Over the next few weeks I will be posting my five part series on the history of the world title. I have tried to put an individual slant on each one so that they can be appreciated both us stand alone pieces and as a collective. This second part deals with the formation of the world title and all the styles and personalities it incorporates.
Who: George Hackenschmidt and Tom Jenkins
What: The crowning of the first undisputed heavyweight champion of the world
Where: Madison Square Garden, New York
When: 4th May 1905
Like all great wrestling matches, predetermined or not, there was a background behind this match that increased its importance and significance. Not only did Hackenschmidt and Jenkins both bring remarkable personal stories to the ring, but their bout also promised to be the culmination of a thirty-year process. In order to fully appreciate the enormity of the 4th May match it is essential to place it in its context as the summit of a rocky, mountainous journey towards a unified championship.
In the nineteenth century the restrictions on communication and transport meant that instead of there being one undisputed World Champion there were numerous different regional champions. In addition to the title being split regionally, it was also split stylistically. There were many different forms of wrestling and each one had its own champion. It was only over the course of thirty years and hundreds of matches that all these titles were unified into one. The unification process started, in meaningful terms, in 1877 with William Muldoon.
William Muldoon
During the February of 1877 Muldoon faced and defeated the Frenchman Andre Christol for the Greco-Roman national title in two straight falls of 10 and 17 minutes respectively. In the process, he also managed to scoop a rather tasty $2,000 in side bets. With this triumph Muldoon became the first man to be recognised as a wrestling champion.
Muldoon had grown up in Belfast, New York and was not only a pioneer of wrestling but also of sport in general. He was one of the very first people to become a professional athlete. His talent lay in boxing as well as wrestling and he was even inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame. When training the legendary John L Sullivan – the most popular boxer of the time – Muldoon would threaten him with a baseball bat if he wanted to stop for a drink. One amusing anecdote has Muldoon, when wrestling his great French nemesis Clarence Whistler, stopping the bout to lecture an unruly crowd on sportsmanship after they had chanted "Break the Frenchie's neck!" This gives a true insight into the man. Muldoon was a great wrestler, a great boxer, a great trainer and an all round good egg.
Being a recognised wrestling champion meant that there were others who wanted to prove themselves against Muldoon. Thiebaud Bauer was one such wrestler. Their bout on the 19th January 1880 at Gilmore's Garden saw Muldoon emerge victorious and claim the new title of American Greco-Roman champion. Gilmore’s Garden would, shortly after this bout, be renamed Madison Square Garden by its owner William Henry Vanderbilt. Madison Square Garden, even today, sits at the very heart of wrestling’s consciousness. It is a truly amazing quirk of history that it has witnessed so many of the sport’s great events.
After Muldoon retired at the end of 1891 his American Greco-Roman title became vacant. It was Ernest Roeber who, by defeating Apollo, filled the position of champion. Roeber had only held the title for a year when he came up against the Catch-as-Catch-Can champion, Evan “Strangler” Lewis. Lewis had earned his moniker in recognition of his invention of the headlock stranglehold. The Catch-as-Catch-Can title that he held dated back to 1881 when Joe Acton had become its first champion. The winner would become the inaugural American Heavyweight champion. However, as the two titles were contested under different rules, the match was best of 5 falls alternating between Greco-Roman and Catch-as-Catch-Can. Evan Lewis won and took his place in the history books as the last American Greco-Roman champion and the first American Heavyweight champion.
Tom Cannon had lost his match with Joe Acton to crown the inaugural Catch-as-Catch-Can champion but he made up for that by beating Tom McInerney to capture the European Greco-Roman Heavyweight Title on the 22nd August 1894 in Liverpool, England. Cannon was enjoying his second reign with the belt when, in September 1902, the irrepressible ‘Russian Lion’ George Hackenschmidt usurped him to add yet another championship to his collection.
George Hackenschmidt
The reason that I say that George Hackenschmidt added yet another championship is because since turning professional in June 1900 he had already won tournaments in Russia, Germany, Hungary and France. These tournaments, each claiming to determine the World Champion, were not as formalised as the established belts we have already looked at. However, Hackenshmidt, by winning so many of them, had used their cumulative effect to catapult himself into a position where no serious conversation about who was the best wrestler in the world could take place without his name being mentioned. His victory over Cannon in 1902 merely added more weight to his argument. Despite his string of victories though Hackenschmidt was not, unanimously, considered the champion of Europe, let alone America and the world.
On the 30th January 1904 Hackenschmidt would overcome one of these problems. He was to wrestle against the ‘Terrible Turk’ Ahmed Madrali with the winner becoming the undisputed European champion. Madrali’s manager and promoter Antonio Pierri had promoted the Turk so successfully that the bout sold out the London Opera House and even Hackenschmidt was nervous about the bout. Despite giving two stone in weight and a foot in height to his opponent Hackenschmidt threw him after 44 seconds and injured Madrali’s arm to such an extent that he could not continue and did not wrestle again for three months. The Russian Lion walked away with £1000 and the honour of being the undisputed European champion. Next stop was to take on America.
Tom Jenkins
Taking on America could only really mean one thing – taking on Tom Jenkins. Jenkins was of Welsh ancestry and had almost been killed as a youngster when explosives from an Independence Day party blew up near him. For the rest of his life he was forced to wear a glass eye. He discovered his wrestling ability when, at the steel mill he worked at, Al Woods, a local wrestling personality, issued an open challenge for an exhibition match. Woods could not defeat the novice and the mill owner was so impressed by Jenkins aptitude for wrestling that he paid for him to have lessons in Cleveland. In 1901 Jenkins first won the American Heavyweight Title from Don McLeod and became a nationally recognised figure.
The story of the twelve years that passed between the time that Evan “Strangler” Lewis first won the American Heavyweight Title and the time Hackenschmidt defeated Tom Jenkins explains why Jenkins was the man that Hackenschmidt had to beat. Needless to say an awful lot had happened. The American Heavyweight Title had changed hands seven times and had witnessed five different champions. Martin “Farmer” Burns displaced Lewis as champion in 1895. Burns had received his nickname at a carnival in 1889 when he accepted Jack Carleek and Evan Lewis’ open challenge while wearing his regular farming outfit. It is said that Burns lost only seven times in six-thousand matches, one of those seven so happened to be against Don McLeod. That statistic alone shows how good McLeod was. Another member of the elite group that had managed to defeat Burns – Tom Jenkins - deposed McLeod. Their bout on the 7th November 1901 came about as a result of an earlier inconclusive match. In order to win the title the rules stipulated that Jenkins had to throw McLeod twice in one hour; however, he had failed to do so. Thus the rematch was set-up and its two out of three falls, to a finish stipulations were designed to ensure it was conclusive. In what was widely described as a classic match Jenkins triumphed but also praised his opponent afterwards stating that “McLeod is a wonder. He is certainly the best white man I ever met. Never have I had to work so desperately before.”
As is so often the case in wrestling, the relationship between the two did not end on its highest note. On Christmas Day 1902 the two met again. This time, however, there was controversy. Jenkins, due to contracting blood poisoning, was forced to wear a metal contraption on his leg. After Jenkins won the first fall in just under an hour it is claimed that McLeod, during the second fall, used Jenkins’ protective device against him by digging the buckles into his shin. This allowed McLeod to take the second fall and forced Jenkins’ manager Tuohey to throw the towel in during the third. McLeod’s glory was short lived as Jenkins defeated him the following April in a vicious match. Jenkins held the belt until the 27th January 1904 when the gregarious youngster, Frank Gotch, bested him. Gotch was a trainee of Farmer Burns’ and would go on to become, in most people’s eyes the greatest wrestler ever.
Thus when Hackenschmidt, at the beginning of 1904, was looking for the standard bearer of American wrestling he had no choice but to opt for Jenkins. Although by the time they wrestled on the 2nd July 1904 Jenkins was no longer American champion he was still seen as the best. He had held the belt for over two of the last three years and had beaten all the legendary figures in American wrestling, including Gotch who he had defeated in 1903. Simply, he had the name value. However, the fact that Jenkins was not the American champion when the two met meant that the bout could not declare an undisputed world champion. On the 2nd July 1904 6,000 people poured into the Albert Hall in London to watch the two men go at it under Greco-Roman rules. Hackenschmidt triumphed in two-straight falls. One question still lingered over Hackenschmidt’s claim to be the best though. Could he beat Jenkins under Jenkins’ preferred Catch-as-Catch-Can stipulations?
A rematch was signed to take place in New York and was intended to put the issue to bed once and for all. Hackenschmidt was to face Jenkins in a Catch-as-Catch-Can style match. In order to prepare for the return match Hackenschmidt indulged in a four-month tour of Australia and the surrounding countries where the Catch-as-Catch-Can style was still popular and he could improve his technique.
Although the bout had been signed so as to prove who was the better wrestler it subsequently turned into a bout to crown the first undisputed world champion. On the 15th March Jenkins reclaimed the American title from Gotch. Therefore, unlike the contest in London, this was the champion of Europe taking on the champion of America on order to decide the champion of the world. It is bizarre, but yet warming, to think that the honour of being the first undisputed champion was subservient to the more underlying desire to show yourself as the superior man.
The bout on the 4th May 1905 at Madison Square Gardens, New York, the stadium where Muldoon became the first recognised champion, would also see Hackenschmidt become the first recognised world champion. Wrestling under Catch-as-Catch-Can rules the American Heavyweight Champion Tom Jenkins was pinned for the first fall at 31 minutes 15 seconds and the second fall at 22 minutes 4 seconds. The undisputed champion of Europe had comprehensively defeated the recognised champion of America; a world champion had been born. The events of the 4th May were the culmination of thirty years of blood, sweat and tears.
A contemporary match report read:
New York, May 5 - Geo. Hackenschmidt, the Russian Lion, defeated Tom Jenkins, the American champion wrestler, in two straight falls last nigh at Madison Square garden, in a match in which Jenkins was handled like a pigmy in the hands of a giant. Hackenschmidt broke holds as if they were the clutchings of a child.
For half an hour the Russian Lion battered Jenkins without a moment's cessation. The older man's vitality began to ebb. Suddenly, Hackenschmidt got an "half-nelson" lock on him-both hands under the chest and clasped around his neck. Inch by inch he twisted Jenkins over, still over, till both shoulders touched the mat. But Referee Hurst did not see the fall and signalled to go on. Within a minute, Hackenschmidt repeated the feat, and this time he kept his man bored down until Hurst dragged him off. Time 31 min. 15 sec.
Tom was still tired when he came back fifteen minutes later for the second bout. Patiently, bravely, unflinchingly, almost hopefully, he put forth all his cunning and strength. Once, as they stood face to face, Hackenschmidt seized Jenkins under his arms and whirled him around in a furious waltz. The body of Jenkins stood out straight, his feet pointing at the horizon. Twice thus around he went; then Hackenschmidt slammed him down on the floor. Tom wriggled around so that his shoulders did not touch the mat. It was a wonderful exhibition of quick thinking under adverse circumstances. But Tom's bolt was shot. No mere human giant could last under the awful strain of handling Hackenschmidt. After 22 min. and 4 sec. The Russian again put Jenkins down with a "half-nelson." Poor old Tom was hardly able to walk out the ring. Hackenschmidt dashed away as briskly as ever.
"I would like to have thrown him quicker," he said, "but several times when I had good holds on him he turned white and I was afraid of hurting him, so I let up."
The thirty years that it took to crown a world champion was full of stories, personalities, feuds and battles. The same can be said of the hundred and one years since and I’m sure will be said of the years henceforth. You would think that once a title was united it would stay united, but it did not. It did not just split once but several times and we are still waiting for it to unite again, but that’s a story for a later.
As always, any and all feedback is appreciated. If you would like to comment on any aspect of the column you can e-mail me at ianweinstein@hotmail.com. Is there a bit of the story you're unsure about? Did I make a stupid factual mistake somewhere? Do you just want to rant abusively at me? Send that e-mail, don't be afraid. The bogey man ain't gonna get ya.
Main Sources
Frank Gotch Biography
Natural Strength
NWA History
Top 100 Most Influential Figure in Pro Wrestling
Wrestling Titles
1 Wrestling Legends
Wrestling Information Archive
