Ed “Strangler” Lewis Wins Title in 1920

young-ed-strangler-lewis

On Monday, December 13, 1920, Ed “Strangler” Lewis won the first of six World Heavyweight Wrestling Championships from Joe Stecher.  The fact he won the title from his biggest rival and business enemy must have been particularly satisfying. A year before this match, Stecher and Lewis met in a match lasting over three hours.  Lewis made a mental error in

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Gotch Wanted Hack in St. Louis

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Frank Gotch took the American Heavyweight Wrestling Championship from Tom Jenkins in December 1903.  Gotch intended on following up this triumph with a match for World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship from George Hackenschmidt. Gotch wanted to meet “Hack” in St. Louis during the 1904 World’s Fair.  Unfortunately for Gotch and St. Louis, the match would not occur until 1908 in Chicago,

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A Tale of Two Turnvereine Halls

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The fate of much of St. Louis’ historic buildings prove the old real estate adage.  It’s all about location, location, location.  If the building is in the South St. Louis, it has a better chance of being saved than a building on the North Side.  The same could be said for buildings located in the center of the city except

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Zbyszko and the Last Shoot Match

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Stanislaus Zbyszko was born Stanislaw Jan Cyganiewicz on April 1, 1879 in Jodlow, Poland, which was part of the Austria-Hungarian Empire. According to Wikipedia, he chose the ring name Stanislaus Zbyszko because it was the name of a fictional Polish knight.  An article in the Walla Walla, Washington newspaper, The Evening Statesman’s Tuesday, February 8, 1910 edition, publicized Zbyszko’s university and

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