Combat Sports Historian and Martial Artist
On April 13, 1936, Ed “Strangler” Lewis wrestled his final legitimate contest with Lee Wykoff
https://mcdn.podbean.com/mf/web/q2pnhj/Episode_58uqay.mp3Podcast: Play in new window | DownloadIn this episode, I will be talking about some
On October 20, 1916, Ad Santel, a noted “hooker” or skilled submission wrestler, met Taro
Who is the greatest legitimate professional wrestler to wrestle in the United States? How do
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
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
On St. Patrick’s Day 1908, Martin “Farmer” Burns met the small but powerful Fred Beell. While both wrestlers weighed 165 pounds, “Farmer” Burns stood 5’11” to Beell’s 5’04”. The 32-year-old Beell had a big age advantage over the 47-year-old Burns though. Burns debuted in 1879, when Beell was 3-years-old. The men were scheduled for a match in Omaha, Nebraska, one
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
Jake Kilrain is best known as the last and toughest challenger to John L. Sullivan in the last bare knuckle world championship fight. Despite Kilrain’s inability to beat John L. Sullivan, he had a successful career both before and after the bout with the mighty Sullivan. Fighting for 10 more years in gloved bouts, Kilrain was mostly successful but on
On a March night in San Francisco, heavyweight contender Marvin Hart proved pure aggressiveness could sometimes win a decision. After 20 rounds of boxing, referee Greggains, the only judge, awarded the decision over the great Jack Johnson to Hart. Hart met Johnson on March 28, 1905. Johnson entered the ring as the betting favorite. He also entered as one of
Evan “Strangler” Lewis was a scary competitor. Although he was not a large man at five feet, nine inches tall. Lewis weighed 170 pounds, Lewis’ mastery of submissions made him an equal or better of most wrestlers of his era. Jack Carkeek was a terrific wrestler but one match with Lewis almost caused him to retire. Lewis’ reputation was strongly
On April 7, 1914, 22-year-old Wladek Zbyszko met 22-year-old Ed “Strangler” Lewis would meet in the first of many matches between the two men. While they were supposed to be working the match, Lewis and Wladek Zbyszko struggled to work together. In the early 1920s, Lewis would drop his World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship to Wladek’s older brother Stanislaus Zbyszko. In