Category: 20th Century Pro Wrestling History

In a blog post last month, I wrote about the difficulty promoters had in staging the Joe Stecher vs Jess Westergaard match. Originally scheduled for Omaha, Nebraska, the Omaha Chief of Police and Police Commissioner were concerned about the match being prearranged or a “work”. They didn’t want gamblers being taken in by the exhibition. To prevent this occurrence, they

Frank Gotch, the farm boy from Humboldt, Iowa, would defeat George Hackenschmidt for the World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship in 1908. This victory and his subsequent defeat of “Salahor” in the 1911 rematch cemented Gotch’s place as one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. Gotch was a very talented wrestler but he was not the undefeated wunderkind of legend. Gotch

Ianuarie 10, 1912, Stanislaus Zbyszko continued his campaign for another title shot with World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion Frank Gotch. To press his claim, he secured a match with Gotch training partner and protegé, Jake Westergard. Westergard claimed a questionable win over his mentor Gotch, who probably dropped the match to Westergard in a prearranged match. Zbyszko was a skilled

Omaha Chief of Police H.W. Dunn created headlines on March 28, 1915, when he issued an order banning the advertised professional wrestling match between Joe Stecher and Jess Westergaard. The April 6, 1915 match was scheduled for the Omaha Auditorium. The chief actually issued the order at the behest of Superintendent of Police A.C. Kugel. Kugel issued a statement to

Decembrie 13, 1920, Ed “Strangler” Lewis defeated Joe Stecher for his World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship. Professional wrestling was a staged exhibition by 1920. Totuși, such was the strong feelings between the men that the match may have been a “shoot” or legitimate match in which Lewis took the belt. Whether the outcome of the match was real, the feud

Ianuarie 11, 1911, world heavyweight wrestling championship contender Stanislaus Zbysko faced the challenge of the powerful but less talented Peter “Giant” Nogert. Nogert was a South African wrestler, who came to the United States for a few years in the early 1910s. Due to a strong international reputation, câțiva luptători americani pretindeau chiar că sunt Nogert înainte

In November 1923, St. Reporterul Louis Star-Times Billy Murphy a intervievat St. Louis, promotor de lupte, John Contos. Murphy i-a propus lui Contos că era luptătorilor dominanti precum William Muldoon sa încheiat. Murphy a vorbit despre meciul recent dintre “Campion mondial” Hardneck Phillips și concurentul Webster O’Malley. Phillips și-a apărat cu succes campionatul aruncându-l pe O’Malley după 1 hour, 50

Ed “Strangler” Lewis and Joe Stecher conducted one of the greatest rivalries of the early arranged professional wrestling exhibition era. Lewis and Stecher wrestled many times including a five and a half hour draw in 1916. Several of their early matches appeared to be legitimate. Legend also has it that Lewis actually had to beat Stecher in a “shoot match”

Stanislaus Zbyszko a făcut un turneu în Statele Unite în 1910 în pregătirea pentru un meci pentru titlu cu campionul mondial la lupte grele Frank Gotch mai târziu în cursul anului. Turul său l-a adus la St. Louis în mai 29, 1910. Zbyszko era programat să se întâlnească cu foarte apreciatul grappler la categoria grea ușoară Charley Olson. Olson era un luptător priceput, care s-a antrenat cu St. Luptătorul Louis George