Thatcher
Links:
Les Thatcher Official
Website:
LesThatcher.com
Elite
Pro Wrestling Training
Les Thatcher,
Harley Race, and Rick Steamboat
Wrestling Weekly Radio
Join Les
and his co-host Doc Young every Sunday
evening for the Wrestling Weekly
radio show, along with special guests.
Les has a monthly
column on PWInsider.
Audio
Studio (MP3)
Les
Thatcher runs down the entire
February 21, 1976 card at the
Richmond Coliseum
Les Thatcher
(circa 1975)
|
|
CONVERSATIONS
WITH LES THATCHER
|
|
LES
THATCHER PHOTO ALBUM
CONVERSATIONS
WITH LES THATCHER
George Scott
Gets the Book
Les explains how
Scott's approach changed the
Mid-Atlantic area forever.
WRAL
TV Promos
Learn what went
into taping those classic promos in
the WRAL TV studios in Raleigh, NC
Wrestling
Ric Flair
Ric Flair's
First Match in the Mid-Atlantic area
was against Les Thatcher
Spartanburg
& Columbia, SC
Remembering
those great, loud crowds in those
classic old buildings.
Les Thatcher
Interview
on Solie's Vintage
Wrestling
interview conducted by
Jeremy Hartley
In 1974, Les was given an
award by the the Wrestling Fans
International Association (WFIA). On
the back of this photo, Gene Gordon
(who took the photo described below)
wrote:
"Les had just received a
trophy when photo was taken, as being
voted one of the outstanding wrestlers
of 1974 by members of the Wrestling
Fans International Association
Convention held at Atlanta, GA this
past June. Thatcher was also the
Master of Ceremonies during the Awards
Banquet Dinner at the White House
Motor Inn where the convention took
place."
|
If you grew up as I
did watching Mid-Atlantic
Championship Wrestling in the
mid-70s, you knew very well the
distinctive voices of two special
people: Bob Caudle and Les
Thatcher.
There were other important voices
(David Crockett, Ed Capral, TV ring
announcer Joe Murnick, to name a
few), but Caudle and Thatcher
anchored down the show.
It was Caudle, of
course, who hosted Mid-Atlantic
Wrestling for two decades and was
such a comfortable presence in
our
living rooms each week, but it was
Les Thatcher who got down to the
important business of telling us who
was going to appear in our local
arena or high school gym each week.
Thatcher was the consummate pro, and
like Caudle, related well to almost
anyone watching his promos, taking
the subject at hand quite seriously,
never talking down to his audience.
The
thing I liked about Thatcher was he
never took you for granted. He
always gave you a specific reason to
want to be at the arena that Friday
night. He also was respectful of the
wrestlers, and unlike far to many
announcers today, never tried to be
the show himself. He just made the
thing work.
Not
only a special voice, Les was also a
wrestler for nearly 18 years,
including former Mid-Atlantic Tag
Team Champion with Danny Miller. A
journalist, TV and radio producer,
and promoter, Thatcher is still a
force in Wrestling today, operating
Elite Pro Wrestling Training with
Harley Race and Tom Pritchard,
conducting wrestling training
seminars all over the country.
-Dick
Bourne 1999
Updated 2005
|
