Born in Iowa in 1861, Martin “Farmer” Burns was a Catch Wrestling World Champion, coach, author, and arguably the best pound for pound grappler of his generation. He started wrestling at an early age, and to help support his family he worked at a farm, where the heavy labor was key to the development of his tremendous physical power.

Burns traveled the country beating all comers at carnivals and taking on the greatest wrestlers of the day. At only 165 pounds, he regularly defeated men who outweighed him by as much a 100 pounds, earning him Championship titles at: Middleweight, Light-Heavyweight and Heavyweight. His neck was so strong, that he was able to perform a stunt where he would take a six-foot hangman’s drop without sustaining injury. He performed his famous feat dozens of times in front of thousands of people. The Farmer defeated many of the biggest names of his era, like Evan “The Strangler” Lewis, Dan McLeod and Sorakichi Matsuda among others. He served as mentor to Frank Gotch, considered by many as the greatest Catch Wrestling competitor of all times.

Farmer Burns Blog Posts:

• Catch Wrestler vs Boxer (Farmer Burns vs Papke)
• Ultimate Neck Strength Catch Wrestling vs Judo (Farmer Burns and Higashi)
• 10 Things you probably didn’t know about Farmer Burns