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Ernest Roeber vs August Faust Roeber Wrestling 1901 Footage of this Greco-Roman wrestling match was included in WWE's opening montage for all of their television shows and other commercial footage releases from the mid to late 2000s. The match was originally released as part of the 1901 film Roeber Wrestling Match. It is the second oldest known pro wrestling footage in existence. Related

Roeber Wrestling Match 1901 This film contains footage of a 1901 match between Ernest Roeber and August Faust, whom Edison Catalog called "knights of the mat" and was most famously used by WWE as the very first clip in their programming intro during the mid-2000s. Ernest Roeber vs August Faust (1901) (Discuss)

John Greiner Matches 1895 Eugene Sandow vs John Greiner (1895)

Eugen Sandow Biography The Prussia-born Friedrich Wilhelm Müller (Eugen Sandow, 1867-1925) 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". Heralded as the "Father of Bodybuilding", Eugen Sandow was a groundbreaking figure who established and published training methods still used by professionals today. He is largely credited with popularizing fitness and is often attributed with the quote, “What I live to teach is the gospel of health, and the bringing of the body to the condition to which Nature intended it.” Sandow had an impressive physique, even by today's standards, that he intentionally cultivated to resemble Greek and Roman sculpture, and he released several publications detailing how he achieved his look, all while advocating socially and politically for health and fitness causes. In 1894, as part of the first commercial motion picture ever released, Sandow flexed his muscles in a short Kinetoscope film. He would appear in additional films in the coming years, including the oldest professional wrestling footage in existence, 1895's Ringkampfer, where Sandow grappled with John Greiner. 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. Outside of pro wrestling and bodybuilding, Sandow counted Thomas Edison, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, and other celebrities as friends, with King George V even designating Sandow as a "physical culture special instructor" in 1911 after being happy with his own bodybuilding success following Sandow's teachings. Sandow's legacy lives on primarily in the bodybuilding world, as a bronze statue in his image (simply called a "Sandow") has been presented to the winner of the Mr. Olympia contest every year since 1977. Sandow was born on April 2, 1867, in Königsberg, located in the Kingdom of Prussia, to a Russian mother and German father. Sandow's parents hoped that he would become a Lutheran minister, but he left Prussia in 1885 to avoid military service. Upon leaving home, Sandow joined a traveling circus where he adopted his stage name, which helped mask his identity and thus avoid consequences for avoiding the Prussian draft. He soon fell under the tutelage of Ludwig "Professor Attila" Durlacher. At Durlacher's urging, Sandow competed in and won a strongmen competition in London in 1889, where he became a viable attraction known for his incredible feats of strength. In 1896, Sandow married Blanche Brooks of Manchester, England; the couple had two daughters, Helen and Lorraine. On October 14, 1925, Sandow died of at his home in London from what was certified as an aortic aneurysm, but is believed in some circles to have been syphilis; despite his marriage, Sandow enjoyed the company of the women who showed interest in him during his peak as a sex symbol. Sandow was 58 at the time of his death. Matches

Eugen Sandow vs John Grenier 1895 Ringkampfer Related

Ringkampfer 1895 Directed by Max Skladanowsky Filmed on a Bioskop projector by director Max Skladanowsky, Ringkampfer is a short film from 1895 that contains nearly 40 seconds of Eugene Sandow and John Greiner grappling. This is the oldest known pro wrestling footage. Eugene Sandow vs John Grenier (1895) (Discuss)

Associated Press "Heavyweight Wrestling Champion" November 25, 1929

Moving Image Research Collection Fox Movietone News Story 4-339 "Wrestling" November 25, 1929 https://mirc.sc.edu/islandora/object/usc:31369

Moving Image Research Collection Fox Movietone News Story 3-489 "Dick Shikat" August 27, 1929 https://mirc.sc.edu/islandora/object/usc:28626

Moving Image Research Collection Fox Movietone News Story 3-86 "Training for championship bout" June 27, 1929 https://mirc.sc.edu/islandora/object/usc%3A19673

Associated Press "Wrestling Champion" May 28, 1929

Moving Image Research Collection Fox Movietone News Story 2-181 "Sonnenberg versus Malcewicz" March 15, 1929 https://mirc.sc.edu/islandora/object/usc:19666

Moving Image Research Collection Fox Movietone News Story 1-891 "Gus Sonnenberg versus Howard Cantonwine" February 3, 1929 https://mirc.sc.edu/islandora/object/usc:19660

MyFootage.com "1928 Ed 'Strangler' Lewis and Gus Sonnenberg Wrestling Championship" 1929 Film 013546 World Heavyweight Title: Ed Strangler Lewis (c) vs Gus Sonnenberg (January 4, 1929; Boston, MA) (Discuss)

Moving Image Research Collection Fox Movietone News Story 3-954 "Wrestling title match" 1929 New York, NY https://mirc.sc.edu/islandora/object/usc%3A39989

Moving Image Research Collection MTVN 2166 "Ad Santel Entertains Midgets" September 1, 1920 San Francisco, CA

Footage Farm 220503 Josef Steinbach vs Bruno Hackenschmidt September 17, 1911 Vienna, Austria Josef Steinbach vs Bruno Hackenschmidt (September 17, 1911; Vienna, Austria) (Discuss)

American Mutoscope & Biograph Company "Wrestling at the N.Y.A.C." November 7, 1905 "Wrestling at the N.Y.A.C." includes three minutes of newsreel footage of grappling at the New York State Athletic Club. Look closely and you'll see semi-famous catch wrestling instructor Hugh F. Leonard, author of A Hand Book Of Wrestling.

HBO Archives "Catch-As-Catch-Can Wrestling" 1903 Film H33648 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bIGCTyUchaY Against the backdrop of a mural painted to look like real spectators, two young boys perform a catch-as-catch-can demonstration.

PWO Database Plus is coming along nicely! We have found a way to leverage our old Match Discussion Archive and the informed, thoughtful voices in our community by adding a one-stop shop for wrestling information. We hope you'll follow along as we continue building and expanding on this resource. The newsreel archive is in progress. This will be a full archive of all of the pro wrestling newsreels, mostly from before the 1950s, that we know about, compiling information from the Moving Image Research Collection, Associated Press, MyFootage.com, Getty Images, and other newsreel databases in one searchable place. The newsreels from British Pathe before 1930 have been catalogued with the film numbers, official titles, and when possible, embedded video here! While many of the clips are wrestling related but do not contain matches, in cases of actual matches, we've also added topics to the Matches section so that you can watch and share your thoughts. We also have threads for all pro wrestling footage that we know of before 1930 added to this section. Stay tuned for more updates!

British Pathe FILM ID: 438.15 December 17, 1925 "A New Samson"

British Pathe 1914-1918 "British Champion V Canadian Champion" FILM ID: 1912.15 http://www.britishpathe.com/video/british-champion-v-canadian-champion-c-s-m-jim Jimmy Esson vs Pete Brannon (1914-1918) (Discuss)

British Pathe "Wrestling Act" 1905 FILM ID 1798.13 This newsreel clip, which runs just over a minute, features a 1905 exhibition match between two unknown wrestlers. Men's Wrestling Exhibition (Discuss)

British Pathe Released 1932 (Filmed 1905) "1932 Aka Women Wrestlers" FILM ID 1702.18 "Twenty Seven years ago, a couple of fairy-like ladies burst upon an astonished world and shocked feminine susceptibilities by wrestling!" exclaimed the original text of the newsreel that contains the oldest known footage of women's pro wrestling. The newsreel was released in 1932, but referred to an exhibition match from 1905 between two unknown women. Just over a minute of footage is shown. Women's Wrestling Exhibition (Discuss)

British Pathe "Fat And Lean Wrestling Match" 1901 FILM ID 1694.1 More work of art than pro wrestling match, 1901's "Fat and Lean Wrestling Match" newsreel shows just that there was probably never a time when professional wrestling was truly Serious Business, no matter what our rose-colored nostalgia might sometimes tell us. This glorious two-minute video is a strong argument that it's best that way, packing multiple unexpected twists and turns into a laugh-out-loud performance that's far better sports entertainment than anything WWE has ever produced. It's not often wrestling ventures into avant-garde, but the enduring entertainment value of this clip over a century later shows it to be a viable path for the medium.