在他成為艾德之前 “扼殺” 劉易斯

摔角歷史學家認為艾德「扼殺者」劉易斯或弗蘭克戈奇是美國最偉大的職業摔角手. 雖然我們對弗蘭克·戈奇的早期職業生涯了解很多, 我們對艾德「扼殺者」劉易斯的早期職業生涯知之甚少.

各種消息來源稱，劉易斯在十四歲時就在嘉年華中學會了摔跤. Lewis was born Robert Friedrich on June 30, 1891, in tiny Nekoosa, 威斯康星. 在 1900, Nekoosa boasted a population of 745 people.

通過 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.

週二, 十二月 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. 然而, 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.

在 1913, Friedrich changed his name to Ed “Strangler” Lewis in honor of the original “Strangler”, 埃文·劉易斯. Evan Lewis was a fellow Wisconsin native, who was born in Ridgeway, Wisconsin and lived in Dodgeville, 威斯康星.

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. 在20世紀20年代, Lewis earned more money from professional wrestling than any other professional athlete not named Jack Dempsey.

在 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, 威斯康星), 十二月 28, 1910, P. 4

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