Athletes - Stanislaus Zbyszko

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	Athletes - Stanislaus Zbyszko

Stanislaus Zbyszko (Polish: Stanisław Zbyszko) was a professional wrestler popular in the United States during the 1920s.

Career

Zbyszko was born on April 1, 1879. He was of Polish extraction and extremely popular in the Polish-American community. Zbyszko was a legitimate "hooker" in the ring, posessing a vast knowledge of holds that could inflict pain on his opponent. He captured his first World Heavyweight wrestling Title in 1921, by defeating the great "Strangler" Ed Lewis. His reign was a failure at the box-office and he dropped the Title back to Lewis less than a year later. He joined Lewis' syndicate, the Gold-Dust Trio, in hopes of making more money.

The most infamous moment of Zbyszko's career came on April 15, 1925. Zbyszko was allegedly supposed to lose to the Gold-Dust Trio's own handpicked champion, Wayne Munn, a former football star, in an effort to give Munn crediblity. Zbyszko balked at the idea of losing to an unskilled wrestler, and secretly jumped to the Joe Stecher camp (Stecher was the real-life rival of Lewis). Zybyszko used his hooking ability to legitimately defeat Munn, capturing his second World Heavyweight Title. This resulted in what is known in pro wrestling parlance as a shoot, and, from Munn's standpoint at least, a screwjob. This was quite possibly the last time a World Title changed hands legitimately. He suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of the legendary Indian wrestler, The Great Gama like his compatriots Benjamin Roller and many more.

Zbyszko died from a heart attack on September 22, 1967.

Championships and accomplishments

2-Time World Heavyweight Champion

He is a member of the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (inducted in 1996)

Trivia

Zbyszko appeared in the 1950 film Night and the City playing a famous wrestler. His performance was highly regarded by critics, but it was his only dramatic film appearance.

Zbyszko is referred to in the play The Hairy Ape by esteemed American playwright Eugene O'Neill, but is not its subject.

He is not related to current TNA official Larry Zbyszko
.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Stanislaus Zbyszko ]

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