Episode 31 – Evan Lewis’ Schedule
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In this episode, we discuss the wrestling schedule of Evan “Strangler” Lewis during 1886.
Update
Dan and I discuss where we were at on September 11, 2001.
We also discuss the recent death of the “Exotic” Adrian Street.
Podcast Art for the It Was Almost Real: The Pro Wrestling History Podcast
Main Content
In this episode, we discuss the wrestling schedule of Evan “Strangler” Lewis in 1886. In the next episode on September 25, 2023, we will look at the wrestling schedule of Ed “Strangler” Lewis in 1912.
Lewis started the year with a pair of matches against Sorakichi Matsuda in Chicago, Illinois.
Evan “Strangler” Lewis in his prime from the public domain
On January 28, 1886, Lewis wrestled Matsuda at the Central Music Hall. Lewis won the match with Matsuda with the stranglehold. Fans booed Lewis because he was slow to release the stranglehold.
On February 15, 1886, Lewis wrestled a rematch with Matsuda at the Central Music Hall. Lewis tried to break Matsuda’s ankle in this match since the Chicago mayor banned the stranglehold.
Lewis wrestled exhibition matches with Matsuda’s second, Edwin Bibby, during the week after the February 15, 1886 match. The matches were demonstrations not actual matches.
On March 8th, Lewis defeated Charles Moth in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The men wrestled a mixed styles match. Moth was based on of Minneapolis, Minnesota.
In mid-March, Lewis wrestled Bibby in a supposed contest at Pope Theater in St. Louis, Missouri.
Lewis did not wrestle in April 1886.
On May 28, 1886, Lewis wrestled William Muldoon in a Greco-Roman wrestling match in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Muldoon agreed to throw Lewis three times within sixty minutes. Muldoon retired after scoring only one fall in forty minutes.
On June 28, 1886, Lewis wrestled a Greco-Roman wrestling match in Chicago, Illinois. Lewis won the first fall, Muldoon the second fall and then Muldoon retired from the match. The World title should have went to Evan Lewis but Lewis never claimed nor did fans recognize him as World Champion.
On July 15, 1886, Lewis wrestled Tom Cannon in Cincinnati, Ohio. Cannon surprisingly won this match.
On August 26, 1886, Lewis rematched with Tom Cannon in Cincinnati, Ohio. Lewis strangled Cannon, who withdrew from the match after being choked.
On August 30, 1886, Lewis defeated Harry Hotaling in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
Lewis wrestled nine matches between January and August 1886 before returning to Madison, Wisconsin to await his manager Charles “Parson” Davies setting up the American title match with Joe Acton.
Lewis also wrestled all his matches in the Midwest. Travel was difficult at this time as Lewis was limited to trains and coaches.
Next month, we will compare this schedule to Ed “Strangler’ Lewis’ 1912 wrestling schedule.
Review
In this episode, we look at two matches from Ken Patera’s career. The first is a match between Patera and Bruiser Brody in Houston, Texas during 1981.
The second match was between Patera and “Bad News” Brown, Allen Coage, from Summerslam 1988.
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