Posted on 12/02/2016 12:11:09 PM PST by Ciaphas Cain
It was 1925, and pro wrestling was big business. A throng of fans had packed themselves into a Kansas City convention hall, expecting to see champion Ed “Strangler” Lewis easily defeat Wayne “Big” Munn, a noted former NCAA football player. Munn was a newcomer to the wrestling world, and this was his first true test. Surely, fans thought, he would wipe the floor with the novice.
What the fans got instead was an outcome so unthinkable it created a buzz that shot around the arena. The air was electric. After less than 40 minutes, Munn had defeated the great champion, throwing him across the ring and out of it. It was a loss unlike Lewis had ever faced.
The crowd left that night in amazement, with an incredible story to tell: the night Wayne Munn beat Ed Lewis.
(Excerpt) Read more at atlasobscura.com ...
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Interesting!
BFLR
Great story. It makes me wonder if Bronco Nagurski’s championships were legit. I really want to believe they were.
Nice find.
Hard to look at wrestling today and believe it was a legitimate sport back then.
WHAT?!! You mean wrestling isn’t real?
How is professional wrestling any different than the nfl?
I knew a guy who claimed wrestling was real and football was fake. He claimed a lot of things.
bfl
A fun read!
That said, everyone knows Bobo Brazil would have pinned the lot of them!
And if they didn’t go down, the Coco Butt would do the trick!
My grandfather, the dour little Macedonian immigrant, was convinced Championship Wrestling was real and the NFL was fake. So when I was at his house, I learned about all the guys on the Indy Circuit; Dick the Bruiser, the Crusher, Baron von Raschke, and the Valiant Brothers. Grandpa never liked Mitsu Arakawa (always pulling “that sneaky Jap s***” as Grandpa would say). After retirement, Arakawa tended bar at the same joint where Grandpa tended bar before he retired. Then he said Mitsu was an “OK guy.” My all time favorite was Yukon Moose Cholak.
See comment 12. You must have met my grandfather.
As a Hoosier originally I know all those names... ah youthful memories
My favorite pro wrestler: Sputnik Monroe !
They're just kidding. Of course Perfessional Rasslin' is real! You might just as well say that Baron von Raschke wasn't German aristocracy or the Iron Sheik wasn't an Arab! Ridiculous.
Haystack Calhoun...now there was a rassler...
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