Episode 2: Jim Londos

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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

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Episode 1: Gotch vs. Hack

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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

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Night and the City (1950)

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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

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1883 Buffalo New York Tournament

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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

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Wladek Zbyszko vs. Helio Gracie

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When Wladek Zbyszko travelled from the United States to Brazil for a lucrative tour on Brazil’s well-developed professional wrestling circuit, Zbyszko little suspected that he would wrestle his first contest in almost twenty years. Like their American counterparts, Brazilian professional wrestlers worked with each other to put on exciting exhibitions for the fans. The Brazilian professional wrestlers occasionally wrestled a

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Dan McLeod Wrestles “Farmer” Burns

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On October 26, 1897, Martin “Farmer” Burns defended his American Heavyweight Wrestling Championship against Scottish catch wrestler Dan McLeod. Burns and McLeod were two of the top three or four catch-as-catch-can wrestlers in the United States at the time. 1,200 fans attended the match held at the Grand Opera House in Indianapolis, Indiana. Promoters often put a mat or heavy

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George Tragos, the Original Crippler

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George Tragos gained fame as the trainer of Lou Thesz, the dominant National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Champion of the 1950s and early 1960s. Tragos, a 1920 Olympian for his native Greece, possessed an impeccable resume in legitimate wrestling. Born March 14, 1901, in Messinia, Greece, Tragos won national wrestling titles before representing Greece at the 1920 Olympics at only

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