r/WrestlingGenius • u/OShaunesssy • 3d ago
Book Report Guy, with a retrospective on the notorious Gold Dust Trio, made up of Ed "Strangler" Lewis, Billy Sandow and Joseph "Toots" Mondt. This group dominated and monopolized the wrestling buisness through the 1920s, including a 1000+ day world title reign for "Strangler" Lewis.
Hey y'all, alongside my History of Pro Wrestling reports and my posts detailing career retrospectives, Im also doing individual spotlight posts detailing specific stories or events in pro wrestling history.
The Gold Dust Trio as an organization ran from 1922 - 1931, with Billy Sandow, Ed "Strangler" Lewis and Joseph "Toots" Mondt running things together. This post will cover the first half of the Gold Dust Trio's timespan, detailing the monopoly they formed over the sport, the 1000+ day title reign of "Strangler" Lewis, and their ambitious plans for the future.
Main Characters
Ed "Strangler" Lewis - former world heavyweight champion and one of the top wrestlers in the world at twenty-nine-years-old.
Billy Sandow - manager behind "Strangler" Lewis, the thirty-six-year-old was also a promoter who operates out of Kansas City, Missouri.
Joseph "Toots" Mondt - legitimate amateur standout grappler breaking into pro wrestling at the age of twenty-six-years-old.
Jack Curley - the top promoter in the world, who usually operates out of New York, but the newly implemented New York State Athletic Commission was hindering him.
"Big" Wayne Munn - former pro football player looking to make the jump into pro wrestling when Billy Sandow discovers him.
Stanislaus Zbyszko - former world heavyweight champion is forty-one-years-old, and entering the twilight of his career.
As always, we go in chronological order, and for the story of The Gold Dust Trio, we will start right at the close of 1920, with world champion Joe Stecher putting his championship belt on the line against former world champion, Stanislaus Zbyszko.
1920
After chasing the title all year, “Strangler” Lewis challenged world champion Joe Stecher on December 13th, 1920, with over 8,000 fans piling into Madison Square Garden for the hotly anticipated main event. Promoter Billy Sandow had a hand in arranging the big matchup and even accompanied “Strangler” Lewis to the ring. The single fall matchup lasted nearly two hours before Lewis pinned Stecher using his famous headlock maneuver. Apparently, Sandow and Lewis were said to have given Joe Stecher and his manager/ brother Tony, $25,000 as some sort of agreement that Lewis would eventually consent to losing the title back. This is all back room heresy if I’m being honest though.
1921
After months of campaigning, Stanislaus Zbyszko would at last receive another matchup for the world heavyweight championship. Stanislaus challenged world champion Ed “Strangler” Lewis on May 6th, 1921, at a Jack Curley produced show in New York. The championship main event drew over 10,000 fans to the 71st Regiment Armory, with two men battling in a single fall match. The main event last just over twenty minutes before Stanislaus pinned “Strangler” Lewis, and became the new world heavyweight champion.
Billy Sandow saw big opportunity for wrestling on the West Coast and without Curley around, Sandow saw an opportunity to usurp all of wrestling under his thumb. But first, Sandow needed to make sure the world title belt ended up back around the waste of "Strangler" Lewis.
1922
Despite the fact that Stanislaus Zbyszko won the world title belt, promoter Billy Sandow still basically owned the belt/lineage and would arrange for his client, Ed “Strangler” Lewis to win it back. That match would take place on March 3rd, 1922, drawing a pitiful crowd of just 4,000 to the Forum auditorium in Wichita, Kansas.
"Strangler" Lewis back on Top
The match was a best-two-of-three falls contest, with Stanislaus taking the first fall after forty-one minutes. Lewis would respond by pinning Stanislaus just eighteen minutes later, and again just five minutes after that, winning the match at just sixty-three minutes. This win gave Lewis the world title for a record fourth time, putting him in a category that no one else claim.
Its important to remember that Sandow had purchased the title from Joe & Tony Stecher back in 1920, for $25,000, with the understanding that Joe Stecher would eventually win it back. Obviously, that didn’t happen, and now we have Lewis winning the belt back once again, with no plans of dropping it back to Joe. Instead, Sandow & Lewis had grand plans that would not only allow them to monopolize the wrestling industry, but would have massive ramifications on the business going forward.
Power Play
In terms of this title change, rumors circulated suggesting that Lewis agreed to drop the belt back to Zbyszko by the end of the year, but the pair of Lewis and Sandow made a play for power in the pro wrestling world, breaking away from Zbyszko, Caddock and Stecher. Billy Sandow worked on making “Strangler” Ed Lewis the face of pro wrestling in the early 1920s, matching him against a variety of foes, who Lewis defeated one-by-one. With the New York State Athletic Commission proving to be an issue, with promoter Jack Curley being refused a promoters license in the state. Instead of featuring the New York market, Billy Sandow focused on building partnerships with promoters in the Midwest and on the West Coast.
The final component of their organization would come in the form of a tough-as-nails grappler named "Toots" Mondt.
Toots Mondt
Joseph “Toots” Mondt was a twenty-eight-year-old amateur wrestling coach for what would become Colorado State University, and had actually got started as a circus performer in his early twenties. Mondt had recently began to moonlight as a professional wrestler, and considering his legitimate amateur skills, he soon found himself matched up against “Strangler” Lewis on November 10th, 1922, at the Mechanics Building in Boston, Massachusetts. The two men battled for over an hour-and-a-half, trading falls in a best-two-of-three falls match, before Lewis locked in his headlock to win the match.
The Gold Dust Trio
This chance encounter cannot be understated, because Mondt would leave such an impression on Lewis and Sandow, that Billy almost immediately signed him on as a client. As stated earlier, Mondt was a legitimate shooter in the ring, and that skill would play a key role in what Sandow and Lewis were planning. They had no interest in ever giving up control of the world title, but knew better than to think the other top stars like Joe Stecher will play ball. They’re plan was to tour the country, and use Mondt to sniff out wrestlers who could be trusted, or who Mondt could verify their skills level back to Lewis. Together, the three men will monopolize the entire wrestling business, with plans of always keeping the belt under their control.
Toots would start working more closely with Sandow and Lewis on the promoting side as well, when Toots became involved in grouping wrestlers together into packaged shows and organizing circuits of towns for them to preform in. While this is industry standard behavior now, back then Toots was undertaking a concept that hadn’t been done before. Toots was also involved with plotting out storylines that would keep fans engaged over multiple trips to the matches.
In the “Strangler’s” Own Words
At some point in his life, “Strangler” Ed Lewis attempted to write a book, and while it wasn’t finished or published, pieces of it have been documented. In one of these pieces of this unfinished book, Lewis described this fraternity of wrestlers who essentially ran the pro wrestling scene in the States throughout the 1920s. Keep in mind, a lot of these guys working with Lewis here were recruited/ tested by Toots Mondt.
Within this unpublished manuscript, Lewis explained how there was only about twenty five legitimate and talented heavyweight pro wrestlers in America and they all worked together with Lewis as the champion. How it worked was quite simple, but took time. One of the twenty five wrestlers would go to a significant sized city if there was word of a growing wrestling scene. The wrestler would arrive to the city, and beat a couple of local wrestlers, before more of the twenty five legitimate heavyweights arrived to challenge him. The first guy would beat all challengers, turning back various heavyweights who all put him over and this would continue for as long as it takes to establish the guy as the city’s local hero who could vanquish anyone. Sometimes it would be months, sometimes it would be years, but it was usually a dozen and half guys all building up wresting in various cities while the other guys rotate in and out putting them over. Once the first guy was firmly established as the unbeatable hero, who the local fans sell venues out for, then “Strangler” Ed Lewis would come to town and put his coveted world title on the line, usually in a best two of three falls match. They would usually have the hometown guy win the first fall before Lewis retained the next falls. Both guys worked so the finish wasn’t definitive, to build a possible rematch, or two.
The “Strangler’s” Violence, and the Pioneer Manager
Lewis became the face of pro wrestling during this time and played the role of heel while doing so. Billy Sandow and "Strangler" Lewis seemed to take great pleasure in drawing boo’s and yes I include Sandow in there, because Billy Sandow became Lewis’s ringside manager during this time. Sandow would essentially define the archetype for the heel manager, as he distracted referees and opponents, as well as infuriated fans with his ringside coaching and antics.
This also when pro wrestling would really see violence heightened and the concept of heat seemed to set in. Lewis’s title defence came to be known for their violent and sometimes bloody affairs, with fans becoming more incensed than ever before, almost becoming part of the show with Lewis and Sandow. For example, a win in Chicago for Lewis caused the irate fans in attendance to throw knives and glass at the champion and at some shows, Lewis would need a police escort for events.
1923
In making allies, Billy Sandow and “Strangler” Ed Lewis worked closely with several promoters and wrestlers across the United States to make this touring world champion the success it was. Several cities would be very profitable stops for Lewis and Sandow, resulting in them coming back more frequently. This in turn brought in more business for the local promoter, which encouraged them to work with Lewis and Sandow. One strategy Sandow implemented in making alliances, would be to ignore the top promoter in a particular territory, and instead cozy up with one of the smaller rival promoters. That’s what Sandow did in Boston, where instead of networking with top Boston promoter George T. Touhey, Sandow introduced himself to the lesser known Paul Bowser.
Londos-Lewis VIII
In their eighth singles matchup, Jim Londos challenged Ed “Strangler” Lewis to a world title bout at the St Louis Coliseum on February 20th, 1923, under what I’m assuming is a John Contos promoted event. The world title bout drew over 10,000 fans for the best two of three falls contest, and unfortunately for the champion Lewis, his Trachoma symptoms were at an all-time time high that day. Despite Lewis retaining his belt, the champions eyesight on the day if the event was so bad that his manager/ promoter Billy Sandow had to literally guide Lewis to the ring for the match and Lewis claimed he couldn’t discern light from darkness.
The “Strangler’s” condition wasn’t exactly a well kept secret and sports writer Ed Wray would write about the match and Lewis specifically, because Wray had been covering boxing and saw recently that Missouri middleweight champion Gus Eisel sidelined for eight months die to trachoma. For Wray to have covered that and then watch Lewis disregard all health concerns and wrestle as champion just didn’t sit well with the journalist. He would write, “Considering the matter solely from the view of a view of point of physical cleanliness and health, the sport should be disinfected thoroughly.”
The Return of Jack Curley
Jack Curley has been absent in the story so far, which is because the New York State Athletic Commission took away his promoters license in 1921. In November of 1922, Jack Curley’s good friend, Al Smith, was elected Governor of New York, giving him some control and power over the New York State Athletic Commision. Now, in April of 1923, that new Governor, Al Smith would make a move that would be seen as a check on William Muldoon’s authority over the State Athletic Commission. Smith split the commission into separate regulatory and licencing committees, essentially giving one group oversight on who can promote events, and another group on how those events are ran altogether.
With Curley getting more & more involved in pro wrestling again, many speculated a confrontation between himself and Billy Sandow was on the horizon. As a refresher, Curley had worked hard to form a partnership of the top promoters in the country, which featured Curley and Sandow. When Curley lost his promoters licence, Sandow wasted little time in breaking that partnership and usurping all power under him and his Gold Dust Trio group. Surprisingly, despite all this, Jack Curley didn’t come back “guns-a-blazing,” so-to-speak. Curley quickly buried any hard feelings between the two, and actually began to support Sandow’s goal of making “Strangler” Lewis the face of pro wrestling.
Pesek-Lewis
Astute readers may recall that along with Chicago, the other town Billy Sandow carved a place out for himself was Kansas City. In fact, Billy Sandow would make a full move over to Chicago during this world title reign of "Strangler" Lewis. Kansas City is where Sandow would arrange for a high profile contest between top grappler John Pesek, and the world heavyweight champion Ed “Strangler” Lewis. The two men met on May 2nd, 1923, drawing an impressive 11,000 fans to the Convention Hall in Kansas City, Missouri. The two men battled in a best-two-of-three falls match that would see Lewis claim two straight falls in just over an hour.
Lewis’ Summer & Fall
Unfortunately, I can’t find much details on what “Strangler” Lewis was up to through the Summer & Fall of 1923. All I can say is that if Lewis registered any defences up through the summer, I cant confirm who he fought or the venues.
Turner-Lewis
The next notable show for Lewis would come on October 26th, 1923. Promoter Billy Sandow booked John Turner to challenge Lewis at the Convention Hall in Kansas City, Missouri, in a best-two-of-three falls match. Unsurprisingly, Lewis dominated the contest, securing two straight falls in just over an hour to retain his belt.
As "Strangler" Lewis was reigning as a dominant world champion, the Billy Sandow and "Toots" Mondt were hard at work looking for someone who could ideally take Lewis' place over time.
The Next Big Thing, Wayne Munn?
Wayne Munn was a collegiate football standout who played for the University of Nebraska from 1916 to 1918. He stood at 6’6” and weight over 230 pounds, earning him the nickname “Nebraska’s Giant.” Munn’s size and speed made him an integral part of the team in 1917, when Nebraska claimed the conference championship. After finishing up in football, Munn joined the army where he served at the end of the First World War and has spent the last few years drifting aimlessly.
Obviously due to his size and speed, he was pushed into trying his hand as a boxer, and would make his debut on November 16th, 1923. Munn was paired opposite the thirty-nine-year-old veteran Jack Clifford, who would make short work of Munn, defeating the bigger man and basically ending Munn’s boxing aspirations. Why is any of this important? Well, Munn’s size and stint as a boxer would lead to him being noticed by a promoter who was eyeing a potential next world champion, Billy Sandow. By early next year, Sandow would employ Munn, with the hopes of turning him into the next “Strangler” Lewis!
Stanislaus-Lewis
Speaking of “Strangler” Lewis, he would register another high profile win over former champion Stanislaus Zbyszko that December. The two men battled on December 12th, 1923, drawing over 6,000 fans to the Convention Hall in Kansas City, Missouri, for what I can only assume was a Billy Sandow promoted event. The two men met in a best-two-of-three falls contest, with Lewis being declared the winner.
Curley Reinstated
In December of 1923, this new version of the New York State Athletic Commission denied Tex Rickards request for a license/permit to promote any pro wrestling events, and three weeks later, they fully reinstated Jack Curley as a wrestling promoter. For the past two years, we have seen Jack Curley sit in the sidelines as Billy Sandow monopolized the entire wrestling business, and now, Curley was about to be back in business as the top promoter in the country.
Jack Curley’s first order of business? Getting the world heavyweight championship back into his control!
1924
With tensions growing among the top promoters and wrestlers, a meeting was called in February of 1924 between promoter Billy Sandow, his champion “Strangler” Ed Lewis, former champions Stanislaus Zbyszko, Joe Stecher and his brother/ manager Tony. As a refresher, when Lewis won the belt, he and Sandow gave $25,000 to Joe and Tony Stecher with the promise of dropping the title back? Obviously that didn't happen, and now, Joe and Tony were pissed, not only because they figured Lewis had no intention of dropping the belt back.
On top of that, Stanislaus Zbyszko was also upset, seemingly not happy since dropping the belt back to Lewis, though more details on that conflict aren’t known. Both of the Stecher’s and Zbyszko were threatening to go to the press and sell their stories immediately if their issues aren’t corrected. When things grew to a boiling point, Jack Curley was called to mediate the conflict and though the details aren’t known, we do know that Curley was able to keep everyone on the same page with all the men agreeing to continue working together. Though it’s clear things were reaching a boiling point for the group.
A Legitimate Melee Between Stecher & Mondt
Billy Sandow arranged a show on February 11th, 1924, highlighted by a main event between Joe Stecher, and Joseph “Toots” Mondts. Mondt & Stecher met at the Convention Hall in Kansas City, Missouri, in a best-two-of-three falls matchup. The contest drew a respectable 7,000 fans that evening, but the resulting matchup would be anything but respectable.
To most everyone in attendance, it was clear that Joe Stecher and “Toots” Mondt wrestled in a legitimate fashion through most of the contest, with both men trying their hardest to pin their opponent. Despite Stecher having more experience than Mondt, the first fall would go to Toots who was able to secure a pin fall after over an hour of action. The second fall would devolve into a mess as the two men began throwing legitimate and real punches and blows. The finish, if you can call it that, would come at just shy of two hours, when “Toots” Mondt was disqualified after he legitimately knocked Joe Stecher unconscious with a blow to the head.
Zbyszko-Lewis Rematch
The next significant world heavyweight championship defence for “Strangler” Lewis would come on February 26th, 1924, in a bout between Lewis and former champion Stanislaus Zbyszko. Stanislaus Zbyszko challenged Ed “Strangler” Lewis on February 26th, 1924, drawing nearly 8,000 fans to the Dexter Park Pavilion in Chicago, Illinois. The two men met in a best-two-of-three falls match with Lewis securing the first fall twenty-four minutes into the contest. Stanislaus would tie things up less than ten minutes later when he got the second fall. Just under fifteen minutes later “Strangler” Lewis locked in his headlock to claim the third fall and retain his world championship.
"Big" Wayne Munn
As ststed earlier, Wayne Munn was discovered by Billy Sandow in late 2023, and since then Sandow has debuted him and put him over every opponent in quick squash matches. Sandow even gave him the basic-as-fuck nickname, "Big" Wayne Munn. One of the earlierst notable matches from Munn came in March, with Billy Sandow booking Munn on a show that also featured Lewis & Mondt. The show opened with “Big” Wayne Munn making quick work of Jack Paulson, beating him in two-straight falls in just under ten minutes. Next up we would see “Toots” Mondt & Pat McGill wrestle to a time-limit draw after neither man secured a fall in an hour. The main event saw “Strangler” Lewis retain against Taro Miyake, defeating him in two-straight falls in under fifty minutes.
Busy World Champion
Later that month, “Strangler” Lewis travelled back to Chicago, where another championship defence awaited him. Stanislaus Zbyszko once again challenged “Strangler” Lewis for his world championship belt, drawing an incredible crowd of 12,000 to the Dexter Park Pavilion in Chicago, Illinois on March 25th, 1924. The best-two-of-three-falls match would end with Lewis retaining. Elsewhere on the card, “Big” Wayne Munn defeated Joe Zingalewicz in another short match for the rookie.
The next botable Lewis matchup came the following month in St Louis, Missouri. Jim Londos would challenge "Strangler" Lewis on April 1st, 1924, at the St Louis Coliseum in front of a crowd of 6,000 that evening. Lewis would retain his world title in the best two of three falls contest when he caught Londos with an illegal move, kneeing him behind the ear, knocking Londos out cold by all accounts. The referee didn’t see the knee and the St Louis Star and Times reportedly the next day on the match, hilariously saying the referee “was conveniently looking at a blonde in the third row” during the finish.
Controversial Finish
Both Lewis and Billy Sandow claimed the kick was an accident, but those on hand for the contest said that the referee should have disqualified Lewis for the kick. It’s worth noting that the referee for the contest was Sam Avey, who was on loan from Billy Sandow. Londos later claimed that the kick caused a brain tumor to develop under his right ear, but considering this is pro wrestling, I don’t know how sincere that claim is.
Supposedly Londos was out cold for a ridiculous twenty minutes and diagnosed with a concussion and hematoma on the back of his skull. If that injury was real, he powered through it because Tom Packs was able to arrange a world title rematch for Londos, this time at the outdoor stadium, the St Louis University Field.
Travelling Champion
Just like most burgeoning promoters at the time, Ray Fabiani was quick to make connections with Billy Sandow and would actually secure the world heavyweight champion for a match that summer. Italian grappler Renato Gardini would challenge Ed “Strangler” Lewis to a world title match on May 21st, 1924, drawing nearly 7,000 fans to the Philadelphia Arena for promoter Ray Fabiani. The two men would trade falls in their best-two-of-three falls match before Lewis was declared the winner via referees decision at just under fifty minutes into the contest.
Lewis resumed touring as world champion, registering another successful defence against Renato Gardini three days later up in Winnipeg, Manitoba, where they drew around 3,000 fans. Lewis was back stateside a few days later on May 28th, 1924, when he defended his belt against Stanislaus Zbyszko yet again. This time the two met in Chicago for promoter John Krone, where they drew nearly 6,000 fans to the Chicago Coliseum, where Lewis retained over Zbyszko in a best-two-of-three falls contest. Following that succesful defence, Lewis would turn his attention back towards his old foe, Jim Londos.
The second Lewis-Londos bout of 1924, which took place on June 12th, at the St Louis University Stadium, drawing of over 4,000 fans, with a gate that exceeded $14,000 for Packs! This match would end without controversy though, and while Londos secured the first fall, Lewis came back and won the next two falls to keep his title**. This was very common for Lewis matches as champion during this timeframe, as Lewis liked to give his opponent the first fall, leaving opportunity for a rematch.
Fallout Between Packs & Sandow
Soon after this event, a falling out would happen between promoters Billy Sandow and Tom Packs, with Packs severing all ties to Sandow and instead forming a closer working relationship with Jack Curley going forward. Details on this rift are lost to time, but I suspect it had to do with the monopoly of sorts that Sandow and Lewis held over the world title. Lewis had been reigning champion for a couple years and neither he, nor Sandow, showed any signs of handing it over to another promoter. In fact, the person Lewis and Sandow had pegged as the next work champion, was a green-as-grass wrestler who was working for Sandow and Lewis already.
Before we can get to the talk of “Big” Wayne Munn challenging “Strangler” Lewis, we first have to pause and look at those who didn’t work within the Gold Dust Trio, but challenged their monopoly over the buisness.
William Demetral’s Scheme
William Demetral was a thirty-eight-year-old wrestler who long wished he could be world heavyweight champion. At his most succesful, he was only ever to challenge for the world title infrequently. Now, entering his twilight years, Demetral had high hopes of securing another world title matchup. But in reality, he had a much more ambitious plan up his sleeve. In order to get the high profile match, Demetral took out a five thousand dollar lone from Sandow, and in return he gave Sandow the mortgage to his own home! Demetral and Lewis met in a matchup in Chicago, Illinois, with Lewis going over. The next day, Demetral went to the press and claimed he lost on purpose, for fear of his home being foreclosed on. Demetral also ran his mouth about the inner-workings of the Gold Dust Trio, but because he was never closely involved, all his claims were either blatant lies or heresy he couldn’t possibly verify.
The public outcry was immediate, with the Governor of Illinois ordering an investigation and promising to declare Lewis’ world title as forfeit if any evidence turns up against the Gold Dust Trio. Eventually both Demetral & Lewis were ordered by the governor to appear in Springfield, Illinois for each to give a testimony. Demetral’s testimony was overshadowed by Lewis’ who offered Demtral a shot at the world title right then and there. Demtral refused and that was tbe end of the investigation.
Ole Marsh & Marin Plestina
Here is a name that astute readers may recall. Ole Marsg was 50% con-man, 50% wrestler, and 100% underhanded. He was an old-school barnstormer who actually helped train a young Frank Gotch back in the early 1900s, and was involved in the first ever territory battle with Jack Curley in 1909, over Seattle. Ole Marsh even spent time in prison in the 1910s, for his involvement in a vast scheme that some theorize pocketed somewhere around 4 million dollars! He returned to the pro wrestling scene in the 1920s with his personally trained wrestler, Marin Plestina.
The aforementioned Marin Plestina, was a Croatian-born grappler who was as legitimate as they come in the ring. Now in his thirties, I would argue that the only thing really holding him back, was who his manager was. Ole Marsh had Plestina under contract and worked hard trying to get him involved with top talent. Unfortunately for Plestina & Marsh, they failed to garner interest from either Billy Sandow or Jack Curley.
Marsh pushed hard for a world title match between Lewis & Plestina, but according to Marcus Griffon, the author of the 1937 book, “Fall Guys,” Billy Sandow was terrified of the prospect. Sandow allegedly argued that neither Toots or Lewis can wrestle Plestina, on the suspicion of a crooked referee or a fix of some kind. According to Griffon, Sandow was genuinely concerned that Plestina could beat Lewis or Toots in a legitimate contest.
Plestina-Lewis
By chance, or by design (we’ll never know) Toots Mondt would run into Marsh & Plestina at a hotel bar and chat them up for several hours. After plenty of drinks, Toots Mondt layed out the pitch. Toots invited Plestina to come with him up to “Strangler” Lewis’ summer home in Nekoosa, Wisconsin, where Lewis was currently training with a few other guys.
Toots really talked up Marsh and Plestina, playing to their egos with Toots telling Plestina that he could beat Lewis and even admitted that he didn’t think he himself could go toe-to-toe with Plestina. Toots invited Plestina to come and challenge Lewis to a closed doors matchup at his own home with Marsh serving as the referee. If Plestina wins, then they would run the match back at Madison Square Garden or somewhere that could draw big money and put the belt on Plestina. But If Plestina looses, he must give up this crusade against Lewis, with both Plestina and Marsh coming into the fold and working within the Gold Dust Trio.
After some deliberation, Marsh & Plestina agreed to the idea, and together with Toots Mondt, the next day, the three of them drove to Lewis’ summer home. Allegedly, to those lucky enough to be on-hand for this insane idea, they said that Billy Sandow’s hair started turning grey when he saw Ole Marsh and Marin Plestina roll up to Lewis’ home. Sandow was the last one who needed to be convinced, as Lewis was clearly in on the plan with Toots Mondt. When Sandow protested the idea, Lewis was interrupted and said played to Plestina’s ego and tried to trick him into agreeing.
This speech from Lewis worked, because within an hour the men were ready to grapple with Marsh as referee. Ed “Strangler” Lewis would defeat Marin Plestina without controversy, throwing him twice in just thirty minutes. Ole Marsh & Marin Plestina were men of their words, and agreed to “play ball” and work within the Gold Dust Trio. This move would prove beneficial for Marsh and especially Plestina, who after a decade of grinding, was able to make some real money for his family through the Gold Dust Trio.
Schism
The private contest between Lewis & Plestina would be the first time that the Gold Dust Trio wasn’t united. Billy Sandow was pissed at what Toots & Lewis had planned behind his back, and would let his feelings be known. Three days later, at a meeting between the three, they were discussing Lewis defeating Plestina, before Sandow cut them off and said, “Yes, Ed did a great job. But do you fellows really believe Plestina was trying?” This one remark would stick with Lewis & Toots, and begin festering a conflict between the three most powerful men in the wrestling business.
Sandow’s Cowardice
The next potential outside challenger to Lewis would come from Chicago-based promoter, Ed White. Ed White suddenly debuted a new masked wrestler, called The Masked Marvel. That’s a super common name for masked wrestlers back then. This is at least the third different Masked Marvel I’ve seen in history up to this point. Ed White announced the Marvel to be openly calling on “Strangler” Lewis to come into Chicago and defend his belt.
This publicity ploy worked with the Masked Marvel becoming a legitimate draw in Chicago as he beat opponents and kept calling out Lewis. Lewis, to his credit, saw value in working with Ed White & the Masked Marvel, and tried hard to convince Sandow to agree with the terms. Lewis was quoted in saying, “That fellow’s getting a lot of publicity, especially in Chicago. Now if you let me shoot with him we might draw a hundred thousand dollars, and that’s important money. We can make a deal with White and if the fellow beats me leveling up and shooting the works, then his champion can work with us and we’ll make a lot of money. The game needs a new face. It’s getting tired of me.”
Sandow answered simply with, “Nope. You stay champion until I get a better man to take your place.” Not long after this, the Masked Marvel would be revealed to be John Freeberg, a competent grappler who Lewis had beaten a dozen times in the past with no real concern. Ed White was bluffing, all a play to gain more notoriety as a promoter and Billy Sandow fell for it. Obviously, Lewis was pretty pissed when he discovered he would have easily beaten the Masked Marvel.
An early example of Lou Daro forming a working relationship with Billy Sandow can be found on August 3rd, 1924, when Daro was able to secure some of Sandow’s top talent for a show in Los Angeles. Joseph “Toots” Mondt challenged Ed “Strangler” Lewis in the main event of a Lou Daro promoted event in Los Angeles, California. The two men drew over 5,000 fans to the Philharmonic Auditorium For a show that saw Lewis retain his world title belt in a match that reportedly lasted over two hours. Mondt & Lewis would run back the same match at the same venue in August 13th, 1924, again ending with Lewis going over Mondt.
A Disputed Finish Followed by a Sellout
Lou Daro was cooking something up with Lewis & “Toots” Mondt, because he again had the two men battle it out at the Philharmonic Auditorium on September 29th,1924, with goal of drawing even bigger crowds down the road. The next encounter between Mondt & Lewis drew the same 5,000 response at the Philharmonic Auditorium, but this time the finish didn’t go down the same. The two men faced off in a best-two-of-three falls contest and each man held one fall apiece, but instead of Lewis getting the third fall, the referee called for the bell and declared the match a tie due to reaching the time limit at two hours.
Lou Daro had hoped the screwy finish could pull even bigger numbers and booked the rematch for the outdoor venue, the Washington Dog Park in Los Angeles. The plan paid off bigtime because when “Toots” Mondt & “Strangler” Lewis met jn a rematch on October 13th, 1924, they drew an enormous crowd of over 10,000! The two men of course faced off in another best-two-of-three falls match that saw Mondt secure the first fall after thirty minutes. Just over half-an-hour later Lewis tied things up, and capitalizing on that momentum, Lewis would secure the third fall just a few minutes after that, retaining his world title belt. For all his boasting and arrogance, there was no doubting that Lou Daro was living up to his “King of Los Angeles” moniker.
The Next World Heavyweight Champion?
Since February, Billy Sandow had spent slowly building up Wayne Munn into a credible challenger and potential star attraction, featuring him in squash matches all over the country. His goal was to smash Munn over as a dominant force who couldn’t be stopped, and by the close of the year, Sandow was starting to think his plan was working.
Billy Sandow went all in on Wayne Munn, putting Munn over Toots Mondt in Kansas City, on December 11th, 1924, winning two straight falls in front of ten thousand fans in attendance. Toots was the biggest name Munn had faced up to that point, and the decisive win put him right into world title contention to challenge champion “Strangler” Ed Lewis. Their world heavyweight championship encounter was set for January 8th, 1925!
1925
We'll kick the year off with the hotly anticipated world heavyweight championship match between "Big" Wayne Munn and Ed "Strangler" Lewis.
New World Heavyweight Champion
After weeks of build, “Big” Wayne Munn challenged world champion Ed “Strangler” Lewis on January 8th, 1925, at Kansas City’s Convention Hall, filled to the brim with 15,000 fans in attendance. The match was a best two of three falls, with an interesting finish. While the crowd was behind Munn, no one expected a title change and all in attendance were floored when Munn scored the first fall quickly. The crowd lost their minds when the second fall ended with Munn lifting Lewis in the air and tossed him over the top rope and to the floor. Billy Sandow was seen leaping onto the ring apron and calling for the ref to end the bout as a no contest. The Kansas City Times would later write about the scene, “It was a scene of wildest chaotic confusion. Men and women, who go about the ordinary affairs of life sanely, were standing on chairs and shouting at the champion.”
After the chaos had quelled, Lewis was helped to the back but surprisingly, the match wasn’t over. After some time, Ed “Strangler” Lewis was helped back to the ring where he resumed a final fall against Munn. The final fall would last less than a minute though, as Munn would lift and slam Lewis down hard and pinning him, becoming the world heavyweight champion.
Fallout
The crowd erupted and rushed the ring, celebrating a new champion, while Lewis was helped to the back and eventually spent the night in the hospital. Lewis was later reported to potentially be out of action for a year, if he could return at all, though that would appear to be kayfabe as Sandow immediately plan for a rematch.
In the following days, Billy Sandow publicly argued that the referee should have called the match off when Munn tossed Lewis from the ring, while Munn publicly argued that Lewis slipped from his grasp and fell out of the ring in his own. The issue created a perfect atmosphere for a rematch, with Sandow hoping to outdraw the Gotch-Hackenschmidt bout from fourteen years prior.
And that's an ideal place to stop, with...
- "Big" Wayne Munn as the new world heavyweight champion, having won it from "Strangler" Lewis on January 8th, 1925
- Ed "Strangler" Lewis reigned for nearly three straight years as world heavyweight champion.
- The Gold Dust Trio held a monopoly over the wrestling business, with the trio made up of Billy Sandow, Ed "Strangler" Lewis, and Joseph "Toots" Mondt
- Jack Curley, joined by Tom Packs, Joe Stecher, Stanislaus Zbyszko and others, all stand in opposition of the Gold Dust Trio, with the goal of taking the world heavyweight title belt out of their grasp.
I'm running out of room here in the post so Ill just say I hope y'all have a great week, and if your curious in more standalone stories from my History of Pro Wrestling reports, feel free to check out these...
Frank Gotch & George Hackenschmidt Rivalry (1908 - 1911)
Samuel Rachmann’s International Tournament (1915)
The False "John Olin" World Championship Claim (1917-1920)
Hope y'all have a great week!
