Shag Thomas

**James "Shag" Thomas** (August 11, 1924 – July 25, 1982) was an American professional wrestler during the 1950s and 1960s and a referee. He was one of the few African-American wrestlers of his day.

## Football career

Thomas attended public and high school in Columbus before going to Ohio State University to study education, graduating with a bachelor’s degree in education, and began a career as a school teacher in Columbus.

He played football for the Big Reds under head coach John "Butch" Niemiec, a former star player at the University of Notre Dame under Knute Rockne. In his four years in high school the Big Reds went 31-6-1 and an Ohio Valley Athletic Association title.

Thomas was a World War II veteran, serving from June 8, 1943 to January 13, 1946. He was also a member of the 1950 Rose Bowl champion Ohio State Buckeye squad that entered that game at 6-1-2 (number 6 in the AP poll). In July 1950, he signed a contract with the Green Bay Packers and appeared in pre-season games that year, but was cut prior to the final exhibition game.

## Professional wrestling career

Thomas began wrestling in 1954, which was during a time when segregation in professional wrestling was still taking place in some territories and promotions throughout the United States. He was nearly at the age of 35 when he wrestled his first professional match.

He defeated Leo Garibaldi on April 3, 1957 for his first title, the Beat the Champ International Television Championship, holding it until June. Among other titles he held included the Ohio Tag Team Championship with Charlie Hoover, as well as the Calgary version of the NWA Canadian Tag Team Championship and the Stampede International Tag Team Championship, holding both with Mighty Ursus.

One of the few African-American stars of his day, he gained prominence wrestling in Don Owen's NWA Pacific Northwest territory, and was brought in 1960 initially as a villain. On February 17, 1960, Thomas won the NWA Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship from Ed Francis, holding it until March 18 when he dropped it back to Francis.

He terrorized the tag team division with Tony Borne, leading to Shag holding his first of 16 Pacific Northwest Tag Team Championships with Borne on March 28, 1960, defeating Ed Francis and Ed Sullivan. They held onto the belts until May 6, when they were dethroned by Francis and Bill Savage. On November 11, they won the titles for a second time from Kurt Von Poppenheim and Soldat Gorky, but lost it on December 1 to Herb Freeman and Nick Kozak. Thomas would accidentally hit Borne during a match, leading to a memorable feud between the two. Thomas flourished as a babyface in Owen's promotion as Owen did not segregate his wrestlers.

On July 2, 1961, Thomas held the tag team titles again with Don Manoukian, defeating Luther Lindsay and Bing Ki Lee. They lost the championships on August 10 to Lindsay and Herb Freeman. Thomas would win the tag titles with longtime rival Lindsay on July 21, 1962 as they beat Fritz Von Goering and Kurt Von Poppenheim. Dropping the titles on September 21 to Von Goering and Mad Dog Vachon, they regained the titles on December 9 from the duo of villains. They lost the titles on February 12, 1963 to Jack and Jim Dalton, but on June 5, Thomas won the titles again this time with Billy White Wolf. On July 2, they dropped the straps to Ivan Kameroff and Soldat Gorky until Thomas won the gold back on July 24 with Lindsay.

When Lindsay was out due to a car accident, he was replaced by Danny Hodge and they lost the tag team titles to The Destroyer and Art Michalik in Salem on September 9. Thomas and Lindsay managed to regain the titles on January 15, 1964, although they eventually lost the titles back to The Destroyer and Art Michalik on January 22 and Lindsay left Portland. Thomas won his tenth tag team title with Pepper Martin on March 22, 1965, defeating the Mad Russian and El Sheeref. On June 21, they dropped the belts to Stan Stasiak and Haru Sasaki until regaining them a week later. They lost the belts on July 14 to Stasiak and the Russian but on August 27, he regained the belts with Armand Hussein.

In October, Thomas also held the tag team championship with Bearcat Wright. On January 6, 1966, Stasiak and Mighty Ursus beat them for the titles, but he and Wright won them back a week later on the 13th. They dropped the titles on January 31 to Thomas' former rival Tony Borne and Jay York. On October 6, he found a new partner in Rene Goulet and they defeated Mr. Fuji and Haru Sasaki. They lost the belts later that month to Fuji and Borne. On November 3, Thomas won the Pacific Northwest Heavyweight Championship for a second time by defeating Borne, but lost it back to him a week later. Holding the tag team titles in December with Pepper Martin again, Thomas' final reign with the title came on February 15, 1969, when he and Lindsay defeated Kurt Von Steiger and Karl Von Steiger and dropped the titles to them on April 1.

After defeating Roger Kirby by disqualification on August 9, 1969, Thomas retired from wrestling. He then refereed wrestling matches on Owens' *Portland Wrestling* broadcast Saturday nights on KPTV. In 1970, he failed in a bid for a Portland City Council position. In 1972, Thomas came out of retirement and returned to wrestling, battling against the Royal Kangaroos until he hung up his boots completely in 1976. Also during this time, he operated a tavern in his native Portland called Shag's Arena.

## Death

On July 25, 1982, Thomas suffered a heart attack at his home in Portland, Oregon, dying at the age of 57.