Joe Stecher
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A native of Dodge, Nebraska, Stecher is listed as being born on April 4, 1893. He is one of the few guys prior to the National Wrestling Alliance (formed in 1948) that is vaguely familiar to a fair few wrestling fans. This is mostly due to one of his biggest matches being captured on film and surviving to this day. Often cited as the oldest surviving footage of professional wrestling, this is true only to the country of America though. There is no doubt that he deserves to be remembered and played a big part in the industry during a turbulent time.
Like his older brother, Anton or Tony, Joe was a standout in amateur wrestling in his school years, but Joe was a great all-round athlete also. Especially on the field playing baseball. Fortunately for wrestling fans across North America, Joe decided to follow in his big brothers steps on the mat. Tony being a few years older had the edge on Joe to begin with and provided a lot of the training for the younger Stecher.
When Joe entered the professional ranks in the early 1910s it quickly became apparent to Tony that he would be better served managing and training Joe than trying to compete against him for star power. Tony went as far as to retire from active competition, aside from odd appearances, to concentrate on helping Joe advance during the early part of 1915.
This was all building up to a big match to decide a new World Heavyweight Champion. The previous title holder, Stanislaus Zbyszko had had to go home to Poland during his reign when World War I broke out and he was unable to return to America. With the title floating around vacant, Frank Gotch declared the next title holder should be either Joe Stecher or Charles Cutler. Gotch was backing Cutler to the public.
Gotch's claim was wrong though, Stecher came out on top. The boy from Nebraska had won the World Heavyweight Championship with his brother in his corner, who was about to become a full blown manager at the time, even though Stecher still had another manager on paper. Nonetheless 10,000 people filled Rourke Park in Omaha, Nebraska to see the title match and their home-state hero pick up the belt in thirty-three minutes and fifty-nine seconds.
Still there was much debate within the wrestling community as to whether Stecher or Gotch was the true World Heavyweight Champion as Gotch had never actually lost the title. A match was actually announced immediately following Joe's win that the two would face off in anticipation of the debate which would ensue. Unfortunately Gotch suffered an injury in July of 1916 and was never able to face off against Joe.
Later that year on October 9, 1915 a ceremony was held for Joe Nebraska where fans of his from the state had all got together to buy a diamond studded belt. This belt was awarded to him and the date was set as Joe Stecher Day. His title win really was considered that big of a win for the whole state of Nebraska.
Joe held the belt still with his brother behind him until April 1917. Tony had been branching out into the world of wrestling and started promoting shows in the brothers' hometown of Dodge with the blessing of main Nebraskan promoter, Gene Melady.
Melady as well as being a promoter also had a vested interest in his star Earl Caddock. With the business relationship between Melady and Tony a match was set for April 9 pitting Joe Stecher against Earl Caddock. Melady would be in Caddock's corner and Tony in his brothers'. When the two collided it was said to be the largest crowd to ever witness a wrestling match in Omaha, Nebraska. Frank Gotch would once again give his blessing to this title match.
After three hours and fifty-seven minutes of time had elapsed and two falls of wrestling, Earl Caddock came out on top as the new champion. Both men actually won a fall, but Stecher could not continue after the second fall and chose to forfeit his claim to the title rather than continue. Of course, Joe was not worried about losing his place at the top of the wrestling world as his brother Tony was mixing with the major promoters and actually formed a quarter of one of the earliest wrestling promoter cliques, "The Big Four."
What happened next was a disaster though. Caddock decided to enlist into the army in support of his countries efforts in World War I. This left the country without a champion. Many wrestlers made a claim to it including, but not limited to; Joe Stecher, Ed Lewis, Wladek Zbyszko and Ad Santel. There was only one way the title could really be decided. There had to be a rematch.
Joe Stecher was the cream of the crop in terms of claimants to the World Heavyweight Championship and by 1920 he had turned away all of the others and stood with only one man left to conquer in his attempts to regain the title. That man was back from the army and still the true champion in the eyes of most people.
Business had been dramatically down ever since the outbreak of World War I and continued to suffer following the end of it. When Earl Caddock and Joe Stecher faced off on January 30, 1920 in Madison Square Garden though, 10,000 people turned out paying a gate of $80,000 to view one of the most anticipated matches since Frank Gotch's rematch against Georg Hackenschmidt in 1908.
Two hours, five minutes and thirty seconds it took Stecher to win the title on that night, which was the match captured on film mentioned at the beginning of this. It took just under twelve months for him to lose it. On December 13 he squared off against a talent who had been rising through the ranks for nearly a decade, Ed "Strangler" Lewis. "The Stranglers'" headlock trumped Stecher's body scissors and over 8,000 fans were there to witness the title change at the 71st Regiment Armory in New York.
Shortly after this Lewis and his manager, Billy Sandow, teamed up with Joseph "Toots" Mondt to form the "Gold Dust Trio." Together the trio cast aside all over promoters and tried to take control of the wrestling world. They changed up the rules of wrestling and added many layers to it to try and boost business, they were successful for a short period of time.
From the very beginning they had a close relationship with Stanislaus Zbyszyko. Lewis had traded the title with him previously. So, when the fans were getting tired of seeing Lewis as the champion, the decided they had enough control to put the title on Wayne Munn, a non-wrestler. He had been a football star. They decided a way to really cement Munn as a big time player would be to also have him pin Zbyszko.
Unbeknownst to the trio, Zbyszko had been paid off by the Stechers and Curley and was going to double cross them. After disposing of Munn, Zbyszko dropped the title to Joe Stecher on May 30, 1925. 13,300 people sat in St. Louis University Athletic Field and saw the match. They paid $43,315 to see the bout which lasted one hour and twenty-eight minutes.
For the next three years Stecher reigned as champion. Having Jack Curley backing him was a major part of his long and successful run, Curley had been a man of great power in the sporting world, specifically wrestling, for many years by this point, although he had taken a hiatus prior to Stecher winning the title off of Zbyszko.
Money was being made during Stecher's run, but by no means was there anywhere near as much wealth has had been seen before the war, still. They say all good businessmen know when to bury the hatchet, well the Stechers did just that on February 20, 1928 when Stecher was defeated by Ed Lewis in front of 8,000 people paying around $55,000, the title change took place in St. Louis.
Never again would Joe see the World Heavyweight Championship. His career was never going to reach that kind of level again. 1930 was started off with a tour of Australia. When the brothers returned they moved to Minnesota. Tony had decided he wanted to turn a baron city into a thriving wrestling community, something he accomplished, and Joe went with him to help set up the new company. To provide a solid star to draw in the fans.
Not only did Joe provide a reliable name attraction for his brother though, he also helped him in training and putting over new stars. Joe did continue to travel outward, his name continued to have star power up until his retirement. Bronko Nagurski was probably the biggest name Joe trained up for Tony. When Nagurski started his career Joe also acted as his manager, this mainly came about due to Joe suffering from a illness he was suffering from in late 1933 and forced him into an early retirement during 1934.
Joe's illness worsened, he suffered with depression and other mental afflictions, by the mid-1940's his health had deteriorated so bad he had to be committed to the Veterans' Memorial Hospital in St. Cloud, Minnesota. This was where he spent the next thirty years of his life until he passed away on March 29, 1974.
Thanks in large to more modern stars like Verne Gagne and Lou Thesz it has been said how talented of a wrestler Joe really was. In the box office, if he had the right opponent he was a great draw, if he didn't, he was still a very good draw, but he wouldn't go down as one of the biggest draws in history, then again not too many names would. He was inducted into the Lincoln Journal's Sports Hall of Fame in 1953 and there's no arguing that from 1915-1928 he was one of the most well known names in wrestling.
Unique content strictly for the Professional Wrestling Historical Society.
Biography of Jos Stecher.
Author: Jimmy Wheeler.
Published: August 6, 2014.
Biography: #151.
Editor: Jimmy Wheeler.
Updated: June 14, 2019.
Unique content strictly for the Professional Wrestling Historical Society.
Biography of Jos Stecher.
Author: Jimmy Wheeler.
Published: August 6, 2014.
Biography: #151.
Editor: Jimmy Wheeler.
Updated: June 14, 2019.