Your historian of varying levels of grumpiness is back to enlighten y’all with five more of the most important wrestlers in history. As you probably gathered this time we are covering the years 1870-1879. A decade that was really very much a transitional year for professional wrestling in the North of America and the world over really as wrestlers started to travel further to apply their craft.
With the freedom to explore other countries and test their best wrestlers becoming more and more popular, styles started to reach the shores of America which were before either unheard of, or just uncommonly practiced. For the first three quarters of the decade it would be the Greco-Roman style which originated in France taking over the theaters.
During the last quarter of the decade Catch-as-Catch-Can started to make it’s way over from England and the Collar and Elbow wrestlers we spoke of last time were all but left behind unless they learned one of the two new styles. With the English style of wrestling being so free and exciting to watch in comparison to the both Collar and Elbow, and Greco-Roman it wouldn’t be long until it remained as the last wrestling style standing.
5 – James Owens
As I mentioned the ’70’s were a time for transition in the wrestling world of the North of America. Owens, however, was going to make a name for himself in the Collar and Elbow style that was on it’s way out. It is unknown when he was born, but, we do know that he was born in Fairfield, Vermont, where he lived and grew up on a farm.
It’s fairly safe to assume that Owens would have learned and honed his craft within his local city and the surrounding areas. After all that was the normal way of proceeding as a wrestler during his time. His name first starts appearing in any major capacity during the end of 1876 when he met the great, American Collar and Elbow Champion, James H. McLaughlin (See 1860 – 1869 Article for more on him).
On that December 28 night, Owens pulled off the unthinkable. Being the younger, less experienced wrestler, as well as a size disadvantage he still managed to defeat McLaughlin and started his first reign as the American Collar and Elbow Champion. He would lose a match in 1877 which led to some controversy over who the champion was in certain parts of the country, but the majority of the country still recognized Owens.
No-one else laid claim to his championship for the next three years as he defeated anyone who stepped in front of him. Then on June 11, 1879 he met Henry H. Dufur in a match that ended with much dispute over the final fall and whether it had been one. Both men then laid claim to the American Collar and Elbow Championship and a couple of months later Owens lost to John McMahon losing any claim to the title at all.
By the end of 1880 James E. Owens had passed away. On Christmas Eve that year following a long battle with bronchial issues he passed away. Whilst Owen’s time was short, he was a key figure in keeping Collar and Elbow alive and also the presentation of wrestling as legitimate. Whilst rumors of hippodroming were rampant, he appears to have remained a solid draw with no cries against his name of fraudulent.
4 – Andre Christol
If ever there was a time when I really was the grumpy historian it was during the procedure of researching Andre Christol. There were many expletives used and outcries at modern technology such as the French Google for giving me some useless information on Christianity in Rome rather than on Andre Christol the Greco-Roman wrestler. Anyway, rant over, as you may have figured from that, I don’t have an awful lot to share on him, but nonetheless here we go.
There are match records showing him wrestling in Germany as early as 1872, most wrestlers traveled Europe at that time, so it’s not surprising to see him there. Upon arriving in America in the mid-1870’s Andre was hyped up in the newspapers as the French Heavyweight Greco-Roman Champion. Whether he had actually been a champion over there I do not know (Damn you google.fr).
In many papers it’s noted that Andre was small in build, but, very powerful, able to bend iron bars with his hands. Andre quickly was pitted against the top wrestlers in America, normally in Greco-Roman matches as he was one of the many Frenchman who came over during this time exciting the audiences with their new form of wrestling. February 6, 1877 Andre Christol lost in what would be a landmark day in American wrestling, we’ll come to that in a later entry though.
The Black Hill Daily Times released on March 18, 1878 notes that Christol was a part of a match that drew the largest crowd in American history for a wrestling event. For the rest of the decade he continued wrestling against the upper echelon of talent in America, as well as making trips back to Europe it appears. It’s also possible he dabbled in boxing, with a match listed in Australia in 1888. I can not confirm it is 100% the same man though.
Billed as the French champion it was guaranteed there’d be a good house in America with him on the card. There’s no doubt that his ‘immense strength’ (As stated in a newspaper) mixed with the new Greco-Roman style helped a resurgence form in a flagging business with only a few wrestlers still seen as a legitimate. Truly it is a shame more is not known about Andre Christol.
3 – John McMahon
Another man who whilst Collar and Elbow was dying out as a whole, John McMahon was just rising to prominence as one of the best at the style in all of America. He was born back on July 7, 1841 in the town of Vermont. Given that he was born to a family of Irish descent it was no surprise he got into Collar and Elbow. It’s said he was a natural athlete growing up. His career started in 1861 and from there, there was seemingly no stopping him in his quest to be the greatest wrestler who ever lived.
For the next 17 years it’s said that he remained undefeated (Goldberg could only dream of a streak like that). After really building up a reputation for himself through-out the 1860’s McMahon found himself at the forefront of competition going into the ’70’s. James H. McLaughlin had been the recognized Collar and Elbow champion since 1870, but rarely competed in the first half of the decade and McMahon took his place at the top of the ladder.
On July 22, 1873 McMahon defeated Thomas Copeland, who was billed as the Canadian Collar and Elbow Champion, and was thus crowned the Collar and Elbow Champion of Canada and America, often it was just cited as the World Championship. During his reign he took on all comers and it wasn’t until early January 1878 that he lost to James Farwell the pacific coast claimant.
Later that year he finally met James H. McLaughlin who was still making a claim to being the Collar and Elbow Champion. McMahon would win their first meeting and lose the second. In their third and final bout it was declared a draw, leaving the argument to rage on forever about who was better. In 1879 he picked up a version Collar and Elbow Championship from James Owens, it was only recognized in New York and Ohio.
Eventually Dufur and McMahon met again on December 16, 1880 and McMahon again won, this time being nationally recognized as the champion. The two would have several matches over the next three years, and McMahon lost the championship for the last time at the end of 1883. Following the loss he started to wind down his career and frequented the circuses taking on all challenges. His legacy speaks for himself. He wasn’t related to Vince McMahon, but the series of contests held between John McMahon and James H. McLaughlin were comparable in intensity and drawing power as the Vince McMahon created feud between the Rock and ‘Stone Cold’ Steve Austin.
2 – Thiebaud Bauer
Another Frenchman on the list. His early career much the same as Andre Christol is unknown to me, I have tried to research it on numerous occasions due to Bauer’s overall importance to wrestling, it’s arguable he could be number one. There is rampant speculation though that Bauer was actually the infamous Masked Wrestler of the tournament held in Paris, France.
If he is indeed that Masked Wrestler then as early as 1867 he was helping revolutionize the wrestling business, literally. The Masked Wrestler was the first to wear a garment to cover his face and is noted for the overall showmanship included in the performances along with his undefeated streak followed by shortly after disappearing.
Bauer showed up in America during the early part of the 1870’s and took on all comers, throwing them all one-by-one. So dominate had Bauer been that it’s said in the middle of the decade Professor William Miller (We’ll look at him next week) had to be brought over to America as no-one else could defeat Bauer. The two had a series of match-ups that rocked America in more ways than just sporting.
Huge controversy surrounded the legitimacy of these matches. It appears that the two wrestlers worked together and had gyms in California close to each other and it’s very possible the older Bauer passed on much of his showmanship knowledge to Miller, thus forming the first real troupe of wrestlers who traveled not only America, but the world.
Either way, Bauer also had serious legitimate accolades and had earned the nickname ‘Professor’ for his knowledge and abilities in all forms of sporting activity. In his gym he trained mostly in Catch-as-Catch-Can trying to move with the times as English wrestlers had started to come over, but they weren’t making a real dent in the popularity of Greco-Roman just yet. Bauer used his dream to train other wrestlers and also boxers too.
A man of many talents Thiebaud Bauer was one of the biggest names in America through-out the 1870’s and into the early 1880’s. With that he was also possibly the biggest name in France in the 1860’s. For his whole time in America he was always a name up there with World/American Champions, making several claims himself. His greatest legacy was probably those he passed his insider knowledge onto though.
1 – William Muldoon
Speaking of people who Bauer passed his insider knowledge on to, it’s very plausible that Muldoon was shown the way to make more money in the business by Thiebaud. William Muldoon was born on May 25, 1845 and was called the Solid Man. He is often credited with being the founding father of professional wrestling in America, as you may have noticed that’s not strictly true, he was the first huge attraction though.
Muldoon learned how to wrestle during the civil war whilst in the army. After the war he traveled to fight in the French army in the Franco-Prussian war where he learned how to wrestle Greco-Roman style. Once back in America Muldoon joined the police force and continued wrestling in his spare time, he’d stay in the force until 1881.
On February 6, 1877 though, Muldoon defeated Andre Christol in a match for the French Heavyweight Greco-Roman Championship. In newspapers and hype for his upcoming matches Muldoon is now billed as the World Heavyweight Greco-Roman Champion. It’s for this reason I have included Muldoon in the 1870’s list. Whilst his popularity was greater in the 1880’s, his legacy started in the ’70’s.
For the first time the Americans had someone they could call their world champion. Whilst people like Thiebaud Bauer were living in America and were very popular, they were not American. Muldoon was. Muldoon became a champion of the people and his popularity soared following this victory. It was with this victory that officially Greco-Roman wrestling was the number one form of wrestling in America.
Muldoon traveled the country taking on all comers and would be known for having long, mammoth battles. In 1880 he defeated Thiebaud Bauer and squashed any disputes that there could be over who the true champion was. Later in his career he was the trainer of John L. Sullivan, the boxer, for the epic 72 round bare knuckle boxing match.
In the late ’70’s and the early part of the ’80’s it’s hard to argue anyone was more popular in America than William Muldoon. If it hadn’t been for some sloppy matches and information getting out that some of his contests had been worked in the late ’70’s it’s possible Catch-as-Catch-Can may not have ever caught on like it did. Even though some of the population turned their backs on him, a lot of people still believed in Muldoon and he was still drawing good crowds until the 1890’s with occasional appearances.
Next time we’ll be back to look at the years 1880 – 1889. The decade holds the birth of the Catch-as-Catch-Can Championship of America, a hold filled with much debate to it’s humanity, an Australian champion being crowned, and the final period of the transition to the form of wrestling that would be upheld until the 1920’s when the Gold Dust Trio emerged. That’s all folks!
– By Jimmy Wheeler