By Lou Thesz
Six-time World heavyweight champion

Note: Lou Thesz has a Message Board on his Web site, the Lou Thesz Message Board Forum. You can ask Thesz questions directly. You can see photos and listen to an interview with Thesz on the official Lou Thesz Web site. You can also get information about Thesz' biography Hooker, one of the definitive histories of professional wrestling. He also has a Collector's Edition Photo Biography available. 

I know I am really lax in the column business. This time I have an excuse - moving! My wife and I have left the beautiful Chesapeake Bay for the warmth and sunshine of Winter Garden, Florida. It was a great move for us.

The computer had a few rough moments, but seems to be well and healthy here in Florida.

The move went fairly well, if you can call having all your worldly belongings shipped 800 miles over five days. Ahh! The imagination reels with disasters, and that could still have happen, since we still have not opened all the boxes. I couldn't believe all those boxes had our stuff in them, but so far they do. But enough of my personal life.

On the 11th of February, in Las Vegas, NV, I resigned as president of the Cauliflower Alley Club. It has been a great 7 year run, but I guess you could say I have the seven-year itch. The itch is not to get away from the CAC, but to have time to spend on raising money for the International Wrestling Institute and Museum.

The Museum is the link to the past and is at a crucial time in its development. We are trying to raise the money to buy the building, so we don't have rent to pay, or endure restrictions on growth. If you have not been to Newton, Iowa to see the Museum, try to come on May 5 and 6. We are having a Celebrity Golf Tournament with several former amateur champions and Olympic winners. To me, Dan Gable is enough reason to go. I guess we all have heroes, and Gable is mine.

Aside from the golf thing, we are inducting the second round of wrestlers into the Hall of Fame. I was honored to be inducted last year - on my 82nd birthday at that. I was in good company with Verne Gagne, Ed Lewis and Frank Gotch. It doesn't get any better than that.

WrestlingClassics has set up a discussion board and I hope you will direct any questions you want to ask me to the board. I apologize for not visiting it sooner. I have had my password but haven't had time to get my "secretary" and answer questions. I cannot tell you how flattered I am to have anyone interested in the "the old days". Please don't hesitate to ask questions on the message board. Don't worry about offending me, if I don't like the question I will tell you it is none of your business. :-)

I promise to get to the board before I leave for St. Louis to be part of the autograph signing show there. It is in conjunction with the NCAA wrestling competition, and I look forward to being back "home" for a few days. We will all be at Union Station if any of you care to come by. Mike Chapman, Executive Director of the Museum, will be there selling memorabilia. We are considering selling some of the posters produced for the Museum. Until now the only way to acquire one was a $1,000 membership to the Museum. There have only been 1,000 printed and there will be no more. The poster is a reproduction of a painting done of me (from a photo taken when I was 40). Dan Smith is the artist and the painting hangs in the Museum, of course.

A trip to Korea for the retirement ceremony of Oki Kintaro has been postponed until after Korea's general elections. For those of you who don't recognize the name, he was very popular in Japan years ago, although he is a Korean. I will be honored to be a part of the ceremony and serve as wrestling commissioner. I think it is about time I went back to work. It has to be easier than moving.

Hope to see you in St. Louis or Newton, Iowa,

Lou

Lou Thesz is arguably the greatest professional wrestler of all time. He held the World heavyweight championship six times in four different decades. He is the only wrestler to ever compete in seven different decades. His book, Hooker details the history of professional wrestling through his perspective as the top wrestler in the business. He has just released a Collector's Edition Photo Biography. You can also visit the Lou Thesz Web site.

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