Zbyszko Double Crosses Trio

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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

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Sam Langford KOs Battlin’ Jim Johnson

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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

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Corsair (1931)

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Roland V. West directed fourteen films in his career. Critics consider three of his films to be excellent. West directed the silent thriller The Bat in 1926. West directed his most acclaimed film, Alibi (1929), which resulted in an Oscar nomination for his friend Chester Morris. In 1930, West and Morris again collaborated on his last classic, The Bat Whispers,

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Jeffries KOs Jackson

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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

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How Did Alex Aberg Die?

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I decided to start 2020 by using two examples from professional wrestling to discuss why you would change a historical account you wrote in the past.  In writing history, you are limited by the available sources on the subject matter.  Primary sources like diaries, official records and autobiographies are very valuable.  Other sources like newspapers are good as well but

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Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941)

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Republic Pictures produced many quality movie serials in the 1930s and 1940s. One of their finer offerings was Adventures of Captain Marvel (1941), a twelve chapter serial (affiliate link) based on the popular comic book super hero. Captain Marvel is known as Shazam today. Billy Batson, played by Frank Coghlan, Jr., accompanies the Malcolm Expedition to Siam. While searching an

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Lewis Takes Title Back from Munn

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On the same day Joe Stecher wrestled Stanislaus Zbyszko for the recognized version of the World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship in St. Louis, Ed “Strangler” Lewis challenged “Big” Wayne Munn for his disputed Michigan-Illinois World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship.  Lewis dropped the title to Munn in February 1925.  In April 1925, Zbyszko defeated Munn in a famous double-cross.  The match between Lewis and

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Spooks Run Wild (1941)

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On October 24, 1941, Monogram Pictures released Spooks Run Wild starring the East Side Kids and Bela Lugosi. At this point in his career, Bela Lugosi was relegated to “B” movies. He played in several films with the East Side Kids, which were all enjoyable if not exactly classic cinema. Leo Gorcey, Huntz Hall and Bobby Jordan play the leaders

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