While growing up in Manchester, Les learned the basic things that every young English lad should. He learned Cricket, Rugby and Soccer and did very well with them. He also learned to box and became a great amateur champion.

Les turned pro when there were no more kids his size to come forward and test him in the beginning ranks. His first 15 bouts went very well, and he defeated every ranking contender there was to beat. It wasn't long before he became the Commonwealth Champ and held that title quite a while.

He was approached by a young man by the name of Angus Campbell who had turned pro wrestler a few years before, and they became close pals. Angus talked him into turning his attention to the wrestling business. It wasn't long after that a new young Les Thornton became a wrestling household name in England.

Angus and Les fought together and gained the tag team belts in every area they toured. Les wanted his independence, and after five years of being his partner, he broke away from Angus. Les went on with wrestling and returned to England and gained the British Empire Championship by defeating 17 other men in a one-night tournament held at Royal Albert Hall.

Some three years later after beating the best England, Ireland, Scotland and a few other neighboring countries had to offer, Les decided to go after bigger and better things. Being a subject of the Queen, he decided the best thing to do would be to emigrate to one of the other colonies that Britain had domain over. Les had read in a lot of wrestling books that Calgary had the best talent and drew some of the biggest crowds to attend these events. He let his imagination wander a bit and envisioned himself in the thick of Hart Country and making more money that he could spend.

He went to the local promoter and gave them his notice and surrendered the British Empire belt and left ... all in one day. He said goodbye to neither his friends, his family, nor the rest of the boys in the area.

Landing in Calgary had been a bumpy road as he came in by train from Vancouver thru a fierce snowstorm that had dumped about 18 inches of snow in some spots. He looked in the book and found Stu Hart's address, picked up his two suitcases, grabbed a taxi and went to see Stu.

The home was huge, kind of like a medieval castle. Les went to the door and was greeted by one of the younger Hart kids and was told that Stu was downstairs training. He went down the stairs and was met by Keith Hart, who proceeded to show him the entire "DUNGEON". He didn't refer to it as the dungeon because he was not familiar with Les and did not want to give away its innermost secrets. Les was given a seat in Stu's office to the right of the dungeon, and he had taken out some of the news clippings and pictures that Les had brought with him. Stu came into the room and sat down and began to scan over the mound of papers and said, "So … you're the ex-British Empire Champ ... Eh!!! It says here that you beat 17 guys to win a tournament … You're pretty tough, huh?"

With that, Stu got up off the chair and started out into the other room, and, in a gesture of friendship near the mat that was on the floor of the room, he extended his hand to Les and said, "Welcome to Calgary". Les didn't even flinch and gave him his hand, not thinking of anything. Stu grabbed him, pulled him forward, spun him around and began to stretch him out on the mat and was doing a pretty fair job when Les looked at him with blood red eyes and screamed out,"So its a bloody fight you want ... you old fart … I'll show you," and with one single motion, he broke away from the death grip that Stu had on his arm and leg and spun around and had Stu in a front face lock and then threw him to the mat and started to stretch him all over the place. Three of the kids had heard their father screaming as they had never heard him holler before, and they came running to see their dad pleading with this stocky little man that had him all tied up.

Les released the grip on Stu when he saw he was outnumbered and let him up. Stu was helped to his feet by a couple of his sons, and, as they looked on, he asked this young man to come back into the office.

For nearly two hours, they spoke about his records. They talked about the championships that he had won. They spoke about who might be the biggest threat to him and his career in the Calgary Territory. Stu said, "Hey kid … why don't you come to the matches this week here in town, and I will give you a chance to see what you got." Les agreed and extended his hand to Stu. He declined and said "No thanks ... I have had enough of you for one day."

Les entered the arena and saw more people packed into one building then he had ever seen. He walked through the crowd and entered the dressing room. He asked where he might put his gear, and one of the old timers, a huge fellow, pointed towards the toilets. Les dropped his bags and was just about to grab the guy when the door swung open, and there stood Stu. "I am gonna have you start the matches tonight, Les. You have a big task ahead of you, and if you get thru him … then I will give you a chance. Boys ... this is Les Thornton, from England ... the ex-British Champ."

The big guy that had taunted Les stood up and said to him, "Sir, I am deeply regretful for acting the way I did ... Please accept my apology," and moved his bag over on the table and invited Les to join him.

The crowd stood as the verses of "Oh Canada" were sung. Les hadn't seen what was coming at him … and it was too late to retreat. A huge man with a black mask on and as big as a barn was coming at the ring. As he entered the ring and looked over at the much smaller man, the announcer bantered out, "…And from Parts Unknown at 400 pounds ... The Mighty Urses." The crowd was very adamant about the big guy and expected to see him wipe the mat with Les.

Les certainly had better ideas, and, as the bell rang, he grabbed the huge 6'6" man around the waist from the front and suplexed him nearly out of his boots. He hit the mat with a thunderous splat, nearly going thru it, and Thornton jumped across the huge shoulders and the ref counted 1-2-3. The match was over, and a new ovation was given for Les, as he had done what many bigger opponents had not been able to do. Les grabbed the hood and gave it a yank and revealed the masked man to the arena fans … It was Jesse Ortega from Mexico City. He did a lot of hand shaking on his way back to the dressing room.

Les returned to the dressing room and was met by Stu and the current North American Heavyweight Champ, Archie Gouldie. Les neither accepted nor returned the handshakes by either man. Les just glared at Stu and said, "OK … I beat the bloody heck out of your biggest, now when can I get a shot at this BUM?" He was pointing directly at Archie. It took three guys to hold Les back from jumping into Archie's face and only two to hold Archie back. It seemed as if another world war was starting between these two men. They had neither met nor spoken to each other before.

For the next few months, Les met and beat the best that Calgary had to offer. He had traveled the entire area by himself, taking trains and buses to the various arenas. He kept getting into Archie's face every time he could, whether it was at an arena or on TV or in a bar or on the street. Les didn't care; he wanted to be the champ at any cost.

To be continued…