Ken Zimmerman Jr.

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

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

I 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, som kjempet som Pat O’Shocker gjennom det meste av sin brytekarriere, fant seg i søkelyset i 1933. O’Shocker lette ikke etter denne typen berømmelse skjønt. Aviser hadde en historie om hvordan brytingspromotører prøvde å bruke O’Shocker i et planlagt dobbeltkryss. Joseph “Toots” Mondt booked wrestlers out of New York and was aligned with