Robert Herman Julius Friedrich (June 30, 1891 – August 8, 1966), better known by the ring name Ed "Strangler" Lewis, was an American professional wrestler and trainer. During his wrestling career, which spanned four decades, Lewis was a four-time World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion and overall recognised officially as a five-time world champion. Considered to be one of the most iconic and recognizable sports stars of the 1920s, often alongside boxer Jack Dempsey and baseball player Babe Ruth, Lewis notably wrestled in over 6,000 matches (many of which were real contests) and lost only 32 of them. He was posthumously inducted as a charter member into the following hall of fames: Wrestling Observer Newsletter, Professional Wrestling, George Tragos/Lou Thesz and WWE's Legacy Wing. One of the most legitimately feared grapplers of all time, Lewis was known for his catch wrestling prowess and trained many future champions, most notably Lou Thesz, Danny Hodge, Dick Hutton and Gene LeBell. Professional wrestling career Born in Nekoosa, Wisconsin to German parents, Friedrich was an active youngster, participating in amateur wrestling, basketball and track. Friedrich would end up solely focusing on wrestling, finding success competing in local competitions against other farmers. Friedrich began wrestling professionally at the age of 14, using the ring name Ed "Strangler" Lewis, first in Louisville, Kentucky, partly in tribute of 1890s star Evan "Strangler" Lewis and so his parents wouldn't discover it was him. It was also stated in the A&E documentary The Unreal Story of Professional Wrestling that he was dubbed the Strangler after a match in France where he applied a sleeper hold, and the French, who were unfamiliar with the hold, thought he was strangling his opponent. He was the pivotal figure in the "Gold Dust Trio", along with promoters Toots Mondt and Big Billy Sandow, a travelling road show that was the precursor to wrestling tours, and which revolutionized professional wrestling by creating undercards, promoting full events instead of one match shows. They also developed the first professional wrestling storylines, creating worked feuds between wrestlers. Because of the legit skills Lewis possessed, the Trio could put the title on who ever they wanted, because Lewis had the ability to defeat anyone who would not follow the script. Lewis captured his first recognized World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship on December 13, 1920, defeating Joe Stecher. Stecher would prove to be Lewis' biggest rival, both in and out of the