Episode 34 – Ed Lewis in 1913
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In this episode, we discuss the wrestling schedule of Ed “Strangler” Lewis during 1913.
Update
Update on next book about Ed “Strangler” Lewis.
Next episode, we will look at Jack Pfefer exposing the worked nature of professional wrestling in 1933.
WWE is under new ownership. First order of business is to release more wrestlers and leave Fox for the USA Network and four NBC specials.
R.I.P. Brett “Wayne” Sawyer (1960 – 2023)
Ed ” Strangler” Lewis Using Guillotine on Ivan Linow Before It Was Outlawed from the Public Domain
Main Content
Lewis begins the year on January 24, 1913, in Louisville, Kentucky wrestling Bob Fredericks. Lewis wins the two-out-of-three-falls worked match, where they trade falls back and forth.
Cover of Origins of a Legend, the true story of Ed “Strangler” Lewis’s early career
On January 31, 1913, Lewis wrestles another shooter William Demetral in Louisville. In a worked match, Demetral wins when Lewis strikes his head on the floor and is unable to continue.
On February 6, 1913, Demetral was supposed to wrestle Bob Fredericks in Lexington but could not get to town, so Lewis stepped in. The men wrestled to a draw but Lewis was considered the loser because he did not throw Fredericks twice in an hour. Promoters were trying to preserve the Demetral-Fredericks match.
On February 19, 1913, Lewis wrestled Jack Stone in Lexington. The men traded falls before Stone suffered an injury and had to forfeit the match to Lewis.
On February 22, 1913, in Louisville, Lewis defeated “Doc” Domer of Chicago in two straight falls in less than forty-nine minutes.
On March 6, 1913, Lewis wrestled a rough match against German wrestler Harry Faust in Lexington. Lewis primarily worked matches but was capable of handling himself even at 21-years-of-age. Faust may have tried him because Lewis only needed twenty-two and eighteen minutes to pin Faust in straight falls.
On March 12, 1913, Lewis defeated Gus Chamos in two straight falls in Lexington.
On March 14, 1913, Lewis wrestled a draw with Young Olsen, who I believe is Charlie Olsen based on the newspaper picture, in Louisville.
On March 28, 1913, Lewis defeated Charlie Olsen winning two of the falls in the best 2-out-of-3 falls match in Lexington. With this match Ed Lewis matches the total number of matches Evan “Strangler” Lewis wrestled in 1886.
On April 8, 1913, Lewis defeated Eddie Shultz in Lexington. Lewis won the last two falls including using the “stranglehold” or guillotine choke.
On April 17, 1913, Lewis rematched Eddie Shultz in Lexington. The stranglehold was barred but Lewis still won the match by taking two out of three falls.
On April 18, 1913, Lewis rematched with William Demetral in Louisville. Lewis won this match in two straight falls. Lewis used the stranglehold to take the first fall.
On April 28, 1913, Lewis wrestled Charles Olsen for the third time in 1913 in Lexington. Lewis won the match in two straight falls.
On May 5, 1913, Lewis wrestled Bob Fredericks again in Lexington. Each men scored a fall before resorting to rough tactics in the third fall. After a warning from the local police to knock it off, the Lexington Police stopped the match.
On May 9, 1913, Lewis rematched with William Demetral in Louisville. This time Demetral won in two straight falls because Lewis was “sick with indigestion.”
On May 14, 1913, Lewis lost to Dr. Benjamin F. Roller in Lexington in two straight falls after submitting to the toe hold at 48 minutes of the first fall. Lewis appeared to injured but came out for the second fall, which he lost in a minute.
On May 21, 1913, Lewis wrestled a rematch with Bob Fredericks in Lexington. Lewis took the first fall but Bob Fredericks took the last two falls to win the match. Lewis threw up several times and was favoring the leg Roller injured.
On June 6, 1913, Lewis wrestled a rematch with Jack Stone in Lexington. After three hours of exciting wrestling, the men agreed to a draw.
On June 17, 1913, Lewis wrestled a rematch with Dr. Ben Roller in Lexington. Lewis won the first fall with a stranglehold. Roller won the next two falls.
On June 26, 1913, Lewis wrestled a rematch with Bob Fredericks in Paris, Kentucky. Lewis won in straight falls with a stranglehold and a referee’s DQ of Fredericks in the second fall.
Lewis wrestled twenty matches in the first half of 1913. Lewis wrestled 13 times in Lexington, where he and promoter Jerry Walls lived. Lewis wrestled six times in Louisville, which is 80 miles from Louisville. Lewis wrestled one spot show in Paris, Kentucky. Paris is less than 20 miles from Lexington.
Louisville’s population in 1910 was 223,928. Lexington’s population in 1910 was 35,099. Paris, Kentucky’s population was 5,859 in 1910.
Podcast Art for the It Was Almost Real: The Pro Wrestling History Podcast
Review
In this episode, we look at Angelo Poffo vs. Jerry Christie from 1950s Chicago.
Show Closing
Next episode, we will look at Jack Pfefer exposing the worked nature of professional wrestling in 1933.
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