Combat Sports Historian and Martial Artist
Posts about 20th Century wrestlers, wrestling matches, and wrestling films.
On December 17, 1923, Jim Browning wrestled a rare match in his hometown of Verona, Missouri. Four hundred fans from the surrounding area crowded into the venue to watch the match between Browning and Clarence Jenkins, a wrestler from Emporia, Kansas. Both Browning and Jenkins wrestled most of their matches in Kansas during 1923. Browning was starting a career that
On November 18, 1938, former world wrestling champion Jim Londos wrestled current world champion Bronko Nagurski, the great former football player for the Chicago Bears. The men wrestled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for Nagurski’s version of the world wrestling championship. You can view the 14-minute match in its entirety on YouTube. When I viewed the match for the first time, several
John “The Nebraska Tigerman” Pesek wrestled two of the most famous legitimate contests of the 1920s. Pesek ended two promotional wars by agreeing to “shoot” contests with Marin Plestina and Nat Pendelton. In 1916, Pesek was an up-and-coming wrestler active in his home state of Nebraska. On Thursday, September 14, 1916, Pesek wrestled another Nebraska wrestler, Chris Jordan. Fans and
On April 13, 1936, Ed “Strangler” Lewis wrestled his final legitimate contest with Lee Wykoff at the Hippodrome in New York City. Promoters once again called on Lewis to settle a promotional conflict. The opposing group selected Lee Wykoff, a 36-year-old shooter from Kansas. Wykoff stood six feet, one inches tall and weighed two hundred eighteen pounds. The 44-year-old Lewis
I am ashamed to say I recently discovered the career of Cora Livingston, while researching the development of the local promotor system in professional wrestling during the 1910s and 1920s. Mildred Burke was the first major woman’s wrestling champion of which I was aware. However, Cora Livingston claimed the World Championship a year before Burke was even born. Cora Livingston
On Monday, December 6, 1932, 41-year-old Ed “Strangler” Lewis wrestled one of his last legitimate contests to settle a promotional dispute in New York. After initially being allies in promotion, Jim Londos broke away from Jack Curley’s group in New York. To restore peace, the parties decided on a legitimate contest or “shoot” to settle the dispute. Joseph “Toots” Mondt
If wrestling fans know of Anton “Tony” Stecher, it is as the long-time promoter of professional wrestling in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Stecher started promoting professional wrestling in the Twin Cities during 1933. Stecher built the Minneapolis Boxing and Wrestling Club into a powerful local wrestling promotion. Stecher was also one of the early members of the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA). Stecher
Joe Stecher made his professional wrestling debut in late 1912 or early 1913. Stecher proved to be a dangerous professional from the beginning of his career. Martin “Farmer” Burns, the storied wrestler and trainer, brought one of his proteges, Yussiff Hussane, to test Stecher in a legitimate contest during June 1913. Burns and most followers of the sport expected Hussane
On Tuesday, October 21, 1913, Ed “Strangler” Lewis defended his newly won American Heavyweight Wrestling Championship against William Demetral. Lewis wrestled Demetral at Lexington’s Auditorium on a mat instead of a ring. The mat setup played a role in the finish of the match. Promoter Jerry Walls placed a mat on the elevated stage, a common setup before the widespread
Professional wrestling evolved into an athletic exhibition from legitimate contests for two reasons. I have written extensively about the first reason. Legitimate contests between equally skilled wrestlers were often long, boring affairs with little action. These contests turned off fans and prevented professional wrestling exploding as a spectator sport. I have not written as much about the second reason. The