The MWC Hall of Fame welcomes "The Mormon Giant" Don Leo Jonathan on the Class of 2017! Real Name: Don Heathon Height: 6'6'' Weight: 340 lbs From: Salt Lake City,Utah Birthday: April 29,1931 Trained by: Brother Jonathan Debut: 1949 Retired: 1980 Ring Names: Don Leo Jonathan The Mormon Giant Sonny Jonathan Notable Titles Held: NWA Canadian Tag-Team Championships (18x) NWA Canadian Heavyweight Championship (2x) NWA Pacific Coast Heavyweight Championship (5x) NWA World Tag-Team Championship AWA World Heavyweight Championship - Omaha version (3x) CWA World Heavyweight Championship EWU World Super Heavyweight Championship IPW World Heavyweight Championship (2x) IWA World Tag-Team Championships (2x) Other Accomplishments/Awards: CAC Iron Mike Mazurki Award (2007) Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame (2006) Stampede Wrestling Hall of Fame Not too many fans know this but Don Leo Jonathan is actually a second generation wrestler! His father was best known for his ring name "Brother Jonathan" who mainly wrestled in multiple American and Canadian territories in the 30's and 40's.
Jonathan himself made his pro wrestling debut after World War II. Over the course of his career he has wrestled all around the world such as in Europe,Japan,Africa,and Australia. But his best work are remembered in Canada and US. He has held multiple championships in his 4 decade career, most of his accolades are from tag-team action being a record 18x NWA Canadian Tag-Team Champion! He is also a former World Champion having held the AWA World Heavyweight Championship (the Omaha version) three times! When people talk about great big men in wrestling, Don Leo Jonathan often gets overlooked by many fans. He wasn't your typical "big man" wrestler, he can actually get technical and go toe-to-toe with the likes of Gene Kiniski,Dory Funk Jr,and Giant Baba just to name a few. The Mormon Giant also had his fair share of matches in the WWWF and has even challenged Bruno Sammartino and Pedro Morales for the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship but was never able to get the victory for himself. His greatest rival of all time though is his fellow big man: Andre the Giant! The two had many memorable matches often being billed as "Battle of the Giants" and whether it's on Canada,Japan,or the US they would always sell out the arenas and shows! Don Leo Jonathan wrestled his final match on March 10,1980 where he teamed up with his old rival Andre and Roddy Piper to beat The Sheepherders and "Playboy" Buddy Rose. |
AuthorSuper Mastodon. Spent countless of hours throughout my life watching professional wrestling. Now I write about it, because I like that too. Archives
March 2021
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