Gotch vs. Zbyszko Now Available

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Frank Gotch dominated American wrestling from 1905 to his retirement in 1913. Gotch, the current American Heavyweight Wrestling Champion, won the biggest match of his career on April 3, 1908. Gotch defeated current World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion Georg Hackenschmidt in Chicago, Illinois. Gotch proved as dominant a World Champion as he had been as the American Champion. Gotch agreed to

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Gotch Wrestles Handicap Match

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On Thursday, April 29, 1909, Frank Gotch traveled to Memphis, Tennessee to wrestle highly regarded light heavyweight wrestler Charles Hackenschmidt. Hackenschmidt won the World Light Heavyweight Wrestling Championship under his real name, John Berg. Although fans thought well of Berg, they did not see him as a threat to defeat Frank Gotch in a straight match. To increase fan interest

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Stecher Busts a Trust Buster

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Joe Stecher wrestled during a transitional time in American professional wrestling. Prior to 1900, wrestlers engaged primarily in legitimate contests although wrestlers did work matches occasionally. After 1915, all wrestlers worked their matches. Wrestlers wrestled legitimate contests only to settle promotional dispute or to pull off a double-cross. From 1900 to 1915, wrestlers engaged in a mixture of worked matches

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Englishmen Wrestle for American Title

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On August 7, 1882, American Heavyweight Wrestling Champion Edwin Bibby defended his title against English Champion Joe Acton at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The men wrestled a “catch-as-catch-can” match for the world championship. However, the public did not recognize the winner of the bout as the world champion. The public recognized the winner as the American Heavyweight

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John Lemm Gets a Second Chance

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On January 2, 1911, Swiss wrestler John Lemm found himself the laughingstock of professional wrestling fans and reporters. The incident occurred when Lemm wrestled Stanislaus Zbyszko in Buffalo, New York. Fans considered Zbyszko the top contender for Frank Gotch’s world title. Zbyszko was a world class wrestler although more skilled in Greco-Roman wrestling than catch wrestling. Lemm was a skilled

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The Original Trust Buster

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During the early 1920s, Tex Rickard declared war on his former boxing promotional partner, Jack Curley. Curley promoted professional wrestling in New York City. He also organized promoters in large cities such as Boston and St. Louis into a wrestling trust. The trust controlled the World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship. The trust froze out any wrestler, who refused to go along

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Farmer Burns Discovers Frank Gotch

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In 1897, Dan McLeod beat Martin “Farmer” Burns for the American Heavyweight Wrestling Championship. After the defeat, Burns wrestled part-time as he transitioned into his primary role of wrestling trainer. Over the next 30 years, Burns trained most of the legitimate catch wrestlers in the United States. Burns began touring in 1899, where he would both wrestle an opponent in

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