Louis John Klein (July 10, 1916-October 11, 1979), better known by his

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons, or projecting ...

Lou Bastien, was an American

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

. He had major successes in NWA-Detroit,

American Wrestling Association The American Wrestling Association (AWA) was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 until 1991. It was owned and founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo. The territory was originally part o ...

and

Capital Wrestling Corporation Capitol Wrestling Corporation Ltd. was an American sports promotion company. It was run by Vincent J. McMahon from 1953 to 1982. Operating as the Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC), the company was originally a professional wrestling and boxing p ...

where he was 3-Time WWWF United States Tag Team Champions with his

kayfabe In professional wrestling, kayfabe, as a noun, is the portrayal of staged events within the industry as "real" or "true", specifically the portrayal of competition, rivalries, and relationships between participants as being genuine and not staged. ...

brother

Red Bastien Rolland "Red" Bastien (January 27, 1931 – August 11, 2012) was an American professional wrestler best known for his time in Capital Wrestling Corporation where he was a 3 time WWWF United States Tagteam champion with his kayfabe brother, ...

Professional career

Lou Klein was born in Detroit, Michigan, in 1916. Growing up, Klein was an amateur wrestler who in the 1930s with hoped to qualify for the Olympics. When

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

broke out, in order to support his wife and child, he turned professional in 1942. In his early days he extensively wrestled in the Midwest region as a

junior-heavyweight Cruiserweight, also referred to as junior heavyweight, is a weight class in professional boxing between light heavyweight and heavyweight. Before the advent of the current cruiserweight class, "light heavyweight" and "cruiserweight" were sometim ...

. There he primarily competed in the

Midwest Wrestling Association Heart of America Sports Attractions, also known as the Midwest Wrestling Association, Central States Wrestling and the World Wrestling Alliance, was an American professional wrestling promotion that ran shows mainly in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska ...

. He defeated Johney Demchuk to win the MWA World Junior Heavyweight Title in 1948. He won the title again in 1953 defeating

Ed Francis Edmund Charles "Ed" Francis (June 11, 1926 – November 18, 2016) was a professional wrestler and wrestling promoter in Hawaii in the 1960s. Many wrestlers who came through Hawaii in the 1960s and 1970s were bound to come across the name Ed Fra ...

. He was dubbed as the "Atomic blonde from Detroit". His first big break came in 1960 when he debuted in the north-east region of

(the precursor of the WWWF/WWF/WWE). There he was teamed up with

as the Bastien brothers. They won the WWWF United States Tag Team Championship from the reigning champions Jerry and

Eddie Graham Edward F. Gossett (January 15, 1930 – January 21, 1985), better known as Eddie Graham, was an American professional wrestler. He was also the promoter and booker for Championship Wrestling from Florida and President of the NWA in the 1970s. ...

(The Grahams) on a house at

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,02 ...

on April 2, 1960. Lou and Red dropped

The Fabulous Kangaroos :''This team is not to be mistaken for the similarly named team The Royal Kangaroos of Jonathan Boyd and Norman Frederick Charles III'' The Fabulous Kangaroos were a professional wrestling tag team who existed in various forms from 1957 until 19 ...

on July 21 at a house show. They won the titles a final time on August 8 eventually losing it back to the Kangaroos. After this he and Red went to the

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

region where they became 2-time American Wrestling Alliance Indiana World Tagteam Champions. Lou also had success in Big-time Wrestling(Detroit) where he was also a 3-time

NWA World Tag team champion The NWA World Tag Team Championship is a professional wrestling world tag team championship created by the National Wrestling Alliance. From 1948 to 1982, the NWA allowed member promotions to create their own territorial version of the "NWA Worl ...

. He retired from in-ring competition in 1977 after a career spanning nearly 4 decades. During his later days he helped in training many wrestlers like Art Neilson, Count Drummer, Jim Lancaster, Malcolm Monroe Sr., Rujet Woods, Sandy Parker and Tanya West. Lou Klein's Gym, called "The Doorway to Wrestling", produced many future wrestling stars. He died in 1979 from a heart attack.

Championships and Accomplishments

* American Wrestling Alliance **AWA Indiana World Tag Team Championship (2 times) - with

* Big Time Wrestling **

NWA World Tag Team Championship (Detroit version) The Detroit version of the NWA World Tag Team Championship was the top ranked professional wrestling championship for tag teams in the Detroit, Michigan-based promotion Big Time Wrestling, sometimes referred to as NWA Detroit, between 1965 and 19 ...

( 3 times) – with Roy Klein (2), and Ed George (1) *

Capitol Wrestling Corporation Capitol Wrestling Corporation Ltd. was an American sports promotion company. It was run by Vincent J. McMahon from 1953 to 1982. Operating as the Capitol Wrestling Corporation (CWC), the company was originally a professional wrestling and boxing p ...

** NWA United States Tag Team Championship ''(Northeast version)'' ( 3 times) - with

* Midwest Wrestling Association (Ohio) **MWA World Junior Heavyweight Title (2 time)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bastien, Lou 1916 births 1979 deaths 20th-century professional wrestlers American male professional wrestlers Masked wrestlers Professional wrestlers from Michigan Sportspeople from Detroit