https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-G2NQ-5Lqxk In a 2013 interview, Mark Henry talked about his time being trained by Stu Hart in the legendary Canadian wrestlers dungeon. He loved me, said Henry, I used to remind him of this guy Luther Lindsay. He used to carry a picture of him in his wallet. He says thats the only guy that ever whooped me. I was like; you carry his picture in your wallet? He was like, he was my friend. Flick through any book of old wrestlers or wrestling statistics and Luther Lindsays striking profile will immediately grab your attention. He just looks like a wrestling champion ought to look. Strong, chiselled facial features, a body seemingly sculpted from marble and arms like tree trunks amount to an amazing look for the pre steroid era. In the modern age, Lindsays combination of legitimacy and transcendent popularity with fans would easily make him a candidate for WWE Champ and, if even half of the stories of his fighting prowess are true, hed probably be UFC Champ as well. There is only one reason why youve probably never heard of him. Luther Lindsay was a black man in an era infested with bigotry and racial intolerance. In his autobiography, Hooker, legendary World Champion Lou Thesz (who wrestled Lindsay several times) called Lindsay the greatest black wrestler ever, saying that his place in history is not because he was black, it is in spite of the fact that he was black, high praise indeed, especially when one considers that he was apparently the only man to ever beat Stu Hart in a legitimate contest (and that Lindsay was recovering from a broken leg at the time). Outside the ring, Lindsay was the real deal. During one fight, Lindsay easily took out a professional boxer, sending his two friends (also boxers) running for their lives. In another tale, a local amateur wrestling coach thought hed put on a show for his students by effortlessly beating this phoney professional wrestler. The pin was made in seconds...And it wasnt the cocky coach doing the pinning. Throughout the 1950s, Luther Lindsay was a major draw in several territories, especially in Washington and Oregon (where he was the regional Champion). He also drew well in Columbus, Ohio and throughout the Pacific Northwest. Lindsay had a great reputation as a top draw and was so legitimately tough that no overzealous white wrestlers ever got too cute with him, or else they suffered the consequences. In Dallas, Texas, late in 1955, he became one of the first wrestlers to integrate professional wrestling in the area by working a tag team match. Two nights later, he actually won the first ever mixed-race singles match in the Dallas region (the first mixed race match in the state was in El Paso and was won by Jack Claybourne a few months earlier). Yes, Luther Lindsay never wore a World Championship belt, but maybe a life spent defying bigotry and challenging stereotypes was a bigger, and more lasting, accomplishment. Lindsay wound down his career working as an undercard guy for Jim Crockett Promotions (the company that would later become WCW). He died directly after hitting his finisher and winning his last match, in 1972. According to wrestling historians Steven Johnson and Greg Oliver (from whom much of this information was sourced), even his outwardly racist colleagues showed up at the funeral to pay their respects.
I am a professional author and lifelong comic books/pro wrestling fan. I also work as a journalist as well as writing comic books (I also draw), screenplays, stage plays, songs and prose fiction.
I don't generally read or reply to comments here on What Culture (too many trolls!), but if you follow my Twitter (@heyquicksilver), I'll talk to you all day long!
If you are interested in reading more of my stuff, you can find it on http://quicksilverstories.weebly.com/ (my personal site, which has other wrestling/comics/pop culture stuff on it).
I also write for FLiCK http://www.flickonline.co.uk/flicktion, which is the best place to read my fiction work.
Oh yeah - I'm about to become a Dad for the first time, so if my stuff seems more sentimental than usual - blame it on that!
Finally, I sincerely appreciate every single read I get. So if you're reading this, thank you, you've made me feel like Shakespeare for a day! (see what I mean?)
Latcho Drom,
- CQ
