Taisteluurheiluhistorioitsija ja kamppailutaiteilija
Posts about 20th Century wrestlers, wrestling matches, and wrestling films.
Torstaina, Marraskuu 22, 1923, St. Louis promoter John Contos hosted a controversial card topped by a match between Joe Stecher and Dan Kolov, an up-and-coming Bulgarian wrestler. The card was covered by John E. Wray, the Sports Editor for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. The card was controversial because two of the biggest stars in wrestling were advertised but didn’t
Broadcast companies were looking for content during the early days of television. Besides older movies and some broadcast company productions, sports were a source of programming for many television stations. The Dumont Television Network was one of the powerhouse networks in the beginning of the Golden Age of Television. One of their most popular programs was wrestling and the star
On a Thursday night, Marraskuu 25, 1909, World Wrestling Champion Frank Gotch met Polish Wrestling Champion Stanislaus Zbyszko for a handicap match in Buffalo, New York. Gotch agreed to forfeit the bout if he could not throw Zbyszko twice in an hour. Zbyszko’s size and strength created problems for Gotch, who weighed 190 pounds to Zbyszko’s 260 kiloa. Kuitenkin, Zbyszko
Wrestling promoter Samuel Rachman created the International Wrestling Tournament in Spring 1915 to highlight the abilities of Aleksander “Alex” Aberg. Aberg was the Russian Greco-Roman Wrestling Champion. Rachman believed Aberg could beat any wrestler. Rachman also wanted to lure Frank Gotch, the last undisputed World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion, out of retirement to wrestle with Aberg. Gotch wrestled George Lurich in
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, maalaispoika Humboldt, Iowa, kumoaisivat George Hackenschmidt World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship 1908. Tämä voitto ja hänen myöhempi tappio “Hakata” vuonna 1911 uusintaottelua sinetöi Gotch n paikkansa yhtenä suurimmista painijat kaiken aikaa. Gotch was a very talented wrestler but he was not the undefeated wunderkind of legend. Gotch
Tammikuu 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
Joulukuun 13, 1920, Ed “Strangler” Lewis voitti Joe Stecherin hänen raskaansarjan paininsa maailmanmestaruudesta. Professional wrestling was a staged exhibition by 1920. Kuitenkin, 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
Tammikuu 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, muutamat amerikkalaiset painijat olivat jopa väittäneet olevansa Nogert ennen