Combat Sports Historian and Martial Artist
https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/tkrvui/Episode_1b3iy0.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadIt Was Almost Real: The Pro Wrestling History Podcast,
When Wladek Zbyszko travelled from the United States to Brazil for a lucrative tour on
Who is the greatest legitimate professional wrestler to wrestle in the United States? How do
On April 3, 1908, American Wrestling Champion Frank Gotch met World Wrestling Champion George Hackenschmidt
On December 16, 1917, Frank Alvin Gotch lost a three week battle with uremic poisoning. Doctors attempted to keep his kidneys going through an operation in Chicago but it provided only temporary relief. Gotch intended to travel to Hot Springs, Arkansas to try and restore his health. The operation ended this hope. Gotch spent the last couple weeks only able
On Tuesday, November 18, 1884, World Heavyweight Bare-Knuckle Prizefighting Champion John L. Sullivan fought Al Greenfield at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Sullivan needed to overcome more than just his opponent in this bout. The men originally agreed to fight on Monday, November 17, 1884, but New York City authorities threatened the men with arrest. The wrangling with
On Monday, February 7, 1887, Evan “Strangler” Lewis and “Little Demon” Joe Acton met at Battery D in Chicago, Illinois. It would be the first of several exhibition bouts between the men. They performed these exhibitions in the larger Midwestern cities in early 1887. Like the St. Paul match I covered in an earlier post, Lewis and Acton agreed to
This post was formally a podcast broadcast in 2015. In this episode, I discuss what Evan “The Strangler” Lewis’ hold would be called today. Main Content – When I first heard of the stranglehold or “hang hold” of Evan “The Strangler” Lewis, it sounded like a guillotine choke. However, several sources I checked described it as a rear naked choke. Lewis
On Friday, March 13, 1891, Jake Kilrain fought George Godfrey at the California Athletic Club in San Francisco, California. The men fought for a trophy and $5,000. The men entered the ring at 9:52 p.m. William Muldoon, former World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion, seconded Kilrain, who Muldoon trained for this fight. Muldoon trained Kilrain’s opponent, John L. Sullivan, for their 1889
Charles Henry “Jack” Blackburn achieved his greatest fame as the trainer of World Heavyweight Boxing Champion Joe Louis from 1934 to 1942. Louis is widely considered to be one of the top three to five heavyweights in professional boxing history and some consider him the best heavyweight fighter. “Jack” Blackburn developed the talents of the young champion and helped him
On Thursday, January 31, 2020, Grandmaster Pat Weseman promoted me to 4th Dan in Taekwondo at the Advanced Class. When I started classes with Grandmaster Weseman and her husband Art, I did not foresee reaching this milestone. I originally started taking classes with my nephew Jim in Spring 1995. After getting married in 1996, I stopped taking classes for several
Rarely does one fundamentally alter their profession but Stanislaus Zbyszko did just that on April 15, 1925 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Zbyszko defeated Wayne Munn in one of the last shoot (not staged) professional wrestling matches in the United States. It was a shoot or legitimate match because Zbyszko double crossed the “Goldust Trio” wrestling promotion and beat Munn for the
On Tuesday, December 12, 1916, Sam Langford defended the “Colored World Heavyweight Boxing Championship”, which he won from Sam McVea in February 1916. Between 1904 and 1919, the best African-American boxers, or black Canadians like Langford, were stuck fighting each other for “Colored” Championship. If a white fighter did fight them, it was only to develop their own reputation to
James J. Jeffries dominated American heavyweight boxing from 1899 to 1904. After winning the World Heavyweight Boxing Championship from Bob Fitzsimmons in 1899, Jeffries made 9 successful title defenses during the next five years. He retired undefeated in 1905 before be lured back for an ill-fated comeback against the great Jack Johnson. Jeffries didn’t win his bouts with superior boxing