Don Leo Jonathan
| Don Leo Jonathan | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Don Heaton |
| Born |
April 29, 1931 Hurricane, Utah |
| Residence | Langley, British Columbia |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) |
Don Leo Jonathan The Mormon Giant Sonny Jonathan |
| Billed height | 6 ft 6 in (198 cm) |
| Billed weight | 285–340 lb |
| Billed from | Salt Lake City, Utah |
| Trained by | Brother Jonathan |
| Debut | 1949 |
| Retired | 1980 |
Don Heaton (born April 29, 1931), also known as Don Leo Jonathan, is an American-Canadian former professional wrestler.
Jonathan, nicknamed "The Mormon Giant" was a second generation star (his father was former wrestler Brother Jonathan) who made his professional wrestling debut after World War II. Over the course of his career, he competed around the world, making stops in Europe, South Africa, Australia and Japan; he wrestled more often, however, in the United States and Canada. His first championship wins occurred in Montreal with the International Wrestling Association, where he twice captured their International Heavyweight title.
Elsewhere in Canada, Jonathan found more success competing in Toronto's National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) affiliate Maple Leaf Wrestling (where he first teamed with Gene Kiniski to win the Canadian Open Tag Team title, in 1959) and in Winnipeg, where he wrestled for NWA member Alex Turk Promotions (twice winning their International Tag Team title) and for the American Wrestling Association. Jonathan also got a taste of World heavyweight gold when he won the AWA-affiliated Omaha territory's version of the World title three times in 1961.
Canada eventually became home to Jonathan in the early 1960s as he settled in the Vancouver suburb of Langley. Making Vancouver his home base, he competed frequently for NWA All Star Wrestling, winning five Pacific Coast Heavyweight titles between 1970 and 1977, the NWA World Tag Team title (with Dominic Denucci) in 1966, and a record 18 Canadian Tag Team titles between 1964 and 1978, as well as challenging for the NWA World Heavyweight Championship against such titleholders as Kiniski, Dory Funk, Jr. and Jack Brisco; he also engaged in feuds with Kiniski and Dutch Savage in All Star, as well as teaming with them. On May 31, 1972, in what was billed as the "match of the century," Jonathan defeated Le Géant Jean Ferré (André the Giant) by disqualification. On September 7, 1972, in a match which was billed as the "Battle of the Giants" Jonathan had a rematch against André, this time losing by disqualification. In 1973 he wrestled in the WWWF and fought Pedro Morales for the championship as a heel. Late in his career, he appeared as one of the wrestlers in the 1978 Sylvester Stallone movie Paradise Alley.
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