Choque, Vol. 2

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With Choque, Vol. 2 (Amazon affiliate link), Roberto Pedreira picks up the story of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in what he considers its heyday in Brazil, 1950 – 1960.  Besides Carlos and Helio Gracie, several other academies, such as Oswaldo Fadda’s, were also thriving.  Judo was gaining in popularity but had not overcome Jiu-Jitsu in popularity. Vale Tudo matches were at the height

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Aberg Tempts Gotch

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Actually, Samuel Rachman, who promoted both the 1915 International Wrestling Tournament and Greco-Roman World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion Aleksander “Alex” Aberg, tried to lure retired World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion Frank Gotch into the tournament.  Rachman hoped to bolster Aberg’s claim as the successor to Gotch. Rachman offered Gotch $20,000 to wrestle Aberg in May 1915.  Rachman’s tournament was to start Wednesday

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Farmer Burns Wears Out Jack King

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Martin “Farmer” Burns reportedly trained over 1,000 wrestlers in his career as America’s foremost wrestling trainer.   However, Burns was a great wrestler in his own right.  Before he retired to train wrestlers full-time, Burns won the American Heavyweight Wrestling Championship from Evan “The Strangler” Lewis in 1895.  Burns held the title for two years. In 1893, Burns was still

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Stanislaus Zbyszko’s Greatest Match?

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No one can question that Stanislaus Zbyszko was a great wrestler.  He began wrestling when the pro game was still an actual competition.  He continued to be successful after the game changed to worked (prearranged) matches.  In fact, he participated in a shoot contest, when he legitimately defeated Big Wayne Munn for the title in 1925 by double-crossing his promotoers.

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Lewis Drops Title to Sonnenberg

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Ed “Strangler” Lewis is one of the top two American professional wrestlers of all-time.  While Lewis was a legitimate submission wrestler, who could beat anyone in a wrestling contest, he worked almost exclusively in prearranged exhibition matches.  In 1929, he took part in a match with professional football player turned wrestler, Gus Sonnenberg. Sonnenberg was on the Providence Steam Roller,

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The Woman in Green (1945)

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The Woman in Green (1945) is the ninth of twelve Sherlock Holmes produced by Universal Pictures. Basil Rathbone returns as Holmes in the eleventh of fourteen turns as the English sleuth. The film is one of the few “B” series films, which could have been an “A” film. Sherlock Holmes investigates the murder of several young London women. After they

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Alex Aberg Returns to Europe

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Alex Aberg defeated many notable foes in the greatest year of his professional wrestling career.  In 1915, Aberg competed in both the Spring and Fall versions of the New York International Wrestling Tournament.  Competing exclusively in his preferred style of Greco-Roman wrestling, Aberg defeated Dr. Benjamin Roller, Wladek Zbyszko and Ed “Strangler” Lewis along with a number of journeyman wrestlers.

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