Episode 29 – Early Jim Londos

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In 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 book before starting my new project.

Up to Scratch: Bare Knuckle Fighting and the Heroes of the Prize Ring by Tony Gee (affiliate link).

Main Content

Jim Londos, born Chistos Theoflou in Greece in 1894, started wrestling in the late 1910s as Christopher Theophelus, the “Wrestling Painter.” Theoflou changed his name to Jim Londos in the early 1920s. As Jim Londos, Theoflou became the biggest box office attraction in the history of professional wrestling.

Before becoming a big draw in the 1930s, Londos emerged as the biggest star in Tom Pack’s St. Louis promotion of the 1920s. Londos was already in his early thirties when Londos became Pack’s top star.

Review

Jim Londos vs. Dick Shikat from 1930 – Fourteen minutes survive of a match that almost went two hours.

Big Time Wrestling from February 1976 – We reviewed the Sheik vs. Mark Lewin in a loser leave town match for the U.S. Title. Lewin was the U.S. Champion at the time. The match starts around the twenty-six minute mark.

I recently read Blood and Fire: The Unbelievable Real-Life Story of Wrestling’s Original Sheik by Brian R. Solomon (affiliate link). It rekindled my interest in the Sheik, who I had only seen in one match on a VHS tape from 1990. It was the Sheik vs. Lewin match from 1976.

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