American Heavyweight Championship

Last updated
American Heavyweight Championship
Details
Date establishedJanuary 19, 1881
Statistics
First champion(s) Edwin Bibby
Final champion(s) Wladek Zbyszko
Most reigns Tom Jenkins, Frank Gotch, Charlie Cutler, Dr. Benjamin Roller (3 times)

The American Heavyweight Wrestling Championship was the first heavyweight professional wrestling championship in the United States. The title existed from 1881 through approximately 1922. [1]

Contents

Title history

WrestlerTimesDate wonLocationNotes
Edwin Bibby 1January 19, 1881 New York City Defeats Duncan C. Ross in a catch-as-catch-can match for "the championship of America". [2] [3]
Joe Acton 1August 7, 1882New York CityHas defeated Tom Cannon on December 9, 1881, in London, England, for the Catch-as-Catch-Can Title; Bibby is billed as champion for a match against World Greco-Roman champion William Muldoon on September 3, 1882, in Elmira, NY.
Evan "Strangler" Lewis 1April 11, 1887 Chicago Lewis unified the American Catch-as-Catch Can Championship and the American Greco-Roman Heavyweight Championship by defeating Ernest Roeber on March 2, 1893, in a 3 out of 5 falls match with alternating Greco-Roman match and Catch-as-Catch can matches. The two titles became known as the American Heavyweight Wrestling Championship.
Martin "Farmer" Burns 1April 20, 1895Chicago
Dan McLeod 1October 26, 1897 Indianapolis
Yusuf İsmail 1June 20, 1898Chicago
Tom Jenkins 1November 7, 1901 Cleveland, Ohio
Dan McLeod 2December 25, 1902 Worcester, Massachusetts Jenkins forfeited the title to McLeod after having blood poisoning in his leg during their match.
Tom Jenkins 2April 3, 1903 Buffalo, N.Y. [4]
Frank Gotch 1January 27, 1904 Bellingham, Washington
Tom Jenkins 3March 15, 1905New York City
Frank Gotch 2May 23, 1906 Kansas City, Missouri [5]
Fred Beell 1December 1, 1906 New Orleans [6]
Frank Gotch 3December 17, 1906Kansas City, Missouri [6]
Vacant1910Gotch vacates the title after two years as a double crown champion to concentrate on the World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship he won from Georg Hackenschmidt on April 3, 1908, in Chicago, Illinois. [4]
Henry Ordemann 1October 25, 1910 Minneapolis Defeats Charlie Cutler and awarded the title by special referee Frank Gotch.
Charlie Cutler 1February 1, 1911Minneapolis
Dr. Benjamin Roller 1March 6, 1911Chicago
Charlie Cutler 2March 25, 1911Buffalo, N.Y.
Jess Reimer 1November 7, 1911 Des Moines, Iowa
Henry Ordemann 2December 14, 1911Minneapolis
Charlie Cutler 3March 25, 1912ChicagoJess Westergaard (Reimer) defeats Ordemann on January 7, 1913, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to claim a title but loses to Cutler on January 22, 1913, in Dallas, Texas.
Dr. Benjamin Roller 2July 4, 1913 Benton Harbor, Michigan
Ed "Strangler" Lewis 1September 18, 1913 Lexington, Kentucky
William Demetral 1October 21, 1913Lexington, Kentucky
Dr. Benjamin Roller 3July 10, 1914 Rock Island, Illinois Ed "Strangler" Lewis defeats Roller during an international tournament on January 15, 1916, in New York City (title may not be on line).
Wladek Zbyszko 1January 8, 1917 Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Still/again champion as of September 22, 1922 (or a different reign, possibly by winning a tournament which has started on February 21, 1922).

See also

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References

  1. "BIBBY THROWS ROSS.; WINNING A MATCH WITH THE GIANT-- THREE OUT OF FIVE FALLS GAINED. - The New York Times".
  2. "Edwin Bibby 1848 - All about Bibby".
  3. "BIBBY THROWS ROSS.; WINNING A MATCH WITH THE GIANT-- THREE OUT OF FIVE FALLS GAINED. - The New York Times".
  4. 1 2 F4W Staff (April 3, 2015). "ON THIS DAY IN PRO WRESTLING TITLE CHANGE HISTORY: GOTCH VS. HACKENSCHMIDT, INOKI VS. HANSEN, GUERRERO VS. JERICHO". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 10, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  5. Hoops, Brian (May 23, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling history (May 23): Antonio Inoki Vs. Hulk Hogan, Andre Vs. Sakaguchi, Frank Gotch in a 57-minute match". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved February 16, 2017.
  6. 1 2 Wisconsin Historical Society. Wisconsin Local History & Biography Articles; "Milwaukee Journal"; "Marshfield", "WI"; "August 8, 1933"; viewed online at https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Newspaper/BA335