Jim Londos vs Bronko Nagurski Championship Wrestling match November 18, 1938

[@GodlessScummer]

I think Jim Londos is sadly overlooked by a lot of wrestling fans today when the all time greats are discussed. I often have to tell other fans to look up Londos because they've never heard of him. They don't realise that Londos was one of the biggest drawing wrestlers of all time and what makes that even more impressive is that he drew sell outs all the way through the Great Depression when a lot of people didn't really have the money to go and watch wrestling. He's truly one of the all time greats and needs more recognition.

[@Aphelion_k9f]

WWE put him in the Legacy wing of their HOF this year.

[@GodlessScummer]

Yeah but what exactly is the legacy wing. He went in with El Santo among others and Londos and El Santo were much bigger stars than any of the featured entrants to the HOF this year.

[@Aphelion_k9f]

WWE HOF is designed to sell tickets. It's hard for them to sell tickets off the name of someone that's been dead for 40 years. That's why they put wrestlers that were popular and worked recently on the marquee. Having the Legacy wing of the WWE HOF, as recognition of the accomplishments of the pioneers, is what legitimizes it.

[@Rjensen2]

Not at all. All entertainment did HUGE business during the Depression.

[@Rjensen2]

@@GodlessScummer People like you only look for a reason to bitch. Guess what? The WWE HOF is just a tv show. That's it. Really, they shouldn't have even done it for that reason. It doesn't matter, because they leave him out, you bitch. They put him in, you bitch.

[@shawn-dx6ht]

The more I see of Jim Londos the more I like. He was one of the greats and it's sad that is name isn't known to every wrestling fan.

[@Aphelion_k9f]

+Pike And considering his influence was vital to the growth of the New York territory, I am surprised WWE doesn't mention his name more often.

[@theodoreconstantini2548]

He had folk hero status in Greece , He was very famous in Greece when my mother was a young girl in the forties.

[@matthewfarmer8740]

Jim Londos was 41 years old and Bronko was had just turned 30. One thing that needs to be pointed out is Jim Londos in arguably the greatest professional wrestling box office attraction in the history of wrestling. You can come back with men like Lou Thesz, Bruno Sammartino, Hulk Hogan, Steve Austin, The Rock and anyone else you'd like to mention. Jim Londos belongs in a class among the very top elite stars. And he was a massive star around the entire world.

[@Aphelion_k9f]

Did Londos draw any massive gates other than the alleged 100,000 in Greece and 80,000 in Egypt?

[@obligatoryhandle]

@keller blair According to Fall Guys by Marcus Griffin, a book written about pro wrestling in 1937, Londos was likely a far bigger scumbag than Hogan. He was a travelling conman wanted in several states for stealing money from rubes. And even his own promoters said things like that if he ever wrestled a shoot, they'd never heard about it. That doesn't sound like much of an insult today, but remember that actually being able to wrestle was still one of the best qualities in a champion for that day. For his own promoters to admit that he was of low skill was a major blow to his character. Londos was on top because he exploited racism.

[@greeklow71]

he was the greek demigod of wrestling

[@snowjorden]

​@Kfowlkes09 yes, all over the world.

[@andonhoward532]

I've heard El Santo was the biggest draw, hell he has a statue in mexico city

[@davesmith8877]

Jim Londos The Golden Greek was an all time wrestling great

[@conciergemarie6981]

This announcer is the best! Great match to watch.

[@JackJones-ke8mo]

Yeah dude 😎. You are so right. What is up?

[@gabynum1919]

Helluva wrestling match. I enjoyed it.

[@JackJones-ke8mo]

Yeah dude 😎. You are so right. What is up?

[@snowjorden]

Such a fantastic match. Jim Londos is #1 on any Mt. Rushmore wrestling talk.

[@ΓεώργιοςΑθανασόπουλος-ι8φ]

Μεγάλε Έλληνα πατριώτη!!!

[@aggelosabavis9898]

jim londos the best

[@bruhthem]

This was a great Wrestling fight!

[@SwaggaLeo]

You can feel the electricity from this match...wow...the atmosphere seems so urgent and dire.....big fight feel...

[@louisfair2641]

That was enjoyable to watch. I enjoyed the commentary and the wrestling.

[@brianel-khoury885]

Ye real good calling

[@ggremlin]

LONDOS had some excellent scientific catch wrestling during his matches

[@mickcloud5822]

This is more entertaining than anything WWE is putting out these days. I love how this is almost 100 years old to.

[@user-yf4gx9lw6c]

That’s your opinion and you’re entitled to say it. Genuinely though have even watched WWE in the past say 5 years?

[@kanethesevenfootmonster868]

@@user-yf4gx9lw6c Probably Lmao.......

[@anothonypeterson3402]

I never heard of Jim Londos till an elderly gentleman told me about him on a bus going back home from school.Jim was interesting wrestler.Same nick-name as John Tolos'. I have a video where he wrestled Primo Carnera to a draw.

[@DannySisto]

That 1938 swinging neckbreaker was fire

[@SwaggaLeo]

and how he held it

[@BrottenGuy]

@@SwaggaLeo agreed

[@gregorylevi1826]

I'm here to see Jim Londos because of Jim Cornette.

[@DanteSlappedyouwithfacts]

Ring psychology,original babyface vs heel,this is genuinly like nothing youve seen before

[@shikat2371]

Bronko Nagurski was one of the very few wrestlers who managed to beat a young and prime Lou Thesz for the NWA World Championship belt. He's also responsible for injuring Thesz's left patella which left him sidelined for about a year. Jim Londos, on the other hand, got defeated by Ed "Strangler" Lewis (presumably with the World Heavyweight Championship belt at stake) on more than 14 occasions and when Londos did finally beat Strangler Lewis, Lewis was already past his prime.

[@Rjensen2]

Come on man...the only way a waste of time football player like Nagurski could beat a wrestler like Thesz was because they likely paid Thesz more money.

[@CGMedia2023]

Thesz was also a big fan of Gene Kiniski, another football player turned wrestling champion.

[@blueeyedbehr]

the action is artificially sped up. about 80% speed is closer to accurate. a lot of these old films are too fast on youtube.

[@dannymca8460]

Archival footage is generally not artificially sped up for youtube. Early cameras captured a much slower framerate than those of today, while the devices used to display the footage often ran at a much higher framerate than the film being played on them. So it looked faster.

[@blueeyedbehr]

@@dannymca8460 yes, i'm aware of camera speed vs projector speed especially in films of the 1920s through 1940s. but youtube does increase speed on many videos, so it's something to be aware of.

[@dannymca8460]

@@blueeyedbehr KZbin itself never speeds up, or slows the play speed of what someone has uploaded. Altered speeds, and/or aspect ratio is chosen by the person who has shared it, to avoid uploads that were not their property from being removed from the platform. Same concept, whether it be for uploaded footage from yesterday, or of some from a century ago. Im quite sure that this method which people frequently need to use is not something that you are unaware of, but im just saying it anyway for the understanding of others who may not be aware. The playback speed of this video is surely altered because of its original film-to-projection translation, as well as certain frames possibly having been spoiled over time. As well, it was possibly(maybe/maybe not) altered further by the uploader so the platform would not remove it. But youtube made no choice as to the speed at which the video would be played at. Bottom line,... This footage is great in whatever form it's been preserved or presented to us. The match was captivating. And that's the most important thing.

[@ΓιάννηςΣίνος-ν9β]

greek hero

[@Strshljen1985]

+Orthodox Fighter, Jim Londos was a Arvanite, Albanian of Greece.

[@lefterhsk1]

@@Strshljen1985 i am from Argos-greece and i know his relatives...no they are not arvanite and ofcourse they are not albanian.

[@johniafelice7779]

Growing up in the 60s I remember my Dad telling me that Londos was the best he ever saw. Hard to compare him with anyone today...Maybe a Shawn Michaels in his prime...

[@matthewfarmer8740]

In terms of being a star, Shawn Michaels would not even be close. And this is no disrespect to HBK, but Jim Londos is arguably the biggest box office attraction in the history of professional wrestling.

[@GodlessScummer]

Indeed he's somewhat forgotten nowadays by modern fans but Jim Londos was one of the biggest drawing stars in the history of wrestling. We're talking Hogan, Austin, and Rock level of drawing power back in his day. That's how over Jim Londos was.

[@zakrowe1301]

MrMetalover666 I feel like this entire generation is often overlooked by fans in general, but I love watching this stuff, it's so interesting seeing how wrestling was all these years ago. As somone that loves both history and wrestling this is great for me. But wouldn't compare any of those guys you mentioned to Jim londos as far as being a box office draw goes, just because Jim londos was drawing 80,000 on a regular basis. And you could argue wrestlemania 3 for hogan but that was just as much Andre as it was hogan and that was just a one off but Austin and rock didn't draw anywhere near that, and again you could argue mania 28,29 but by that time wrestlemania itself was the attraction.

[@zakrowe1301]

John Volken yeah, it's insane, the crazy thing is not many people know about him

[@DanteSlappedyouwithfacts]

This was calling it in the ring ,crowd reaction style ,off the fly listening to the crows letting the crowd dictate the match

[@MisterObjectivity]

I was surprised the referee didn't slap the mat to count three. And I concur with the below comment, I think this match is really quite good, and not a single punch thrown--and no Irish whips, either! No wonder people thought wrestling was real back then. Many fans today might not like this match from the 1930s, but could you imagine what wrestling fans from the 1930s would say about some of today's so-called "superstars"? These "old timey" grapplers could really wrestle.

[@cuatroruedas]

Nowadays wrestlers only do 5 moves: Frankensteiners, DDT´s, Suplexes, Piledirvers, bulldozers and ocassional lariats.

[@shikat2371]

Ángel Madrid Yep. No more airplane spins, no more body scissors, no more head scissors, no more figure-four armlocks,.......

[@cuatroruedas]

Plus, Some American wrestlers think they are degrading themselves by doing Mexican and Japanese moves.

[@MisterObjectivity]

WWE has a lot to do with that. They "reprogramme" wrestlers to work "the company style". That's why WWE is so unentertaining, because the wrestlers are like clones of one another--no contrast in styles. I still remember seeing Rey Misterio Jnr vs Ultimo Dragon for the first time in 1996 on television. These two could put together a match with no short cuts. It's sad to see what Rey Jnr became, a bloated shadow of his former self. If WCW had built the company around this sort of wrestling, the brand would still be around today.

[@cuatroruedas]

NXT should be called, "The lose in ring talent and learn how to give 30 minutes lecture program".

[@animal5977]

動くジム・ロンドスを初めて見た。レジェンドですよね。

[@肥桶担ぎの助]

こんな動画が残っているところが本場だね!

[@JackJones-ke8mo]

Yeah dude 😎. You are so right. What is up?

[@youngzeus87]

Bears legend Bronko Nagurski with several cravates into neckbreakers. He could work!

[@SwaggaLeo]

Londos aint selling for him though...seems to be some heat there.....

[@bulldogbrower6732]

Is it real or is it a work ?

[@nickmad887]

thank you

[@stephenslagle4069]

Defeats him (and wins the World Title) with...a body slam. I love it!

[@MisterObjectivity]

+Stephen Slagle It reminds me of Japan how you can still win a match with a clothesline. Just once, I'd like to see somebody win with a flying mare takedown into a side headlock. I remember WrestleMania VIII, opening match, Santana vs Michaels, when Bobby Heenan on commentary claimed he'd won a few matches with it (side headlock). Monsoon: "In your dreams?" Heenan: "I could beat a man a MILLION ways!"

[@risboturbide9396]

11:58 great tackles by Nagurski.

[@321abcable]

I was about 7 years old when my dad introduced me to Londos in Vancouver in the 1940's in between rounds when he defeated the Swedish Angel!

[@juanriingen]

The old wrestling matches were real, unlike today's professional wrestling matches as fake where winners and losers are pre-arranged.

[@Aphelion_k9f]

@@juanriingen The quote unquote "fake stuff" started in the 1920's. Fans didn't have a clue, until the Shikat double cross on Danno O'Mahoney in '36.

[@Rjensen2]

@@Aphelion_k9f lmao, it was well before that. It was always a work to a certain degree.

[@RDéRudoRconRock]

Eso sí es verdadera lucha

[@anothonypeterson3402]

The old man told me it was real back then-but I think the ones farther back were the real ones.It started off as real.

[@CIGARSARGE333]

Great match.

[@tomitstube]

wow, i had no idea there was so much footage of bronco nagurski, he certainly was a brute, definitely wouldn't want to have tackle this guy at full throttle, lol, damn "airplane whirl" did him in.

[@WrestlingFilms1]

+tomitstube There has been a bit of Nagurski footage to come out and he's been an excellent wrestler in them. He received some unfair criticism until we've been able to actually see him in action. I have another match you can see here; kzbin.info/www/bejne/hIfJaYymmcignJY

[@tomitstube]

+wrestlingfilms.blogspot.com/ i'm afraid your link is coming up empty.

[@WrestlingFilms1]

+tomitstube oops, it's fixed now kzbin.info/www/bejne/hIfJaYymmcignJY Or you can see all the matches I have posted here kzbin.infovideos

[@XantroyX]

I have never heard the term "referee's hold" before..

[@normancarr3015]

Was this a shoot.Please explain someone

[@obligatoryhandle]

No. Nagurski was a good performer, but he wasn't a wrestler. And Londos was pure carny. Even got arrested a few times for fraud. Both guys were creations of promotion, just like wrestlers today. That's not to say they weren't great. Londos is the biggest box office attraction maybe ever. But he did it as an ethnic hero, not for his skill as champion. Think of him as the prototype for Bruno Sammartino. Nagurski was maybe the first best superstar football player in pro wrestling.

[@the_third_sun]

@@obligatoryhandle he was a legit wrestler...he knew catch wrestling and greco roman...thats why it looks legit

[@jdouglas1327]

Bronko was the far better competitor. He was quite the wrestling stud in the ring.

[@alexslavinzki2408]

This Nagurski is good wrestler. I never heard of him. Funny that he used a name of a legendary football player to big. Did the other Nagurski ever meet him???

[@Aphelion_k9f]

Funny.

[@321abcable]

This is the same Nagurski- after football he became a popular wrestler.

[@hcjc57]

And, to expand on Sven's remarks, Nagurski also what became the NWA version of the strap on a couple of occaisions....

[@bjornbraaten4593]

@@321abcable he actually played football during WWII, after this match.

[@seanlordo30]

He was dual-sport athlete, kinda like Ernie Ladd

[@prayingmantis6777]

I didn't even see the referee count. It's like he was waving his hand in the air.

[@robpomerleau9186]

Cornette brought me here

[@Realmasterorder]

Real Wrestling, or Pretty Close to it Anyway ! Jim Londos was great ! i have to point out that many matches were not staged,at the very least not even close to the degree, they are today and no Props And Extras used like they do today no offence i like pro wrestling as much as the next guy but these were true Pioneers and things were a Lot Cleaner back then they did not have internet or phones to communicate and people would travel to Other Countries and Start Wrestling with just a General Direction or strategy !

[@bumblebeemoi]

+Realmasterorder This is just as staged as matches from the 60's and 70's. Think about it. A flying tackle? Londos couldn't have avoided that? Those times Londos picked up Nagurski and slammed him down, those weren't part of the show? It may looked like "real wrestling, but it's not even close. Since my grandfather was a pro (20-40 years before this match) and my Dad did some promotion, I do know what I'm talking about. Sure, there isn't anywhere close to the B.S. now, but these guys were not shooting.

[@Aphelion_k9f]

+Philip Bourdon I often question how legit the matches really were even in the Gotch era.

[@tomhankins87]

Matches have been works long before this match.

[@Rjensen2]

@@Aphelion_k9f They weren't. They might have fought for "top time", but the results were worked out beforehand, Gotch-Hackenschmidt being the most famous. It existed just for gamblers to make money. The wrestlers would even bet on the outcome, because they knew who was going to win.

[@bumblebeemoi]

How absolutely superior Lou Thesz was to these two.

[@ΘοδωρηςΔερτιλης]

Τι λες τώρα

[@scribe570]

This announcer thinks he is doing radio. We can see most of the actions he describes. Motor mouth.

[@javi__...]

This was pre tv. People only had radio. So this was almost certainly on radio.

[@raddmann336]

Yes. It was 1938. Tv didn’t come out for another ten years.

[@gregorylevi1826]

​@raddmann336 actually the tv started being sold in 1929 so some were watching this match. But it was definitely between 1,000-3,000 people only. The majority of people were still dependent on the radio. 📺 🖥

[@SDG.12]

ITS A WORK, BROTHER. THESE NERDS ARE JUST ROLLING OVER ON THE MAT, PLAYFIGHTING. I CAN DO THAT BETTER THAN THEM.

[@colourfaze86]

I doubt you even put your fucking pants on without mommy's help. Go play your video games imbecile.

[@SDG.12]

@@colourfaze86 why are boomers always so angry? Also just stop. You grew up watching hogan and warrior doing bad choreographs. No need to get all pretentious about fake fighting.

[@juicefargo4538]

Jim Cornette and his bullshit take on Hulk Hogans legacy brought me to this snoozefest

[@wayneking9997]

Well get lost then

[@Rjensen2]

Hogan? His run wasn't even close to the business they were doing in the 50s. It wasn't even close to what the business was doing in the 70s. But keep believing the crap WWE feeds you.

[@colourfaze86]

There's always one of you twits. 😂

[@blueeyedbehr]

​@@Rjensen2 wwe gears their wrestling for eight-year-olds, so if those with the mentality of eight-year-olds love it, then they're too stupid to even know they're stupid.

[@giorgoskritikos7526]

You are born Greek, you don't become one!!!! and Xristoforos besides having a genuine Greek heart was also made of steel😎💙👉🦵💪🤜✊👊👏👏👏👌

[@DropkickNation]

Londos, the rather unsung hero of the pro wrestling golden era. Never reached the modern popularity of Gotch or Hackensmidt, but equally important.