Avant qu'il soit Ed “Strangler” Lewis

Les historiens de la lutte considèrent Ed « Strangler » Lewis ou Frank Gotch comme le plus grand lutteur professionnel américain.. Même si nous en savons beaucoup sur le début de la carrière de Frank Gotch, on en sait beaucoup moins sur le début de carrière d’Ed « Strangler » Lewis.

Diverses sources affirment que Lewis a appris la lutte catch-as-catch-can dans les carnavals alors qu'il n'avait que quatorze ans.. Lewis was born Robert Friedrich on June 30, 1891, in tiny Nekoosa, Wisconsin. Dans 1900, Nekoosa boasted a population of 745 people.

Par 1910, when Friedrich wrestled his earliest professional wrestling match I can find, Nekoosa had doubled in population to 1,500. The town population never rose above 2,700.

Mardi, Décembre 27, 1910, Friedrich wrestled “Babe” Abel of Madison, Wisconsin in a best two-out-of-three-falls match. The men wrestled at Brook’s Hall in Nekoosa.

One of the myths about Friedrich is that Friedrich changed his name to Lewis to keep his parents from finding out that Friedrich was wrestling professionally. Cependant, Friedrich wrestling in his hometown argues against this theory. It is impossible to believe Friedrich could keep his profession a secret from his parents after wrestling under his real name in his small hometown.

Friedrich wrestled a legitimate contest in this match. Friedrich needed one hour, fifty-five minutes to pin Abel for the first fall. Even with a 15-minute intermission, Friedrich only need forty-nine seconds to slam an utterly exhausted Abel for the second fall and match in two straight falls.

Dans 1913, Friedrich changed his name to Ed “Strangler” Lewis in honor of the original “Strangler”, Evan Lewis. Evan Lewis was a fellow Wisconsin native, who was born in Ridgeway, Wisconsin and lived in Dodgeville, Wisconsin.

Friedrich started using Ed “Strangler” Lewis when he travelled to Kentucky to wrestle in early 1913. From that point until his retirement, Friedrich wrestled as Ed “Strangler” Lewis. Durant les années 1920, Lewis earned more money from professional wrestling than any other professional athlete not named Jack Dempsey.

Dans 1910, Friedrich was just an up-and-coming local star. Grandiose things were in store for the Wisconsin native.

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Sources: The Daily Tribune (Wisconsin Rapids, Wisconsin), Décembre 28, 1910, p. 4

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