Len Olson (born October 30, 1968), better known by the

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name or nickname used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons ...

s Dr. Luther or simply Luther, is a Canadian

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

signed to

All Elite Wrestling All Elite Wrestling (AEW) is an American professional wrestling promotion headquartered in Jacksonville, Florida. It is owned and operated by Shahid Khan, Shahid and Tony Khan, with the latter serving as President (corporate title), president an ...

(AEW), where he works as both a wrestler and producer. He is also known for his appearances in Japan for

Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling-Explosion (FMW-E) is a Japanese professional wrestling promotion founded on July 28, 1989, by Atsushi Onita as (FMW). The promotion specializes in hardcore wrestling involving weapons such as barbed wire and fir ...

(FMW),

WAR War is an armed conflict between the armed forces of states, or between governmental forces and armed groups that are organized under a certain command structure and have the capacity to sustain military operations, or between such organi ...

, and

IWA Japan The International Wrestling Association of Japan, more commonly known as IWA Japan, was a Japanese professional wrestling promotion operating from 1994 to 2014. History Early years It was formed by Víctor Quiñones as a successor to the W*ING ...

in the 1990s. Olson has also appeared in numerous promotions throughout the Canadian

independent circuit In professional wrestling, the independent circuit (often shortened to the indie circuit or the indies) is the collective name of independently owned promotions which are deemed to be smaller and more regionalized than major national promotions. ...

in the 1990s and 2000s.

Professional wrestling career

Early career (1988–1992)

Olson was born and raised in Calgary, and was brought up with

Stampede Wrestling Stampede Wrestling was a Canadian professional wrestling promotion based in Calgary, Alberta. For nearly 50 years, it was one of the main promotions in western Canada and the Canadian Prairies. Originally established by Stu Hart in 1948, the prom ...

. He was trained by Keith Hart in the

Hart Dungeon The Hart Dungeon or Hart Family Dungeon, otherwise known simply as The Dungeon, was the gym and wrestling school located in the basement of the Hart mansion. The school was created by Stu Hart, patriarch of the Hart wrestling family and is known ...

. On April 12, 1991, Olson lost to

Chris Jericho Christopher Keith Irvine (born November 9, 1970), better known by the ring name Chris Jericho, is an American-Canadian professional wrestler, rock musician, and actor. As a wrestler, he has been signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW) , where he ...

in CNWA. He continued to wrestle in Calgary until 1992.

Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (1992–1994)

In 1992, Olson was invited on a tour of Japan with the

promotion. Told to develop a character for himself, Olson donned a

straitjacket A straitjacket is a garment shaped like a jacket with long sleeves that surpass the tips of the wearer's fingers. Its most typical use is restraining people who may cause harm to themselves or others. Once the wearer's arms are in the sleeves, ...

and

face mask The face is the front of the head that features the eyes, nose and mouth, and through which animals express many of their emotions. The face is crucial for human identity, and damage such as scarring or developmental deformities may affect the ...

and adopted the ring name "Dr. Luther". As Dr. Luther, Olson would throw chairs and run into the audience, quickly becoming a popular and feared wrestler. Olson teamed with Dr. Hannibal (Steve Gillespie). He feuded with many Japanese like

Tarzan Goto , better known by his ring name , was a Japanese professional wrestler who wrestled on the independent circuit most of his career. He is best known for his exploding steel cage matches against Atsushi Onita in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling ( ...

Hayabusa was a robotic spacecraft developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) to return a sample of material from a small near-Earth asteroid named 25143 Itokawa to Earth for further analysis. ''Hayabusa'', formerly known as MUSES-C ...

, Mr. Gannosuke and

Atsushi Onita is a Japanese actor, politician, and semi-retired professional wrestler. He is best known for his work in Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) and is credited with introducing the hardcore wrestling, deathmatch style of professional wrestling t ...

. He feuded with other wrestlers such as Sabu, The Sheik and

Mike Awesome Michael Lee Alfonso (January 24, 1965 – February 17, 2007) was an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He was best known for his appearances with the American professional wrestling promotions Extreme Championship Wrestling ...

, 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 (born September 27, 1965) better known under his ring name is a Japanese professional wrestler currently signed to Action Advance Pro Wrestling, where he also runs the day-to-day operations. He is perhaps best known for his time with Frontier M ...

. In 1992, Olson held the AWA World Light Heavyweight Championship. On May 5, 1993, Dr. Luther and Hannibal Lector (Dr. Hannibal) lost to Sabu and Sabu's uncle The Sheik. By 1994, Olson left Japan and wrestled in various promotions. In 2001 he returned to FMW and won the tag team titles with Biomonster DNA.

WAR and IWA Japan (1995–1997)

In July 1995, Olson appeared with the Japanese promotion

. He returned to the promotion in March 1996, regularly teaming with Big Titan. He returned to Japan in 1996 and teamed with

Freddie Krueger Freddy Krueger () is a fictional character and the antagonist of the ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' horror film franchise. Created by Wes Craven, he made his debut in Craven's ''A Nightmare on Elm Street'' (1984) as the malevolent spirit of a ...

until 1997.

ECW and WCW (1998, 2000)

In August 1998 Dr. Luther competed in two matches for

Extreme Championship Wrestling Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) was an American professional wrestling promotion that was based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and operated by its parent company HHG Corporation. The promotion was founded in 1992 by Tod Gordon as Nationa ...

losing to

and Tommy Rogers. On August 26, 2000, Olson was on

World Championship Wrestling World Championship Wrestling (WCW) was an American professional wrestling promotion founded by Ted Turner in 1988, after Turner Broadcasting System, through a subsidiary named Universal Wrestling Corporation, purchased the assets of National W ...

's ''

WCW Worldwide ''WCW WorldWide'' is an American syndicated television show that was produced by World Championship Wrestling (WCW) that aired from October 8, 1975, to March 31, 2001. At the time of its cancellation, ''WorldWide'' was the longest-running, unin ...

'' as Mad Jack losing to

Vampiro Ian Richard Hodgkinson (born May 31, 1967), better known by his ring name Vampiro, is a Canadian retired professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He currently works for Lucha Libre AAA Worldwide (AAA). He also worked for Lucha Underground ...

Independent circuit (1997–2004, 2009–2020)

In 1998 Dr. Luther made his debut in

Elite Canadian Championship Wrestling Elite Canadian Championship Wrestling (ECCW) (formerly known as NWA: Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling and Extreme Canadian Championship Wrestling) was a Canada-based professional wrestling promotion and a former member of the National Wre ...

(ECCW) based in British Columbia. In April 2000 he lost to 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 Thomas James Laughlin (born February 13, 1971) is an American Professional wrestling, professional wrestler and professional wrestling promotion, promoter better known by the ring name Tommy Dreamer. He is signed to Total Nonstop Action Wrestli ...

and

Christopher Daniels Christopher Daniel Covell (born March 24, 1970), better known by the ring name Christopher Daniels, is an American retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. He is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where he works as the Head of Ta ...

. He left in 2002. 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 A raven is any of several large-bodied passerine bird species in the genus '' Corvus''. These species do not form a single taxonomic group within the genus. There is no consistent distinction between crows and ravens; the two names are assigne ...

on September 3, 2004. His last feud was with Skag Rollins. He retired in 2004. In 2009 he returned and wrestled in Marysville, Washington. In 2011 he wrestled in Hollywood as Father Dante. In 2016 Dr. Luther returned to wrestling in ECCW.

All Elite Wrestling (2020–present)

Dr. Luther began working with

in late 2019. On the January 8, 2020 edition of ''

Dynamite Dynamite is an explosive made of nitroglycerin, sorbents (such as powdered shells or clay), and Stabilizer (chemistry), stabilizers. It was invented by the Swedish people, Swedish chemist and engineer Alfred Nobel in Geesthacht, Northern German ...

'', Luther made his first television appearance during a match for the

AEW Women's World Championship The AEW Women's World Championship is a women's professional wrestling world championship created and promoted by the American promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW). Established on October 2, 2019, the inaugural champion was Riho. The current cham ...

between

Riho is a Japanese professional wrestler signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW). She is a former AEW Women's World Champion. She was trained by Emi Sakura and debuted for her Ice Ribbon promotion in May 2006, at the age of 9. She would work for th ...

and

Kris Statlander Kristen Statlander (born August 7, 1995) is an American professional wrestler and stuntwoman. She is signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW), where she performs under the ring name Kris Statlander and is a former one-time AEW TBS Champion. Early l ...

as the fourth member of the

heel The heel is the prominence at the posterior end of the foot. It is based on the projection of one bone, the calcaneus or heel bone, behind the articulation of the bones of the lower leg. Structure To distribute the compressive forces exerted ...

Nightmare Collective stable (which consisted of

Awesome Kong Kia Michelle Stevens (born September 4, 1977) is an American actress and semi-retired Professional wrestling, professional wrestler. She is best known for her time with TNA Wrestling under the ring name Awesome Kong. She also worked with Ring ...

Brandi Rhodes Brandi Alexis Reed Runnels (née Reed; born June 23, 1983), known professionally as Brandi Rhodes, is an American ring announcer and retired professional wrestler. She is best known for her tenure in WWE and as the former chief brand officer a ...

, and

Mel Mel, Mels or MEL may refer to: Biology * Mouse erythroleukemia cell line (MEL) * National Herbarium of Victoria, a herbarium with the Index Herbariorum code MEL People * Mel (given name), the abbreviated version of several given names (including ...

). However, the angle was badly received by fans and was dropped in February after Kong left the promotion to film the final season of '' GLOW''. Luther made his in ring debut for the promotion on the February 28th edition of ''

Dark Darkness is the condition resulting from a lack of illumination, or an absence of visible light. Human vision is unable to distinguish colors in conditions of very low luminance because the hue-sensitive photoreceptor cells on the retina are ...

'' in a winning effort against Sonny Kiss. On March 11, Olson was officially signed to a contract with AEW as both a performer and working in an unspecified role in the AEW office. Luther would then form the Chaos Project tag team with

Serpentico Jonathan Cruz Rivera (born February 23, 1984) is a Puerto Rican professional wrestler. He is signed to the American promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW) under the ring name Serpentico and occasionally under his real name of Jon Cruz, as well as ...

on AEW Dark, where they developed a winning streak. On the September 30 episode of ''Dynamite'', Luther and Serpentico attacked

and

Jake Hager Donald Jacob Hager Jr. (born March 24, 1982) is an American professional wrestler and former amateur wrestler and mixed martial artist. He currently performs on the independent circuit. He is best known for his tenures in WWE as Jack Swagger an ...

after Jericho provoked Luther thus setting up a match for the following week. The following week on Jericho's 30 year anniversary show, Luther and Serpentico in their debut match on Dynamite were defeated by Jericho and Hager. On October 25, 2023 edition of ''Dynamite'', Luther became the

valet A valet or varlet is a male servant who serves as personal attendant to his employer. In the Middle Ages and Ancien Régime, ''valet de chambre'' was a role for junior courtiers and specialists such as artists in a royal court, but the term "va ...

of "Timeless" Toni Storm, serving as a

butler A butler is a person who works in a house serving and is a domestic worker in a large household. In great houses, the household is sometimes divided into departments, with the butler in charge of the dining room, wine cellar, and pantries, pantr ...

character to her

Golden age of Hollywood Golden means made of, or relating to gold. Golden may also refer to: Places United Kingdom *Golden, in the parish of Probus, Cornwall *Golden Cap, Dorset *Golden Square, Soho, London *Golden Valley, a valley on the River Frome, Stroud#Golden Val ...

starlet

persona A persona (plural personae or personas) is a strategic mask of identity in public, the public image of one's personality, the social role that one adopts, or simply a fictional Character (arts), character. It is also considered "an intermediary ...

. Luther would turn face after Storm's protégé and understudy,

Mariah May Mariah May Mead (born 4 August 1998) is an English professional wrestler. , she is signed to WWE, where she performs on the NXT brand under the ring name Blake Monroe. Mead first started as a professional wrestling ring announcer in 2018 befo ...

, won the

Women's Owen Hart Cup The Owen Hart Foundation Tournament, simply known as the Owen Hart Cup, is a series of professional wrestling tournaments produced annually by the American promotion All Elite Wrestling (AEW) in partnership with The Owen Hart Foundation. It consis ...

and turned on him and Storm. After Storm lost the AEW Women's World Championship to May at All In, both Luther and Storm went on a hiatus from AEW. With Storm's re-emergence as "Timeless" in late January 2025, Luther made his return to Storm's side on the February 8 episode of ''

Collision In physics, a collision is any event in which two or more bodies exert forces on each other in a relatively short time. Although the most common use of the word ''collision'' refers to incidents in which two or more objects collide with great for ...

''.

Championships and accomplishments

*Canadian Rocky Mountain Wrestling **CRMW Mid-Heavyweight Championship (2 times) *DOA Pro Wrestling **DOA Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *

ECCW Championship The ECCW Championship (formerly known as the NWA/ECCW Heavyweight Championship) is the top singles championship in Elite Canadian Championship Wrestling. It was first established in 1996 in the then-independent ECCW, and its name was changed wh ...

(1 time) **

ECCW Tag Team Championship The NWA/ECCW Tag Team Championship is the tag team title for the Elite Canadian Championship Wrestling wrestling promotion based out of British Columbia. It was activated in 1996. The first champions were the Glamour Order Of Discipline. T ...

(4 times) – with Incubus (2) and

Juggernaut A juggernaut (), in current English usage, is a literal or metaphorical force regarded as merciless, destructive, and unstoppable. This English usage originates in the mid-nineteenth century. ''Juggernaut'' is the early rendering in English ...

(1) and Randy Myers (1) *

AWA World Light Heavyweight Championship The AWA World Light Heavyweight Championship was a title in the American Wrestling Association (AWA) from 1981 until it closed in 1991. Title history FMW version In 1989, the Japan-based Frontier Martial-Arts Wrestling (FMW) began billing F ...

(1 time) *Indigenous Wrestling Alliance **IWA Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *North American Wrestling **NAW Heavyweight Championship (2 times) *West Coast Championship Wrestling **WCCW Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *Western Canada Extreme Wrestling **WCEW Tag Team Championship (1 time) – with Juggernaut

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Luther, Dr. 1968 births 20th-century male professional wrestlers 20th-century Canadian professional wrestlers 21st-century male professional wrestlers 21st-century Canadian professional wrestlers All Elite Wrestling personnel Canadian expatriate professional wrestlers in the United States Canadian male professional wrestlers Canadian podcasters Canadian YouTubers Expatriate professional wrestlers in Japan Living people Professional wrestlers from Calgary Canadian expatriate sportspeople in Japan AWA World Light Heavyweight Champions YouTubers from Calgary 20th-century Canadian sportsmen