8 Awesome Wrestling Stars You've Never Even Heard Of
6. Don Leo Jonathan
The old days of professional wrestling didn't attract that many genuinely big men. These days, guys who're six foot eight and six foot nine seem to be ten a penny - but the industry boasted few truly large men in the middle twentieth century.
Don Heaton, known worldwide as Don Leo Jonathan, was one of the exceptions. Easily six foot five (billed as six foot nine), Jonathan wrestled everywhere - America, Europe and Japan - and wrestled everyone during his thirty-one years as an active wrestler.
Back before cable television and pay-per-view gave pro wrestling the market penetration that it enjoys today, Jonathan and Giant Jean Ferre (better known as Andre The Giant) attracted a crowd of 16,000 in Montreal in 1972. The match made Jonathans's name, broadening his appeal from the Rocky Mountain territories to a worldwide stage. A gifted athlete and grappler, Jonathan was a favourite of Canadian legend Stu Hart, who cited him as one of the best big men of all time, capable of performing agile moves like backflips when required. Lou Thesz, notoriously salty, had nothing but good things to say about him (while the Thesz press is a wrestling staple, the Thesz impress was something much harder to pull off).
Jonathan retired in 1980, and from all accounts stayed retired - something of a novelty in professional wrestling.