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Les Thornton
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 Entertainment, World Wrestling Federation and the National Wrestling Alliance. Professional wrestling career Thornton participated in cricket, Association football, football, boxing and Rugby union, rugby as a youth. He served in the Royal Navy, 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 wrestling, 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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Manchester, England
Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92 million, and the largest in Northern England. It borders the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The city borders the boroughs of Trafford, Metropolitan Borough of Stockport, Stockport, Tameside, Metropolitan Borough of Oldham, Oldham, Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale, Rochdale, Metropolitan Borough of Bury, Bury and City of Salford, Salford. The history of Manchester began with the civilian settlement associated with the Roman fort (''castra'') of Mamucium, ''Mamucium'' or ''Mancunium'', established on a sandstone bluff near the confluence of the rivers River Medlock, Medlock and River Irwell, Irwell. Throughout the Middle Ages, Manchester remained a ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wigan
Wigan ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England. The town is midway between the two cities of Manchester, to the south-east, and Liverpool, to the south-west. It is the largest settlement in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan and is its administrative centre. The town has a population of 107,732 and the wider borough of 330,714. Wigan is part of the Historic counties of England, historic county of Lancashire. Wigan was in the territory of the Brigantes, an ancient List of ancient Celtic peoples and tribes, Celtic tribe that ruled much of what is now Northern England. The Brigantes were subjugated in the Roman conquest of Britain and the Roman settlement of was established where Wigan lies. Wigan was incorporated as a Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in 1246, following the issue of a charter by Henry III of England, King Henry III of England. At the end of the Middle Ages, it was one of four boroughs in Lancashire established by royal charter. The Industrial Re ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Harley Race
Harley Leland Race (April 11, 1943 – August 1, 2019) was an American professional wrestler, professional wrestling promotion, promoter, and trainer. Race wrestled in the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), the American Wrestling Association (AWA), the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), and World Championship Wrestling (WCW). He was a nine-time world champion, having won the WWA World Heavyweight Championship (Indianapolis), WWA World Heavyweight Championship once and the NWA World Heavyweight Championship List of NWA World Heavyweight Champions, eight times and was the first List of WWE United States Champions, NWA United States Heavyweight Champion (now WWE United States Championship). Race is one of six men to have been inducted into each of the WWE Hall of Fame, the NWA Hall of Fame, the WCW Hall of Fame, the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame. He is widely considered as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The British Bulldogs
The British Bulldogs were a professional wrestling tag team consisting of cousins Davey Boy Smith and Dynamite Kid. They competed throughout the 1980s in Britain, North America and Japan and have consistently ranked among the top tag teams in history. Both men died prematurely. Background David Smith and Tom Billington were first cousins from Wigan, England, with Billington's father being the brother of Smith's mother. In the 1970s, Smith and Billington both began their careers in Britain. The two were soon invited to join Stampede Wrestling in Canada by talent scout Bruce Hart. Billington went to Canada first and made a revolutionary impact in Stampede with his effortlessly fluid technical wrestling style, and had a feud with his future brother-in-law, Bret Hart. Smith came to Stampede in the early 1980s. During their time together in Stampede, Smith and Billington began a heated feud as Billington provoked Smith by claiming he was "a test-tube baby". History Early yea ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mick Foley
Michael Francis Foley (born June 7, 1965) is an American retired professional wrestler and author. He is signed to WWE, under a Legends contract while also serving as an ambassador. Foley worked for many wrestling promotions, including the World Wrestling Federation (WWF, now WWE), World Championship Wrestling (WCW), Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW), Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA), and National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), as well as numerous promotions in Japan. He is widely regarded as one of the biggest stars of the Attitude Era and one of the greatest wrestlers in the history of professional wrestling, and headlined the 16th edition of WWE's premier annual event, WrestleMania. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame class of 2013. Foley has wrestled under his real name and various personas. His main persona during his time in WCW and ECW from 1991 to 1996 was Cactus Jack, a dastardly, bloodthirsty and uncompromisingly physical brawler from Truth or Consequenc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Georgia Championship Wrestling
Georgia Championship Wrestling is an American professional wrestling promotion based in Atlanta, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The promotion was affiliated with what had been the world's top sanctioning body of championship titles for decades before, the National Wrestling Alliance, National Wrestling Alliance (NWA), and ran live wrestling shows throughout its geographic "territory" of Georgia. The company was also known for its WCW Saturday Night, self-titled TV program, which aired on Atlanta-based superstation TBS (American TV channel), WTBS from the 1970s until 1984 when its timeslot was Black Saturday (professional wrestling), purchased by the World Wrestling Federation. History Early history Georgia Championship Wrestling was formed in Atlanta in 1944 by promoter Paul Jones (retired wrestler Andrew Lutzi, not Paul Jones (wrestler), Paul Frederik who later was given the name) as ABC Booking. ABC held its matches at Atlanta's Municipal Auditorium (Atlanta), Municipal Auditor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Black Saturday (wrestling)
Black Saturday may refer to: Events Battles, massacres, and unrest * Battle of Pinkie Cleugh or Black Saturday, a 1547 battle fought between the Scottish and the English Royal armies * Black Saturday (Mau Movement), a 1929 killing of 11 unarmed people by New Zealand police during a Mau demonstration in Samoa * Black Saturday, a day during the 1942 Battle of Gazala between the German Afrika Korps and British armoured divisions * Operation Agatha or Black Saturday (1946), British arrests of Jewish paramilitaries * Cairo Fire or Black Saturday, a 1952 series of riots in Cairo * Black Saturday (Cuban Missile Crisis), a day in 1962 when tensions reached their height * Black Saturday or the Wekiduba massacre, the massacre of an Eritrean village by Ethiopian soldiers during the Eritrean War of Independence * Massacre of the Sixty or Black Saturday, a 1974 execution of 60 senior Ethiopian officials by the country's ruling junta * Black Saturday (Lebanon), a 1975 series of massacres and ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tatsumi Fujinami
(born December 28, 1953) is a Japanese Puroresu, professional wrestler. He is signed to WWE on a legends contract. Fujinami is best known for his long tenure with New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW), where he was a six-time IWGP Heavyweight Champion. Known for his fluid catch wrestling submission style, he was famously nicknamed "The Dragon", and is credited with inventing the Professional wrestling holds#Dragon sleeper, dragon sleeper and the Suplex#Full nelson suplex, dragon suplex. He is also the owner and founder of the Dradition wrestling promotion. In 2015, Fujinami was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame, while also becoming an ambassador for the company. Bret Hart said of Fujinami: "I always wanted to be the great wrestler that Tatsumi Fujinami was". He is a nine-time World Champion, winning world titles in NJPW, NWA, UWA and WCWA. Professional wrestling career Japanese Wrestling Association (1971–1972) Fujinami started in the Japanese Wrestling Association (JWA) under ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Al Madril
Alberto Madril (born March 20, 1950) is an American retired professional wrestler. Professional wrestling career Madril began his wrestling career in 1970. During the first half of the decade, he competed in Pacific Northwest Wrestling, the Portland, Oregon-based division of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). While there, he formed a tag team known as The Compadres with José González and won the NWA Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championship on July 2, 1973. Wrestling under the ring name Leo Madril, he also competed in the Vancouver, British Columbia-based NWA All-Star Wrestling. He held the Vancouver version of the NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship twice, teaming with Flash Gordon for the first win, and Dan Kroffat for the second. Competing once again under his real name, Madril then moved to Texas to continue his career. In 1975, he won the NWA Texas Heavyweight Championship on three occasions, defeating El Gran Marcus for the first and John Tolos for the others. He als ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gerald Brisco
Floyd Gerald "Jerry" Brisco (born September 19, 1946) is an American retired professional wrestler. Brisco is best known for his time in the wrestling promotion WWE, where he was a backstage producer, and, during the 1990s, an on-screen character, working alongside Pat Patterson as the "stooges" for the Mr. McMahon character (portrayed by former WWE CEO and Chairman Vince McMahon). He was most recently a WWE talent scout where he focused on exclusively recruiting amateur wrestlers into the company. Debuting in 1969, Brisco wrestled for multiple National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) territories throughout the 1970s and early-1980s, in particular Championship Wrestling from Florida and Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling, winning dozens of championships. Throughout his career, he teamed with his elder brother Jack as The Brisco Brothers. After retiring in 1985, Brisco moved into a backstage role with the World Wrestling Federation (now WWE). He had a late career resurgence betw ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Terry Taylor
Paul Worden Taylor III (born August 12, 1955) is an American retired professional wrestler better known by his ring name Terry Taylor and for his time as an in-ring performer in National Wrestling Alliance, World Championship Wrestling, and World Wrestling Federation/Entertainment. From 2003 until 2011, he worked as a road agent, trainer, interviewer and the director of talent relations in Total Nonstop Action Wrestling. Since 2012, Taylor has worked as a trainer in WWE's developmental territory, NXT. Professional wrestling career Early career (1979–1985) Terry Taylor was a popular fan favorite for much of his early career in the Mid-South region, as well as the Mid-Atlantic in the 1980s. Taylor was originally selected to be part of The Fabulous Ones tag team with Stan Lane, but that role went to Florida wrestler, Steve Keirn. Taylor then formed a tag team with Bobby Fulton called the Fantastic Ones. After they split up, Fulton teamed with Tommy Rogers to form The F ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dynamite Kid
Thomas Wilton Billington (5 December 1958 – 5 December 2018), best known by the ring name the Dynamite Kid, was a British professional wrestler. Trained by former wrestler "Dr Death" Ted Betley, he competed in the World Wrestling Federation (WWF), Stampede Wrestling, All Japan Pro Wrestling (AJPW), and New Japan Pro-Wrestling (NJPW). With his cousin Davey Boy Smith, he was also known for being one half of the tag team The British Bulldogs. He had notable feuds with Tiger Mask in Japan and Bret Hart in Canada. Billington is considered by many, including Bret Hart, to have been one of wrestling's most influential in-ring performers, having increased the level of athleticism involved in the art, bringing together styles from Britain, Mexico, Canada and Japan. Early life Billington was born on 5 December 1958 in Golborne, Lancashire, near Manchester. He had two sisters and a younger brother named Mark. His father Bill and uncle Eric Billington were boxers in their youth and ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
