Peter Sauer (February 2, 1900 – September 11, 1949), was an American professional wrestler, better known by the ring name Ray Steele. He was born and raised in Norka, a German colony in Russia, in 1900 before immigrating to

Lincoln, Nebraska Lincoln is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Nebraska. The city covers and had a population of 291,082 as of the 2020 census. It is the state's List of cities in Nebraska, second-most populous city a ...

, in 1906. A highly skilled and dangerous catch wrestler, Steele was known for his extensive knowledge of

submission Deference (also called submission or passivity) is the condition of submitting to the espoused, legitimate influence of one's superior or superiors. Deference implies a yielding or submitting to the judgment of a recognized superior, out of re ...

holds. After a successful

amateur wrestling Amateur wrestling is a variant of wrestling practiced at Olympic Games, Olympic, Collegiate wrestling, collegiate, Scholastic wrestling, scholastic, and other levels. There are two international wrestling styles performed at the Olympic Games, fr ...

career, Steele then started wrestling in the carnivals, where he honed his catch wrestling skills. Upon turning pro, he relocated to

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

and became a regular workout partner of fellow catch wrestler Ad Santel. On 16 May 1934, he wrestled Orville Brown to a 30-minute draw. He gained some notoriety in 1936 when he faced heavyweight

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

contender Kingfish Levinsky in what is considered an early

mixed martial arts Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full-contact fighting combat sport, sport based on strike (attack), striking and grappling; incorporating techniques from various combat sports from around the world. In the early 20th century, various inter-s ...

(MMA) contest, which Steele won in 35 seconds. Steele's biggest accomplishment in the sport was winning the

National Wrestling Association The National Wrestling Association (NWA) was an early professional wrestling sanctioning body created in 1930 by the National Boxing Association (NBA; now the World Boxing Association, WBA) as an attempt to create a governing body for professional ...

's World Heavyweight Championship from Bronko Nagurski in

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

, on March 7, 1940. Steele would hold the belt for over a year before losing it back to Bronko Nagurski on March 11, 1941, in

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. Sauer served as a mentor and coach to many young stars, including Lou Thesz before his death of a

heart attack A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...

Wray, J. G. "Wrestling Mourns Ray Steele" ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' (Sept. 13, 1949) in September 1949. Thesz considered Sauer to be one of the finest wrestlers he ever knew. A British wrestler would later re-use the ring name "Ray Steele" in the late 20th century, holding the British Heavyweight Championship.

Championships and accomplishments

* George Tragos/Lou Thesz Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame **Class of 2002 *

** World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *Midwest Wrestling Association (Ohio) ** MWA World Heavyweight Championship (Ohio version)'' (1 time) * Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame ** Pioneer Era (Class of 2008) *''

Wrestling Observer Newsletter The ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON'') is a newsletter that covers professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Founded in print in 1982 by Dave Meltzer, the ''Wrestling Observer'' website merged with Bryan Alvarez's ''Figure Four Wee ...

'' **

Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame The ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON'') Hall of Fame is a professional wrestling and mixed martial arts (MMA) hall of fame that recognizes people who make significant contributions to their professions. It was founded in 1996 by Dave Mel ...

( Class of 1996)

References

External links

Profile at WrestlingMuseum.org

* 1900 births 1949 deaths Russian people of German descent American people of Russian descent 20th-century American male actors American male professional wrestlers Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum Russian male professional wrestlers 20th-century male professional wrestlers NWA World Junior Heavyweight Champions {{US-prowrestling-bio-stub

Championships and accomplishments

See also

References

External links