Combat Sports Historian and Martial Artist
Episodes of It Was Almost Real: The Pro Wrestling History Podcast.
https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/qqups9/Episode_109lwdy.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadIn this episode, we will be talking about John “The Nebraska Tigerman” Pesek. Update I have completed the first draft of the history of the American Heavyweight Wrestling Championship. I expect releasing the finished book at the end of October or beginning of November 2022. We also briefly discuss the situation in All Elite
https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/qa5x3a/Episode_96v6p8.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadEpisode Preview In this episode, I will be talking about Frank Gotch’s toughest opponent, Tom Jenkins. Introduction Tony Khan has some real problems with the recent altercation between his top star and his Executive Vice Presidents. Main Content I have almost completed the history of the American Heavyweight Wrestling Championship. I have a solid
https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/rsq65p/Episode_88jy4q.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadEpisode Preview In this episode, I will be talking about the development of the promotional system in the 1910s and early 1920s. Update Update on the American Heavyweight Wrestling Championship book project due out before Christmas this year. This project is much bigger than I imagined. Wrestlers worked more of the matches than I
https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/qj6w7e/Episode_7859w1.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadIn this episode, my new co-host and youngest son, Caleb Zimmerman, joins the podcast. We discuss recent changes at World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and the new leadership team’s early positive signs. The main topic of the show is the Masked Marvel and the 1915 New York International Wrestling Tournament. Sam Rachmann promoted the tournament,
https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/7s9rgj/Episode_6b9zva.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadIn this episode, I will be talking about a pair of worked title matches for the American Heavyweight Wrestling Championship. Main Content Fred Beell was a strong, talented professional wrestler at the turn of the 20th Century. Although powerfully built, Beell stood no more than 5’05” and weighed 168 pounds. Yet, he improbably defeated
https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/q2pnhj/Episode_58uqay.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadIn this episode, I will be talking about some of the wild claims fans, wrestlers and wrestling historians make about professional wrestling matches. Update I recently discovered that before Mildred Burke was even born, wrestling fans and reporters recognized Cora Livingston as the first women’s wrestling champion. Cora learned to wrestle in the carnivals.
https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/3jeixi/Episode_48a46i.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadEpisode Preview In this episode, I will be talking about the biggest double-cross in pro wrestling history. Introduction or Update After two weeks of COVID, my breathing finally returned to normal, so it is back to researching the American Heavyweight Wrestling Championship. This project has proven to be as frustrating as I expected it
https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/79nsr9/Episode_36u5sw.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadIn this episode, I will be talking about one of the most vicious hookers in the history of professional wrestling. I will focus on three incidents which illustrate why other wrestlers feared Evan “The Strangler” Lewis. Update The update will be on the light side because I contracted COVID for the second time this
https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/sfejv3/Episode_275lyj.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadIn this episode, I will be talking about biggest box office attraction in wrestling history. When he took a working vacation back to his home country of Greece, he filled up 100,000 stadiums. He was the first wrestler to draw 30,000 fans since the second Frank Gotch-George Hackenschmidt match in 1911. Update Why I
https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/tkrvui/Episode_1b3iy0.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadIt Was Almost Real: The Pro Wrestling History Podcast, Episode 1 – Gotch vs. Hack Episode Preview In this episode, I’ll be talking about the facts and myths around the two matches between Frank Gotch and George Hackenschmidt. During May 2016 after researching the men’s careers for the previous two years, I released Gotch