Zbyszko excelled at this form of competition, demonstrating proficiency in the styles that later became standardized in the Olympics as ‘freestyle’ and ‘Greco-Roman’, but which were contested professionally, like boxing matches, around the turn of the century. He solidified his claim to worldwide fame by battling Gotch in 1909 and then, a year later, challenging the era's widely acknowledged international champion, Indian star Ghulam Mohammad Baksh Butt, the ‘Great Gama’ — in both cases, Zbyszko utilized superior defense to force time-limit draws after hours of strategic inactivity.

But Zbyszko, a cerebral man who understood the value of showmanship, knew that legitimate-yet dull bouts like these were costing the business lots of box-office money. Accordingly, by the early 1920s, he and his brother Władysław, who wrestled as ‘Wladek’, had begun cooperating with athletic promoters who sought to script exciting outcomes to wrestling matches. Both served as world champions in this changing landscape, in which popular but unskilled celebrities and athletes from other sports could win world championships and attract crowds despite limited skills. Much as Zbyszko had once literally carried Frank Gotch and the Great Gama on his back in legitimate contests, he now carried washed-up football stars like 6’9” Wayne ‘Big’ Munn through eye-catching albeit short matches in which he put them over as world-beating wrestlers by letting them win.