look like they're cut from stone, the balding, slightly paunchy Thesz doesn't exactly cut an impressive figure. Anyone in the business will tell you that Thesz could tie them into human pretzels without breaking a sweat.

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 [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/nwa/world/nwa-h.html NWA 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 and used today 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.

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

* CarpetOfVirility: Hair of manliness and maturity, or at least that was the look he was going for.
* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: Was famously very strong, particularly for his era.

** The Power Bomb, belly-to-back waistlock suplex, the stepover toehold facelock (STF) and the Lou Thesz press, naturally, are all credited to him.

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 [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/nwa/world/nwa-h.html NWA 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 and used today 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.

* BadassGrandpa[=/=]RingOldies: He wrestled in '''seven''' different decades, and had his last match at the age of '''74'''.

* {{Badass}}: Like most wrestlers in his era, Thesz was a legitimate amateur wrestler and had an incredible amount of core strength to back it up. One anecdote details how he once beat the crap out of a fellow athlete who thought he was disgracing "legitimate" wrestling by using useless moves like dropkicks. So Thesz beat him up. With dropkicks.

* {{Badass}}: Like most wrestlers in his era, Thesz was a legitemate amateur wrestler and had an incredible amount of core strength to back it up. One ancedote details how he once beat the crap out of a fellow athlete who thought he was disgracing "legitimate" wrestling by using useless moves like dropkicks. So Thesz beat him up. With dropkicks.

* 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.

** The first Universal Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Champion. The athletic commission awarded him this title belt based on his performance in a Lucha Libre Internacional match against Mil Mascaras that ended in a [[HowMuchMoreCanHeTake time limit draw]].

* VitriolicBestBuds: Wrestling/KarlGotch. Thesz and him tended to badmouth each other and supposedly had a real brawl during a match, but they deep down respected each other and stayed in good terms until their deaths.

* 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.

* StrongerThanTheyLook: In the modern era when even lightweight wrestlers are often expected to look like they're cut from stone, the balding, slightly paunchy Thesz doesn't exactly cut an impressive figure. Anyone in the business will tell you that Thesz could tie them into human pretzels without breaking a sweat.

** Also to non-pro wrestlers like Tony Cecchine; famous for his Lost Art of Hooking video series and other instructionals on catch wrestling, & Jim Arvanitis; the man who has been trying to repopularise the Greek martial art of Pankration since 1973.

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

** Also to non-pro wrestlers like Tony Cecchine; famous for his Lost Art of Hooking video series and other instructionals on catch wrestling, & Jim Arvantis; the man who rediscovered the Greek martial art of Prankration

* BadassTeacher: Wrestlers he had a hand in training include Wrestling/BruiserBrody, Dory Funk Jr., Nick Bockwinkel, Wrestling/JumboTsuruta, Wrestling/KiyoshiTamura and Masahiro Chono.

* CombatReferee: On special occasions.

** The first Universal Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Champion. The athletic commission awarded him this title belt based on his performance in a Lucha Libre Internacional match against Wrestling/MilMascaras that ended in a [[HowMuchMoreCanHeTake time limit draw]].

* BadassTeacher: Wrestlers he had a hand in training include Wrestling/BruiserBrody, Dory Funk Jr., Nick Bockwinkel, Wrestling/JumboTsuruta and Masahiro Chono.

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

* ForeignWrestlingHeel: Was one in Japan, and even agreed to put over 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 Thez defended overseas, and which is still part of the All Japan Triple Crown.

* StrongerThanTheyLook: In the modern era when even lightweight wrestlers are often expected to look like they're cut from stone, the balding, slightly paunchy Thez doesn't exactly cut an impressive figure. Anyone in the business will tell you that Thez could tie them into human pretzels without breaking a sweat.
* TheAce: Lou Thesz is technically the second NWA World Champion but is considered to be the first true "world" champion because he went around defeating the holders of rival belts to that claim and unifying them with his own.

** The first Universal Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Champion. The athletic commission awarded him this title belt based on his performance in a Lucha Libre Internacional match against Mil Mascaras that ended in a [[HowMuchMoreCanHeTake time limit draw]].
* WorthyOpponent: [=Rikidozan=], Verne Gagne, Danny Hodge, Ed Lewis, Karl Gotch.

* StrongerThanTheyLook: In the modern era when even lightweight wrestlers are often expected to look like they're cut from stone, the balding, slightly paunchy Thez doesnt exactly cut an impressive figure. Anyone in the business will tell you that Thez could tie them into human pretzels without breaking a sweat.

** The Power Bomb, belly-to-back waistlock suplex, the stepover toehold facelock(STF) and the Lou Thesz press, naturally, are all credited to him.

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 [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/nwa/world/nwa-h.html NWA 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 and used today by Wrestling/JohnCena, and the powerbomb, popularized by [[Wrestling/SidEudy Sid Vicious]] and by [[Wrestling/{{Vader}} Big Van Vader]] 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.

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 [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/nwa/world/nwa-h.html NWA 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 and used today by Wrestling/JohnCena, and the powerbomb, popularized by [[Wrestling/SidEudy Sid Vicious]] and by [[Wrestling/{{Vader}} Big Van Vader]] 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 (better known as 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.

** The first Universal Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Champion.

* CarpetOfVirility: Type 1.

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 [[http://www.wrestling-titles.com/nwa/world/nwa-h.html NWA 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 and used today by Wrestling/JohnCena, and the powerbomb, popularized by [[Wrestling/SidEudy Sid Vicious]] and by [[Wrestling/{{Vader}} Big Van Vader]] 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 UWA promotion in Mexico, 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.

* UrExample: The Power Bomb, belly-to-back waistlock suplex, the stepover toehold facelock(STF) and the Lou Thesz press, naturally, are all credited to him.

!!! "Lou Tropes Press":

* DistaffCounterpart: Of {{Rikidozan}} and ElSanto.

* ArchEnemy: "Whipper" Billy Watson, [[Wrestling/BuddyRogers "The Nature Boy" Buddy Rogers]], Wrestling/{{Rikidozan}}

* WorthyOpponent: [=Rikidozan=], Verne Gagne, Danny Hodge, Ed Lewis, Karl Gotch.