Grappling With Tragedy: Steve Znoski

Brian Damage

Grappling with Tragedy is a series of articles that deal with unfortunate, tragic incidents that have occurred throughout the history of professional wrestling. It is unlike the ‘Wrestling with Sin’ series that deals more with the seedier side of wrestling like arrests, murders and suicides. Grappling looks more at particular tragic incidents that have in some instances altered pro wrestling in some way.

Steve Znoski

Stanislaw Znosko was a Polish immigrant born in 1908 and emigrated to the Boston, Massachusetts area. He became a grid iron star playing football for Boston University and after graduation after failed attempts to turn pro….Znosko like many other football players turned to professional wrestling. He debuted in 1931 and wrestled under several aliases including The Black Secret, Chief Little Moose and Jumbo Gnasdow. He found his greatest success as a wrestler competing under the name of ‘The Boston Bulldog’ Steve Znoski. Many newspapers touted Znoski as “the hottest young, rising star in professional wrestling.”

His aggressive wrestling skills, along with his good looks…made him a fan favorite especially in the southern region of the country. He went from a match opener to main event in a little over a year. On May 28, 1936 in New York City…Znoski squared off against Mike Romano in a match that only lasted a little over two minutes. Znoski was thrown and accidentally landed on the top of his head suffering a concussion. The match was stopped and Znoski was sent to a local hospital in the city. According to reports, after a brief hospital stay, Znoski wanted to leave. One June 2, 1936…in an alleged dazed state, Znoski attempted to sneak out of his hospital room by climbing out a window and fell to his death. Steve Znoski was just 28 years old.