Maple Leaf Gardens ads #1

An ad showcasing a head shot for The Sheik and others

Fred Beell Photos #1

Fred Beell in 1906

Two posed photos of legendary wrestler Fred Beell, one from 1906 and one from 1910.

Marin Plestina & Ivan Ivkovitch Photos #1

Two posed photos of Marin Plestina (long tights) & Ivan Ivkovitch "sparing" from 1922.

Fred Beell & Yussiff Mahout Photo #1

Two wrestling legends, Fred Beell & Yussiff Mahout, "sparing" together for this classic photo.

Raoul le Boucher Photos #1

Two posed photos of French wrestler Raoul le Boucher (The Butcher) who passed away at the young age of 24.

Raoul le Boucher

Raoul le Boucher, was born Raoul Musson on January 15, 1883 in France. Early in his life, he was sent to Paris by his parents to become a slaughterhouse apprentice. It was there that he started to join his colleagues in weight training sesions. During those training sessions he would grapple with other in the gym and his talent for wrestling became apparant. At the age of 13, he became a student of Paul Pons who was the first wrestler world champion of Greco-Roman style wrestling in 1898. At only 16, he had defeated all of the amateur wrestler he gappled with had moved on to the professional ranks.

Great Lobby Card from 1906

Featured here is a great piece of wrestling history. This is a theater lobby card advertising a film for a "Championship Wrestling" bout between Simon Antonitsch & Raoul le Boucher.