Posts about professional wrestling history from the 1860s to the 1940s.
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. Zbyszko received and lost the match in a legitimate contest during 1910. Zbyszko continued wrestling for a few more years and won the World Greco-Roman Heavyweight Wrestling Championship in 1914 from hated rival Aleksander […]
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My stepdad Ernest C. Diaz married my mother on June 8, 1981. Dad and Mom worked to make sure we had a normal family life. In 1981 or 1982, they decided to take my sisters and me to a professional wrestling show at the Checkerdome (also known as the Arena). Our favorite wrestlers were the Von Erichs. David Von Erich […]
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Frank Gotch holds the title of America’s greatest legitimate professional wrestler. Gotch competed in mostly legitimate contests with a few pre-arranged or “worked” matches thrown in the mix. By 1904 or 1905, no one could really beat Gotch unless Gotch allowed it. In the early years of his career, Gotch was not so dominant. Gotch dropped matches to his mentor, […]
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Stanislaus Zbyszko was born Stanislaw Jan Cyganiewicz on April 1, 1880 in Jodlow, Poland, which was part of the Austria-Hungarian Empire. Zbyszko chose the ring name Stanislaus Zbyszko because it was the name of a fictional Polish knight. An article in the Walla Walla, Washington newspaper, The Evening Statesman’s on Tuesday, February 8, 1910, publicized Zbyszko’s university and intellectual accomplishments. […]
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George Hackenschmidt (1877-1968) was a world record holding weightlifter and World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion before wrestling was prearranged and lifters were using steroids. Hackenschmidt achieved a level of greatness due to several factors. He achieved a high level of physical fitness. His physical condition allowed him to be the most successful wrestler of his era. A few wrestlers may have been […]
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The May 9, 1905 edition of the St. Louis Republic’s sport section contained a story about an upcoming match between local wrestler George Baptiste and the touring World Wrestling Champion, George Hackenschmidt. The paper did not give Baptiste a chance against Hackenschmidt, who just beat Tom Jenkins for the World Championship. If the editor knew “Hack’s” condition at the time, he may have […]
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The powerful William Muldoon was considered invincible as Greco-Roman World Wrestling Champion. Only one man seriously challenged Muldoon during his dominant reign. The 165-pound Clarence Whistler consistently gave Muldoon his toughest challenges. Muldoon and Whistler met on Thursday, November 1, 1883 in San Francisco, California in one of their several matches. William Muldoon was almost a head taller and weighed […]
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