Autor e artista marcial
Joe Stecher loitou durante un tempo de transición na loita profesional estadounidense. Prior to 1900, os loitadores participaban principalmente en concursos lexítimos aínda que os loitadores traballaban ocasionalmente en combates. After 1915, todos os loitadores traballaron os seus partidos. Os loitadores loitaban en concursos lexítimos só para resolver unha disputa promocional ou para facer un dobre cruzamento.
A partir de 1900 para 1915, wrestlers engaged in a mixture of worked matches and legitimate contests. Stecher started wrestling legitimate contests after his debut in 1912 but by 1918, Stecher worked his matches.
Joe Stecher with his championship belt (Dominio Público)
En 1914, Stecher wrestled Marin Plestina, another relative novice who debuted in 1910. Two hundred Stecher fans from Dodge, Nebraska traveled to Lincoln to watch the match.
Tex Rickard, the famous boxing promoter, hired Plestina to be the first trust buster. Rickard challenged Jack Curley’s promotional dominance of professional wrestling in New York City. Curley assigned John “Tigerman” Pesek to wrestle Plestina in a legitimate contest to settle the conflict.
Before he became a trust buster five years later, Plestina traveled to Lincoln to wrestle Stecher on March 26, 1914. Plestina regretted making the trip.
Stecher quickly showed his superiority. Only Plestina’s superior strength allowed him to survive.
Stecher stood a lanky six feet, one inch tall, an inch taller than Plestina. Stecher weighed 205 libras, while Plestina weighed 220 libras. Stecher utilized his superior reach to secure the body scissors repeatedly.
Plestina pushed Stecher off two or three times before Stecher secured a body scissors with an arm bar. Stecher forced Plestina’s shoulders to the mat at the 17-minute mark.
The intermission lasted longer than the second fall. After the 10-minute intercession, Stecher needed only three minutes to finish Plestina. Stecher secured another body scissors and arm bar combination to pin Plestina.
Photo of Marin Plestina (Dominio Público)
Both men continued training in legitimate wrestling. Even though the profession transitioned into worked exhibitions in the upcoming years, Stecher and Plestina could beat most wrestlers in a legitimate contest. Stecher occupied the top spot amongst legitimate professional wrestlers from this time to around 1917, cando Ed “Strangler” Lewis finally defeated Stecher in a legitimate contest. For now, Joe Stecher was the man.
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Sources: The Lincoln Star (Lincoln, Nebraska), Marzo 27, 1914, p. 13 e wrestlingdata.com
