I’m a fan of the early 1900’s era of professional wrestling. I find it very interesting- the circus wrestlers, catch-as-catch-can, and the obscurities.
I recently came across an individual who I found fascinating, and that man is Joe Greenstein, aka "The Mighty Atom". Joe wrestled for a short period of time under the name “Kid Greenstein” before transitioning/focusing on strongman performances.
Joe was a 5’4” Jewish man from Poland, who later moved to Texas. Beginning as a circus wrestler and strongman, Joe was trained by strongman “Champion Volanko”, and later learned some boxing techniques from Jack Johnson. Joe accomplished unbelievable feats of strength such as; biting through iron nails, bending iron horseshoes with his bare hands, and hammering nails into wooden boards with only his palm. These horseshoes and nails are on display at the Weightlifting Hall of Fame. Additionally, stories exist of Joe winning a fight against 20 Nazi sympathizers after being attacked, and surviving after being shot in the head with a handgun. Later in his life, Joe assisted in training the NYPD, by teaching officers early wrestling and grappling techniques.
I wrote up some stats for Kid Greenstein. Please feel free to use them if you want to mix up any “turn of the century” feds. Also, please feel free to critique the stats, I don’t do this much, and I’m happy to make changes if it makes sense. Thanks.