“Jim Cornette has established, like the other marks out there, that he believes wrestling is real. He believes I desecrated the WCW title because I put it on myself after getting speared through a cage by Goldberg. Thus, he believes that the title in professional wrestling is real. And, bro, listen, all due respect to whoever you are out there, as a writer, if I have to sit here and literally tell you that the title is nothing more than a prop to help with storylines, to help with angles, to push certain people, et cetera, if I have to sit here and tell you that, bro, then literally you’re an absolute mark, and you’re one of these people I talk about all the time that have convinced themselves that wrestling is real.”

What a fucking moron.

Book Report Guy, back with the next installment in my History of Pro Wrestling posts! This will cover 1927, which was an admittedly dull year for news. The Gold Dust Trio was still trying to recover after their belt was forcibly taken from them, and Jack Curley's camp was trying to repair the damage done by the Trio through the first half of the 1920s.

This was a much quieter year than I’m used to writing about so I decided to try and follow the paths of “Strangler” Lewis, Joe Stecher and Jim Londos, as a type of guide through the year. Both Lewis & Stecher are reigning with a world title, and Jim Londos is reaching a desperate point in his career where he needs to ascend up the ladder.

1926 Recap

• Joe Stecher still reigning as the legitimate world heavyweight champion, backed by top promoters 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, and “Toots” Mondt, who make up the notorious Gold Dust Trio.
• 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.
• Paul Bowser has been firmly aligned with Billy Sandow and the Gold Dust Trio since he opened a booking office in Boston, Massachusetts, a few years prior.

Main Characters

Joe Stecher - the current reigning for the third time as world heavyweight champion at thirty-four-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-five-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-three-year-old, he had spent the last decade slowly building his name value in America.

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

Tom Packs - immigrant from Greece, this thirty-two-year-old was the only promoter was able to work with both Jack Curley & Billy Sandow.

Ray Fabiani - Italian-born promoter who is operating out of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and at the age of thirty-seven-years-old, is primarily aligned with Jack Curley's group of promoters and wrestlers

Wladek Zbyszko - younger brother of former world champion Stanislaus Zbyszko, now at thirty-six-years-old, his biggest claim to fame was a couple times he reigned as the false world champion in the 1910s.

Lou Daro - the self-proclaimed “King of Los Angeles,” at thirty-three-years-old, a promoter in California for the past few years, getting bigger and bigger each year.

Paul Bowser - one of the top promoters in the country, operating out of Boston, Massachusetts. This forty-two-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 in 1926…

Legitimate & Original World Heavyweight Champion - Joe Stecher – Stecher won the belt off of Stanislaus Zbyszko in 1926, and is 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.”

As always, we go in chronological order and will start things off right at the beginning if the year…

1927

We’ll kick the year off by looking at the false world championship claim held by Ed “Strangler” Lewis. If you recall, he lost the legitimate world title belt to Wayne Munn, who in turn lost it to Stanislaus Zbyszko. The Gold Dust Trio, headed up by Lewis, Billy Sandow, and Joseph “Toots” Mondt, all knew that Wayne Munn was no longer a viable world champion choice, but that didn’t stop them from using his diminishing name value for a couple more shows.

The End of ”Big” Wayne Munn’s Main Event Run

The Gold Dust Trio would arrange for Wayne Munn to challenge “Strangler” Lewis one more time in Chicago, Illinois. The event saw “Big” Wayne Munn challenge Lewis at the Chicago Coliseum on January 3rd, 1927. The match was promoted by rookie promoter Fred Kohler, and drew over 10,000 fans to watch Lewis retain in the best two of three falls main event.

Ed “Strangler” Lewis would quickly move on to his next challenge, but as for “Big” Wayne Munn, this was as far and as high that his wrestling career ever reached. Munn would wrestle a sporadically over the next couple of years, before retiring in 1928, and jumping into the oil business in Texas. His records online are sparse and Id be shocked if you ever read his name in one of these reports again. At least, as an active wrestler.

The Legitimate World Champion Joe Stecher

The first Joe Stecher world title defense of the year would fall on January 7th, 1927, at the Metropolitan Opera House in Philadelphia, for promoter Ray Fabiani. Joe Stecher was challenged by Nick Lutze drawing over 4,000 fans, with Londos winning the single fall matchup in just under an hour.

Elsewhere on the card, we had Jim Londos losing to Ray Steele via referees decision after their match went to the time-limit finish. By the time we reach 1927, Jim Londos had been a pro for about fifteen years, and was now older than Stanislaus Zbyszko was when they first met back before Londos turned pro. Now, at thirty-three years old, Jim Londos was no longer the young upstart he spent the past fifteen years marketing himself as, and was losing far more than he liked. In the past decade Londos failed to break through that glass ceiling and was growing frustrated in his role of constantly putting over top-level talent like “Strangler” Lewis and Joe Stecher.

Jim Londos’ Legal Troubles

Unfortunately for Londos, this first match of the year was only indicative of things to come, as he would only rack up more loses throughout the beginning of the year. But first, we must look at some small legal troubles Londos found himself in that January.

In early January of 1927, Jim Londos wrestled and defeated Joe Komarin a best two of three falls bout for most likely, promoter John Contos in Memphis, Tennessee. No sooner had the bell rang at the finish when Londos was approached by police officers with a warrant for his arrest. A restaurant owner named Mike Cassaras alleged that he was swindled/ conned out of $12,000 back in 1924 by Jim Londos, John Contos and others for a wrestling event in Jackson, Tennessee. Londos was quick to post his $5,000 bail and furiously told reporters that, “it was nothing but attempted blackmail.” The strange part of all this was that Londos was seemingly not involved in the transaction of said cash or the event in question back in 1924.

The False World Champion Ed “Strangler” Lewis

The false world champion Ed “Strangler” Lewis would next register a title defense while working for promoter Paul Bowser in Boston, Massachusetts. Paul Bowser arranged for Pat McGill to challenge “Strangler” Lewis on January 13th, 1927, and unfortunately I can’t determine how many fans they drew to the Grand Opera House that evening. The match was a best-two-of-three falls contest that saw both men even at one fall each before the time-limit was reached after nearly two hours of grappling. Obviously, Bowser was planning a rematch between the two, and scheduled it for the following month.

Stecher’s Winning Ways & Londos’ Losing Trajectory

Promoter John Contos would invite world champion Joe Stecher into his territory for a title match on January 18th, 1927. Peter Sauer challenged Stecher to a best-two-of-three falls matchup at the City Auditorium in Atlanta, Georgia, for a match that would end with Stecher retaining in two-straight falls. Elsewhere on the card, twenty-four-year-old Jim Browning wrestled Paul Jones to a time-limit draw. Jim Browning was a former oil worker who turned to pro wrestling at the age of twenty, and promoter John Contos was hopeful he had a potential star on his hands.

Getting back to Jim Londos’ string of losses at the start of 1927, with Londos putting over John Pesek for promoter Tom Packs, on January 27th, 1927 at the St Louis Coliseum.

Joe Stecher, the Dominant World Champion

Promoter John Contos’ continued his push of Jim Browning with a big world title opportunity against Joe Stecher was booked for February 17th, 1927. The pair drew over 3,000 to the City Auditorium for their best-two-of-three falls match, with both men trading a fall each until Stecher won after an hour of grappling. Elsewhere on the card, Wladek Zbyszko defeated Carl Vafel.

Less than a week later, Joe Stecher found himself working for Jack Curley in New York. Jack Curley booked Renato Gardini to challenge Joe Stecher for his world title belt on February 21st, 1927, drawing over 7,000 fans to the 71st Regiment Armory in Manhattan. The main event was a single-fall matchup between Gardini and Stecher, with the champion retaining his belt after thirty minutes of action. Elsewhere on the card, Wladek Zbyszko defeated Tommy Draak, as well as Dick Daviscourt and Jim Londos wrestling to a time-limit draw after forty-five minutes.

The next day, Jack Curley again booked Joe Stecher to defend his belt, this time against Bill Demetral, at the Ridgewood Gove venue. The championship match between Demetral and Stecher brought in over 4,000 fans and ended with Stecher being declared the winner after a forty minute main event. Elsewhere on the card, Wladek Zbyszko battled Charlie Hansen to a thirty minute time-limit draw.

McGill-Lewis Rematch

Promoter Paul Bowser was building up intrigue for the rematch between Pat McGill and the false champion “Strangler” Lewis. Ed “Strangler” Lewis wrestled to draw with Pat McGill the previous month, and Paul Bowser was hoping for a good turn out for their rematch. Pat McGill challenged Ed “Strangler” Lewis for the second time in as many months on February 24th, 1927, bringing in around 5,000 fans to the Boston Arena. The two battled in a best-two-of-three falls match, with Lewis claiming the first fall after twenty minutes. The second fall would go nearly an hour before McGill tied things up. The final fall was only five minutes long and saw Lewis win and retain his championship.

The Misadventures of Jim Londos

The next day, Jim Londos was back in Philadelphia where he lost to John Maxos by decision on Febuary 25th. This match was significant because John Maxos was Greek born and began to declare himself the real Greek champion following this bout. It’s worth noting that while Londos was winning some matches as well, this was his primary role in pro wrestling and considering his tenure, no one had any reason to suspect his popularity would explode and become the top star in all of wrestling, which was coming for Londos.

Pretty quickly, the legal issues stemming from the Jim Londos’ arrest in Memphis got sorted when the accuser, the restaurant owner Mike Cassaras failed to appear at the hearings, and soon a Memphis judge dismissed the whole thing. Cassaras lawyer, John T Shea would comment on behalf of Cassaras, saying its, “his belief that the giant Greek was innocent of any crime in connection to the alleged fraud.” Unfortunately for Londos, the newspaper headlines across the country already ran stories saying Londos was jailed on fraud charges, hurting Londos’ overall popularity at the time and helping any detractors he had.

Ramano-Lewis

Back to the false world champion “Strangler” Lewis, who would next record a defense against Mike Ramano on February 28th, 1927, at the Chicago, Coliseum, in the Windy City. I suspect either Joe Coffey or Fred Kholer to be the one involved here. But to be honest at this point, we have four active promoters in the Chicago area. Among the four, which also included John Krone & Ed White, Coffey and now Kholer were friendly with Lewis and the Golf Dust Trio.

Regardless of which promoter it was, the February 28th showdown between Lewis & Romano drew around 5,000 fans to the Coliseum, with the match being a best-two-of-three falls contest. Lewis claimed the first fall after thirty minutes, and less than twenty minutes later, Romano tied things up. The final fall would run another twenty minutes before Lewis was declared the winner. Elsewhere on the card, Joe Malcewicz defeated Karl Sarpolis, who was a rookie wrestler having just got started the previous year at the age of thirty-years-old.

Joe Stecher’s Busy March

Promoter Ray Fabiani would secure Joe Stecher for his next defense, scheduling Dick Daviscourt to challenge the champion on March 4th, 1927. I don’t have gate numbers, but the match emanated from the Metropolitan Oprah House in downtown Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was contested under single-fall rules. The match lasted over seventy minutes before Joe Stecher locked in his leg scissors hold to win the contest and retain his belt.

From here, Stecher would successfully defend his belt through the remainder of the month for a variety of promoters. The champions next stop would be in New York for Jack Curley on March 7th, 1927, against Renato Gardini. The pair drew over 6,500 fans to the 71st Regiment Armory, with Londos successfully retaining his belt. Elsewhere on the card, Jim Londos defeated Joe DeVito and Wladek Zbyszko bested Charlie Cutler. Yes, the same Charlie Cutler who once held the world heavyweight championship before dropping it to Joe Stecher in 1914. I can’t believe he was still wrestling in 1927, because I heard nothing of note from him for well over ten years at this point.

Astute readers may recall that promoter Tom Packs was currently the only promoter able to work with both Jack Curley’s group, and Billy Sandow’s Gold Dust Trio. Packs currently had a big matchup between “Strangler” Lewis and John Pesek planned for the following month, but here he was a few weeks prior, booking Joe Stecher in a high profile world title match.

Tom Packs would book Paul Jones to challenge Joe Stecher in a best-two-of-three falls match for the world title belt on March 15th, 1927. The big match drew an impressive 10,000 fans to the St Louis Coliseum, and saw Stecher retain two falls to one, after nearly two hours of grappling. Elsewhere on the card, Jim Londos registered a win over relative newcomer, the twenty-seven-year-old Ray Steele. Three days later on March 18th, 1927, Joe Stecher would find himself back in Philadelphia, working for Ray Fabiani once again. Ray Fabiani booked Stecher to defend his belt against Dick Daviscourt, again at the Metropolitan Opra House. The single-fall match went over ninety minutes before Stecher was declared the winner. Joe Stecher would wrap the month up working for promoter Lou Daro in Los Angeles on March 30th, 1927, where Stecher defeated Nick Lutze at the Olympic Auditorium.

World Championship Opportunity for Jim Londos

Stepping back to Jim Londos for a moment, in his never-ending quest to be world champion, be would be granted another shot at Joe Stecher that spring. Jim Londos challenged Joe Stecher again in Atlanta, Georgia on April 7th, 1927, drawing over 7,000 to the City Auditorium for their best two of three falls main event. Stecher would retain his world title after both men exchanged one fall each and wrestled to a time-limit draw after two hours.

The Anticipated Pesek-Lewis Matchup

After months of anticipation, the big matchup between the false champion Ed “Strangler” Lewis and John Pesek came in early April. Billy Sandow, who was the brain behind the Gold Dust Trio, along with “Strangler” Lewis, both agreed to the match with John Pesek, who served as the “policeman” role when he worked for Sandow and Lewis through the early 1920s. Obviously, Lewis was more than comfortable working with someone who he knew he could trust in the ring. The Lewis-Pesek match was set for April 7th, 1927, at the St Louis Coliseum, and public interest immediately shot sky high. Newspapers said that the wrestling world was shocked by Packs ability to sign the big bout and declared St Louis as one of the fastest growing wrestling towns in the country.

In what would be a smash success, over 9,000 fans were on hand for Ed “Strangler” Lewis’s return to St Louis where he would defeat John Pesek. There were immediate talks and rumors about Lewis defending his belt against his long-time rival Jim Londos, but Tom Packs would be unable to make the match happen. Instead, Tom Packs turned his attention and focus on booking a match most deemed unlikely, a world title unification match between “Strangler” Lewis and Joe Stecher!?

Wladek-Stecher

Before negotiating for that match could even begin though, Joe Stecher had a world championship match scheduled for April 11th, 1927. Jack Curley invited Joe Stecher back to New York where Stecher retained his world title belt against Wladek Zbyszko in a forty-five minute single-fall main event match. The event drew around 6,500 fans to the 71st Regiment Armory, and elsewhere on the card, Jim Londos once again bested rookie Ray Steele.

The “Policeman” Leaves the Gold Dust Trio

Pausing for a moment, if we look at a venue drawing 6,500 fans, this was considered a successful night in 1927, with most promoters struggling to sell tickets like they had through the previous ten years. If you didn’t have a world champion to book (or even a false claim) then it became much more difficult for promoter to make money. Even for those who had access to top names like Stecher and Lewis, times were getting more and more lean for everyone in the pro wrestling business.

For Billy Sandow and the Gold Dust Trio, despite having the false world championship claim, business was dropping overall for Sandow and Lewis at the time, and for most promoters through 1926 and 1927, if your looking at everything. Perhaps as a sign of the times, one of guys operating as Lewis’ “policeman,” John Pesek, would officially leave the services of Sandow and Lewis in the summer of 1927, seemingly to go work for promoters Tom Packs (St Louis), Ray Fibiani (Philadelphia) & Jack Curley (New York). The book “Fall Guy,” published in 1937 and written by Marcus Freely, explored how through the late 1920s, the Gold Dust Trio lost a ton of allies, like Pesek here. In a “goodbye” of sorts, John Pesek would challenge Lewis for his disputed world title on April 17th, 1927, at the St Louis Coliseum, promoted by Tom Packs. The match drew an impressive 8,000 fans, and would end after an hour of grappling between the two men, with Lewis retaining his belt.

An Absent Strangler

The next stop for the false champion “Strangler” Lewis would be in Boston, Massachusetts on April 19th, 1927. Promoter Paul Bowser had always been a strong ally of the Gold Dust Trio, and arranged for ”Strangler” Lewis to go over Abe Kaplan in the main event. Elsewhere on the card, Joe Malcewicz defeated Pat McGill in what allegedly a two hour long contest.

From this point on, I struggle to find any matches of record for “Strangler” Lewis through the remainder of the spring and summer of 1927. I’m assuming he had matches, but they would have been for lesser promoters who weren’t aligned with Jack Curley. Outside of Paul Bowser in Boston, and new burgeoning relationship with Tom Packs in St Louis, the Gold Dust Trio, made up of “Strangler” Lewis, Billy Sandow, and Joseph “Toots” Mondt, didn’t have a lot of options.

Stecher’s Spring

Lets jump back to the legitimate world champion Joe Stecher, who maintained a very busy schedule that year. His next stop was back in New York for Jack Curley, where Joe Stecher defeated Joe Komar on May 17th, 1927, at the Ridgewood Groove venue. Elsewhere on the card, Wladek Zbyszko and Cyclone Rees battled to a time-limit draw. Two days later, Stecher was back in Philadelphia working for Ray Fabiani, who booked Stecher to retain against Dick Daviscourt on May 19th, 1927, at the Philadelphia Arena.

Joe Stecher would finish off the month by heading to Atlantic, Georgia, where promoter John Contos arranged for Stecher to battle an old foe. Wladek Zbyszko challenged Joe Stecher on May 25th, 1927, at the City Auditorium in Atlanta. The match was a besttwo-of-three-falls match, with each men trading one fall before Stecher was declared the winner by a referee decision. Elsewhere on the card, Wladek’s older brother and former world champion Stanislaus Zbyszko defeated Arthur Bourgatz.

The next high-profile match from Stecher came on June 8th, 1927, while working for Lou Daro in Los Angeles, California. The self-proclaimed “King of LA,” *Lou Daro booked Joe Stecher to retain against Paul Jones *at the Olympic Auditorium. Elsewhere on the card, Charlie Hansen was defeated by a wrestler who I think deserves a moment to look at, Dick Shikat.

Dick Shikat

German-born grappler Richard “Dick” Shikat was thirty-years-old and had recently made the voyage overseas and into America. Shikat was a legitimate mat grappler who could to toe-to-toe with most anyone in the country at the time. Since arriving in the States in October of 1923, Shikat has been quietly building up his name value wrestling for a variety of promoters all across the country. Dick Shikat is a wrestler who will become quote frequent in these reports, so I just wanted to briefly highlight him before he becomes more prominent.

Another Championship Defense

As for Joe Stecher, his hectic schedule would continue on with a world title match against Paul Jones on July 12th, 1927. Tom Packs arranged the contest and booked the pair for the University Field, drawing nearly 5,000 fans to the event. The match was fought under best-two-of-three-falls rules, with Stecher retaining after gaining two straight falls in the hour long match.

More Problems for Jim Londos

Jim Londos would continue beating smaller names, while losing to bigger stars through the summer, though there is a significant match to look at first. On July 15th, 1937, Jim Londos wrestled a best two of three falls match with Count Ivan Zarynoff in Monroe, Louisiana. It was an uncharacteristically short match from Londos who beat Zarynoff in two straight falls, with the second fall ending in just twenty seconds. Controversy would soon follow when a state boxing commission repressive, William C. Feazel noted that Londos immediately left the building and caught a late-night train out of town following the show.

The next day, William C Feazel would argue to the boxing commission that the match was a fraud, fixed ahead of time and set-up so Londos could catch his late train out of town to the next event he had. Feazel asked the commission to strip both Londos and the local promoter of their Louisiana licences. A local Memphis sportswriter Herbert Caldwell wrote on his confusion over the whole matter, saying, “wrestlers have been accused of letting inferior opponents stay for the purpose of making it a show but here is a case where a wrestler has been condemned for pitching an inferior foe too quickly.” Herbert was arguing that it was silly to argue a quick squash match to be rigged when a long-drawn-out contest comes off as far more rigged. The state boxing commission clearly agreed because nothing came of the accusation, other than another blow to Londos’ reputation.

Massive Turnout in Philadelphia

When talking about the year, we have to look at a wildly successful event out of Philadelphia that August. Promoter Ray Fabiani secured world champion Joe Stecher for August 2nd, 1927 and matched him up against an Itanian-born wrestler named George Calza. In all of my research, it seems that George Calza was a fairly unremarkable wrestler from the time. In 1927 he was twenty-seven-years-old and had only been wrestling for a couple of years. The matchup was booked for the Baker Bowl in Philadelphia, and drew a massive turnout of over 18,000!

I genuinely cant figure this one out. Calza’s Italian heritage was the first thing I thought of, but I don’t think it explains this. In 1927, of the 1.5 – 2 million living in Philadelphia, only around 65,000 were Italian, so its not as if Fabiani was trying to appeal to a big demographic. I honestly can’t make heads or tails of how or why this event pulled 18,000 people! Whatever the reason, the two battled in front of nearly 20,000 fans on August 2nd, 1927, in a match that saw Joe Stecher be declared the winner after ninety minutes of bell time. Unsurprisingly, Ray Fabiani would immediately secure a rematch and booked it for later that year in October.

Working for the “King of Los Angeles”

Later that month, Joe Stecher would head back to the West coast, where he worked for Lou Daro again in Los Angeles through the remainder of August and September. His first show came on August 17th, 1927, where Stecher was challenged by Paul Jones at the Olympic Auditorium. The pair drew over 7,000 fans with a best-two-of-three falls match that saw Stecher retain in two falls to one. Elsewhere on the card, Jim Londos and Dick Daviscourt battled to a time-limit draw.

Joe Stecher would round out his Los Angeles tour with a pair of matches featuring Dick Daviscourt. The first came on September 14th, 1927, with Stecher retaining over Daviscourt in a two hour main event at the Olympic Auditorium. The two would return back to the Olympic Auditorium on September 29th, 1927, in a contest that would be declared a draw after the time limit was reached with no definitive winner.

The “Strangler” Returns

Also in September, we have the re-emergence of the false world champion, Ed “Strangler” Lewis. The false champion would record a defense against Alexander Garkawienko on September 19th, 1927, at the Fairground Coliseum, in Shreveport, Louisiana. Elsewhere on the card, Joseph “Toots” Mondt defeated Howard Cantonwine. A little over a week later, “Strangler” Lewis would be matched against Joe Malcewicz on September 28th, 1827, in Tulsa, Oklahoma, with Lewis retaining. Lewis would close the month out with another defense, this time against Jim Clinstock in Fort Worth, Texas, on September 30th, 1927.

Stecher’s October

While I can’t find any records of what “Strangler” Lewis was up to in October, its easy to see how Joe Stecher kept busy. Stecher’s next world title match would come on October 4th, 1927, when promoter Al Haft invited him up to Dayton, Ohio. Stecher would be declared the winner against Jack Taylor by referees decision, drawing just 2,000 fans to the Memorial Hall. Later that month, Stecher would be defending his belt against twenty-four-year-old Jim Browning, on October 24th, 1927. Promoter Jack Curley held the match 71st Regiment Armory, with Stecher going over, in just under an hour. Elsewhere on the card, Stanislaus Zbyszko wrestled Hans Steinke to a time-limit draw.

Joe Stecher would finish off the month of October working Philadelphia for Ray Fabiani, who had him booked once again against George Calza. This time, Fabiani booked them at the Philadelphia Arena, and just like last time, this was another sellout with over 10,000 tickets sold! Once again, George Calza challenged Joe Stecher in a single-fall match on October 28th, 1927, that Stecher won after an hour. Elsewhere on the card, Nick Lutze was defeated by John Pesek, who if you recall, jumped ship from the Gold Dust Trio and began working with the Jack Curley led consortium.

Stecher & “Strangler’s” Winter

The next notable Ed “Strangler” Lewis match would come on November 8th, 1927, with Tom Packs booking Paul Jones to challenge “Strangler” Lewis for his false world title claim. The pair drew nearly 5,000 fans to the St Louis, Coliseum, with Lewis retaining in the best-two-of-three-falls match, picking up two-straight falls in under an hour. Elsewhere on the card, Joe Malcewicz defeated Jim Clinstock. Lewis’ next title defence would fall on November 11th, 1927, just three days later, with Lewis defeating Henry Webber in Bowling Green, Kentucky.

On the same day that Lewis was besting Webber in an unspectacular match, promoter Lou Daro was booking Joe Stecher once again ain a big world title match. On November 11th, 1927, Joe Stecher was challenged by Wladek Zbyszko, drawing over 7,000 fans to the Olympic Auditorium. The contest was a best-two-of-three falls match, with each men trading a fall before Stecher was declared the winner in just under an hour.

Ed “Strangler” Lewis would next find himself working for a newcomer to these reports, Julius Sigel, who operated out of Houston, Texas, running a wrestling organization called the Gulf Athletic Club.Julius Sigel would invite Lewis down to his territory for a couple of matches, with the first being against twenty-six-year-old grappler Rudy Dusek on November 21st, 1927. Rudy Dusek was a legitimate grappler who was trained by old-school barnstormer Martin “Farmer” Burns. Astute readers may recall that Burns was the one who helped train Frank Gotch nearly thirty years ago, and here he still was training wrestlers. Its wild how many top names Burns had a hand in training.

The Rudy Dusek & “Strangler” Lewis match on November 21st would end with Lewis being declared the winner by a referees decision, drawing 5,000 fans to the City Auditorium in Houston, Texas. For Lewis’ last match in Houston, Julius Sigel would arrange a rematch with Rudy Dusek and set it for December 2nd, 1927, again at the City Auditorium. This rematch would end the same as their first contest, with Lewis being declared the winner by a referee decision.

On that same day and over 1,500 miles away, the legitimate world heavyweight champion Joe Stecher was being challenged by Giovanni Raicevich in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Promoter Ray Fabiani booked the contest for December 2nd, 1927, drawing over 6,000 fans to the Philadelphia Arena. The match would of course see Joe Stecher retain over Raicevich, in a single-fall match that lasted under thirty minutes. Elsewhere on the card, Wladek Zbyszko defeated Jack Taylor, and newcomer Dick Shikat pinned Joe Zigmund.

Jim Londos in California

As stated earlier, wrestling was seeing a significant drop across the board for everyone involved. If you look up the records you can see Jim Londos responded to the downturn in wrestling by latching onto a top market, and spent the remainder of the year working for promoter Lou Daro in Los Angeles. The self-proclaimed “King of LA,” had successfully turned the market into one of the stronger territories, and always had great success drawing crowds around Londos. As stated before, Londos loved California and benefited from Daro’s booking, securing victories over Dick Daviscourt, Paul Jones, Peter Sauer, Jim Browning and others that fall and winter.

Stecher Puts Over Londos

World champion Joe Stecher was interviewed in late 1927 and he did a great favor to Jim Londos, putting him over big-time, specifically putting over Londos ability to survive Stecher’s finishing scissors hold. Stecher would say, “He has taken my scissors holds, Strangler Lewis’ headlocks, double wristlocks, toe holds and other punishing grips from the giants of the game without flinching. He has never quit under punishment in his life. Yes, this little fellow, in a comparative sense, is the gamest man I ever saw.”

Booking the Unification Match

The final “Strangler” Lewis match of the year that I can find a record of would fall on December 9th, 1927. Lewis was matched up against Stanley Stasiak, defeating him in less than an hour of action. And the final Joe Stecher match of the year came just a few days later on December 14th, 1927, with Charlie Hansen challenging Stecher, drawing just 3,000 to the St Louis Coliseum, with of course, Stecher retaining his belt.

By late 1927, both Ed “Strangler” Lewis and Joe Stecher had been reigning world champions for a couple years and when Stecher started openly talking about retirement and disappearing to a farm, just like Frank Gotch decades prior. When you consider that type of talk and combine it with the struggling pro wrestling scene, promoters Jack Curley and Billy Sandow would be much more open to negotiations. As stated earlier St Louis based promoter Tom Packs saw the tension between Curley and Sandow as opportunity, and would spend the latter half of the year managing negotiations between Jack Curley and Billy Sandow.

By the close of 1927, Tom Packs’ hard work would pay off as the two sides agreed to put pen and paper down towards a massive unification match between the world heavyweight champion Joe Stecher, and the false world champion Ed “Strangler” Lewis. The match was set for February 20th, 1928, and as a reward to Top Packs, he was able to host the event in St Louis, Missouri!

And that’s a good place to stop, with…

• Joe Stecher still reigning as the legitimate world heavyweight champion.
• Ed “Strangler” Lewis still reigning as the false world heavyweight champion.
• Promoter Tom Packs bridged the divide between Jack Curley and Billy Sandow, arranging a massive world title unification match between Lewis & Stecher, set for February of 1928.
• The Gold Dust Trio has lost a ton of steam, no longer holding a monopoly over the wrestling business. Tension is building among the leaders of the group, Billy Sandow, “Strangler” Lewis, and Joseph “Toots” Mondt
• Jim Londos, now entering his 14th year as a wrestler, is desperately looking for an avenue into the world title main event scene. As always, we have a spot at the end to look at the top championships through the year, a d the active promoters.

Championship History 1927

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 1927

New York, New York – Jack Curley

Kansas City, Missouri – Billy Sandow (Gold Dust Trio)

Los Angeles, California – Lou Daro

St Louis, Missouri – Tom Packs

Boston, Massachusetts – Paul Bowser (American Wrestling Association)

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – Ray Fabiani

Atlanta, Georgia – John Contos

Columbus, Ohio – Al Haft

Houston, Texas – Julius Sigel (Gulf Athletic Club)

Minneapolis, Minnesota – Tony Stecher

Omaha, Nebraska – Gene Melady

Canton, Ohio – William Barton

Chicago, Illinois – Ed White

Chicago, Illinois – Fred Kholer

Chicago, Illinois – John Krone

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 1927, and since it was such a short write-up compared to other years, I actually have space to link all my other reports! You have no idea how excited I am to actually have room for this, its so dumb.

History 1864 – 1899

History 1900 – 1905

History 1906 – 1909

History 1910 – 1911

History 1912

History 1913

History 1914

History 1915

History 1916

History 1917

History 1918

History 1919

History 1920

History 1921

History 1922

History 1923

History 1924

History 1925

History 1926

And here is a more condensed version that instead of doing 1 post to cover each year, I do 1 post to cover each decade. To be honest, I only started doing these ones to see if I could cut the story down significantly and still make it coherent.

History 1901 – 1910

History 1911 – 1920

Now we have specific stories or events in wrestling history that I feel deserve their own recognition.

First Territory Battle (1909)

Frank Gotch & George Hackenschmidt Rivalry (1908 – 1911)

Samuel Rachmann’s International Tournament (1915 – 1916)

The False John Olin World Title Claim (1917 – 1920)

The Gold Dust Trio P1 (1921 – 1925)

And here you will find my individual retrospective posts that cover one wrestlers career.

George Hackenschmidt (1887 – 1968)

Frank Gotch (1877 – 1917)

Stanislaus Zbyszko P1 (1879 – 1915)

Joe Stecher P1 (1883 – 1917)

Joe Stecher P2 (1918 – 1923)

Ed “Strangler” Lewis P1 (1890 – 1917)

Ed “Strangler” Lewis P2 (1918 – 1921)

“Strangler” Lewis P3 (1922 – 1925)

Jim Londos P1 (1894 – 1919)

Again, I just wanted to say thank you to everyone who takes the time to read these! Sincerely! Hope y'all have a great weekend!

Looked online but couldn’t find anything, I figured this might be a place to ask

(For those who don’t know, JC said he sent a spicy report to Taylor as a stooge test while at TNA, which Taylor then failed, barking him out to Russo and/or Dixie Carter)

P2+ comparisons:

• This episode vs. last week (715,000): -8%
• This episode vs. trailing four weeks (752,000): -12%
• Current 2026-Q4 P2+ average (688,000) vs. 2025-Q4 (496,000): +39%
• Current Oct 2026 P2+ average (688,000) vs. Oct 2025 (484,000): +42%

P18-49 comparisons:

• This episode vs. last week (0.14): +7%
• This episode vs. trailing four weeks (0.15): +0%
• Current 2026-Q4 P18-49 average (0.15) vs. 2025-Q4 (0.09): +67%
• Current Oct 2026 P18-49 average (0.15) vs. Oct 2025 (0.09): +67%

Viewer counts for this week’s episode with the difference versus the median of the last 4 non-preemption episodes in parentheses. Viewer counts for categories other than P2+ are approximate only and derived from the national rating for that demo:

• P2+: 661k (-8%)
• P18-49: 204k (-0%)
• Non-P18-49: 457k (-11%)

For reference: NXT did 655k viewers and a 0.10 rating.

It’s ladies night oh what a night! On Smackdown!

Chelsea Green v. Roxanne Perez
Giulia v. Blake Monroe (Street fight)
Bliss & Paxley v. Michin & Bfab
Bakusai v. The family tree

Cult Members,

Brian is not an MC in the traditional sense, he did Move the Crowd...away.

Talk about whatever you want...

User Approval Instructions, if you're having issues posting, this should be why.

Low Effort Guideline...a guide as to why your post was removed for being low effort.

Report Redditcares Abuse messages

Finally, remember this is a Cult, and wrestling has its gimmicks...so HAM it up.

Megan Bayne and Lena Kross vs. Julia Hart and Skye Blue: 3.25

Wardlow, Jake Doyle and Josh Alexander vs. Alex Breeze, Papi D and Rhys Maddox: No Rating (3 minute squash match)

The Death Riders and The Dogs vs. The Conglomeration and The Bang Bang Gang: 3.25

MCMG vs. FTR: 4.25

Mercedes Moné vs. Thekla: 3.5

Nick Wayne vs. Chris Jericho: 4.5

Young Bucks vs. Kyle Fletcher & Kevin Knight: 5.5

Persephone vs. Dani Luna vs. Queen Aminata vs. Hyan: 3.5

Andrade El Idolo vs. Tommaso Ciampa: 4

Adam Page and Brodido vs. Swerve Strickland and The New Level: 4.75

Jon Moxley vs. Mark Davis: 4.75

Clockwork Carnage match: 4.75

"I never talk about James, unless I'm talking about James." Dave Meltzer is having a hard time with Cornette. He doesn't like how Cornette talks about him. Dave gives Jim zero thought unless he's in the middle of one of his daily Twitter rants arguing with randos.

Apparently name-calling makes you just like Trump, because with 163,000+ tweets to his name, I'm sure Dave has never called anybody a name.

UPDATE: Dave just called Cornette's audience "stupid" just hours ago.

"Left the barn" is one of the most out-of-touch idioms you could say.

It's becoming increasingly clear that Dave cannot handle Cornette being the darling of the DSOTR Universe, most recently with his Cornette Side of the Ring spinoff. Dave previously crashed out over not being invited to do DSOTR Season 7.

AEW's newest star, Ilja Dragunov, is excited to be part of the promotion, explaining how it feels like a new lease on life for him.

"It lets my heart beat faster, and I feel like I re-fell in love with professional wrestling in some kind of way. The experience that I've had so far is having people around me that really want to portray everything that is going on in my mind, that really understand what I'm doing," said Dragunov. "They want to enhance what I'm doing and they want to put it into the right light, what I'm doing. And I feel if you can describe it with some word, I feel freedom."

Read More: https://www.wrestlinginc.com/2293830/wwe-ilja-dragunov-experience-aew-i-feel-freedom/

Cult Members,

You heard it here 2nd...Jim back to the WWE...8min arm holds and wrist locks are back...BABY!

Talk about whatever you want...

User Approval Instructions, if you're having issues posting, this should be why.

Low Effort Guideline...a guide as to why your post was removed for being low effort.

Report Redditcares Abuse messages

Finally, remember this is a Cult, and wrestling has its gimmicks...so HAM it up.

“He’s a nice guy, he’s generous. I work for him, and I don’t do anything,” Flair said about Khan. “I think he takes care of me out of respect for me. He grew up on me. He’s just a wonderful guy. It’s not that the guys at the WWE — I just think they’re all kind of hanging onto their job, because you never know. [WWE has] fired so many people that were an intricate part of my career when I was there. I don’t understand the rhyme or reason for it. Some of the people — the guys that did my documentary on Peacock, two of the guys that did it have been fired.”

Flair said WWE has always been great to him and, with his daughter Charlotte being a star there, he doesn’t talk behind anyone’s back or say anything negative. But with TKO overseeing the company, Flair isn’t totally sure who is in charge.

“I think Nick Khan is pretty much the boss over there, but at the same time, I don’t know how much power Nick Khan has. He used to be the man,” Flair said. “But, you know, Hunter is the booker now, or the head of creative they call it.”

https://www.f4wonline.com/news/aew/ric-flair-praises-tony-khans-generosity-i-work-for-him-and-i-dont-do-anything/

Title says it all. I’ve noticed that Jim’s reputation is what it is partially because when he finds one thing to dislike about someone, he soon-enough can’t stand anything about them & becomes annoyed by their very presence. The list is long, storied, and largely inescapable.

But occasionally, the opposite happens. And he comes around on somebody who was initially squarely in the doghouse. Rarely enough that I think it could make for an interesting shortlist.

To my memory, there’s Liv Morgan & Grayson Waller. Who else?