I just thought i would add my opinion on a book i have just finished titled Physical Chess on the life of Billy Robinson. A wonderful life story of one of the finest Wrestlers to come out of Wigan. Those great old timers of Catch as catch can wrestling will live on.
I do have one question for all Wrestling Heritage members and that is Who do you think would win in a Wrestling Match between Lou Thesz and Billy Joyce? Since both were such top wrestlers it would be an Interesting Debate.
As regards to Thesz wanting or not wanting to wrestle Bert, I understand the latter was 'doing his own thing' at the time of the challenge and was not affiliated with the British promoters in contract with the American. Thus the two couldn't have met even if they wanted to at the moment in time. However, I think if Joyce and Thesz had met in the gym, Lou may have found it hard to fall back on his 'real' wrestling experience after so long plying his trade as an entertainer. If you watch his matches he tends, just like a good singer or comedian on tour, to present a tried and tested 'act' each and every time, with little change, if any.
Both being around the same age though, even a worked match, finishing in an honourable draw would have been great viewing for the wrestling 'purists'.
>Would you like to watch this too often? I quite enjoy that particular match, with its mixture of standing and ground work with a couple of big throws, but some of the other ones in that tournament drag on a bit. The final between Jacobs and Brandon "Strangler" Ruiz takes until round 3 to get going, the first two rounds are mostly just jockeying for position from a collar-and-elbow start. If anything the majority of major league US pro wrestling nowadays (WWE, AEW) has evolved in the opposite direction, far away from wrestling's root as a legit sport. So I'll grant you, that organisation https://snakepitusa.com/ is an exception, but an exception that proves the rule. If that match had been on a 50s/60s UK show, it would have seemed a little dry but wouldn't have raised too many eyerbrows (except for the reset rule instead of clean breaks from a standing start). You would have to go back to the 30s/40s for a mainstream US audience to not be totally bewildered.
Well David, they were trying, very trying.
Would you like to watch this too often?
I will retract my statement.
I really was talking about the years covered by this site, when wrestling was controlled by a set of promoters.
I don't know about later years.
Please can you tell me the promoter and where this took place.
Were the two wrestlers well known?
bjh99 wrote: >There is never a straightforward "fight" in a professional ring. How about this? :
Lou had the right idea.You can't eat titles.Money paves the way to a happy life.
So much for politics protecting Lou Thesz. He told me in a letter in the early 1990s that way back in 1957 he challenged Bert Assirati but Bert would not wrestle. Then you hear from other sources that Bert fronted up for the challenge at a venue Lou was wrestling at and Lou Thesz refused.
I think that you are spot on there Hack.
There is never a straightforward "fight" in a professional ring.
Sometime wrestlers lose their temper, but not at that level.
It's pro wrestling so the winner would be the one decided by the promoter. So Thesz would not lose. The best Billy could hope for would be a draw. If the match was in the USA the Americans would have required a Thesz win. In Britain Thesz's reputation would be protected but Billy might have been allowed a draw.
Ah right. Thanks Buddy.
It's a style of Wrestling, Frank, which is the basis for Olympic freestyle wrestling (more or less).
What does Catch as catch mean? I’ve heard it used on here a few times but I’m always left scratching my head.
Hi Robert, I agree, a great book.
I take it you mean a real contest between Thesz and Joyce?, hard to say, because it is all theoretical, I assume you would mean when both men were at their peak?
It would be a hard call, because I think they were evenly matched in terms of height and weight.
What do others think.