Combat Sports Historian and Martial Artist
Posts about catch-as-catch-can or catch wrestling matches, the dominant style of wrestling in the United States after 1890.
On Tuesday, January 19, 1909, Dr. Benjamin Roller, a Seattle physician and pro wrestler who was good enough to win the American Heavyweight Championship, inexplicably decided to try his hand at professional boxing. His opponent was friend and sparring partner, “Denver” Ed Martin, who would win the Colored World Heavyweight Boxing Championship. Dr. Benjamin Franklin Roller was a unique athlete
On December 17, 1923, Jim Browning wrestled a rare match in his hometown of Verona, Missouri. Four hundred fans from the surrounding area crowded into the venue to watch the match between Browning and Clarence Jenkins, a wrestler from Emporia, Kansas. Both Browning and Jenkins wrestled most of their matches in Kansas during 1923. Browning was starting a career that
On November 18, 1938, former world wrestling champion Jim Londos wrestled current world champion Bronko Nagurski, the great former football player for the Chicago Bears. The men wrestled in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for Nagurski’s version of the world wrestling championship. You can view the 14-minute match in its entirety on YouTube. When I viewed the match for the first time, several
On May 5, 1898, Yusuf Ismail wrestled Tom Jenkins in Cleveland, Ohio. Ismail only toured the United States for six months in the early part of 1898. Ismail wrestled less than ten matches but left a path of destruction remembered to this day. Ismail made a powerful impression by easily defeating both Evan “Strangler” Lewis. Ismail also made a strong
John “The Nebraska Tigerman” Pesek wrestled two of the most famous legitimate contests of the 1920s. Pesek ended two promotional wars by agreeing to “shoot” contests with Marin Plestina and Nat Pendelton. In 1916, Pesek was an up-and-coming wrestler active in his home state of Nebraska. On Thursday, September 14, 1916, Pesek wrestled another Nebraska wrestler, Chris Jordan. Fans and
Born Norman Edward Wescoatt in Hawaii on August 2, 1911, “Rusty” Wescoatt played football for the University of Hawaii before making his professional wrestling debut in Hawaii during 1933. Wescoatt was also a swimming champion. Wescoatt initially made more news for his swimming than his wrestling when he traveled to the continental United States in 1935. On Easter Sunday, April
On April 13, 1936, Ed “Strangler” Lewis wrestled his final legitimate contest with Lee Wykoff at the Hippodrome in New York City. Promoters once again called on Lewis to settle a promotional conflict. The opposing group selected Lee Wykoff, a 36-year-old shooter from Kansas. Wykoff stood six feet, one inches tall and weighed two hundred eighteen pounds. The 44-year-old Lewis
I am ashamed to say I recently discovered the career of Cora Livingston, while researching the development of the local promotor system in professional wrestling during the 1910s and 1920s. Mildred Burke was the first major woman’s wrestling champion of which I was aware. However, Cora Livingston claimed the World Championship a year before Burke was even born. Cora Livingston
(This excerpt is from my newest book on the history of the American Heavyweight Wrestling Championship.) Jenkins proved himself the top contender as soon as McLeod won the title. On Wednesday, November 17, 1897, Tom Jenkins wrestled former title holder Martin “Farmer” Burns in Indianapolis, Indiana. The men wrestled a best two-out-of-three-falls match according to catch-as-catch-can wrestling rules. Jenkins stood
On Monday, December 6, 1932, 41-year-old Ed “Strangler” Lewis wrestled one of his last legitimate contests to settle a promotional dispute in New York. After initially being allies in promotion, Jim Londos broke away from Jack Curley’s group in New York. To restore peace, the parties decided on a legitimate contest or “shoot” to settle the dispute. Joseph “Toots” Mondt