Tag: pioneer era

DragonKingKarl: 1899 and the end of the pioneer era

Posted on by Karl Stern

On a new DragonKingKarl Show, Karl Stern finishes out his review of his DragonKingKarl’s Pioneer Era Pro Wrestling Omnibus.

Frank Gotch was now on the scene after losing to American champion Dan McLeod (working under a fake name) and then “discovered” by Farmer Burns. William Muldoon had left pro wrestling while George Hackenschmidt was ready to rise in Europe.

Even though we have finished going through his book, the learning does not end. Next episode, Karl will have a question and answer show about the pioneer era before moving onto new research including a recent book about Muldoon.

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DragonKingKarl: Dan McLeod defeats Farmer Burns & more pioneer era talk

Posted on by Karl Stern

On Sunday’s DragonKingKarl Show, we continue to go through my DragonKingKarl’s Pioneer Era Pro Wrestling Omnibus as we are nearing the end of the pioneer era.

Martin “Farmer” Burns had defeated Evan “Strangler” Lewis and the reputation of Lewis took a big hit after the newspapers firmly believed the match had a predetermined outcome. However, Farmer Burns would not be champion for long as a newcomer, Dan McLeod, burst onto the scene. Also, we revisit that time that H.M. Dufur was shot in the fact. Literally, shot in the face.

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DragonKingKarl: The last match of William Muldoon

Posted on by Karl Stern

It’s a new DragonKingKarl Show, focusing on the final decade of the pioneer era of wrestling.

The biggest star of the era, William Muldoon, had his last pro wrestling match in New York while another veteran pioneer wrestler, John McMahon, had his last match as well.

Still earlier pioneers like Col. James H. McLaughlin and Homer Lane continued to wrestle periodically, but it was now the era of Evan “Strangler” Lewis and Farmer Burns who was on the rise as well.

The 1890s were an incredible era in wrestling history that set the stage for what American pro wrestling would become in the 1900s. Read more about it here.

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DragonKingKarl: The con man William Muldoon

Posted on by Karl Stern

This week on Karl Stern’s 1000 Hours subseries on the DragonKingKarl Show where he focuses exclusively on the pre-Frank Gotch era of pro wrestling, we finish out the 1880s and enter the last decade of the pioneer era of pro wrestling.

Taken from his popular Pioneer Era Pro Wrestling Omnibus, we look at the final days of William Muldoon as a pro wrestler. He began losing interest in wrestling after the more entertainment based Greco-Roman style declined in popularity, replaced by the rougher and more vicious style of catch-as-catch-can and the rise of Evan “Strangler” Lewis.

Muldoon began casting his lot more and more with boxing, particularly with pioneer boxer John L. Sullivan and, well, let’s just say that didn’t go very well. They ended with each insulting the other in the newspapers and Sullivan accusing Muldoon of being (gasp) a GOVERNMENT RAT!

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DragonKingKarl: The return of William Muldoon

Posted on by Karl Stern

It’s a new DragonKingKarl Show focusing on the pioneer era of pro wrestling.

William Muldoon got about a 25-year head start on Frank Gotch’s gimmick of returning from “retirement” multiple times and about a 100-year head start on Terry Funk. He had begun suffering from nagging hand and arm injuries and a severe downturn in the popularity of pro wrestling, especially French Greco-Roman style of which he was the dominant master.

Evan “Strangler” Lewis and the rise of catch-as-catch-can wrestling was beginning to dominate the scene. All the ingredients were starting to set the stage for the coming of Frank Gotch.

Martin “Farmer” Burns was now on the scene and soon, Tom Jenkins would be as well. Finally, Jack Carkeek got in legal trouble and would become no stranger to it.

Get all that and more on the new DKK.

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DragonKingKarl: When the original Strangler Lewis became a heel

Posted on by Karl Stern

Today on the 1000 Hours subseries focusing on the pioneer era as part of the DragonKingKarl Show, Karl Stern discusses the continued rise of Evan “Strangler” Lewis and how crowds in the late 1800s turned on this man as his vicious tactics bumped up against the code of conduct of the era’s sporting culture.

Plus, William Muldoon said he was retired but was he really? The wild 1880s continue on this week’s episode.

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DragonKingKarl: The rise of Strangler Lewis & the fall of William Muldoon

Posted on by Karl Stern

Today on the DragonKingKarl Show and Karl Stern’s weekly ongoing look at the pioneer era of pro wrestling, it’s time to review a new era of the sport.

Evan Lewis is now Strangler Lewis, a man that crowds found barbaric along with national opinion that swung from pro wrestling being a con game to it being a brutal sport.

Concurrent with the rise of Lewis was the fall of William Muldoon. Near the same time, Muldoon, nursing a nagging hand and arm injury announced his first of many retirements. Also, the original 1870 Detroit International champion Col. James H. McLaughlin again left the sport to return to the railroad.

Things are changing.

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DragonKingKarl: The myths surrounding the death of Clarence Whistler

Posted on by Karl Stern

Today’s DragonKingKarl Show is packed with very important events in the history of the pioneer era of pro wrestling.

The first event we talk about may have even changed the course of history. When Clarence “The Kansas Demon” Whistler died while on tour of Australia, he was considered by many newspapers to be the real and true World champion of pro wrestling. However, his death is full of myth and misinformation and we will cut through the fog of time to get to the truth.

Also on this show, Evan Lewis earns his nickname as “The Strangler” and in the same instance, he becomes the first real heel that wrestling had ever seen.

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DragonKingKarl: Muldoon & Sorakichi head to court

Posted on by Karl Stern

The 1000 Hours subseries on the DragonKingKarl Show returns with a look at the pioneer era of pro wrestling.

This week focuses on two of the biggest stars of the era heading to court for very different reasons. First, William Muldoon was arrested and hauled to court for slapping a security guard upside the head and calling him a dirty loafer for daring to tell Muldoon to move along.

While the Muldoon trial was largely humorous, we saw the dark side of Japanese wrestler Matsada Sorakichi who, freshly married, had already began abusing his wife.

Amongst all the legal happenings, there was actual pro wrestling going on as Col. James H. McLaughlin continued his return and faced a very violent man.

The content for this episode is taken from my latest book: DragonKingKarl’s Pioneer Era Pro Wrestling Omnibus available on Amazon.

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DragonKingKarl: William Muldoon vs. Col. James H. McLaughlin

Posted on by Karl Stern

On this 1000 Hours subseries episode of the DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show focusing on the pioneer era, we finally get not one but TWO matches between the two biggest stars of that era of pro wrestling.

William Muldoon had not previously wrestled Col. James H. McLaughlin mainly because Muldoon was not a fan of collar and elbow wrestling nor did McLaughlin consider Greco Roman his style. But at this time, Muldoon had now been largely disgraced on the West Coast and crowds aren’t what they used to be.

So, the two finally had two matches…which were flops. Karl discusses it all on today’s DKK.

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DragonKingKarl: The return of Col. James H. McLaughlin

Posted on by Karl Stern

The DragonKingKarl Show returns with his Sunday look at the pioneer era of wrestling.

The year is 1884 and the first national pro wrestling star — Col. James H. McLaughlin — has been semi-retired for quite a while working as a train engineer. He had been the American heavyweight champion and won pro wrestling’s first major tournament in Detroit, MI in 1870, setting the course for pro wrestling going forward.

Then, he suddenly returned and wins the World Mixed-Styles championship but his return to glory wouldn’t last for long.

Plus, the sponsor of this episode, Wrestling With the Dawg Podcast, had a question: What is the strangest or most inexplicable thing to happen during the pioneer era of wrestling? Well, the answer is strange indeed.

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DragonKingKarl: William Muldoon makes a run for it!

Posted on by Karl Stern

The 1000 Hours subseries on the DragonKingKarl Show looks back at the pioneer era of pro wrestling, the era before Frank Gotch.

On this episode, pro wrestling historian Karl Stern takes a look into the 1880s as William Muldoon wraps up his tenure in California with a debacle of a worked match against Clarence Whistler that turned into a double cross. Whistler was supposed to go to a draw against Muldoon, but decided to take it the distance.

Muldoon then gave up on the West Coast and headed back to New York but first made a stop in the wild west town of Tombstone, AZ. This match marked a real shift in the pioneer era of wrestling, and the history of pro wrestling would forever change.

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DragonKingKarl: The big feud of the 1880s~!

Posted on by Karl Stern

The latest installment of Karl Stern’s 1000 Hours subseries on the DragonKingKarl Show is taken from his latest book DragonKingKarl’s Pioneer Era Pro Wrestling Omnibus that covers the pre-1900 era of pro wrestling.

In this episode, William Muldoon, Clarence Whistler, and Donald Dinnie are in a feud. Worked or shoot? There is evidence of both. Whistler gets injured yet again and Dinnie goes to jail for putting on a worked pro wrestling match.

Meanwhile, an old name from the past creeps back into the story as Col. James H. McLaughlin is plotting his return.

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DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: The poisoning of Tom Connors

Posted on by Karl Stern

The latest 1000 Hours sub-series on the DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show is available now for subscribers.

Focusing on the pioneer era of pro wrestling (pre-Frank Gotch), Karl Stern and listeners are going through his latest book (DragonKingKarl’s Pioneer Era of Wrestling Omnibus) and have arrived at a fascinating story he had never heard before researching the book.

A huge pro wrestling tournament was held in St. Louis, Missouri, and was to feature the biggest names of the era. A rival promoter, however, syphoned off several of the stars for an East Coast tournament instead.

But back in St. Louis, one of the wrestlers, Tom Connors, was alleged to have been poisoned by another- Edwin Bibby.

This and much more is discussed in hour 82 of my 1000 Hours sub-series.

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DragonKingKarl: Who was pioneer era wrestler Homer Lane?

Posted on by Karl Stern

On a new DragonKingKarl Show, Karl Stern locks in on the pioneer era of pro wrestling — a topic he covers in his book, DragonKingKarl’s Pioneer Era Pro Wrestling Omnibus.

Today, he looks at correspondence from two top pro wrestling historians which include new information on pioneers Duncan C. Ross and Homer Lane. Who were these pioneer champion pro wrestlers?

Plus, Karl has more on William Muldoon, Prof. Thiebaud Bauer, Joe Acton, and more!

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