Lewis Takes Title Back from Munn

On the same day Joe Stecher wrestled Stanislaus Zbyszko for the recognized version of the World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship in St. Louis, E “Estrangulador” Lewis challenged “Gran” Wayne Munn polo seu Championship Wrestling Michigan-Illinois World Heavyweight disputada,,en,Lewis perdeu o título para Munn en febreiro,,en,Zbyszko derrotado Munn nunha famosa dobre-cross,,en,A partida entre,,en,acende,,en,esta semana o que significa que o meu bebé se tornou un home,,en,Eu normalmente non me sinto vello pero faime entender o tempo está voando,,en,Vostede segue a evolucionar para unha nova independente trazar o seu propio camiño,,en,Vai facer ben na vida, sempre que permanecer fiel aos seus principios,,en,Retos son temporais,,en. Lewis dropped the title to Munn in February 1925. In April 1925, Zbyszko defeated Munn in a famous double-cross. The match between Lewis and Munn was to put the title back on long-time champion Lewis.

Lewis and Munn wrestled on May 30, 1925 in Michigan City, Indiana. Two days prior to the match, Lewis won in court against current World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion Stanislaus Zbyszko. Zbyszko tried for a court injunction to bar Lewis from claiming the World Championship. Zbyszko knew after he legitimately beat Munn, the Gold Dust Trio promotion would put the belt back on Lewis, a legitimate wrestler.

While wrestling was prearranged, the wrestlers tried to hide the fact from the public. Several writers suspected both title bouts on May 30, 1925 were arranged finishes, they didn’t have any proof. Porén, the bouts were meant to complete the double cross. Zbyszko was dropping his title to former World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion Joe Stecher. E “Estrangulador” Lewis would take back the disputed title from the man he loaned it to.

Before this match occurred, Lewis and Munn built excitement for the match with a promotional stunt.

When Munn won over Lewis in February 1925, Lewis claimed he lost due to injury and refused to turn over the championship belt. Munn had a different belt during his reign.

Munn refused to continue as champion unless Lewis turned over the belt to the commission. The winner of this match would have the original title. While this scenario was now preposterous with Munn’s loss to Zbyszko, the promotional team went through with the original story line.

Lewis didn’t want to embarrass Munn any more than he already had been in the match with Zbyszko. Lewis made Munn look good by actually letting Munn pin him with a crotch hold and half nelson at 24 actas, 55 seconds.

Lewis took over in the second fall. Early in his wrestling career, Lewis used a version of the stranglehold employed by 19th Century wrestler Evan “Estrangulador” Lewis. After the move was banned, Lewis switched to the headlock. Lewis employed the headlock freely in this match. After a series of 20 headlocks, Lewis pinned Munn after 17 actas, 11 seconds.

Lewis blew through the third fall much quicker. 7 headlocks led to the third and final fall at 7 minutes even. E “Estrangulador” Lewis was the World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion again despite the disputed status of his title.

“Gran” Wayne Munn would wrestle for a few more months before quietly retiring in 1926. Only five years later at 34 years age, Wayne Munn passed away from kidney problems on January 9, 1931. Munn was living with his wife and daughter in San Antonio, Texas at the time.

E “Estrangulador” Lewis would reclaim the undisputed title in 1928, when Joe Stecher agreed to do business with him. Lewis won the World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship four times in his career. Lewis wrestled from 1905, cando era 14 anos, ata 1948, when he was a legally blind 57-year-old. Lewis lost his eye sight from trachoma, which he contracted from dirty wrestling mats.

When do you think professional wrestling started pre-arranging the matches? Podes deixar un comentario ou facer unha pregunta sobre este ou calquera post na sección de comentarios a continuación ou no meu Facebook page ou Twitter perfil.

Source: O St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Maio 31, 1925 edition, p. 12

Pin It