Part 1: "Prehistoric wrestling" (1899-early 1950)
This footage is what I’d informally call “prehistoric” wrestling, or wrestling footage that exists mostly prior to the formation of the modern National Wrestling Alliance in 1948 and the television boom of the 1950s. Most of the matches are small clips. When possible, I have tried to source everything from a DVD, although I have picked up some things online when I cannot locate a DVD version. Just as is the case for everything in my collection, if I do find a superior source, I will always upgrade my version. In most cases, the clips are from newsreels, most commonly the Associated Press and British Pathe. In other cases, the matches were presented as short films and even produced by major players like Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.
I have seen many comments on the wrestling style. It’s possible that it could alienate new fans, but I would be careful not to toss it all overboard. There are some matches like Earl Stetcher vs Joe Caddock from January 30, 1920, that serve as a fascinating piece of trivia, but seem to test even those who love mat wrestling. About 25 minutes of footage survived from a 2 ½ hour shoot that wasn’t all that thrilling. At the same time, there are wrestlers like Man Mountain Dean, a regular monster heel presence in the mid-1930s, who most have found to be really enjoyable.
This is a good time to point out that because I care so much about chronology and detail, if we can’t pinpoint a year or a participant, I’m not likely to list it here. That’s not to say that there isn’t wrestling in that category worth watching; 1901’s “Fat and Lean Wrestling Match” is a creative riot and shows that maybe matches like Final Deletion aren’t that unusual or new school anyway. So if your question is, is the list below a complete list of all wrestling footage in the specified time period, the answer would be no. If your question is, is the list below a complete list of all matches in the specified time period where you can identify a year and/or participant, it’s possible the answer is yes.
What I find most interesting about both this and other early volumes that are coming soon is how significant so many of the matches are that were filmed, and also how insignificant others are as a contrast. To illustrate that point, the volume starts with Paul Pons vs Magnus Bech-Olsen, which is to my knowledge the oldest available clip of a live wrestling match. Pons, who was inducted into the WON HOF in 2019, was the greatest French star of his era and took on Bech-Olsen, considered the biggest Danish star of his era. This match took place at the Charlottenlund racecourse in Copenhagen and drew between 10,000-12,000 fans. The 1920 match between Joe Stetcher and Earl Caddock has them facing each other at Madison Square Garden in front of a crowd that produced the record gate for MSG until Bruno Sammartino rose to prominence over 40 years later. There are multiple 1930s MSG and Boston cards that drew 10,000+ where the matches are shown in clipped form here. You might draw a conclusion that the more important a match was, the more likely it was to both be filmed and survive over time, but it’s not necessarily true.
We also get into the avant garde, like the French exhibition matches involving Raoul Le Boucher in 1906, which take place against a life-sized backdrop of an outdoor painting and have no noticeable spectators, or the Vienna match in 1911, which seems to take place on a picnic blanket, possibly in a park. In fact, the wrestling doesn’t even look aesthetically recognizable until the 1913 Prague match, which is the first match to take place in an elevated ring -- albeit one with no ring ropes -- with more fans and an overall more developed-looking presentation. It’s hard to get a feel for the working style since this is both clipped and sped up, just like most early footage, but starting from a standing position before going to the mat and back up again starts to feel like the formations of a conventional wrestling match. We don’t hear wrestling commentary until Gus Sonnenberg’s 1928 match against Ed Strangler Lewis in Boston. I think the 1914 Hamburg match might even be a military training activity, as German soldiers surround the two wrestlers while they roll around on the mat.
Another interesting inclusion is a wrestling match featuring legendary promoter Toots Mondt. Toots is presented with the short-lived NBA (National Boxing Association -- yeah, it made no sense) championship by promoter Ray Fabiani before the match starts. They appear to be on a family farm in front of a well-to-do small crowd. While Mondt made his name as a promoter, he looks like a fantastic wrestler as well, as he and Shikat engage in some spirited grappling that doesn’t even feel all that dated. There are some GREAT camera angles that focus on the footwork of both men. This thread at the Wrestling Classics forum has more information about the match.
There are a couple of notable omissions from my list below that I want to address:
This isn’t really a “match” but rather 40 seconds of grappling captured on a Bioskop projector by director Max Skladanowsky, for the 1895 film Ringkampfer. Sandow was an iconic professional wrestler, nude model, and bodybuilder during the late 19th and early 20th century, an era during which the three industries had significant overlap as part of what at the time was called "physical culture". Sandow started off performing impressive feats of strength -- he held a world record for pressing 224 lbs with one hand that was later broken by George Hackenschmidt -- but promoters quickly realized that fans, particularly women, were more interested in watching him pose than in seeing him perform a strongman act. His drawing power peaked in 1901 when thousands of fans were turned away from a sold out bodybuilding event that he headlined at London's Royal Albert Hall. Wilhelm Baumann, generally considered the first booker in pro wrestling history, adopted the ring name Billy Sandow in tribute. (Sandow is pictured below.)
- Ernest Roeber vs August Faust
This 1901 match was a featured clip at the beginning of the standard WWE introduction that ran from 2005-2008. Unfortunately, I don’t have a clip of the match itself, but at least part of it appears to exist in WWE’s vault. The match was originally released as part of the 1901 film Roeber Wrestling Match. It is the second oldest known footage of a pro wrestling match in front of a live crowd in existence.
