Les Thornton

Les Thornton
Born (1934-04-09) 9 April 1934
Manchester, England, United Kingdom
Residence Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s) Les Thornton
Henri Pierlot
Checkmate
Billed height 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m)[1]
Billed weight 225 lb (102 kg)[1]
Debut 1957
Retired 1990

Les Thornton (born 9 April 1934) is a retired British professional wrestler who competed in Great Britain, Japan, European and North American regional promotions throughout the 1970s and 1980s including World of Sport Stampede Wrestling, the World Wrestling Federation and the National Wrestling Alliance. 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 tremendous matches against Tiger Mask, K J Anderssen, Alberto Madrill 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.[2] 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. A master of mat wrestling, Thornton also delivered forearm uppercuts, suplexes and piledrivers.

Thornton is slated to appear in a documentary about the life of fellow Briton Chris Adams in The Gentleman's Choice, where he is famous for mentioning that some of his friends who left England to compete in the United States "came home in a box (Adams and Davey Boy Smith), in a wheelchair (Tom Billington, aka The Dynamite Kid) or as drug addicts (all three aforementioned wrestlers)."

Championships and accomplishments

1Records are unclear as to where Thorton 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

  1. 1 2 3 Shields, Brian; Sullivan, Kevin (2009). WWE Encyclopedia. Dorling Kindersley. p. 184. ISBN 978-0-7566-4190-0.
  2. ↑ Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2006). Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  3. ↑ http://www.purolove.com/ajpw/history/rwtl80.php
  4. ↑ Royal Duncan & Gary Will (2000). Wrestling Title Histories (4th ed.). Archeus Communications. ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
  5. ↑ Rodgers, Mike (2004). "Regional Territories: PNW #16". KayfabeMemories.com.
  6. ↑ "Stampede Wrestling Hall of Fame (1948-1990)". Puroresu Dojo. 2003.

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
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