Epizod 84 – Closed Door Match/Iron Claw

Aprel 7, 2025 Ken Zimmerman Jr. Podcast

Bu epizodda, I review a closed door match between Tom Jenkins and Fred Beell. I also review The Iron Claw (2023).

Update

I gave a presentation What are Yeggmen? The intersection of Building History and True Crime at the Eugene Field House and Toy Museum on Saturday, Aprel 5, 2025.

Ötən həftə, A Geek History of Time podcast released episode one of a podcast we did about Stanislaus Zbyszko double-crossing the Gold Dust Trio.

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

Main Contest

I discuss the closed door match between American Heavyweight Wrestling Champion Tom Jenkins and Fred Beell. Jenkins wrestled Beell in front of one hundred VIPS at a New York City gymnasium in a private match for $1,000 bir tərəf.

Jenkins wrestled Beell in a best two-out-of-three-falls match. Beell pursued Jenkins for two to three months before Jenkins agreed to the match.

Baxış-icmal

I reviewed The Iron Claw (2023), a film based on the lives of the Von Erich family.

The film opens in Buffalo, New York in 1959 with Fritz wrestling. The film starts out well because Buffalo is where Jack Adkisson became Fritz Von Erich. Adkisson’s metamorphosis causes promoters to notice him for the first time. Holt McCallany does an outstanding job as Fritz Von Erich.

Zac Effron plays Kevin Von Erich, the surviving brother, who is the focus of the film. We see the first timeline inaccuracies in Kevin’s wrestling career. Kevin started first in 1976, but only wrestled part-time as Kevin played football for North Texas.

David started in 1977 but did not go back to college. David had more ring experience than Kevin, when Kevin started wrestling full-time. David did not debut in 1979.

It is a good film rife with historical inaccuracies. As the real life story it tells, the director produced a tragic film but the focus on Kevin and his family does leave the viewer with some hope.