Episode 6 – Uitgewerkte titel-wedstryde

Julie 25, 2022 Ken Zimmerman Jr. Podcast

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In hierdie episode, Ek sal praat oor 'n paar gewerkte titelwedstryde vir die Amerikaanse swaargewigstoeikampioenskap.

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Fred Beell was 'n sterk, talented professional wrestler aan die begin van die 20ste eeu. Alhoewel kragtig gebou, Beell het nie meer as 5 gestaan nie’05” en geweeg 168 pond. Tog, he improbably defeated Frank Gotch for the American Heavyweight Wrestling Championship on December 1, 1906.

Fred Beell posing for the camera in the early Twentieth Century from the Public Domain

Gotch won the first fall without a problem but the second fall proved controversial. Om die tweede herfs te begin, Beell het die aanval geneem en Gotch verskeie kere geslaan. Dit het gelyk of Gotch moeg was, 'n ongewone situasie vir die goed gekondisioneerde kampioen. Beell het Gotch weer opgetel, maar gestruikel. Albei mans het van die mat op die harde vloer geval.

Gotch het swaar geslaan met sy kop wat die vloer tref. Beell was not seriously affected. Hy het Gotch vinnig omgedraai vir die tweede val. Ligswaargewig-stoeier Charley Olsen, wat as die skeidsregter vir hierdie wedstryd gedien het, tik Beell op sy rug wat aandui dat Beell die tweede val geneem het.

Beell stood to his feet, but Gotch remained prone on the mat. Two police officers, sekuriteit vir die geleentheid verskaf, helped carry the half-conscious champion back to his dressing room for the second intermission.

In Gotch se outobiografie, he said he struck his head on a post. Egter, this match does not appear to have taken place in a ring. It is more likely he hit his head on the floor although if there were stanchions around the mat, hy kon een van daardie geslaan het.

The police officers carried Gotch back to the ring, where Beell pinned him in 50 seconds for the third fall and championship. I suspected Gotch and Beell worked this match because of the fanciful finish and a rematch had already been scheduled for Kansas City, Missouri on December 18, 1906.

8,000 fans crowded into the Kansas City Convention Hall to see Gotch take the title back in two straight falls. Gotch and Beell liked worked the matches for the large payday in Kansas City and to make Gotch look beatable. Fans started to see Gotch as invincible, which made it harder to convince fans to pay to see Gotch crush his opponents.

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