Never heard of him, but tomorrow I will tell you about the great Killer Kowalski - inventer of the famous "Claw" hold. and the first man ever to pin Andre The Giant.
Killer Kowalski and his huge hands that he used as claws to force his opponets to submit. Once Killer got the Claw on your abdomen or under-arm you were deadmeat.
Now I am done for the day, more on The Killer tomorrow, including the story of the time he wrestled in my home town in Massachusetts when I was in the 8th grade. Naturally I was part of the full house he drew that night..
wil..:toast:
Killer Kowalski and his huge hands that he used as claws to force his opponets to submit. Once Killer got the Claw on your abdomen or under-arm you were deadmeat.
Now I am done for the day, more on The Killer tomorrow, including the story of the time he wrestled in my home town in Massachusetts when I was in the 8th grade. Naturally I was part of the full house he drew that night..
wil..:toast:
Never heard of him, but tomorrow I will tell you about the great Killer Kowalski - inventer of the famous "Claw" hold. and the first man ever to pin Andre The Giant.
Killer Kowalski and his huge hands that he used as claws to force his opponets to submit. Once Killer got the Claw on your abdomen or under-arm you were deadmeat.
Now I am done for the day, more on The Killer tomorrow, including the story of the time he wrestled in my home town in Massachusetts when I was in the 8th grade. Naturally I was part of the full house he drew that night..
wil..:toast:
Frank Gotch would make minced meat of the "Killer" in a relatively short time.
Meet the Legendary Frank Gotch
<TABLE borderColor=#000000 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=15 border=4><TBODY><TR><TD><TABLE border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=150>
</TD><TD width=300>Frank Gotch was world heavyweight wrestling champion from 1908 to 1915, the best known athlete of his era. He wrestled in the rough and tumble mining camps of Alaska, and in front of 31,000 fans in Chicago. Follow his story as he goes from Iowa farmboy to the most celebrated sports hero in America, and dies tragically at the age of 39.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE><TBODY><TR><TD width=300>Frank Gotch rubbed shoulders with some of the most interesting figures in early American history. You will meet Teddy Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States; legendary wrestlers Farmer Burns and The Russian Lion; boxing champions James Jeffries, James Corbett and Jack Johnson; and Wyatt Earp, hero of the Old West. They're all here in the Story of Frank Gotch, the world's greatest wrestler!
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</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
He was the first inductee to both the Professional Wrestling Writers Hall of Fame in Latham, New York and the Lou Thesz/George Tragos Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in Waterloo, Iowa; his professional wrestling record is 154 wins and 6 losses.
<TABLE class=toc id=toc summary=Contents><TBODY><TR><TD>Contents
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[edit] Early life
Frank Gotch vs. Georg Hackenschmidt at Comiskey Park
The son of Frederick Rudolph and Amelia Gotch, Gotch was born and raised on a small farm three miles south of Humboldt, Iowa. He took up wrestling in his teens, earning a reputation by beating locals. He adopted the toe hold as his finishing/signature move.
[edit] Wrestling career
Gotch wrestled his first professional match in Lu Verne, Iowa, on June 18, 1899, against former American Heavyweight Champion, Dan McLeod. Gotch impressed the veteran by holding his own for nearly two hours before losing. On December 18, 1899, Gotch challenged another former American Champion, "Farmer" Martin Burns, losing in 11 minutes, but impressing Burns, who offered to train Gotch. Under the guidance of Burns, Gotch won a series of matches in Iowa and later, Alaska. While in Alaska, Gotch wrestled under the name Frank Kennedy and won the title of "Champion of the Klondike". During his time in Alaska, Gotch tried his hand at boxing, but failed miserably against the heavyweight Frank Slavin<SUP class="noprint Template-Fact">[citation needed]</SUP>.
Gotch returned to Iowa and instantly challenged the reigning American Heavyweight Champion, Tom Jenkins. Gotch lost their first match in 1903, before defeating Jenkins in a rematch on January 27, 1904 to take the championship. After trading the title with Jenkins and Fred Beel, Gotch set his sights on the World Heavyweight Championship, then held by the undefeated Estonian Georg Hackenschmidt. Hackenschmidt was favored to win, but he submitted to Gotch after 2 grueling hours to an ankle lock submission;<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-0>[1]</SUP> It has been alleged that Gotch used illegal techniques in the match to defeat Hackenschmidt, which included oiling up his body, rubbing oil into Hack's eyes, scratching, gouging and hitting. At one time, Gotch also punched Hackenschmidt on the nose.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-sandowplus.co.uk_1-0>[2]</SUP> According to the Lou Albano's book,The Complete Idiot's Guide to Pro Wrestling, Gotch's reason for smothering himself with oil (in his first encounter against Georg Hackenschmidt) was to ensure that Hackenschmidt couldn't apply his signature bearhug.
Gotch would spend the next three years establishing his dominance over the sport, defeating the likes of Jenkins, Benjamin Roller, and Stanislaus Zbyszko, who was believed to have won over 900 matches before falling to Gotch on June 1, 1910. Gotch became a national sensation, appearing in plays and even receiving an invitation to the White House by then president Theodore Roosevelt.
Gotch would meet Hackenschmidt again on September 4, 1911 at the newly opened Comiskey Park in Chicago, which drew a crowd of nearly 30,000 spectators and a record gate of $87,000. The rematch is one of the most controversial and talked about matches in wrestling history, as Hackenschmidt injured his knee in a training session with Ad Santel weeks before the match, and it was later revealed that Gotch had paid off Santel to ensure that Hackenschmidt was not at 100% condition for the rematch.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-2>[3]</SUP> The injury was so severe that Hackenschmidt nearly withdrew from the match, but agreed to go on with the match only after Gotch had fabricated the claim that he also had an injury (his neck), but was still willing to compete regardless.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-sandowplus.co.uk_1-1>[2]</SUP> Before the match, the two had allegedly agreed on Gotch winning the match, but under the condition that Gotch would lose the first fall so that Hackenschmidt would look strong in defeat. Despite their agreement before the match, Gotch ended up double-crossing Hackenschmidt by quickly defeating him in two straight falls.
Gotch reigned as the World Heavyweight Champion from his victory over Georg Hackenschmidt on April 3, 1908, in Chicago, Illinois, until he retired in 1913 after beating Estonian Georg Lurich April 1, 1913, in Kansas City, Missouri. Gotch is one of the longer reigning World Champions in the history of professional wrestling, with a reign that spanned nearly 5 years; the only other champions to have longer reigns than Gotch are Bruno Sammartino, who held the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship for a record of 7 years and 8 months, Lou Thesz, whose fifth NWA title reign lasted 7 years and 7 months and Verne Gagne who held the AWA World Heavyweight Title for 7 years and 3 months. This means Gotch was not only the second World Heavyweight Champion after Hackenschmidt, this also makes him the forth longest reigning World Heavyweight Champion after Bruno Sammartino, Lou Thesz and Verne Gagne, in wrestling history.
[edit] Post-Wrestling
While in retirement, Gotch joined Sells-Floto Circus where he would pay any man $250.00 if they could last 15 minutes in a match against him without being pinned or conceding. Not once did he have to pay. He grew tired of touring and moved back to Humboldt.
<TABLE borderColor=#000000 cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=15 border=4><TBODY><TR><TD><TABLE border=0><TBODY><TR><TD width=150>
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><TABLE><TBODY><TR><TD width=300>Frank Gotch rubbed shoulders with some of the most interesting figures in early American history. You will meet Teddy Roosevelt, 26th President of the United States; legendary wrestlers Farmer Burns and The Russian Lion; boxing champions James Jeffries, James Corbett and Jack Johnson; and Wyatt Earp, hero of the Old West. They're all here in the Story of Frank Gotch, the world's greatest wrestler!
</TD><TD width=150>
He was the first inductee to both the Professional Wrestling Writers Hall of Fame in Latham, New York and the Lou Thesz/George Tragos Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in Waterloo, Iowa; his professional wrestling record is 154 wins and 6 losses.
<TABLE class=toc id=toc summary=Contents><TBODY><TR><TD>Contents
[hide]
- <LI class=toclevel-1>1 Early life <LI class=toclevel-1>2 Wrestling career <LI class=toclevel-1>3 Post-Wrestling <LI class=toclevel-1>4 In wrestling <LI class=toclevel-1>5 Championships and accomplishments <LI class=toclevel-1>6 References
- 7 External links
[edit] Early life
Frank Gotch vs. Georg Hackenschmidt at Comiskey Park
The son of Frederick Rudolph and Amelia Gotch, Gotch was born and raised on a small farm three miles south of Humboldt, Iowa. He took up wrestling in his teens, earning a reputation by beating locals. He adopted the toe hold as his finishing/signature move.
[edit] Wrestling career
Gotch wrestled his first professional match in Lu Verne, Iowa, on June 18, 1899, against former American Heavyweight Champion, Dan McLeod. Gotch impressed the veteran by holding his own for nearly two hours before losing. On December 18, 1899, Gotch challenged another former American Champion, "Farmer" Martin Burns, losing in 11 minutes, but impressing Burns, who offered to train Gotch. Under the guidance of Burns, Gotch won a series of matches in Iowa and later, Alaska. While in Alaska, Gotch wrestled under the name Frank Kennedy and won the title of "Champion of the Klondike". During his time in Alaska, Gotch tried his hand at boxing, but failed miserably against the heavyweight Frank Slavin<SUP class="noprint Template-Fact">[citation needed]</SUP>.
Gotch returned to Iowa and instantly challenged the reigning American Heavyweight Champion, Tom Jenkins. Gotch lost their first match in 1903, before defeating Jenkins in a rematch on January 27, 1904 to take the championship. After trading the title with Jenkins and Fred Beel, Gotch set his sights on the World Heavyweight Championship, then held by the undefeated Estonian Georg Hackenschmidt. Hackenschmidt was favored to win, but he submitted to Gotch after 2 grueling hours to an ankle lock submission;<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-0>[1]</SUP> It has been alleged that Gotch used illegal techniques in the match to defeat Hackenschmidt, which included oiling up his body, rubbing oil into Hack's eyes, scratching, gouging and hitting. At one time, Gotch also punched Hackenschmidt on the nose.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-sandowplus.co.uk_1-0>[2]</SUP> According to the Lou Albano's book,The Complete Idiot's Guide to Pro Wrestling, Gotch's reason for smothering himself with oil (in his first encounter against Georg Hackenschmidt) was to ensure that Hackenschmidt couldn't apply his signature bearhug.
Gotch would spend the next three years establishing his dominance over the sport, defeating the likes of Jenkins, Benjamin Roller, and Stanislaus Zbyszko, who was believed to have won over 900 matches before falling to Gotch on June 1, 1910. Gotch became a national sensation, appearing in plays and even receiving an invitation to the White House by then president Theodore Roosevelt.
Gotch would meet Hackenschmidt again on September 4, 1911 at the newly opened Comiskey Park in Chicago, which drew a crowd of nearly 30,000 spectators and a record gate of $87,000. The rematch is one of the most controversial and talked about matches in wrestling history, as Hackenschmidt injured his knee in a training session with Ad Santel weeks before the match, and it was later revealed that Gotch had paid off Santel to ensure that Hackenschmidt was not at 100% condition for the rematch.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-2>[3]</SUP> The injury was so severe that Hackenschmidt nearly withdrew from the match, but agreed to go on with the match only after Gotch had fabricated the claim that he also had an injury (his neck), but was still willing to compete regardless.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-sandowplus.co.uk_1-1>[2]</SUP> Before the match, the two had allegedly agreed on Gotch winning the match, but under the condition that Gotch would lose the first fall so that Hackenschmidt would look strong in defeat. Despite their agreement before the match, Gotch ended up double-crossing Hackenschmidt by quickly defeating him in two straight falls.
Gotch reigned as the World Heavyweight Champion from his victory over Georg Hackenschmidt on April 3, 1908, in Chicago, Illinois, until he retired in 1913 after beating Estonian Georg Lurich April 1, 1913, in Kansas City, Missouri. Gotch is one of the longer reigning World Champions in the history of professional wrestling, with a reign that spanned nearly 5 years; the only other champions to have longer reigns than Gotch are Bruno Sammartino, who held the WWWF World Heavyweight Championship for a record of 7 years and 8 months, Lou Thesz, whose fifth NWA title reign lasted 7 years and 7 months and Verne Gagne who held the AWA World Heavyweight Title for 7 years and 3 months. This means Gotch was not only the second World Heavyweight Champion after Hackenschmidt, this also makes him the forth longest reigning World Heavyweight Champion after Bruno Sammartino, Lou Thesz and Verne Gagne, in wrestling history.
[edit] Post-Wrestling
While in retirement, Gotch joined Sells-Floto Circus where he would pay any man $250.00 if they could last 15 minutes in a match against him without being pinned or conceding. Not once did he have to pay. He grew tired of touring and moved back to Humboldt.
