It’s time for another entry into the 1000 Hours series which looks at the pioneer era which describes wrestling prior to the Frank Gotch era around the year 1900. This series looks to uncover the lost origins and evolution of modern entertainment style of pro wrestling.
Jack Carkeek was a well-known top level wrestler during the pioneer era who later got into the promoting end of things. As we have discussed often in our series so far, gambling was a big component of wrestling becoming worked and Carkeek was very much a shyster.
So much so, Carkeek ended up being indicted with a major crime syndicate in one of the first federal cases of using the U.S. Mail for criminal purposes by fixing wrestling matches and serving time in prison as a result.
This is the story of Jack Carkeek, pro wrestling criminal.
(sub needed)
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 58:07 — 38.1MB)