Episode 11 – Correcting Books

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In this episode, we discuss when an author has a duty to correct a book the author published earlier. Update I have completed the manuscript for the history of the American Heavyweight Wrestling Championship. I will release the book in mid-November 2022. Main Content While researching the history of the American Heavyweight Wrestling Championship, I discovered new information that I […]

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Ross Faces Bauer

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Scottish wrestler Duncan C. Ross wrestled professionally but also took part in strength and athletic contests after arriving in the United States in the late 1870s. An all-around athlete, Ross wrestled skillfully in both catch-as-catch-can wrestling and Greco-Roman wrestling. On Monday, February 26, 1883, Ross wrestled former World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion Theobaud Bauer. Bauer brought the World Championship from France […]

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Episode 7 – The Masked Marvel

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In this episode, my new co-host and youngest son, Caleb Zimmerman, joins the podcast. We discuss recent changes at World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) and the new leadership team’s early positive signs. The main topic of the show is the Masked Marvel and the 1915 New York International Wrestling Tournament. Sam Rachmann promoted the tournament, which was two tournaments. Rachmann promoted […]

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Episode 6 – Worked Title Matches

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In this episode, I will be talking about a pair of worked title matches for the American Heavyweight Wrestling Championship. Main Content Fred Beell was a strong, talented professional wrestler at the turn of the 20th Century. Although powerfully built, Beell stood no more than 5’05” and weighed 168 pounds. Yet, he improbably defeated Frank Gotch for the American Heavyweight […]

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Acton Wrestles Greco-Roman

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On Monday, March 26, 1888, Joe Acton, who specialized in catch wrestling, wrestled Professor William Miller, an Australian wrestler, and bare-knuckle prizefighter, in a two-out-of-three-falls Greco-Roman wrestling match. Both men’s camps believed wrestling the match in this style ensured the fairest contest between them. The men wrestled for $500.00 a side. 1,500 fans, a large crowd for the era, turned […]

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Episode 5: Wild Claims

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In this episode, I will be talking about some of the wild claims fans, wrestlers and wrestling historians make about professional wrestling matches. Update I recently discovered that before Mildred Burke was even born, wrestling fans and reporters recognized Cora Livingston as the first women’s wrestling champion. Cora learned to wrestle in the carnivals. A pro from 1906 to 1925, […]

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1883 Buffalo New York Tournament

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On Friday, June 29, 1883, fourteen wrestlers paid $50 to enter a two-day tournament for a $500 championship belt and $500 prize. Richard K. Fox, owner and publisher of the Police Gazette, put up the prize money and belt. Fox avidly supported the promotion of both professional boxing and professional wrestling. While fourteen men attempted to enter the tournament, Fox […]

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Wladek Zbyszko vs. Helio Gracie

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When Wladek Zbyszko travelled from the United States to Brazil for a lucrative tour on Brazil’s well-developed professional wrestling circuit, Zbyszko little suspected that he would wrestle his first contest in almost twenty years. Like their American counterparts, Brazilian professional wrestlers worked with each other to put on exciting exhibitions for the fans. The Brazilian professional wrestlers occasionally wrestled a […]

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Top Ten Legitimate Pro Wrestlers

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Who is the greatest legitimate professional wrestler to wrestle in the United States? How do you determine it when wrestlers “worked” or cooperated with each other in matches since the sports emergence in the 1860s? . I examined the records and stories around the American, British, Polish, and Turkish wrestlers, who wrestled in the United States between 1870 and 1915 […]

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Mooney Wrestles Luttbeg

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 On Saturday, December 2nd, 1893, local Saint Louis boxing instructor and Greco-Roman wrestler Mike Mooney met Max Luttbeg at Saint Louis’ Entertainment Hall. Pre-match hype focused on Mooney never losing a wrestling match or a boxing bout. Mooney was considered a better Greco-Roman wrestler, while Luttbeg was a better catch-as-catch-can wrestler. In the 19th century, it was common for matches […]

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