Combat Sports Historian and Martial Artist
Posts about 20th Century wrestlers, wrestling matches, and wrestling films.
On April 3, 1908, American Wrestling Champion Frank Gotch met World Wrestling Champion George Hackenschmidt for the World Title at Dexter Park Pavilion in Chicago, Illinois. Hackenschmidt was undefeated as a professional but had been World Champion for approximately 7 years. Gotch was a year older but considered an up and comer. Fans and reporters covering the sport considered Gotch
On Tuesday, March 22, 1910, Dr. Benjamin Roller met Stanislaus Zbyszko in a legitimate wrestling match. Professional wrestling would transition from legitimate contest to staged exhibition between 1910 and 1920. Dr. Benjamin Roller graduated from the University of Pennsylvania by playing professional football. Roller accepted an academic appointment in physiology where he assisted in the writing of a textbook. Dr.
Wladek Zbyszko’s legacy is often overshadowed by his brother Stanislaus Zbyszko. Stanislaus, who was 12 years older, posed the last real threat to Frank Gotch’s World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship. Wladek Zbyszko was a skilled wrestler in his own right. Unfortunately, he didn’t arrive in the United States until 1914, when most wrestling matches were prearranged. Wladek had proved his bona
I’ve frequently found the biggest challenge in researching early professional wrestling is separating fact from fiction. Even when the wrestlers competed in legitimate matches, they often inflated outcomes, built up apocryphal folklore around their victories and made up fanciful tales to explain away their losses. Professional wrestling sprang from the carnivals and retained the promotional instincts of this art. St.
On January 10, 1910, recently arrived Polish wrestler Stanislaus Zbyszko took on Charlie “The Kid” Cutler in a best two-out-of-three falls match. Cutler had been a boxer in a troupe run by John L. Sullivan before transitioning to wrestling. While Cutler was extremely tough, Stanislaus Zbyszko had been wrestling since his youth. Zbyszko would use these skills to overcome Cutler
On December 16, 1917, Frank Alvin Gotch lost a three week battle with uremic poisoning. Doctors attempted to keep his kidneys going through an operation in Chicago but it provided only temporary relief. Gotch intended to travel to Hot Springs, Arkansas to try and restore his health. The operation ended this hope. Gotch spent the last couple weeks only able
Rarely does one fundamentally alter their profession but Stanislaus Zbyszko did just that on April 15, 1925 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Zbyszko defeated Wayne Munn in one of the last shoot (not staged) professional wrestling matches in the United States. It was a shoot or legitimate match because Zbyszko double crossed the “Goldust Trio” wrestling promotion and beat Munn for the
I decided to start 2020 by using two examples from professional wrestling to discuss why you would change a historical account you wrote in the past. In writing history, you are limited by the available sources on the subject matter. Primary sources like diaries, official records and autobiographies are very valuable. Other sources like newspapers are good as well but
On the same day Joe Stecher wrestled Stanislaus Zbyszko for the recognized version of the World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship in St. Louis, Ed “Strangler” Lewis challenged “Big” Wayne Munn for his disputed Michigan-Illinois World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship. Lewis dropped the title to Munn in February 1925. In April 1925, Zbyszko defeated Munn in a famous double-cross. The match between Lewis and
On April 7, 1914, 22-year-old Wladek Zbyszko met 22-year-old Ed “Strangler” Lewis would meet in the first of many matches between the two men. They would cooperate in a number of worked or “prearranged” matches. Lewis in fact dropped his American Heavyweight Wrestling Championship to Wladek Zbyszko in 1917. In the early 1920s, Lewis would drop his World Heavyweight Wrestling