Lewis Frustrates Stecher thiab cob moos

Ed “Strangler” Lewis thiab Joe Stecher ua yog ib lub rivalries loj tshaj ntawm qhov ntxov txheej txheem ntawm kev wrestling exhibition era. Lewis thiab Stecher wrestled ntau zaus xws li ib teev twg tsib thiab ib nrab hnub kos 1916. Ob peb qhov yuam kev thaum lawv tshum sim rau muab qhov tseeb. Lus dab neeg tseem muaj qhov no uas Lewis yeej tau tuav Stecher ib “match tua” los yog tseeb contest hauv 1920.

Txawm li cas los, Lewis’ thiab Stecher tus thawj match hnub Wednesday, Lub kaum hli ntuj 20, 1915 nyob rau Omaha, Nebraska tsis yog ib tug tib neeg coob pleasing yi. Thaum Lewis kaum ob xyoos thaum laus 24 xyoo, cov 22 xyoo Stecher muaj toured Frank Gotch thiab yawg kub yus. Stecher had more world-class experience at the time and claimed the World Heavyweight Championship.

Yog yus paub txog Stecher, Lewis ua tib zoo pov tseg tying nrog tus me wrestler. qhov tseeb tiag, Lewis avoided tying up with Stecher for most of the match and simply pulled away from him each time they came close to a tie-up.

After two hours of Lewis’ avoiding the match, both the fans and Stecher were frustrated and angry. Whether this match started their rivalry or they disliked each other prior to the match, Stecher charged at Lewis and knocked him out of the ring.

After the fall, Lewis complained to the referee that he struck his head on a chair. Lewis claimed he could not continue the match, took the count out and headed back to the dressing room after this anti-climatic finish.

Mayor Benjamin Bosse was one of the fans dismayed by the outcome and sent a physician back to check on Lewis. Lewis was sitting in a chair, joking and did not appear to be injured.

When the physician reported this information to Mayor Bosse, the mayor exploded. Mayor Bosse ordered the purses of both wrestler’s be held up until he could launch an investigation to determine if the match was legitimate or not. Charges of fraud and prearranged matches dogged professional wrestling since the 19th Century. Mayor Bosse assumed promoters had “tsau” the match.

It is more likely that Lewis knew he was not ready for Stecher yet but didn’t want to get pinned by him, so it was Lewis’ way out of the match. The following year both men wrestled to the almost six-hour draw.

Greco-Roman World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion Aleksander “Alex” Aberg was campaigning to replace Frank Gotch as the recognized World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion. Txawm li cas los, it looked like Stecher or Lewis would be soon recognized as the heir apparent. Lewis probably wasn’t ready to handle Stecher yet.

Koj yuav tawm ib saib los nug cov lus nug txog qhov no los yog tej tsev xa rau kuv Facebook phab, Twitter profile thiab Google phab.

Tau qhov twg los: Cov neeg dawb huv Louis tom qab Dispatch, Lub kaum hli ntuj 21, 1915 ib tsab, p. 21

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