Dr. Luther

Dr. Luther
Birth name Len Olson
Born (1968-10-30) October 30, 1968
Calgary, Alberta, Canada[1]
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Atomic Punk[1]
Dr. Luther[1]
Lenny St. Clair[1]
Lenny LaFond[1]
The Masked Canadian[1]
Billed height 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)[1]
Billed weight 251 lb (114 kg)[1]
Trained by Hart Dungeon[1]
Debut 1988[1]

Len Olson (born October 30, 1968) is a Canadian semi-retired professional wrestler, better known by the ring names Dr. Luther and Lenny St. Clair. Olson is best known for his appearances in Japan for Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling, WAR, and IWA Japan in the 1990s.[1]

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1988–1992)

Born and raised in Calgary, Olsen was brought up with Stampede Wrestling. He was trained by Keith Hart in the Hart Dungeon. At 18 years old, WWE World Wrestling Entertainment offered him a contract but he refused as he had other plans with wrestling. It was claimed that he fought in the first barbwire match in South Africa. On April 12, 1991 Olsen lost to Chris Jericho in CNWA. He continued to fight in Calgary until 1992.

Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (1992–1994)

In 1992, Olsen was invited on a tour of Japan with the Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling promotion. Told to develop a character for himself, Olsen donned a straitjacket and face mask and adopted the ring name "Dr. Luther". As Dr. Luther, Olsen would throw chairs and run into the audience, quickly becoming a popular and feared wrestler.[2]

Olsen teamed with Dr. Hannibal (Steve Gillespie). This was the successful peak of his career. He feuded with many Japanese like Tarzan Goto, Hayabusa, Mr. Gannosuke and Atsushi Onita. He feuded with other wrestlers such as Sabu, The Sheik and Mike Awesome, who was known as the Gladiator. In February 1993, he and Dr. Hannibal joined the original Team Canada, which included The Gladiator, Big Titan, and Ricky Fuji.

In 1992, Olsen held the AWA World Light Heavyweight Championship.[3]

On May 5, 1993, Dr. Luther and Hannibal Lector (Dr. Hannibal) lost to Sabu and Sabu`s uncle The Sheik in front of 41,000 spectators in Kawaski Stadium. Later, he fought as the Masked Canadian. On July 23, the Masked Canadian defeated The Sheik by disqualification. Then on July 26, Sheik's nephew Sabu defeated the Masked Canadian. On July 30, he defeated Hayabusa.

By 1994, Olsen left Japan and wrestled in various promotions. In 2001 he returned to FMW and won the tag team titles with Biomonster DNA.

WAR (1995, 1996)

In July 1995, Olsen appeared with the Japanese promotion WAR. He returned to the promotion in March 1996, regularly teaming with Big Titan.

IWA Japan (1996–1997)

He returned to Japan in 1996 and teamed with Freddy Kruger Doug Gilbert until 1997.

Independent circuit (1997–present)

In August 1998 Dr. Luther competed in two matches for Extreme Championship Wrestling losing to Mike Awesome and Tommy Rogers.

On August 26, 2000, Olsen was a jobber on World Championship WrestlingWorldwide as Mad Jack losing to Vampiro.

In 1998 Dr. Luther made his debut in Elite Canadian Championship Wrestling based in British Columbia. In April 2000 he lost to the 7 ft Kurrgan. On November 23, 2000, Luther won the ECCW Heavyweight title by defeating the Juggernaut. He held the title for 373 days until losing it to Chance Beckett on December 1, 2001. During the title reign, Luther retained his titles by defeating Sabu, Tommy Dreamer, and Christopher Daniels. He left in 2002. In 2016 he returned to the promotion after a 14-year absence.

After ECCW Luther left the company in 2002 and went to other independents. He stopped in Portland, Oregon, wrestling for Portland Wrestling. He lost to Raven on September 3, 2004. His last feud was with Skag Rollins. In 2006 he retired from wrestling.

In 2009 he returned to wrestling in Marysville, Washington. In 2011 he wrestled in Hollywood as Father Dante. In 2016 Dr. Luther returned to wrestling in Elite Canadian Championship Wrestling.

Championships and accomplishments

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Dr. Luther". Cagematch.net. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
  2. ↑ Chris Jericho (12 May 2011). A Lion's Tale: Around the World in Spandex. Orion. pp. 199–. ISBN 978-1-4091-3692-7.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "Dr. Luther – Titles". Cagematch.net. Retrieved May 9, 2017.
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