Joe Stecher Beats Ad Santel

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Joe Stecher started out 1915, a fateful year for his career, with a victory over Adolph Ernst.  Ernst wrestled under the name Otto Carpenter for this match but was known to professional wrestling fans as Ad Santel.  Santel had a deserved reputation for being a vicious “hooker”, a wrestler skilled in submission holds. Stecher was a 22-year-old Nebraskan, who made

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Lewis Wrestles Mondt in Kansas City

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World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion Ed “Strangler” Lewis wrestled hundreds of legitimate wrestling matches with Joseph “Toots” Mondt over the years.  During conversations with his young protégé, Lou Thesz, Lewis said he only had to worry about losing to two wrestlers in his long career.  Only Mondt and Stanislaus Zbyszko had a chance of defeating him in a legitimate contest. One

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Prepping Munn for Lewis

big-wayne-munn

On Sunday, December 14, 1924, “Big” Wayne Munn wrestled Joseph “Toots” Mondt in the main event of the wrestling card at the Kansas City, Missouri, Convention Hall.  10,000 fans showed up to cheer on Munn, a former college football player for the University of Nebraska. Munn was billed at 6’06”, which may have been an exaggeration but he was significantly

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Farmer Burns Battles Evan Lewis

martin-farmer-burns

The biggest American pro wrestling match of the 19th Century occurred on April 21, 1895 in Chicago, Illinois.  Evan “Strangler” Lewis defended his American Heavyweight Wrestling Championship against Martin “Farmer” Burns.  The 34-year-olds were both skilled with “hooks” or submission holds making them the top of the food chain in legitimate professional wrestling. Lewis had been undisputed champion since 1893

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Gotch Bests Bulgarian

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On April 14, 1909, World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion Frank Gotch met Yussif Mahmout, a skilled Bulgarian wrestler, in Chicago, Illinois for his title. Fans considered Mahmout a tough challenger primarily because they had not seen him wrestle. Emil Klank, Gotch’s manager, convinced foreign wrestlers with good reputations like Mahmout and Stanislaus Zbyszko to travel to America to challenge Gotch. Fans

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Aberg Exposes Curley

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Aleksander “Alex” Aberg made headlines in 1917 during a lawsuit over his refusal to fulfill a wrestling committment in Boston during March 1917.  Aberg agreed to wrestle Wladek Zbyszko, his main opponent during the 1915 New York International Wrestling Tournaments, for Boston promoter George Touhey.  However, Aberg pulled out of the bout shortly after signing an agreement to wrestle his

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Clarence Whistler Dies in Australia

clarence-whistler

Clarence Whistler was born in Indiana during 1856.  While standing only 5’09” or so and weighing 165 pounds, Whistler was considered one of the most powerful wrestlers of his era.  Whistler was the only wrestler able to give William Muldoon a hard time during Muldoon’s 9-year run as World Champion. Whistler primarily competed in Greco-Roman wrestling, the dominant style in

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Zbyszko Injures Dr. Roller

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On May 17, 1910, Stanislaus Zbyszko’s year-long tour of America continued as he met Dr. Benjamin F. Roller in Buffalo, New York.  Zbyszko, a Greco-Roman Wrestling Champion from Poland, wanted to generate interest in a potential match with World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion Frank Gotch. While Dr. Roller was never able to beat Gotch, he was considered one of the top American

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Ed “Strangler” Lewis’ Deadly Headlock

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Leading into his January 24, 1921 title match with former world champion Earl Caddock, World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion Ed “Strangler” Lewis was reputed to have injured his previous two opponents, Wladek Zbyszko and Joe Stecher, with his headlock.  Lewis would use the headlock to hip toss his opponent to the floor.  Zbyszko was knocked senseless, when his head hit the

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