Wrestling

Wrestling all but died out with the Olympic Games in the Dark Ages, but it was natural that when organizers of the 1896 Olympics were searching for sports with roots  in antiquity, they looked to wrestling. It was the showpiece event of those Olympics, much as the 100-metre final is in the modern Olympics.

Modern Greco-Roman wrestling was first mad popular in France. At the same time, a less restrictive brand of wrestling made inroads in the Western world. Unlike Greco-Roman wrestlers, who tried to throw or otherwise force their opponents to the mat with holds around the upper body, freestyle wrestlers had more options. They could trip their opponents, grab and their legs and use their own legs in holds and take-downs. Fittingly, freestyle wrestling also became known as “catch as catch can” and proved to be popular entertainment in the 19th Century.

And here’s where the history gets a little confusing. Despite being a revival of the Olympic tradition, it seems the wrestling showcased at the 1896 Games was closer to freestyle than classical Greco-Roman. The toast of the 1896 competition was Germany’s Carl Schumann in the heavyweight class – not so much for his wrestling victory, but for the fact that he was also a gold medalist in gymnastics.

After a hiatus in 1900, wrestling was back as freestyle wrestling in 1904. Four years later, Olympic organizers resurrected Greco-Roman wrestling, in which use of the legs is forbidden, a style they believed to be a direct carryover from the Greek and Roman wrestlers of old.

In the late 19th century, carnivals routinely traveled the American countryside. These were the days before television or radio, days when the carnivals were a primary source of American entertainment. As part of their attraction, many carnivals had what were dubbed "athletic shows" where prize fighters and wrestlers would take on all-comers for cash wagers. The athletic shows were not only a source of entertainment, but also a way for the locals to interact with the performers, test their skill, and perhaps win some money in the process.

In their earliest stages, athletic show wrestling competition rules were offshoots of traditional wrestling rules, with each person trying only to pin the other. But as time went on, locals became more ruthless, and it wasn't uncommon to hear stories of a local trying to gouge out a wrestler's eyes during a challenge match. In addition, disputes often arose as to whether a person was actually pinned (not surprising considering there was money on the line), and whether the referees were calling the matches fairly. The traveling wrestlers developed concession holds, or "hooks," both to protect themselves from injury and to eliminate any doubt as to the victor. The wrestlers would stretch and crank their opponents, making them shout a loud concession of "uncle."

As time passed the men became even more skillful at hooking. The rules of the challenge matches were often tipped to favor the local challengers--akin to giving a handicap, or odds. Depending on the carnival or match, the wrestler could lose a match by being hooked, pinned, or even simply thrown or taken down. Thus, in order to survive, hookers became extremely proficient at controlling and hooking their opponents and defending against all methods of attack.

Under the most narrow of rules, wrestlers would lose matches if they failed to defeat their opponents within a certain time. Now, not only were these men becoming masters of wrestling, control, and hooks, they were also developing the skill to execute their technique extremely quickly and efficiently.

Men such as martin "Farmer" Burns, Frank Gotch, John Pesek, Ed "Strangler" Lewis , Ray Steele, and many others all "made their bones" as carnival wrestlers. This was a piece of Americana that we shouldn't forget.

This is the story of Catch-As-Catch-Can wrestling, or Catch Wrestling. From an offshoot of traditional wrestling burgeoned an art of well-developed submission technique, executed quickly and efficiently, against any and all challengers.