Combat Sports Historian and Martial Artist
Posts about 20th Century wrestlers, wrestling matches, and wrestling films.
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
Whether it was a double-cross or an attempt to setup a legitimate contest, Paul Bowser’s attempt to secure a match between Joe Stecher and Joe Malcewicz nearly resulted in a riot on March 11, 1926. Events of the previous year actually set this debacle into motion. From the end of 1922, the Gold Dust Trio of Ed “Strangler” Lewis, his
Tom Jenkins had the distinction of being the only wrestler to defeat Frank Gotch multiple times. Jenkins and Gotch traded the American Heavyweight Wrestling Championship between 1902 and 1906. At the time of this match, Jenkins was the champion again. Fred Beell had been campaigning for a match with Jenkins for the past several months. Beell finally convinced Jenkins to
Earl Caddock had a relatively short but storied professional wrestling career in the late 1910s and early 1920s. Making his professional debut in 1915 after winning three AAU National titles in amateur wrestling, Caddock only wrestled professionally until 1922. However, he would be recognized as world champion after defeating Joe Stecher in April 1917. Caddock would lose the title back