Luke Fordward (October 7, 1981 – June 30, 2016) better known by his ring name Thunder, was an Australian masked professional wrestler (referred to as a luchador enmascarado in Mexico) best known for his work in the Mexican professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL).[5] He made his Mexican debut in early 2013 portraying a tecnico ("good guy") wrestling character. After a lengthy absence due to injury, he returned in August 2014 as a rudo ("bad guy"). He was one of only a few Australian wrestlers to work in Mexico.
| Thunder | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Birth name | Luke Fordward[1] |
| Born | October 7, 1981[2] Malabar, New South Wales, Australia[3] |
| Died | 30 June 2016 (aged 34) |
| Cause of death | Stomach cancer |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Taipan[3] Thunder[4] Thunderbird[5] |
| Billed height | 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in)[4][6] |
| Billed weight | 133 kg (293 lb)[6] |
| Trained by | Tony Salazar[4] Franco Colombo El Satánico[4] Demus 3:16 |
| Debut | 2007[3] |
Professional wrestling career
editForward started his wrestling career in 2007 in Australia. From 2010 to 2011, He worked as Taipan for Okinawa Pro Wrestling in Okinawa, Japan.
In late 2012, the Mexican professional wrestling promotion Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) began showing videos of an unidentified masked wrestler, simply referred to as "Mr. 2013". Later on the promos revealed that the man in question was an Australian wrestler called Thunderbird. It was originally believed that Thunderbird was someone who had already worked for CMLL and appeared on TV under a different name and mask and others believed it was Chris Masters coming to CMLL under a new persona.[7] In later promos Thunderbird's Australian accent confirmed that this was someone who had not worked for CMLL before, making him the first Australian to wrestle for CMLL.[5] When he finally made his in-ring debut on 28 January 2013 his name was shortened to simply "Thunder".[8] Thunder teamed up with Rush and La Mascara to defeat the trio of Averno, Mephisto and El Terrible.[9] On 18 March, Thunder teamed up with El Terrible for a Torneo Increibles de Parejas (incredible pairs tournament) in Puebla, Puebla, the tournament featured tag teams made up of a tecnico ("good guy") and a rudo ("Bad guy") wrestler specifically for the tournament. Thunder and rudo El Terrible defeated the team of Ángel de Oro and Rey Escorpión in the first round, but lost to La Sombra and Mr. Águila in the second round and was eliminated from the tournament.[10] In October 2013, Thunder teamed up with Tritón to compete for a shot at the CMLL World Tag Team Championship, but the team lost in the first round to Los Invasores (Morphosis and Kraneo). On 25 October Thunder made his debut on CMLL's Super Viernes ("Super Friday") show, the promotion's main show, teaming up with Rush and La Sombra as the team lost to El Terrible, Vangelis and Tama Tonga.[11] In early 2014 Thunder stopped making wrestling appearances for CMLL, with no official explanation given for why he stopped working for CMLL. He later revealed that he suffered a leg injury that forced him to not compete while recuperating.[4]
After an almost seven-month absence, Thunder returned to the ring during the 5 September 2014, Super Viernes show, entering the ring after the semi-main event match was over. To the surprise of the crowd, Thunder turned rudo by attacking Volador Jr., throwing him outside the ring. To underscore the severity of the attack, CMLL organized to have Volador Jr. taken from the arena on a stretch afterwards.[12] The following day it was announced that Thunder would appear at the CMLL 81st Anniversary Show, teaming with Mr. Niebla and Euforia to fight Volador Jr., Máscara Dorada, and Valiente.[13] The following week Thunder attacked Máscara Dorada after Dorada finished competing in a match, targeting his 81st Anniversary Show opponent.
On 5 June 2015, Thunder joined Dragón Rojo Jr., Pólvora, and Rey Escorpión as the fourth member of Los Revolucionarios.[14] In June 2016 it was revealed that Thunder had been diagnosed with an unidentified form of cancer, which explained his disappearance from CMLL near the end of 2015.[15]
On 30 June 2016, Fordward died from stomach cancer; he was 34 years old.[16][17][18]
References
edit- ^ "CMLL wrestler Thunder passes away at 34". Won/F4W - Wwe News, Pro Wrestling News, Wwe Results, Aew News, Aew Results. 1 July 2016. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
- ^ "Wrestler Thunder (Luke Fordward)". allwrestlerslist.com. 7 December 2016. Archived from the original on 19 May 2022. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
- ^ a b c Kreikenbohm, Philip. "Career « Thunder « Wrestlers Database « CAGEMATCH".
- ^ a b c d e "Thunder, un australiano que quiere brillar en el CMLL". Deportes (in Spanish). Diario Rotativo. 14 October 2014. Retrieved 14 October 2014.
- ^ a b c Redaccion (24 January 2013). "Thunderbird, listo para su debut en el CMLL". MedioTiempo (in Spanish). MSN. Retrieved 12 September 2014.
- ^ a b "Super Estrellas > Rudos > Thunder" (in Spanish). Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre. 17 April 2015. Retrieved 30 May 2015.
- ^ Alvarez, Bryan (19 December 2011). "Dec 19 Figure Four Daily: Bryan Alvarez and Steve Sims talk Mysterio and Sin Cara injuries, top stories from CMLL and AAA, potential super mask match in 2013, magazine business in Mexico, tons more!". Wrestling Observer, Figure Four Online. Retrieved 12 September 2014.
- ^ Boutwell, Josh (1 February 2013). "Viva la Raza!: Lucha Weekly 2/1/13". WrestleView. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
- ^ Redaccion (29 January 2013). "Thunder debuto con el pie derecho". MedioTiempo (in Spanish). MSN. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
- ^ Boutwell, Josh (22 March 2013). "Viva la Raza!: Lucha Weekly 3/22/13". WrestleView. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
- ^ Redaccion (26 October 2013). "Tama Tonga humilló a Rush". MedioTiempo (in Spanish). MSN. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
- ^ Redaccion (6 September 2014). "Reapareció Thunder, ahora es rudo". MedioTiempo (in Spanish). MSN. Retrieved 6 September 2014.
- ^ "LXXXI ANIVERSARIO CMLL- CARTEL COMPLETO". CMLL Gaceta (in Spanish). Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre. 6 September 2014. Retrieved 6 September 2014.
- ^ "Resultados Arena México® – Viernes Espectaculares". Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (in Spanish). 6 June 2015. Archived from the original on 10 June 2015. Retrieved 6 June 2015.
- ^ Riaño Mié, Leonardo (29 June 2016). "Thunder, en peligro". Record (in Spanish). Retrieved 30 June 2016.
- ^ "Falleció exluchador del CMLL Thunder". MedioTiempo (in Spanish). 30 June 2016. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
- ^ "Muere Thunder, luchador del CMLL". Deportes Terra (in Spanish). 1 July 2016. Retrieved 2 July 2016.
- ^ "Fallece Thunder, luchador australiano del CMLL". Récord (in Spanish). 30 June 2016. Retrieved 2 July 2016.