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.
Professional wrestling career
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. 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, 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. 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
- All Japan Pro Wrestling
- World's Strongest Tag Determination League Technique Award (1980) - with Billy Robinson
- Championship Wrestling from Florida
- NWA Florida Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Georgia Championship Wrestling
- NWA Georgia Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Tony Charles
- Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling
- NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Middle Atlantic States Wrestling
- MASW National Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- National Wrestling Alliance
- NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship (6 times)1
- NWA Big Time Wrestling
- NWA Texas Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Tony Charles
- NWA Hollywood Wrestling
- NWA Americas Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- NWA Mid-America
- NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- NWA New Zealand
- NWA British Empire Commonwealth Heavyweight Championship (New Zealand version) (1 time)
- Pacific Northwest Wrestling
- NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Moondog Mayne
- 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
- Southeastern Championship Wrestling
- NWA World Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Stampede Wrestling
- Stampede British Commonwealth Mid-Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Stampede North American Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
- Stampede Wrestling Hall of Fame (Class of 1995)
- Western States Sports
- NWA Western States Tag Team Championship (1 time) - with Jerry Kozak
- World Wrestling Council
- WWC World Junior Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
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
Further reading
- 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
- McCoy, Heath. Pain and Passion: The History of Stampede Wrestling. Toronto: CanWest Books, 2005. ISBN 0-9736719-8-X
External links
- SLAM! Wrestling - Les Thornton: A life on the road by Greg Oliver
- SLAM! Wrestling: Les Thornton - What you DIDN'T know! 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
