A Youtube History of the NWA World Heavyweight Title - Lou Thesz vs Wild Bill Longson (6-17-1952)

It's Friday afternoon, and that means it's time for more NWA world title action. We move on to Texas, and 1952 - 

 

 

Wow. You've got people - not just kids, either - right up in Lou's corner getting autographs. Speaking of Lou's corner, that broad back on the left during intros is Ed "Strangler" Lewis, who was world champ when Lou broke in. If you're more of a recent pro wrestling fan, think of it as Ric Flair being with HHH during the Evolution days, times about a zillion, and you're in the right ballpark. Lewis was Thesz's idol and mentor.

Texas was a brawling territory my whole life, and I went into this match with that expectation from Longson. He doesn't disappoint, going right into a hair pull. But even the cheating is more technical than I'm used to seeing. That hair pull goes into a head-and-arm pin. And later, you see Longson using a toe hold to keep Thesz on the mat while he sneaks in what looks for all the world like punches to the groin. Longson's cheating is really a thing to behold. He gets so much mileage out of just grabbing a rope and - lesson to young workers out there - hiding it from the referee.

Lou's not above, shall we say, bending the rules slightly to get an advantage, either, like throwing a shot to the kidneys here and there. But he's at his best doing things like working out of that banana split, which you basically never see today unless you watch a lot of high school wrestling.

I'm not really high on this as a match, though. First fall kinda came out of nowhere and could've used some more build. I liked the second, as Longson takes advantage of a fluke injury and, just to heel it up, throws on a gratuitous second piledriver. Makes sense in context, too. If he hurts the champ bad enough, he improves his chances of getting not just this fall, but the next one as well. And the short third fall works in the same context. Lou's hurt, and so if he's going to get out of Texas with his belt, he has to go all out and throw the high risk offense. He can't wrestle a long third fall. But Lou's flying moves don't really work for me. Maybe it's the difference in execution from what I'm used to, or maybe it's the difference between the Lou in my head (Super Malenko!) and the one in the ring. Either way, good in theory, felt off in practice.

For more on Lou Thesz, read his autobiography Hooker. For an in-depth look at the NWA, I recommend Tim Hornbaker's National Wrestling Alliance: The Untold Story of the Monopoly That Strangled Pro Wrestling.