Combat Sports Historian and Martial Artist
On Tuesday, February 22, 1910, Ad Wolgast challenged World Lightweight Boxing Champion Battling Nelson for Nelson’s title at Richmond Arena in Point Richmond, California. The 28-year-old Nelson won the title by knocking out the great Joe Gans in 1908. Boxing experts did not expect Wolgast to defeat Nelson even though Wolgast held a newspaper decision over Nelson in 1909. Pundits
https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/padnur/Episode_29btyp1.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadIn this episode, we discuss Jim Londos’ early career in St. Louis, Missouri. We also review Jim Londos vs. Dick Shikat from 1930. Update I am taking a month off after finishing Wayfarer in a Foreign Land: Sorakichi Matsuda Wrestles in America. I will work on blog posts and my last St. Louis history
On Tuesday, June 3, 1924, up-and-coming wrestler Jim Browning challenged Taro Miyake in a mixed styles match in Nashville, Tennessee. Browning, a wrestler from Verona, Missouri recently left the Missouri-Kansas area to wrestle in Tennessee and Kentucky. The 21-year-old Browning was developing a reputation for solid wrestling. Browning impressed promoters so much in the 1920s that the promoters put the
Over the past twenty years, preservationists have found several wrestling films from the 1920s through the 1950s that were assumed lost. Fans can watch most of the newly discovered films on YouTube. One of the surviving films is eighteen minutes of an hour, twenty minutes match from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1930. Jim Londos wrestled Dick Shikat (video link) for a
https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/92vbd9/Episode_288mjnr.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadIn this episode, my cousin Dan and I review the April 28, 1986 edition of WWF’s Prime Time Wrestling. Update Starting with the first episode in August, I should be joined in the studio by my son Caleb and my cousin Dan. We will return to the normal format of an update, main content
On Thursday, April 10, 1884, America’s first full-time professional wrestler, J.H. McLaughlin wrestled all-around Scottish athlete and wrestler Duncan C. Ross at Detroit’s Opera House. The men wrestled a three-out-of-five falls mixed styles match. McLaughlin specialized in collar-and-elbow wrestling. The men wrestled two falls under collar-and-elbow rules. Ross favored side hold rules. The men wrestled two falls by securing side
https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/djsp9h/Episode_27bqc2z.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadIn this episode, I discuss what I learned completing my book on the first Japanese pro wrestler Sorakichi Matsuda, who wrestled in America from 1884 to 1891. Update I gave an update on my upcoming schedule. Wayfarer in a Foreign Land should be available at the end of July or August 2023 depending
On Saturday, September 10, 1910, Stanislaus Zbyszko, fresh off his first tour of the United States, wrestled the Great Gama at Shepherd’s Bush Stadium in London, England. 7,000 spectators crowded into the stadium to watch the match. A few weeks earlier, Mr. Benjamin brought a group of Pehlwani wrestlers from India to wrestle in England. Fans consider the Great Gama
https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/q2bpuf/Episode_266py6d.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadIn this episode, I discuss the 1917 and 1920 World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship matches between Joe Stecher and Earl Caddock. Update A special thank you to listener Shannon Bertrand, who let me know that I loaded the wrong episode for Episode 25. I have corrected the episode and it should be available on all
William Muldoon, the World Greco-Roman Wrestling Champion and physical culture proponent, came to Los Angeles on Tuesday, April 15, 1884 to face the local wrestler Fred Bauer. The match took place at the local Turnvereine Hall in Los Angeles. Muldoon was so confident of victory that he stipulated that he would throw Bauer ten times within an hour or he