May 6, 2002 Observer Newsletter: Deaths of Lou Thesz and Wahoo McDaniel

Of the tens of thousands of names that have graced this profession over the past 100 plus years, there have been stars too numerous to mention. There have been local and even national legends. There have been Hall of Famers and even a few true icons. But in every generation, there is only one immortal, someone who not only changed history, but in many ways, was history.

For most of the period from the late 1930s through the mid-1960s, that man was Lou Thesz. Some people were bigger television stars over a shorter period of time. A few were bigger drawing cards. Some were more famous in specific countries. But looking back, no one was bigger on a world wide stage.

Lou Thesz passed away at about 7:35 a.m. on 4/28, 19 days after undergoing open heart surgery in Orlando, FL, and four days after his 86th birthday. His wife, Charlie updated people regularly, using terms Lou lived his life with.

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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Marathon: Lex Luger pt. 1

Today, host Karl Stern is back with a doubleheader, a two-part Lex Luger biography.

Show number one covers his early career coming out of the USFL as a pro football player into Florida wrestling and his training with Hiro Matsuda during his early days there. 

Luger was pushed to the moon from the start and was a champion in the first month of his career. Working with some of the best of the era from the beginning like Wahoo McDaniel, Barry Windham, and Ric Flair, and covered extensively by the Apter Magazines, many dubbed Luger as the next Hulk Hogan. 

As Luger was leaving the area to go to Jim Crockett Promotions, he was involved in a surreal match against Bruiser Brody inside a steel cage that much mystery still surrounds to this day.

Luger was quickly added to the Four Horsemen when he arrived to work for Crockett.

In the first five years of his career, Luger had gotten one of the biggest pushes in wrestling history. Yet Luger remains, to this day, much maligned and perhaps misunderstood.  

This is a doubleheader so look for part two covering his WWF career and later WCW run, plus his tumultuous life after wrestling.

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