His name may not be familiar to modern day fans. but Luther Lindsay was a groundbreaking pioneer in American professional wrestling. A collegiate amateur wrestling champion and Canadian Football League football player he debuted as a wrestler in 1951. Lindsay was a black wrestler in an era of racial segregation in the United States. At this time, he was only allowed to wrestle other black wrestlers, as dictated by state segregation laws. By 1953, he was billed as the U.S. Negro Heavyweight Champion. However, a few years later, he was able to face a white heel wrestler, Ron Wright, in Kingsport, Tennessee. The National Guard was drafted into the building for extra security as the promoters feared that there would be a riot due to the unprecedented black vs white match up. However, the crowd cheered for Lindsay and booed Wright, the heel. It was a moment that opened the doors for other African-American wrestlers to come into Tennessee and the racial barriers were slowly but surely being broken down. After facing Lou Thesz on a few occasions for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship, Lindsay was brought into NWA Texas for their first ever interracial match, against Japanese-American Duke Keomuka. This was a relatively safe bet as Japanese heels were prevalent in post-War America and Lindsay was fairly certain of a positive reception. Lindsay moved around different territories throughout the 1950s and 1960s, as was the norm in those days, taking in Portland, Stampede Wrestling in Canada and Vince McMahon Sr's Capitol Sports (the predecessor to the modern day WWE) among others. Lindsay's last match was on February 21st 1972, in Charlotte, North Carolina, where he took on local wrestler Bobby Paul. After ten minutes, Lindsay scored the winning pinfall after a diving belly splash. However, he failed to get up after delivering the move. He had suffered a fatal heart attack upon impact and died on top of his opponent. Lindsay was taken back to the dressing room where he was declared dead shortly afterwards at the age of 47.
Dean Ayass is a well known name to British wrestling fans. A commentator, manager, booker and ring announcer who has been involved in the business since 1993, Dean's insight into the business is second to none.
