Combat kev ua si Historian thiab Martial Artist
Posts about early Twentieth Century professional wrestling.
During June 1927, the Illinois state legislature rocked the professional boxing and professional wrestling worlds when a subcommittee started investigating the state athletic commission. The legislature believed that promoters were putting on “fake” contests in both sports. Before the committee concluded its work, it suspended the boxing and wrestling licenses of 130 ncaws pob. These revelations further disillusioned wrestling fans aggravated
Jim Londos developed a national reputation as one of the top professional wrestlers during the 1910s. Txawm li cas los, Londos’ career took a major step forward when Londos started wrestling for the fledgling St. Louis promotion in the early 1920s. Londos headlined the first card in late 1921. Londos wrestled on the second card on Thursday, Lub ib hlis ntuj 26, 1922, as well. Current
When the great Jack Johnson defeated Tommy Burns for the World Heavyweight Boxing Championship, the boxing establishment started searching for a “white hope” to defeat Johnson. In desperation to find someone to defeat Johnson, promoters and sports writers started lobbying former World Heavyweight Champion James J. Jeffries to end his retirement to fight Johnson. Jeffries retired undefeated in 1905. Tom qab
On Memorial Day, Tej zaum 30, 1925, Joe Stecher defeated Stanislaus Zbyszko in a worked match to reclaim the World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship that Stecher had lost in December 1920. Stecher was part of a conspiracy that paid Stanislaus Zbyszko to double-cross Wayne “Big” Munn in April 1925. Zbyszko defeated Munn legitimately in one of professional wrestling’s most famous double-crosses. Raws li
Txog hnub plaub, Lub Xya hli ntuj 9, 1925, Ed “Strangler” Lewis made one of the early defenses of his version of the World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Lewis wrestled Howard Cantonwine in front of 5,000 fans at McNulty Park. After Stanislaus Zbyszko double-crossed Sandow’s and Lewis’ promotional group by defeating Wayne “Big” Munn legitimately, both Joe Stecher and Ed “Strangler” Lewis
Jim Londos developed into professional wrestling’s biggest box office star during the 1930s. Londos wrestled main events against Ed “Strangler” Lewis and Jim Browning at baseball stadiums. These matches drew crowds of more than 30,000 fans for the first time since the second Gotch vs. Hackenschmidt in 1911. When Londos wrestled in Greece, Londos drew crowds estimated to be at
Professional wrestlers dying in the ring is rare but occasionally happens. Nyob rau hauv 1936, 5,000 wrestling fans in Washington, D.C. inadvertently booed a dead man at the end of the Mike Romano vs. “Irish” Jack Donovan match at Griffith Stadium on Thursday, Lub rau hli ntuj 25, 1936. The 40-year-old Romano was putting Donovan over in a worked match. Newspapers inaccurately reported Romano as
John “The Nebraska Tigerman” Pesek started wrestling professionally in 1915, but Pesek was more suited to the 1885 professional wrestling ring. Los ntawm 1915, wrestlers worked their matches. Skilled lightweight wrestler Clarence Ecklund trained Pesek in catch-as-catch-can wrestling. Pesek developed into a skilled hooker or submission wrestler. Pesek never liked working and wrestled contests in his early career. Nws thiaj li, Pesek did
If he had been bigger, Fred Beell would have been a dominant heavyweight in the first decade of the Twentieth Century. Xwb, larger opponents often defeated Beell only because the opponent outweighed Beell by thirty to fifty pounds. On the rare occasions that Beell wrestled a middleweight, Beell crushed his opponent. Nyob rau lub ib hlis ntuj 13, 1905, Beell wrestled H.P. Hansen in
Thaum lub peb hlis ntuj 1910, the United States Attorney General in Council Bluffs, Iowa charged John C. Mabray (a version of his actual name, Mabry) and a dozen defendants with using the mail to commit gambling fraud in professional boxing, professional wrestling, and professional horse racing. Mabry, a livestock dealer living in Kansas City, Missouri, employed insiders in boxing, wrestling, and horse