Thunder (luchador)
| Birth name | Luke Fordward |
|---|---|
| Born | 1981 Malabar, New South Wales, Australia |
| Died | June 30, 2016 (aged 35) |
| Cause of death | Stomach cancer |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Taipan Thunder Thunderbird |
| Billed height | 1.95 m (6 ft 5 in) |
| Billed weight | 133 kg (293 lb) |
| Trained by |
Tony Salazar Franco Colombo El Satánico Demus 3:16 |
| Debut | 2007 |
Luke Fordward (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). 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.
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. 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. When he finally made his in ring debut on January 28, 2013 his name was shortened to simply "Thunder". Thunder teamed up with Rush and La Mascara to defeat the trio of Averno, Mephisto and El Terrible. On March 18, 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. 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 October 25 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. 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.
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