Abraham Lincoln: America's Greatest WRESTLER??

[@SenseiSeth]

Go to DrinkLMNT.com/senseiseth for a free sample pack with any purchase!

[@TheElbowMerchant]

Your ad read for this sponsor was all class, my dude. I dig it.

[@MrRourk]

Trip to the UK for more on Catch as Catch Can

[@wowf0rl1f3]

What do you mean you don't know the finish?! Obviously you grab an oak folding chair

[@JustinPrice-r8j]

Did you know that Abe Lincoln was a bloodthirsty tyrant who broke our country in ways we have never recovered from?

[@JuggoJuggo]

You should do a video about Jack Dempsey.

[@TheElbowMerchant]

Lincoln's wrestling prowess was instrumental in keeping him alive during all of his vampire hunting adventures, guaranteed.

[@w8ngr]

Arm drag to wooden spike 😂

[@Combatr3ady]

Pretty good movie plot tbh 😂 I’d watch the shit outta that movie.

[@alexrobinet7576]

I forgot that movie existed. 😂😂😂

[@Combatr3ady]

@@alexrobinet7576 😂😂

[@gregorylatta8159]

Plus, his Axe skills 😆

[@coopermarion547]

The Dagestanis heard he was such a great wrestler that they all copied his hairstyle

[@allegseu54]

And beards 😂

[@orlandoboom9018]

lol

[@Blindashitmetalasfuck]

*zabit magomedsharipov straight up just looks like Abe Lincoln too.

[@TheVampireAzriel]

​@@allegseu54beards are hair 😅

[@Konrad_IV]

😂😂

[@aaronmgriffin]

The second this dude mentioned native american martial arts, I knew that you needed to do a video on that. It didn't even click until that moment that there were native american arts. I'm here for it

[@jensjesfjeld6238]

The greatest knife fighters of all times are Native Americans.

[@fireeaglefitnessmartialart935]

I do remember learning about Indian leg wrestling in middle school, and we even practiced some of it in gym class. I almost completely forgot about it until seeing this video.

[@joostfloot5279]

Same! 👀

[@fayvis]

1,000% agreed, I would watch the hell out of that

[@connorperrett9559]

@@jensjesfjeld6238Don't tell that to Filipinos.

[@Swordsandstupidity]

Seth, thanks so much for having me, and taking such care with the broader topic of American Martial Arts! Viewers at home, I primarily work in stage combat as a teacher, researcher, and fight director, but have been experimenting with workshops and such. Prior to this very video, I haven't done any content at all. Hit me up via the linktree in the description if you'd be interested in this sort of work, either digitally or in IRL meatspace. Thanks so much for all the love!

[@guitarsoupify]

The historical info you brought into this video was of course great, but it was the political (especially with regards to racial politics) awareness and sensitivity you showed that really stood out to me as special. The martial arts world in general needs to deepen its understanding in these areas so thank you for doing that here.

[@Swordsandstupidity]

@guitarsoupify That is an incredibly kind compliment. Martial arts, as a concept, is inherently an act of radical community. A group of people preparing and consenting to enact violence using the same methods, and judging the quality and attributes of that violence by the same standards, is one of the heaviest things a given community or society can do. It's fun, and beautiful, and I get to play in the whimsical and artistic side of this world, but we can't really lose sight of the fact that- generally- all martial arts have happened when a group of people decided to do bodily harm to other people using the same methods for similar goals.

[@lordsneed9418]

how often do you train? does most of your skill come from highschool? you seemed to move with so little explosivity but still got the takedowns and reversals. IDK how much that was Seth wanting to avoid putting weight on you to try and protect you but it looked very impressive how your technique was solid enough to work well without explosivity.

[@Swordsandstupidity]

@@lordsneed9418 I train 3-5 days a week, generally. Only 1-2 of those days are going to be wrestling focused, unless I'm working a production that leans heavily on wrestling as a mechanical or aesthetic base. No, highschool was a long time ago for me, and this historical interpretation of folk and catch probably wouldn't win me a lot of tournaments. As to the explosiveness, I personally think wrestlers from this era would have valued connection, pressure, and control more than explosiveness. For sure it was there, but not in the ways we understand it now. If you have access to scholarly journals through your local library or school, check out The Development of Wrestling in the United States: 1607-1865 by Barnett, C Robert. I'd also check out Medieval Wrestling, by Jess Finley, if you're looking to see some of the roots of European wrestling, and where traditions of both explosiveness and controlled connection come from.

[@Rmeister98K]

@@Swordsandstupidity I would be really interested in the sources you use to know about Frontier wrestling. Any specific book in mind ?

[@Thejoeb]

This dude Josh is terrifying. You would never guess hes that good, doesnt even have telltale cauli ear or a traditional wrestler build but you gonna be in for a bad day if cross this man.

[@arghanothername]

Great story teller, great historian, and a scary wrestler. The Americana version of the renaissance man.

[@rleetaylor3]

Josh is definitely much stronger than he looks. It’s like wrestling steel rods with wires wrapped around them. No, I didn’t win. 😂

[@krystofcisar469]

Its not that moment you step on wrestling mat your ear get twisted :D

[@dustintaylor8673]

Dude showed up to wrestle in sweat pants and a tucked in t shirt. I knew Seth was done for.

[@Swordsandstupidity]

Man, what a wild array of compliments. Thanks, folks!

[@VictoriousNerd]

You're on to something with these historically oriented episodes. This was a great episode. I could see you doing this all over the world.

[@archangel98632]

MORE unknown historical martial artist features please! Socrates the Greek soldier, Plato the Greco wrestler, Holmes baritjutsu... 😊

[@dglesterhardunkichud7860]

Teddy Roosevelt was probably one of America's earliest mixed martial artists as we know it today. He boxed and wrestled at Harvard and studied judo/jiujitsu while president, aside from being an all around bad ass. Don't forget Archimedes. Where would BJJ be without him? 3:31 I love that the old movie clip uses quotes from the historical record. Apparently Lincoln did say, "I'm the big buck of this lick"

[@thezieg]

Don't forget TR fighting with singlesticks in the White House with Leonard Wood.

[@SenseiSeth]

@@archangel98632 oooh a Plato episode…

[@jc-kj8yc]

@@SenseiSeth@AMOPankration is your guy in that case! ​

[@adamgrofik5470]

TR established the first Dojo in the USA. In 2014 think he was bestowed an honorary 8th degree in Jujutsu

[@TheElbowMerchant]

People forget that Abe was substantially taller than the average American male at the time, so when you know he (apparently) had a substantial amount of training, I can see how he would have been a formidable man. This is a very cool concept for a video, Sensei Seth!

[@axelstone3131]

6 ft 4 is still substantially taller than the average American and European man (5 ft 9) 6 ft 4 is the same height as seagal for comparison. That’s very tall.

[@TheElbowMerchant]

@axelstone3131 Fair point. I think what I was trying to convey is that he was even more of a giant by the standards of the times he lived in, if people were actually shorter on average than they are now.

[@arghanothername]

Yeah, think Shaq or the like

[@vksasdgaming9472]

@@axelstone3131 Is C-Gal really that tall? Abe would still be tall man. Not giant, but noticeably tall.

[@bruceparker1970]

​​​@@axelstone3131 Average height actually has a lot of variance over the course of human history, for example modern Japanese men are on average 170.8 cm tall whereas the average height of a WWII Japanese soldier was 160.8 cm tall in 1941. One of the major contributors to this is nutrition, there's actually a noticeable drop in height with the advent of agriculture which while providing a much more reliable source of calories allowing for a population boom didn't have the pound for pound nutritional quality of a "caveman/barbarian" diet. Interestingly enough however Americans in the 18th and 19th century had a reputation for being fairly tall by Western standards. I'm not a historian but if I had to guess why the depopulation of the continent thanks to disease killing most native Americans led to a boom in the animal population. Giving Americans, both native and immigrant unusually easy access to protein in their diet which is good for height.

[@matthemming9105]

Love the hard cut at the end - i assume next episode, we get to see Gulla? That sounds fascinating. I would also LOVE to learn more about Jailhouse Rock and 52 Blocks. Lets get Sensei Seth arrested! 😂

[@irishninja9857]

You can tell he's an insanely good wrestler. That dude is probably a treasure trove of knowledge.

[@Zdeciak]

Josh was great, thanks for an awesome peace of history!

[@Jamoni1]

That spiral takedown at 19:15 is my goto against big guys. Thanks, Coach Hobson!

[@Gstrongarm111]

Seth's silly hat counter: 1

[@SenseiSeth]

Ayeeee hahah

[@joostfloot5279]

Josh seems to move slowly but he's so accurate and firm/strong with his moves. It's awesome to see, true mastery.

[@anokanok]

Someone who has mastered the form is always like that. I learned that in martial arts holding the target for my instructor, he would move slowly when demoing a new technique but it always hit like a mule kick.

[@ozkifovxvypyvp3574]

Josh needs his own KZbin channel, his theatricality is great. Fun episode, neat to learn this about Lincoln.

[@allegseu54]

There is a Wrestler, called Aleksander Karelin is named the greatest Wrestler of all Time with a record of 887 Wins and only 2 Loses do to Points if I remember, competed under Greco-Roman. 13 Years undefeated Olympic Athlete of the 20th Century. Sorry for my bad English, Russian speaker here 😅

[@clivestaples244]

And he lost to rulon gardener. One of the greatest upsets in Olympic history. All wrestlers here know that match.

[@Hector-bj3ls]

I just want to know how good his training partners were. No one gets good in isolation.

[@vksasdgaming9472]

@@clivestaples244 I personally find his victory over Johansson of Sweden way better. Even before the finale Johansson said he settles for silver and match was more or less him running away from Karelin.

[@vksasdgaming9472]

As awesome athlete as Karelin was, he is Mitläufer to fascist dictator.

[@wojciechsawicki4733]

and the second match he lost was rigged

[@michaelgerstner9272]

This is one of the most wholesome enjoyable videos in a long time. ❤

[@zaqzilla1]

Show's you how good of a wrestler he is that he's beating Seth who's twice his size.

[@fnargler]

When I moved to Alaska as a kid, I remember how confused I was to find out that bald eagles don't actually sound like that and people just dub redtail hawks over them in pop culture.

[@mr.q337]

what do they sound like?

[@fullofsmell]

They kinda sound like a cross between a mourning dove and a squirrel tbh. It’s like a giant man with a squeaky voice, but the bird-version

[@abmantis4441]

​@@mr.q337 like a seagull

[@benjaminvega7186]

Really appreciate the acknowledgment of Indigenous and African influences here

[@redundantfridge9764]

If Abraham "The Rail-Splitter" Lincoln can fight zombies and vampires, surely he can knock down a fool or two.

[@acmartialarts2227]

He got shot

[@stroodlepup]

​@@acmartialarts2227the shooter was a coward

[@HolidayXperiment]

This is a perfect video idea, brother. It's so genius.Please do more videos on this

[@MidwestArtMan]

18:50 Seth gives him the ol' "Just stand up, bro."

[@wintermute1]

I'm 67 and oddly enough I learned all about Honest Abe's wrestling prowess and undefeated streak in high school

[@jmgonzales7701]

is wrestling only grappling no hand to hand combat or fist?

[@DemonaeTV]

You have completed the side quest: Explore Abe Lincoln's wrestling history. New side quest unlocked: Explore Carolina's Gullah martial arts.

[@metrolinamartialarts]

My man was so passionate about this it really showed through the video.

[@MaxAngor]

Josh is OWNING that skullet!

[@Rahzarusfilms]

Make sure to bring him along for the part 2 plz!!!

[@MrSuperup]

This video is your best work yet. Your Sumo journey actually inspired to commit to Ibjjf worlds next August after not competing for 15 years. I wanna be the man in the Arena again.

[@benjaminpujols1914]

It's one of my favorite fun facts to bring up to people I learned it while watching raw many many years ago that Abraham Lincoln invented the chokeslam

[@joepeck2942]

This is so good I was honestly a little frustrated when it ended. That doesn't happen often. 10/10 can't wait to see what's next

[@taliesin842]

I am really hoping for Gullah martial arts video now. Really like the blend of entertainment and education in your videos!

[@martinmadsen7955]

Awesome video. Trying to reconstruct Lincolns mythical throw is a perfect combo of history and martial arts. Josh is a great character. I could listen to him for hours. Hes great at making history come alive. Finding the origins of martial arts is extremely interesting. Fx. in chinese martial arts where alot of moves have names related to horses. Revealing their central asian wrestling origins. Excellent youtube video making once again from Sensei Seth.

[@Blake-gh8xl]

And im excited to see a series go in that direction

[@michaelrivera8561]

This was great! Love learning some history, and ol boy is strong 💪

[@jameslkiii]

Just learned about Catch-As-Catch-Can in a vid about Tom Aspinall's lineage. Cool to learn about its history in America.

[@letsdothis9063]

Catch wrestling is AWESOME. There was a Brazilian guy that was beating all of the Gracies, so they eventually just jumped him. There are still some catch wrestlers around. Erik Paulson is probably one of the best.

[@CraigHocker]

Expecting part 2 with the Gullahs now, don't dissappoint.

[@Ferreira0PH]

Perfect timing! I've just been on a binge of historical wresling, starting with cornish, collar and elbow, eventuality reaching luta livre here in Brasil

[@junichiroyamashita]

May be the chance of looking into Catch Wrestling more. The hardest grappling style,the Art of Pain.

[@_Pauper_]

17:27 😮Sensai Seth can’t cut a promo! This is a shattered dream

[@SenseiSeth]

It’s not my best attribute for sure

[@MaartenSFS]

That was not only entertaining, but also educational. Both you and your guest were so humble. Perhaps your best work yet!

[@2ndHandHero]

Loved the music during the wrasslin!

[@jonathanchin6965]

Bro for sure teaches an awesome AP US History class and is a great coach

[@TheRealLTJRH512]

Wow what an incredibly knowledgeable guy Josh is

[@kunedoman]

Awesome video Seth, really enjoyed the content you obviously worked hard to put together. *Josh was amazing and a great interview & watch, such a tight grappler he is!

[@michaelyeomans8992]

Josh needs a youtube focusing on historical american martial wrts

[@gmkgoat]

What I like about Seth is that he hears there's a whole culture with their own martial art in his own backyard and his immediate reaction is to get hype

[@hunger3870]

More historical videos please! Was such a well researched and entertaining video!

[@benjaminpujols1914]

And that is exactly what professional wrestlers learn from many many years back and some still today except that it's not used as much because it's more of a show now but they still know it just in case they need it which means technically that Abraham was not just a catch wrestler he was also possibly would be known today as a original professional wrestler

[@CptCh4os]

This view into the wrestling culture of the time is incredibly interesting!

[@vksasdgaming9472]

Abe Lincoln did not wear top hat. He wore stovepipe hat which is not exactly same. He was still awesomely snarky. Reportedly he was accused of being two-faced and he quipped "now why would I show this if I had another" referring to his less pleasant facial features.

[@Switchfork]

Do a sequel! My interest was really peaked by his last line there about the Gullas.

[@ericm6208]

Josh is a real one! Not only a skilled wrestler, super knowledgeable and honest about US history.

[@mouthguardcomic]

I appreciate this video! I have a lot of stuff to look up and research after watching this.

[@Khankhankhan420]

More historical martial arts videos! I love this

[@Raiden4019]

Little foreshadowing for your next video at the end there, bud? Can't wait!

[@DrHero13]

Great video! I really enjoy videos like this

[@TheAmazingPaolo]

Josh is such a fantastic and engaging presence

[@M.P.Athletics]

1:51 "I dont believe that anybody has a 300-1 record" Alexander Karelin intensifies (887-2)

[@blaxican]

I thought he was a Vampire Hunter

[@WolvesRetrobution]

Next video is set. I can't wait for it

[@RadicalTrivia]

Josh has great connection. And yes, we are savage here in PA.

[@tarettime9392]

3:50 Kyle hill has a great video on how you can’t lift someone by their throat. It requires the participation of the person being choked. I imagine it was some sort of leg trip holding onto the throat or the collar and the other guy got air on the trip and was the recorded similar to a choke slam. I’m glad they took the effort to come up with realistic choke slams rather than the modern wwe choke slam

[@PhotonBeast]

I could also see the possibility where Abe was trying to move his hand around the other guys chest or collar/shoulder and due to the other guy moving/not having a stable base at the time, Abe himself surging into the move, and what not, basically has his hand catch on the guys collar with enough unexpected force that they trip and get air. I'd imagine in this situation, Abe ends up stumbling forward or falling along side the guy in such a way that it looks intentional or at least that he still is maintaining control during the fall - hence the appearance of a slam. Alternatively, as Abe was a tall and strong dude, he might have simply been trying to shove the guy away for some reason and due to angle, leverage, posture, the guy got air and fell backwards.

[@lorgin2003]

Lincoln is basically the grandfather of professional wrestling. He taught the Civil War soldiers how to grapple as part of their training. When the war ended, a lot of them traveled around the country in carnivals, putting on demonstrations and matches. Sometimes even with audience members. However, back then, a match could go on for upwards of a week, with them taking a break when it got to dark and resuming again in the same position in the morning. So it wasn't long before they realized they couldn't physically do that long term in every town they went to. So they started working together and putting on a show, while actually protecting each other. That's where the professional wrestling business originally stemmed from. And then that spread around the world and areas created their own styles. British/European is more technical and hold based. Mexico has the Lucha style which is more about flipping and free flowing constant movement, while Japan has Strong Style where they're laying in pretty stiff shots to each other to make it look even better. But Japan always has two sides of the coin in every equation. Once you get over to the weird side, then you have promotions like DDT wrestling and there aren't words I can use to properly explain that whole thing.

[@SwordTune]

Fast, explosive wrestling is cool and terrifying, but a slow takedown that just seems to casually walk through you is just as awesome, maybe more.

[@giambrew]

Fun fact that bald eagle scream is actually the sound of a red tail hawk

[@LightGlyphRasengan]

Love the ashura hoodie rep. Great vid! Had no idea Lincoln was scrappy like that, but im not surprised, because why wouldn't someone as tall as him be a wrestler

[@edprado30305]

Abe Lincoln invented the choke slam?!

[@wintermute1]

It's true that there was no recorded use of anything like that before and it was noteworthy to the people of the day and remember that they saw a LOT of good wrestlers

[@jacksdad734]

No 🎩

[@JonTabuzoBale]

He did a similar move.Not invent.

[@T1DG]

Lincoln was a fighter? WWHHAATT!! W Lincoln.

[@happylobsterpatatas]

Lincoln was a pro fighter, if not he couldn't hunt vampires.

[@alasdairnisbet5170]

You should make this a series of world leaders with martial arts backgrounds, like teddy Roosevelt, Vladimir Putin etc

[@vksasdgaming9472]

Putler is no martial artist - he is a gangster.

[@callmefleet]

@@vksasdgaming9472 he was in the KGB before he became a politician, so he is indeed a martial artist

[@vksasdgaming9472]

@@callmefleet Martial artist has set of ethics and morality about it. Putler has none of those as he is gangster.

[@callmefleet]

@@vksasdgaming9472 You can hate the guy all you want but you're actually being mad over being reasonable. Martial arts are by definition ways of combat. Many have a moral code that I'm sure you like, but disliking Putin doesn't make him worse at fighting.

[@vksasdgaming9472]

@@callmefleet He definitely has not learned any morals from anything he has ever done and only used that club as recruitment tool to his criminal gang.

[@robingibson9759]

i would LOVE to see a video about Gullah martial arts !! i've been curious ever since Icy Mike casually called something a "geechee grab" and i found literally nothing on the internet about it

[@TrappyJenkins]

If i had to pick from a line up who would teach me frontier wrestling, i would pick this guy 100% of the time

[@valygomu]

This remind me of that time in 1520 when King François the first made the most fabulous feast ever to celebrate a potential new alliance with Henry VIII of England and then somehow or another they challenged each other to a wrestling fight and François won the fight but failed to get his alliance. History doesn't tell that François got him into a Royal Rolling Death Cradle and a giant swing but I like to think he did.

[@2P2G5C]

Body building competition also came out of the carnivals. Also turns out LMNT is not sugar free.

[@ryth-2401]

I made Paul in Tekken 8 looks like Abraham Lincoln, today I found out it makes more sense than I thought

[@JustinPrice-r8j]

Paul's a McDojo guy though...

[@fireeaglefitnessmartialart935]

Seth, with all your traveling and finding knowledge on different martial arts, you could put together a whole college program based around martial arts. Theres so many styles and history behind them all.

[@vanoscrap-nb1go]

Martial Arts Journey witth Seth, I'm up for it! Looking for the origin, pardon, the birthplace of US wrestling

[@sydcam2425]

I actually did know about that! It's really awesome!

[@jacksonbauer5199]

Fantastic video, no notes. Thanks Seth!

[@lordsneed9418]

Damn I thought the bearded dude was just going to be a history buff but he had some great wrestling chops. Very impressive how he did all that while seemingly not using much explosivity.

[@CircleWilliams]

This made sense to me when Ramsey Dewey spelled it out, explaining things like Shuai Jiao or Judo as jacket wrestling, or when Shintaro Higashi joked that Judo no-Gi ends up just being wrestling, or Ranton making a self-deprecating rainbow joke that him being a BJJ white belt made him a “power bottom”…. So I guess other wrestling styles are “aggressive tops.” Makes sense.

[@seansnyder2855]

18:25 I'm glad you've gotten a taste of the magic of wrestling. It's a dark art.

[@bentinho]

Knocking and Kicking is probably a cousin of what would become capoeira in Brazil and Ladja/Danmye in Martinique. It was the same peoples that set the foundation across the diaspora. History amongst capoeiristas references an old African martial art called batuque that some of the techniques and concepts may have been passed to and continued on by the early capoeiristas and founders of the style. I did a fair bit of research on this topic for some work I did in college decades ago!

[@insanemakaioshin]

The soldier that defeated Lincoln was Hank Thompson.

[@nicholasmandigo1390]

Honestly, I knew Lincoln was a champion rail splitter. Now finding out he could wrestle as well. That's pretty badass

[@qaannat]

First time I've heard Jailhouse Rock and 52 Blocks in quite some time.

[@TurtleLover69527]

Random ass video. It was very interesting, Josh is quite the knowledge haver.

[@wjjwTheDemigod]

Sounds like you need to research Kandeka from Angola. Bridge the gaps in slap boxing and capoeira in one shot learning about the ancestorial arts of slap boxing and N'golo.

[@gw1357]

The choke slam is often called a "ranger choke" and its still taught in military combatives -- one hand on the front of the throat, the other on the back of the neck/head or at the small of the back. Lift and press forward, add in the step-behind trip (like an osotogari) if you want. (When you're really trying to damage, you grab the guy by the trachea rather than the neck in general.) Its very effective, but its illegal in MMA.

[@benjaminpujols1914]

Abraham lost his first match because he was not prepared and he was about 18 years old if I remember correctly and that's when he started training harder and then he became undefeated now as far as 300 matches go I didn't know the amount of matches I know it was obviously more than 20

[@AC57001]

i love wrestling sm, happy to see you cover it more! especially since you're a sumo champ now

[@Redsensei10p]

I won’t leave if it’s 50 minutes! I watch sensei Seth and all the USDC guys everyday all day lol

[@benjaminpujols1914]

Haley I say go and talk to them whenever you get a chance

[@w8ngr]

13:24 weeeee 😂 ☠️

[@Stig69]

He does it a couple of times hahaha

[@ryanoneill6481]

Story 1: Abe wrestles and legally invents a slam Story 2: Abe becomes an anime villain

[@PinkieImpaled]

fun fact the screech we associate with Bald eagles is not the sound they actually make, IIRC it is actually a hawk in the sound effect

[@valygomu]

13:36 You mean to tell me that Abraham Lincoln was out there doing the MGSV osoto ? Damn that's cool

[@TheArchersArms]

Seth, you need to do more stuff with this guy. He is great 😂 ❤️

[@gw1357]

The point at the end about "what won the Civil War" is interesting. Lincoln -- unlike a lot of upper class politicians in the 1800s -- had never been an officer. He hadn't gone to West Point, hadn't served in the Mexican War, wasn't an officer in the militia, etc. (Jefferson Davis was all these things and many people assumed he'd be the better war leader...but ironically he was not.) Having to be the commander-in-chief during the largest, most complex war in history to that point required Lincoln rapidly learn about military principles. He is famous for going to the Library of Congress and voraciously reading all the great military histories and works of strategy that he could find to self-educate. But consider this -- he was laying all that academic knowledge over the understanding of conflict that he intuitively learned through the study of martial arts, in his case, wrestling. What kind of mindset comes from wrestling? A willingness to seek and maintain contact, to fight for grips, to drive all the way to the ground, to accept "messiness" and struggle through, etc. (Compare that to someone who grows up fencing, as a gentleman of the period might. How differently might they think about conflict?) So, is it any wonder that he kept firing generals that refused to press the attack -- until he found Grant and Sherman who were extreme in their tenacity. He famously said about Grant -- "I cannot spare this man. He fights." That sounds like a wrestler's attitude.