I this instance of Catch Wrestling legends we cover the biography of Ben Roller (Benjamin Franklin Roller), one of the greatest Catch Wrestlers of all times and Master of the Bulldog Choke.

In a 1917 interview for the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Catch Wrestling Champion Ben Roller stated: “There are no new holds in wrestling. The head hold that Lewis has been using is not new. Joe Stecher did not invent the scissors, nor was the toe hold new with Gotch. A man is simply physically able to use a particular hold better than all others. The fans think he has a new hold, because he uses it all the time. Every hold in wrestling has been known for hundreds of years. The next generation will see the same holds bob up again under new names”.

In this video you will see some photos from a 1915 article in the Boston Globe, where the Dr. Ben Roller shows some of his favorite moves, like how to block kicks and duck punches to close the distance, a takedown, a classic half nelson and hammerlock control, a body scissors one of his signature moves:

Bull Dog Choke

A catch wrestling stranglehold from the front, brought back to the mainstream as the “bulldog choke”, and that Roller described as “One variety of the wrestling stranglehold, more effective than the Japanese and which requires no kimono to apply”.

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