Combat Sports Historian and Martial Artist
Dominant champions like William Muldoon often had to accept handicap conditions to get fans interested in watching them wrestle. Since fans only considered Clarence Whistler skilled enough to really threaten his reign, Muldoon would often generate interest by either performing feats of strength or taking on the challenge of handicap conditions. On May 5, 1885, Muldoon met Matsuda Sorokichi, who
Dick Tracy Meets Gruesome (1947) is the final entry in “B” film series. RKO Pictures took the series over from Republic Pictures, who released the original Dick Tracy serials in the late 1930s and early 1940s. RKO Pictures released the film to theaters on September 26, 1947. RKO brought Boris Karloff in to play Gruesome, one of Dick Tracy’s arch
When thinking about African American history month, I thought about the first great Black wrestler that I saw personally. When I started watching wrestling in St. Louis during 1979, “Sailor” Art Thomas wrestled regularly on Wrestling at the Chase, our local weekly wrestling show. Wrestling at the Chase aired every Sunday at 11 a.m. on KPLR Channel 11. Although Thomas
When Frank Gotch retired as World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion after beating Georg Lurich in his last match, promoters scrambled to find a successor. Samuel Rachmann tried to put forth his own champion by hosting the 1915 International Wrestling Tournament in New York City. Rachmann wanted his challenger Aberg to win the tournament and be recognized by the public as the
1909 was probably the worst year of Parker Lonzo Bator Zimmerman’s life. He lost both his ten month old daughter Ida May Zimmerman and his second wife Mellie Bollinger Zimmerman. Before Parker’s death in the Cape Giraurdeau Tornado of 1949, he would bury two more of his children. Both of them were adults. I can only imagine how hard 1909
On January 29, 1940, First National Pictures, the Warner Brothers “B” film company, released the spy thriller British Intelligence (1940). The film is set in Britain during World War I. Released almost two years before the attack on Pearl Harbor, the film showed that Hollywood and probably most of the countries sympathies were with Britain and the Allies. While British
On November 1908, three bishops and an abbot dedicated St. Francis de Sales Church, “the Cathedral of South St. Louis”. Built to serve the growing German Catholic population in St. Louis, the huge church would become the home to many families including my great grandparents, Eduard and Magdalena Mosblech, and their 14 children. The St. Louis Archdiocese dedicated the church
The International Wrestling Tournament occurred in two phases between May 19, 1915 and December 31, 1915. Fifty wrestlers would compete in the first phase of the tournament including World Greco-Roman Champion Aleksander “Alex” Aberg. The second installment had 40 wrestlers including up and coming star Ed “Strangler” Lewis, who joined a month into the tournament on November 22, 1915. The
The few people who know about the prizefighter Paddy Ryan probably know him as John L. Sullivan’s victim. Sullivan beat Ryan for the Heavyweight Prizefighting Championship in 1882. Ryan was a good fighter in his own right though. Ryan was born on March 15, 1851 in Ireland. His family emigrated to Troy, New York. Ryan was known through out his
On the evening of June 1, 1879, St. Louis Police Officer Charles Printz was walking his beat near 505 Marion Street on St. Louis’ South Side. It is not clear if Charles Sanders actions attracted Printz’s attention, or Printz just stumbled upon Sanders. Whatever the circumstances, Printz walked up to Sanders, who had a revolver in his right hand. When