Sebelum Dia Menjadi Ed “Pencekik” Lewis

Sejarawan gulat menganggap Ed “Strangler” Lewis atau Frank Gotch sebagai pegulat profesional Amerika terhebat. Padahal kita cukup mengetahui sedikit tentang awal karir Frank Gotch, kita tahu lebih sedikit tentang awal karir Ed “Strangler” Lewis.

Berbagai sumber menyatakan Lewis belajar gulat tangkap-tangkap-kaleng di karnaval ketika dia baru berusia empat belas tahun. Lewis was born Robert Friedrich on June 30, 1891, in tiny Nekoosa, Wisconsin. Di 1900, Nekoosa boasted a population of 745 people.

Oleh 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.

Pada hari Selasa, Desember 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. However, 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.

Di 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. Selama tahun 1920, Lewis earned more money from professional wrestling than any other professional athlete not named Jack Dempsey.

Di 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), Desember 28, 1910, p. 4

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