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ritaPitaMeterMaid t1_j95ta5c wrote

Reply to comment by ivebeenabadbadgirll in Inside Abraham Lincoln's Wrestling Career Before He Was President by Professional_Bite725

For the lazy:

> The invention of the chokeslam is credited to Paul Heyman for use by the wrestler 911,[1] although it was already in use by AJPW wrestler Akira Taue since 1992 under the name nodowa otoshi ("choke drop/slam").[2] Furthermore, one of the earliest accounts of the move dates back to a 19th-century recounting that describes Abraham Lincoln (himself a wrestler in his youth) using a technique vaguely similar in description, but without any specific mention of the "slam" component.

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Thatparkjobin7A t1_j962hj4 wrote

> Without any specific mention of the “slam” component.

So.. Reading between the lines.. at some point Lincoln, in a particularly heated match, attempted to strangle his opponent

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therealCatnuts t1_j962xja wrote

Different. He picked his opponent up by the neck from a standing position. That’s not a normal choke hold.

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DOLCICUS t1_j965au5 wrote

Really shows how jacked he was if he could pick up a nearly 200 lb dude with one hand

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sigbinItom t1_j96a6d3 wrote

His strength comes from his vampire hunting days.

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mudda1 t1_j97anbk wrote

There it is. Came looking for this reference.

Edit: meaning I came here. Not that I actually came. You know what, just, just deal the cards.

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Thatparkjobin7A t1_j96ncr1 wrote

Doesn’t say anything about one hand either.

It seems Lincoln’s go-to move and possibly secret to success was to simply close his hands around his opponents windpipe and shake him in the air until he went limp.

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Fireonpoopdick t1_j96w1ev wrote

That's kind of terrifying tho, just pick him up strangle them a little bit and then toss them down once they're limp. Brutal Mr president.

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Thatparkjobin7A t1_j96wra0 wrote

Once he was sure they were dead he released his grip and allowed the body to crumple lifelessly to the floor of whatever wilderness setting these matches occurred

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g0ku t1_j96yeco wrote

abe using his combined height and strength to strangle his opponents off the ground is such a terrifying thought. no wonder so many people were so intimidated of him lmfao.

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Thatparkjobin7A t1_j970b6f wrote

That and he would growl wordlessly through his teeth. So loudly, in fact, that the birds would go silent for hours afterwards

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Kilmire t1_j97voqm wrote

He once ripped a man in half, from skull to groin, and exploded his still beating heart with a single glance. He was quite embarrassed, as he didn't mean to; but the man was a slaver so it was a net positive overall.

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LemonHerb t1_j96clb3 wrote

Not sure what style wrestling they were doing but trying to strangle your opponent is pretty much the goal for a lot of styles of wrestling

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Devil-sAdvocate t1_j96uh90 wrote

Now I want to know about the wrestling career of Hank Thompson, the only man to ever beat Lincoln.

While he was with the Illinois Volunteers in the Black Hawk Indian uprising of 1832. A 23-year-old Lincoln was leading a company, and his men loved the fact that their towering Captain was a monster in the ring. Like old Denton Offutt, Lincoln’s company bragged throughout their camp that not a single soldier in the Army could throw Lincoln

A soldier from another company, a man named Lorenzo “Hank” Thompson, took up the challenge. Lincoln was a big man, sure, but Thompson was no small town bully—he was so large that Lincoln said he looked like he “could have thrown a grizzly bear.” This didn’t worry Lincoln’s men though, and they bet whatever they had on them on their Captain: money, whiskey, knives, blankets, anything to spice up the monotony of camp life.

Before the fight started in earnest, Lincoln and Thompson grappled a bit to get a feel for each other’s ability. After a few minutes of this, Lincoln leaned over to his men and said, “Boys, this is the most powerful man I ever had a hold of.” There’s no word on how audibly the soldiers in his company gulped, but I’m sure more than a few of them were gazing over at their bets with regret.

Lincoln finally met his match in Thompson. Thompson scored the first point with relative ease, and even though the second throw looked like a draw, Lincoln knew he was licked. He looked to his men once again and said, “Boys, give up your bets. If this man hasn’t throwed me fairly, he could.” For the only time in his career, Old Abe admitted defeat.

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