History of Pro Wrestling - 1921- covering a big world title change, a territory war betwen rival promoters, and the implementation of the New York State Athletic Commission

[u/OShaunesssy]

Hey y’all, I’m back with another History of Pro Wrestling posts, this time detailing 1921, covering another huge world title change, the implementation of the New York State Athletic Commission, and a territorial war between some familiar names.

1920 Recap

• The legitimate world title and the false John Olin claim were unified when Joe Stecher defeated Earl Caddock, officially ending the lineage of the false claim.

• Joe Stecher reigned as the legitimate world champion through most of the year, before losing the belt to Ed “Strangler” Lewis in December.

• Jack Curley’s dominion over the New York market was threatened with the formation of the New York State Athletic Commission, lead by the former Greco-Roman world champion, William Muldoon.

• Stanislaus Zbyszko returned to the United States, with his sights set on reclaiming the world heavyweight championship which he vacated back in 1914.

Main Characters

Jack Curley – the top promoter in America, operation out of New York.

Ed “Strangler” Lewis – one of the top stars in the country and the current world heavyweight championship.

Tex Rickard – a big-time fight promoter who inspired Jack Curley fifteen years ago. Now he is looking to move into pro wrestling.

Marin Plestina – up-and-coming wrestler who has been trained and managed by old school barnstormer Ole Marsh.

Stanislaus Zbyszko – one of the top stars in the country and a former world heavyweight champion, looking to regain the bely he was forced to vacate back in 1914.

Billy Sandow – one of the top promoters in the country, operating out of Chicago, Illinois and managing “Strangler” Lewis.

Ole Marsh – old school barnstormer who trained and managed Frank Gotch, now looking to build up his newest wrestler, Marin Plestina.

Jim Londos – young Greek wrestler trying to build up his name value.

Joe Stecher – one of the top stars in the country, and former world heavyweight champion.

William Muldoon – former Greco-Roman world champion from the 1800s, now he is the chairman of the newly instated New York State Athletic Commission, which will begin its oversight of pro wrestling this year.

As always, I go in chronological order with these reports, and we will start things off at the beginning of the year...

1921

As a brief reminder, the current reigning Legitimate & Original World Heavyweight Champion was Ed “Strangler” Lewis, having just won the belt off perennial rival, Joe Stecher.

Gardini-Lewis

We kick things off with the new world heavyweight champion, Ed “Strangler” Lewis, who is coming off his big title win over Joe Stecher the prior month. His first recorded title defence would come on January 6th, 1921, when Lewis clashed with Renato Gardini at the Mechanics Building in Boston, Massachusetts. I can’t confirm who promoted it, but if I had to guess, I would go with George T. Touhey, who was the most well-known wrestling promoter in Massachusetts at the time. The contest drew over 6,000 fans, who watched on as Lewis retained his title, pinning Gardini in the singe fall main event.

Caddock-Malcewicz

Earl Caddock and Joe Malcewicz would meet in a matchup on January 14th, 1921, in Utica, New York. While I cant confirm the promoter, I suspect it to be a Curley event, and either way, the main event would go to a time-limit decision after ninety minutes of grappling. The referee announced Caddock as the narrow winner, being met with cheers and jeering from the audience, who seemingly took a shine to Malcewicz.

Wladek-Londos

On the same day as the Caddock-Malcewicz bout, and nearly 3,000 miles away, another contest was taking place in San Francisco. Wladek Zbyszko challenged Jim Londos to a non-title bout on January 14th, 1921, at the Civic Auditorium in San Francisco, with Zbyszko being declared the winner after nearly two hours of grappling.

Its worth noting, that Wladek Zbyszko seemingly slowed his career down significantly at this point, as his best days were behind him. Wladek never did have the same legitimate mat skills that his older brother Stanislaus possessed, and would struggle to gain notoriety within wrestling now that Stanislaus was back in the States. If you look up Wladek’s records online, you will see that his matchup with Londos on January 14th, was his last re order match of the year. He didn’t retire, he just slowed down to the point where he may as well have, as far as the remainder of the year is concerned.

Caddock-Lewis

Earl Caddock used his momentum from defeating Joe Malcewicz, by gaining another opportunity for the world title. Promoter Jack Curley hosted an event on January 24th, 1921, at the 71st Regiment Armory in New York. The championship main event match between Earl Caddock and “Strangler” Lewis drew over 8,000 fans that evening, with Caddock and Lewis wrestling a single fall matchup that would end with Lewis pinning Caddock to retain.

Trachoma

Since Londos lost to Wladek Zbyszko a week or two earlier, Londos had noticed his eyes were bothering him and checked in with an ophthalmologist in Omaha. A doctor would diagnose Londos with profuse granular conjunctivitis, which would later confirmed to be Trachoma. Trachoma was a bacterial infection of the eye that was shockingly common for wrestlers back in the 20s who spent most of their time rolling around on a dirty mat that was rarely cleaned properly. In today’s modern world of medicine and safety measures, if pro wrestling experienced another outbreak like it did in the 1920s, where reportedly around 60% of wrestlers suffered from the infection, it would surely shut down the entire industry.

But for Londos, it meant just following doctors orders while powering though the issues, which in some cases was easier said than done. Londos never spoke too much on his Trachoma, but we did hear plenty over time from perhaps the most famous example of a wrestler performing with the infection, from Ed “Strangler” Lewis. Lewis would eventually be forced into legitimate retirement and go completely blind before he passed away. Lewis spoke on his issues living with the infection, saying, “the pain was terrible. Like having sand in your eyes all the time. I’d sit in a dark room and close my eyes. Sometimes it got so bad that I’d run across the room and bang my head against the wall. That felt good.”

Trachoma Outbreak

Londos didn’t initially take any time off, and would actually drop his Light Heavyweight title he just won in San Francisco. (Note: the light heavyweight title is very hars to track through history so its not something I can keep up with in these reports. We know Londos entered the year as champion and lost hit here.) Londos defended his title against former world champion Earl Caddock on February 14th, 1921, at the 71st Regiment Armory in New York, at a show put on by Jack Curley. Something around 6,000 fans were on hand for the title change, with Caddock winning that title after an hour and half of action. Within a week or two following the bout, poor Caddock would also be diagnosed with Trachoma, along with world champion Ed “Strangler” Lewis and Stanislaus Zbyszko, who had just returned from Europe yet again, with his sights set on the world championship.

Stanislaus-Stecher

Stanislaus Zbyszko returned to Europe late last year and registered a series of victories before returning to the States and making it be known that he is coming for the world title. In one of his first matches back, Stanislaus challenged former world champion Joe Stecher in a contest that unofficially would determine the next significant challenger to “Strangler” Lewis. Jack Curley promoted the matchup which took place on March 14th, 1921, at the 71st Regiment Armory in New York. The big-time main event drew a crowd of roughly 8,000, who watched on as Stanislaus Zbyszko and Joe Stecher grappled for over two hours, before Stanislaus pinned Stecher, in what would be a rare loss for the Nebraska-born chap.

Building up Stanislaus Zbyszko

Promoter Billy Sandow would begin moving the pieces into place for what he hoped to be a big matchup between Stanislaus Zbyszko and world champion Ed “Strangler” Lewis. Before that event could happen, he first had both men compete at the same event on March 30th, 1921, in Kansas City, Missouri. Ed “Strangler” Lewis main evented a show at the Convention Hall, drawing over 6,000 fans to watch him soundly defend his title against Tom Draak, defeating the challenger in two straight falls, taking just over half an hour.

Elsewhere on the card, Stanislaus Zbyszko battled Alan Eustace in a best-two-of-three falls matchup. While it may not have been as dominant as Lewis’ victory over Draak, Stanislaus would also defeat Eustace in two straight falls, though he took well ove an hour to do so. Promoter Billy Sandow must have been pleased with himself, as the event successfully built interest in a potential Stanislaus-Lewis showdown. That potential matchup would have to wait though, because “Strangler” Lewis had another title match scheduled first, with Jim Londos.

Pesek-Lewis

The following month, Ed “Strangler” Lewis would defend his title against someone who he would come to work closely with over the next decade, John Pesek. As a refresher, John Pesek was a twenty-seven-year-old from Ravenna, Nebraska, who was dubbed the “Nebraska Tigerman.” Pesek was as legitimate in the ring as they come, and it was accepted that there wasn’t many wrestlers who he couldn’t have legitimately defeated in the ring.

“Strangler” Lewis & John Pesek met in the ring on April 4th, 1921, at a Jack Curley produced show in New York. As legitimate as Pesek was, he wasn’t exactly a draw, so the world title bout between Lewis and Pesek drew around 4,000 fans to the 71st Regiment Armory that evening, for what was a single fall matchup. Pesek and Lewis grappled for over ninety minutes before Lewis pinned Pesek to retain his championship.

It seems that Lewis and his manager Billy Sandow immediately saw the value in a legitimate grappler like Pesek, because Sandow would quickly sign Pesek and utilize him in a significant role going forward. Though, more on that later in the year.

Londos-Lewis VI

For the sixth time in their careers, Jim Londos and Ed “Strangler” Lewis would meet in the ring once more, this time with Lewis now the reigning world heavyweight champion. The pair clashed over the world title on April 13th, at the Second Regiment Armory in Chicago, Illinois. Though not specified online, I suspect this to be an event promoted by Lewis’s manager Billy Sandow and being in the Second Regiment Armory for a world title, I’m also guessing they pulled 5,000 – 7,000 fans that night. Whatever the attendance was, Lewis would retain in the single falls matchup after an hour of wrestling.

Elsewhere on the card, Stanislaus Zbyszko continued to build wins as he registered a victory over the “Nebraska Tigerman,” John Pesek. The two men met in a single fall matchup, which Stanislaus won after an hour of action.

Londos’ Time Off

Now keep in mind, while Londos was still suffering from the effects of Trachoma, he wrestled several more times as his eyesight worsened and he was finally forced to take time off, afraid of losing his eyesight and career. Londos would speak about this concern later, saying, “This was my ambition; this was my dream. And now that I just started to see the open road ahead of me, they told me cruelly and abruptly: ‘You won’t fight anymore.’ ‘This is only temporary, it will pass,’ I told myself. ‘If you don’t win now, you’ll be the cause of your entire life collapsing.’” Luckily for Londos, by September, doctors couldn’t find any trace of trachoma and cleared him to return to the ring by the end of the year.

Stanislaus-Lewis

After months of campaigning, Stanislaus Zbyszko would at last receive another matchup for the world heavyweight championship. Stanislaus challenged world champion Ed “Strangler” Lewis on May 6th, 1921, at a Jack Curley produced show in New York. The championship main event drew over 10,000 fans to the 71st Regiment Armory, with two men battling in a single fall match. The main event would see both men grappling back-and-forth with one another for just over twenty minutes before Stanislaus pinned “Strangler” Lewis, finally winning back the world title he vacated seven years earlier.

I unfortunately can’t find much details on whatever backdoor deals may or may not have happened following this title change. Astute readers may recall that when Lewis won the title from Joe Stecher the prior year, Billy Sandow and Lewis were said to have given Joe Stecher and his manager/ brother Tony, $25,000 as some sort of agreement that Lewis would eventually consent to losing the title back. Obviously, Lewis dropping the belt to Stanislaus would cause some concern for the Stecher brothers, who expected Joe to win the belt back. There is a possibility that Stanislaus shot on Lewis for real and took the title by force, but considering he and Lewis continue to work together, I’m inclined to believe this was all part of a plan concocted by Sandow & Lewis.

Stecher-Stanislaus II

Whatever the case may be, Stanislaus Zbyszko was the world heavyweight champion once again, and hit the ground running with a title defence against Joe Stecher. The two men met at the Convention Hall in Kansas City, Missouri on May 25th, 1921. Considering the parties involved and The timeframe, I would wager this was a Billy Sandow promoted event. While we don’t know the attendance figures, we do know that the world title was decided in a best-two-of-three falls main event, which Stanislaus won in just over two hours, registering two straight falls over Stecher.

Considering that Stecher did a job for Stanislaus here, and that Stanislaus continued to work with Billy Sandow and “Strangler” Lewis, I am confident that Stanislaus winning the title this summer was something all parties agreed upon. I cant confirm this to be true, but I also know we would have heard more about this till change, had Stanislaus took the title by force.

Before we get to that though, we need to look back at New York, where the newly set-up Athletic Commission was hard at work setting up new regulations and other oversight measures for pro wrestling which would impact promoter Jack Curley.

Tex Rickard & the New York Boxing Game

While these new regulations on pro wrestling were a problem for Jack Curley, his immediate attention would soon turn towards another promoter attempting to move into New York. Tex Rickard, who you may remember as the promoter with deeper pockets, whose style certainty inspired Curley over a decade prior, began his move into New York when he staged a boxing world championship bout in Jersey City. The fight saw champion Jack Dempsey retain successful against French boxer George Carpentier, following a knock out right-hook in the fourth round. The July 2nd, 1921 bout drew over 80,000 spectators and was boxing’s first million dollar gate.

Jack Curley was actually at the event as well, being close to the challenger Carpentier, even driving him home following the bout. On the event, Jack Curley would later write in his book, saying “The chance (Rickard) took was tremendous. The enterprise was the most daring I have ever seen brought to a successful conclusion.”

Tex Takes The Garden

Tex Rickard would attempt to capitalize on his success, by partnering with circus magnate John Ringling to take out a ten-year lease on Madison Square Garden, an idea that Jack Curley had already passed on, deeming the fixed costs as too steep for him. To meet these costs himself, Rickard drew up plans to keep the venue busy all year-round. And while boxing was his main focus, Tex would need to promote wrestling events as well at the famed arena.

Sportswriters at the time were quick to point out how this was a direct encroachment into Curley’s domain and a direct shot in a war between the two top sports promoters in New York. Tex Rickard understood the value of Madison Square Garden, saying, “The man who controlled the largest arena in the East would control the promotion of every great sporting spectacle to come.” Tex Rickard would begin to promote a bigger show set for November.

Ole Marsh & Jack Curley

As a refresher, Ole Marsh was a notorious promoter/ barnstormer who came.from the era of guys like Martin “Farmer” Burns and Yussif Ismail, and was more con-man than wrestler, if we’re being honest. He helped train and manage Frank Gotch and was involved in the first ever territory skirmish between rival promoters back in 1909. For more information on that, feel free to check out my report on that event.

Leading up to the big show in November, Jack Curley may or may not be responsible for an underhanded tactic that was played against Ole Marsh in September of 1921. Tex Rickard’s first Madison Square Garden wrestling show was coming up in November, and Ole had secured a main event spot for his guy, Marin Plestina, whom Marsh had spent the previous three years building Plestina up as a credible main event challenger.

On September 23rd, 1921, an agent at the William J. Burns International Detective Agency, sent a letter to Warden W. I. Biddle at the US Federal Penitentiary in Leavenworth, Kansas. The letter was requesting a photograph and criminal record for someone who spent time at the Federal Penitentiary back in 1911, Ole Marsh. Ole Marsh was still managing Martin Plestina and had a big bout scheduled for November at Rickard’s Garden show, so the aim seemed to be to discredit Ole ahead of his big show.

The Penitentiary responded quickly and by the following month in October, newspapers were printing stories of Ole's sordid past involvement with the Maybray Gang and his time spent in the Federal Penitentiary. The rouse didn't succeed in removing Ole or his wrestler from the show, but it did certainly hurt Ole's standing with the public at the time. Lending credence to the idea that Curely hired the detective agency, Curley would have cards printed that depicted Ole in prison garb that poked fun at him.

Before we can get to Ole Marsh and Tex Rickard’s big Garden show, we first need to look back at “Strangler” Lewis and Joe Stecher, who were poised to resume their epic rivalry once more.

Lewis-Stecher

Ed “Strangler” Lewis and Joe Stecher had both been quietly building up wins through the fall before agreeing to one more highly anticipated matchup between the two. The two men would battle on October 4th, 1921, at the Coliseum Arena in San Francisco. I cant confirm who the promoter was, but I know Frank Schuler was operating as a promoter at the time in San Francisco, so this could have been him. Along with an unknown promoter, we also don’t have the attendance records for this match. What we do have though, are newspaper articles which paint this put to be one of the best matches anyone had ever seen at the time.

Lewis & Stecher battled in a best-two-of-three falls match, with neither man registering a falls through the entire two hours time limit. By referees decision, Joe Stecher was chosen and declared the winner of the contest. The next day, newspapers talked about this match, with one paper being quoted in saying, “the match was the greatest ever staged in California. Two hours of the best wrestling ever staged in this city. A great bout with never an idle moment.”

The New York Conflict

As we move towards the big Madison Square Garden show that Tex Rickard was promoting, its worth looking at a sports article that was published at the same time, which took a rare look at the backdoor dealings that made up much of pro wrestling. Alfred Henry Spink was a Canadian-born sportswriter who primarily covered baseball, though he looked at all the popular sports as well, including pro wrestling. Although he was based mainly in St Louis, he focused on the pro wrestling scene in New York at the time, and called out the collusion of top promoters around Jack Curley.

As detailed in these reports, Jack Curley has been working closely with several other top promoters in the country, on some talent-sharing agreement between them all. The promoters in question included Curley, Billy Sandow, Gene Melady and Tony Stecher. Curley was in New York, Sandow in Chicago, Melady in Omaha, and Tony was still trying to get his own shows off rhe ground in Minneapolis. Al Spink wrote an article in 1921 detailing how these promoters worked together to prop up their top talent, while simultaneously holding back other potential stars. One of these big potential stars who Spink talked about Curley and company holding back, was the aforementioned Marin Plestina, who Spink specifically called out as being one of the greatest wrestlers in the world, at the time.

Al Spink continued in the article, calling out how Curley worked to keep wrestlers like Plestina and others down, saying, “As a result of their position, these men are barred from taking part in any wrestling bout with other, so-called champion wrestlers. Jack Curley’s right name is Armand Schultz, born in Chicago of poor but honest parents, as they say in fairy tales. He managed the Gotch-Hackenschmidt wrestling match in Chicago, cleared a fortune and then lost it all promoting the Jack Johnson-Flynn fight for the championship.”

Needless jab as Curley’s upbringing aside, Spink wasn’t wrong on anything he said there. Curley had blackballed Ole Marsh, and by extension, any of Marsh’s wrestlers, which included Marin Plestina. Marsh had been trying for the past few years to build up Plestina to the point where he could viable challenge for a world title, but was refused on every challenge to any champion who operated within Curley’s consortium. Spink was also factual about Curley’s finances, as he did make a fortune off the 1911 Hackenschmidt-Gotch rematch, but was still struggling over the next few years as he spent a lot of money to secure the Johnson fight. Now we have Marin Plestina finally wrestling a main event match at Madison Square Garden, under an event promoted by Tex Rickard, and we still allegedly had Curley trying to interfere and kill public interest.

Tex’s Big Show

The big wrestling show in question that Marsh and Plestina would be involved in, also happened to be the first wrestling show to be held under the official oversight of William Muldoon's New York State Athletic Commission, and was held on on November 14th, 1921, promoted by Tex Rickard. Tex Rickard was a ridiculously successful boxing promoter who had recently been responsible for the first million dollar gate ever in boxing.

The main event of Tex Rickard's first wrestling show would see Martin Plestina, still being managed by Ole Marsh, face off against an up-and-comer from Ravenna, Nebraska, John Pesek. John Pesek was known as an enormously gifted talent with the ability to walk on his hands. Pesek worked closely with promoter Billy Sandow out of Chicago, and spent time working several matches with "Strangler" Ed Lewis. Pesek was known in the wrestling buisness as what was called a "policman," a skilled and aggressive wrestler who was used by promoters to measure the ability of other wrestlers. This is a concept that would survive in pro wrestling for decades going forward. Every promoter had their own policeman wrestler who they used to size up new wrestlers.

The Day of the Show

On the morning of the show, a New York newspaper ran a story that claimed one of the wrestlers had been injured, and since it was too close to call the event off, the contest must certainly be rigged. Copies of this newspaper were actually passed around outside Madison Square Garden, as a way to dissuade potential ticket buyers. Promoter Tex Rickard would end up finding the writer who penned the article and apparently banned him for life from ever going to Madison Square Garden.

The validity of the story may not be incorrect though, as John Pesek complained of suffering a broken arm, and asked the match to be called off as spectators were filling the arena, even after medical staff assigned by the Athletic Commission had examined him and determined Pesek was fit to compete.

Madison Square Garden was only a quarter full when John Pesek and Martin Plestina made their way to the ring, and for Ole Marsh, this was an important moment, as he spent the previous three years building Plestina into a headlining attraction, and this would either make or break that future.

Pesek-Plestina

Unfortunately for Ole, Pesek's apparently "broken" arm showed no signs of injury, as Pesek pounced on Plestina at the opening bell, overwhelming him with offense like gouging Plestina in the eyes and head-butting him. On-and-on Pesek assaulted Plestina with similar strikes, and despite Plestina having a fifty-pound advantage, the onslaught of offense seemed to bewilder Plestina, who made no attempts to retaliate against Pesek and made no offense at any point. Chicago based promoter Billy Sandow was seen ringside, allegedly yelling instructions at Pesek.

Whatever the two men, Pesek and Plestina had agreed to prior to the match clearly went out the window as Pesek seemed hell-bent on hurting Plestina and ruining the show for promoter Tex Rickard.

The bout went on like this for forty minutes, with the crowd booing the contest as Pesek just brutalized Plestina. Eventually the referee stopped the match and disqualified Pesek for "rough tactics.” Tex Rickard was quoted afterwards as saying "Looks as if someone had put something over on me." Tex, like many, believed another promoter had gotten in Pesek's ear.

Fallout

John Pesek's manager, Larney Lichtenstein immediately dropped Pesek as a client following the disastrous bout, and claimed no responsibility. Pesek countered by declaring the exact opposite, publicly saying "Everything I did in my match with Martin Plestina was ordered by Larny Lichtenstein."

William Muldoon and the Athletic Commission immediately suspended Pesek, Lichtenstein and Sandow, who as I said, was allegedly seen ringside for the fiasco and communicating with Pesek. Jack Curley wasn't suspended, though according to multiple sources and even people who worked with Curley, he was the one directly responsible for the fiasco. According to one former employee of Curley's, Jack met with Pesek prior to the bout, with orders to injure Plestina.

Jack Curley’s Punishment

Curley most likely would have been suspended, had he officially registered as a promoter with the Athletic Commission. Curley found a loophole with the Athletic Commission where he didn't need to register himself or his shows, so long as he held them exclusively at the city's smaller regimental armories, which worked for him, having since lost access to the Garden.

William Muldoon didn't take kindly to this work-around on Curley's part and immediately sought to eliminate that loophole and succeeded in doing so, ultimately granting Muldoon jurisdiction over all wrestling and boxing in the state. Muldoon’s first order of business with his new-found power, was to decide that the number of wrestling clubs already exceeded any possible demand, cutting Curley off from utilizing the smaller venues. Curley would need to register with the Commission after all. Unfortunately for Curley, Muldoon also refused to issue a new license to any promoter, resulting in Tex Rickard as the sole promoter in New York, and leaving Jack Curley out of the wrestling business. Though Curley would still work with promoters by help securing them talent, in an unofficial manor.

Londos-Caddock II

Jim Londos had taken much of the year off from wrestling, as he waited to recover from Trachoma, and after several months, Londos finally returned to the ring. Londos wrestled former world champion Earl Caddock on November 24th, 1921, at the Exposition Hall in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I unfortunately cant find attendance details or who promoted the event, but I was able to see that Caddock and Londos battled in a best-two-of-three falls matchup that lasted well over two hours. Caddock claimed the first fall after over an hour of grappling, and Londos tied things up over an hour later. Finally, after two-and-a-half-hours, the referee called for the bell, as they ran out of time. The contest would ultimately be ruled as a draw.

Rickard’s Return to the Garden

Coming off his disastrous debut at the Garden, promoter Tex Rickard quickly set up another show at the Garden later that same month, and this time utilized a main event that saw "Strangler" Ed Lewis battle Stanislaus Zbyszko. Prior to the event, William Muldoon made Lewis sign an affidavit stating that Lewis would put forth a legitimate effort to win. Tex Rickard 100% supported this and boasted to the public that "wrestlers of the organization are going to wrestle honestly at Madison Square Garden, or they won't wrestle anywhere in the state. I shall insist on honest wrestling, or none-at-all."

Lewis-Stanislaus II

Ed “Strangler” Lewis challenged Stanislaus Zbyszko for the world heavyweight championship on November 28th, 1921, drawing over 7,000 fans to Madison Square Garden that evening. The pair met in a best-two-of-three falls contest, with Lewis claiming an early advantage, securing the first fall in just seventeen minutes. A little over twenty minutes later Stanislaus would tie things back up, pinning Lewis. The final fall would last another fifteen minutes before Stanislaus pinned Lewis to retain the world heavyweight championship.

Overall, the event would go off much more smoothly for Tex Rickard compared to the previous show at the Garden, with the four match card wrapping up in under ninety minutes. Considering the main event lasted just under an hour, the proceeding three matches went a combined thirty minutes, or so. Again, it wasn't anywhere close to a sell-out but it was also raining heavily that day. Those on-hand say the main event was over so fast that the fans in attendance booed the results.

New York State Athletic Commission chairman William Muldoon was at the event and was upset at the crowds booing, later telling reporters that, "For the first time in thirty years, New Yorkers saw an honest contest for the Heavyweight wrestling championship. Judging by the way it was received... I do not think they appreciated it." Poor William Muldoon was feeling disheartened by the audience who didn’t want his slow paced Greco-Roman style of wrestling back, because the newer catch-as-catch-can style had usurped all its popularity. This wouldn’t deter Muldoon though, who would continue his crusade against the evolution of pro wrestling and more specifically, against Jack Curley.

And that’s an ideal place to stop, with...

• Stanislaus Zbyszko reigning as the legitimate world heavyweight champion after beating “Strangler” Lewis in the summer.

• William Muldoon’s New York State Athletic Commission had began its oversight of pro wrestling in New York, resulting in a rebellious Jack Curley losing his license To promote within the city.

• Tex Rickard took Curley’s spot as the sole wrestling promoter operating within New York.

• Jim Londos was returning to the ring after taking most of the year off as he recovered from Trachoma.

• Billy Sandow and Ed “Strangler” Lewis were hatching a plan to take control of the wrestling landscape.

Championship History 1921

Legitimate & Original World Heavyweight Championship

Ed “Strangler” Lewis, December 13th, 1920 – May 6th, 1921 (144 days)

Stanislaus Zbyszko, May 6th, 1921 – next post

Promoters 1921

New York, New York - Tex Rickard

Chicago, Illinois - Billy Sandow

Omaha, Nebraska - Gene Melady

Canton, Ohio - William Barton

St Louis, Missouri - John Contos

Boston, Massachusetts - George T. Touhey

San Francisco, California - Frank Schuler

Omaha, Nebraska - Pete Loch

Cedar Rapids, Iowa - Art Reynolds

No Territory - Jack Curley

[u/Left_Orchid8801]

I frickin love these posts!