Ed Lewis (wrestler)
Encyclopedia
Robert Herman Julius Friedrich (June 30, 1891 - August 8, 1966), was a professional wrestler
best known by his ring name
Ed "Strangler" Lewis, whose career spanned four decades.
, Friedrich began wrestling at the age of 14, using the stage name
Ed "Strangler" Lewis, in tribute of 1890s star Evan "Strangler" Lewis. It was also stated in the A&E
documentary "The Unreal Story of Professional Wrestling" that he was dubbed the Strangler after a match in France where he applied a sleeper hold, and the French, who were unfamiliar with the hold, thought he was strangling his opponent.
He was the pivotal figure in the "Gold Dust Trio
", along with promoters
Toots Mondt
and Billy Sandow
, a travelling road show that was the precursor to wrestling tours, and which revolutionized wrestling by creating undercards, promoting full events instead of one match shows. They also developed the first wrestling storylines, creating "worked" feuds
between wrestlers. Because of the legit skills Lewis possessed, the tri could put the belt on who ever they wanted, because Lewis had the ability to defeat anyone who would not follow the script.
Lewis captured his first world heavyweight championship recognized on December 13, 1920, defeating Joe Stecher
. Stecher would prove to be Lewis' biggest rival, both in and out of the ring, with Stecher running his own shows against the Gold Dust Trio, beginning quite possibly the first promotional rivalry. Lewis and Stecher wrestled one of the longest matches in pro wrestling history, where they battled for five and a half hours, earning only "a draw". The climax of their feud came on April 15, 1925 when Gold Dust Trio star, and former champion, Stanislaus Zbyszko
, was asked to lose to the Gold Dust Trio's own handpicked champion, Wayne Munn
, a former football star, in an effort to give Munn credibility. Zbyszko balked at the idea of losing to an unskilled wrestler, and secretly jumped to the Joe Stecher camp. Zbyszko double-crossed the Gold Dust Trio, using his knowledge of holds to legitimately defeat and, in the process, humiliate Munn. Eventually Lewis and Stecher settled their differences, and agreed to do business with each other, with Stecher dropping the World Championship back to Lewis on February 20, 1928.
In 1933, one of The Strangler's greatest matches took place in Madison Square Garden
. He was fighting Ray Steele
for the title. The two men began circling each other, but no fighting happened, which made the fans bored. Steele finally ended the match by punching Lewis, causing the referee to disqualify him twenty minutes into the match.
On September 20, 1934, Lewis wrestled Jim Londos
in front of an audience of 35,275 at Wrigley Field, and drawing a record gate of $96,302, which would stand until 1952. Later in his career, Lewis befriended a young Lou Thesz
, who he taught the art of "hooking
" (the ability to inflict pain on a person using various holds). Lewis himself was one of the greatest hookers of his day and passed his knowledge onto Thesz.
In 1937 The Strangler had six contests in New Zealand
. He beat Floyd Marshall, John Spellman
, Glen Wade, and Rusty Westcoatt, and lost twice to the great Canadian
Champion
, Earl McCready
, who was then established as the top wrestler in New Zealand.
Ed "Strangler" Lewis is considered to be the creator of the sleeper hold, though it was actually a cross between the modern day sleeper and a side headlock.
Wrestling greats like Lou Thesz and Verne Gagne have stated that Ed Lewis was the greatest wrestler ever and could only be beat when he allowed himself to be beat to further a worker angle.
of his good friend, and reigning NWA Champion
, Lou Thesz.
Lewis went blind from trachoma
. He was destitute and relied on his wife and acquaintances to survive. He died in New York
on August 8, 1966 at the age of 75. In 1999, Lewis was inducted into the George Tragos/Lou Thesz Hall of Fame. Today, a Wisconsin
state historical marker
commemorates his achievements in his hometown of Nekoosa on Prospect Avenue.
Professional wrestling
Professional wrestling is a mode of spectacle, combining athletics and theatrical performance.Roland Barthes, "The World of Wrestling", Mythologies, 1957 It takes the form of events, held by touring companies, which mimic a title match combat sport...
best known by his ring name
Ring name
A ring name is a stage name used by a professional wrestler, martial artist, or boxer. While some ring names may have a fictitious first name and surname, others may simply be a nickname, such as The Undertaker.-Wrestling:...
Ed "Strangler" Lewis, whose career spanned four decades.
Wrestling career
Born in Nekoosa, WisconsinNekoosa, Wisconsin
Nekoosa is a city in Wood County, Wisconsin, United States. Its name derives from the Ho-Chunk word, "Nakrusa" which translates to "running water." The population was 2,590 at the 2000 census...
, Friedrich began wrestling at the age of 14, using the stage name
Stage name
A stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...
Ed "Strangler" Lewis, in tribute of 1890s star Evan "Strangler" Lewis. It was also stated in the A&E
A&E Network
The A&E Network is a United States-based cable and satellite television network with headquarters in New York City and offices in Atlanta, Chicago, Detroit, London, Los Angeles and Stamford. A&E also airs in Canada and Latin America. Initially named the Arts & Entertainment Network, A&E launched...
documentary "The Unreal Story of Professional Wrestling" that he was dubbed the Strangler after a match in France where he applied a sleeper hold, and the French, who were unfamiliar with the hold, thought he was strangling his opponent.
He was the pivotal figure in the "Gold Dust Trio
Gold Dust Trio
The Gold Dust Trio was a group of promoters who controlled the world of professional wrestling during the 1920s while also making several fundamental changes to the industry's business model and operations that would ultimately change the direction of the sport towards a more pseudo-competitive...
", along with promoters
Professional wrestling promotion
A professional wrestling promotion is a company or business that regularly performs shows involving professional wrestling. Promotion also describes a role which entails management, advertising and logistics of running a wrestling event...
Toots Mondt
Toots Mondt
Joseph Raymond "Toots" Mondt was a former wrestling promoter who revolutionized the wrestling industry in the early to mid 1920s and co-promoted the World Wide Wrestling Federation...
and Billy Sandow
Billy Sandow
Wilhelm Baumann, better known as Billy Sandow , was the manager of professional wrestler Ed "Strangler" Lewis and a subsequent member of the famed Gold Dust Trio promotion that changed the face of the industry during the 1920s...
, a travelling road show that was the precursor to wrestling tours, and which revolutionized wrestling by creating undercards, promoting full events instead of one match shows. They also developed the first wrestling storylines, creating "worked" feuds
Feud (professional wrestling)
A professional wrestling feud is a staged rivalry between multiple wrestlers or alliances of wrestlers. They are integrated into ongoing storylines, particularly in events which are televised...
between wrestlers. Because of the legit skills Lewis possessed, the tri could put the belt on who ever they wanted, because Lewis had the ability to defeat anyone who would not follow the script.
Lewis captured his first world heavyweight championship recognized on December 13, 1920, defeating Joe Stecher
Joe Stecher
Joe Stecher , sometimes spelled Joe Stetcher, was a professional wrestler and three-time World Heavyweight Champion. Stecher is the first wrestler to regain the original version of the World Heavyweight Championship....
. Stecher would prove to be Lewis' biggest rival, both in and out of the ring, with Stecher running his own shows against the Gold Dust Trio, beginning quite possibly the first promotional rivalry. Lewis and Stecher wrestled one of the longest matches in pro wrestling history, where they battled for five and a half hours, earning only "a draw". The climax of their feud came on April 15, 1925 when Gold Dust Trio star, and former champion, Stanislaus Zbyszko
Stanislaus Zbyszko
Stanislaus Zbyszko was a Polish strongman and professional wrestler popular in the United States during the 1920s. He was one of the most influential European grapplers of all-time, he was also among the sport’s great pioneer champions...
, was asked to lose to the Gold Dust Trio's own handpicked champion, Wayne Munn
Wayne Munn
Wayne Munn was an American professional wrestler and collegiate football player from the University of Nebraska.-Wrestling career:...
, a former football star, in an effort to give Munn credibility. Zbyszko balked at the idea of losing to an unskilled wrestler, and secretly jumped to the Joe Stecher camp. Zbyszko double-crossed the Gold Dust Trio, using his knowledge of holds to legitimately defeat and, in the process, humiliate Munn. Eventually Lewis and Stecher settled their differences, and agreed to do business with each other, with Stecher dropping the World Championship back to Lewis on February 20, 1928.
In 1933, one of The Strangler's greatest matches took place in Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden (1925)
Madison Square Garden was an indoor arena in New York City, the third of that name. It was built in 1925 and closed in 1968, and was located on Eighth Avenue between 49th and 50th Streets in Manhattan on the site of the city's trolley car barns. It was the first Garden that was not located near...
. He was fighting Ray Steele
Peter Sauer
Peter Sauer , known by the ring name Ray Steele, was an American professional wrestler born and raised in Norka, a German colony in Russia, in 1900 before immigrating to Lincoln, Nebraska in 1906....
for the title. The two men began circling each other, but no fighting happened, which made the fans bored. Steele finally ended the match by punching Lewis, causing the referee to disqualify him twenty minutes into the match.
On September 20, 1934, Lewis wrestled Jim Londos
Jim Londos
Christos Theofilou or Christopher Theophelus better known as "The Golden Greek" Jim Londos, was a professional wrestler who was one of the most popular stars wrestling offered during the Great Depression.-Career:Jim Londos was born Christos Theofilou in 1897 in Argos, Greece. as the youngest of...
in front of an audience of 35,275 at Wrigley Field, and drawing a record gate of $96,302, which would stand until 1952. Later in his career, Lewis befriended a young Lou Thesz
Lou Thesz
Aloysius Martin "Lou" Thesz was a United States professional wrestler and 18-time world heavyweight champion, most notably holding the NWA World Heavyweight Championship three times. Combined, he held the NWA Championship for 10 years, three months and nine days , longer than anyone else in history...
, who he taught the art of "hooking
Catch wrestling
Catch wrestling is a style of folk wrestling that was developed and popularised in the late 19th century by the wrestlers of traveling carnivals who incorporated submission holds, or "hooks", into their wrestling to increase their effectiveness against their opponents...
" (the ability to inflict pain on a person using various holds). Lewis himself was one of the greatest hookers of his day and passed his knowledge onto Thesz.
In 1937 The Strangler had six contests in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. He beat Floyd Marshall, John Spellman
John Spellman
John Dennis Spellman was the 18th Governor of Washington between 1981 and 1985; before that, he was a member of the King County, Washington, County Commission from 1967 to 1969 and the King County Executive from 1969 to 1981. He was a Republican and his opponent in the 1980 election was then-State...
, Glen Wade, and Rusty Westcoatt, and lost twice to the great Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
Champion
Champion
A champion is the victor in a challenge, contest or competition.There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and world championships, and even further divisions at one or more of these levels, as in soccer. Their champions...
, Earl McCready
Earl McCready
Earl Gray McCready was an amateur wrestler who competed in the U.S. for Oklahoma State University in folkstyle, and as a Canadian freestyle sport wrestler who competed in the 1928 Summer Olympics....
, who was then established as the top wrestler in New Zealand.
Ed "Strangler" Lewis is considered to be the creator of the sleeper hold, though it was actually a cross between the modern day sleeper and a side headlock.
Wrestling greats like Lou Thesz and Verne Gagne have stated that Ed Lewis was the greatest wrestler ever and could only be beat when he allowed himself to be beat to further a worker angle.
Post wrestling
Lewis went into semi-retirement in 1935, but came out of retirement, at the age of 51, in 1942 despite being legally blind. He retired from wrestling for good in 1948, at 57 years old. At the November 1949 NWA Convention in St. Louis, Lewis was named the ambassador of good will for the NWA. In later years, he would become the managerManager (professional wrestling)
In professional wrestling, a manager is a secondary character paired with a wrestler for a variety of reasons. The manager is often either a non-wrestler, an occasional wrestler, an older wrestler who has retired or is nearing retirement or, in some cases, a new wrestler who is breaking into the...
of his good friend, and reigning NWA Champion
NWA World Heavyweight Championship
The National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in the National Wrestling Alliance. Its lineage has been traced from the first World Heavyweight Championship, which traces its lineage to Georg Hackenschmidt's 1905 title and...
, Lou Thesz.
Lewis went blind from trachoma
Trachoma
Trachoma is an infectious disease causing a characteristic roughening of the inner surface of the eyelids. Also called granular conjunctivitis and Egyptian ophthalmia, it is the leading cause of infectious blindness in the world...
. He was destitute and relied on his wife and acquaintances to survive. He died in New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
on August 8, 1966 at the age of 75. In 1999, Lewis was inducted into the George Tragos/Lou Thesz Hall of Fame. Today, a Wisconsin
Wisconsin
Wisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
state historical marker
Historical marker
A historical marker or historic marker is an indicator such as a plaque or sign to commemorate an event or person of historic interest and to associate that point of interest with a specific locale one can visit.-Description:...
commemorates his achievements in his hometown of Nekoosa on Prospect Avenue.
In wrestling
- Finishing moves
- Strangle Hold (Sleeper hold)
- Signature moves
- Side headlock
- Notable Weaknesses
- Standing in Fire
- Key Nemesis
- Easywayout / Athaar
Championships and accomplishments
- American Wrestling Association (Boston)American Wrestling AssociationThe American Wrestling Association was an American professional wrestling promotion based in Minneapolis, Minnesota that ran from 1960 to 1991. It was owned and founded by Verne Gagne and Wally Karbo...
- AWA World Heavyweight Championship (2 times)
- Championship Wrestling from Florida
- NWA Florida Heavyweight ChampionshipNWA Florida Heavyweight ChampionshipThe NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship was a major title in Championship Wrestling from Florida, USA and is now the major title in NWA Florida. It started in 1937 and was abandoned in 1949. It was picked back up in 1966 by CWF and lasted until 1987 when the company was purchased by Jim Crockett...
(1 time)
- NWA Florida Heavyweight Championship
- Midwest Wrestling Association (Kansas City)
- MWA World Heavyweight ChampionshipMWA World Heavyweight ChampionshipThe MWA World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in the Kansas City, Kansas-based Midwest Wrestling Association...
(1 time)
- MWA World Heavyweight Championship
- New York State Athletic CommissionNew York State Athletic CommissionThe New York State Athletic Commission or NYSAC, also known as the New York Athletic Commission, regulates all contests and exhibitions of unarmed combat within the state of New York, including licensure and supervision of promoters, boxers, professional wrestlers, seconds, ring officials,...
- NYSAC World Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
- Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum
- Class of 2002
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of FameWrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of FameThe Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame is a professional wrestling hall of fame that recognizes people who make significant contributions to the sport. It was founded in 1996 by Dave Meltzer, editor of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. The Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame is not...
(Class of 1996)
- Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame
External links
- Ed "Strangler" Lewis - biography and articles