John Pesek John Pesek ( February 21 , 1894 – March 12 , 1978 ) was an American professional wrestler and notable greyhound racing dog breeder . Early life . He 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 . He 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 . Career . 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 , Serbian - 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 . On another occasion , Pesek was hired to give Lewis ' ally , Boston - area promoter Paul Bowser , a hand in his battle with rival promoter Jack Curley . Curley was aggressively promoting Olympic wrestling medalist Nat Pendleton and issued a series of haughty challenges , among them boasting that Pendleton could beat Lewis and any other wrestler on the same night . Pesek was enlisted to face Curley ' s protégé , and in a legitimate contest held on January 25 , 1923 , Pesek defeated and injured Pendleton to claim an $ 8000 purse and give Bowser a major financial and publicity victory . Pesek would memorably cross paths with Joe Stecher again , wrestling him three times in 1926 . Stecher , now the world champion , won the first meeting on April 29 , and the second match on August 25 ended in a draw . Then , on October 6 at Los Angeles ' Olympic Auditorium , subbing for Ed Lewis , Pesek diverted from the planned result and trapped Stecher in a wrist lock . Stecher appeared to submit , but in order to save face the referee disqualifed Pesek under the pretense that he had used an illegal choke hold , allowing Stecher to retain the title . Stecher was said to have cried after the match . Despite making a good living in America , Pesek eventually grew tired of backroom politics and opted to go overseas for a while in 1929 . Traveling to New Zealand and Australia , he became a sensation there , winning 47 consecutive bouts . Pesek ' s reputation as a maverick held him back from holding many championships in his career , and he has been characterized as a " trustbuster " in his own right . It turned out that none of the titles he did hold were either won or lost in the ring . From 1931 to 1933 , he was the recognized Midwest Wrestling Association ( MWA ) champion , until he forfeited the title to wrestle for another promotion . Later , Pesek was recognized for a time as National Wrestling Association champion . He 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 . However , he was soon stripped of the title when he refused to meet two challengers . Pesek was again awarded the vacant MWA championship in 1938 , but was stripped of it in June 1940 for , once again , failing to meet the top contenders . By the end of the 1920s , Pesek had begun turning his focus towards racing greyhounds , and on 800 acres of his Nebraska farm he built up one of the nation ' s leading stables . He 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 . John Pesek continued to appear occasionally in 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 . John died at his home on March 12 , 1978 and is buried at the Highland Cemetery outside Ravenna . A bronze statue of John with two greyhounds was being created at the time of his death , and it was posthumously unveiled in front of Ravenna Bank on May 28 , 1978 . Although lesser known than some of his contemporaries , John Pesek is recognized today as one of the best wrestlers of his era . He 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 . His contributions to the sport of greyhound racing have also been recognized by his induction to the Greyhound National Hall Of Fame in 1978 – his dogs " Gangster " and " Just Andrew " were inducted in 1964 and 1975 , respectively .