AEW is a company that has prided itself on celebrating the history of professional wrestling, and in the opening moments of the annual WrestleDream pay-per-view, the family of a legend who called St. Louis, Missouri home was honored by the company.

Tonight we’re joined by the wife of St. Louis wrestling legend Lou Thesz, Charlie Thesz!

Watch #AEWWrestleDream on HBO Max PPV pic.twitter.com/mv2HkJiOMg

— All Elite Wrestling (@AEW) October 19, 2025

Before the match between Jamie Hayter and Thekla got underway, Tony Schiavone managed to have a quick catch-up with the wife of the legendary Lou Thesz, Charlie Thesz. Charlie stated that she was having a great time and was very happy that she was able to get a front row seat to all of the action, before Schiavone warned her that both Hayter and Thekla are extremely hard-hitting and that she will need to look out. During her entrance, Hayter welcomed Charlie to the show, and even gave Thekla a beating right in front of her.

Lou Thesz is widely considered to be one of the greatest wrestlers of all time and was billed from St. Louis, Missouri. He was born in Michigan, but called Missouri his home and achieved a lot of success in his home state across a career that spanned almost 60 years. Sadly, Lou passed away in April 2002 at the age of 85, four days before his 86th birthday, due to complications following heart surgery that he underwent earlier that month, despite being in good health in his later years.

Since his death, Thesz has been honored by many companies and wrestling outlets due to his contributions to the business. In 2016, he became the first member of the Legacy Wing of the WWE Hall of Fame, was named in New Japan Pro Wrestling’s “Greatest 18 Club,” a group of wrestlers that NJPW considers to be some of the most important in history, and the Wrestler of the Year award of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Awards was named after both Thesz and Ric Flair.