On this day in wrestling history 12/01

[Guest Sassquatch]

From Dave Meltzer

 

ON THIS DAY IN PRO WRESTLING HISTORY 12/01

 

1906 - In one of the most famous and controversial matches in pro

wrestling history, Fred Beell, for whom the term "biel throw" was named after, defeated Frank Gotch to win what is now commonly called the American heavyweight championship in New Orleans. Wrestling legend long had it that Gotch hit his head on the ringpost, and was knocked out, thus lost the match to a man much smaller than he was. That story is likely not true, because rings in those days rarely had ropes or posts. Many other stories about what happened, including Gotch being thrown into an orchestra pit (Gotch himself claimed that just before his death) causing him to be counted out surfaced in the years that passed. A newspaper account from another city (not New Orleans) in that time period had Gotch hitting his head on the ground from a fall and being knocked out in the second fall, and being groggy and pinned quickly in the third fall. Any history from that period is speculative at best, but Gotch regained the title in a rematch just 17 days later. Many see this quick title change as an early example of working a program. Since all of whom would have been in on this would be long dead, what was and wasn't legit as it regards this match and this program and what really happened can best be chalked up to wrestling legend and talked about more for entertainment than any factual basis of what it really was and what really happened.

 

1926 - In what would have been a unification match to determine the real world champion being warring promotions, Strangler Lewis failed to appear for a match with Joe Stecher and forfeited a $2,500 bond, which was a ton of money in those days. What the politics behind this were at the time is speculative, but clearly Lewis' promoters didn't want to test him in a shoot with Stecher, who ten years earlier in a shooting match saw both men go five hours to a draw. Two years later, the two promotions can to a truce and a match was held, which was probably the biggest match of the era, the entire wrestling world believed was a shoot, with Lewis winning. The truth is, the sides came to a secret agreement and the match was a work.

 

1938 - Mildred Burke won World Women’s title from Betty Nichols for the third time in Columbus, OH, two weeks after dropping the title. Burke, whose husband, Bill Wolfe, booked and controlled women’s wrestling during its heyday, held the title for the next 16 years and was likely the highest paid female athlete in North America during much of that period. After she and Wolfe split up, she continually refused to drop the title in the ring and actually lost it in a famous shoot match, which is

probably the last pure shooting match for an American wrestling world

title of any kind.

 

1961 - In a battle of wrestlers who would go on to be considered all-time greats, as well as promoters, Fritz Von Erich won the United States title in Detroit from Dick the Bruiser.

 

1973 - Stan Stasiak pins Pedro Morales at the Philadelphia Arena to win the WWWF title, ending the nearly three-year reign by Morales. What was unique about this match is they did a double pin finish, the match ended, and the ring announcer simply stated, "Let's hear it for a great champion, Pedro Morales." Stasiak's hand was never raised. Stasiak was never announced in the building as the new champion for fear of a riot and the fans at the arena live didn't know they had witnessed wrestling history until the following Saturday when the title change was announced on television.

 

1978 - Big Daddy Ritter captured the North American title for Stampede Wrestling in Calgary, defeating Alo Leilani. It was the first title win in the career of Ritter, who would go on to huge fame just a few years later as The Junkyard Dog

 

1995 - Negro Casas defeats El Hijo del Santo at Arena Mexico in a tournament final to crown the new NWA welterweight title. Casas would go on to lose the title the next summer as part of the J Crown tournament, and the belt, which had a history in Mexico dating back to 1946 and El Santo, would leave the EMLL and survive in name in Japan, where it is currently part of the Toryumon promotion.