Combat Sports Historian and Martial Artist
Posts about professional wrestling history from 1870 to 1930.
Polish wrestler and strongman Stanislaus Zbyszko first came to the United States in 1909 to campaign for a shot at World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion Frank Gotch. He received and lost the match in a legitimate contest during 1910. Zbyszko continued wrestling for a few more years and actually won the World Greco-Roman Heavyweight Wrestling Championship in 1914 from hated rival
Dominant champions like William Muldoon often had to accept handicap conditions to get fans interested in watching them wrestle. Since fans only considered Clarence Whistler skilled enough to really threaten his reign, Muldoon would often generate interest by either performing feats of strength or taking on the challenge of handicap conditions. On May 5, 1885, Muldoon met Matsuda Sorokichi, who
When thinking about African American history month, I thought about the first great Black wrestler that I saw personally. When I started watching wrestling in St. Louis during 1979, “Sailor” Art Thomas wrestled regularly on Wrestling at the Chase, our local weekly wrestling show. Wrestling at the Chase aired every Sunday at 11 a.m. on KPLR Channel 11. Although Thomas
When Frank Gotch retired as World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion after beating Georg Lurich in his last match, promoters scrambled to find a successor. Samuel Rachmann tried to put forth his own champion by hosting the 1915 International Wrestling Tournament in New York City. Rachmann wanted his challenger Aberg to win the tournament and be recognized by the public as the
The International Wrestling Tournament occurred in two phases between May 19, 1915 and December 31, 1915. Fifty wrestlers would compete in the first phase of the tournament including World Greco-Roman Champion Aleksander “Alex” Aberg. The second installment had 40 wrestlers including up and coming star Ed “Strangler” Lewis, who joined a month into the tournament on November 22, 1915. The
On March 22, 1881, Greco-Roman World Wrestling Champion William Muldoon met Collar-and-Elbow World Champion John McMahon at the Terrace Garden in New York City. Muldoon and McMahon met in a best-two-out-of-three-falls match. The first fall was conducted by Greco-Roman rules. The second fall would be contested using collar-and-elbow rules. The last fall would be decided via what The New York
Paul Pons was a French Greco-Roman Wrestling Champion. He was good enough to give George Hackenschmidt a run for his money in several tournaments. However, when he came to Chicago in 1900, he was “defeated” by a local wrestler. The circumstances of the loss leave a lot to be desired. Paul Pons traveled to the United States in 1900. One
RKO Pictures brought the Dick Tracy comic strip character to the big screen on December 1, 1945. While the film is definitely a “B” film meant to be first on the double bill, it still would have been of interest to the many fans of the popular comic strip. Chester Gould created the strip in October 1931 for the Detroit
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
On Tuesday, January 19, 1909, Dr. Benjamin Roller, a Seattle physician and pro wrestler who was good enough to win the American Heavyweight Championship, inexplicably decided to try his hand at professional boxing. His opponent was friend and sparring partner, “Denver” Ed Martin, who would win the Colored World Heavyweight Boxing Championship. Dr. Benjamin Franklin Roller was a unique athlete