1. John Pesek was an American professional wrestler and greyhound racing dog breeder.
20 Facts About John Pesek
1. 2.
John Pesek was a one-time National Wrestling Association World Heavyweight Champion.
3.
John Pesek was born to Bohemian parents near Ravenna, Nebraska, the fifth of seven children, and grew up in a small town in the Midwestern prairie.
4.
John Pesek originally planned a career in boxing but took to professional wrestling instead, with which he became familiar by attending the traveling carnivals of the era.
5.
John Pesek was nicknamed "The Nebraska Tiger Man" for his ferocity and catlike dexterity.
6.
John Pesek was legitimately strong and could hold his own on the mat against opponents that frequently outweighed him considerably.
7.
John Pesek is recorded as losing only about 20 matches in his entire career, which he began undefeated until January 16,1920, when he lost to fellow Nebraskan Joe Stecher.
8.
One important wrestling figure with whom John Pesek did agree to work was Ed Lewis, for whom he became a "policeman" to ward off the so-called "trustbusters", outlaw wrestlers who posed threats to promotions and their champions by refusing to co-operate during matches.
9.
On November 14,1921, John Pesek squared off against one of the most prominent trustbusters, Croatian-born wrestler Marin Plestina at Madison Square Garden.
10.
John Pesek proceeded to administer such a severe beating that Plestina was hospitalized.
11.
John Pesek was enlisted to face Curley's protege, and in a legitimate contest held on January 25,1923, John Pesek defeated and injured Pendleton to claim an $8000 purse and give Bowser a major financial and publicity victory.
12.
Later, John Pesek was recognized for a time as National Wrestling Association champion.
13.
John Pesek was belatedly given the vacant NWA championship on September 13,1937, as he had been the only man to post a $1000 bond for a proposed tournament one year earlier.
14.
John Pesek won several national titles, and the pedigree of one of his greatest dogs, Australian-born "Just Andrew", could be found in 95 percent of American greyhound stock by 1975.
15.
John Pesek semi-retired from professional wrestling by the early 1940s to focus on his greyhound racing career, but he has appeared occasionally in special exhibition matches through the 1950s, long enough to wrestle on the same card as son Jack, who would go on to enjoy a lengthy wrestling career of his own.
16.
John Pesek married Myrl Mahoney on February 14,1921.
17.
Jack John Pesek went on to become a professional wrestler like his father.
18.
John Pesek died at his home on March 12,1978, from a heart attack.
19.
John Pesek was buried at the Highland Cemetery outside Ravenna.
20.
John Pesek was inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2005, as well as the Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame in 1996; Pesek had earlier been inducted into the Lincoln Journal's Nebraska Sports Hall of Fame in 1957.