Peter Thornley

Peter Thornley
Birth nameBrian Stevens
(renamed Peter William Thornley upon adoption)[1]
Born (1941-10-19) 19 October 1941 (age 83)
Wellington, Shropshire, England[2]
WebsiteOfficial website
Professional wrestling career
Ring name(s)Kendo Nagasaki
Mr Guillotine[3]
Paul Dillon[1]
Billed height6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[2]
Billed weight15 st (95 kg) - 18 st (110 kg)[2]
Trained byKenshiro Abbe (judo),
Billy Riley (catch wrestling),
Geoff Condliffe (professional wrestling),[1]
DebutNovember 1964[2]
RetiredOctober 29, 2008

Peter William Thornley (born 19 October 1941)[4] is an English retired professional wrestler who was best known for the ring character Kendo Nagasaki. The character of Nagasaki was a Japanese samurai with a mysterious past and reputed powers of healing[5][6] and hypnosis.[2] He was one of the biggest draws of all time in British wrestling, especially in the mid-1970s and the turn of the 1980s – 1990s.[7]

Thornley wore a mask for most of his career, the one significant exception being several months following a December 1977 televised voluntary unmasking ceremony.[8] He had originally retired in 1978 but returned to competition briefly in 1981 and then again from 1986 to 1993. Thereafter he made sporadic wrestling appearances.[9]

Thornley gave occasional interviews as Kendo Nagasaki, usually photographed fully masked or with his face hidden, and often speaking through a representative. The character's voice was never heard in public. His identity as the man behind Kendo Nagasaki was first revealed publicly by a plumber who visited his house in the 1970s.[7][1] His identity became more widely known after a 2002 court case over a land dispute with his neighbour.[10] Thornley never spoke publicly about being Kendo Nagasaki until the publication of his autobiography in 2018.[6]

Away from the ring, Thornley has been a successful business entrepreneur and also had a career in rock management for around a decade from the late 1970s to the late 1980s, managing Cuddly Toys and Laura Pallas.[1]

  1. ^ a b c d e Kendo Nagasaki and the Man Behind the Mask, Peter Thornley, MinuteCircle Services Ltd., 2018, ISBN 9781908345479
  2. ^ a b c d e "Kendo Nagazaki profile". OWOW. Retrieved 12 September 2009.
  3. ^ "Welcome to kendonagasaki.org". Kendonagasaki.org. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  4. ^ Hébert, Bertrand; Laprade, Pat; Stabile, Tony (28 April 2020). The Eighth Wonder of the World: The True Story of André the Giant. ECW Press. ISBN 9781773054766.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference tvtimes1976 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ a b "Healing from Kendo Nagasaki". Healing.kendonagasaki.org. Retrieved 12 January 2020.
  7. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference garfield2001 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  8. ^ Woodward, Hamish (28 November 2022). "The Legendary Unmasking Of Kendo Nagasaki - Atletifo". Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  9. ^ Garfield, Simon (1996). The Wrestling.
  10. ^ Britten, Nick (21 August 2002). "Neighbour accuses TV wrestler of land grab". The Telegraph. Retrieved 12 January 2020.