 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1934-04-09)9 April 1934 |
| Died | 1 February 2019(2019-02-01) (aged 84)[2] |
| 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] |
| Trained by | Billy Riley The Snake Pit |
| Debut | 1957 |
| Retired | 1991 |
Les Thornton (9 April 1934 – 1 February 2019) was a Britishprofessional wrestler who competed in Great Britain, Japan, European and North American regional promotions throughout the 1970s and 1980s includingJoint Promotions,Stampede Wrestling, theWorld Wrestling Federation and theNational Wrestling Alliance.
Thornton participated incricket,football,boxing andrugby as a youth. He served in theBritish Navy, being stationed inKorea, where he continued boxing. Thornton later played professional rugby before being convinced to give pro wrestling a try by wrestler Bomber Bates. Thornton trained atBilly Riley's gym inWigan, known infamously as the Snake Pit, where he built his foundation inamateur andcatch wrestling.[3][4] 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,[5] 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 andTatsumi Fujinami. As a result of thehostile takeover by the WWF ofGeorgia Championship Wrestling, Thornton joined the WWF, but in the "Hogan Era" as it stood, Thornton was used as a jobber on july 8 he took part in theKing of the Ring (1985) he defeatedSteve Lombardi in first round but was defeated in the second round bydon muraco and would help develop young wrestlers, includingMick Foley.[6] Thornton wasMick Foley’s tag team partner in Foley's first ever WWF match againstThe British Bulldogs. Against heavyweights he foughtHarley Race,Billy Robinson, Gene Lewis,Pedro Morales andDory 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 likeRicky Fuji andBig Titan, among others.
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.
