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Tom Packs
Thomas Nicholas Packs (born Anthanasios Pakiotis; August 15, 1894 – October 22, 1964) was a Greek-American professional wrestling promoter. He was one of the top promoters over the first half of the 20th century and was responsible for building one of the nation's most prestigious wrestling territories in St. Louis. Youth Anthanasios Pakiotis was born in Poulithra, Arcadia, Greece on August 15, 1894, though he would eventually become part of the flood of turn-of-the-century Eastern European immigrants when his parents brought him to the United States in 1907. Upon entering the country, his name was anglicized to Thomas Nicholas Packs; and his family then settled in Chicago, which subsequently played host to a pro wrestling boom period during his teenage years (as Packs thus witnessed the sport's two high-profile encounters between Georg Hackenschmidt and Frank Gotch). Moreover, one of Packs' relatives, John Contos, had begun promoting wrestling matches in St. Louis during the ea ...
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Poulithra
Poulithra ( el, Πούλιθρα) is a village and a community in the municipal unit of Leonidio, southeastern Arcadia, Greece. It is situated on the Myrtoan Sea coast, at the foot of the eastern Parnon mountains. In 2011, it had a population of 414 for the village and 415 for the community, which includes the small inland village Pyrgoudi. Poulithra is 7 km southeast of Leonidio, 14 km east of Kosmas, 19 km northwest of Kyparissi, Laconia) and 42 km east of Sparti. It is considered a traditional settlement. Population History In Poulithra the ancient city of Polichne was located, which was mentioned by the historian Pausanias in his travels. An ancient castle and Byzantine walls are to be found on the hill. In 1997, the formerly independent community became part of the municipality of Leonidio, which became part of the municipality of South Kynouria in 2011. See also *List of settlements in Arcadia *List of traditional settlements of Greece Traditional settlements in Greece ...
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Strangler Lewis
Robert Herman Julius Friedrich (June 30, 1891 – August 8, 1966), better known by the ring name Ed "Strangler" Lewis, was an American professional wrestler and trainer. During his wrestling career, which spanned four decades, Lewis was a four-time World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion and overall recognised officially as a five-time world champion. Considered to be one of the most iconic and recognizable sports stars of the 1920s, often alongside boxer Jack Dempsey and baseball player Babe Ruth, Lewis notably wrestled in over 6,000 matches (many of which were real contests) and lost only 32 of them. He was posthumously inducted as a charter member into the following hall of fames: ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'', Professional Wrestling, George Tragos/Lou Thesz and WWE's Legacy Wing. One of the most legitimately feared grapplers of all time, Lewis was known for his catch wrestling prowess and trained many future champions, most notably Lou Thesz, Danny Hodge, Dick Hutton an ...
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National Wrestling Alliance
The National Wrestling Alliance (NWA) is an American professional wrestling professional wrestling promotion, promotion and former professional wrestling governing body operated by its parent company Lightning One, Inc. Founded in 1948, the NWA began as a governing body for a group of regional professional wrestling Professional wrestling promotion, promotions, the heads of which made up the Board of Directors. The group operated a List of National Wrestling Alliance territories, territory system which sanctioned their own company Championship (professional wrestling), championships while recognizing a singular world champion who defended his title across all the territories, participated in talent exchanges, and collectively protected the territorial integrity of member promotions. Prior to the 1960s it acted as the sole governing body for most of professional wrestling. It remained the largest and most influential body in wrestling until the mid-1980s by which time most of the ...
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World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis powers. World War II was a total war that directly involved more than 100 million personnel from more than 30 countries. The major participants in the war threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. Aircraft played a major role in the conflict, enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and deploying the only two nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II was by far the deadliest conflict in human history; it resulted in 70 to 85 million fatalities, mostly among civilians. Tens of millions died due to genocides (including the Holocaust), starvation, ma ...
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Kiel Auditorium
Kiel Auditorium was an indoor arena located in St. Louis, Missouri. It was the home of the St. Louis University basketball team and hosted the NBA's St. Louis Hawks, from 1955 to 1968. The site was home to Charles H. Turpin's Booker T. Washington Theater where performers included his brother Tom Turpin. The new municipal arena that replaced it was completed in 1934, at a cost of $6 million, seated 9,300 and was built by Fruin-Colnon Construction. It was originally named the Municipal Auditorium, but was renamed in honor of former St. Louis Mayor Henry Kiel in 1943. A unique feature of the auditorium was that it was split into two; the front of the building was the Kiel Opera House. It was possible to use both sides at once as the stages were back to back. President Harry Truman gave a speech there in which both sides were opened to see his speech. The Kiel Auditorium replaced the St. Louis Coliseum as the city's main indoor arena. In 1955, the auditorium was also the ven ...
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Tony Musto
Tony may refer to: People and fictional characters * Tony (given name), including a list of people and fictional characters * Gregory Tony (born 1978), American law enforcement officer * Motu Tony (born 1981), New Zealand international rugby league footballer * Tony (footballer, born 1983), full name Tony Heleno da Costa Pinho, Brazilian football defensive midfielder * Tony (footballer, born 1986), full name Antônio de Moura Carvalho, Brazilian football attacking midfielder * Tony (footballer, born 1989), full name Tony Ewerton Ramos da Silva, Brazilian football right-back Film, theater and television * Tony Awards, a Broadway theatre honor * ''Tony'' (1982 film), a Kannada film * ''Tony'' (2009 film), a British horror film directed by Gerard Johnson * ''Tony'' (2013 film), an Indian Kannada thriller film * "Tony" (''Skins'' series 1), an episode of British comedy-drama ''Skins'' * "Tony" (''Skins'' series 2), an episode of ''Skins'' Music * Tony T., stage name of British s ...
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Joe Louis
Joseph Louis Barrow (May 13, 1914 – April 12, 1981) was an American professional boxer who competed from 1934 to 1951. Nicknamed the Brown Bomber, Louis is widely regarded as one of the greatest and most influential boxers of all time. He reigned as the world heavyweight champion from 1937 until his temporary retirement in 1949. He was victorious in 25 consecutive title defenses, Heavyweight boxing championship records and statistics, a record for all weight classes. Louis had the longest single reign as champion of any boxer in history. Louis's cultural impact was felt well outside the ring. He is widely regarded as the first person of African-American descent to achieve the status of a nationwide hero within the United States, and was also a focal point of anti-Nazi sentiment leading up to and during World War II because of his historic rematch with German boxer Max Schmeling in 1938. He was instrumental in integrating the game of golf, breaking the sport's color barrier in ...
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Sam Muchnick
Samuel Muchnick (born Jeshua Muchnick, August 22, 1905 – December 30, 1998) was an American professional wrestling promoter from St. Louis, Missouri. He is often regarded as wrestling's equivalent of Pete Rozelle (the forward-thinking commissioner who revolutionized the NFL), and he was instrumental in establishing the National Wrestling Alliance, which became the industry's top governing body, in 1948. Muchnick served as the NWA's president from 1950 to 1960 and again from 1963 to 1975. He operated the St. Louis Wrestling Club, one of the primary members of the NWA, based in St. Louis. Early life Muchnick was born in Ukraine to a Jewish family on August 22, 1905, but moved to the United States in 1911. He grew up in St. Louis, and his name was changed to ''Samuel'' when his father decided that ''Jeshua'' (Jesus or Joshua) was an inappropriate name for a Jewish child. While attending school, he worked various jobs to help out his family before earning his high school degree ...
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Everett Marshall
Everett Marshall (November 4, 1905 - February 10, 1973) was an American professional wrestler, who won championship titles in the Midwest Wrestling Association (MWA), National Wrestling Association (NWA) and Rocky Mountains. Early life Everett Marshall was born on November 4, 1905 in La Junta, Colorado to Claude and Pearl Marshall. Professional wrestling career Marshall frequently used armlocks and armpulls. His finisher was The Airplane Spin. Marshall won the MWA World Heavyweight Title (Ohio version) in 1935. John Pesek previously held the title. The MWA awarded the title to Ray Steele in February 1937. After Steele was injured in a car accident, Marshall was again awarded the title. In May 1937, Marshall defeated Chief Little Beaver for the NWA Texas World Heavyweight Title. Marshall met Ali Baba for the NWA World Heavyweight Title in June 1936 at Red Bird Stadium in Columbus, OH. Marshall defeated Ali Baba to claim the title, but it is not recognized. The title ...
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George Tragos
George Tragos (14 March 1897 – 5 September 1955) was an Greek-born American wrestler. Biography Tragos emigrated from Greece to the United States in 1910. In 1922, he became an amateur wrestling coach at the University of Missouri at Columbia and began wrestling professionally. He wrestled in St. Louis for most of his career. Tragos had a vicious reputation as a wrestler, often deliberately injuring his opponents. Lou Thesz, who trained under Tragos, said Tragos never harmed him because he had always shown Tragos the utmost respect befitting a top-tier grappler, but he observed Tragos maim numerous people over insults. In one instance, a professional wrestling promoter ordered him to lose to an opponent whom Tragos considered an inferior grappler (this is normal in professional wrestling Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic ...
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Lou Thesz
Aloysius Martin "Lou" Thesz (April 24, 1916 – April 28, 2002) was an American professional wrestler. He was a three-time NWA World Heavyweight Champion and held the title for a combined total of 10 years, three months and nine days (3,749 days) – longer than anyone else in history. Considered to be one of the last true shooters in professional wrestling and described as the "quintessential athlete... a polished warrior who could break a man in two if pushed the wrong way", Thesz is widely regarded as one of the greatest wrestlers of all time and the single greatest wrestling world champion in history, and probably the last globally accepted world champion. In Japan, Thesz was known as the 'God of Wrestling' and was called ''Tetsujin'', which means 'Ironman', in respect for his speed, conditioning and expertise in catch wrestling. Alongside Karl Gotch and Billy Robinson, Thesz later helped train young Japanese wrestlers and mixed martial artists in catch wrestling. A s ...
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Fred Blassie
Frederick Kenneth Blassman (February 8, 1918 – June 2, 2003) was an American professional wrestler and manager, known by the ring name "Classy" Freddie Blassie. Renowned as "The Hollywood Fashion Plate","Classy" Freddie Blassie with Keith Elliot Greenberg, ''Listen, You Pencil Neck Geeks'', (WWE Books, 2003). he was a one-time NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champion, and was inducted into the WWF Hall of Fame in 1994. He is regarded as one of the greatest wrestling heels, or villains, of all time. Early life Blassie was born Frederick Kenneth Blassman in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1918. His parents, Anna (née Sind) and Jacob Blassman, were German immigrants who arrived in the United States prior to World War I. Frederick was an only child, which he claimed was because he weighed 15 pounds when he was born and his mother didn't want to go through childbirth again. His father was abusive and an alcoholic, and Frederick often had to take refuge with his grandparents whenever Jacob ...
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