Combat kev ua si Historian thiab Martial Artist
Posts about professional wrestling from 1870 mus 1930.
Hnub Monday, Hlis ntuj nqeg 6, 1932, 41-year-old Ed “Strangler” Lewis wrestled one of his last legitimate contests to settle a promotional dispute in New York. After initially being allies in promotion, Jim Londos broke away from Jack Curley’s group in New York. To restore peace, the parties decided on a legitimate contest or “shoot” to settle the dispute. Joseph "Toots" Mondt
Tuesday, Hlis ntuj nqeg 12, 1916, local favorite, John “The Nebraska Tigerman” Pesek wrestled fellow shooter, Al “Dutch” Mantell, in a worked match. Pesek recently trained with fellow Nebraska wrestler and recognized World Champion Joe Stecher prior to this match. Pesek developed a notorious reputation for shooting with other wrestlers. Txawm li cas los, Pesek was a 22-year-old up-and-comer still learning to wrestle, Thauj tw
Nyob rau 1880s thaum ntxov, Sorakichi Matsuda, or Matsada in most American newspapers, traveled to the United States to wrestle professionally. Japan did not have a developed professional wrestling circuit, so Matsuda thought he would bring the sport back to Japan after an apprenticeship in the United States. After training for a while, Matsuda signed an agreement to wrestle the first
Oscar Wasem pib nws cov hauj lwm nyob rau hauv St. Louis, Missouri under the tutelage of George Baptiste. Wasem was a good enough wrestler that Wasem defeated a young Frank Gotch in 1901. Wasem, cov me nyuam. Louis Champion, pinned Gotch, Iowa Champion. Thaum Gotch mus ua America tus loj tshaj tseeb kev wrestler, Wasem tseem nyob ib solid journeyman. Wasem supplemented his professional
I recently discovered a three minute clip on YouTube, which included two of Jim Londos’ matches from the 1930s. In the first match, Londos wrestles Abe Coleman. In the second match, Londos wrestles a mixed styles match with Oki Shikina, who was trained by Taro Miyake, the Judo black belt and professional wrestler. Londos was the biggest box office star
Txog rau hnub Friday, Kaum ib hlis 27, 1891, former American Heavyweight Wrestling Champion Joe Acton wrestled future World Heavyweight Boxing Champion Bob Fitzsimmons in San Francisco, California. The men wrestled for a reported $1,000.00 hnab tawv pojniam. Acton usually gave up size to his opponent but Acton outweighed the 148-pound Fitzsimmons by seven pounds. The men wrestled a two-out-of-three falls match according to catch-as-catch-can wrestling
Nyob rau lub hlis ntuj nqeg 17, 1923, Jim Browning wrestled a rare match in his hometown of Verona, Missouri. Four hundred fans from the surrounding area crowded into the venue to watch the match between Browning and Clarence Jenkins, a wrestler from Emporia, Kansas. Both Browning and Jenkins wrestled most of their matches in Kansas during 1923. Browning was starting a career that
Nyob rau lub kaum ib hlis 18, 1938, former world wrestling champion Jim Londos wrestled current world champion Bronko Nagurski, the great former football player for the Chicago Bears. The men wrestled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for Nagurski’s version of the world wrestling championship. You can view the 14-minute match in its entirety on YouTube. When I viewed the match for the first time, ntau
Saum ntuj 5, 1898, Yusuf Ismail wrestled Tom Jenkins in Cleveland, Ohio. Ismail only toured the United States for six months in the early part of 1898. Ismail wrestled less than ten matches but left a path of destruction remembered to this day. Ismail made a powerful impression by easily defeating both Evan “Strangler” Lewis. Ismail also made a strong
John “The Nebraska Tigerman” Pesek wrestled two of the most famous legitimate contests of the 1920s. Pesek ended two promotional wars by agreeing to “shoot” contests with Marin Plestina and Nat Pendelton. Nyob rau hauv 1916, Pesek was an up-and-coming wrestler active in his home state of Nebraska. Txog hnub plaub, Cuaj hlis 14, 1916, Pesek wrestled another Nebraska wrestler, Chris Jordan. Fans and