计划的刘易斯 – 兹比斯科比赛

当比利·桑多（Billy Sandow）和埃德·刘易斯（Ed Lewis）决定斯坦尼斯劳斯·兹比斯科（Stanislaus Zbyszko）的头衔统治没有足够的宣传动力时, 他们决定 “win” 回到三月份的标题 1922. 圣. 路易斯的发起人约翰·康托斯（John Contos）能够确保比赛重获成功, 这将发生在圣. 路易斯体育馆在星期四, 十二月 14, 1922.

通过这一次, American professional wrestling outside of carnivals and double-crosses was a “worked” or staged exhibition. The wrestlers cooperated with each other to make their matches more exciting.

The wrestlers in this era were “shooters’ or legitimately skilled wrestlers. Some wrestlers were also “hookers” or skilled submission wrestlers. <跨度bbox_x“925”bbox_y =“1780”bbox_w“16”bbox_h =“19”的fsize =“13”fweight =“3”红=“255”绿色=“255”蓝色=“255”阿尔法“ “<跨度bbox_x =“949”bbox_y“1780”bbox_w =“52”bbox_h =“19”的fsize =“13”fweight =“3”红=“255”绿色=“255”蓝色=“255”阿尔法“” Lewis may have been the greatest “hooker” in professional wrestler. If any of the wrestlers tried to double-cross Lewis by legitimately beating him for the title, Lewis would simply hurt them and keep the title against their will. If someone Lewis dropped the title to refused to give the belt back, Lewis would hurt them and simply take the title. This match carried the risk of a double-cross.

Stanislaus Zbyszko, at 42-years old, was eleven years older than Lewis. Zbyszko also wasn’t the submission wrestler Lewis was but he may have been the more skilled pure wrestler. While Zbyszko was past his prime, Lewis considered him one of only two men on his level.

In Lou Thesz’s autobiography 妓女, Thesz describes several conversations between he and Lewis about Zbyszko. Lewis said you always had to be careful with Zbyszko because he could shoot on his opponent at any time. During training sessions, Lewis discovered Zbyszko was his equal in competitive wrestling despite Lewis’ advantage in age.

During their matches, Lewis learned Zbyszko had a tell, when Zbyszko was getting ready to double-cross an opponent. When he realized his opponent was in a bad position and considered shooting on him, he would start breathing heavily. His brother Wladek would do the same thing.

When Lewis felt Zbyszko start breathing heavily, Lewis immediately extricated himself from his vulnerable position. Lewis would then “hook” or put a submission hold on with just enough juice to let Zbyszko know he suspected the double-cross. Lewis told Thesz it was enough to gain Zbyszko’s cooperation. Zbyszko would go back to working with Lewis.

Going into the St. Louis match, Sandow and Lewis were concerned Zbyszko might try to take back the championship by shooting on Lewis. Zbyszko had wrestled Frank Gotch in a legitimate contest for the World Championship in 1910. Zbyszko always felt like Gotch robbed him, when Gotch tackled him off the handshake and won the first fall in 6 秒.

A shaken Zbyszko almost forfeited the match but went through with the contest after cajoling by the referee and his manager. Zbyszko didn’t regain his composure and lost the second fall in a little over 20 分钟. Gotch refused to wrestle Zbyszko again and retired in 1913 as champion.

The loss stung Zbyszko for a long time. When he realized Gotch was never going to wrestle him, he returned to Europe in 1914. Caught up in World War I, he didn’t make it back to the U.S. until after the war. 40-years-old and past his prime, it looked like a World Championship was not possible for the old warhorse.

Even though it was a worked match and planned title reign, “winning” the title from Lewis in 1921 took some of the sting out of the Gotch match for Zbyszko. Would Zbyszko go along with the finish and drop the match to Lewis again? Next month, we will finish up the story.

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Sources: 圣. Louis Star and Times, 十二月 15, 1922 版, p. 20 和 妓女 通过路·塞兹

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