Standing nearly 6’7″, Don Leo Jonathan was considered a giant in the world of pro wrestling.
Born in the town of Hurricane, Utah in 1931, he came from a family of wrestlers. He began his career as a teenager. Wrestling promoters in New York let him get in the squared circle despite being underage.
Why? His mother said he could.
“The commissioner got a letter from my mama,” he said.
It was a permission slip to become a superstar. In the 50s, Jonathan was something not many fans had seen — a big, brash babyface with a lush head of hair and thick mutton-chop sideburns.
“That was mine and then that singer came along playing the guitar and doing that little soft-shoe shuffle. He stole my gimmick,” he joked, referring to Elvis Presley.
He spent years wrestling in Canada, teaming up with greats like Gene Kiniski, who dubbed himself “Canada’s Greatest Athlete.”
Jonathan settled in Langley in the early 1960s, but continued wrestling across North America, Europe and Asia.
The Mormon Giant vs. Andre the Giant
Jonathan’s nickname was the Mormon Giant, which guaranteed that he would eventually cross paths with wrestling’s most famous big man: Andre the Giant.
In 1972, he squared off against Andre the Giant in front of a crowd of 16,000 at the Montreal Forum in a fight that was dubbed the match of the century.
Andre was 7’4″ and 520 lbs, but Jonathan says wrestling him was nothing compared to keeping up with him outside the ring.
“He liked to drink,” he said. “One night he drank 100 beers.”
“He could go three, four, five days without sleep. Just drink and party and see his friends. He loved his friends.”
In his final match in 1980, Jonathan teamed up with Andre the Giant and future legend Roddy Piper in a match in Vancouver.
It was the end of an illustrious career that saw him travel the world.
– With files from Squire Barnes