Tag: pioneer era
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: Was Davy Crockett actually a pro wrestler?
Hour 49 of the 1000 Hours podcast subseries on the DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show is a packed one. The subseries is my detailed, heavily researched look at the pioneer era of pro wrestling, or pro wrestling before the time of Frank Gotch. On today’s episode, I answer a question about Davy Crockett whose obituary following…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: Pioneer era legend The Terrible Turk
I first covered pioneer era wrestling special attraction Yusuf Ismael, aka The Terrible Turk, on an early episode of my 1000 Hours pioneer era-focused subseries here on the DragonKing Classic Wrestling Show, but the Terrible Turk deserves a follow up as requested by one of our listeners. Now I tell you the latest information I…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: The true story behind the 1870 Detroit International tournament
I have recently spent many hours digging through hundreds of pages of 1870 newspapers from Detroit, Chicago, Ontario, and beyond chronicling the real story of the biggest tournament in history of American pro wrestling in the pioneer era: the Detroit International tournament. On this week’s DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show, I reveal what I found. The…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: The pioneer era in Australia
The latest entry into my 1000 Hours series on the DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show looks at the pioneer era of wrestling in Australia of all places. Believe it or not, there was pro wrestling there in the 1800s, and one of America’s top stars actually died there. The incredible story of the death of Clarence…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: The pioneer era in the Great Lakes region
The pioneer era (pre-1900) of pro wrestling flourished in the Great Lakes area of the United States. While initially the Northeast, and especially New York and Vermont were early hotspots, cities like Detroit, Chicago, Cleveland, and the entire Great Lakes region became very important in pro wrestling by 1870. The 1870 Detroit International tournament was…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: The pre-Hackenschmidt era of Russian wrestling
On this episode of the DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show, I continue my 1000 Hours research on the pioneer era of wrestling. A sponsor of the show requested some research on wrestling in Russia before George Hackenschmidt. Interestingly, wrestling in Russia came relatively late in the pioneer era and Hackenschmidt (seen above) became its biggest star. But,…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: The strongmen of the pioneer era
Strongmen and pro wrestling go hand in hand. Who can forget the muscled up 1980s? Yet, the more things change, the more they stay the same. In the pioneer era of wrestling, your prototypical strongmen and bodybuilders were also featured alongside and inside professional wrestling. This 1000 Hours episode of the DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: The Barney Smith mystery
On a new DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show, I present hour 36 of 1000 Hours, my series all about the pioneer era of pro wrestling. On this episode, we do a lot of research including some new tidbits about Col. James H. McLaughlin (seen above) which leads us back to our most enduring mystery: did McLaughlin…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: More on Charles, King of the Wrestlers
On this episode of my 1000 Hours focus on the pioneer era of pro wrestling, I go back even further to the pre-pioneer era just before the U.S. Civil War. This week, I uncover more about the first known self-promoted pro wrestling star: Charles, The King of Wrestling. If you missed last week’s initial look,…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: G.W. Flagg & John McMahon
On another DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show, I return to further discuss the pioneer era of pro wrestling in my 1000 Hours subseries which focuses on pro wrestling pre-1900 or before the era of Frank Gotch. This week, I look back at the career of two pioneers: G.W. Flagg and John McMahon. These were two men…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: Greek George and the Champion of the South
My pioneer era of pro wrestling discussion continues with hour 32 of the 1000 Hours focus series on the DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show. On this episode, the eventual manager of Evan “Strangler” Lewis, Greek George, is promoting wrestling in Pensacola, FL, where we meet the Champion of the South. Who was he and was this…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: Of Bauer and bears
My 1000 Hours podcast series explores the pioneer era of professional wrestling, namely pro wrestling before 1900 or the era of Frank Gotch. Gotch didn’t appear out of a vacuum as a history of over fifty years of pro wrestling had already been sown in the United States and further back than that in Europe.…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: From William Muldoon to Roman Reigns
On this hour of my 1000 Hours focus on the pioneer era of pro wrestling, I think it is important to step back for a moment and ask the very legitimate question: what does the pioneer era really have to do with pro wrestling? Wasn’t it just untrained conmen with large mustaches traveling the country…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: A boxer & a wrestler walk into a bar
My latest look back at the pioneer era of pro wrestling takes a look at John McMahon, whom we have previously discussed — a man who apparently liked his drinks. According to newspapers at the time, one of the first boxer vs. wrestler matches may not have taken place as a betting event for spectators,…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: Meet the first pioneer era influencer
If I told you that today’s look back at the pioneer era of pro wrestling involved a bear eating a kid and a funeral invaded by corpse eating cats, you might think me ridiculous. Well, welcome to the world of Richard K. Fox: pioneer era pro wrestling influencer. It was Fox, via his National Police…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: A must-read book for pioneer era fans
On this edition of the DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show, I delve into my 1000 Hours series focusing on the pioneer era of pro wrestling This week, I take a look at a much-overlooked book on the pioneer era (and beyond) called Ringside: A History of Professional Wrestling in America by Scott Beekman, a college educator…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: The Zbyszko brothers
1000 Hours is my sub-podcast series on the DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show about the pioneer era of pro wrestling: defined as before Frank Gotch and before 1900. This week’s show was a requested topic by Eric, the sponsor of this episode. He wanted to know about the Polish influence on wrestling. In the 1970s, especially,…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: Pioneer era wrestling beyond NYC
On a new DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show, we look at pioneer era wrestling outside New York City thanks to a request from listener Andrew. I dug into newspapers in Buffalo, Rochester, and surrounding areas to find out that the pro wrestling scene outside of New York City in the late 1800s was both well and…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: The mystery of Barney Smith
On this week’s DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show, it’s another episode in my 1000 Hours series. Hour 21 focuses on the mystery of Barney Smith. While his current status of being alive or dead isn’t a mystery (he lived 150 years ago), the question is whether Col. James H. McLaughlin (seen above) killed him. In the…
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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: Pioneer era wrestling in Africa
This week’s episode of the DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show was both requested and sponsored by Eric Darsie who asked if there is any evidence for pioneer era (pre-1900) pro wrestling in Africa. Africa is hard enough to get modern era pro wrestling news out of, so I didn’t expect to find much. However, there does…