Combat Sports Historian and Martial Artist
Posts about 20th Century wrestlers, wrestling matches, and wrestling films.
In the early 1920s, Billy Sandow convinced Georgia promoter Tom Law to move to Wichita, Kansas and develop the area for future wrestling shows. The American Midwest would be a significant revenue generator for the Gold Dust Trio, which Sandow led with World Champion Ed “Strangler” Lewis and promotional genius Joseph “Toots” Mondt, in the 1920s. Law would produce two
Verona, Missouri is a small town in southwest Missouri. Never exceeding 900 residents in it’s history, only 438 or so people called Verona home in 1926. Yet, a professional wrestling card was held in the town on Monday, March 22, 1926. Without the widespread use of automobiles or roads built to handle them, travel would be very difficult in 1926.
On Friday, February 17, 1922, World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion Stanislaus Zbyszko wrestled a handicap match against Francois Lemarque and up-and-coming star Jim Londos. Londos was still a few years away from becoming the biggest box office draw in professional wrestling but he was the most popular wrestler in St. Louis. While Londos only stood about 5’06” or 5’07”, he possessed
On Sunday, December 17, 1906, Kansas City, Missouri once more proved itself to be a hotbed for professional wrestling as 8,000 fans crammed Convention Hall to watch the rematch between Frank Gotch and Fred Beell. Beell won the American Heavyweight Wrestling Championship from Gotch three weeks earlier in New Orleans, Louisiana. Gotch claimed the loss to be a fluke, while
On June 11, 1976, Joseph “Toots” Mondt died enroute to Christian Northeast Hospital in North St. Louis County. Mondt had moved to St. Louis in 1969 to help take care of his wife Alda’s mother. After her mother died in 1971, the Mondts decided to stay in St. Louis, where Alda had been born and raised. Mondt was a legendary
Wayne “Big” Munn’s a meteoric rise in professional wrestling. Debuting in 1924, Munn “won” the World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship from Ed “Strangler” Lewis in early 1925. His fall was just as quick. By 1926, Munn was retired. A college football lineman from Nebraska, Munn was recruited into professional wrestling by Billy Sandow, defacto leader of the Gold Dust Trio. The
Fred Beell was a strong, talented professional wrestler at the turn of the 20th Century. Beell gave all the best wrestlers of the day tough contests but his lack of size often hampered his ability with world class wrestlers. Although powerfully built, Beell was generously listed at 5’06”. At his heaviest, Beell never exceeded 170 pounds. While possessing a bodybuilder’s
Willard “Wild Bill” Longson was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, on June 8, 1906 but spent most of his adult life in St. Louis, Missouri. After beginning his career as a professional wrestler in 1931, Longson found himself working for Tom Packs in St. Louis. He never really left as it would be his home base for the remainder
The Gold Dust Trio’s dominance of professional wrestling in the early to mid-1920s bred lots of resentment with other wrestlers and promoters. This professional jealousy led to a famous double-cross in 1925. From this time on, the world title was disputed as Joe Stecher held one version, while Ed “Strangler” Lewis held the other version. Due to the real resentment
The following excerpt is from my new book Double Crossing the Gold Dust Trio, which will be out this summer. During the summer (of 1921), the Zbyszko brothers received word that their mother was gravely ill. Making quick preparation, they let Curley and the other promoters know they would be leaving as soon as they could arrange passage on a