 Lewis in 1947 | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | Robert Herman Julius Friedrich (1891-06-30)June 30, 1891 Nekoosa, Wisconsin, U.S. |
| Died | August 8, 1966(1966-08-08) (aged 75) Tulsa, Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | Ed Lewis Rob Friedrich The Strangler |
| Billed height | 5 ft 10 in (178 cm)[1] |
| Billed weight | 265 lb (120 kg)[1] |
| Debut | 1905 |
| Retired | 1948 |
Robert Herman Julius Friedrich[2] (June 30, 1891 – August 8, 1966), better known by thering nameEd "Strangler" Lewis, was an Americanprofessional wrestler and trainer. During his wrestling career, which spanned four decades, Lewis was afour-timeWorld Heavyweight Wrestling Champion and overall recognized officially as a five-timeworld champion. Considered to be one of the most iconic and recognizable sports stars of the 1920s, often alongsideboxerJack Dempsey andbaseball playerBabe Ruth, Lewis notably wrestled in over 6,000 matches (many of which werereal contests) and lost only 32 of them.[3]
He was posthumously inducted as a charter member into the following halls of fame:Wrestling Observer Newsletter,Professional Wrestling,George Tragos/Lou Thesz andWWE's Legacy Wing. One of the most legitimately feared grapplers of all time,[4] Lewis was known for hiscatch wrestling prowess and trained many future champions, most notablyLou Thesz,Danny Hodge,Dick Hutton andGene LeBell.
Born inNekoosa, Wisconsin, toGerman parents, Friedrich was an active youngster, participating inamateur wrestling,basketball andtrack. Friedrich would end up solely focusing on wrestling, finding success competing in local competitions against other farmers. Friedrich began wrestling professionally at the age of 14, using the ring name Ed "Strangler" Lewis, first in Louisville, Kentucky, partly in tribute of 1890s starEvan "Strangler" Lewis and so his parents wouldn't discover it was him.[5]
It was also stated in theA&E documentaryThe Unreal Story of Professional Wrestling that he was dubbed the Strangler after a match in France where he applied asleeper 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 withpromotersToots Mondt andBig Billy Sandow, a travelling road show that was the precursor to wrestling tours, and which revolutionized professional wrestling by creatingundercards, promoting full events instead of one match shows. They also developed the first professional wrestlingstorylines, creatingworkedfeuds between wrestlers. Because of the legit skills Lewis possessed, the Trio could put thetitle on whoever they wanted, because Lewis had the ability to defeatanyone who would not follow the script.
Lewis captured his first recognizedWorld Heavyweight Wrestling Championship on December 13, 1920, defeatingJoe 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 professional wrestling history, where they battled for five and a half hours, ending in adraw.
The climax of their feud came on April 15, 1925, when Gold Dust Trio star and former championStanislaus 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 tolegit defeat and, in the process, humiliate Munn. Eventually, Lewis and Stecher settled their differences, and agreed to do business with each other, with Stecherdropping theworld title back to Lewis on February 20, 1928.
In 1931, Lewis and partner,Billy Sandow, signed former Notre Dame All-American running back"Jumping Joe" Savoldi to his first professional wrestling contract. Lewis was credited with training Savoldi in Los Angeles during the first half of 1931. After winning theAWA World Heavyweight Championship in April 1931, he facedHenri Deglane in May for a title defense in Montreal in a two-out-of-three falls match. After two falls, Deglane had feigned being bitten by Lewis, when in reality he had been bitten in the locker room. This led to Deglane being awarded the title via disqualification and a dispute over who was actually acknowledged as champion over the next two years.[6][7]
In 1933, one of the Strangler's most infamous matches took place inMadison Square Garden. He was fightingRay Steele for the title. The two men began circling each other, but no fighting happened, which made the fans bored. Steele ended the match by punching Lewis, causing the referee todisqualify him twenty minutes into the match.
On September 20, 1934, Lewis wrestledJim 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.[8]
In 1937, the Strangler had six contests in New Zealand. He beat Floyd Marshall, John Spellman, Glen Wade andRusty Wescoatt, and lost twice to the Canadian championEarl McCready, who was then established as the top wrestler in New Zealand.[9] In 1936, he competed in one of the last known legitimate contests in professional wrestling, where he wrestledLee Wykoff. Lewis separated a clavicle during training but decided to go ahead with the contest. The match ended in a draw.[10]
_Lewis_-_Sports_Facts_-_21_April_1953_Minneapolis_Armory_Wrestling_Program.jpg)
Lewis went into semi-retirement in 1935, but came out of retirement in 1942, at the age of 51, despite being legally blind. He retired from professional 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.[11] In later years, he became themanager of his good friend and reigningNWA World Heavyweight Champion,Lou Thesz.[11]
Lewis went blind fromtrachoma.[12][13] He was destitute and relied on his wife and acquaintances to survive. He died inOklahoma on August 8, 1966, at the age of 75. In 1999, Lewis was inducted into the George Tragos/Lou Thesz Hall of Fame.[12][14]
Today, aWisconsin statehistorical marker commemorates his achievements in his hometown of Nekoosa on Prospect Avenue.[12][15] In 2002, Lewis was voted in by professional wrestlers, historians and writers and inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in Amsterdam, New York.
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1929 | Lewis-Sonnenberg Wrestling Match | Himself | Short film |
| 1934 | The President Vanishes | Legislator | |
| 1942 | Gentleman Jim | Hoghead | Uncredited |
| 1943 | That Nazty Nuisance | Paj Mab's Guard | Uncredited |
| 1949 | Bodyhold | Referee | Uncredited |
,Cagematch,Wrestlingdata,Internet Wrestling Database,Wrestling-Titles| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
