Staraí Spóirt agus Ealaíontóir Comhraic
Posts about professional wrestling from 1870 to 1930.
Dan McLeod defeated Martin “Farmer” Burns for the American Heavyweight Wrestling Championship during October 1897. McLeod held the championship for four years until he met Frank Gotch’s toughest opponent, Tom Jenkins. In early 1899, McLeod made a couple title defenses in Minnesota. On February 24, 1899, McLeod wrestled St. Louis Middleweight Wrestling Champion George Baptiste at Conover Hall in front
Professional wrestling evolved into an athletic exhibition from legitimate contests for two reasons. I have written extensively about the first reason. Legitimate contests between equally skilled wrestlers were often long, boring affairs with little action. These contests turned off fans and prevented professional wrestling exploding as a spectator sport. I have not written as much about the second reason. An
On Monday, Márta 26, 1888, Joe Acton, who specialized in catch wrestling, wrestled Professor William Miller, an Australian wrestler, and bare-knuckle prizefighter, in a two-out-of-three-falls Greco-Roman wrestling match. Both men’s camps believed wrestling the match in this style ensured the fairest contest between them. The men wrestled for $500.00 a side. 1,500 fans, a large crowd for the era, turned
Prior to wrestling in Kentucky in the early 1910s, wrestling fans knew Ed “Strangler” Lewis as Bob Fredrichs. Born Robert Friedrich in Nekoosa, Wisconsin, Lewis made his professional wrestling debut in 1905, while still only 14 bliain d'aois. Kentucky promoters thought Bob Fredrichs too plain, so Lewis chose his new name as an homage to fellow Wisconsin native and original
Ag beagnach 70 bliana d'aois, Rinne Stanislaus Zbyszko a chéad scannán in Night and the City (1950). Bille mar Gregorious, wrestler ar scor agus athair tionscnóir wrestling Londain, Léirigh Zbyszko a scileanna wrestling, fiú ag a aois chun cinn, i radharc sínithe an scannáin. Tosaíonn an scannán le fear sa tóir ar Harry Fabian, hustler Londain ag lorg i gcónaí
On May 7, 1901, Throid Tom Jenkins leis an bhfathach Nouralah Hassan i gCathair Nua-Eabhrac. Born in Bulgaria during 1870, Hassan stood six feet, eight inches tall and weighed 331 punt. While Jenkins possessed superior wrestling skill, fans and reporters expected Hassan’s immense size to present problems for Jenkins. Promoters booked the men to wrestle at Madison Square Garden in
Ar Dé hAoine, Meitheamh 29, 1883, fourteen wrestlers paid $50 to enter a two-day tournament for a $500 championship belt and $500 prize. Richard K. Fox, owner and publisher of the Police Gazette, put up the prize money and belt. Fox avidly supported the promotion of both professional boxing and professional wrestling. While fourteen men attempted to enter the tournament, Fox
Ar Lúnasa 4, 1939, Mort Henderson passed away in Rochester, New York at 60 bliana d'aois. Wrestling fans likely did not remember the name Mort Henderson but as his alter ego, the original Masked Marvel, he saved the fall version of the 1915 International Wrestling Tournament in New York City. Sam Rachmann promoted the tournament with the goal of
When Wladek Zbyszko travelled from the United States to Brazil for a lucrative tour on Brazil’s well-developed professional wrestling circuit, Zbyszko little suspected that he would wrestle his first contest in almost twenty years. Like their American counterparts, Brazilian professional wrestlers worked with each other to put on exciting exhibitions for the fans. The Brazilian professional wrestlers occasionally wrestled a
Ar Deireadh Fómhair 26, 1897, Martin “Farmer” Burns defended his American Heavyweight Wrestling Championship against Scottish catch wrestler Dan McLeod. Burns and McLeod were two of the top three or four catch-as-catch-can wrestlers in the United States at the time. 1,200 fans attended the match held at the Grand Opera House in Indianapolis, Indiana. Promoters often put a mat or heavy