Combat Sports Historian and Martial Artist
https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/mem3a8/Episode_206q4px.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadIn this episode, I discuss the career of Sorakichi Matsada, a 19th Century Japanese pro wrestler. Update I discuss the new podcast schedule. Hopefully, Caleb will be back with me for the next episode. I will release an episode on the second Monday of every month. If scheduling allows, a second episode will be
On December 17, 1923, Jim Browning wrestled a rare match in his hometown of Verona, Missouri. Four hundred fans from the surrounding area crowded into the venue to watch the match between Browning and Clarence Jenkins, a wrestler from Emporia, Kansas. Both Browning and Jenkins wrestled most of their matches in Kansas during 1923. Browning was starting a career that
On November 18, 1938, former world wrestling champion Jim Londos wrestled current world champion Bronko Nagurski, the great former football player for the Chicago Bears. The men wrestled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for Nagurski’s version of the world wrestling championship. You can view the 14-minute match in its entirety on YouTube. When I viewed the match for the first time, several
On Wednesday, April 27, 1910, reigning World Middleweight Boxing Champion Stanley Ketchel fought a six-round, non-title match with African American boxer Sam Langford. Langford is one of the greatest boxers of all-time. However, Langford found himself frozen out of world title fights by promoters and boxers adhering to the “color line.” Promoters and boxers used the “color line” to prevent
https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/witdaq/Episode_199c6lp.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadIn this episode, I discuss the 1891 wrestling match between Joe Acton and future heavyweight boxing champion Bob Fitzsimmons. Update I decided to take on a shorter book project on a 19th-Century wrestler to be completed in late summer or early fall 2023. The next project after this book will be a longer book
John “The Nebraska Tigerman” Pesek wrestled two of the most famous legitimate contests of the 1920s. Pesek ended two promotional wars by agreeing to “shoot” contests with Marin Plestina and Nat Pendelton. In 1916, Pesek was an up-and-coming wrestler active in his home state of Nebraska. On Thursday, September 14, 1916, Pesek wrestled another Nebraska wrestler, Chris Jordan. Fans and
https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/2yakt8/Episode_18ag9gz.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadUpdate The next episode will be released on Monday, February 13, 2023, where I will discuss a match between the former American Heavyweight Wrestling Champion and a future World Heavyweight Boxing Champion. Main Content In January 1923, the promotional war between Jack Curley and the Gold Dust Trio resulted in a shoot contest between
Born Norman Edward Wescoatt in Hawaii on August 2, 1911, “Rusty” Wescoatt played football for the University of Hawaii before making his professional wrestling debut in Hawaii during 1933. Wescoatt was also a swimming champion. Wescoatt initially made more news for his swimming than his wrestling when he traveled to the continental United States in 1935. On Easter Sunday, April
On April 13, 1936, Ed “Strangler” Lewis wrestled his final legitimate contest with Lee Wykoff at the Hippodrome in New York City. Promoters once again called on Lewis to settle a promotional conflict. The opposing group selected Lee Wykoff, a 36-year-old shooter from Kansas. Wykoff stood six feet, one inches tall and weighed two hundred eighteen pounds. The 44-year-old Lewis
https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/5vctyw/Episode_177wnp9.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadUpdate I will continue to release two episodes a month for the foreseeable future. The next episode will be released on Monday, January 23, 2023. I also share my thoughts on Vince McMahon forcing himself back onto the board of World Wrestling Entertainment. Main Content I speak about what I knew going into each