Ken Zimmerman Jr.

Edwin Bibby and Duncan C. Ross established the first recognized professional wrestling championship in the United States on January 19, 1881. The men wrestled catch-as-catch-can style for the American Heavyweight Wrestling Championship. William Muldoon was the World Heavyweight Champion based on his defeat of Thiebaud Bauer in 1880. Andre Christol brought the World Title to the United States in the

In his book Hooker, Lou Thesz wrote about the rivalry between two of his favorite wrestlers, Joe Stecher and Ed “Strangler” Lewis.  Stecher and Lewis would emerge as the two best legitimate professional wrestler of the 1910s.  Either man could beat every other wrestler at the time in a legitimate contest or “shoot”. The men wrestled three long, boring contests

Prior to the creation of the territorial system in 1948, pro wrestling promoters fought with each other to control the world championship.  Promoting the world champion led to bigger gates, so most promoters wanted to control the championship. In the 1930s, promoters would enter into agreements with each other but they were often fleeting.  When one promoter got offended, thought

In 1899, Martin “Farmer” Burns was transitioning into the role of part-time wrestler and full-time trainer.  One of his most famous pupils would be Frank Gotch, who Burns defeated a week after this match.  Burns was 38 years-old and had lost his American Heavyweight Wrestling Championship two years earlier. Burns blended both roles on a very busy December night in

William Hayes Shaw, who wrestled as Pat O’Shocker through most of his wrestling career, found himself in the spotlight in 1933.  O’Shocker wasn’t looking for this sort of fame though.   Newspapers were carrying a story about how wrestling promoters tried to use O’Shocker in a planned double-cross. Joseph “Toots” Mondt  booked wrestlers out of New York and was aligned with

In 1933, about 10 years into his wrestling career, Jim Browning would win the world title.  Starting his career in Kansas and his home state of Missouri, Browning would have to leave these familiar grounds, if he intended to reach the highest pinnacle in professional wrestling. Because World Champions had to tour nationally, and often internationally, the world title was

I’ve written in the past that Fall Guys: The Barnums of Bounce by Marcus Griffin is a problematic source.  While Griffin has insider knowledge due to his time in the Buffalo promotional office in the 1930s, he wrote the book for the purpose of revenge against the promoters who fired him. The book contains factual information mixed in with interesting

In the early 1920s, Christos Theofilou began wrestling as Jim Londos after several years as the gimmicky “Wrestling Plasterer”.  Londos probably didn’t realize that the name change would be the first step into him becoming the biggest box office attraction in 1930s professional wrestling. The second step was his emergence as a main event wrestler in St. Louis.  Born in