John Berg Wins Light Heavy Championship

John Berg was a good enough wrestler to beat Martin “Farmer” Burns twice but was mostly thought of as a good lighter wrestler.  Berg held the World Light Heavyweight Wrestling Championship in the late 1910s and competed for the Middleweight Title, which was contested at 158 pounds.  Berg missed weight by four pounds but won the match.

Berg wrestled in the United States as “Young Charles Hackenschmidt” although he wrestled under his actual name in Canada.  Promoters billed Berg as the younger brother of former World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion Georg Hackenschmidt to increase fan interest.  After a successful 1917 campaign in the World Light Heavyweight Wrestling Tournament, Berg challenged Joe Turner for the World Light Heavyweight Wrestling Championship on Thursday, February 21, 1918.

Joe Turner was recognized as the World Middleweight Wrestling Champion.  Berg intended to cement his claim to the Light Heavyweight Wrestling Championship, which he did by throwing Turner in two straight falls.  Newspapers at the time did not carry a description of the bout.  They simply reported Berg’s victory.

In 1919, Berg began wrestling under his real name and dropped the “Charles Hackenschmidt” name.  Pundits noted that Berg used his speed to defeat his opponents, always wrestled for the win, even if it cost him the match, and was never accused of being in a fixed match.

One of Berg’s last matches was in St. Louis during April 1922, when Berg took on Missouri Middleweight Champion Gus Eisel.  The outcome of this bout is not known.

John Berg shares a fate with many of the lighter weight legitimate professional wrestlers.  With the exception of Gotch, George Hackenschmidt and a few others, most of the men who made a living on the mat are little known today.  Hopefully, this post will acquaint mat fans with the accomplishments of John Berg and his fellow light heavyweights like Fred Beell.

Special thanks to John Berg’s grandson Hans Berg for the photo of his grandfather.

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Sources: The Washington Herald, February 19, 1918, p. 10, The Washington Herald, February 27, 1918, p 10, The New York Tribune, November 25, 1919, p. 15 and The Washington Times, June 23, 1920, p. 2.

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