Stanislaus Zbyszko

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Stanislaus Zbyszko (1913)

Stanislaus Zbyszko , b. Stanisław Jan Cyganiewicz , (born April 1, 1879 in Jodłowa , Galicia , † September 23, 1967 in St. Joseph , Missouri ) was a Polish wrestler . He was world champion of professional wrestlers in Greco-Roman and free style.

Life

Stanisław Cyganiewicz grew up in his place of birth and was nicknamed "Zbyszko" at school, derived from the hero Zbyszko von Bogdaniec from the novel Krzyżacy (German: The Crusaders ) by Henryk Sienkiewicz . This name later became his stage name in the United States when he was a famous professional wrestler.

After finishing school, Stanisław Cyganiewicz studied music, philosophy and law in Vienna . It is not known whether he completed any of these subjects. In Vienna, who was unusually muscular with a height of 1.73 meters and weighed around 110 kg as an adult, he started heavy athletics, especially wrestling , at the Vindobona AC Vienna sports club . His role model was Georg Hackenschmidt . He later became a supporter of the Sokol movement in Bohemia , but returned to Poland and worked there for some time as a circus wrestler. There he was discovered by an organizer of professional wrestling matches and received a contract from him as a professional wrestler. His teacher was temporarily the famous Polish master wrestler Władysław Pytlasiński .

In 1900 he started for the first time in a world championship of professional wrestlers. At that time he was wrestling only in the Greco-Roman style. In 1906 he went to London and was looked after by Charles Cochrane, who was also Georg Hackenschmidt's manager. In London he also learned freestyle wrestling.

In 1909 he went to the United States and continued his career as a freestyle wrestler. In the next 20 years he was one of the best professional wrestlers in free style in the heavyweight division and was world champion twice . In 1930 he ended his career as an active wrestler and initially became a promoter. In the late 1930s he went to Buenos Aires and trained Antonino Rocca , an aspiring young Argentinian freestyle wrestler. After his stay in Argentina, he and his brother Ladislaus Cyganiewicz, who had also become a famous professional wrestler as Wladek Zbyszko , bought a farm in Missouri on which they set up a training camp for professional wrestlers. The most famous students of theirs were Johnny Valentine and Harley Race .

In 1932 and 1950 Stanislaus Zbyszko took part in several feature films. He worked with the famous director Jules Dassin , among others .

He spent his old age on his farm in Missouri, where he died in 1967 at the age of 88.

Stanislaus Zbyszko was one of the most successful pioneers in professional wrestling. He was the only professional wrestler to become world champion in both styles.

Athletic career

1900 to 1908

As early as 1900, Stanisław Cyganiewicz took part in a world championship of professional wrestlers in the Greco-Roman style in Saint Petersburg . There he took 2nd place behind Alexander Aberg from Russia and ahead of Georg Lurich from Russia and L. le Beaucairois from France .

In 1903 he started at a world championship in Paris in the Greco-Roman style. There he took 3rd place behind Jeß Pedersen from Denmark and R. le Boucher from France , but ahead of Omer de Bouillon from Belgium . All three were famous professional wrestlers at the time. After this World Cup, he was also noticed in the United States. In an article in the famous weight training magazine "Health & Strength" he was already described as one of the best professional wrestlers in Europe.

At a tournament in Saint Petersburg in 1906 Stanisław Cyganiewicz defeated the Russians Iwan Martynow, Alexander Zaikin and Jelisejew, the Germans Leonhard Reiber and Heinrich Weber , the lightweight world champion of 1903, the Poles Bolesław Rogalski, the Turks Nourlah and the Belgian Emil Peyrouse and thus tournament winner ahead of Peyrouse and Heinrich Weber.

In 1906 he became world champion of professional wrestlers in Greco-Roman in Paris . Heavyweight style ahead of Georg Lurich and Constant le Marin from Belgium. Up until then, this was the greatest success of his wrestling career.

After this world championship, Stalnislaw Cyganiewicz went to London and trained there free style. In London he fought a few fights in the London Pavilion and Gibbons Music Hall , defeating the dangerous Turkish Kara Suliman.

1909 to 1920

In 1909 Stanisław Cyganiewicz went to the United States and became a well-known freestyle wrestler under the name Stanislaus Zbyszko. Hardly there he met the reigning freestyle world heavyweight champion, the American Frank Gotch , on November 25, 1909 in Buffalo , NY . A handicap match had been agreed in which Frank Gotch should have defeated Zbyszko within 60 minutes. Gotch couldn't do that, so Stanislaus Zbyszko was declared the winner.

On February 12th Stanislaus Zybszko defeated Tom Jenkins in New York and in the course of 1910 he won more victories over the catcher Dr. Benjamin F. Roller and Youssuf Mahmout ( The Terrible Turk ). On September 10, 1910 he fought in London against the Indian Great Gamma , who was actually called Rustam e Zamana Gama Pehliwan in the "John Bull Wrestling Championship" for the world championship of the British version and achieved against the physically far superior Indian by his Sophisticated defensive tactics after a fight time of 2 hours and 35 minutes a draw. In the revenge a week later, on September 17, 1910, back in London, Great Gamma won and thus became world champion of professional wrestlers in the British / Indian version.

On October 1, 1910 Stanislaus Zbyszko got the chance to fight Frank Gotch at the Chicago Coliseum for the world championship of professional wrestlers in the heavyweight division. He was outwitted by Gotch in a not entirely fair way, because Gotch practically grabbed him at the opening handshake, threw him to the ground and shouldered him after a fight time of 6 seconds. All protests by Zbyszko and his followers were unsuccessful. Stanislaus Zbyszko's first attempt to become world champion in the American version of the professional wrestler had failed.

On January 26, 1911 Stanislaus Zbyszko played another handicap match in New York. His job was to defeat three strong wrestlers in one evening. In the first fight he won over the seven-time world champion in the Greco-Roman style, the Russian Ivan Maximowitsch Poddubny in 4 minutes and 40 seconds, then he beat the American cowboy Yankee Rogers in 49 minutes and 20 seconds. But he was no longer able to defeat the American Gus "Americus" Schönlin, with which he lost the handicap match. In a revenge match he was defeated again on May 4, 1911 in New York against Gus Schönlin. On November 25, 1911 Stanislaus Zbyszko fought in New York against the world champion in Greco-Roman. Style Giovanni Raicevich , an Italian of Slovenian origin. Enrico Caruso also attended this fight . Three courses of 60 minutes each were agreed. In first gear, Zbyszko won after 37 minutes and 30 seconds. In second gear, Raicevich Zbyszko managed to lay on his shoulders after 10 minutes of fighting time. The jury, which had initially confirmed this win, changed its verdict shortly afterwards and decided that Zbyszko had one shoulder off the mat, which meant that Raicevich had not won. So the fight should have continued. Raicevich refused and left the venue indignantly with Enrico Caruso and other prominent Italian spectators.

In 1912 Stanislaus Zbyszko won over Henry Ordemann, Charles Cutler and Dr. Benjamin F. Roller. On December 20, 1912, however, he suffered a defeat against Georg Lurich in Boston .

In 1913 he stayed in Europe again and won on July 16, 1913 in Vienna over the Czech Gustav Frištenský and fought against Great Gamma again on September 10, 1913 in London. On January 16, 1914, he won a victory over the world champion in Greco-Roman style Alexander Aberg in Boston .

Stanislaus Zbyszko was inactive from 1915 to 1919.

1920 to 1929

In early 1920, however, it reappeared in the United States. On March 29, 1920 he defeated the Finn John Olin in New York after 53 minutes and 27 seconds of fighting time. Olin was a silver medalist at the Olympic Games in Stockholm in 1912 in Greco-Roman. Heavyweight style.

On May 6, 1920 he defeated Ed Lewis for the first time in a match in New York. The year 1921 began with a victory over the American Joe Stecher , whom he defeated on March 14th in New York after a fighting time of 2 hours 16 minutes and 10 seconds. Lewis and Stecher were to play special roles in Zbyszko's career.

On May 5, 1921 Stanislaus Zbyszko then fought in Madison Square Garden in New York against Ed "Strangler" Lewis for the world heavyweight championship. He won this fight in the relatively short fight time of 23 minutes and 17 seconds and was the first time world champion of professional wrestlers in free style. These two wrestlers then faced each other in a World Cup revenge at a Tex Rickard event on November 28, 1921 in Madison Square Garden. This encounter was held in three courses. Lewis won in first gear in 17 minutes and 31 seconds, but Zbyszko won the other two gears in 21 minutes and 24 seconds and 14 minutes and 57 seconds, thus defending his world championship title.

On February 6, 1922, Stanislaus Zbyszko defeated Earl Caddock in New York and on March 3, 1922, another meeting between Zbyszko and Lewis took place in Wichita, Kansas . It was again about the world heavyweight title. Lewis managed to defeat Zbyszko and take the world title from him.

After two quieter years in 1923 and 1924, Stanislaus Zbyszko made another attempt to become world champion again in 1925. The situation in the American wrestling scene was as follows: In the past three years, the number of spectators at the fights had steadily decreased because the same wrestlers faced each other in the fight for the world championship. Several leading promoters around Jack Curley and Tony Stecher therefore agreed that a new man should appear on the wrestling scene, who should also become world champion. For this purpose, the former football professional Wayne Munn was chosen. After some "build-up battles" he actually managed to defeat Ed "Strangler" Lewis at the beginning of 1925 and become the new world champion, although Lewis' defeat was of course agreed.

After this fight Stanislaus Zbyszko was persuaded by Tony Stecher to go up against Munn and let him win. This fight took place in Philadelphia on April 15, 1925 . Zbyszko, who was vastly superior to Munn, did not keep to this agreement and nailed Wayne Munn to the mat after a short fight, so that the referee had no other option than to declare Zbyszko the shoulder winner. Stanislaus Zbyszko was world heavyweight champion for the second time . On May 30, 1925, Zbyszko went on to defend his title for the first time. In St. Louis he lost to Joe Stecher , although this defeat was probably due to threats made against Zbyszko.

On March 30, 1926 Stanislaus Zbyszko lost in Atlanta to eventual world champion Jim Londos and lost again on April 13, 1926 in Atlanta in another world championship match against Joe Stecher.

In 1927 he managed only one draw in New York against the German Hans Steinke and on December 2, 1927 he lost in New York to Giovanni Raicevich. The outcome of these fights showed that he was slowly paying tribute to his age, he was now 48 years old.

In 1928 he got another chance to earn a lot of money. There was a fight for the world championship based on the British-Indian version. In Patiala , he met Great Gamma again in front of 60,000 spectators . Stanislaus Zbyszko suffered a devastating defeat in this fight, because after 30 seconds Great Gamma had already thrown him. After that, he did not contest an important fight.

Literature and web links

personal data
SURNAME Zbyszko, Stanislaus
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Cyganiewicz, Stanisław Jan
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Polish wrestler
DATE OF BIRTH April 1, 1879
PLACE OF BIRTH Jodłowa
DATE OF DEATH September 23, 1967
Place of death St. Joseph , Missouri