For all the fans (young and old) out there who thought they knew professional wrestling and everything in it, there are still some pieces left to be uncovered. Today we know professional wrestling as a form of entertainment, although in countries like Japan and Mexico they still treat it as a sport (which is how it should be treated at the first place). So this article aims to educate those ‘educated’ fans about the first real rivalry of professional wrestling which took this sport into the mainstream and laid the foundation for what we watch today.
Back in the day, wrestling was real and involved a ‘catch-as-catch-can’ style which is basically called catch wrestling today. This is during the 20th century when wrestling was coming of age and attracting fans because they saw this as a legit sport. One of the most famous battles that defined wrestling at that time was for the famous World Heavyweight Championship which put up George Hackenschmidt, the current champion against Frank Gotch, the challenger. They had two historic bouts in Chicago which forever changed the landscape of professional wrestling.
PREVIEW
George Hackenschmidt
George Hackenschmidt was considered to be a genetic freak as he was nicknamed the ‘Russian-Lion’. He was very talented in sports during his school days and after completing his schooling joined the local athletic gym where he would gain interest towards wrestling and weight lifting. His first meeting with his future trainer Georg Lurich ended up with Hackenschmidt being beaten and from then on Lurich started to train Hackenschmidt in wrestling.
Hackenschmidt began touring Europe and competing in various tournaments. He won tournaments in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Vienna, and Paris. During this time, his stock as a professional wrestler was growing and he set his sights on England where a new style ‘catch-as-catch-can’ had emerged. Since Hackenschmidt was a strongman, he had trained under Greco-Roman rules which is a slow methodical pace of wrestling. In London, Hackenschmidt was a superstar, managed by CB Cochran he managed to beat everyone he faced including beating five wrestlers on the same night. He won several wrestling championships during his time in Europe including the European Greco-Roman Heavyweight championship and in London where he cemented his nickname ‘The Russian Lion’.
Frank Gotch
Frank Gotch is considered to one of the greatest wrestlers of all time and still to this day as well. He comes from the farms of Iowa, where a lot of famous wrestlers have come such as ‘Farmer’ Martin Burns and also Dan Gable. He used to wrestle locally in Iowa and by the time he started turning professional, he had already made a reputation for himself as the man possessing the most dangerous hold in all of the wrestling, the toe hold. One of his early victories was against a former American heavyweight champion Dan McLeod, whom he only recognized after McLeod gave him his visiting card.
Gotch then wrestled his future mentor, ‘Farmer’ Martin Burns. He lost the bout in 11 minutes but Burns impressed by Gotch’s resiliency and desire decided to train Gotch in wrestling. Gotch would win matches in Iowa and later travel to Yukon in Canada where he would win their version of the heavyweight championship.
THE BUILD UP
As now as both Hackenschmidt and Gotch were establishing themselves as the best wrestlers in the world, they would still need that one victory that would stand them out among all the wrestlers at that time.
For Hackenschmidt, it was his two matches against then American Heavyweight Champion Tom Jenkins. Hackenschmidt faced Jenkins for the first time in the Royal Albert Hall in London where Jenkins would prove to be a tough opponent as they faced under Greco-Roman rules. Hackenschmidt would win the bout by pinning Jenkins on two occasions. Jenkins wanted a rematch and wanted it to happen in America. Hackenschmidt recognized this as a chance to spread his popularity in America.
So in May 4, 1905, at Madison Square Garden the much-anticipated rematch between George Hackenschmidt and Tom Jenkins happened under catch rules. Hackenschmidt won the match again in two straight falls which took around an hour between each fall. George Hackenschmidt would be recognized as the official world heavyweight championship from then on.
Frank Gotch on the other hand also had sights set on becoming world champion. Having already beaten a former champion in Dan McLeod and training under the tutelage of ‘Farmer’ Burns, Gotch felt he had the tools to become world champion. He faced then champion Tom Jenkins in 1903 after returning to Iowa but lost that match. He would challenge Jenkins again in 1904 where he beat Jenkins to crown himself the champion. However, he found out that Hackenschmidt had already beaten Jenkins in England before, so he wanted to face George Hackenschmidt to crown the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.
However, Hackenschmidt ignored Gotch’s challenge after he found out Jenkins had been beaten by Gotch. Hackenschmidt wanted to take time off for a while and sailed to England to hang out with his family. After keeping the title for nearly 3 years, Hackenschmidt sailed to America to challenge Frank Gotch for the championship on April 3, 1908, at Dexter Park Pavilion in Chicago.
TALE OF THE TAPE
GEORGE HACKENSCHMIDT FRANK GOTCH
30
|
Age
|
30
|
5’9
|
Height
|
5’11
|
208 LBS
|
Weight
|
196 LBS
|
ESTONIA
|
From
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IOWA, USA
|
European Greco-Roman Heavyweight Championship, French Heavyweight Championship, World Heavyweight Championship.
|
Career Highlights
|
American World Heavyweight Championship, Champion of the Klondike
|
THE MATCH
Their first meeting was at Dexter Park in Chicago on April 3, 1908. Rumors have it that Hackenschmidt was not impressed by American wrestling because he felt it did not honor the true sportsmanship and because of this reason he was not in top physical condition. He refused to train at the Chicago Athletic Club although arrangements had been made for him to train there but he did not show up.
The match took place and Gotch started to dominate the champion as he used his speed and rough tactics to slow Hackenschmidt down. Hackenschmidt, not having the same endurance level was not able to go toe to toe with Gotch and had to give the grappling exchanges to Gotch. These two were vying for dominant position as Gotch was trying to get Hackenschmidt down for his dreaded toe hold meanwhile Hackenschmidt was trying to squeeze the bear hug on Gotch. After a full two hours of wrestling on their feet, Gotch finally took down the champ and leaned on him knowing that Hackenschmidt was tiring down.
Gotch bullied Hackenschmidt around the ring and started thumbing him which caused blood to drip down Hackenschmidt’s face. Gotch also punched him on the nose to which the champion complained to the referee of the foul tactics, which the referee ignored. Later, Hackenschmidt complained of Gotch having oiled his body so that Hackenschmidt would find it hard to put on the bear hug but the referee again insisted on carrying the match and instead told Hackenschmidt he should have noticed the oil earlier. In this way, Gotch started to dominate Hackenschmidt and held against the ropes, he pulled him down and went towards the toe hold. Hackenschmidt defended it well but was tiring second by second and verbally submitted. Gotch had won the first fall.
They stood up and shook hands and went to the dressing room and as the crowd anticipated the second fall, however, Hackenschmidt decided not to come out and declared Gotch victorious. In this way, Frank Gotch had defeated the George Hackenschmidt to become the World Heavyweight champion at that time. After surrendering the title here is what Hackenschmidt said,
“He is the king of the class, the greatest man by far I ever met, after going nearly two hours with him, my muscles became stale. My feet also gave out. I had trained constantly against the toe hold and had strained the muscles of my legs. When I found myself weakening, I knew there was no use continuing and that I had no chance to win. That was the reason I conceded the championship to him. I have no desire to wrestle him again. A return match would not win back my title.”
This first match between George Hackenschmidt and Frank Gotch got over with fans and they wanted to see a rematch. Tune into part II to find out what happened in the greatest rivalry in wrestling history:
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