Combat Sports Historian and Martial Artist
https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/25sh5a/Episode_418ooth.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadIn this episode, we discuss a new discover about
George Tragos gained fame as the trainer of Lou Thesz, the dominant National Wrestling Alliance
On November 19, 1935, professional wrestler Ray Steele met professional boxer Kingfish Levinsky in a
Who is the greatest legitimate professional wrestler to wrestle in the United States? How do
On February 22, 1918, former World Bantamweight and Featherweight Boxing Champion “Terrible” Terry McGovern died in New York City’s Kings County Hospital. McGovern checked in a few days earlier with what McGovern thought was a severe upper respiratory infection. However, doctors diagnosed pneumonia. McGovern went from walking and talking to unresponsive in just one or two days. McGovern never recovered.
Frank Gotch dominated American wrestling from 1905 to his retirement in 1913. Gotch, the current American Heavyweight Wrestling Champion, won the biggest match of his career on April 3, 1908. Gotch defeated current World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion Georg Hackenschmidt in Chicago, Illinois. Gotch proved as dominant a World Champion as he had been as the American Champion. Gotch agreed to
On Thursday, April 29, 1909, Frank Gotch traveled to Memphis, Tennessee to wrestle highly regarded light heavyweight wrestler Charles Hackenschmidt. Hackenschmidt won the World Light Heavyweight Wrestling Championship under his real name, John Berg. Although fans thought well of Berg, they did not see him as a threat to defeat Frank Gotch in a straight match. To increase fan interest
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. After 1915, all wrestlers worked their matches. Wrestlers wrestled legitimate contests only to settle promotional dispute or to pull off a double-cross. From 1900 to 1915, wrestlers engaged in a mixture of worked matches
On 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
No one took advantage of the No Decision era of professional boxing like Battling Levinsky. Levinsky was a skilled defensive boxer, who took little damage during his fights. When Ring Magazine asked him why he was so active, sometimes taking 3 fights in a day around New York, Levinsky said, “I like money and I never get hurt.” Levinsky was
(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
On January 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
On October 20, 1916, Ad Santel, a noted “hooker” or skilled submission wrestler, met Taro Miyake, a Jujitsu black belt, in a mixed wrestling vs. jujitsu contest. After about 20 seconds, Santel secured a half-Nelson on Miyake, lifted him off the mat and slammed Miyake to the floor. The impact knocked Miyake senseless. Miyake’s seconds assisted him back to the
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