London vs. Shikat inn 1930
Over the past twenty years, preservationists have found several wrestling films from the 1920s through the 1950s that were assumed lost. Fans can watch most of the newly discovered films on YouTube.
One of the surviving films is eighteen minutes of an hour, twenty minutes match from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1930. Jim Londos wrestled Dick Shikat (video link) for a version of the World Championship in front of twenty thousand fans at Shibe Park, the home of the Philadelphia Athletics.
Artist rendering of Jim Londos (Public Domain)
According to the pre-match publicity, Jim London wrestled Dick Shikat twice before with each man wining one of the matches. Promoters scheduled the rubber match for a baseball park correctly predicting fan interest in a match between the two men.
If you watch the mat, you will see it includes a lot of mat wrestling. However, the match was never boring.
The men traded holds throughout the match until Londos secured a top body lock with an armbar. Londos pinned Shikat for a count of three.
Photo of Dick Shikat Legitimately Injuring Danno O’Mahoney on March 2, 1936 fra Public Domain
I thought promoters started using the three count later in the 1930s. However, the promoters implemented the three count for this match years earlier.
With the addition of the three count, it was impossible for a wrestler to hold down his opponent for a three count unless he was completely knocked out. The change made double-crosses by pin nearly impossible.
Both Londos and Shikat could hook or legitimately submit opponents although observers considered Shikat the better hooker. Shikat did double-cross Danno O’Mahony in Boston in 1936.
After being double-crossed behind the scenes by Joseph “Toots” Mondt and motivated by a strong personal dislike of O’Mahony, Shikat shot on O’Mahony legitimately injuring O’Mahony in the process.
Shikat had no intention to shoot on Jim Londos. Londos still is the biggest drawing card in the history of professional wrestling. Shikat knew what a match with Londos meant to his pocket book.
Let me know what you think of London vs. Shikat.
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Sources: The Philadelphia Times (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania), June 7, 1930, p. 18
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