Gotch vs. Hackenschmidt: The Matches That Made and Destroyed Legitimate American Professional Wrestling [1 ed.]

Table of contents :
Introduction
Chapter 1 – The Challenger
Chapter 2 – The Champion
Chapter 3 – Gotch Campaigns for Title Shot
Chapter 4 – The Champion Tours the World
Chapter 5 – The First Match
Chapter 6 – Gotch Defends the Title
Chapter 7 – The Rematch
Bibliography
About the Author
Endnotes

Citation preview

GOTCH VS. HACKENSCHMIDT The Matches That Made and Destroyed Legitimate American Professional Wrestling

Gotch vs. Hackenschmidt: The Matches That Made and Destroyed Legitimate American Professional Wrestling Copyright 2016 by Ken Zimmerman Jr. Published by Ken Zimmerman Jr. Enterprises www.kenzimmermanjr.com All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means—electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other—except for brief quotations in printed reviews without the prior permission of the publisher. Published in St. Louis, MO by Ken Zimmerman Jr. Enterprises. Editor: Tamara L. Zimmerman First Edition: May 2016 If you like this book, you can sign up for Ken’s newsletter to receive information about future book releases. You can sign up for the newsletter and receive additional e-books by clicking here.

Dedication This book is dedicated to my second great uncle Julius “Uncle Jules” Johannpeter, who took my grandfather Gilbert P. Ellis to the pro wrestling matches in St. Louis’ Old Coliseum. “Uncle Jules” was a surrogate father to my grandfather, who lost his dad at 2 years old. The matches made a great impression on my grandfather, who told me about them as I was growing up. These stories spurred my interesting in professional wrestling in the early 20th Century.

Table of Contents Introduction Chapter 1 – The Challenger Chapter 2 – The Champion Chapter 3 – Gotch Campaigns for Title Shot Chapter 4 – The Champion Tours the World Chapter 5 – The First Match Chapter 6 – Gotch Defends the Title Chapter 7 – The Rematch Bibliography About the Author Endnotes

Introduction “Don’t break my leg!” As the two muscular men struggled in the center of the ring, the man on top continued to work on the downed man’s legs. Again, the man on bottom yelled, “Please don’t break my leg!” Frank Gotch looked over at his rival George Hackenschmidt, who was writhing in obvious pain. Despite a severe knee injury, Hackenschmidt went through with the rematch on Labor Day Weekend 1911. Gotch snarled, “What?” Hackenschmidt repeated, “Please don’t break my leg.” Gotch said plainly, “There’ll have to be a fall.” Hackenschmidt hesitated for a minute before laying back for the second and deciding fall, an anti-climactic ending to the second of the most anticipated wrestling matches in the legitimate wrestling era. The match was the second meeting between the men.

On April 3, 1908,

current World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion George Hackenschmidt met American Heavyweight Wrestling Champion Frank Gotch in pro wrestling’s version of The Match of the Century. Anticipated since 1905, the combatants finally settled on a location and date for the match in early 1908. George Hackenschmidt won the World Greco-Roman Heavyweight Wrestling Championship in 1901. He spent the next seven years touring the world defending his championship. Originally a weightlifter and holder of several world weightlifting records, “The Russian Lion” was one of the most powerful men in wrestling history. Standing only 5’09” tall, “Hack” weighed between 209 and 218 pounds in his prime.

As he approached the match with Gotch, wrestling observers believed

Hackenschmidt to be nearly unbeatable. The most serious previous challenge to his

reign came from “The Terrible Turk”, Ahmed Madrali. Hackenschmidt pinned Madrali in 41 seconds after dislocating his arm with a hammerlock. Gotch started wrestling in the late 1890s about the same time as Hackenschmidt, when he came to the attention of Martin “Farmer” Burns. Burns was the American Heavyweight Wrestling Champion in his own right and a great professional wrestling trainer. Approaching his early 40s, Burns spent as much time training other wrestlers as he did preparing himself for his bouts.

Burns saw

greatness in Gotch. Going into the first match, the only knock on Gotch was a lack of international experience. Hackenschmidt had been touring the world for seven years. Gotch did all of his wrestling in the United States including a brief stint in the Klondike during 1901. However, the years of touring may have damaged “Hack” more than it helped him. Hackenschmidt was born in either August 1877 or 1878 depending on the source. Gotch was either 4 or 16 months older than Hackenschmidt. However, Gotch was far fresher than Hackenschmidt entering the first contest. While Gotch was confident and healthy, Hackenschmidt remained reserved and looked pallid. Gotch trained in public, while Hackenschmidt trained in secret. However, wrestling pundits were divided on who they thought would win. Hackenschmidt had not been defeated in a ring for seven years. He beat every credible challenger not named Frank Gotch. Frank Gotch had lost in 1901 to St. Louis Champion Oscar Wasem, in 1905 to Tom Jenkins and in 1906 to Fred Beell but otherwise maintained an equally impressive record. The anticipation built into the greatest legitimate wrestling match ever held in the United States.

In the next couple chapters, we will look at the careers of both men, the first match, the intervening three year period and conclude with the disappointing rematch. After building interest in the sport with the first match, the second match brought back all the doubts about legitimacy and spending hard earned money on wrestling bouts. If the first bout built the sport, the second bout wrecked it.

Figure 1- Gotch Takes on Hack in Comiskey Park in 1908 from the Public Domain

Chapter 1 – The Challenger Frank Gotch, the farm boy from Humboldt, Iowa, would defeat George Hackenschmidt for the World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship in 1908. This victory and his subsequent defeat of "Hack" in the 1911 rematch cemented Gotch's place as one of the greatest wrestlers of all time. Gotch, arguably America’s most talented professional wrestler, was not the undefeated wunderkind of legend as “Hack” was. Gotch paid his dues and experienced losses on his way to the top. Frank Alvin Gotch was born on April 27, 1878. In his prime, Gotch stood 5'11" and weighed between 193 and 210 pounds. Gotch began wrestling in 1899 at 21 years of age. He defeated all the locals before taking on former champion Dan McLeod in a match lasting two hours. impressed by the youngster's ability.

McLeod finally overcame Gotch but was

Figure 2- Dan McLeod, one of Frank Gotch's toughest opponents, from the Public Domain

In December 1899, Gotch took on Martin "Farmer" Burns, who defeated Gotch in 11 minutes. The loss was a turning point for Frank Gotch. Burns, not only an American Heavyweight Wrestling Champion but a celebrated wrestling trainer, was so impressed he offered to train Gotch. This early defeat would result in Frank Gotch gaining his most valuable mentor and becoming World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion nine years later. Before that win, however, he fought many matches. He won most but lost some.

One of Gotch’s more surprising losses came on Wednesday, March 27,

1901. That day, the Iowa Wrestling Champion took on Oscar Wasem, champion from St. Louis, MO. They met in front of 500 fans at Turner Hall in Burlington, Iowa. The next day the St. Louis Republic carried a story about the bout. The match was a two-out-of-three-falls event. Oscar Wasem won the first fall after 31 minutes and 30 seconds. According to the Republic, Gotch won the second fall by a fluke in 4 minutes and 35 seconds. The reporter did not explain how it was a fluke but being Wasem’s hometown newspaper, the reporter may have been biased in his observations. Wasem won the third and deciding fall after 26 minutes and 45 seconds. Wasem immediately challenged Martin "Farmer" Burns, Gotch’s trainer. The bout was scheduled soon after Gotch’s loss to Wasem.

For all his

bravado, Oscar Wasem did not beat "Farmer" Burns. The immediate challenge of "Farmer" Burns means Frank Gotch was still acting as Burns' "policeman". If a challenger wanted to face a champion, the challenger

had to defeat another contender before he obtained a shot at the championship. Gotch seems to be the challenger or "policeman" the potential title contender had to beat.

Figure 3-St. Louis Wrestler Oscar Wasem from the Public Domain

Possibly inspired by this defeat, Frank Gotch went on a tear beating every challenger from Nebraska and Iowa before leaving for the Klondike during a gold rush in 1901. Gotch made quite a name for himself during his Klondike run. The loss was surprising because Wasem was a decent wrestler but he was not considered a serious challenger for the American Heavyweight Wrestling Championship much less being a world title contender. Oscar Wasem was also small for a heavyweight at 165 pounds. During the early part of his career, Gotch weighed no less than 189 pounds. Gotch had distinct physical advantages. Wasem was still wrestling in 1912, when he was training with Frank Gotch for a match with Dr. Ben Roller. The match was supposed to be a retirement match. Oscar Wasem disappears from history at this point. Frank Gotch would make history in 1908 but he had to pay his dues first. On April 22, 1901, Gotch met the 230 pound J. Crow of Omaha, who outweighed him by 40 pounds. Gotch defeated him in two straight falls for the $100 prize money and all [i] gate receipts. After this series of matches, Gotch left for the Klondike as a miner named Kennedy, if you believe the legends around Gotch’s trip. Two facts about the trip which are true. Gotch was in the Klondike in late 1901. Second, sporting men knew [ii] Kennedy was Gotch by August 1901, when he was taking on all comers. By December 19, 1901, Gotch returned to Iowa to take on Mike Eli, a [iii] Romanian wrestler in two matches. Gotch won both battles.

Hyperbole is common to professional wrestling today and in the past. Gotch’s management team took full advantage of the distance of the Klondike from the United States in the pre-electronic era in writing several promotional stories about Gotch’s time in the Klondike. News and information travelled slowly in 1902, so Gotch and his team wrote about his exploits with little restraint. [iv] One of the first newspaper articles appeared in the Minneapolis Journal. The writer describes how Gotch travelled to the Klondike for the purpose of working in the gold fields. The writer claimed Gotch wanted to avoid conflicts with camp tough guys, so he used the alias Kennedy. According to the legend, Gotch lived the quiet life of a miner until the camp bully challenged him. Gotch threw the bully onto his back three times to the surprise of everyone in the camp, who thought Gotch a quiet and timid miner. The miners spread the word about Gotch’s triumph, which led to more matches. Gotch defeated all comers for progressively bigger purses until he was matched with the Alaskan Wrestling Champion Silas Archer. They met on August 13, 1901 for a reported purse and gate receipts of $18,000. Gotch -- still wrestling as Kennedy -[v] defeated Archer in a little over 17 minutes. The story contains a few holes including a disparity about how much money Gotch pocketed in the Klondike. The Minneapolis Journal article states Gotch won $80,000 in six months.

[vi] Other articles claimed he pocketed $35,000.

The

subsequent articles may have adopted a more plausible sum. The articles also claim no one knew Kennedy was Gotch but the Omaha Daily Bee article on August 14, 1901 talks about Gotch’s exploits in Alaska.

Figure 4- Martin "Farmer" Burns, Frank Gotch's Trainer and American Heavyweight Wrestling Champion in his own right, performs the hangman stunt. He could prevent being strangled by the strength of his neck. From the Public Domain

[vii] Many of these exploits were also repeated in Gotch's biography. While in the Klondike, Frank Gotch met Ole Marsh. Marsh travelled back to the United States with Gotch. Marsh toured with Gotch and his mentor “Farmer” Burns. Marsh would come out of the crowd dressed as a farmer during “The Farmer’s” challenges. After lasting the ten minute time limit and “pocketing” the $25.00, Marsh would announce his true identity. The men built anticipation for Marsh’s future bouts through “The [viii] Farmer’s” reputation. Despite the hype, Gotch delivered real results in the ring. As he continued to win matches in 1902 and 1903, a match with American Heavyweight Wrestling Champion Tom Jenkins was inevitable. Gotch started his campaign for Jenkin’s title on August 19, 1903 in Minot, South Dakota. Gotch agreed to throw Ole Olson three times in one hour. He accomplished the feat in twenty-eight minutes for a $500 purse.

It took him until September 3, 1903 to secure a second match. Gotch took on two wrestlers named Clank and Coleman. He won $800 for throwing both men twice in 84 minutes. Gotch next met John Burg, a champion wrestler and weightlifter. Gotch won $2,800 after throwing Burg twice in 31 minutes. Gotch also beat versatile wrestler Duncan McMillan for $1,000. Gotch then engaged in two most likely prearranged contests with his mentor and trainer Martin "Farmer" Burns.

Gotch dropped bouts to build up Burns'

opponents in the past. Burns may have been returning the favor. Gotch wrestled a series of non-title matches with Tom Jenkins for $2,020 before beating Jenkins for the title and another $2,800 dollars from a $2,000 purse and $800 gate receipts. Gotch reportedly made about $20,000 on his six month tour of the western states. Before he met Jenkins though, Gotch would take on one of his most powerful and surprising challengers.

On December 23, 1903, Frank Gotch traveled to

Bellingham, Washington to take on a 6'05", 215 pound Native American wrestler from Montana.

Wrestling fans in the area considered Chief Two Feathers to be

unbeatable. Frank Gotch was not impressed with his reputation but changed his mind after Chief Two Feathers gave Gotch the most uncomfortable 15 minutes of his young career. Chief Two Feathers entered the ring wearing a bead robe of many colors. When the men met at center ring, Chief Two Feather’s six inch advantage in height was clearly visible. Both men shook hands and returned to their corners.

As the bell started the match, Gotch and Two Feathers tied up in center ring. In a surprise to Gotch and his supporters, Chief Two Feathers slammed him to the ground. Gotch struggled mightily to get back to his feet but Two Feathers kept forcing him down on the mat. As Gotch fought ferociously to keep from being pinned, he continuously tried to get his feet back under him to stand back up. However, Chief Two Feathers kept working him over on the ground. For a full 15 minutes, Chief Two Feathers continued to push Gotch to the mat for a pin but eventually Gotch's superior wrestling ability allowed him to escape. None of Gotch's team ever saw anyone hold Gotch down for so long. Despite being back on his feet, Gotch still struggled to get close enough to grip Chief Two Feathers. After another 30 minutes of wrestling, Gotch saw his opening. Gotch secured a scissor hold and took Two Feathers to the ground. Gotch quickly secured a hammerlock and pinned Chief Two Feathers for the first fall at 46 minutes. After a rest, the men began the second fall. Chief Two Feathers slammed Gotch a couple times but Gotch wriggled free each time. Two Feathers came close to beating him with a hammerlock but Gotch reversed it and secured another scissors hold. Gotch put Chief Two Feathers in a hammerlock also and with the scissors hold was able to pin Chief Two Feathers for the second fall. Chief Two Feather gave Gotch a bigger challenge than Gotch expected but the legend grew as the years went on. Stories written towards the end of Gotch's career claimed Chief Two Feather never wrestled again. Chief Two Feathers was quoted as saying, "Gotch, he heap big wrestler. Me no match." However, Gotch and Chief Two

Feathers wrestled each other again in both 1904 and 1905. The subsequent stories were mostly hype to build Gotch’s reputation with the wrestling fans.

Figure 5-American Heavyweight Wrestling Champion Tom Jenkins from the Public Domain

After building up the hype behind a match between Tom Jenkins and Frank Gotch, the men were finally signed to meet in early 1904.

Gotch’s habit of

continuously seeking out bigger challenges resulted in Gotch winning his first title. On Thursday, January 28, 1904, Tom Jenkins defended his American Heavyweight Wrestling Championship for the umpteenth time over the previous six years. After Gotch won the first fall, it would obviously be his last defense of the title. [ix] Jenkins defeat of Gotch's trainer, Martin "Farmer" Burns, for the title in late 1897 still rankled Gotch, who entered the match determined to get revenge. Emil Klank, one of Gotch’s trainers and later manager, said, “This match wasn’t a scientific wrestling contest. It was a rough and tumble encounter. It was the fiercest battle in wrestling history. If I live to be a hundred years old, I never expect to see a mat [x] struggle the like of that one between Gotch and Jenkins at Bellingham.” Frank Gotch was a master of leg locks, so Jenkins was very careful to avoid the leg locks of the 190 pound Gotch. 210 pound Jenkins could not avoid Gotch's slams

though. Gotch picked up Jenkins and slammed him to the floor four times in a row. After the fourth slam to the ground, Gotch easily pinned Jenkins. Jenkins' corner men carried him back to his stool and had to vigorously rub his neck and arms to revive him. Jenkins started the next fall with a series of fouls. Jenkins first attempted a strangle hold, which was outlawed for this bout.

Gotch shrugged off Jenkins'

attempt. Not to be deterred, Jenkins swung a hard right hand at Gotch's head. Many ringside observers believed the punch would have knocked Gotch out if it landed. Frank Gotch would sometimes resort to rough stuff himself, like surprising guys with tackles off the customary handshake, but this foul was a flagrant violation of wrestling protocol. The referee had to forcibly restrain Gotch from attacking Jenkins. The referee disqualified Jenkins. The writer for the January 29, 1904 edition of the St. Louis Republic surmised Jenkins knew he could not beat Gotch, so he decided to give up his title on a foul instead of another pin. 32 year-old Jenkins did not express any desire for a rematch knowing he could not beat the 26 year-old Gotch. Jenkins also told reporters the referee was justified in disqualifying him for the attempted punch. Jenkins claimed he was blind in one eye. When Gotch thumbed [xi] his good eye, Jenkins claimed he lashed out to protect it. Whatever the reason for the foul, Jenkins was the former champion. American professional wrestling had a new superstar named Frank Gotch. Jenkins found a promising career after professional wrestling.

After semi-

retiring from the ring in 1905, he took a position teaching wrestling and boxing at

West Point. Jenkins would teach at West Point until 1942 when he was 70 years old. He actually did not retire from the professional ring for good until 1914. While Jenkins was no match for Gotch, he was able to use his skills to teach generations of U.S. Army officers self-defense. Jenkins' retirement allowed him to use his finely tuned skills in other ways. Frank Gotch proved a legendary champion, who dominated professional wrestling during his five year reign as World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion. Few wrestlers could stand up to the powerful and vicious champion. However, Gotch still had a formidable challenge in front of him.

World

Heavyweight Wrestling Champion George Hackenschmidt was making a name for himself around the world.

Figure 6- Frank Gotch from the Public Domain

Chapter 2 – The Champion

George Hackenschmidt (1877-1968) was born in Dorpat, Russia on August 2, 1877. Dorpat is located in modern day Estonian and called Tartu. While modern scholars call Hackenschmidt an Estonian, he was always referred to as “The Russian Lion”. Hackenschmidt seemed to identify as a Russian even though his father was a Baltic German and his mother was an Estonian Swede. A strong athlete from his youth

[xii] , “Hack” earned fame in both weightlifting and

professional wrestling. Hackenschmidt was a world-record holding weightlifter and World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion before wrestling was prearranged and weightlifters used steroids. Hackenschmidt credited his unusual strength to good genetics inherited from his maternal grandfather. While his parents were of average stature and athletic ability, his maternal grandfather was a six-foot tall powerhouse, who emigrated from [xiii] Sweden to Russia. “Hack” was attracted to exercise and sports from his earliest years. It wasn’t long before he was stronger than most of his friends and rose to be their natural leader. In 1891, Hackenschmidt won his first athletic completion in gymnastics. He [xiv] won the prize for best male gymnast in the 14-year-old category. Hackenschmidt enrolled in an engineering company in Reval, known as Tallin in modern day Estonia. Hackenschmidt intended to become a practical and technical engineer. His decision to join the Reval Athletic and Cycling Club altered his life [xv] course.

“Hack” won several cycling competitions but when the bad weather began in the Estonian Fall, the members of the club focused on lifting weights and GrecoRoman wrestling.

Despite his future exploits, Hackenschmidt did not care for

[xvi] wrestling at first.

Figure 7- A young and powerful George Hackenschmidt from the Public Domain

George Hackenschmidt did prove to be a natural at weightlifting. At 18, “Hack” stood 5’ 8” and weighed between 170 and 180 pounds.

At this weight,

[xvii] Hackenschmidt pressed a 214-pound dumbbell over his head with one arm, an incredible feat of strength even today. Realize he did not even have multi-vitamins and protein powder much less steroids to build his great strength. Eventually, “Hack” would stand a little over 5’ 9” tall and weighed 218 pounds at his heaviest in-shape weight. In 1896, George Lurich visited the club. Lurich, also born in Estonia, Russian Empire a year before “Hack”, was a weightlifter as well and at that point had been a

professional wrestler for about a year.

Figure 8- George Lurich, weightlifter and professional wrestler, whose defeat of a young George Hackenschmidt led "Hack" on his path to World Champion. From the Public Domain

Lurich challenged any of the athletes of the Reval Athletic and Cycling Club to a wrestling match.

Lurich defeated all the challengers including Hackenschmidt—

though it took more than one bout. While Lurich was a far more developed wrestler than “Hack”, he was not nearly as powerful. Their first match ended in a draw. The [xviii] second bout was won by Lurich in seventeen minutes. Lurich’s defeat of Hackenschmidt annoyed “Hack”, who soon began wrestling as much as he lifted weights. George Hackenschmidt was determined to avenge his defeat by George Lurich. Lurich, however, wanted nothing to do with “Hack”. After Hackenschmidt became World Champion, Lurich often bragged about defeating Hackenschmidt but carefully avoided him for the rest of his career.

Hackenschmidt openly challenged Lurich in London during the early 1900s. Lurich claimed to be ill and left town the following day.

Figure 9- Fritz Konietzko from the Public Domain

In 1897, a German wrestler named Fritz Konietzko came to Reval. A smaller wrestler, Konietzko was fast and beat everyone but Hackenschmidt. They wrestled a ten-minute draw. A few weeks later, Ladislaus Pytlasinski, the skilled Polish wrestler, also visited Reval. Pytlasinski beat Konietzko and every other member of the Reval Athletic Club including George Hackenschmidt. However, “Hack” bore Pytlasinski no ill will over this loss because Pytlasinski taught him a great deal about Greco-Roman wrestling. Pytlasinski would become Stanislaus Zbyszko’s trainer, when Pytlasinski returned to [xix] Poland.

Figure 10-Ladislaus Pytlasinski, one of Poland's greatest wrestlers and the trainer of Stanislaus Zbyszko, from the Public Domain

In late 1897, while performing at his relatively safe career as engineer, Hackenschmidt suffered a slight injury to his arm--but not in his training. Hackenschmidt still worked as an engineer due to his amateur status in both wrestling and weightlifting. “Hack” sought out a physician and Dr. Von Krajewski, who also founded the St. Petersburg Athletic and Cycling Club, was recommended. Hackenschmidt’s meeting with Von Krajewski would change his life as Von Krajewski became a surrogate father and powerful patron.

Dr. Von Krajewski was physician to the Russian Tsar and had many powerful political and athletic connections. Dr. Von Krajewski informed Hackenschmidt that the injury was not serious. However, Von Krajewski could not help being impressed by the physical development of the 20-year-old. Von Krajewski, an avid weightlifter himself, often advised the top athletes in Russia. As Physician to the Tsar, Dr. Von Krajewski also [xx] had powerful contacts in government and athletics. Dr. Von Krajewski invited the young Hackenschmidt to live and train with him in St. Petersburg as he felt “Hack” could be both World Greco-Roman Wrestling Champion and the Strongest Man in the World. Von Krajewski was correct on both assertions. Despite objections from his family, Hackenschmidt moved to St. Petersburg in early 1898 to train with Dr. Von Krajewski daily.

Von Krajewski also guided

Hackenschmidt in adapting a solid plan of nutrition. While “Hack’s” nutrition plan was primitive by today’s standards, it was likely a strong improvement on his previous nutrition plan. Hackenschmidt drank 11 pints of milk today; however, he did not drink much water. Today, we know water consumption is essential, while milk should be drunk sparingly by adults. Hackenschmidt’s diet was three-fourths vegetables, one-fourth [xxi] meat. Fruit was seldom eaten. Under Dr. Von Krajewski’s instruction, “Hack” set world records in the overheard press with 335 pounds at a body weight of 198 pounds. He also “Hack” squatted, an exercise named after him, 180 pounds. In 1902, he broke this record by “Hack” [xxii] squatting 187 pounds.

After establishing himself as the Strongest Man in the World, it was time to execute Dr. Von Krajewski’s plan to put “Hack” on the top of the wrestling world. In 1898, Dr. Von Krajewski entered him in the European Greco-Roman Wrestling Tournament. The winner of the tournament would be declared European Champion. “Hack” went through the competition very easily until he met Bavarian wrestling champion Michael Hitzler in the semi-final match.

Figure 11- Bavarian wrestler Michael Hitzler from the Public Domain

Hitzler stood 5’06” but weighed a massive 220 pounds.

In 149 recorded

matches, Hitzler recorded 79 wins, 35 losses and the remainder of the bouts were draws.

[xxiii]

[xxiv] It took “Hack” five minutes of hard wrestling to beat Hitzler.

In the finals, he met Georg Burghardt, who Hackenschmidt did not consider [xxv] much of a wrestler. “Hack” beat him in only two minutes. With this victory, the twenty-one-year-old was now the European Champion in the continent’s dominant form of wrestling. Hackenschmidt’s wrestling career was briefly interrupted in 1899, when he enlisted in the army for his mandatory year service. Hackenschmidt was assigned to

the 1st Life Guards of the Czar. After five months and probably due to Dr. Von [xxvi] Krajewski’s influence, Hackenschmidt was released from service. Hackenschmidt won the Russian Greco-Roman Wrestling Championship before training for another weightlifting championship. When attempting to press 286 lbs. with one arm, Hackenschmidt injured his arm.

However, he was determined to

become a professional and travelled to the World Greco-Roman Wrestling Championship tournament in Paris. The tournament was held in November 1899. Hackenschmidt defeated his first opponent in 18 seconds.

His second

opponent, French wrestler Auguste Robinet, lasted four minutes. “The Russian Lion” was fast establishing a reputation.

Figure 12- French wrestler Auguste Robinet from the Public Domain

Hackenschmidt claimed in The Story of My Life, which is part of his book How to Live in Health and Physical Fitness, it was normal for tournament directors to place obstacles in the path of foreign wrestlers. He cited his next two opponents as evidence of this behavior.

“Hack” considered Aimable de la Calmette to be one of the best French wrestlers in the tournament. While not nearly as strong as Hackenschmidt, de la Calmette possessed excellent technique. He was also far more experienced than Hackenschmidt, who had been wrestling competitively for only 15 months. Aimable de la Calmette wrestled in at least 124 recorded matches with an [xxvii] outstanding record of 84 wins, 18 losses and 22 draws. It took Hackenschmidt [xxviii] 47 minutes to throw the skilled de la Calmette.

Figure 13- One of Hackenschmidt's toughest early opponents, Aimable de la Calmette, from the Public Domain.

His next match would be against an opponent possibly as strong as “Hack”, an unusual occurrence for him in his career. Laurent le Beaucairois was slightly shorter than Hackenschmidt at 5’07” but weighed 264 pounds for this tournament. Hackenschmidt could not believe how agile Beaucairois was at such a heavy weight.

Beaucairois, born Jean Laurent in 1866, was on the down side of his career but had been wrestling for 15 years. Laurent wrestled in at least 86 recorded matches [xxix] with 53 wins, 18 losses and 15 draws. Hackenschmidt could not overcome Laurent le Beaucaoirois or his arm injury. After 30 minutes, the referee declared the match a draw. Hackenschmidt withdrew from the tournament after this match. A French doctor told “Hack” to take one year [xxx] off serious training to allow his arm to heal. Hackenschmidt returned to Russia but resumed heavy training in May 1900. He soon strained the injured arm again during a heavy weightlifting session. Dr. Von Krajewski gave the twenty-three-year-old surrogate son a strong lecture. Hackenschmidt did not attempt any more personal bests in weightlifting during the remainder of his professional wrestling career.

Figure 14- The powerful Laurent le Beaucairois from the Public Domain

Hackenschmidt was healthy enough in June 1900 to win the St. Petersburg wrestling tournament and claim the championship. Hackenschmidt was not able to enter the tournament in Vienna but did avenge his previous draw with Laurent in St. [xxxi] Petersburg, who conceded the match after one hour of wrestling. In September 1900, Hackenschmidt made his challenge to Georg Lurich, who was performing in London. Lurich put off Hackenschmidt’s challenge to the next evening but then left before the agreed upon match the following day. Hackenschmidt again went to Paris for the World Championship tournament. In one of the worst showings of “Hack’s” career, Laurent le Beaucairous beat him with a head and arm throw at 23 minutes.

[xxxii]

“Hack” claimed he defied doctor’s orders to

participate in the tournament as he was sick with the flu. “Hack” was now 1 win, 1 loss and 1 draw with Laurent. Hackenschmidt ended his 1900 wrestling campaign at the Hamburg wrestling tournament, which was shut down by German police before the conclusion of the tournament after a riot by spectators. Hackenschmidt entered 1901 determined to become World Heavyweight Champion. A particularly painful personal loss spurred Hackenschmidt to accomplish his goal of becoming World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion. On March 14, 1901, the normally healthy Dr. Von Krajewski died of apoplexy after falling and breaking his leg on the Fontanka Bridge in St. Petersburg. Hackenschmidt crushed the competition at the St. Petersburg wrestling tournament. [xxxiii] The World Greco-Roman Wrestling Tournament was held in Vienna, not Paris, in 1901. The tournament also occurred around Easter instead of in November.

Hackenschmidt expected to face the gigantic Turkish wrestler Halil Adali. In the first shock of the tournament, an otherwise journeyman wrestler named Bayer threw Adali in a minute and a half.

[xxxiv]

“Hack” started the tournament by beating Belgian wrestler Omer de Bouillon in nine minutes and beat Michael Hitzler in twelve minutes. He defeated an American wrestler named John Piening “The Butcher Boy”, in only 31 seconds. In what must have been a satisfying victory, Hackenschmidt avenged his loss to Laurent le [xxxv] Beaucairous in forty-one minutes. Hackenschmidt had his toughest time with his semi-final and final opponents. First up for Hackenschmidt was the tall and powerful Paul Pons. Paul Pons stood 6’04” tall and weighed 252 pounds. Pons possessed some skill and great power but he was particularly good at defensive wrestling. Pons’ strategy with Hackenschmidt was to stay out of danger and hope to outlast Hackenschmidt.

Figure 15- French wrestling Champion Paul Pons from the Public Domain

However, Hackenschmidt took a back seat to no one in outstanding physical condition. “Hack” never tired and threw Pons after seventy-nine minutes of hard wrestling. The Austrian fans were impressed by the match and cheered “Hack” for [xxxvi] some time. The meeting with his next opponent, Halil Adali, had been hyped for some time. Adali was one of three Turkish wrestlers who would trouble Hackenschmidt during his reign. While many pointed to Ahmed Medrali, “the Terrible Turk”, as his toughest opponent, Hackenschmidt felt Halil Adali was the toughest Turkish wrestler he ever competed against. The results of their match bear out “Hack’s” assertions.

Figure 16- The imposing Halil Adali from the Public Domain

Halil Adali was a giant at 6’06” and weighing 298 pounds. Hackenschmidt stood between 5’09” and 5’10” and weighed about 208 pounds. It took “Hack” more time than normal to best this physical challenge. In fact, it took two matches to determine the winner. During the first match, the referee declared a draw after an hour and 18 minutes. Both men were told to come back the following day for a second match to determine the winner of the tournament. Hackenschmidt recovered better than Adali and pressed him for most of the second match.

Frustrated by his lack of success with Hackenschmidt, Adali

[xxxvii] withdrew from the match at the 40 minute mark. George Hackenschmidt was declared the winner of the tournament and the new World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion. After only four years of serious wrestling training, the 24-year-old was champion of the world. For the next seven years, Hackenschmidt would tour the world defending his championship. He would also transition from defending the title in Greco-Roman wrestling, the preferred style of Europe, to catch-as-catch-can, the style gaining more popularity throughout the world. course with Frank Alvin Gotch.

This transition would set “Hack” on a collision

Figure 17- George Hackenschmidt in His Prime from the Public Domain

Chapter 3 – Gotch Campaigns for Title Shot

While George Hackenschmidt continued to tour the world defending his title, Frank Gotch was conducting his own campaign. In January 1904, Gotch took the American Heavyweight Wrestling Championship from Tom Jenkins. Gotch intended on following up this triumph with a match for World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship from George Hackenschmidt. Gotch wanted to meet "Hack" in St. Louis during the 1904 World's Fair. Unfortunately for Gotch and St. Louis, the match would not occur until 1908 in Chicago, Illinois. Gotch knew millions of people would attend the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. Gotch showed his business savvy by trying to set up a match during the Fair. George Hackenschmidt was already committed to other dates and a match was not arranged until 1908. Gotch's repeated fouls during the 1908 bout may have resulted from anger about losing out on a potential gold mine from gate receipts in 1904. Since he could not secure Hackenschmidt, Gotch defeated old foe Tom Jenkins [xxxviii] two more times. Gotch considered Jenkins his toughest opponent. Jim Parr was a noted English wrestling champion who defeated many wrestlers with a powerful head scissors hold. Parr would get his legs around each side of his opponent’s neck and choke them out with this unique carotid artery choke. It is difficult to catch this hold but if secured properly, the leg scissors strangle is quite effective.

Figure 18- English wrestler Jim Parr from the Public Domain

Parr weighed a smaller 175 pounds to Gotch’s 189 but Gotch possessed a strength advantage far greater than a mere 14 pounds.

When the men met in

Buffalo, New York during June 1904, Gotch’s strength advantage would prove the difference. Gotch took Parr down quickly to start the first fall. Parr was content to go to the mat, where he could work for his scissors hold. Gotch also liked mat work, where he could twist the lower limbs with his dreaded toe-hold. Parr actually secured his scissors hold but to Parr’s dismay, Gotch powered out of the hold. Gotch continued twisting Parr’s legs and scored the first fall with a toe [xxxix] lock and half nelson at 49 minutes, 10 seconds. Parr could barely stand after the first fall, so he decided to rush Gotch and try to score a surprise fall. Gotch was prepared and slammed Parr for the second fall and [xl] match. Gotch’s next tough opponent was Dan McLeod. McLeod defeated Gotch in [xli] Gotch’s first match in Luvurne, Iowa during 1899.

McLeod now wrestled

occasionally, while working as a miner in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

Gotch traveled to a mining camp called Fort Dodge, located right outside Vancouver, [xlii] to avenge this early loss. 4,000 miners crowded into the tent to witness “the best wrestling match seen in [xliii] Western Canada”. The match was noteworthy because Gotch lost the first fall in the three-fall match and had to win two straight falls to take the victory. The first fall was a back and forth affair. McLeod would secure a single leg and takedown Gotch only to have Gotch wriggle free and get back to his feet. Gotch also took McLeod down but McLeod would voluntarily turn and fall to the mat, face forward. Gotch would grab a half-nelson but McLeod always shook the hold loose with a strong neck twist. Gotch jumped for a leg hold about twenty minutes into the first fall but missed. The struggle continued until McLeod secured another single leg takedown but used it to put Gotch on his head. Gotch’s powerful neck muscles kept McLeod from putting his shoulders to the mat, so McLeod threw him bodily onto his hands and knees. McLeod immediately secured a half nelson and crotch hold. Gotch’s facial [xliv] expression revealed he knew the desperateness of his situation. Gotch tried to squirm loose but McLeod repeatedly turned him back onto his back. The third time was the charm. McLeod secured the first fall at 32 minutes, 44 seconds, after turning [xlv] him to his back with the half nelson and crotch hold for the third time. McLeod secured the first fall but the 44-year-old wrestler was clearly struggling with the 27-year-old American Heavyweight Wrestling Champion. McLeod also gave up about 20 pounds to Gotch. The toll of the first fall was obvious on McLeod as he [xlvi] came to center ring for the second fall.

Gotch saw McLeod’s signs of fatigue and pounced. Gotch took the offensive, while McLeod defended and looked for an opening. Gotch did not give him many openings yet could not take McLeod down and keep him there. Finally, Gotch dove for a leg scissors, which he secured.

Gotch grabbed

McLeod’s arm and an intense struggle ensued. McLeod struggled for over 2 minutes [xlvii] but Gotch secured the second fall in 23 minutes, 20 seconds. The two-minute struggle finished off McLeod. The third fall was slower but an excellent display of wrestling. Despite McLeod’s exhausted condition, it took Gotch over 26 minutes to secure the final fall with a half nelson and crotch hold. McLeod told the audience Gotch was far better than when they met for the first match. “I beat [xlviii] him five years ago. I would need a club to do it now.” Gotch received some of his own medicine in a match with Charles “Yankee” Rogers in Buffalo, New York on November 25, 1904. The men met in a mixed styles bout. Gotch won the coin toss, so he chose catch-as-catch-can for the first fall. Rogers actually had the size advantage.

Rogers weighed 210 pounds to

Gotch’s 200 pounds. Rogers also was not shy about employing the rough tactics Gotch would often use. Spectators quickly saw Rogers was no match for Gotch in catch-as-catch can. Rogers primarily wrestled the Greco-Roman style, which played to his strength, giving him a powerful asset. Rogers also realized he was no match for Gotch in catch-as-catch-can, so he began to use his elbow to bash Gotch in the face. In a rage, Gotch slipped his arm around the elbow after the strike to secure a reverse nelson. Gotch viciously wrenched Rogers to the ground for the first fall at 43 [xlix] minutes, 10 seconds. Rogers appeared injured from the hold.

Figure 19- Charles "Yankee" Rogers from the Public Domain

Rogers did not do much during the second fall in his specialty of Greco-Roman wrestling. Every time Gotch tied up with Rogers, Rogers backed to the ropes. He would also continue the fouling of Gotch. Finally, Gotch pushed Rogers, who fell through the ropes and said he could not continue.

[l] Gotch was awarded the fall and the match.

Gotch’s camp claimed

[li] Rogers faked the injury to get out of the match. After reading George Sanders Robbins’ account of Gotch’s career and the write up on some of the matches, it is difficult to state with any certainty which matches were legitimate. Gotch would occasionally take part in staged matches. Gotch performed a number of tours in 1905 and 1906 with wrestlers he had already beaten. Matches with his trainer Martin “Farmer” Burns were almost certainly staged.

Gotch did have one noteworthy match in 1906.

That matched proved that

employing some of the rough tactics Gotch was known for could have painful results. For that bout, Leo Pardello was the unfortunate victim.

Figure 20- Italian wrestler Leo Pardello, the unfortunate victim of Frank Gotch's toe hold, from the Public Domain

Gotch’s biographer claimed Pardello to be an Italian wrestling champion but little evidence exists to substantiate the claim. However, Pardello was known to foul, whenever he felt like he was in trouble. When Gotch and Pardello met on November [lii] 26, 1906, it turned into “one of the roughest bouts ever seen in this city”. Gotch found little problem in taking Pardello to the ground. Pardello ran at Gotch as the match began. Gotch dropped down and dumped Pardello to the mat. Pardello rolled to his hands and knees, where he began striking Gotch with elbows. The blows were not powerful enough to bother Gotch. Pardello did manage to struggle back to his feet. Pardello slipped away from Gotch’s grip and threw a haymaker punch at Gotch’s head, which missed but would have knocked Gotch senseless. The obvious foul brought boos and hisses from the crowd. The blow missed because Gotch ducked it as he executed a takedown and brought Pardello back to the floor. As Gotch worked a half nelson and crotch hold to secure the first fall, Pardello reached back and pulled Gotch’s hair so hard, a clump of hair came out. Gotch, who could not afford to lose what hair he had, was enraged. Letting go of the half nelson and crotch hold, he secured a toe hold. Gotch was merciless with his favorite hold and brought the foot halfway up Pardello’s back. A sickening snap was heard as Pardello’s ankle ligament gave under the pressure. Gotch pinned Pardello with little effort. Pardello did come out for the second fall [liii] but was helpless. Gotch pinned him in a few seconds.

Gotch finished out 1906 with a questionable loss to Fred Beell. Beell was a skilled but much smaller wrestler than Frank Gotch. According to Gotch, he struck his head on a ring post allowing Beell to beat him.

Gotch quickly regained his

American Heavyweight Championship in the rematch. I’m not sure about the outcome of this series of matches. Gotch could have dropped the belt to Beell knowing he could take it back at any time. A strategic loss would increase fan interest in paying to see a man everyone was beginning to think was invincible. It might also convince a reluctant World Champion to put his title on the line against Gotch. Heading into the 1908 match with George Hackenschmidt, two things were undeniable.

Frank Gotch was the best wrestler in America, maybe the greatest

American wrestler of all-time. Gotch would be “Hack’s” toughest opponent since “The Terrible Turk”.

Figure 21-Frank Gotch's famous Toe Hold from the Public Domain

Chapter 4 – The Champion Tours the World

Hackenschmidt was undefeated world champion for seven years from 1901 to 1908. Most people can only stay on top of the world for a couple years. To be undefeated for seven years in almost 3,000 matches is an incredible record. He had to bring his "A" game each night. Besides his wrestling exploits, George Hackenschmidt was also considered the strongest man in the world at the turn of the century. He held records in the Bench Press, Hack Squat, etc. He actually invented the Hack Squat, which is named in his honor. On Saturday, January 30, 1904, George Hackenschmidt defended his GrecoRoman World Wrestling Championship against Ahmed Medrali. "The Russian Lion" had to defeat "The Terrible Turk" to retain his championship. Promoters selected the giant Medrali, who was 6'02" and 224 pounds, with hopes to defeat the seemingly invincible Hackenschmidt. George Hackenschmidt stood only 5'09" tall and weighed 209 pounds. Despite his smaller stature, Hackenschmidt was considered one of the strongest men and possibly the strongest man in the world at the time. He would need that strength to deal with the size disadvantage posed by Medrali. The men met at the Olympia Stadium in London. The Sunday, January 31, 1905, edition of the Wichita Daily Eagle carried an account of the bout. After the introductions, Hackenschmidt and Medrali tied up in the center of the ring. Medrali put his hand in Hackenschmidt's face as a way of breaking his grip. Hackenschmidt grabbed Medrali's wrist and moved behind him for a hammerlock.

During the move into the hammerlock, Medrali's arm was broken below the elbow. Hackenschmidt quickly slammed Medrali for the first and only pin at 41 seconds. Medrali forfeited the match. This bout culminated a very successful run of tournament competition for George Hackenschmidt. Hack won most of the international tournaments between 1900 and 1905.

As a professional, “Hack” was never defeated and only lost

tournaments that he had to retire from with injury. He would not taste defeat in the ring until 1908 when he lost his title to the great Frank Gotch. Hackenschmidt toured the United States and Australia after winning this tournament. He defeated many local wrestlers, very few of whom could actually give him a match.

Many fans still came out just to see Hackenschmidt.

Theodore

Roosevelt was quoted as saying if he could be someone else, he would be George Hackenschmidt. "The Russian Lion" would leave a legacy in both wrestling and physical culture. The May 9, 1905 edition of the St. Louis Republic's sport section contained a story about an upcoming match between local wrestlers George Baptiste and the touring World Wrestling Champion, George Hackenschmidt. The paper did not give Baptiste much of a chance against Hackenschmidt, who just beat Tom Jenkins for the World Championship. If the editor knew "Hack's" condition at the time, he may have given Baptiste more of a shot at defeating the champ. Hackenschmidt revealed in his life story published in The Way to Live in Health and Strength that he contracted malaria prior to the tour of St. Louis.

He was

experiencing a myriad of symptoms, including a temperature of over 103 degrees and let the promoters know he would have to cancel his appearance.

The promoters begged "Hack" to go on with the bout. If they had to cancel, the promoters would be wiped out financially.

Realizing the delicate situation the

promoters were in, "Hack" agreed to go on with the bout. When he arrived at the arena, he was still feeling the effects of the illness. However, he heard the promoters urging Baptiste to go on with the bout. He was so scared of "Hack" he was threatening to walk out. The promoters brought "Hack" in to speak with Baptiste. After "Hack" assured him that he would be gentle, Baptiste agreed to go out for the match. The whole episode amused "Hack" so much "The Russian Lion" began to feel like his old self.

Figure 22- George Baptiste, St. Louis athlete and professional wrestler, who wrestled George Hackenschmidt during his United States tour from the Public Domain

When he entered the ring, he felt his strength come back to him. He easily dispatched Baptiste and another wrestler, the "Terrible Turk", Ali Murulah. "Hack" said he never heard of this particular "Terrible Turk" before or since.

The St. Louis

Republic's correspondent described him as the formidable Ali Murulah, so he may have been a well-regarded local. Hackenschmidt respected the muscular strength and technique of the smaller Baptiste, who "Hack" pinned 3 times in eleven minutes 47 seconds. He and Murulah wrestled for one fall. "Hack" pinned him after 6 minutes, 6 seconds. Even though it took longer than he thought it should, "Hack" did think much of Murulah. He fought Murulah second, so his illness might have drug this bout out a bit. The Coliseum was full that night to see the great Hackenschmidt not to see a competitive contest. Fans would have seen Muhammad Ali in his prime for the same reason. When "The Russian Lion" George Hackenschmidt toured America in 1905, he left the country unimpressed by the state of American wrestling. The current World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion, known as "Hack" to much of the wrestling public, toured several cities in an attempt to arrange a match with American Heavyweight Wrestling Champion Tom Jenkins. Hackenschmidt won the world title in Greco-Roman wrestling but switched to the

more

popular

catch-as-catch-can

style

during

his

run

as

champion.

Hackenschmidt wanted to face Jenkins to solidify his claim to the World Championship.

Hackenschmidt was not disgusted with the quality of the wrestlers but rather with their business suggestions. Hackenschmidt accused American promoters and wrestlers of pre-arranging their matches or "faking" the contests. Hackenschmidt relayed his frustration to the London newspapers in a story picked up by the September 9, 1905, edition of the Rock Island Argus. The story quoted Hackenschmidt about his time in America. "One thing that I could not understand about America is the faking methods of some of the wrestlers. Wherever I went to seek a match I was confronted by a lot schemers, who made all sorts of unsportsmanlike propositions to me." Hack continued, "When they saw that I was not a fakir (old newspaper spelling) they avoided me and began to say unkind things about me.

I guess I became

unpopular with some of them but I don't care if I have the better element on my side." Hackenschmidt's match with Tom Jenkins on May 5, 1905 in Madison Square Garden was a legitimate contest. It was also won easily by “Hack”. “Hack” pinned Jenkins in two straight falls at 31 minutes and 22 minutes. At the start of the first fall, Hackenschmidt forced Jenkins to his knees within six minutes.

Jenkins wrestled defensively for the next 25 minutes, while "Hack"

continued to grind him down. At the 31-minute mark, "Hack" secured a half nelson and threw Jenkins to his back for the first fall. The first fall weakened Jenkins but he rallied for the first minute of the second fall. Hackenschmidt quickly reversed Jenkins' momentum and forced him back to the floor. It was only a matter of time. At 22 minutes, "Hack" secured a half nelson and body hold for the throw and second straight fall.

Jenkins possessed excellent wrestling skills. After losing to "Hack", Jenkins would teach wrestling at the United States Military Academy at West Point from 1905 to 1942. Despite his skill, Jenkins had no answer for Hackenschmidt's strength. Frank Gotch challenged the winner but Hackenschmidt returned to Europe without facing America's best wrestler. Gotch would have to wait three more years for his title shot with Hackenschmidt. Gotch would enter their match determined to make "The Russian Lion" pay for making him wait. George Hackenschmidt met Frank Gotch on April 3, 1908 in Chicago, IL. Gotch finally ended Hackenschmidt's undefeated streak. On September 4, 1911, Gotch and Hackenschmidt had their rematch with the same result. Hackenschmidt, who was suffering from "housemaid's knee", decided to retire. He stayed active in fitness training though. He wrote How to Live in Strength and Health and continued training people. In his 80s, he was said to jump a chair 50 times, bench press 150 pounds and run seven miles. "Hack" died in 1968 at 90 years of age. Hackenschmidt achieved a level of greatness due to several factors.

His

physical condition allowed him to be the most successful wrestler of his era. A few wrestlers may have been better technicians but Hackenschmidt was the strongest. He often overpowered his opponents and was very difficult to throw. His only known professional losses were to Frank Gotch. George never locked himself into one way of thinking that would ensure he never changed. He adapted and grew as he needed. Hackenschmidt originally wrestled Greco-Roman style.

Despite winning the world championship with this

style, he switched to catch-as-catch-can wrestling around 1904. He defended his title in this style until he lost to Frank Gotch in 1908.

Figure 23- George Hackenschmidt displaying his powerful development from the Public Domain

Chapter 5 – The First Match

On April 3, 1908, American Wrestling Champion Frank Gotch met World Wrestling Champion George Hackenschmidt for the World Title at Dexter Park Pavilion in Chicago, Illinois. Hackenschmidt was undefeated as a professional and had been World Champion for approximately 7 years. Gotch was actually a year older yet he was still considered an up and comer. Gotch was also considered the greatest wrestler produced in America up to that point in time. George Hackenschmidt would later claim that he was ill and injured before the bout and wrestled against doctor's orders. While he was definitely injured prior to the second bout in 1911, no one brought his injuries up at the time of the first bout. Hackenschmidt stressed that he was not making excuses and Gotch was the better man. If Hackenschmidt did want to make excuses, he could have simply pointed to Gotch's tactics as the reason Hackenschmidt lost his title. Gotch frequently used unfair tactics during the bout, which should have resulted in Gotch's disqualification. Gotch was always known for rough and questionable tactics. In one match, he tackled Stanislaus Zbyszko off the hand-shake for a quick fall. In other matches, Gotch would foul his opponents to gain an advantage.

Figure 24- Artist rendering of Gotch's tactics from April 4, 1908 edition of the New York Evening World from the Public Domain

Gotch entered the ring weighing 196 pounds to Hackenschmidt's 208.

As

always, Gotch's trainer, Martin "Farmer" Burns, accompanied his protege to the ring. Hackenschmidt attempted to lock up with Gotch but Gotch kept wiggling free. In one exchange, Gotch thumbed “Hack” in his eye causing swelling and difficulty seeing. As the match progressed, Hackenschmidt would finally secure a grip on Gotch only to be struck repeatedly in the face by Gotch's palm. At one point, Gotch clearly struck “Hack” in the face with several closed fist punches. Gotch should have been disqualified for punching but referee Ed Smith did not seem to have any intention of interfering. Hackenschmidt continued complaining to Smith, who told him "Wrestle on!" The match continued this way until almost the two hour mark. Gotch then became offensive and tried to grab an armlock. Hack threw him off easily but was huffing and puffing. A few more punches from Gotch put “Hack” face down on the canvas. Gotch was famous for his toe hold and began to work for it as Hack pleaded with the referee. Hack bled from his nose and lips and both eyes were nearly swollen shut. He looked like he was in a mixed martial arts fight, not a wrestling match.

Different stories sprang up around the end of the match.

Referee Smith

interpreted Hackenschmidt's appeals as giving up and stopped the match. Smith awarded Gotch the match. Hackenschmidt made no protest about the decision. [liv] After seven years, Hackenschmidt was no longer champion. However, several sources claimed Hackenschmidt told Gotch, “Mr. Gotch, I [lv] surrender my title to you.” Based on his previous title defenses, I found this difficult to believe at first after studying the reports and learning Hackenschmidt refused to come out for the second fall, I know believe Hack affectively forfeited the title to Gotch. We only have newspaper stories to give us Hackenschmidt’s perspective on the match because he does not speak about the series in his autobiography. Why he chose to leave out the most significant matches of his career is difficult to explain, unless he still was not ready to confront the first defeats of his career despite the passage of many years. Hackenschmidt agreed to meet Gotch in the United States between April 1 and May 1, 1908. Gotch agreed and looked to book the match in Kansas City, Missouri or Chicago, Illinois, the eventual meeting place. To prepare for the match, “Hack” met lightly regarded Joe Rogers in London on January 29, 1908. “Hack” beat him [lvi] easily in two straight falls. In February 1908, the Missouri Athletic Club of Kansas City thought they secured the match by offering George Hackenschmidt a guarantee of $10,000 to secure the match. However, Milwaukee, Wisconsin claimed to have secured the match by depositing $5,000 in a New York bank as the guarantee. Unfortunately for Milwaukee promoter William W. Wittig, he secured the bout with Charles Cochran,

the London based former manager of Hackenschmidt.

Hackenschmidt severed

relations with Cochran several months prior making his deal with Wittig fraudulent. [lvii] While Hackenschmidt dealt with legal wrangling by his former manager, Gotch travelled to “Farmer” Burns’ training camp to prepare for the match.

Under the

guidance of his mentor, Gotch achieved the level of conditioning necessary to beat such a physical superman as George Hackenschmidt. When Hackenschmidt arrived in the United States in early March, he took part in a series of exhibitions leading up to the match. Part of his desire to take part in the six exhibitions was to continue honing his physical condition. He also was attracted to the $1,000 an exhibition paid by promoters. With the $5,000 guaranteed for his match with Gotch, Hackenschmidt would return to London with a guaranteed [lviii] $11,000.00. When “Hack” arrived in New York, he told the gathered crowd and newspaper reporters that the contest with Gotch would be a “square match” with no prearranged outcome. Hackenschmidt stated he had limited knowledge of Gotch but was familiar with Tom Jenkins. Based on Gotch’s victories over Jenkins, “Hack” admitted Gotch would be a tough challenge. Hackenschmidt also admitted the damaged knee, which eventually led him to [lix] retire, was bothering him but stated he would have no excuse if he lost to Gotch. While he didn’t make any excuses after the bout, he definitely made note of the frequent fouls by Gotch in the match.

Figure 25-Frank Gotch training with his mentor and trainer, Martin "Farmer" Burns from the Public Domain

Hackenschmidt also did not do much training outside of the exhibitions for the first bout. It seems his knee made it difficult to train for the match. After losing the match, Hackenschmidt did not exactly live up to his promise of no excuses. “I have been credited with one defeat before at the hands of Beck Olsen. It is untrue.

This is my first defeat (as a professional) and I was physically unfit to

wrestle. Mind however, I am not detracting from my conqueror’s victory. I simply want to have the truth known. I had a heavy forfeit up and to anull the match meant thousands of dollars loss. I will say I did not believe any man could stand before me no matter what my condition was. The doctor forbade me to enter the ring but I did [lx] it. Defeat was my reward. This is my first and only defeat.” “Hack” admitted he underestimated Gotch’s ability.

He did complain about

referee Ed Wallace Smith, who was also sporting editor of the Chicago American. Hackenschmidt stated Smith was biased towards Gotch and ignored all Gotch’s fouling. “Hack’s” face was bruised and swollen from the frequent thumbing, gouging and butting from Gotch’s head and shoulders.

“Hack” claimed Gotch’s long

[lxi] fingernails did significant damage to his head and vision. After reading Smith’s

book Professional Wrestling, it is hard to argue that he was not biased in favor of Frank Gotch. Whether this bias paid a decisive role in Hackenschmidt’s loss cannot be stated with any certainty. Even without the foul tactics, “Hack” could not break through Gotch’s defense.

Figure 26- A still of Gotch and Hackenschmidt from the first bout. "Hack" does not appear to be in peak condition (from the Public Domain).

Chapter 6 – Gotch Defends the Title

Once Gotch won the world championship, he immediately began to defend it. One of his first defenses would be against Dr. Benjamin F. Roller, a talented American wrestler and scholar, who helped train George Hackenschmidt for both bouts with Gotch. Dr. Benjamin F. Roller was born in Newman, Illinois, on July 1, 1876. Roller grew up on a farm but went to DePauw University to prepare for a career as a physician. Dr. Roller obtained a graduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania by playing professional football.

Roller accepted an academic appointment in

physiology where he assisted in the writing of a textbook. Dr. Roller started professional wrestling in 1906, but not for the most obvious reasons.

He viewed it as a way to travel the world and increase his medical

knowledge by consulting the world's foremost experts. Roller won his first match and would win more matches than he lost throughout his career. Roller stood 6'00" and weighed 200 pounds. Roller met Gotch early in his career on October 12, 1906, in Seattle, Washington. The men battled to a draw as Gotch was unable to throw Roller in an [lxii] hour.

Figure 27- Dr. Benjamin Roller from the Public Domain

On July 1, 1909, Roller’s 33rd birthday, he met Frank Gotch in one of the first defenses of his newly won world heavyweight championship. The battle occurred in [lxiii] Seattle, where Roller moved after college. In this match, the 5’11” Gotch matched Roller’s weight of 200 pounds. After meeting for the preliminary handshake, Gotch and Roller set to work almost immediately. Although the first fall only lasted 15 minutes, Gotch secured six toeholds on Roller but each time Roller escaped. The constant struggle exhausted Roller though. Gotch secured one of his other favorite holds, the half nelson and crotch hold. Gotch quickly pinned Roller at 15 minutes and 25 seconds.

The newspaper correspondent for the Couer d’Alene

Evening Press stated Roller might not actually have been pinned but his situation was helpless. The correspondent stated a pin would have occurred a few seconds later. It is doubtful the fix was in for Gotch as the referee was a Seattle man named [lxiv] Ed Gaffney. Dr. Roller did better in the second match.

Gotch was unable to secure a

toehold. Roller also broke loose from the half nelson and crotch hold. However, Gotch secured a second half nelson and croch hold, lifted him off the mat and slammed Roller bodily to the mat for the second fall. Gotch won the match in two [lxv] straight falls in 25 minutes and 54 seconds. Gotch’s biographer George Sanders Robbins claimed Roller was only caught in the toehold one time but it exerted a crippling effect on his legs.

According to

Robbins’ version, referee Ed Gaffney told Gotch, “Lighten up, you’ll break his leg.”

[lxvi] For reasons known only to Robbins and Gotch, Gotch let up on the legal hold,

which allowed Roller to kick out. However, Roller’s legs were damage to the point he could not competitively compete for the remainder of the match. Robbins’ biography is more hyperbole and promotion than serious biography. The reader would be wise to be suspicious of its claims. Gotch went on a theatrical tour of England but did not rematch with George Hackenschmidt during his time in England.

According to Gotch and Robbins,

Hackenschmidt wanted no part of a rematch, so they beat a local wrestler named [lxvii] George Dinnie. Hackenschmidt most likely did not want a rematch. “Hack” spent the years following his first match with Gotch trying to heal a painful knee condition,

“housemaid’s knee.”

The knee injury would force his retirement after the 1911

rematch. Gotch returned to America and faced even more challenges for his title. Many challengers were ready to challenge the champ for his coveted championship. While Dan Gable fans might take exception to Gotch's standing as the greatest wrester, little doubt exists about Gotch being the greatest legitimate professional wrestler. Strong with good size, Gotch also developed into a powerful technician under the tutelage of his trainer, Martin "Farmer" Burns. Unlike his foe George Hackenschmidt, who relied mostly on his great strength, Gotch used techniques like his deadly toehold to win match after match. Less well known is Gotch frequently employed a half nelson and crotch hold to win many of his matches. On April 14, 1909, World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion Frank Gotch met Yussif Mahmout, a skilled Bulgarian wrestler, in Chicago, Illinois, for his title. Mahmout was considered a tough challenger. Like many mat men before him, Mahmout could not take the title from a man often considered America's greatest wrestler. According to wrestlingdata.com, Yussif Mahmout was born Ibrahim Hergelecki in Bulgaria during 1862. The 47-year-old Mahmout stood 6'01" and weighed 220 pounds. Even in middle age, Mahmout remained a physical specimen. However, he was challenging Frank Gotch during the champ’s prime. Gotch was a physical and technical specimen.

Yussif Mahmout wrestled at least 61 professional wrestling matches. Mahmout won 40 matches with only sixteen losses. The other five bouts ended as draws or no contests. When the men squared off in Chicago, Ed Wallace Smith, the sporting editor of the Chicago American, again officiated the bout. After his performance in the first Gotch-Hackenschmidt bout and later reading his book on professional wrestler, I would never allow Smith to officiate a match involving Frank Gotch. In this match, however, it wouldn't matter who officiated. When the men met in the center of the ring, Mahmout immediately tried to bowl Gotch over with his strength. Mahmout, like George Hackenschmidt, was a powerful wrestler. Gotch, who weighed about fifteen pounds less than Mahmout, successfully resisted this tactic. After three minutes, Gotch secured Mahmout's leg and took him to the ground. While Mahmout provided a challenge with his great strength, once the bout reached the floor, Mahmout lack of technical ability showed and turned the bout to Gotch’s favor. Gotch would normally secure a toehold but for some reason, he decided to go with one of his other favorite techniques, the half nelson and crotch hold. Mahmout insisted on wrestling in bare feet, which violated the rules of catch-as-catch-can wrestling.

Gotch initially would not yield to the Bulgarian's preference.

After

Mahmout agreed to forfeit $500 of his purse to Gotch, he was allowed to wrestle barefoot. Gotch flipped Mahmout to his back but the powerful Bulgarian bridged for several minutes. Gotch finally overcame this resistance and pressed his shoulders

[lxviii] to the mat for the first fall at exactly the 8-minute mark. Whether Gotch knew after the first fall he could easily defeat Mahmout or whether he took mercy on the older wrestler, Gotch spared Mahmout from the toehold, which famously tore the ankle ligaments of Leo Pardello. He decided to end the match with the same technique as the first fall. Gotch again took Mahmout to the ground. secured the half nelson and crotch hold.

Mahmout turtled up but Gotch

Gotch turned Mahmout to his back.

Mahmout used every ounce of strength he had left in bridging but Frank Gotch's will would not be denied.

Gotch pinned Mahmout for the second and final fall at 9

[lxix] minutes, 10 seconds.

Figure 28- Yussif Mahmout from the photo archive of the Library of Congress in the Public Domain

Coincidentally, Mahmout would pass away during the same year as Frank Gotch. The 55-year-old Bulgarian wrestler died unknown causes in 1917.

[lxx]

Frank Gotch continued his successful reign as world champion.

It was

becoming harder to find a credible challenge for the champ though. One contender

from Europe promised to be Gotch’s toughest challenge since his first match with George Hackenschmidt. In late 1909, Stanislaus Zbyszko traveled to the United States to challenge World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion Frank Gotch.

Prior to meeting Gotch,

Zbyszko toured the United States and battled many local wrestlers throughout the early part of 1910. Zbyszko would travel 37,000 miles during this tour. Early in his tour, Zbyszko met Frank Gotch in a handicap match. Zbyszko defeated Gotch, who was unable to throw him, in a non-title match. The validity of this match is questionable though because Gotch would sometimes lose non-title matches but crush the challenger in the title match. Wrestling correspondents believed Gotch sometimes threw matches to build interest and increase the gate receipts in the title fights. On a Thursday night, November 25, 1909, World Wrestling Champion Frank Gotch met Polish Wrestling Champion Stanislaus Zbyszko for a handicap match in Buffalo, New York. Gotch agreed to forfeit the bout if he could not throw Zbyszko twice in an hour.

Figure 29- Stanislaus Zbyszko in 1909 from the Public Domain

Zbyszko's size and strength created problems for Gotch, who weighed 190 pounds to Zbyszko's 260 pounds. However, Zbyszko never threatened Gotch. His goal was to survive and win the match to set up a world title match later. Twice Gotch almost caught Zbyszko with his dreaded toehold but Zbyszko was able to slide free. After being unable to throw Zbyszko once, much less twice, Zbyszko was awarded the win but not the championship. That bout would have to wait. Zbyszko would continue to lose mass and be smaller for the next match. When Zbyszko landed in America in October 1909, he weighed in at 272 pounds. After six months of touring, Zbyszko weighed 228 pounds. In March 1910 alone, Zbyszko wrestled eight legitimate contests in Nebraska, Missouri, Illinois, Michigan and Pennsylvania.

Figure 30- Stanislaus Zbyszko Prepares for Frank Gotch from the Public Domain

Zbyszko had one of his toughest matches with Dr. Benjamin F. Roller in Kansas City, Missouri on March 22, 1910. Zbyszko wrestled Roller to a 2 hour and 17 minute draw without a pin being scored. Dr. Roller fared better during the first hour but Zbyszko took over in the second hour. Both men resorted to rough tactics but neither man could score an advantage. Kansas City Police stopped the bout after it became apparent neither man would score a fall. Zbyszko’s tour and defeat or draws with the top wrestlers like Dr. Benjamin F. Roller continued to build excitement for his upcoming legitimate title match with World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion Frank Gotch.

If Zbyszko thought his

defensive strategy from the first match would help him defeat Gotch in their championship match, he was destined for disappointment.

Gotch agreed to meet Zbyszko in Chicago, Illinois, at the Coliseum on Wednesday, June 1, 1910. Gotch would retire after the match at 33 years of age but he returned the next year. The men agreed to a split of 80 percent for the winner and 20 percent for the loser. Zbyszko entered the ring first around 10 p.m. Gotch entered next, some photographs were taken and the men met at the center of the ring for the handshake. Frank Gotch occasionally engaged in unsportsmanlike conduct. He decided on a reprehensible tactic to start the first fall. The men met in the center of the ring and exchanged the customary handshake. As they stood at center ring and the bell rung to start the match, Gotch took a step back, tackled Stanislaus Zbyszko and pinned him to the mat with a bar-arm and half nelson. Zbyszko jumped to his feet and screamed about a foul.

Zbyszko and his

manager, Jack Hermann, protested to referee Dick Fleming. Fleming refused to entertain their protest saying the bell had rung. Zbyszko considered walking out on the match at this point but was persuaded to continue as he could still win the next two falls. Zbyszko was more cautious during the second fall, which lasted 27 minutes and 35 seconds.

Gotch took Zbyszko down with a single-leg takedown.

Zbyszko

answered by slamming Gotch to the mat several times with Gotch squirming back to his feet each time. Zbyszko again slammed Gotch to the mat but before Gotch could squirm back to his feet, Zbyszko lifted him from the mat and slammed him again. Lifting a 190

pound man from a prone position was a testament to the core and back strength of the powerful Pole. At the 27-minute mark, the pace finally wilted Zbyszko.

Gotch slammed

Zbyszko to ground. A look of panic came across Zbyszko's face as Gotch applied a bar-arm and wristlock for the second fall. Gotch won $22,000 to Zbyszko's $2,000. Zbyszko stated he was returning to Poland, which he did in 1914 after being unable to secure a second shot at Frank Gotch. Zbyszko would return to the United States after World War I. He would finally win a world title in 1921, when he was in his mid-forties. However, matches were prearranged at this time. Zbyszko did legitimately win the World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship in 1925, when he was involved in one of the greatest double crosses of all time. Zbyszko was supposed to lose to “Big” Wayne Munn, a football player with very limited wrestling ability. Joe Stetcher, who was a former world champion and feuding with Zbyszko’s promoters, paid Zbyszko to “shoot” on Munn and wrestle him for real. Zbyszko thoroughly beat up Munn and pinned him several times before the referee, who was trying to protect pro wrestling’s secret of prearranged matches, counted Munn out. Zbyszko quickly dropped the title to Joe Stecher. Zbyszko nearly fifty wrestled only a few more years before retiring for good in 1928. A resurgence of interest about Zbyszko occurred after he appeared in the film Night and the City (1950).

Figure 31- Stanislaus Zbyszko lifts a wrestler from the Bain Collection in the Library of Congress from the Public Domain

Gotch was on top of his game and nearly unbeatable. As he looked over the landscape of professional wrestling, Gotch did not see many worlds left to conquer. However, Gotch liked money and at the time professional wrestling was the most lucrative profession open to him. Gotch toured the theatrical circuit between matches to make more money but he could not get the same payoff on the stage that he could in one high profile match. However, a development in Gotch’s personal life his serious thoughts about and temporary retirement from professional wrestling during the prime time of his career. In the beginning of 1911, Frank Gotch married the daughter of a prominent Humboldt lawyer, Gladys Oestrich.

Mrs. Gotch was not a fan of her husband’s

profession. Like many wives of combat sports athletes, Gladys Gotch feared for Frank’s safety. While she probably should have been more concerned for the health of her husband’s opponents, the concerns of a young bride are understandable.

Frank Gotch had built a large house on some Humboldt, Iowa, farm land with the view of starting a family. Gladys seemed to exercise a strong influence on Gotch in that he announced his retirement in late 1910. According to Gotch, he was giving his title to Yussif Mahmout.

Gotch said Mahmout could defend the belt against

George Hackenschmidt and the winner would be considered the World Heavyweight [lxxi] Wrestling Champion. Gotch had second thoughts in January 1911, but again announced he was only “kidding” about coming out of retirement.

Gotch’s wavering showed he was not

[lxxii] bought into his retirement. However, he stated he would back Mahmout for $20,000 in a match against George Hackenschmidt. George Hackenschmidt had returned to the United States in late 1910 to campaign for a try at regaining the title he held for so long. Hackenschmidt began giving wrestling exhibitions to generate interest in a rematch. Hackenschmidt chose exhibitions, so he could protect his “balky” left knee.

Figure 32- Stanislaus Zbyszko from The Bridgeport Evening Farmer, January 10, 1911 edition, p. 7 in the Library of Congress Collection (Public Domain)

Besides George Hackenschmidt, old foe Stanislaus Zbyszko cried foul as well. [lxxiii]

Zbyszko had been on a tear since their controversial first match. The great

Polish wrestler defeated every man foolish enough to enter the ring with him since

his loss to Gotch. He accused Gotch of retiring to avoid a rematch with the Polish powerhouse. Frank Gotch’s mind remained elsewhere. On January 11, 1911, Frank Gotch married Gladys at her parents’ home in Humboldt.

[lxxiv]

Mrs. Gotch shared why she worried about her husband. “He is very stubborn… If he were wrestling and found himself getting the worst of it in the match he wouldn’t [lxxv] give up even though he were being hurt. He’s too stubborn.” However, she also seemed to be resigning herself to the fact that Gotch was not done wrestling. Knowing Gotch would not continue his career, if it caused her too much worry, she made further statements. “Am I afraid he will get hurt in these wrestling matches? Well, not anymore. When I used to watch him at first, I was, but nobody knew it, for I felt that I would be giving the impression Frank couldn’t hold his [lxxvi] own, and that wouldn’t have been fair to him.” After a couple weeks on honeymoon, Frank Gotch made the pronouncement official. He would remain champion and take on all comers. This decision made the eventual rematch with George Hackenschmidt a foregone conclusion. Despite the two hour stalemate in the first bout, fans seemed to crave this rematch the most. Seven years as champion seemed to indicate “Hack” was the most serious threat to take the title. Every great sports rivalry needs two powerful players but could the second match meet fans’ expectations?

Figure 33- "Hack" posing in his prime from the Public Domain

Chapter 7 – The Rematch

Three years after the first storied bout between the two greatest wrestlers in the world, Frank Gotch and George Hackenschmidt would meet in a rematch for World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship. Unlike the first match, which took two hours to crown a winner, the second match severely disappointed wrestling fans. It also sounded the death knell for legitimate professional wrestling in the United States. At the beginning of 1911, the wrestling public considered three men to be the greatest challengers to reigning World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion Frank Gotch.

Former champion George Hackenschmidt, Stanislaus Zbyszko and "The

Terrible Turk" Yussif Mahmout wanted the chance to beat Gotch. More importantly, the wrestling public considered them credible threats to the champion. Gotch, who was nobody's fool, decided to take some of the starch out of his challengers by pairing them up against each other. Gotch told the men he would take on the winner between the three men. One problem emerged with Gotch's plan. [lxxvii] Both Hackenschmidt and Zbyszko refused to wrestle Mahmout. All three men began their careers in England. Mahmout was Europe's Gotch, a strong wrestler who did not need to cheat to win. Yet like Gotch, Mahmout fouled his opponents when the opportunity arose.

Figure 34- Hackenschmidt wrestling with George Botchner for a photo shoot (From the Public Domain)

Neither “Hack” nor Zbyszko could stand Mahmout’s manager, Antoine Pierri. Both wrestlers claimed Pierri was a “bad actor” and liar, who spread false rumors [lxxviii] about both men in Europe. Hackenschmidt, who defeated "The Terrible Turk" when he was champion, refused to wrestle Mahmout again even if it meant forgoing a title shot. Hackenschmidt may have still been smarting from Gotch's rough tactics in their first match. Zbyszko also refused to match up with Mahmout. He welcomed the challenge of "The Russian Lion", however, so the Russian former world champion met the

Polish European wrestling champion. While Zbyszko possessed a sterling reputation in the ring, Hackenschmidt previously held the world championship. Whether "Hack" bowed to pressure or was overly confident about his ability to handle Zbyszko, Hackenschmidt agreed to throw Zbyszko twice in 90 minutes. Physically, the men matched up well. Both men stood 5'09" tall with "Hack" slightly smaller at 219 pounds.

During his training for the match with Zbyszko,

Hackenschmidt gave an exhibition in New York.

William Muldoon, the World

Heavyweight Wrestling Champion from 1881 to 1889 and now America’s first celebrity trainer, examined Hackenschmdit at his farm.

“Hack’s” development

impressed the powerful Muldoon, who stated Hackenschmidt the nearest thing to a perfectly built man he had ever seen.

[lxxix]

Figure 35- Stanislaus Zbyszko demonstrating wrestling from the Public Domain

Zbyszko arrived in America in 1909 at 260 pounds. His constant touring in 1910 brought his weight down to 227 pounds but Stanislaus was in prime condition.

The 34-year-olds met in New York with a shot at Gotch on the line. Zbyszko attacked Hackenschmidt from the opening bell. While both men were about equal in strength, Zbyszko possessed more agility. Zbyszko tossed "Hack" around yet could not finish a throw. The problem, of course, was Hackenschmidt agreed to throw Zbyszko twice in the 90 minutes. Hackenschmidt did not throw Zbyszko once and was declared the loser although the match was actually a draw. At the end of the match, Zbyszko was working Hackenschmidt over on the ground. Clearly, Zbyszko should have been the number one contender. However, combat sports promoters do not always reward the most talented. While “Hack” and Zbyszko prepared for their match, Frank Gotch equipped himself for a match with both men by taking matches against European wrestlers. On March 2, 1911, Frank Gotch beat Paul Schmidt, who was actually a GrecoRoman wrestler from South Africa, in Buffalo, New York. Gotch beat him in two straight falls at 26 minutes, 16 seconds and 12 minutes, 15 seconds, respectively. [lxxx]

Schmidt never got close to challenging Gotch. Gotch and his trainer Martin “Farmer” Burns also brought over 275-pound

[lxxxi] German wrestler Ernest Koch from Europe for another match with Gotch. Gotch and Burns were taking the challenges of Hackenschmidt and Zbyszko quite seriously.

Figure 36- Article from the January 30, 1911 edition of The Evening Post (Grand Forks, ND) indicating Gotch's willingness to meet all contenders. (From the Library of Congress in the Public Domain)

Despite Hackenschmidt losing a handicap match to both Zbyszko and Iowa wrestler Jess Westergaard by failing to throw them twice in an hour, Frank Gotch [lxxxii] agreed to meet Hackeschmidt for the world title on Labor Day 1911. Hackenschmidt returned to England to prepare. His four-month wrestling tour of [lxxxiii] America saw him return home with $20,000. Zbyszko calmly waited to challenge the winner of the match. Still smarting from his loss to Gotch, Zbyszko intended to avenge himself on the Iowan. Gotch and Hackenschmidt both opened training camps for the big match. Hackenschmidt held his camp in Chicago, Illinois, the location of the rematch. Dr. Benjamin F. Roller would serve as his main trainer and sparring partner.

Gus

“Americus” Shoenlein and Johann Koch, a German wrestler, rounded out his training [lxxxiv] team.

Figure 37- The Baltimore Wrestler and Hackenschmidt training partner, Gus "Americus" Schonlein

One of the many tales surrounding the rematch was Gotch’s camp employing Ad Santel, a vicious German wrestler skilled in submission holds, to purposely injure Hackenschmidt.

Santel told future World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion Lou

Thesz, another skilled submission wrestler from the pre-arranged exhibition-wrestling era, Gotch paid him $5,000 to injure Hackenschmidt’s knee.

Thesz repeated this

story in the A&E production, “The Unreal Story of Professional Wrestling”. George Hackenschmidt and Dr. Roller always denied that Santel injured “Hack” prior to the match. Hackenschmidt said his sore knee came from an accidental collision with Dr. Roller during the training camp. Hackenschmidt had been dealing with knee issues since before the first match in 1908.

Figure 38- The powerful and skilled submission wrestler Ad Santel from the Public Domain

I originally did not find any reference to Santel being in the Chicago training camp. However, Santel was wrestling under his real name still. Adolph Ernst was [lxxxv] referenced in a couple newspapers but not all of them as being in camp. Santel did train with Hackenschmidt in England, where “Hack” trained until late August. It also would not take much to injure the already compromised knee. The story is possible but like much in professional wrestling, even in the legitimate era, fact is difficult to separate from fiction. One fact lending credence to the story is Gotch’s assertions that he had a [lxxxvi] “feeling” going into the second match about Hackenschmidt being injured. Gotch claimed he learned it from scouting Hackenschmidt but he could have received inside information from Santel. My final conclusion is it is just another fanciful tale in professional wrestling. I don’t see why Gotch would need to pay Santel $5,000, a gigantic sum in 1911, to beat a wrestler, who was unable to throw Gotch or Zbyszko in “Hack’s” only

legitimate matches since the 1908 title loss. I also don’t see why Hackenschmidt would not expose Gotch’s treachery, which could have brought sympathy from the angry fans about “Hack’s” lack of effort in the second match. Dr. Roller did express frustration with Hackenschmidt’s abstaining from hard training in the Chicago training camp. Usually, a combat sports athlete will train hard up to the final 7 to 10 days before the match. The athlete will begin light training during the last week to guard against injury and keep from peaking too soon.

Figure 39- Photo from the September 2, 1911 edition of the Tacoma Times about "Hack's" training camp from the Public Domain

In the positive article written for Washington, D.C.’s Evening Star on August 27, 1911, the columnist notes Hackenschmidt’s training was light. He had not started wrestling yet although they intended to begin the following week, which is backwards for most training camps. However, we do not find any evidence that he did any [lxxxvii] vigorous wrestling in Chicago. Hackenschmidt ate three meals during training camp.

For breakfast, he

consumed eggs, toast and coffee. For lunch, he ate chops and potatoes. For dinner,

he ate steak and vegetables. Hackenschmidt did not drink water but chose milk [lxxxviii] instead. Frank Gotch trained in Humboldt with “Farmer” Burns and his normal camp of Iowa wrestlers.

Gotch was the picture of confidence entering the rematch with

Hackenschmidt.

He spent his training camp like all the others.

He would do

roadwork totaling about 14 miles in the morning. In the afternoon, he wrestled with [lxxxix] “Farmer” Burns and other wrestlers from Burns’ camp. Frank Gotch did indeed enter the match in excellent condition. Standing 5’11” tall, Gotch entered the ring at a trim 206 pounds. Gotch carried less muscle than [xc] “Hack” into the ring but less excess flesh as well. Hackenschmidt was not in his peak condition. “Hack” was at his best weighing between 208 and 219 pounds. For this bout, he weighed in at a fleshy 230 pounds. While very powerful, his 38-inch waist proved his light training did not put him in top form. The result of the match would prove his lack of conditioning. Despite the month’s buildup in the newspapers with daily reports out of both camps, the bout proved to be anti-climactic. The ominous signs of Hackenschmidt’s only partaking of light training came to fruition. When “Hack” stepped into the ring, he was not ready for the pressure of Frank Gotch.

Figure 40- Photo of Gotch training from the September 3, 1911 edition of the Washington Herald in the Library of Congress Collection (Public Domain)

Prior to entering the ring on September 4, 1911, Dr. J.J. Davis examined both wrestlers for the pre-match physicals. Dr. Davis said both men were in “perfect condition”

but

he

expressed

some

reservations

about

Hackenschmidt.

Hackenschmidt seemed pale and nervous due to a lack of sleep the night before. Hackenschmidt also made the doctor aware of knee injury from a “training accident”. [xci] However, Dr. Davis could not find any defects with the leg. Whether Dr. Davis could find an injury or not, Hackenschmidt was clearly worried about his leg going into the match. Comiskey Park was chosen as the venue for the bout. Recently built to replace their old stadium, the Chicago White Sox played at the new stadium, a former

Chicago garbage dump. Chicago White Sox owner Charles Comiskey bought the land to build the stadium for his soon-to-be infamous baseball team. At 3:00 p.m., Frank Gotch walked out onto the field at Comiskey Park, cheered by the 35,000 fans who chose to celebrate their Labor Day holiday by watching the [xcii] well-promoted wrestling event.

Fans came from all over the world but the

majority of them were Americans. Seven minutes later, George Hackenschmidt entered the year-old baseball park. The order of entrance for this match did not follow the standard combat sports order of entrance.

Usually, the challenger always enters the arena first.

first

departure from traditional decorum during this match.

Figure 41- Photo of the Pre-Match Handshake from the September 5, 1911 edition of the Rock Island Argus from the Public Domain

After the introduction by the ring announcer of the match between “George Hackenschmidt of Russia and our own Frank Gotch”, the men shook hands and

[xciii] prepared for the start of the match. Both men immediately went for an arm and neck hold. The first five minutes of the match were spent with Gotch and Hackenschmidt trying to bull each other around the ring. Neither man was able to secure a hold although Gotch faked for a leg lock a couple times. At the 8 and a half minute mark, Gotch secured a single leg and both men fell to the ground. Hackenschmidt held the upper position on his hands and knees while Gotch landed on his back. Gotch immediately went for the toehold, which caused “Hack” to use his arms and legs to buck like a wild bronco. “Hack” was able to break loose of the toehold but ended up flat on his stomach. Gotch continued to work Hackenschmidt over for the next six minutes until he was able to secure his second favorite hold, the half-nelson and crotch hold. With a powerful flip, he put “Hack’s” shoulders to the mat for the first fall at 14 minutes, 13 [xciv] seconds. The struggle exhausted Hackenschmidt, who crawled out of the ring to his handlers. Gotch just smiled at his corner and appeared unfazed. During the fifteenminute intermission, Stanislaus Zbyszko and Yussif Mahmout challenged the winner to a match.

Figure 42- Gotch Pins Hack for the First Fall

At 3:45 p.m., Gotch and Hackenschmidt met at center ring for the second fall. Looking at the visibly shaken Hackenschmidt, Gotch knew it was time to go for the kill. Hackenschmidt again successfully resisted Gotch’s effort to take him down but Gotch secured a waist hold and slammed him to his hands and knees.

Gotch

pounced on Hackenschmidt and grabbed his feared toehold. Gotch rolled over to a sitting position with Gotch locked onto his leg in front of him. Hackenschmidt realized his position and said, “Please don’t break my leg.” Gotch heard his opponent say something and looked up with a snarl.

“What?”

Hackenschmidt repeated himself. “Please don’t break my leg.” Gotch stated, “There has to be a fall.” As part of the agreements for the match, the only way to secure the fall was with a pin. Hackenschmidt thought about it for a second, while Gotch tightened the pressure on the hold. Hackenschmidt laid back with his shoulders on the mat giving [xcv] Gotch the second fall at 5 minutes, 32 seconds. Gotch once again proved he was the best wrestler in the world. Fans thought the match may have been “fixed” or prearranged because of how the second fall ended. However, Hackenschmidt later confirmed Gotch’s version. Hackenschmidt’s manager Jack Curley also said Hackenschmidt would not have gone on with his bad knee but did so as a personal favor to Curley, so the match and payout could be saved. The figures for the match were huge for a sporting event in this era. The gate receipts were shy of a hundred thousand dollars at $87,953.

Gotch received

$21,000. Shockingly, the challenger Hackenschmidt received only 70 percent of the

remainder after Gotch was paid. Hackenschmidt took $43,437 back to England. The [xcvi] promoter and Chicago Wrestling Club shared the rest. Or did they? Hackenschmidt later complained that he only received $13,000. Promoter Jack Curley reportedly pocketed the rest. “Hack” was in such a hurry to get back to England that he never took legal action to recoup the rest of the money. The board of the Chicago Wrestling Club also accused Curley of keeping most of the money for himself. If that was the case, the Wrestling Club also did not take legal action against Curley. Gotch and his wife were elated by his success although Gotch was disappointed the match wasn’t more competitive. He wanted to prove he was the better man but felt Hackenschmidt’s poor showing took a little away from the dominant victory. Hackenschmidt was heart-broken by the result. After the match was over, he sat in his dressing room sobbing over the results. Neither Curly nor his seconds were able to console the once great champion. One person who did not offer to console “The Russian Lion” was his chief trainer, Dr. Benjamin F. Roller. Exasperated by Hackenschmidt’s refusal to do hard training, Roller felt “Hack” could have done more in training and in the ring. Roller gave the following statement to the newspaper reporters. “A gamer man than Hackenschmidt might have continued the match. There can be no doubt that he was injured. His condition now will show that. However, I have seen other wrestlers who were suffering from injuries fully as bad as that of Hackenschmidt go through [xcvii] their matches, until it was no longer possible for them to continue." When

Hackenschmidt was drowning in the wrestling public’s disgust, Dr. Roller threw him a slab-sized anchor. Wrestling fans did not react well to the match. After spending so much money on such a one-sided wrestling match, the fans were left wanting, something no professional sport wants to do to its fans. When some newspaper columnists began to question if the match was a “hippodrome” or prearranged fake contest, the anger increased.

The most anticipated wrestling match in the early Twentieth-Century

effectively ended two men’s careers and had far reaching effects on the sport itself.

Figure 43- Headline from the September 4, 1911 edition of the Bismark Daily Tribune in the Library of Congress (Public Domain)

Chapter 8 – The Aftermath

As early as the September 6, 1911, American newspapers were calling the match “a fiasco”. The anger of the fans and pundits was directed at one man, Jack Curley. Curley, Hackenschmidt’s manager and the promoter of the bout, conducted his affairs in a curious manner before and after the bout. Like professional boxing, fans often gambled on the matches. Bettors were furious that Curley continued on with the match instead of postponing it. The anger was further stoked, when the newspapers reported Curley won $35,000 betting on Frank Gotch. Curley parlayed his inside knowledge of “Hack’s” injury to make an [xcviii] unscrupulous killing. Curley also enriched himself on the proceeds of the match.

Curley was

supposed to pay Hackenschmidt over $43,000 for his 70 percent guarantee after the Gotch’s $21,000 fee was paid out. However, Curley only paid “Hack” $11,000 and $2,500 expense money after he wrestled with an injured knee to keep the scheduled [xcix] match. Curley repaid “The Russian Lion’s” loyalty with a thumb in the eye. Curley netted $34,591 on the match plus ¼ of the motion picture royalties. Unfortunately, no copies of the films exist today. Curley walked away with about $70,000. Curley continued to promote professional boxing and professional wrestling. Curley promoted the bout between Jack Johnson and Jess Willard. Willard knocked out Johnson under a hot Cuban sun.

However, Curley went back to promoting

professional wrestling primarily in New York.

Curley, Joe Stecher and Stanislaus Zbyszko orchestrated the double cross of The Gold Dust Trio in 1925. Joe Stetcher, who had been part of the promotion group but bore Lewis a grudge for beating him legitimately in 1920 after Stetcher refused to drop the belt. Stetcher saw an opportunity when Lewis and his partners put the title on "Big" Wayne Munn, a football player with no actual wrestling ability.

Figure 44- Jack Curley Around 1911

Zbyszko was scheduled for a match with Munn on April 15, 1925 in which Zbyszko was going to lose. Munn's would be enhanced after beating a man of Zbyszko's reputation. However, Joe Stetcher paid Zbyszko to beat Munn. In the last verified shoot match, Zbyszko pinned Munn again and again until the referee, who was in on the prearranged outcome, had to award the belt to Zbyszko. Zbyszko quickly dropped the belt to Stetcher in a worked bout. Stetcher's and Zbyszko's double cross changed how wrestling promoters protected their titles. Legitimate wrestlers like Lou Thesz or legitimate tough guys

like Harley Race were chosen to carry the belts to prevent double crosses like the one perpetrated on Munn. George Hackenschmidt offered to put up $5,000 to secure a private rematch with Gotch. Gotch accepted for a match within the month but Hackenschmidt said he would need more time for his knee to heal. Hackenschmidt traveled to New York and stated he would not return to the United States ending the possibility of a private [c] match if he was ever really serious about another tilt with Gotch.

Figure 45- An Older Hack Performing the Hack Squat, an exercise he made famous

George Hackenschmidt retired from wrestling and returned to his first love, weight lifting. A celebrated physical culturist, Gotch remained active in fitness circles until he passed away at 90 years of age in London, England on February 19, 1968. Frank Gotch would also be winding down his wrestling career. Gotch wrestled 6 matches over 14 days in October 1911. He finished the year with two matches in [ci] December. In 1912, he again wrestled a tour in March. He wrestled 7 matches over 10 days.

Gotch wrestled a match with Gus “Americus” Schoenlein in Shoenlein’s

hometown of Baltimore on June 13, 1912. He finished the year with an August

match against his friend and protégé’ Jesse Westergaard in what may or may not have been a legitimate match. The call of home was clearly calling Gotch from his life on the road. In 1913, Gotch decided to call it quits. For his last match, he would take on another famous European wrestler and weightlifter, George Lurich. George Lurich was actually two years older than Gotch. He had also been wrestling since the late 1890s. Several sources have claimed that Lurich trained Hackenschmidt but they were actually rivals. George Lurich did train Aleksander "Alex" Aberg, who would become World Wrestling Champion after Frank Gotch retired. However, Aberg's trainer would have one more shot at the world championship.

Despite his notable successes as a

competitive wrestler, he never won a world championship.

Figure 46- George Lurich in wrestling gear

Frank Gotch and George Lurich met in the Convention Hall at Kansas City, MO on Tuesday, April 1, 1913. According to the April 2, 1913 edition of the Ogden Standard, Lurich was not much of a match for Gotch. Gotch scored the first fall on Lurich at 18 minutes, ten seconds with a toe hold and arm lock.

After a short rest,

Gotch defeated Lurich in five minutes, thirty-five seconds with a head chancery and bar arm. The correspondent reported that Gotch appeared much stronger than Lurich, a weightlifting champion. Lurich did get behind Gotch six or seven times but could not do anything. After Gotch secured his famous and painful toehold, Lurich quickly submitted. Lurich did not have much interest in continuing the match at this time, so he quickly succumbed in the second fall. Georg Lurich and Aleksander "Alex" Aberg continued wrestling before being caught up in the Russian Revolution.

Originally, they were accepted by the

Bolsheviks. During the Russian Civil War, both men decided their fortunes would be better if they left Russia for America. They were attempting to leave Russia through the south, when both men caught typhoid fever. George Lurich died at 43 years of age on January 20, 1920. Aberg beat the illness but caught pneumonia. Aberg died on February 15, 1920. Unlike many other champions, Gotch retired as champion in 1913 when he was 35 years old. With the birth of his son Robert, Gotch decided to retire to life on the farm with his wife and son. No one could have known that the strong and healthy Gotch would only live four more years. On December 16, 1917, Frank Alvin Gotch lost a three week battle with uremic poisoning. Doctors attempted to keep his kidneys going through an operation in Chicago but it provided only temporary relief.

Gotch intended to travel to Hot

Springs, Arkansas to try and restore his health. The operation ended this hope. Gotch spent the last couple weeks only able to take short walks in his hometown of Humboldt, Iowa. Prior to advances in medicine, uremic poisoning was a deadly killer. Many St. Louis Police Officers, who died in the line of duty, had survivable wounds but died from uremic poisoning.

Today, Gotch would most likely have lived a long and

productive life on the farm and would continue training wrestlers like his mentor Burns. With the death of Gotch, legitimate wrestling also died. Legitimate competitions were almost completely replaced with prearranged matches. The retirement of Frank Gotch was the end of the legitimate wrestling era. The death of Frank Gotch took a husband and father from a young family way too young. Frank Gotch was only 39 years old.

Figure 47- Frank and Gladys Gotch

Conclusion The first match between Frank Gotch and George Hackenschmidt made professional wrestling the most popular sport in America for a few years. Frank Gotch became one of America’s first great sports heroes outside of baseball and professional boxing. Despite the taint of faked matches, which dogged the sport since the 19th Century, newspapers started carrying detailed stories about wrestling matches. Leading up to the second match with George Hackenschmidt, hundreds of American newspapers carried stories about the upcoming contest. The disappointing anti-climactic rematch erased all the progress gained by the first match. Hackenschmidt’s performance, which led to charges of faking, and Jack Curley’s financial high jinx brought forever tainted the match. Gotch’s developing domestic situation prevented him from saving professional wrestling from the damage done by the second match. By the time of the International Wrestling Tournament in New York, any semblance of trying to keep American professional wrestling as a competitive sport was gone. Promoters knew fans were skeptical of the product and loathe to part with money for tickets after the second Gotch-Hackenschmidt match. Legitimate contests could last hours and exhaust both participants. Wrestlers could not wrestle every night, if they were involved in legitimate multiple hours long matches. While injuries would still occur, the short matches helped preserve the wrestler’s stamina. Promoters could also put on more matches and cut ticket prices to bring fans back, while still making money.

When the newspapers caught on to what promoters were doing, they quit covering the matches and professional wrestling became a fringe exhibition. However, for three years, it was one of the most popular sports in America thanks to the greatest professional wrestler in American history, Frank Alvin Gotch. A great athlete needs another great athlete to battle.

George Hackenschmidt, the

undefeated World Champion for 7 years, provided the dragon for Gotch to slay. Both men will be forever linked in history as two of the greatest professional wrestlers of all-time and its greatest rivals.

Figure 48- Gotch Puts Hack in his toehold during the infamous second fall of the second bout

Bibliography Books Robbins, George Sanders. Frank A. Gotch, World Champion’s Wrestler, His Life, Mat Battles and Instruction on How to Wrestle. Joseph B. Bowles: Chicago, 1913. Smith, Ed Wallace. Professional Wrestling. American Sports Publishing Company: New York, 1912.

Film The Unreal Story of Professional Wrestling, A&E Network, 1999.

Newspapers Barre Daily Times The Bridgeport Evening Farmer Couer d’Alene Evening Press The Daily Gate City The Evening News The Evening Standard Evening Star Evening Times-Republican Fairmont West Virginian Indianapolis Daily Journal The Minnesota Journal

New York Evening World New York Tribune The Ogden Standard The Omaha Daily Bee Rock Island Argus St. Louis Republic Salt Lake Herald Stark County Democrat Topeka State Journal

About the Author

Figure 49- Ken and Tam, who edited the manuscript

Ken Zimmerman Jr. is a married father of three, who lives in the St. Louis, MO Metro Area. He has a Bachelor of Science Degree with a Major in Political Science and a Minor in History from Washington University in St. Louis. In addition to these interests and genealogy, he is a Black Belt in Taekwondo and holds rank in several other martial arts. If you liked this book, you may wish to sign up for my newsletter to get information when a new book is released. You can sign up for the newsletter and receive three free ebooks by clicking here. You can also check out my website. Articles are typically posted three times a week. www.kenzimmermanjr.com

Endnotes Chapter 1 [i]

The Minnesota Journal, April 22, 1901, p.13.

[ii]

Omaha Daily Bee, August 14, 1901, p.5.

[iii]

Rock Island Argus (Rock Island, Illinois), December 20, 1901, p. 6 and Indianapolis Daily Journal, January 18, 1902, p. 2. [iv] Minneapolis Journal, March 15, 1902, p. 3 [v] Ibid. [vi] Topeka State Journal, March 21, 1902, p. 2 and St. Paul Globe, March 23, 1902, p. 8 [vii] Robbins, George Sanders. Frank Gotch, World Champion Wrestler, pp. 50-55. [viii] Minneapolis Journal, February 3, 1902, p. 10. [ix] St. Louis Republic, January 29, 1904, p. 6. [x] Robbins, George Sanders. Frank Gotch, World Champion’s Wrestler: His Life, Mat Battles and How to Wrestle. P. 57. [xi] Robbins, p. 58

Chapter 2 [xii]

Hackenschmidt, George. The Way to Live in Health & Physical Fitness. Health and Strength Unlimited: London, 1908. P. 102 [xiii] Ibid [xiv] Ibid, p.102 -103 [xv] Ibid, p. 103 [xvi] Ibid, p. 103 [xvii] Ibid, p. 104 [xviii] Ibid, p. 104 [xix] Ibid, p. 105 [xx] Ibid, p. 107 [xxi] Ibid, p. 35 [xxii] Ibid, p. 109 [xxiii] Wrestlingdata.com. http://wrestlingdata.com/index.php? befehl=bios&wrestler=5332&bild=1&details=7

[xxiv]

Ibid, p. 114

[xxv]

Ibid

[xxvi]

Ibid, p. 115.

[xxvii]

Wrestlingdata.com. http://wrestlingdata.com/index.php? befehl=bios&wrestler=15941&bild=1&details=7 [xxviii] Hackenschmidt, pp. 117-118. [xxix] Wrestlingdata.com. http://wrestlingdata.com/index.php? befehl=bios&wrestler=13897&bild=1&details=7 [xxx] Hackenschmidt, p. 118 [xxxi] Ibid, p. 120 [xxxii] Ibid, p. 125 [xxxiii] Ibid, p.127. [xxxiv] Ibid, p. 127-128. [xxxv] Ibid, p. 128 [xxxvi] Ibid, p. 128 [xxxvii] Ibid, p. 128

Chapter 3 [xxxviii] [xxxix] [xl]

Robbins, pp.64-67

Ibid

[xli]

Ibid, p. 68

[xlii]

Evening Times-Republican (Marshalltown, Iowa) August 15, 1904 edition, p. 8

[xliii]

Ibid

[xliv] [xlv]

Ibid Robbins, pp.68-72

[xlvi]

Evening Times-Republican, p. 8

[xlvii]

Robbins, 72-74

[xlviii] [xlix] [l]

Robbins, p. 59

Robbins, p. 74

Robbins, p. 75-76

The Barre Daily Times (Barre, Vermont). November 26, 1904 edition, p. 1

[li]

Robbins, p. 77

[lii]

The Stark County Democrat (Canton, Ohio) November 26, 1906 edition, p. 3

[liii]

Robbins, pp.96-98

Chapter 5 [liv] [lv]

New York Evening World, April 4, 1908 edition, p. 4 The Unreal Story of Professional Wrestling, A&E Network, 1999.

[lvi]

The Topeka State Journal, January 30, 1908 edition, p. 5

[lvii]

Evening Star (Washington, D.C.), February 16, 1908 edition, p. 2

[lviii] [lix] [lx]

The Fairmont West Virginian, March 13, 1908 edition, p. 6

New York Tribune, March 14, 1908 edition, p. 8 New York Evening World, April 4, 1908 edition, p. 4.

[lxi]

The Salt Lake Herald (Salt Lake City, Utah) April 9, 1908 edition, p. 8

Chapter 6 [lxii]

Robbins, p. 123

[lxiii]

Couer d’Alene Evening Press (Couer d’Alene, Idaho) July 2, 1909 edition, p. 1

[lxiv] [lxv]

Ibid Ibid

[lxvi]

Robbins, p. 124

[lxvii]

Robbins, p. 133-150

[lxviii] [lxix] [lxx]

The Evening Statesman (Walla Walla, Washington), April 15, 1909 edition, p. 2

Ibid Wrestlingdata.com, Ibrahim Hergeleci record

[lxxi]

The Evening News (Grand Forks, ND), January 6, 1911 edition, p.3

[lxxii]

Ibid

[lxxiii] [lxxiv] [lxxv] [lxxvi]

The Bridgeport Evening Farmer (Bridgeport, Connecticut), January 10, 1911, p. 7 George Sanders Robbins, p. 171 Ibid, p. 174 Ibid, p. 177

Chapter 7

[lxxvii]

The Evening Times (Grand Forks, North Dakota) February 4, 1911, p. 3

[lxxviii] [lxxix]

Ibid

The Evening Times, March 1, 1911, p. 3

[lxxxii]

The Topeka State Journal (Topeka, Kansas), March 8, 1911 edition, p. 2

[lxxxiii]

The Bridgeport Evening Farmer (Bridgeport, Connecticut), March 30, 1911 edition, p. 10

[lxxxiv] [lxxxv]

The Daily Gate City (Keokuk, Iowa), August 20, 1911 edition, p. 6 The Bridgeport Evening Farmer, August 23, 1911 edition, p. 7

[lxxxvi]

Robbins, p. 179

[lxxxvii]

The Evening Star (Washington, D.C.) August 27, 1911 edition, p. 2

[lxxxviii] [lxxxix] [xc]

Ibid

The Daily Gate City, August 20, 1911 edition, p. 6

The Evening Star, August 31, 1911 edition, p. 15

[xci]

Bismark Daily Tribune (Bismark, North Dakota), September 4, 1911 edition, p. 1

[xcii]

The Evening Times (Grand Forks, North Dakota), September 4, 1911 Extra edition, p. 1

[xciii]

Ibid

[xciv] [xcv]

Ibid George Sanders Robbins, pp. 181-188

[xcvi]

Ibid, p. 188

[xcvii]

The Evening Standard (Ogden City, Utah), September 5, 1911 edition, p. 2

Chapter 8 [xcviii]

Chickasha Daily Express (Chickasha, Indian Territory/Oklahoma), September 5, 1911 edition, p. 1 [xcix] The Bridgeport Evening Farmer, September 6, 1911 edition, p. 8 [c] The San Francisco Call, September 6, 1911, p. 11 [ci] George Sanders Robbins, p. 23