John Pesek
| John Pesek | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Birth name | John Pesek |
| Born |
February 21, 1894 Ravenna, Nebraska, United States |
| Died | March 12, 1978 (aged 84) Ravenna, Nebraska, United States |
| Cause of death | Heart attack |
| Spouse(s) | Myrl Pesek (née Mahoney) (1921–1966, her death) |
| Children | 7 |
| Professional wrestling career | |
| Ring name(s) | John Pesek |
| Billed height | 6 ft (183 cm) |
| Billed weight | 185 lb (84 kg) |
| Billed from | Ravenna, Nebraska |
| Debut | 1914 |
| Retired | 1959 |
John Pesek (February 21, 1894 – March 12, 1978) was an American professional wrestler and greyhound racing dog breeder.
Pesek was born to Bohemian parents near Ravenna, Nebraska, the fifth of seven children, and grew up living the hard life of the American pioneer. His father Martin died in an accident when John was twelve.
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. His first high-profile match was in 1914 when he defeated Wladek Zbyszko.
Pesek was nicknamed "The Nebraska Tiger Man" for his ferocity and catlike dexterity. He was also legitimately strong and could hold his own on the mat against opponents that frequently outweighed him considerably. 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. Among the few other men to ever defeat Pesek were Jim Londos and Ed "Strangler" Lewis. A true "hooker" who believed in wrestling as legitimate competitive sport, Pesek disliked the wrestling "trust" that emerged in the 1920s for its booking of pre-determined match outcomes. His reluctance to co-operate with promoters isolated him from the wrestling mainstream for much of his career.
One important wrestling figure with whom 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 (fix matches) during matches. On November 14, 1921, Pesek squared off against one of the most prominent trustbusters, Croatian-born wrestler Marin Plestina at Madison Square Garden. Pesek proceeded to administer such a severe beating (through continual fouling) that Plestina was hospitalized. All three falls of the match were forfeited due to repeated head butting and eye gouging by Pesek. His repeated fouling caused a near riot. The New York Times credits Plestina with "intensified fairness" in the face of Pesek's continued fouling. This is the reason Pesek was banned from wrestling for life in New York. These comments are taken from a New York Times article dated November 15, 1921. New York's athletic commission refused to award Pesek his prize money and banned him from wrestling in the state, but the Tiger Man had done his job.
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