Combat Sports Historian and Martial Artist
On Monday, March 26, 1888, Joe Acton, who specialized in catch wrestling, wrestled Professor William Miller, an Australian wrestler, and bare-knuckle prizefighter, in a two-out-of-three-falls Greco-Roman wrestling match. Both men’s camps believed wrestling the match in this style ensured the fairest contest between them. The men wrestled for $500.00 a side. 1,500 fans, a large crowd for the era, turned
https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/q2pnhj/Episode_58uqay.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadIn this episode, I will be talking about some of the wild claims fans, wrestlers and wrestling historians make about professional wrestling matches. Update I recently discovered that before Mildred Burke was even born, wrestling fans and reporters recognized Cora Livingston as the first women’s wrestling champion. Cora learned to wrestle in the carnivals.
Prior to wrestling in Kentucky in the early 1910s, wrestling fans knew Ed “Strangler” Lewis as Bob Fredrichs. Born Robert Friedrich in Nekoosa, Wisconsin, Lewis made his professional wrestling debut in 1905, while still only 14 years old. Kentucky promoters thought Bob Fredrichs too plain, so Lewis chose his new name as an homage to fellow Wisconsin native and original
https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/3jeixi/Episode_48a46i.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadEpisode Preview In this episode, I will be talking about the biggest double-cross in pro wrestling history. Introduction or Update After two weeks of COVID, my breathing finally returned to normal, so it is back to researching the American Heavyweight Wrestling Championship. This project has proven to be as frustrating as I expected it
https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/79nsr9/Episode_36u5sw.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadIn this episode, I will be talking about one of the most vicious hookers in the history of professional wrestling. I will focus on three incidents which illustrate why other wrestlers feared Evan “The Strangler” Lewis. Update The update will be on the light side because I contracted COVID for the second time this
https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/sfejv3/Episode_275lyj.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadIn this episode, I will be talking about biggest box office attraction in wrestling history. When he took a working vacation back to his home country of Greece, he filled up 100,000 stadiums. He was the first wrestler to draw 30,000 fans since the second Frank Gotch-George Hackenschmidt match in 1911. Update Why I
https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/tkrvui/Episode_1b3iy0.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadIt Was Almost Real: The Pro Wrestling History Podcast, Episode 1 – Gotch vs. Hack Episode Preview In this episode, I’ll be talking about the facts and myths around the two matches between Frank Gotch and George Hackenschmidt. During May 2016 after researching the men’s careers for the previous two years, I released Gotch
At nearly 70 years of age, Stanislaus Zbyszko made his film debut in Night and the City (1950). Billed as Gregorious, a retired wrestler and the father of London’s wrestling promoter, Zbyszko displayed his wrestling skills, even at his advanced age, in the film’s signature scene. The movie begins with a man chasing Harry Fabian, a London hustler always looking
On May 7, 1901, Tom Jenkins wrestled the giant Nouralah Hassan in New York City. Born in Bulgaria during 1870, Hassan stood six feet, eight inches tall and weighed 331 pounds. While Jenkins possessed superior wrestling skill, fans and reporters expected Hassan’s immense size to present problems for Jenkins. Promoters booked the men to wrestle at Madison Square Garden in
On Friday, June 29, 1883, fourteen wrestlers paid $50 to enter a two-day tournament for a $500 championship belt and $500 prize. Richard K. Fox, owner and publisher of the Police Gazette, put up the prize money and belt. Fox avidly supported the promotion of both professional boxing and professional wrestling. While fourteen men attempted to enter the tournament, Fox