Combat Sports Historian and Martial Artist
Posts about Greco-Roman wrestling matches and other wrestling styles such as collar-and-elbow wrestling, side hold wrestling, Cornish wrestling, etc.
On February 26. 1914, Stanislaus Zbyszko beat Alex Aberg for the World Greco-Roman Heavyweight Wrestling Championship in Boston, Massachusetts. Zbyszko came to the United States in 1909 to campaign for Frank Gotch’s World Catch-as-Catch Can Championship. Wrestling insiders considered Gotch’s title the World Championship. Zbyszko could not beat Gotch in 1910. Before they had a rematch, Frank Gotch retired in
In combat sports, a good big man usually beats a good little man. If you are great, you can often make up for huge size discrepancies. Edwin Bibby stood only 5’04” and weighed 160 pounds but defeated many larger wrestlers during his professional wrestling career. Bibby defeated many wrestlers including the gigantic German wrestler William Heygster. Edwin Bibby was able
The powerful William Muldoon was considered invincible as Greco-Roman World Wrestling Champion. Only one man seriously challenged Muldoon during his dominant reign. The 165-pound Clarence Whistler consistently gave Muldoon his toughest challenges. Muldoon and Whistler met on Thursday, November 1, 1883 in San Francisco, California in one of their several matches. William Muldoon was almost a head taller and weighed
Joe Acton was one of England’s best wrestlers during the 19th Century. 151-pound Acton went through England’s middleweight ranks before plowing through the heavyweights. After beating the best England had to offer including Tom Cannon, Acton decided to test his abilities in the United States. Joe Acton settled in Philadelphia at Arthur Chamber’s Champions Rest during the summer months of
Sorakichi Matsuda originally trained in sumo wrestling. When Matsuda decided to become a catch-as-catch-can wrestler, he was forced to travel to the United States. Professional wrestling would not become popular in Japan until the middle of the Twentieth Century. Upon arriving in the United States in 1883, it took Matsuda a few months to secure a match. He finally secured
Actually, Samuel Rachman, who promoted both the 1915 International Wrestling Tournament and Greco-Roman World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion Aleksander “Alex” Aberg, tried to lure retired World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion Frank Gotch into the tournament. Rachman hoped to bolster Aberg’s claim as the successor to Gotch. Rachman offered Gotch $20,000 to wrestle Aberg in May 1915. Rachman’s tournament was to start Wednesday
Alex Aberg defeated many notable foes in the greatest year of his professional wrestling career. In 1915, Aberg competed in both the Spring and Fall versions of the New York International Wrestling Tournament. Competing exclusively in his preferred style of Greco-Roman wrestling, Aberg defeated Dr. Benjamin Roller, Wladek Zbyszko and Ed “Strangler” Lewis along with a number of journeyman wrestlers.
On Friday, May 12, 1905, World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion George Hackenschmidt toured the United States after defeating reigning American Heavyweight Wrestling Champion Tom Jenkins. One of Hackenschmidt’s stops was the “Gateway to the West”, St. Louis, Missouri. Hackenschmidt agreed to throw three wrestlers in under 90 minutes. He accomplished this feat in less than 19 minutes after the third wrestler
After several months of wrangling, Clarence Whistler met Duncan C. Ross on Monday, November 7, 1881 in a best three-out-of-five falls match. Two falls were to be conducted in catch-as-catch-can wrestling, which both men were considered adept at. Two falls were to be conducted in collar-and-elbow wrestling, which was a Ross speciality. The final fall would be conducted in Greco-Roman
Paul Pons was the Greco-Roman Wrestling Champion of France in the 1890s. He won a tournament at the Folies-Bergeres before winning a tournament in Russia in 1898. These victories allowed him to claim the World Greco-Roman Wrestling Championship. Pons capitalized on this notoriety by opening a gym to train wrestlers and strong men. Pons’ victory was particularly remarkable because of