McLaughlin Wrestles Bauer
James Hiram McLaughlin holds the distinction of being the first American professional wrestler. While people wrestled professionally before McLaughlin, he was the first to earn a professional living from wrestling.
McLaughlin began wrestling professionally in 1860 at 16 years of age but the Civil War interrupted his career for a few years. McLaughlin began wrestling again in 1866. By 1877, he was the biggest name in American professional wrestling. In the early 1880s, he would be eclipsed by William Muldoon.
Artist rendering of James Hiram McLaughlin (Public Domain)
McLaughlin was particularly skilled in collar-and-elbow wrestling, where a jacket was worn like in Judo. McLaughlin also had some skill in catch-as-catch-can. He was an average at best Greco-Roman wrestler, the dominant style at the time.
While Greco-Roman wrestling dominated the world title picture at the time, many of the bouts were mixed style contests from about 1870 to 1890. Falls would each be contested in a different style.
On April 10, 1877, McLaughlin wrestled a 2-out-of-3-falls mixed styles bout with Theobaud Bauer. Bauer claimed the World Heavyweight Greco-Roman Wrestling Championship. The match took place at the Whitney Opera House in Detroit, Michigan, where McLaughlin was living at the time.
The first fall would be contested in McLaughlin’s specialty, collar and elbow wrestling. Like Judo, the goal was to throw your opponent onto their back.
The second fall would be contested in Bauer’s specialty, Greco-Roman wrestling. Oddly, Bauer agreed to allow foot trips, a clear violation of the normal rules of Greco-Roman wrestling.
If the match was not decided in the first two falls, a coin flip would determine the style for the third fall. The winner of the coin toss would choose the style of wrestling.
The first fall was a struggle because McLaughlin’s jacket began tearing during their attempts to throw each other. McLaughlin almost pushed Bauer to the floor but Bauer caught himself. McLaughlin used several foot trips but still could not take Bauer down. After a failed hip toss and leg grapevine, which Bauer showed great dexterity in escaping, the referee called time. 10 minutes had elapsed in the round.
Artist rendering of Theobaud Bauer, Greco-Roman Wrestler of the 1870s and 1880s from the Public Domain
The referee asked for another jacket for McLaughlin. However, none could be found, which would comfortably fit his 6’01”, 235 pound frame. The referee signaled for the match to continue, since they could not find another jacket. McLaughlin didn’t need long to secure a back heel trip for the first fall.
Bauer looked more confident entering the second fall, which would be contested in his specialty. Bauer noticed McLaughlin had resin on his hands. Bauer pointed out the foul tactic to the referee, who made McLaughlin wash his hands.
McLaughlin knew he was at a disadvantage, so he tried to resist Bauer with rough tactics. Bauer bowed up himself by slapping Mac across the face. After a warning by the referee to both men, they went back to wrestling.
Bauer was able to get McLaughlin down on his hands and knees but was having great difficulty turning him. Eventually, Bauer was able to trap McLaughlin’s far arm and pull both McLaughlin’s arms into his body. With no hand support, Bauer was able to spin McLaughlin to his back.
McLaughlin tried to roll out of the pin but Bauer was able to settle down on top of his opponent. After a few seconds struggle, the referee awarded Bauer the second fall at 12 minutes.
After a 15 minutes rest, Bauer won the coin toss and selected catch-as-catch-can for the third fall. Since this style was outside both men’s specialty, it seemed the fairest way to decide the contest.
The third fall started with both men slapping each other in the face in an attempt to secure a tie-up. Eventually, McLaughlin grabbed Bauer’s foot and tripped him. However, Bauer dove face first to the floor ending up in a wheel barrow position with McLaughlin holding both feet.
To the great amusement of the fans, McLaughlin ran down the mat with Bauer in this position but was unable to turn Bauer onto his back. McLaughlin dropped Bauer’s ankles as he too was laughing as hard as the audience.
McLaughlin grabbed Bauer in a belly-to-belly suplex bringing him to the mat. Bauer bridged but it wasn’t enough. McLaughlin used his great weight to grind Bauer to the mat for the third fall and match.
The crowd cheered both men even though McLaughlin received the hometown treatment. He would have two more professional matches in Detroit in 1877 before being inactive for a year or two.
McLaughlin would wrestle several matches and make a large amount of income in a short time. He would then live off that income until it ran out. Then he would wrestle another group of matches. If McLaughlin was more active, he might be more well-known today.
You can leave a comment or ask a question about this or any post on my Facebook page or Twitter profile.
Sources: Detroit Free Press, April 11, 1877 edition, p. 1 and wrestlingdata.com
