Posts about catch-as-catch-can or catch wrestling matches, the dominant style of wrestling in the United States after 1890.
On Thursday, March 31, 1881, 200 fans filtered into New York’s Turnverein Hall to watch Clarence Whistler wrestle Henry Moses Dufur in a three-out-of-five-falls catch-as-catch-can wrestling match with both wrestlers wearing jackets. The promoters used the rules and jackets to try to remove any competitive advantage for either wrestler. Clarence Whistler specialized in Greco-Roman wrestling. Whistler took World Heavyweight Wrestling […]
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Ed “Strangler” Lewis enjoyed one of the most successful careers in professional wrestling. Although Lewis wrestled in mostly staged exhibitions, he possessed legitimate wrestling skills. Future protege Lou Thesz said many times Lewis could beat any wrestler at any time, so he was the ideal world champion in the modern era of prearranged matches. However, early in his career, Lewis […]
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On December 11, 1916, a strange event occurred. John F. Olin, a local Massachusetts wrestler, won a match with the current World Champion Joe Stecher. The referee and promoter Jime Barnes declared Olin the winner after Stecher walked away from the match. Before the National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) made changes to the rules in the 1950s, championships changed hands through […]
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John “Tigerman” Pesek wrestled several “shoot” matches during the “worked” era of the 1920s. By this time, American professional wrestlers cooperated with each other to put on exciting matches for the fans. Results were predetermined by promoters and managers. Legitimate contests or “shoots” were rare. When they did occur, it was normally to settle a dispute among promoters or a […]
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At the end of 1905, Fred Beell was traveling America hyping up a match with former American Heavyweight Wrestling Champion Tom Jenkins. Beell was a former American Heavyweight Wrestling Champion having defeated Frank Gotch in a “worked” match in New Orleans during December 1903. He lost the title back to Gotch a few weeks later. Capable wrestlers, Jenkins and Beell […]
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Joe Stecher and John “Tiger Man” Pesek were legitimate wrestlers in a primarily “worked” era, where matches were predetermined unless someone decided to double-cross the other wrestler or promoter by turning the match into a legitimate contest. Double-crosses only worked, if the wrestler could legitimately win the match. John Pesek didn’t like the worked nature of wrestling and often turned […]
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As the wrestler jumped off the mat, he grabbed the referee by the lapel with his good arm. “Why didn’t you stop it?” As Referee Siler tried to pull free, Duncan Ross’ seconds grabbed Ross and pulled him away. The men told Ross, “He can’t stop it. You have to submit.” Ross screamed, “I’m out of here.” As Ross walked […]
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In 1922, New York promoter Jack Curley ran afoul of the Gold Dust Trio, manager Billy Sandow, World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion Ed “Strangler” Lewis and wrestler/promotional genius Joseph “Toots” Mondt. The Trio controlled the world championship and froze Curley out of booking the champion. To get even with the Trio, Curley began aggressively promoting Olympic wrestling silver medalist and collegiate […]
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Stanislaus Zbyszko traveled to the United States in 1909 seeking a match with recognized World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion Frank Gotch. To get in shape for this challenge and build anticipation for the title match, Zbyskzo toured most of the major cities in the United States. During May 1910, Zbyszko arrived in St. Louis for his match with capable wrestler Charles […]
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On December 14, 1922, a crowd of 10,000 fans filled the St. Louis Coliseum to watch the rematch between current World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion Ed “Strangler” Lewis and former champion Stanislaus Zbyszko. Lewis “defeated” Zbyszko for the title in Wichita, Kansas in March 1922. Unknown to these fans, the plan was for Zbyszko to lose the match to Lewis but […]
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