Les Thatcher

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Les Malady
Statistics
Ring name(s)	Les Thatcher
Billed height	5 ft 10 in (178 cm)
Billed weight	223 lb (101 kg)
Born	October 28, 1940 Cincinnati, Ohio
Billed from	Victoria, Texas
Trained by	Tony Santos
Debut	4 July 1960

Leslie Alan Malady was born on October 28, 1940 in Cincinnati, Ohio. He had an Irish father and a French/English mother. He was a professional wrestler, achieving many accolades over his career. He now has a hand in running "Elite Pro Wrestling Training" in his hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio, with other professional wrestlers, Harley Race and Ricky Steamboat.

1 Early Life/Childhood
2 Debut and Early Career
3 The "Wrestling Cousins"
4 Announcing career
5 Training and Heartland Wrestling Association
6 Championships and accomplishments
7 References
8 External links

[edit] Early Life/Childhood

Les first watched wrestling when he was 8 years old while at a friend's house. He said, "The action on that little 10 inch black & white screen just reached out an grabbed me". In his youth he played basketball, baseball and football. He started wrestling at his local YMCA as a twelve-year-old.

Les heard about Tony Santos, a promoter and owner of a wrestling school in Boston, Massachusetts. In February of 1960 Les set off for Boston.

[edit] Debut and Early Career

On 4 July 1960, Les Thatcher made his professional wrestling debut against “Cowboy” Ronnie Hill in Blue Hill, Maine.

[edit] The "Wrestling Cousins"

In 1966 Les started to work as part of a "cousins" faction. He was a member of the team with Roger Kirby and Dennis Hall. They used this gimmick until 1969 in various southern territories, such as the Lee Fields promotion (based in the Gulf Coast, the Carolinas, Nashville, Atlanta, and Tampa.

He won several regional tag team championships with various partners, including Nelson Royal and Roger Kirby. He turned his hand to singles competition, and excelled as a junior heavyweight. He was noted for his 'high-flying' dropkicks and sound technical ability.

[edit] Announcing career

In 1974, Les started to host and produce Southeastern Championship Wrestling. Throughout his broadcasting career he has worked with Gordon Solie, Bob Caudle, Lance Russell and Jim Ross. He helped to introduce concepts that are still common on wrestling programming today.

During his announcing/hosting tenure he worked for such companies as Mid-Atlantic Championship Wrestling and Georgia Championship Wrestling.

He also wrote for many notable wrestling publications of the time and helped to produce the WWWF's first colour magazine, in 1978.

[edit] Training and Heartland Wrestling Association

In 1995, Les opened his training school; "Les Thatcher's Main Event Pro Wrestling Camp". He also promoted the Heartland Wrestling Asscoiation which was, at one time, a WWE development territory. With the Heartland Wrestling Association he helped produce the Brian Pillman Memorial Shows.

Notable graduates of the school include; Matt Stryker, Shark Boy, B.J. Whitmer, Chad Collyer, Charlie Haas, Shannon Moore, Johnny “The Bull” Stamboli, Jimmy Yang, Nigel McGuinness, Jamie Noble, Elix Skipper and Rosey & Jamal of Three Minute Warning.

Now, after making appearances on various radio programmes, being elected onto the board of the Cauliflower Alley Club and receiving various awards, Les is part of "Elite Pro Wrestling Training". As mentioned before, he is part of this project with Harley Race and Ricky Steamboat.

[edit] Championships and accomplishments

National Wrestling Alliance

NWA Southern Junior Heavyweight Title
NWA Southeastern Tag Team titles
NWA (Mid-Atlantic) Tag Team titles
NWA Southern Tag Team Champion (Mid-America version) (1 time) - with Bearcat Brown
NWA Tennessee Tag Team Championship (4 times) - with Dennis Hall (1), Whitey Caldwell (1), and Nelson Royal (2)
NWA United States Tag Team Champion (Mid-America version) (3 times) - with Roger Kirby (1), Bearcat Brown (1), and Dennis Hall (1)
NWA World Tag Team Champion (Tennessee & Alabama version) (1 time) - with Dennis Hall