DragonKingKarl Classic Wrestling Show: Pioneer era legend The Terrible Turk
I first covered pioneer era wrestling special attraction Yusuf Ismael, aka The Terrible Turk, on an early episode of my 1000 Hours pioneer era-focused subseries here on the DragonKing Classic Wrestling Show, but the Terrible Turk deserves a follow up as requested by one of our listeners.
Now I tell you the latest information I have uncovered about the original Turk who came to America in 1898, beat the best in the country (including the American champion), and then died on his way back to Europe…and how much of it was legitimate.
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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.