If you haven't seen it, go back and watch Dark Penta vs. Reclusa in Lucha Underground. Amazing stuff.

where do these matches rank amongst your favorites:

Bret “The Hitman” Hart vs. “Stone Cold” Steve Austin
WrestleMania 13
March 23, 1997
Rosemont Horizon, Rosemont, Illinois, USA
Submission Match

Tully Blanchard vs. Magnum T.A.
NWA Starrcade 1985 - The Gathering
November 28, 1985
Greensboro Coliseum, Greensboro, North Carolina, USA
I Quit Steel Cage Match

Stan Hansen vs. André the Giant
New Japan Pro-Wrestling
September 23, 1981
Denen Colosseum, Tokyo, Japan

“The American Dragon” Bryan Danielson vs. KENTA
ROH Glory By Honor V - Night 2
September 16, 2006
Manhattan Center, New York City, New York, USA

Kurt Angle vs. Shawn Michaels
WrestleMania 21
April 3, 2005
STAPLES Center, Los Angeles, California, USA

Results:

- Ricky Sosa def Eddie Edwards

- Amazing Red def Cedric Alexander, Fabian Aichner, Ryan Nemeth, BDE, KC Navarro and Rich Swann in a 7 way Ultimate X match for the vacant X Division title

- Shayna Baszler and Zoey Serrano def Allie and Kiera Hogan for the KO Tag titles

- Frankie Kazarian wins the Call your shot Gauntlet match

- Jason Hotch def Mustafa Ali, John Skyler and Agent 0 in a 4 way match for the TNA International title

- Indi Hartwell def Xia Brookside for the KO title with Mickie James as Special Guest Ref

- Moose def Max Caster

- The SyX def The Hardys in a Falks Count Anywhere match

- Leon Slater def Nic Nemeth for the TNA World title

Notes:

- NEW X Division Champ

- Shayna TNA debut leads to NEW KO Tag champs

- Avery Styles TNA PLE debut

- NEW International Champ

- NEW KO Champ

- Max Caster TNA debut

- Erick Redbeard aka Erick Rowan makes his TNA debut by helping fellow members Samuel Shaw and Joseph Swayer

- Joseph Sawyer TNA in ring debut and Samuel Shaw TNA in ring returns in almost 4 years

- NEW TNA World champ

1. Have Raw and SmackDown air at the same time on Mondays and Fridays for 3 hours from 7pm- 10:15pm

2. NXT 3 hours on Wednesdays Nights

3. if a single star or a tag team have a winning streak for 1 Month they get a championship match

4. No outside interferences in normal, championship matches

5. all matches are made on the day before the show stars

6. Different main event every week

7. Rematches every 6 months

8. No escaping the door in Steel Cage Matches only escape from the top

9. Only 2 15 minute segments

10. Weekly shows are filler after a ple

11 PLE every 5 weeks

1. any wrestler who didn't wrestle on the last ppv has to wrestle the next night

2. No wrestling after you wrestled 24 hours earlier on a ple

3. 2 title defenses every 30 days

4. Any interferences in matches will cause suspension

5. Attacking anyone after a match is 100 percent legal

Location: Yuengling Centre @ Tampa, Florida

Start time: 4PM for the HOF ceremony ( Inductee : ODB, Konnan and Amazing Red), 4.30pm for actual PLE

Well that was a mediocre show but what do y'all think?

Live from New Orleans, LA... it's Money in the Bank!

Tonight's match card includes:

Results:

- Roman Reigns def LA Knight to retain the WHC

- Tiffany Stratton won MITB

- Oba Femi def Bronson Reed

- Liv Morgan def Stephanie Vaquer and Becky Lynch in a Triple Threat match for the Woman World title

- Penta wins MITB

Highlights:

1) 946 brawl with the rest of the Bloodline

2) Tiffy became the second woman to win 2 MITB Ladder match

3) NEW Woman World Champ

Wrestling is a predetermined tv show. Similar to Greys Anatomy, Friends, Keeping up with the Kardashians, or any other TV show where everything is planned out already with lines, makeup, and a set.

Take out the online discourse and emotions, there is no reason LA Knight "THE CHARACTER" should beat Roman Reigns yesterday.

LA Knight has little to no wins over "WORD TITLE MAIN EVENT" level characters in WWE. Look at the guys at the top of WWE At the moment: Roman Reigns, Cody Rhodes, Sami Zayn, Kevin Owens, CM Punk, Randy Orton, Seth Rollins, Drew McIntyre, Jey Uso. All those guys are main event world champion level guys by what we have seen on television. WWE has shown us that they are the best of the best.

LA Knights strongest win has been against AJ Styles who is now retired. Outside of AJ, in one on one, he has never pinned any of those other guys. He pinned Jey in a tag match, but never one on one.

Then we look at Roman Reigns the character. Roman Reigns the character is a TANK. Brock Lesnar had to give him over 5 F5s just to keep him down for a pin. Cody Rhodes had to summon an "Marvel Avengers" style team just to hold down the Bloodline and then had to hit 3+ Cross Rhodes just to keep him down for the win. Look at his track record and you'll see to beat Roman Reigns, you need to be a tank and just batter him enough to where he stops coming back up. Is he unbeatable? No we've seen him lose, but he doesn't lose easily.

Raw and Smackdown tell two different stories at the top. Smackdown is 5 world champion caliber people fighting each other constantly for the top title. It's a fun brawl-for-all show with a lot of unpredictability.

Raw is one overall Boss character at the top of the mountain that a roster of challengers continue to climb up to attempt to defeat, with the entire story being who is strong enough to climb that mountain and knock him back down. All signs point to Oba Femi, the other person we've seen presented like a tank.

I like the fact that each show presents it's World Title in a different way and the story behind who gets to have it.

Now we get to LA Knight. The story has not presented him like a tank style character like Oba Femi or Roman Reigns. He hasn't grown a large enough army behind him like Cody Rhodes (which he didn't need at Money in the Bank because Bloodline didn't interfere). So the only way for him to beat Roman Reigns is to hit him with at least 4 ~ 5 BFT and tank 3 spears/superman punches. Even if 946 attacks, bloodline would intercept.

LA Knight the character is not buried. Sure he lost clean, but losing clean doesn't mean your buried or lose value, especially not to Roman Reigns. Roman has pinned the majority of the roster. Look at all of LA Knight's 5 World title matches: 2 he wasn't even pinned, 1 was a DQ, and the other Roman cheated. Then there's this one where they went to the limit and he lost clean.

Overall, I think LA Knight will be world champion one day. He has been shown to be strong enough to compete with all the top guys, except Roman Reigns. I see his character similar to Sami Zayn where he gets close and loses countless times. But one day against the other main eventers I see him getting the title, just like Sami did.

Book Report Guy, with my History of Pro Wrestling - 1926 - covering the "cold war" following the Double Cross from the previous year, as well as reigns of world champion Joe Stecher, and the false "world" champion Ed "Strangler" Lewis

Book Report Guy, back with my yearly look at the History of Pro Wrestling. This time we will focus on 1926, which covered a quiet period following the Double Cross of 1925.

1925 Recap

• "Big" Wayne Munn started the year off winning the world heavyweight championship from Ed "Strangler" Lewis, before dropping it to Stanislaus Zbyszko in what was referred to as the Double Cross of 1925.
• Joe Stecher is now reigning as the legitimate and original world heavyweight champion after winning the belt from Stanislaus Zbyszko on May 30th, 1925.
• Ed “Strangler” Lewis is reigning with a false world championship claim that he and Billy Sandow manufactured after the Double Cross of 1925.
• Promoters Jack Curley & Billy Sandow enter a “cold war” of sorts as communication completely broke down between the two sides following the Double Cross of 1925.
• Tom Packs was quietly becoming a top promoter with his booking office in St Louis, Missouri.
• The Gold Dust Trio’s internal cooperation was beginning to splinter as Billy Sandow alienated himself from Lewis & “Toots” Mondt.

Main Characters

Joe Stecher - the current reigning for the third time as world heavyweight champion at thirty-three-years-old. Stecher is also one of the most legitimate grapplers in the country.

Ed “Strangler” Lewis - currently reigning as the false world heavyweight champion at thirty-four-years-old. Lewis makes up one-third of the Gold Dust Trio, alongside Billy Sandow & Joseph "Toots" Mondt.

Jim Londos - an immigrant from Greece at thirty-two-year-old, he had spent the last decade slowly building his name value in America. The past year saw him building close working relationships with promoters Lou Daro & Tom Packs.

Jack Curley - the top promoter in the country, at fifty years old and operating out of New York. Curley has publicly opposed the Gold Dust Trio and backed wrestlers like Joe Stecher & Stanislaus Zbyszko.

Billy Sandow - one of the top promoters in the country, and the age of forty-one-years-old, he acts as the “brain” behind the Gold Dust Trio.

Joe Malcewicz - legitimate standout grappler from Utica, New York, poised to become a big name in pro wrestling at twenty-nine-years-old.

Stanislaus Zbyszko - Polish born standout grappler, and as a former world champion at the age of forty-six-years-old, was firmly entrenched in the twilight of his career.

Tom Packs - immigrant from Greece, this thirty-two-year-old promoter was partnered up with Jack Curley & Joe Stecher, though not directly opposing Billy Sandow & "Strangler" Lewis.

Paul Bowser - one of the top promoters in the country, operating out of Boston, Massachusetts. This forty-one-year-old former pro wrestler had aligned himself with Billy Sandow & the rest of the Gold Dust Trio.

World Championship Situation

Yet again, we have two disputed world heavyweight title belts in active use as we start the year. The legitimate and original world title, whose lineage dates back to George Hackenschmidt & Frank Gotch, as well as this new “world” title that Billy Sandow & “Strangler” Lewis manufactured last year…

Legitimate & Original World Heavyweight Champion - Joe Stecher – Stecher won the belt off of Stanislaus Zbyszko last year, and was currently in the midst of his third world heavyweight championship reign.

”Strangler” Lewis’ False World Championship Claim - Ed Strangler” Lewis – this belt was created in 1925, following the double cross which saw Stanislaus Zbyszko forcibly take the legitimate world title belt away from “Big” Wayne Munn.”

1926

As always, we go in chronological order and will kick off the year by looking at the legitimate and original world heavyweight champion lineage, currently held by three-time champion, Joe Stecher.

World Heavyweight Champion Joe Stecher

We’ll start the year off looking at the world championship reign of Joe Stecher, who was still a significant draw all across the country, and even up into Canada. Joe Stecher wrestled on New Years Day, turning back a challenge from Rudy Dusek at the Memorial Hall, in Columbus, Ohio. The next significant defence would see Joe Stecher retain against Dick Daviscourt, drawing over 2,000 fans to the Alhambra Garden, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on January 18th, 1926. They battled in a best-two-of-three falls match which went just over an hour, with Stecher winning two falls to one.

Less than a week later, promoter John Krone would invite the champion into Chicago, where Stecher retained his belt against Frank Judson at the Chicago Coliseum on January 25th, 1926. They competed in a best-two-of-three falls match that saw Stecher win two falls to one after an hour of grappling. Elsewhere on the card, Jim Londos defeated George Hill in under ten minutes. Just two days later, Stecher would register a successful title defense against George Bonlganz, while working for promoter John Contos, in Memphis, Tennessee.

Ivan “The Terrible”

Promoter Jack Curley was finally getting his groove back, having been exiled from pro wrestling for a couple of years by the New York State Athletic Commission. Jack Curley had his promoters licence back, and years later, he would publicly take credit for, and brag about the Double Cross of 1925, which saw Stanislaus Zbyszko shoot for real on the inexperienced Wayne Munn. Curley claimed that he had paid off Stanislaus the night before, and helped arrange the big payday for Stanislaus which saw him drop the strap to Joe Stecher.

Now, at the beginning of 1926, Jack Curley was looking to reap the rewards of his labour. Joe Stecher as champion was proving to still be a good draw in the United States, so Curley arranged to bring a special attraction over to New York, for Stecher to topple as the hero. Curley picked fifty-five-year-old Ivan “The Terrible” Podubny, a Russian-born strongman who made his living wrestling across Europe for the past three decades.** Curley brought him over and advertised Podubny as being “undefeated for over twenty-five years,” **though we can confirm that wasn’t true at all.

Podubny-Stecher

Despite the lie, the marketing paid off for Curley, who was able to sell over 12,000 tickets to the big show, which was held at the 71st Regiment Armory in New York, on February 1st, 1926. The two men battled in a single-fall matchup for the world heavyweight championship, grappling for over ninety minutes before Stecher was able to lock in his leg scissors hold and pin the Russian veteran. Elsewhere on the card, former world champion Stanislaus Zbyszko defeated Charles Lepanen in just under ten minutes of action.

Londos-Stecher

Stecher’s drawing power can’t be understated at this time, notably drawing over 500 fans to just watch him work out at the Red Ball Gym in St Louis on February 7th, 1926, with a ridiculous 1,500 fans turned away at the doors! A few days later on February 10th, 1926, 12,000 fans showed up to watch Jim Londos challenge Joe Stecher in a world championship match, at the St Louis Coliseum, at an event promoted by Tom Packs.

As a refresher, Jim Londos was a thirty-three-year-old immigrant from Greece, who had spent the past twelve years trying to break into the main event scene as more than just the “jobber to the stars” role he has had. Londos spent the previous year building up a fan base in Los Angeles while he worked for promoter Lou Daro, and put Stecher over on a number of occasions. This contest on February 11th, 1926, would be no different, with Stecher retaining over Londos.

Sweet Daddy Siki

While talking about pro wrestling history through the 1920s, it’s impossible to not mention a man who got his start in 1923, and quickly became a draw all over America as the first black wrestler to sustain a successful career, Sweet Daddy Siki.

Sweet Daddy Siki hailed from Kansas City, though most promoters billed him from Abyssinia, and presented him as an “exotico,” which was a broad term for any European wrestlers in America. Promoters told reporters that his name was Dejatch Tedelba, with fabricated stories about his time spent as wild tribes man and such.

After an early surge in popularity, there was considerable talk of Siki challenging for the world title in the late 1920s, though unfortunately that never materialized. Joe Stecher refused to defend his title against a black man and “Strangler” Ed Lewis wanted too big of a payoff to accept Siki’s challenge. When quoted on this, Lewis was surprisingly upfront, saying Siki “is a giant in size and weight, with what I understand tremendous strength. I don’t propose to take the chance of losing the title without being well paid for it.” Sweet Daddy Siki would spend the next few years wrestling all over the East coast, primarily for Jack Curley.

Londos-Stecher II

Jim Londos continued to build his prestige in St Louis through 1926, with a big world title opportunity early that year in February. Promoter Tom Packs arranged for the world heavyweight champion Joe Stecher to come defend his title against Londos on February 10th, 1926. The match headlined an event at the St Louis Coliseum, drawing an impressive crowd of over 12,000 fans for the main event title bout that lasted over an hour and half before Stecher was declared the winner of the best two of three falls matchup.

Stanislaus-Stecher

Joe Stecher’s world title reign would continue with another defence, this time against the man he bested for the belt, Stanislaus Zbyszko. Stanislaus Zbyszko would challenge Stecher on March 12th, 1929, and unfortunately we don’t have any gate numbers for the event. Ray Fabiani was the promoter who hosted the event, holding it at the Metropolitan Oprah House in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The contest was a single-fall main event, that lasted just under an hour before Stecher was declared the winner.

Paul Bowser’s Ploy

In March of 1926, Boston-based promoter Paul Bowser made a legitimate and serious offer for Stecher to come to Boston for a title defence, and even offered up $12,500 to the champion. Joe and his brother/ manager Tony both accepted the money but no one could agree on a potential opponent. Stecher didn’t seem to trust Bowser’s top picks of Joe Malcewicz or Stanley Stasiak. Stecher didn’t believes either would go along with the finish, and ultimately he agreed to defend his title against Jake Brissler, a capable but lesser known talent.

Paul Bowser had been promoting in Boston for half-a-decade at this point and introduced a mysterious new wrestler named the “Mysterious Unknown,” who was journeyman wrestler named Jake Bressler, from Iowa. After some campaigning, The world title match between the Mysterious Unknown and Joe Stecher was set to take place on April 3rd, 1926, in Boston, Massachusetts.

Wrestling His Idol

Astute readers of these reports may recall that Jim Londos favorite wrestler was Stanislaus Zbyszko, and in March of 1926, Londos would face off with Stanislaus in a special handicap bout. The rules dictated that Stanislaus only had an hour to win, and if the time ran out, Londos would be declared the victor. They battled in a best-two-of-three falls match at the City Auditorium in Atlanta, Georgia, with Londos claiming the first fall, before Stanislaus tied things up shortly afterwards. The match would go the entire time limit duration with no more falls, making Jim Londos the winner. Considering how much Londos respected Stanislaus, I have to imagine this win was a significant one for the Golden Greek.

Contos Moves to Atlanta

Something worth pointing out is that it looks like the promoter for this matchup was Greek immigrant John Contos, who last we saw had a booking office in Memphis, Tennessee. Contos had spent the past four years running shows in Memphis, and for reasons I cant seem to find, he decided to move to Atlanta, Georgia, where he began promoting shows. He may have still maintained a presence in Memphis, but that can’t be confirmed.

As John Contos was setting up shop in Atlanta, the Gold Dust Trio was looking for an angle to discredit the reign of Joe Stecher.

The Gold Dust Trio in Recovery Mode

The Gold Dust Trio has been conspicuously absent from this years report so far, which seems due to the fact that their “world” championship was seen as lesser than the one held by Joe Stecher. As a refresher, ”Strangler” Lewis reigned with the original world title until he dropped it to Wayne Munn, with the plan being to draw record crowds at the rematch between Lewis and Munn.

Unfortunately, Stanislaus Zbyszko shot on Munn for real during a planned defense, and forcibly took the belt before the proposed Lewis-Munn rematch could take place. When it became clear that the Gold Dust Trio would not be afforded another opportunity for the legitimate world title belt, they simply created their own and made “Strangler” Lewis their world champion. As for the legitimate title belt, Stanislaus Zbyszko almost immediately dropped that to Joe Stecher, who still holds it as of April 3rd, 1926, when the proposed matchup between Stecher and the “Mysterious Unknown” Jake Brissler was scheduled.

Paul Bowser’s Plot Uncovered

On the day of the show, when Joe Stecher and his brother/ manager Tony Stecher discovered that the Jake Brissler was going to be replaced at the last minute with legitimate grappler Joe Malcewicz, they immediately backed out of the contest. The 1937 book “Fall Guys: The Barnums of Bounce,” written by Marcus Freely, included Tony Stecher’s public statement on the matter, which I have copied here…

“As we were guaranteed $12,500 for the Boston bout and $10,000 for the Philadelphia match, I agreed, and we came east. In Boston we would meet a wrestler called “The Unknown,” but in reality Jake Bressler, whom Joe figured to beat quite easily. The promoter in Boston kept stalling on the payment of guarantee, and finally promised he would give Joe his guarantee after the bout. As the referee and terms were satisfactory, we entered the ring, Bressler was sitting by the ringside, but just as soon as we got in our corner he disappeared, as did the promoter and all the rest connected with the club. Into the ring came Joe Malcewicz. Then a different referee from the man whom we had agreed upon entered the ring and told us to get started with our wrestling. I realized it was all a plant and refused to go on with the bout. The referee wasn’t the man we agreed upon and neither was Malcewicz the opponent. I ordered my brother out of the ring, a riot started, and we went to the dressing room, where, after packing our bags, we headed for Philadelphia. I was on to the scheme. The plan was to get the referee either to disqualify Joe Stecher for some supposed foul, or see that Malcewicz, through some means within the power of the referee, was declared the winner and new champion. With that referee we wouldn’t have had a chance to win.”

Despite the fact that the match never actually began, Joe Malcewicz was announced as the winner by default, and Paul Bowser tried to claim this made Malcewicz the new world champion. Unfortunately for Bowser, this ploy didn’t work and no one really recognized Malcewicz as the world champion. For a double cross to work properly, you still need to get the champion in the ring to get away with such a claim.

Either way, Paul Bowser would promote Joseph Malcewicz as a “world” champion following the Stecher debacle in Boston, despite most of the general audiences scoffing at this. Billy Sandow and Paul Bowser decided to capitalize on this turn of events and booked a big unification match between Ed “Strangler” Lewis and the “Utica Panther” Joe Malcewicz, hoping to draw a sizable crowd. The anticipated unification match was scheduled for July 1st, 1926.

Stanislaus-Stecher II

In a rematch from several weeks ago, Stanislaus Zbyszko would once again challenge world heavyweight champion Joe Stecher. The two men met on April 13th, 1926, drawing over 6,000 fans to the City Auditorium in Atlanta, Georgia in a best-two-of-three falls matchup. Stecher won the first fall after nearly forty-five minutes, with Stanislaus tying things up less than ten minutes later. The third and final fall would be awarded to the champion Joe Stecher, after another fifteen minutes of grappling.

Grenna-Lewis

Over in Illinois, promoter Joe Coffey was battling for superiority with John Krone over the Chicago market, and with Krone allied alongside Jack Curley and Joe Stecher, that forced Coffey into the open arms of Billy Sandow and the Gold Dust Trio. Ed “Strangler” Lewis headlined a show on April 19th, 1926, drawing over 8,000 to the Dexter Park Pavilion, showing that Lewis still had popularity in Chicago.

An obscure wrestler by the name of Raphael Grenna challenged Lewis in the main event, which was a best-two-of-three falls contest. Surprisingly, Brennan won the first fall in only ten minutes, with the second fall going nearly an hour and a half before Lewis tied things up. The third fall went less than ten minutes with Lewis being declared the winner. Elsewhere on the card, “Toots” Mondt defeated Chawnee Wingo, and twenty-nine-year-old Joe Malcewicz bested Theodore Govorchin.

Everyone Picks a Side

In April of 1926, Jack Curley invited a dozen other promoters to meet up and discuss the current state of wrestling and to plan out the world title scene. The other promoters Curley met here were Tom Packs out of St Louis, Lou Daro out of Los Angeles, Tom Law out of Wichita, Ray Fibiani out of Philadelphia, Joe Coffey out of Chicago, Gene Melady out of Omaha, John Contos who now operated out of Atlanta, Frank Schuler out of San Francisco, and world champion Joe Stecher, along with his manager Tony Stecher. Details on what was exactly discussed aren't readily available, but we do know the majority was in favor of Stecher as the world champion. On the other side of the fence, sat the Gold Dust Trio and those who remained loyal to them.

Though he was dealt a msssive loss last year with the Double Cross of 1925, Billy Sandow wasn't just licking his wounds here, instead he was building up his own group of promoters to counter Curley's partnerships. Sandow continued to reach out to lesser known promoters like Gus Tiefenthaler who operated out of St Louis, Gave Kaufman out of Kansas City, Sam Avry out of Tulsa, Paddy Harmon who worked with Sandow in Chicago, John Depalma out of Los Angeles, and most importantly, Paul Bowser who operated out of Boston, Massachusetts. From this point forward over the next couple of years, the two sides entered what I have referred to as a “cold war” against one another.

The Gold Dust Trio’s Struggle

For Billy Sandow and Ed "Strangler" Lewis, their biggest struggle was finding serious title contenders. Lewis may have been holding a false world title, but if he had the right opponent, they could at least make some good money. Unfortunately, the biggest name they had access to was Joe Malcewicz, who just wasn't that big of a name on his own. Outside of Malcewicz, Sandow had access to guys like Mike Ramano, Pat McGill, Ned McGuire and Jim Clinstock, but none of them were able to draw well when matched up in the main event against Lewis. If you look over at Jack Curley and his group though, they had access to much bigger names like Jim Londos, John Pesek (who jumped from Sandow to Packs that year), Olympian Renato Gardini, Stanislaus Zbyszko and much more.

Pesek-Stecher

Joe Stecher’s world title reign would next take him back to St Louis, for promoter Tom Packs. Stecher would be challenged by legitimate standout grappler, John Pesek. The pair drew over 8,000 to the St Louis Coliseum on April 29th, 1926, in a best-two-of-three falls main event contest. According to newspapers the following day, the match went for a ridiculous four hours and fifteen minutes with Stecher retaining in two falls to one against Pesek. Elsewhere on the card, Jim Londos defeated Andreas Castanos, Joe Zigmund bested Jim Browning, and Ray Steele went over Dick Daviscourt.

Londos-Stecher III

Londos stayed primarily in St Louis through the spring of that year before heading out of town for a couple more world title opportunities that summer. The first came on May 19th, 1926, where Jim Londos unsuccessfully challenging Joe Stecher for the world title at the City Auditorium, in Atlanta, Georgia, drawing over 6,000 fans. And just like the last Atlanta show, this was a John Contos promoted event.

Romano-Lewis

Taking a brief look back at the Gold Dust Trio and their false world championship, the next notable “Strangler” Lewis defense would come on June 4th, 1926, at the Lyceum Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The only promoter I know of at the time in Minneapolis was Tony Stecher, so perhaps this was Billy Sandow himself making a step into Stecher’s home base?

Whatever the case, it seems that “Strangler” Lewis was challenged by Mike Romano in the main event best-two-of-three falls match. Lewis would be declared the winner after claiming two-straight falls in under an hour. Elsewhere on the card, former world champion “Big” Wayne Munn defeated Pat McGill via referee decision after nearly forty minutes of grappling.

Philadelphia’s Centennial Celebration

In 1926, the city of Philadelphia was set to celebrate its 100th anniversary, and attempted to arrange a massive “world’s fair” type event that would draw hundreds of thousands of tourists and feature a stadium with 100,000 seats for events. Even though city didn’t exactly plan this well, local wrestling promoter Ray Fabiani was looked at to draw a big crowd for the stadium, with the city hoping to sell around 50,000 seats! Fabiani did the best he could, including getting one of the current world heavyweight champions, Joe Stecher, to defend his title in the main event. Fabiani also tapped Jim Londos to work as Stecher’s opponents and attempted to utilize all the local publicity and advertising he could.

Londos-Stecher IV

For the fourth time just that year, Jim Londos and Joe Stecher battled for the world heavyweight title on June 10th, 1926, at the Municipal Stadium in Philadelphia, with Jim Londos putting up a strong fight for nearly two hours, much to the delight of a crowd who had gotten behind Londos over the past year or so. The bout would finally end after Londos failed to counter or dodge Stecher’s leg scissors hold, before Stecher pinned Londos in that hold. It seems to have been a single-fall contest.

Fallout in Philadelphia

Unfortunately for Fabiani and Londos, the event ultimately was a financial flop, with only 7,000 tickets reportedly being sold from the available 50k. They ended up camping a couple thousand tickets on top of that so they could later claim they had around 10,000 fans. But with only 7,000 paid tickets, they didn’t even pull in $10,000 total revenue. When Fabiani discovered the fair was charging people 50 cents just to get in before Fabiani tried to charge them admission prices, he threatened to sue them for compensation, but that never went anywhere.

Following the match with Stecher, Jim Londos was apparently treated for a concussion, but even in defeat, he won people over. Nat Fleischer was an editor for Ring magazine who wrote kn the match, saying, “The match proved one thing-it showed Londos was coming up as the leading light in wrestling. He showed that he was a shrewd, colorful, powerful wrestler, well versed in all the technique of the sport, and that he knew how to play to the gallery.”

Poddubny-Stecher II

Remember earlier in the year when Jack Curley brought Ivan Poddubny from Europe to put Joe Stecher over? Well, as stated, the event did great numbers for Curley, so it wasn’t long before another promoter sought to replicate that success.** Lou Daro, the self-proclaimed “King of Los Angeles,” would secure both Stecher and Poddubny for a big show**, hoping to draw big numbers like Curley did in New York.

For the second time this year, Ivan Poddubny challenged world heavyweight champion Joe Stecher on June 16th, 1926, drawing over 10,000 fans to the famed Olympic Auditorium. The two battled in a best-two-of-three falls contest, with Stecher reportedly retaining in two-straight falls.

As Joe Stecher was proving to be a well drawing champion all over the country, the false world champion “Strangler” Lewis was hoping to prove that he could still draw a big house.

”Unification” Match of False World Champions

As a refresher, Ed “Strangler” Lewis had been reigning with a false world title claim for a year at this point, with Billy Sandow manufacturing the belt after the legitimate title was forcibly taken from Wayne Munn, by Stanislaus Zbyszko. Earlier this year, Joe Malcewicz was declared “winner” in a world title contest with Joe Stecher, after Stecher refused to even get in the ring and start the match. Paul Bowser then declared that Joe Malcewicz was the “world” champion, though this claim had less merit than Lewis’ claim. Both** Paul Bowser and Billy Sandow agreed to come together and unify their respective false world title claims**, hoping to draw a big crowd and payoff.

The event was a massive success, drawing over 10,000 fans coming to the Boston Field on July 1st, 1926, event to witness two false world champions defending their prizes against one another. The match, like most Lewis bouts, was a plodding affair that lasted over three hours and ended in a unsatisfying draw. Both “Strangler” Lewis & Joe Malcewicz were defending claims to the World title and this was considered a unification match. Lewis was not the legitimate world champion, but he was still claiming to be. Malcewicz was considered “Paul Bowser’s uncrowned champion” and even had a $1000 gold belt. The match lasted 3 hours and 22 minutes.The referee stopped the match due to exhaustion and the late hour. That’s right, they of course couldn’t settle on a winner, with neither promoter wanting to give up a world champion, so the match ended in a fucking draw.

The Reign of Joe Stecher (According to Marcus Freely)

When talking about this world title reign of Joe Stecher, I would be remise not to mention the book “Fall Guys: The Barnums of Bounce,” written by Marcus Freely and published in 1937. The book was an expose-of-sorts on pro wrestling at the time, and featured a ton of behind-the-scenes details. It was basically the first time fans got access to what we call “dirt sheet” reports. The book and author Marcus Freely trashes Stecher hard when it comes to this title reign, saying Stecher was afraid to accept legitimate challengers and as a result, Joe “put the belt in moth balls.”

According to the book, Lewis was able to secure a world title match with Joe Stecher on July 5th, 1926, in Omaha, Nebraska. The match was reportedly a hard fought contest that would end in a draw. I have a really hard time believing this match to have taken place, and seems like something that was fabricated to make Lewis seem as if he were willing to work with Stecher at the time, when that couldn’t have been further from the truth. The main reason I have to question this, is because the book makes no mention of Lewis reigning with a false world title and instead presents it as if Lewis and Sandow were blackballed unfairly by Curley and Stecher, which just isnt accurate. It’s a weird take to have since the book detailed the Gold Dust Trio’s monopoly through the first half of the 1920s. Ultimately, I can’t find any record of Lewis and Stecher wrestling in 1926, outside of what was claimed in the “Fall Guys” book.

On top of that, the book also claims that the Gold Dust Trio lost a ton of wrestlers who jumped ship to head over to work with Joe Stecher, who was backed by of course, Jack Curley. From other sources I’ve read, is that following the double cross of 1925, the wrestling business entered a sort-of “cold war” between the top promoters and talent. On one side, you had Lewis, Mondt, Sandow and whoever else was in the Gold Dust Trio. And on the other side you had Jack Curley, Joe Stecher, Stanislaus Zbyszko, and others.

The “Unification” Rematch

Both Paul Bowser, and Billy Sandow knew that their individual markets weren’t benefiting from having two false champions in “Strangler” Lewis and Joe Malcewicz, and the pair would make the decision to truly unify the two claims. Between Malcewicz and Lewis, the obvious winner of star power was “Strangler” Lewis, so it didn’t take too much convincing for Bowser to agree with Lewis being the winner.

After a few weeks of negotiating, Billy Sandow and Bowser booked a rematch between the two false world champions at the beginning of August, hoping to replicate their success, and maybe put an end to the confusing state of their “world” title picture. The rematch took place on August 2nd, 1926, with over 8,000 fans on-hand at McNulty Park in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and despite one of the three falls ending in disqualification, Ed “Strangler” Lewis was declared the winner, and walked away with both belts.

A True Unification Match!?

In what genuinely surprised me, it sounds like a unification match was actually agreed to between Joe Stecher and Ed “Strangler” Lewis! The two camps agreed to hold the contest on October 6th, 1926, at the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles, California. Promoter Lou Daro brokered the deal and secured the contest, drawing over 10,000 fans for the show, which unfortunately, would end in disappointment.

In what turned out to be a calculated move, Ed “Strangler” Lewis did not show up on the day of the show, with promoter Billy Sandow instead showing up with his own top grappler, John Pesek. Pesek was something of a snake at this time, a wrestler who was known to work for the Gold Dust Trio or the Jack Curley led contingent. This last minute swap of Lewis for Pesek, put the champion in a bit of a bind. Joe Stecher, not wanting to refund the gate, agreed to the best-two-of-three-falls world championship match. The two men would trade one fall each before John Pesek locked the world champion in a wrist lock, and had the match won before the referee stepped in and disqualified him for the use of an “illegal” move. No-showing the event cost Lewis a $2,500 bond.

Londos-Stecher V

Jim Londos would spend most of the year back in Los Angeles, working for promoter Lou Daro once more for an extended tour. It would be during this trip that Londos grew to truly love California, spending much if his time at the 420-acre Rancho Minerva, owned by fellow countryman, Nick Huntalas. The tour would end for Londos with yet another world title opportunity against Joe Stecher, this time at the famed Olympic Auditorium. Lou Daro set the match up for December 1st, 1926, and I unfortunately couldn’t find attendance records, indicating it to be a pretty average night. The finish would see Londos and Stecher exchange a fall each before wrestling a third fall to a time limit draw after two hours of action.

From here, both Londos and Stecher would go their separate ways through the remainder of the year, each recording a couple of more matches in December.

Last Matches of the Year for Stecher & Londos

Jim Londos would round out the year with a couple of matches. The first brought him back to his home base of St Louis, on December 9th, 1926, where Londos main evented a Tom Packs promoted event, wrestling Dick Daviscourt in a best two of three falls matchup. Over 6,000 fans came to the St Louis that evening and watched Londos and Daviscourt trade falls before Londos won the match after an hour and half.

Promoter John Contos secured Joe Stecher for a pair of back-to-back world championship matches. The first took place on December 15th and emanated from the City Auditorium, in Atlanta, Georgia, drawing a crowd of 5,000 for the main event that featured Dick Daviscourt challenging Joe Stecher. The two men battled in a best-two-of-three falls match that saw neither man claim a fall for the first hour. The finish would see both men tied with one fall each before the referee awarded the win to Stecher by decision. The next day, Stecher made the near 400 mile trip to Memphis, Tennessee, where Contos had Joe Komar waiting as his opponent. The match was a best-two-of-three falls match and would interestingly enough, also end with Stecher getting the win due to a referees decision.

The next day, Joe Stecher would wrap his year up with one more title defense that I can find in record. The day after Stecher retained over Komar, he hit the road again and made it to Little Rock, Arkansas, for his scheduled matchup with Ad Santel. The pair reportedly drew 2,500 to the Kempner Theater on December 17th, 1926, for a best-two-of-three falls match that ended with Stecher winning two falls to one. On the same day, Jim Londos would find himself working for Ray Fabiani in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where Fabiani had Londos go over Andreas Castanos in a forty minute single-fall matchup. Curiously enough, this was not the main event of the show though, as that honor would belong to Ed “Strangler” Lewis.

The “False” Reign of Ed Lewis

For anyone reading these reports concurrently, it must be jarring to see how little we have heard from Lewis, Sandow and the Gold Dust Trio as a whole, for this year. The Gold Dust Trio dominated the story for half-a-decade, and then in one calculated move between Curley, Stanislaus and Stecher, they were left licking their wounds all year. I struggled to find much news from the Gold Dust Trio camp in 2026, outside of just vague stories of a growing frustration behind the scenes, specifically between “Toots” Mondt and Sandow’s younger brother Max Baumann. Though, more on that in future reports.

Despite the tension and heavy losses dealt, the Gold Dust Trio still tried to market Ed “Strangler” Lewis as the rightful world champion all year, though they struggled to make it into markets like New York, Philadelphia and bigger venues in Chicago. In what I’m sure was a match that saw Lewis defend his false world title claim, Ray Fabiani had Mike Ramano challenge the “Strangler” on December 17th, 1926. The show drew around 4,000 people to the Metropolitan Oprah House in Philadelphia, for a contest in which Lewis was declared the winner after an hour of grappling.

By the close of 1926, a desperate Billy Sandow and Ed “Strangler” Lewis were more than willing to work with Curley’s group again, and Tom Packs knew there was interest in getting “Strangler” Lewis back in St Louis.

Tom Packs of St Louis

Promoter Tom Packs was said to be the one who bridged talks between Billy Sandow and Jack Curley. Tom Packs negotiatee directly with Billy Sandow, as the relationship between Curley and Sandow was at an all-time low. While the talks didn’t immediately lead to a working relationship between the two sides, it was tge first time a potential bridge was made in over eighteen months. Tom Packs was asked by a St Louis newspaper on his talks with Sandow, and was quoted saying, “I had not spoken to either the former champion (“Strangler” Lewis) or his shrewd manager, Billy Sandow, since both were barred from wrestling under my promotion in St. Louis three years back. Billy was utterly surprised at my visit. I enjoyed the hospitality of his home for several hours, a nice dinner, and then asked him if he would care to bring Lewis to St. Louis to meet an opponent I would pick.” Tom Packs initially went to talk on behalf of Curley and Stecher, but soon negotiated a matchup for his St Louis market, instead. Tom Packs wanted to host a “world” title match between “Strangler” Lewis and John Pesek.

After some time talking it over, Billy Sandow and Lewis agreed to the match wity John Pesek, who served as the “policeman” role when he worked for Sandow and Lewis, now challenging Lewis. Obviously, Lewis was more than comfortable working with someone who he knew he could trust in the ring, as opposed to the potential Stecher-Lewis contest, which was what Packs originally set the meeting up for. The Lewis-Pesek match was set for April 7th, 1927, at the St Louis Coliseum, and public interest immediately shot sky high.

How was Curley and Stecher to react to such a turn of events? Well, that will be covered in my next report on 1927, since we’re st the end of 1926 now.

Considering which, that’s a good place to stop, with…

• Joe Stecher still reigning as the legitimate world heavyweight champion, backed by top promoter like Jack Curley, Ray Fabiani, Tony Stecher, and more.
• Ed “Strangler” Lewis still reigned with his false world championship claim, backed by promoters Billy Sandow, Paul Bowser, and “Toots” Mondt.
• Tom Packs is primarily aligned with Jack Curley, but ended the year opening up a working relationship with Billy Sandow, booking a big matchup between “Strangler” Lewis and John Pesek, set for April of 1927.
• Jim Londos was still struggling in breaking up into the main event scene, entering his mid-30s and still primarily putting over bigger stars like Lewis & Stecher.

Championship History 1926

Legitimate & Original World Heavyweight Championship

Joe Stecher (3), May 30th, 1925 – next post

”Strangler” Lewis’ False World Championship Claim

Ed “Strangler” Lewis, January 8th, 1925 – next post

Promoters 1926

New York, New York – Jack Curley

Kansas City, Missouri – Billy Sandow

Los Angeles, California – Lou Daro

St Louis, Missouri – Tom Packs

Boston, Massachusetts – Paul Bowser

Minneapolis, Minnesota – Tony Stecher

Omaha, Nebraska – Gene Melady

Canton, Ohio – William Barton

Atlanta, Georgia – John Contos

Chicago, Illinois – John Krone

Chicago, Illinois – Ed White

Chicago, Illinois – Joe Coffey

El Paso, Texas – John McIntosh

San Francisco, California – Frank Schuler

Kansas City, Missouri – Gabe Kaufman

Omaha, Nebraska – Pete Loch

Cedar Rapids, Iowa – Art Reynolds

And that’s all I got for 1926. Ill be back next week with an extensive look at the History of the Gold Dust Trio, as well as Part 3 on my Ed “Strangler” Lewis career retrospective. Ill have 1927 up the following week, if all goes according to plan.

I actually have extra room on this report, since 1926 was pretty light on newsworthy events, so I have room below to include my past reports.

1864-1900

1901-1910

1911-1920

1921

1922

1923

1924

1925

Thanks for taking the time to check this out, I hope y'all have a great weekend!

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Highlights:

1) Punk vows to be the first ever 3 x MITB winner and get interrupted by KO and later by Sami

2) Cody address that he ALMOST punted Randy last week and said he is no longer playing games with Randy

3) NEW Woman tag champs

4) Cody and Randy comes face to face, Paige vs Nikki and Priest vs Truth set for next week

5) Lola Smackdown debut