DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: Gotch vs. Hackenschmidt I
We continue the longform history of wrestling series today as we reach one of the biggest milestones in pro wrestling history — the first Frank Gotch vs. George Hackenschmidt match. We also follow up with what happened next.
Topics covered on this episode:
- Mailbag — Why didn’t Gotch drop the title and who would it have been to if he would have?
- The lead-up to Frank Gotch vs. George Hackenschmidt I sees Gotch go on a tear that would make Hulk Hogan blush, wrestling literally every day from one side of the country to the other.
- Frank Gotch (the American champion) vs. George Hackenschmidt (the World champion) with who won and how.
- The follow up to Gotch vs. Hackenschmidt I sees Frank have some marital strife before striking out on tour again.
- Gotch’s follow up matches with Tom Jenkins and Fred Beell.
- The lead-up to the second Gotch vs. Hackenschmidt match.
Karl Stern
Karl Stern is a pro wrestling historian specializing in the 1980s and pioneer era (pre-1900) of pro wrestling. He is an author who has written several books on wrestling and independently runs the When It Was Cool retro pop culture website.