"When it comes to this man, the first thing that comes to mind is one number: 2628, the number of consecutive days he stayed as the World Heavyweight Champion [1905-57 version]. Yeah there was some weird scheduling stuff in the 30s and 40s that led to some vacated titles in places like California, but when it comes to the OG World Title, he NEVER LOST once he won it in '38. That is absurdly impressive. What's also impressive is attracting 90K people to a wrestling show like he did in his home country in 1933, a record that stood for 54 years (WM3). He made MSG into a wrestling arena; there were only 3 wrestling shows there in 20 months prior to his 1930 NYSAC Title win with <3200 fans each, but he started regularly drawing sellouts of 20K+ against a variety of opponents. He did all of this with no support from his father, who CUT HIM OFF (they did reconcile in '33) when he turned pro in 1914 due to considering it "undignified"; that's also why his ring name was/is so much different from his real name. Another attendance record he held was on 9/20/34 at Wrigley when he finally beat the just-as-legendary Ed Lewis, a match that drew 35625 fans (a North American continental record) and also set another continental record with a total admission cost of >$96K. And to prove how big of a draw he really was, when he toured Europe and Africa for 2 years from 1935-37 after losing the NYSAC on 6/27/35, attendance for American wrestling shows halved. That '35 loss, to Danno O'Mahoney, was the LAST MATCH HE EVER LOST. He retired from full-time competition on 1/28/46 and vacated the OG WHC, but would wrestle 27 more matches (mostly for charity) from 1947-59. And one final absurd stat: his final career record of 903-32-57 (yeah, WAY more draws than losses). One of the greatest of the pre-NWA era of pro wrestling, hands down. And he did all of this at just 5'8"/216."
"I feel like we definitely have enough footage of Londos for a rating to be allowed. Over two hours worth. One of the biggest draws wrestling has ever seen."
"I will admit unlike the great figure from the past like Lou These , Gorgeous George i never see the man wretsle so I can understand why it would be weird to rate himbut his contribution to wrestling need to be salute and expose to the world a lot more than it currently is . Thank you Jim Londos and RIP"
"This was the father of Greek wrestling and the biggest global draw of all time, based on year-by-year draws and wrestling observer awards. He wrestled legends, and became a household name in America. He was the best box office attraction globally for most of the 1920s, all of the 1930s and 1940. Also a WWE Hall Of Famer. And should be rated higher. He should be rated here period, to be honest."
