Posts about catch-as-catch-can or catch wrestling matches, the dominant style of wrestling in the United States after 1890.
Earl Caddock had a relatively short but storied professional wrestling career in the late 1910s and early 1920s. Making his professional debut in 1915 after winning three AAU National titles in amateur wrestling, Caddock only wrestled professionally until 1922. However, he would be recognized as world champion after defeating Joe Stecher in April 1917. Caddock’s Army service during World War […]
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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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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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My stepdad Ernest C. Diaz married my mother on June 8, 1981. Dad and Mom worked to make sure we had a normal family life. In 1981 or 1982, they decided to take my sisters and me to a professional wrestling show at the Checkerdome (also known as the Arena). Our favorite wrestlers were the Von Erichs. David Von Erich […]
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Frank Gotch holds the title of America’s greatest legitimate professional wrestler. Gotch competed in legitimate contests with pre-arranged or “worked” matches thrown in the mix. By 1905, no one could beat Gotch unless Gotch allowed it. In the early years of his career, Gotch was not so dominant. Gotch lost matches to his mentor, Martin “Farmer” Burns, before “the Farmer” […]
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Polish wrestler and strongman Stanislaus Zbyszko first came to the United States in 1909 to campaign for a shot at World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion Frank Gotch. Zbyszko received and lost the match in a legitimate contest during 1910. Zbyszko continued wrestling for a few more years and won the World Greco-Roman Heavyweight Wrestling Championship in 1914 from hated rival Aleksander […]
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Stanislaus Zbyszko was born Stanislaw Jan Cyganiewicz on April 1, 1880 in Jodlow, Poland, which was part of the Austria-Hungarian Empire. Zbyszko 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 on Tuesday, February 8, 1910, publicized Zbyszko’s university and intellectual accomplishments. […]
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