Luther first popped up in AEW in January as a member of the Nightmare Collective alongside Brandi Rhodes. Luther was introduced as a "Japanese Deathmatch Legend," though no further explanation was given.
Luther has been wrestling since the 80s, getting his start in Canada and running with the likes of Chris Jericho and Lance Storm. In the 90s, he was offered a spot in Japan after impressing as a late replacement during a tag team match in WFWA.
"I was wrestling as Lucious Lenny, as far from hardcore as you can get. I wasn't really into WWF, I really just liked Stampede, but I always wanted to go to Japan. That's where I wanted to go. After a while, that seemed like so far away. When I got offered that, it was awesome. I didn't really know what FMW was, All Japan was the big one for me. And I didn't really know about hardcore. They said they wanted a crazy gimmick. Silence of the Lambs had just come out, so I got a straightjacket. I had no idea what I was going to do, I had never tried it. I couldn't use Lecter, so I went with Luther, Dr. Hannibal Luther. I was watching What's Eating Gilbert Grape on the plane over and Leonardo DiCaprio's mannerisms and that they were awesome, so I incorporated that," Luther told Justin Roberts on Thank You For Being A Friend about the origin of his legendary Japanese deathmatch career.
He continued, "I won the AWA Title in like my fourth match. One of the worst pro wrestling matches ever. It was a kickboxer who didn't know how to work. He would just kick your leg. I just grabbed him and choked him out. I was supposed to win, but I took it home early."
And that's how the Japanese Deathmatch Legend was born.
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