Ken Zimmerman Jr.

Joe Stecher wrestled during a transitional time in American professional wrestling. Prior to 1900, wrestlers engaged primarily in legitimate contests although wrestlers did work matches occasionally. Etter 1915, all wrestlers worked their matches. Wrestlers wrestled legitimate contests only to settle promotional dispute or to pull off a double-cross. Fra 1900 til 1915, wrestlers engaged in a mixture of worked matches

August 7, 1882, American Heavyweight Wrestling Champion Edwin Bibby defended his title against English Champion Joe Acton at Madison Square Garden in New York City. The men wrestled a “catch-as-catch-can” match for the world championship. However, the public did not recognize the winner of the bout as the world champion. The public recognized the winner as the American Heavyweight

(This post is an excerpt from my new book, Gotch vs. Zbyszko: The Quest for Redemption, published on February 2, 2022.) The most important event affecting the future of Frank Gotch’s career occurred on January 11, 1911. Gotch married the former Gladys Oestrich at her parent’s home in Humboldt, Iowa. Mrs. Gotch preferred that Frank retire from the ring which

Januar 2, 1911, Swiss wrestler John Lemm found himself the laughingstock of professional wrestling fans and reporters. The incident occurred when Lemm wrestled Stanislaus Zbyszko in Buffalo, New York. Fans considered Zbyszko the top contender for Frank Gotch’s world title. Zbyszko was a world class wrestler although more skilled in Greco-Roman wrestling than catch wrestling. Lemm was a skilled

During the early 1920s, Tex Rickard declared war on his former boxing promotional partner, Jack Curley. Curley promoted professional wrestling in New York City. He also organized promoters in large cities such as Boston and St. Louis into a wrestling trust. The trust controlled the World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship. The trust froze out any wrestler, who refused to go along

I 1897, Dan McLeod slo Martin «Farmer» Burns for American Heavyweight Wrestling Championship. Etter nederlaget, Burns kjempet på deltid da han gikk over til sin primære rolle som brytetrener. Over the next 30 år, Burns trente de fleste av de legitime fangstbryterne i USA. Burns begynte å turnere inn 1899, where he would both wrestle an opponent in

This week’s post is a confession of sorts. For år, I have written that Frank Gotch was the only wrestler to defeat Stanislaus Zbyszko during his initial tour of America between 1909 and 1914. I recently read Wrestling in the Garden, Volum 1: 1875 til 1939; The Battle for New York – Works, Shootes and Double Crosses (affiliate link) av

One of the legendary tales about Joe Stecher concerns a legitimate contest he had with one of Martin “Farmer” Burns wrestlers, when Stecher was barely out of high school. Burns heard about Stecher’s growing reputation and decided to test him with one of his wrestlers. For år, I thought Stecher defeated Yusif Mahmout but he actually wrestled Yussif Hussane. Den