I think the last time I had a post on Thunderbird was back in 2013. Back then, the enigmatic masked wrestler from Australia was on the roster of
Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) in Mexico. I was told (or perhaps I read somewhere) that he was actually a wrestler named Mad Turk Hussein (aka Big Huss) and I used to label his posts under those names. Turns out I was wrong. An eagle-eyed reader pointed out that Thunderbird (also called Thunder) has a small mole on his right pec; Hussein has no such mole. I did some research and found out that Thunderbird's real name is Luke Fordward and he wrestled for CMLL between the years 2013-2015. Fordward had the distinction of being the first Australian to wrestle for CMLL. Sadly, he was diagnosed with stomach cancer in 2015 and died at the age of 35 in 2016.
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| Wrestling as a rudo (heel) against Mark Jindrak |
Damn! The thought of this big mass of man wrestling Jindrak, one of my favorite bib boys almost sends me over the edge. Went to a CMLL show in Guadalajara last week. Had to have an optometrist straighten out my glasses the next day. They got knocked off after a luchador slammed into me during the final match.
ReplyDeleteI remember reading some of the obituaries written for Thunder. Apparently he had married the daughter of a famous luchador, and his continued appearance on CMLL was more out of deference to the father-in-law than to Thunder's luchador skills. But, he certainly added a lot to the visual appeal of CMLL.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I wonder what DID happen to (Australian)Big Huss/Mad Turk/Husseyn Gul. He had his own Youtube channel and other social media sites, but stopped posting a number of years ago. Sad when wrestlers retire, but it is nice when they let the fans know, rather than leave us hanging. When Thunder appeared in CMLL it wasn't a stretch to think the imposing wrestler from Australia was the same guy, although I think Thunder had a more well-rounded, proportional physique. Anon.
What a hot man. Sad to hear about his passing
ReplyDelete