Category: Ранняя гісторыя прафесійнай барацьбы

George Tragos gained fame as the trainer of Lou Thesz, the dominant National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Champion of the 1950s and early 1960s. Tragos, a 1920 Olympian for his native Greece, possessed an impeccable resume in legitimate wrestling. Born March 14, 1901, in Messinia, Greece, Tragos won national wrestling titles before representing Greece at the 1920 Olympics at only

At the end of 1932, 22-гадовая Віла Мілі падала ў суд на мужа, прафесійны барэц Уладэк Збышко, на развод па прычыне фізічнай жорсткасці і шлюбнай здрады. Мілі абвінаваціў 41-гадовага Збышка ў фізычнай жорсткасьці за тое, што ён «занадта моцна абняў яе». Суддзя Дан з Вярхоўнага суда Брукліна разглядаў справу аб разводзе. Ён выказаў сумнеў, што Збышко жорстка абыходзіўся з жонкай. Аднак, he did not dismiss the

While researching the history of the American Heavyweight Wrestling Championship (1881 – 1922), I discovered Evan “Strangler” Lewis’ early matches in Montana. Prior to researching this topic, I thought Lewis started his career by winning a 64-man wrestling tournament in Montana during 1882. Аднак, Lewis did not win the tournament. In May 1882, Lewis wrestled in a Cornish wrestling tournament

Frank Gotch dominated American wrestling from 1905 to his retirement in 1913. Gotch, the current American Heavyweight Wrestling Champion, won the biggest match of his career on April 3, 1908. Gotch defeated current World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion Georg Hackenschmidt in Chicago, Illinois. Gotch proved as dominant a World Champion as he had been as the American Champion. Gotch agreed to

У чацвер, Красавіка 29, 1909, Frank Gotch traveled to Memphis, Tennessee to wrestle highly regarded light heavyweight wrestler Charles Hackenschmidt. Hackenschmidt won the World Light Heavyweight Wrestling Championship under his real name, John Berg. Although fans thought well of Berg, they did not see him as a threat to defeat Frank Gotch in a straight match. To increase fan interest

Joe Stecher wrestled during a transitional time in American professional wrestling. Prior to 1900, wrestlers engaged primarily in legitimate contests although wrestlers did work matches occasionally. Пасля 1915, all wrestlers worked their matches. Wrestlers wrestled legitimate contests only to settle promotional dispute or to pull off a double-cross. Ад 1900 для 1915, wrestlers engaged in a mixture of worked matches

Жнівень 7, 1882, American Heavyweight Wrestling Champion Edwin Bibby defended his title against English Champion Joe Acton at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The men wrestled a “catch-as-catch-can” match for the world championship. Аднак, the public did not recognize the winner of the bout as the world champion. The public recognized the winner as the American Heavyweight

(This post is an excerpt from my new book, Gotch vs. Zbyszko: The Quest for Redemption, published on February 2, 2022.) The most important event affecting the future of Frank Gotch’s career occurred on January 11, 1911. Gotch married the former Gladys Oestrich at her parent’s home in Humboldt, Аёва. Г-жа. Gotch preferred that Frank retire from the ring which

Студзеня 2, 1911, Swiss wrestler John Lemm found himself the laughingstock of professional wrestling fans and reporters. The incident occurred when Lemm wrestled Stanislaus Zbyszko in Buffalo, New York. Fans considered Zbyszko the top contender for Frank Gotch’s world title. Zbyszko was a world class wrestler although more skilled in Greco-Roman wrestling than catch wrestling. Lemm was a skilled