[1937-08-11-Los Angeles, CA] Bronko Nagurski vs Vincent Lopez

[fxnj]

 

You know it's an old school match when facelocks are treated as near falls and body slams as a finish. I dug the dueling facelocks stuff in the first half of this, but it really picks up when Nagurski starts pulling out the football tackles and Lopez takes some hard bumps. Those body slams also looked pretty brutal with little to no give from the mat. Some nice drama with Lopez desperately desperately trying to stay in the match but getting overwhelmed. Good job putting over Nagurski overall.

[paul sosnowski]

This match is not for the National Wrestling Association Championship.   It is for the Undisputed World Heavyweight Championship (original lineage) and the Los Angeles World Heavyweight Title

August 11, 1937 in Los Angeles, CA Wrigley Field drawing 13,628 ($23,000)

1) Juan Olaquivel beat Benny Ginsberg (6:32).

2) Pat Meehan drew Jimmy Sarandos (15:00)

. 3) Jumbo Kennedy beat Jules Strongbow (6:05).

4) Ted Key beat Howard Cantonwine (14:05).

5) Gino Garibaldi beat Ignacio Martinez (11:15).

6) Gus Sonnenberg beat Jack Sampson (6:05).

7) Nick Lutze beat Pio Pico (2nd - 2:21) in a "wrestler vs. boxer"

8) Dean Detton beat Hans Steinke (10:20).

9) World Champ Bronko Nagurski beat Vincent Lopez (31:00) in two straight fall