Posts about Greco-Roman wrestling matches and other wrestling styles such as collar-and-elbow wrestling, side hold wrestling, Cornish wrestling, etc.
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 […]
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Wrestling promoter Samuel Rachman created the International Wrestling Tournament in Spring 1915 to highlight the abilities of Aleksander “Alex” Aberg. Aberg was the Russian Greco-Roman Wrestling Champion. Rachman believed Aberg could beat any wrestler. Rachman also wanted to lure Frank Gotch, the last undisputed World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion, out of retirement to wrestle with Aberg. Gotch wrestled George Lurich in […]
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I decided to start 2020 by using two examples from professional wrestling to discuss why you would change a historical account you wrote in the past. In writing history, you are limited by the available sources on the subject matter. Primary sources like diaries, official records and autobiographies are very valuable. Other sources like newspapers are good as well but […]
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On December 14, 1915, the International Wrestling Tournament was coming to a close. A featured match revealed promoter Samuel Rachmann was manipulating outcomes to keep interest in his tournament. After the wrestling public lost complete interest in the tournament during its opening few months in the spring, Rachmann introduced one of the most successful gimmicks in professional wrestling history. Rachmann […]
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Georg Lurich made his reputation as a professional wrestler competing in European Greco-Roman wrestling tournaments. When Lurich travelled to the United States to ply his trade, he made the transition to catch-as-catch-can wrestling, the dominant style outside of Europe. Lurich adapted well to this style and earned a shot at the World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion, Frank Gotch, in Gotch’s last […]
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During March 1891, George Baptiste travelled from St. Louis to Detroit to take part in a catch-as-catch-can wrestling tournament. While primarily a Greco-Roman wrestler, Baptiste would compete in the dominant American style of catch-as-catch-can. The 26-year-old Baptiste was an accomplished amateur and professional wrestler. Entering the Detroit tournament, Baptiste had lost only one match as a professional. The year prior, […]
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On May 21, 1915, the International Wrestling Tournament began in New York. Samuel Rachman promoted the event as a way to showcase European Greco-Roman Wrestling Champion Alek Aberg. Rachman believed Aberg was the natural successor to World Wrestling Champion Frank Gotch, who retired in 1913. On the first day of the tournament, nationalistic feelings about World War I popped up […]
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On June 2, 1915, the International Wrestling Tournament in New York City entered its second week of competition. Some of the tournaments big names were wrestling on this night. Alex Aberg, George Lurich and Wladek Zbyszko would all compete. It was Zbyszko who made the biggest impression. The first match involved two lesser talents, Pierre Le Colosse and Wilhelm Berner. […]
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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 […]
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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 […]
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