Oldtime Wrestlers

Posted on Friday, March 11th, 2022 by John Wood
A group of oldtime wrestlers, circa 1904. At the time they were competing in a tournament at the Palast Theatre in Berlin, Germany in April of 1904. Pictured from left to right: Nikola Petroff, Georg Lurich, Ivan Romanoff, Laurent le Beaucairois, Ferdinand Dieckmann, and John Pohl. BTW, Petroff defeated John Pohl in the finals to win the tournament. Laurent le Beaucairois finished third and Lurich fourth.

Paul Belling

Posted on Tuesday, June 15th, 2021 by John Wood
Paul Belling was billed as the national champion wrestler of Austria in the late 1800’s. He scrapped with the best of them including: Alex Aberg, George Lurich, Ursus Jankowsky, Stan Zbyszko, Ivan Poddubny, John Pohl, Tom Cannon, George Hackenschmidt, Magnus Bech-Olsen, Jess Pedersen, and Franz “Cyclops” Bienkowski. When his competitive career came to a close Belling took his winnings and opened a cafe on the west end of London (which was eventually raided for being an illegal casino.)