Pesek Wrestles Plestina Again

During November 1921, John “The Nebraska Tigerman” Pesek wrestled a legitimate contest with Marin Plestina to settle a promotional war between Jack Curley and boxing promoter Tex Rickard. Pesek fouled an injured Plestina, who was helpless to defend himself.

After the match, Rickard returned to boxing while the New York State Athletic Commission banned Pesek from wrestling in New York. Plestina made peace with Curley and Curley’s promotional group. Promoters started booking Plestina to wrestle again after promoters banned Plestina for most of the previous five years.

On May 16, 1922, John “Doc” Krone, the Chicago promoter, booked Plestina to wrestle a rematch with Pesek. While Krone booked a worked exhibition between the men, Pesek and Plestina shot on each other during the match putting on one of the most boring wrestling matches in Chicago wrestling history.

Walter Eckersall writing for the Chicago Tribune wrote, “The poor exhibition put up by the wrestlers, who claim to be of championship caliber, probably will kill the game in Chicago.” Krone cringed after reading the coverage of the match.

Krone showed courage to book the rematch because John Pesek disliked the worked nature of professional wrestling in the 1920s. Pesek, a skilled submission wrestler or “hooker”, preferred legitimate contests but this era passed in the mid-1910s. While Pesek worked matches, Pesek could shoot on his opponents at any time.

Plestina also harbored ill will toward Pesek over Pesek’s rough treatment of Plestina during their November contest. Even though both men knew the match would be a contest, Plestina expected Pesek to wrestle him.

Instead, Pesek palm struck, head butted and gouged Plestina’s eyes. Pesek made no attempt to win. Pesek focused on embarrassing Plestina and by extension, Tex Rickard.

Plestina weighed two hundred thirty pounds to Pesek’s one hundred ninety-five pounds for this match. Plestina took full advantage of his weight advantage by leaning on Pesek throughout the match. Pesek tried repeatedly to catch Plestina with a “hook,” or submission hold, but Plestina blocked all Pesek’s offensive attempts. A healthy Plestina proved a tougher opponent for Pesek in this match.

Pesek gouged Plestina’s eyes but Plestina pushed Pesek away. Plestina complained to the referee but went back at Pesek.

After two hours, both men sweated profusely and breathed hard. However, the fans saw little action for most of the match. Pesek and Plestina stayed locked up in a collar-and-elbow tie-up. Fans booed the match repeatedly.

After three hours, one of the wrestler’s managers asked the referee to render a decision. After speaking with the two judges, the officials declared the match a no contest. The officials told the newspaper reporters that the first hour was even, Pesek won the second hour and Plestina won the third hour. For these reasons, they did not feel it was fair to award the match to either wrestler.

Fans reacted furiously to the decision. Chicago Police quickly escorted officials and wrestlers from the ring to prevent a riot. Fights broke out in the crowd several times during the boring match.

“Doc” Krone spent the next few months trying to repair the damage this match had on his fan base. A few matches like this one could kill the sport in one of America’s largest cities.

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Sources: Chicago Tribune (Chicago, Illinois), May 17, 1922, p. 17 and Rock Island Argus (Rock Island, Illinois), May 17, 1922, p. 14

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