In 1940, Florence hosted a wrestling spectacle that probably sounded unbelievable even by the standards of professional wrestling.
At Fort Willingham Armory, spectators gathered for a “Rassle Royale” featuring a man billed at an astonishing 640 pounds. His name was Martin Levy, but wrestling fans knew him better as “The Human Blimp.”
The attraction that night was simple: Levy would take on six average-sized wrestlers at the same time.
For Florence audiences, it must have been equal parts sporting event, carnival sideshow and pure spectacle. And that was exactly the kind of attraction Martin Levy had built his career around.
From the Sideshow to the Wrestling Ring
Long before he became a professional wrestler, Levy had reportedly earned money exhibiting his enormous size in a Coney Island sideshow, where he appeared as a “fat man.” That was where wrestling promoter Jack Pfefer recognized his potential.
Pfefer was one of professional wrestling’s great showmen. He understood that audiences did not necessarily buy tickets simply to see technically skilled wrestlers. They bought tickets to see something unusual.
His philosophy was hardly subtle. Pfefer openly promoted wrestlers with strange appearances, enormous bodies, shaved heads, unusual facial features and exaggerated personalities. His stable eventually included performers with names such as the Swedish Angel and Lady Blimp.
Levy made his professional wrestling debut at Boston Garden in November 1933, weighing roughly 525 pounds. His first opponent, Axel Anderson, lasted only about 40 seconds. The Boston Globe reportedly observed that Levy might not have been the world’s greatest wrestler, but there was little question that he was the biggest.
By the late 1930s, newspapers were commonly listing Levy between 600 and 625 pounds. Eventually his advertised weight reached roughly 640 pounds, earning him billing as the largest wrestler in the world.
The Human Blimp Comes to Florence
In 1940, the touring spectacle reached Florence. At Fort Willingham Armory, Martin Levy was advertised as the 640-pound “Human Blimp” for a “Rassle Royale” in which he would face six average-sized opponents at the same time.
The armory was a fitting venue. Although built primarily for the Alabama National Guard, Fort Willingham also served as one of Florence’s gathering places for sporting events and community entertainment.
What happened in Florence appears to have been part of an established act that Levy carried from city to city.
Only a few months later, on January 22, 1941, nearly 1,000 spectators packed Fort Brandon in Tuscaloosa for another Levy “wrestle royal.” There, three wrestlers — Bob Corby, Rod Fenton and Gorilla Grubmeyer — attacked the 640-pound Blimp together.
For seven minutes, Levy held them off with a bear hug and a maneuver colorfully described as an “elephant squeeze.” Finally, all three men rushed him at once. Levy went down beneath a pile of bodies.
The referee ruled him eliminated despite Levy’s protest that part of his body had been outside the ring. The spectacle did not end there. Levy immediately faced Grubmeyer in another match and defeated him in only about three minutes.
That Tuscaloosa event gives us a pretty good picture of what Florence audiences likely came to see in 1940. This was less a conventional wrestling match than a challenge:
How many ordinary wrestlers would it take to bring down the Human Blimp? In Florence, apparently, promoters decided the answer might be six.
The Legend of His Appetite
Levy’s appetite eventually became almost as famous as his wrestling. In a 1946 interview, he claimed that breakfast might include a dozen eggs, although on other mornings he ate only two. He also claimed that he could eat six pounds of steak in one sitting.
One of his more extraordinary stories involved mashed potatoes prepared from half a bushel of potatoes, a pound of butter and two quarts of milk.
How much of this was Martin Levy and how much was the carefully cultivated legend of “The Blimp” is difficult to determine. Professional wrestling promoters of the era were masters at mixing fact, exaggeration and publicity. But that uncertainty was part of the attraction.
An Alabama Ending
There is one final connection between Levy and Alabama. More than twenty years after his appearance in Florence, Martin Levy was living near Prattville, Alabama.
His health had deteriorated considerably, and reports claimed his weight had climbed far beyond the 640 pounds Florence spectators had seen.
Martin “The Human Blimp” Levy died on November 8, 1961.
Some accounts placed his weight near 900 pounds by the end of his life. The man who had traveled the country as one of professional wrestling’s strangest attractions had ultimately returned to Alabama.
