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Who is George Hackenschmidt, First World's Heavyweight Wrestling Champion? · Gil I Am

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  Speaker 1: George Hackenschmidt. George Carl Julius Hackenschmidt, known in English-language publications
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  Speaker 1: as George Hackenschmidt, was an Estonian strongman, amateur and professional wrestler, writer,
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  Speaker 1: and sports philosopher. He is recognized as professional wrestling's first
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  Speaker 1: world heavyweight champion. Hackenschmidt was the only professional wrestling champion
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  Speaker 1: who was not known to have taken part in fixed matches,
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  Speaker 1: which were pervasive even in his day. Hackenschmidt began his
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  Speaker 1: professional career in Tallinn, Estonia, then part of the Russian Empire,
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  Speaker 1: and after an 1899 tournament in Paris, was often referred
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  Speaker 1: in the media by the moniker the Russian Lion. He
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  Speaker 1: lived most of his middle age and later life in London, England,
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  Speaker 1: becoming a British subject after the Second World War. He
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  Speaker 1: is believed to be the creator of the professional wrestling
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  Speaker 1: version of the Bear Hug, as well as the person
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  Speaker 1: who popularized the Hack Squad. Additionally, Hackenschmidt is also attributed
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  Speaker 1: as the creator of the bench press. He was known
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  Speaker 1: for his impressive strength, fitness, and flexibility. Later in life,
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  Speaker 1: he wrote many books on physical culture, training, and philosophy.
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  Speaker 1: Early life. Hackenschmidt was born on 1 August 1877 in Tartu, Estonia,
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  Speaker 1: where he lived with his parents, Baltic German George Friedrich
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  Speaker 1: Heinrich Hackenschmidt and Ida Louise Johansson, who was of Estonian
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  Speaker 1: and Swedish descent. He had a younger brother, Bruno, and sister, Alice.
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  Speaker 1: He later said that neither of his parents were particularly
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  Speaker 1: robust in stature or had any unusual physical characteristics, though
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  Speaker 1: his maternal grandfather was said to have been a huge
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  Speaker 1: and powerful man. His paternal grandfather, Christian Philip Hackenschmidt, a
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  Speaker 1: Prussian dyer, accepted Russian citizenship with his wife in 1845.
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  Speaker 1: He died about 1881 to 1882. From his earliest years,
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  Speaker 1: Hackenschmidt devoted himself to physical development, particularly at the local
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  Speaker 1: German real school, where he took advantage of the gym.
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  Speaker 1: He excelled in garrotki, cycling, gymnastics, swimming, running, jumping, and weightlifting.
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  Speaker 1: His feats of strength astounded his teachers, as he could
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  Speaker 1: lift a small horse off the ground and lift 276
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  Speaker 1: pounds overhead one-handed. In a wrestler's bridge, he could pull
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  Speaker 1: a 335-pound barbell from the floor to his chest and
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  Speaker 1: press it overhead, bridging on his neck. He set several
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  Speaker 1: records in weightlifting and was considered both the strongest and
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  Speaker 1: the best developed man in the world. Graduating from school
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  Speaker 1: in 1895, he started working at a large engineering factory
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  Speaker 1: in Tallinn as a blacksmith's apprentice. He joined the city's
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  Speaker 1: athletic and cycling club, becoming an ardent cyclist and winning prizes,
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  Speaker 1: but also developed a keen interest in wrestling and weight
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  Speaker 1: The turning point in his life came in 1896, when
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  Speaker 1: another Estonian, George Luric, a Greco-Roman wrestler and strongman, toured
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  Speaker 1: in Tallinn with a small troop, challenging any and all comers.
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  Speaker 1: Hackenschmidt took up the challenge and was beaten. German wrestler
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  Speaker 1: Fritz Kanetsko came to Tallinn in 1897, and Hackenschmidt fared better.
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  Speaker 1: Professional Wrestling Career In late 1897 to early 1898, Hackenschmidt
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  Speaker 1: suffered a minor hand injury at the factory and and
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  Speaker 1: consulted a doctor who was acquainted with Dr. Vladislav Kryuski,
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  Speaker 1: who was in the service of Emperor Nicholas II of Russia.
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  Speaker 1: Kryuski was the founder of the St. Petersburg Athletic and
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  Speaker 1: Cycling Club, with Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich as president. While
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  Speaker 1: observing Hackenschmidt's arm, Kryuski noticed the athlete's physique and invited
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  Speaker 1: him to St. Petersburg and offered to stay with him,
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  Speaker 1: as Hassan him the potential to become a professional wrestler.
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  Speaker 1: Kryuski trained George Lurich for some time, and told Hackenschmidt
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  Speaker 1: that he had the potential to become the strongest man
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  Speaker 1: in the world. Despite his parents' objections, Hackenschmidt left for St.
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  Speaker 1: Petersburg in the spring of 1898. In 1898, Hackenschmidt trained
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  Speaker 1: at Krajewski's and was supported by Count Georges de Ribopierre.
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  Speaker 1: In April, the club organized a competition in weightlifting for
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  Speaker 1: the title of Russian champion, which Hackenschmidt won. In late
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  Speaker 1: April in St. Petersburg, he defeated the French wrestler Paul
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  Speaker 1: Pons in 45 minutes. In preparation to performing in front
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  Speaker 1: of an audience, Krajewski sent Hackenschmidt to Riga, where he
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  Speaker 1: performed under an assumed name as a weightlifter and wrestler.
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  Speaker 1: During this period, Hackenschmidt still noted his lack of wrestling technique,
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  Speaker 1: which he made up for with strength. In the summer
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  Speaker 1: of 1898, Hackenschmidt traveled to Vienna to compete at the
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  Speaker 1: World Weightlifting Championships and European Wrestling Championships, which were held together.
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  Speaker 1: The weightlifting championships were a decathlon, with Hackenschmidt taking third
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  Speaker 1: place overall. The wrestling championships were an openweight competition in
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  Speaker 1: the Greco-Roman style, with Hackenschmidt winning the championship. In January 1899,
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  Speaker 1: he had to serve in the army. He was assigned
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  Speaker 1: to the Pryobrozensky Regiment. Demobilized five months later, on May
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  Speaker 1: 16 of that year, Hackenschmidt defeated Alexander von Schmeling in
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  Speaker 1: a fight for the title of Russian champion of 1899.
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  Speaker 1: On 19 May, he defeated von Schmeling again, and was
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  Speaker 1: crowned Russian champion of 1899. In September, despite an arm injury,
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  Speaker 1: Hackenschmidt traveled to Paris for the World Wrestling Championships. There
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  Speaker 1: he received his moniker, the Russian Lion. After a few matches,
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  Speaker 1: he aggravated the injury and went home. Doctors treated him
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  Speaker 1: electrically for six months, but it did more harm than good.
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  Speaker 1: In May 1900, Hackenschmidt returned to weight training. In July 1900,
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  Speaker 1: Hackenschmidt took part in a 40-day wrestling tournament in Moscow,
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  Speaker 1: making his first appearance as a professional wrestler in Russia.
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  Speaker 1: He competed for two prizes and won both, becoming champion
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  Speaker 1: of Moscow and St. Petersburg. During the tournament, he competed
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  Speaker 1: almost daily against three to five opponents. At the Chemnitz tournament,
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  Speaker 1: Hackenschmidt met Luric for the first time in his professional career.
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  Speaker 1: According to Hackenschmidt's memories, Luric bragged widely about his former
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  Speaker 1: victories overhead. This led George to challenge Lerge to a match,
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  Speaker 1: which he usually never did. When Hackenschmidt took the stage,
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  Speaker 1: Lerge ran backstage. The next morning, Lerge left Chemnitz. In
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  Speaker 1: March 1901, Hackenschmidt suffered the death of his mentor Krajewski,
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  Speaker 1: whom he considered his second father. On 30 November 1901,
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  Speaker 1: the World Championship of Wrestling opened at the Casino de
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  Speaker 1: Paris with 130 wrestlers. Hackenschmidt won first place, received two
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  Speaker 1: gold medals and 3,000 francs. After that, George went to
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  Speaker 1: the town of Alsleben to the trainer Siebert, who helped
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  Speaker 1: him to gain weight, which dropped due to the heavy schedule.
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  Speaker 1: During this time, he jumped 100 times over a table
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  Speaker 1: with his feet tied together. He won tournaments everywhere he
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  Speaker 1: wrestled and toured England in 1903, managed by the flamboyant C.B.
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  Speaker 1: Cochran to confront the country's best wrestlers in the catch-as-catch-can style,
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  Speaker 1: which was regaining popularity. They created a music hall boom
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  Speaker 1: in professional wrestling, and Hackenschmidt became a major superstar in
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  Speaker 1: drawing card. He wrestled in opera halls, music halls, and theaters.
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  Speaker 1: As the wrestling boom took hold in England, and wrestlers
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  Speaker 1: came in from all around the world for the grand
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  Speaker 1: tournaments that had become the rage, he remained the dominant grappler,
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  Speaker 1: defeating every man he met. Cochran polished his act until
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  Speaker 1: Hackenschmidt was a major attraction. He might take on five
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  Speaker 1: wrestlers in the same evening, defeating them Hackenschmidt was powerfully
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  Speaker 1: built and became a prominent figure in physical culture. He
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  Speaker 1: reportedly spoke seven languages and later wrote books on physical
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  Speaker 1: culture and philosophy. United States President Theodore Roosevelt, himself a
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  Speaker 1: proponent of physical culture and exercise, proclaimed, If I wasn't
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  Speaker 1: President of the United States, I would like to be
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  Speaker 1: George Hackenschmidt. Hackenschmidt continued touring England and defeated the local
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  Speaker 1: favorites Tom Cannon, Tom Connors, Tom McInerney, Jack Baldwin and
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  Speaker 1: Tom Clayton. However, when he defeated the Italian Antonio Pieri twice,
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  Speaker 1: Pieri sought revenge by trying to find a wrestler who
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  Speaker 1: could beat him. He thought he had found such a
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  Speaker 1: man in Ahmed Madrali, called the Terrible Turk, who faced
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  Speaker 1: Hackenschmidt at the Olympia London on 30 January 1904. Because
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  Speaker 1: of all the ballyhoo, the Olympia was packed and traffic
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  Speaker 1: was jammed from the Olympia back to Piccadilly. Hackenschmidt picked
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  Speaker 1: up Madrali and threw him down onto his arm. dislocating
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  Speaker 1: his shoulder. The contest had lasted about two minutes. On
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  Speaker 1: 2 July at the Royal Albert Hall, Hackenschmidt faced the
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  Speaker 1: American heavyweight champion Tom Jenkins, a wrestler who had proved
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  Speaker 1: to be Hackenschmidt's toughest opponent to date, under Greco-Roman rules. Nevertheless,
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  Speaker 1: he pinned Jenkins in two straight falls. Hackenschmidt left Cochran's
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  Speaker 1: management to tour Australia, where he defeated the Australian Cornish
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  Speaker 1: wrestling champion Deli Nelson in 1905, amongst others. He then
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  Speaker 1: sailed to the United States for an extended tour and
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  Speaker 1: a rematch with Jenkins at the Madison Square Garden under
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  Speaker 1: catch-as-catch-can rules, which Hackenschmidt by now preferred. Jenkins put up
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  Speaker 1: a hard battle, but Hackenschmidt again won in two straight falls,
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  Speaker 1: the first in 31 minutes, 14 seconds, and the second
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  Speaker 1: in 22 minutes, 4 seconds. He was declared the inaugural
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  Speaker 1: world heavyweight wrestling champion, and subsequently most major league U.S.
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  Speaker 1: versions of this title in the 20th and 21st centuries,
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  Speaker 1: traced their roots back to this match. He then wrestled
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  Speaker 1: in Canada and returned to England for a long list
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  Speaker 1: of music hall engagements. On October 28, 1905, Hackenschmidt faced
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  Speaker 1: Scottish champion Alexander Munro at the Ibrox Stadium in Glasgow
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  Speaker 1: with an audience of 16,000. Munro was 7 centimeters taller
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  Speaker 1: and 5.5 kilograms heavier. Heavy rain throughout the performance hindered
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  Speaker 1: both wrestlers. The first fall ended after 40 minutes and
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  Speaker 1: 22 seconds, when Munro surrendered from a half Nelson. Ten
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  Speaker 1: minutes later, the second bout began, which Hackenschmidt successfully finished
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  Speaker 1: in 11 minutes, 11 seconds. For the next six months,
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  Speaker 1: Hackenschmidt performed in music halls, after which he agreed to
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  Speaker 1: a rematch with terrible Turk Madrali by catch wrestling rules
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  Speaker 1: to show the English public that the first victory was
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  Speaker 1: no accident. He took extra catch lessons from Jack Gromley
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  Speaker 1: at Shepherd's Bush. Hackenschmidt defeated Madrali at the Olympia London
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  Speaker 1: in just four minutes, but noted that the Turk was
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  Speaker 1: one of the toughest men he had ever faced. He
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  Speaker 1: then sailed to the United States to fulfill his obligation
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  Speaker 1: to meet a new challenger from Iowa by the name
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  Speaker 1: of Frank Gotch. Rivalry with Frank Gotch. Wrestling historian Mike
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  Speaker 1: Chapman wrote, In all of athletic history, there are a
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  Speaker 1: mere handful of rivalries between individual stars that have become
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  Speaker 1: almost as large as the sport itself. In boxing, such
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  Speaker 1: matchups as Sullivan Corbett, Dempsey Tunney, Louis Kahn, and Ali
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  Speaker 1: Frazier are a part of boxing folklore. In wrestling, there
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  Speaker 1: is only one, Gotch Hackenschmidt. After defeating Jenkins in 1905,
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  Speaker 1: Hackenschmidt held the world title and remained undefeated until he
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  Speaker 1: and Frank Gotch finally squared off on 3 April 1908
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  Speaker 1: at the Dexter Park Pavilion in Chicago. Showing his contempt
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  Speaker 1: for Gotch and for American wrestling in general, Hackenschmidt was
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  Speaker 1: not in the best condition. Refusing to train publicly at
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  Speaker 1: the Chicago Athletic Club in spite of arrangements having been
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  Speaker 1: made for him to do so, he was barred from
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  Speaker 1: the club and spent his time either in his hotel
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  Speaker 1: room or taking long morning and evening walks along Lake Michigan.
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  Speaker 1: By neglecting his training, he lost his endurance, which had
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  Speaker 1: never been a factor in his previous matches because he
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  Speaker 1: ended them so quickly. Against Gotch, who was in peak condition,
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  Speaker 1: it would be decisive. Gotch used his speed, defense, and
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  Speaker 1: rough tactics to wear the champion down and then assume
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  Speaker 1: the attack. The wrestlers stood on their feet for two
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  Speaker 1: full hours before Gotch was able to get behind Hackenschmidt
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  Speaker 1: and take him down. While on their feet, Gotch made
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  Speaker 1: sure to lean on Hackenschmidt to wear him down. He
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  Speaker 1: bullied him around the ring, and his thumbing and butting
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  Speaker 1: left Hackenschmidt covered in blood. At one time, Gotch also
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  Speaker 1: punched Hackenschmidt on the nose. Hackenschmidt complained to the referee
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  Speaker 1: of Gotch's foul tactics and asked that Gotch be forced
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  Speaker 1: to take a hot shower to rid his body of
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  Speaker 1: an abundance of oil, but the referee ignored the complaints
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  Speaker 1: and told Hackenschmidt he should have noticed the oil before
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  Speaker 1: the match began. The match continued until the two-hour mark.
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  Speaker 1: when Hackenschmidt was forced against the ropes. Gotch tore him
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  Speaker 1: off the ropes, threw him down, and rode him hard
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  Speaker 1: for three minutes, working for his dreaded toehold. Hackenschmidt had
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  Speaker 1: trained to avoid this hold, which he did, but the
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  Speaker 1: effort took his last remaining strength. Hackenschmidt quit the fall.
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  Speaker 1: I surrender the championship of the world to Mr. Gotch,
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  Speaker 1: he said, and stood up and shook Gotch's hand. The
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  Speaker 1: wrestlers then retired to their dressing rooms before coming out
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  Speaker 1: for the second fall, but Hackenschmidt refused to return to
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  Speaker 1: the ring, telling the referee to declare Gotch the winner,
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  Speaker 1: thereby relinquishing his title to him. Although he at first
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  Speaker 1: called Gotch the greatest man by far I ever met,
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  Speaker 1: and explained how his muscles had become stale and his
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  Speaker 1: feet had given out, and that he knew he could
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  Speaker 1: not win and therefore conceded the match, Hackenschmidt later reversed
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  Speaker 1: his opinion of Gotch and Americans in general, claiming to
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  Speaker 1: have been fouled by Gotch and victimized in America, and
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  Speaker 1: calling for a rematch in Europe. In August 1907, Hackenschmidt
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  Speaker 1: suffered pain in his knee and returned to Russia for rehabilitation.
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  Speaker 1: Hackenschmidt failed to heal his knee and was sent back
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  Speaker 1: to England. By 1907, the situation in the wrestling world
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  Speaker 1: had changed. Hackenschmidt noticed the emergence of four strong wrestlers,
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  Speaker 1: Constant Lemarin, Stanislas Zbyszko, Ivan Podubny, and Joe Rogers. All
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  Speaker 1: four challenged Hackenschmidt, and he agreed to compete against the
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  Speaker 1: strongest of them, which should determine the tournament. In England,
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  Speaker 1: Hackenschmidt attended a match between Zbyszko and Podubny, which Zbyszko won.
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  Speaker 1: Rodgers was unable to compete due to sepsis and demanded
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  Speaker 1: a rematch from Hackenschmidt for the loss in USA. The
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  Speaker 1: contest was held on February 6th, 1908 at Oxford Music Hall,
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  Speaker 1: where Hackenschmidt defeated Rodgers in a short bout. Hackenschmidt was
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  Speaker 1: then scheduled to face Zbyszko, but the match was canceled
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  Speaker 1: due to knee problems. The wrestler went to Aachen, where
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  Speaker 1: he underwent knee surgery, followed by a long recovery. During
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  Speaker 1: his rehabilitation, Hackenschmidt wrote that the only opponent he was
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  Speaker 1: interested in was Frank Gotch. Hackenschmidt and Gotch met again
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  Speaker 1: on 4 September 1911 at the newly opened Comiskey Park
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  Speaker 1: in Chicago, which drew a crowd of nearly 30,000 spectators
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  Speaker 1: and a record gate of $ 87, 000. The rematch is one
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  Speaker 1: of the most controversial and talked-about matches in professional wrestling history,
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  Speaker 1: as Hackenschmidt claimed to have injured his knee against Dr. Roller,
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  Speaker 1: his chief training partner. Years later, professional wrestler Ad Santel
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  Speaker 1: told Lou Thess that he was paid $ 5, 000 by Gotch's
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  Speaker 1: backers to cripple Hackenschmidt in training and make it look
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  Speaker 1: like an accident. However, according to Hackenschmidt himself, the injury
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  Speaker 1: was accidentally inflicted by his sparring partner, Roller, when trying
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  Speaker 1: to hold Hackenschmidt down onto his knees in the down position.
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  Speaker 1: Roller's right foot struck Hackenschmidt's right knee, which in 1904
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  Speaker 1: had developed housemaid's knee, requiring treatment, and had acted up
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  Speaker 1: again in 1907. Furthermore, according to Hackenschmidt, his sparring partners
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  Speaker 1: for this match were Americus, Jacobus Koch, Wadek Zbyszko, and Roller.
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  Speaker 1: Ad Santel is not mentioned in any account of Hackenschmidt's
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  Speaker 1: training by either Hackenschmidt or Roller, both of whom offered
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  Speaker 1: their insights and accounts. Whatever the case may be, Dr.
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  Speaker 1: Roller did not consider the injury to be serious, and
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  Speaker 1: referee Ed Smith dismissed it as inconsequential. Hackenschmidt himself ignored
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  Speaker 1: it completely in declaring, the day before the match, that
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  Speaker 1: he was fit to wrestle for my life and was
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  Speaker 1: satisfied with my condition and confident of the outcome. However, Gotch,
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  Speaker 1: tearing into Hackenschmidt with a vengeance, discovered the weakness quickly
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  Speaker 1: and took advantage of it. Hackenschmidt was easy prey for Gotch,
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  Speaker 1: losing in straight falls in only 20 minutes. Gotch clinched
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  Speaker 1: the match with his signature toehold, which forced Hackenschmidt to concede.
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  Speaker 1: Retirement and writing career. Following his second defeat at the
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  Speaker 1: hands of Gotch, upon returning to England, Hackenschmidt was preparing
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  Speaker 1: for a match with Stanislaw Zbyszko to take place the
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  Speaker 1: following June, but when he began working out, he felt
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  Speaker 1: such pain in his right knee that it was painful
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  Speaker 1: even to walk. It necessitated surgery. Hackenschmidt decided at that
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  Speaker 1: point to retire and pursue his other interests in philosophy,
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  Speaker 1: physical culture, and gardening. Hackenschmidt was a pioneer in the
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  Speaker 1: field of weightlifting. He invented the exercise known as the
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  Speaker 1: hack squat, whose name is a reference to his own.
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  Speaker 1: Hackenschmidt also helped to popularize many other types of lifts
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  Speaker 1: common within the modern training regimen, such as the bench press.
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  Speaker 1: During his career, he established numerous weightlifting records, which were
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  Speaker 1: improved upon by others in ensuing decades. Hackenschmidt was an
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  Speaker 1: educated man who spoke seven languages. He went on to
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  Speaker 1: write books, including Complete Science of Wrestling, Man and Cosmic
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  Speaker 1: Antagonism to Mind and Spirit, Fitness and Yourself, Consciousness and Character,
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  Speaker 1: The Way to Live in Health and Physical Fitness, and
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  Speaker 1: The Three Memories in Forgetfulness. He also taught physical education
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  Speaker 1: to members of the House of Lords and served as
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  Speaker 1: a judge at the 1948 Mr. Universe show in London,
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  Speaker 1: won by John Grimeck. His book Man and Cosmic Antagonism
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  Speaker 1: to Mind and Spirit was the personal philosophy he developed
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  Speaker 1: while interned as a prisoner of war in Germany. Hackenschmidt
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  Speaker 1: was already hospitalized at St. Francis Hospital in Dulwich, a
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  Speaker 1: suburb of London, when he died on 19 February 1968
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  Speaker 1: at age 90. He was cremated at West Norwood Cemetery,
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  Speaker 1: where his memorial plaque records him as George Hackenschmidt, During
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  Speaker 1: World War I, Hackenschmidt was interned by the German Empire
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  Speaker 1: authorities in Berlin with his wife. His brother Bruno, who
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  Speaker 1: was also a wrestler, was also captured in Germany and
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  Speaker 1: died in captivity. During World War II, he lived with
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  Speaker 1: his wife in the family home in the south of France.
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  Speaker 1: Hackenschmidt became a naturalized French citizen in 1939 and then
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  Speaker 1: became a British subject in 1946. He lived with his
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  Speaker 1: French wife, Rachel, in South Norwood, London. He was a
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  Speaker 1: friend of the magician Harry Houdini and playwright George Bernard Shaw.
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  Speaker 1: As he aged, Hackenschmidt also expressed a high regard for
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  Speaker 1: his old opponent, Tom Jenkins, by then the wrestling coach
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  Speaker 1: at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. Hack visited
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  Speaker 1: Jenkins in 1939, and the two got along splendidly, with
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  Speaker 1: Jenkins accommodating Hackenschmidt in his home and giving him a
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  Speaker 1: tour of the West Point training facilities. In their mutual
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  Speaker 1: admiration society, they never publicly expressed any credit to Frank Gotch,
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  Speaker 1: and Hackenschmidt spent the rest of his life complaining about
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  Speaker 1: Gotch's foul tactics and his knee injury and explaining his
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  Speaker 1: inexplicable losses. After Yuri Vlasov won and set a world
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: record at the London tournament in July 1961, George Hackenschmidt
• 19:42
  Speaker 1: gave him the medal and presented Vlasov his picture with
• 19:46
  Speaker 1: a dedicatory inscription. Throughout his life, Hackenschmidt paid strict attention
• 19:51
  Speaker 1: to his diet. He abstained from alcohol, coffee, and tobacco,
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: and advised moderation in sexual intercourse. In 1904, Hackenschmidt described
• 20:00
  Speaker 1: rump steak as his favorite dish. Charles B. Cochran recounted
• 20:04
  Speaker 1: that he once invited Hackenschmidt to dine at his flat
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: in Piccadilly. Cochran noted that Hackenschmidt ate eight or nine eggs,
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: a porterhouse steak, and a whole camembert cheese. He has
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: been described as a considerable meat eater during the height
• 20:18
  Speaker 1: of his wrestling career and would eat steak and half
• 20:21
  Speaker 1: a dozen eggs as a snack, but did not attend foods.
• 20:25
  Speaker 1: In 1906, Hackenschmidt told interviewers that he had reduced his
• 20:29
  Speaker 1: meat intake and that a typical meal would be pea soup, meat, vegetables,
• 20:33
  Speaker 1: and a rhubarb tart. During this time, Hackenschmidt was not
• 20:37
  Speaker 1: a vegetarian. but argued that far too much flesh food
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: was consumed. He preferred fresh foods, including nuts, over processed foods.
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: Hackenschmidt is alleged to have written that he consumed 11
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: pints of milk a day for training. However, this was
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: later disputed. Hackenschmidt told Athol Oakley that the quantity of
• 20:56
  Speaker 1: milk prescribed had been a misprint. After retiring from the ring,
• 21:00
  Speaker 1: Hackenschmidt became a strict vegetarian. In the Concise Encyclopedia of
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: Western Philosophy, it's stated that Hackenschmidt developed a system of
• 21:08
  Speaker 1: philosophy based on the values of spirituality, vegetarianism, and self-control.
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: His vegetarian diet of fresh, uncooked foods avoided everything which
• 21:18
  Speaker 1: has been artificialized in any way. In his entire professional
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: wrestling career, Hackenschmidt engaged in about 3,000 matches, losing only two.
• 21:28
  Speaker 1: Powerfully built, Hackenschmidt's measurements for his 1905 match with Alexander
• 21:33
  Speaker 1: Monroe were age 28, weight 204 pounds, height 5 feet
• 21:39
  Speaker 1: 9 and a half inches, reach 75 inches, biceps 19 inches,
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: forearm 15 and a half inches, neck 22 inches, chest
• 21:49
  Speaker 1: 52 inches, waist 34 inches, thigh 26 and three quarters inches,
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: calf 18 inches. He also rose to prominence when the
• 21:57
  Speaker 1: governing style of wrestling was the slower, more ponderous Greco-Roman
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: style that emphasized muscle power over speed and agility, and
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: ring generalship, and involved holds only above the waist. Being
• 22:10
  Speaker 1: bulkier of build than his leaner opponents, Hackenschmidt's style and
• 22:14
  Speaker 1: temperament were not geared as much to the catch-as-catch-can style.
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: Hackenschmidt was a natural showman. He was honest, straightforward, and serious,
• 22:23
  Speaker 1: and he would finish off his opponents quickly. His manager C.B.
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: Cochran had to convince him to extend his matches and
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: put on a show, which in turn ensured more bookings
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: and sold-out shows. This did not mean the matches were fake,
• 22:36
  Speaker 1: as excluding exhibitions, his matches were all on the level,
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: but he might allow a local wrestler to last 10
• 22:43
  Speaker 1: minutes and collect his 25-pound prize, and set up a
• 22:46
  Speaker 1: highly publicized match for later in the week, where he
• 22:49
  Speaker 1: would defeat his foe handily. Unlike many other professional wrestlers,
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: including Frank Gotch, Hackenschmidt was never mean, vindictive, or unnecessarily
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: rough in the ring, contrasting his physical prowess and fighting
• 23:03
  Speaker 1: skills with with a quietness of spirit. George Hackenschmidt was
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: the epitome of calm, self-assurance, and inner peace, with full
• 23:11
  Speaker 1: awareness of his own capabilities, and thus, like all masters
• 23:14
  Speaker 1: of combat, found no need for machoism or outward aggression.
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: His tactic to win was skill and speed, born of
• 23:22
  Speaker 1: confidence in his own ability and fighting prowess. However, he
• 23:26
  Speaker 1: had three weaknesses. Against a first-class opponent, of whom he
• 23:29
  Speaker 1: faced extremely few, he could be slow to adapt. Gotch
• 23:33
  Speaker 1: reported after their first match that every move the Russian made,
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: he telegraphed me in advance, which shows that he thinks
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: too slowly. Hackenschmidt was also given to depression and irascibility.
• 23:45
  Speaker 1: When he came to Chicago to train for his first
• 23:48
  Speaker 1: match with Gotch, promoter Jack Curley had arranged for Hackenschmidt
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: to work out every day before a paying public, which
• 23:55
  Speaker 1: Hackenschmidt refused to do. Barred from the athletic club, he
• 23:59
  Speaker 1: spent his time before the match either exercising in his
• 24:02
  Speaker 1: room or or taking morning and evening walks along Lake Michigan,
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: but no serious workouts. The more depressed he got, the
• 24:09
  Speaker 1: more difficult he was to work with, and this all
• 24:12
  Speaker 1: worked against him because, for the first time in his
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: professional career, Hackenschmidt faced a foe fully capable of defeating him. Finally,
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: and worst of all, in both matches with Gotch, Hackenschmidt
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: was accused of lack of heart. Referee Ed Smith, following
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: the 1908 match, said that deep down in my own mind,
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: I decided that George Hackenschmidt had quit, quit quite cold
• 24:36
  Speaker 1: as a matter of fact, because there was nothing about
• 24:38
  Speaker 1: Gotch's treatment of him in that first encounter that could
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: by a stretch of the imagination call for a disqualification.
• 24:45
  Speaker 1: There was some face mauling, just as there always is,
• 24:48
  Speaker 1: but at no time did the vaunted Hackenschmidt ever make
• 24:51
  Speaker 1: a serious move towards slapping down his opponent, never showed
• 24:55
  Speaker 1: much in the wrestling line during the entire two hours. Again,
• 24:58
  Speaker 1: I say that as the referee of that match, I
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: thought that the Russian lion quit. Following the 1911 rematch,
• 25:06
  Speaker 1: one newspaper described Gotch's easy victory and then added that
• 25:09
  Speaker 1: in the parlance of the sporting world, Hackenschmidt is yellow.
• 25:13
  Speaker 1: He quit when his position became dangerous. Perhaps the most
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: frustrated was Hackenschmidt's second, Dr. Benjamin Roller, who himself had
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: lost several times to Gotch, but had displayed the utmost
• 25:25
  Speaker 1: gameness and courage. Hack did not get started, Roller explained.
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: That's largely a matter of gameness. Hackenschmidt's injuries had not
• 25:33
  Speaker 1: been serious enough, Roller felt. I have tried my best
• 25:36
  Speaker 1: to make a winner out of him and put him
• 25:38
  Speaker 1: into the ring in the best possible condition, but gameness
• 25:41
  Speaker 1: is something you cannot put into a man. The years
• 25:44
  Speaker 1: spanning Hackenschmidt's professional career are called the golden age of
• 25:48
  Speaker 1: professional wrestling, professional wrestling matches more widely believed to be
• 25:52
  Speaker 1: honestly contested. However, it was Hackenschmidt's showmanship that made professional
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: wrestling arguably the most popular sport in the United Kingdom
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: at and it was he and Gotch together who brought
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: it to entirely new heights around the world. The Hackenschmidt-Gotch
• 26:08
  Speaker 1: matches were the pinnacle of professional wrestling during the time
• 26:11
  Speaker 1: period and received much attention from media, fans, and celebrities.
• 26:16
  Speaker 1: They were even described in the 1937 book Fall Guys,
• 26:20
  Speaker 1: The Barnums of Bounce, by famed writer Marcus Griffin. To
• 26:24
  Speaker 1: this day, the Chicago Public Library receives requests to view
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: the newspaper accounts and files on the bouts. As Mark
• 26:31
  Speaker 1: Palmer pointed out, for starters, George Hackenschmidt and Frank Gotch
• 26:35
  Speaker 1: were major sports superstars of the early 20th century. Fans
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: of all ages collected cabinet cards and postcards with their images,
• 26:43
  Speaker 1: read their books, and devoured articles about them in newspapers.
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: Their epic matches were front-page news around the world, akin
• 26:50
  Speaker 1: to today's World Cup in terms of garnery global attention,
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: and helped to launch organized amateur wrestling in the United
• 26:57
  Speaker 1: States in the early part of the 20th century. In fact,
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: a large number of high school and college wrestling programs
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: can trace their roots back to the 1910s and 1920s,
• 27:07
  Speaker 1: the era when Hackenschmidt and Gotch were still household names
• 27:11
  Speaker 1: and highly respected athletes. Having already made his mark in bodybuilding,
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: Hackenschmidt caused the major surge in the popularity of professional
• 27:19
  Speaker 1: wrestling in England, and he was considered unbeatable. However, Hackenschmidt
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: probably would not be so well remembered today were it
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: not for two things. One, his enormous standing in the
• 27:30
  Speaker 1: world of physical culture, and two, his two defeats at
• 27:33
  Speaker 1: the hands of Frank Gotch. Hackenschmidt remained in the public
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: eye because he had become an icon in the world
• 27:39
  Speaker 1: of physical culture, a legendary bodybuilder as well as health addict,
• 27:43
  Speaker 1: and a world champion wrestler central to a movement that
• 27:46
  Speaker 1: was now increasingly popular. He spoke and published widely on
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: a wide range of subjects, but most notably on health
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: and fitness. His most popular book was the classic The
• 27:56
  Speaker 1: Way to Live, the last words of which read, Throughout
• 27:59
  Speaker 1: my whole career, I have never bothered as to whether
• 28:02
  Speaker 1: I was a champion or not a champion. The only
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: title I have desired to be known by is simply
• 28:08
  Speaker 1: my name, George Hackenschmidt. However, it was his matches with
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: Gotch that ensured the growing popularity of catch-as-catch-can wrestling over
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: the more laborious Greco-Roman that had previously dominated, and this
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: is the style that enjoys popularity at all scholastic levels,
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: private clubs, and the Olympics to this day. Hackenschmidt was
• 28:28
  Speaker 1: a major reason for this. The H.J. Lutcher Stark Center
• 28:32
  Speaker 1: for Physical Culture and Sports at the Todd McLean Library
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: and Special Collections in Austin, Texas, has a digitized version
• 28:39
  Speaker 1: of a nearly 600-page scrapbook owned for decades by Hackenschmidt
• 28:43
  Speaker 1: and bequeathed by his widow, Rachel. The International George Hackenschmidt
• 28:47
  Speaker 1: Memorial in Greco-Roman Wrestling has been held in Tartu since 1969.
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: He was ranked 35 out of 100 wrestlers. For Dave
• 28:56
  Speaker 1: Meltzer's Top 100 Wrestlers of All Time in 2002. Championships
• 29:01
  Speaker 1: and Accomplishments. 1898 World Weightlifting Championships. Third place. Weightlifting Decathlon. Wrestling.
• 29:09
  Speaker 1: French Greco-Roman Heavyweight Championship. One time. 1898 European Wrestling Championships.
• 29:16
  Speaker 1: First place. Greco-Roman Openweight. European Greco-Roman Heavyweight Championship. One time.
• 29:22
  Speaker 1: World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship. One time. Inaugural. George Tragos Luthez
• 29:27
  Speaker 1: Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame, Class of 2003. International Professional
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: Wrestling Hall of Fame, Class of 2021. Professional Wrestling Hall
• 29:36
  Speaker 1: of Fame and Museum, Class of 2002. Wrestling Observer Newsletter
• 29:40
  Speaker 1: Hall of Fame, Class of 1996 WWE Hall of Fame,
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: Class of 2016