Combat kev ua si Historian thiab Martial Artist
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
Txog hnub plaub, Tim 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
Joe Stecher wrestled during a transitional time in American professional wrestling. Ua ntej los 1900, wrestlers engaged primarily in legitimate contests although wrestlers did work matches occasionally. Tom qab 1915, all wrestlers worked their matches. Wrestlers wrestled legitimate contests only to settle promotional dispute or to pull off a double-cross. Ntawm 1900 mus 1915, wrestlers engaged in a mixture of worked matches
Rau lub yim hli ntuj 7, 1882, American Heavyweight Wrestling Tau zus ib Edwin Bibby defended nws lub npe tiv thaiv lus Askiv Champion Joe Acton ntawm Madison Square vaj nyob New York City. Cov txiv neej wrestled ib "catch-as-catch-can" match rau lub ntiaj teb championship. Txawm li cas los, Pej xeem twg tsis paub txog tus khiav ntawm lub bout li lub ntiaj teb tau zus ib. Pej xeem pom tau hais tias tus khiav li cov American Heavyweight
(This post is an excerpt from my new book, Gotch vs. Zbyszko: The Quest for Redemption, published on February 2, 2022.) The most important event affecting the future of Frank Gotch’s career occurred on January 11, 1911. Gotch married the former Gladys Oestrich at her parent’s home in Humboldt, Iowa. Mrs. Gotch preferred that Frank retire from the ring which
Nyob rau lub ib hlis ntuj 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
Nyob rau lub kaum hli ntuj 20, 1920, Ad Santel, a noted “hooker” or skilled submission wrestler, met Taro Miyake, a Judo and Jujitsu black belt, in a mixed wrestling vs. jujitsu contest. After about 20 vib nas this, Santel secured a half-Nelson on Miyake, lifted him off the mat and slammed Miyake to the floor. The impact knocked Miyake senseless. Miyake’s seconds assisted him back
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
Nyob rau hauv 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. Dhau qhov ntxiv mus 30 xyoo, 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
This week’s post is a confession of sorts. Lub xyoo, I have written that Frank Gotch was the only wrestler to defeat Stanislaus Zbyszko during his initial tour of America between 1909 thiab 1914. I recently read Wrestling in the Garden, Ntim 1: 1875 mus 1939; The Battle for New York – Works, Shootes and Double Crosses (affiliate link) los ntawm