Episode 99 – Verne Was a Mark for Verne

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In this episode, I review The Wrestler (1974) and discuss the 1891 wrestling match between former American Heavyweight Wrestling Champion Joe Acton and future World Heavyweight Boxing Champion Bob Fitzsimmons.

Review

The Wrestler (1974) was a much better film than Mad Bull (1977). Some of the biggest stars of the 1970s professional wrestling scene starred in the film. The film centered on Verne Gagne’s AWA promotion, which is where nearly all the wrestlers in the film were working at the time.

My only criticism is that much like the AWA promotion, the movie revolved around Verne Gagne, who plays Mike Bullard. Bullard is Verne Gagne under a different name.

Update

I did not have to rebuild the mailing list from scratch.

Recommendation

Verne Gagne vs. Don Leo Jonathan from Chicago in 1955.

Main Content

In 1891, former American Heavyweight Wrestling Champion Joe Acton wrestled future World Heavyweight Boxing Champion Bob Fitzsimmons in San Francisco.

The men worked the best two-out-of-three-falls catch-as-catch-can wrestling match. Acton even dropped a fall to Fitzsimmons, probably to make a large payday for gambling on Fitzsimmons winning the first fall.

If Acton had been shooting, or wrestling letigimately with Fitzsimmons, Acton would have won the match much quicker and may have hurt Fitzsimmons.

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