Combat Sports Historian and Martial Artist
On April 24, 1889, the Missouri Gymnasium hosted its annual event to highlight the athletic accomplishments of its members. Members showed off gymnastic skills and other athletic ability while an orchestra or the Ideal Banjo Club played music in the background. The gymnasium managers booked a main attraction for the evening. George Baptiste, a St. Louis middleweight wrestler who specialized
On Memorial Day, May 30, 1925, Joe Stecher defeated Stanislaus Zbyszko in a worked match to reclaim the World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship that Stecher had lost in December 1920. Stecher was part of a conspiracy that paid Stanislaus Zbyszko to double-cross Wayne “Big” Munn in April 1925. Zbyszko defeated Munn legitimately in one of professional wrestling’s most famous double-crosses. As
https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/rci48jixwdp7t79h/Episode_718mqij.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadIn this episode, I discuss why the Divided Championship Era lasted for three years from 1925 to 1928. I also review the original Survivor Series 1987. Update Dan recently moved to a new facility but will return to the show soon. I review one of the AEW buy-in matches from Full Gear 2024. Main
On Thursday, July 9, 1925, Ed “Strangler” Lewis made one of the early defenses of his version of the World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Lewis wrestled Howard Cantonwine in front of 5,000 fans at McNulty Park. After Stanislaus Zbyszko double-crossed Sandow’s and Lewis’ promotional group by defeating Wayne “Big” Munn legitimately, both Joe Stecher and Ed “Strangler” Lewis
On Thursday, March 31, 1881, 200 fans filtered into New York’s Turnverein Hall to watch Clarence Whistler wrestle Henry Moses Dufur in a three-out-of-five-falls catch-as-catch-can wrestling match with both wrestlers wearing jackets. The promoters used the rules and jackets to even the chances of each wrestler to win. Clarence Whistler specialized in Greco-Roman wrestling. Whistler took World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion
When the great Jack Johnson defeated Tommy Burns for the World Heavyweight Boxing Championship, the boxing establishment started searching for a “white hope” to defeat Johnson. In desperation to find someone to defeat Johnson, promoters and sports writers started lobbying former World Heavyweight Champion James J. Jeffries to end his retirement to fight Johnson. Jeffries retired undefeated in 1905. After
https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/gwes2cubjemajn78/Episode_708px2e.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadIn this episode, I discuss the recently discovered film of the 1908 match between George Hackenschmidt and Joe Rogers. Update I give a health update on Dan and talk about the upcoming podcast schedule. Main Content A film company recently restored a 1908 wrestling film between George Hackenschmidt and Joe Rogers, Part 1 and
On Friday, March 11, 1932, wrestlers George Tragos and Rudy Dusek faced boxers, Stanley McRae and Tom Pivac in wrestler versus boxer bouts. It took the fans longer to get to their seats than it took the combatants to complete the bouts. The men fought the pair of bouts in Memphis, Tennessee at the Auditorium. Fans know George Tragos, a
https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/ezswfi6nskgzp6hb/Episode_69arvtq.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadIn this episode, we discuss Martin “Farmer” Burns training James J. Jeffries for his bout with Jack Johnson on July 4, 1910. Update Dan and I talk about my new project and how an earlier writer unfairly portrayed Joe Stecher’s world title run from 1925 to 1928. Shooter in a Worked World is available
On August 2, 1947, Max M. King Productions released Killer Dill (1947), a crime film that professional wrestler Mike Mazurki plays “Little Joe”, a henchman playing both sides of a gang feud. Stuart Erwin stars as Johnny “Killer” Dill, a lingerie designer and salesperson, who people mistake for a gangster. After accidentally involving himself in a gang war, his