Muldoon Survives Hard Tilt With Whistler

The powerful William Muldoon was considered invincible as Greco-Roman World Wrestling Champion. Vain yksi mies haastoi vakavasti Muldoonin hänen hallitsevan hallituskautensa aikana. 165-kiloinen Clarence Whistler antoi jatkuvasti Muldoonille vaikeimmat haasteensa. Muldoon and Whistler met on Thursday, Marraskuu 1, 1883 in San Francisco, Kaliforniassa yhdessä heidän useista otteluistaan.

William Muldoon was almost a head taller and weighed between 190 ja 225 kiloa. Despite this great size disparity, the smaller but powerful Whistler used both speed and his own considerable strength to fluster Muldoon. The men met for $2,000 a side and the entire gate receipts for the event.

The journalist in the November 2, 1883 edition of the Sacrament Bee took Muldoon to task for “spending as much time posing lately as training.” The comment was a reference to Muldoon splitting his time between wrestling training and spreading his system of physical fitness through tours and stage performances.

The men entered the ring, shook hands and took to their corners. When the men came to the center for a tie-up, Whistler immediately secured a back hold and brought Muldoon down on all fours. Whistler was not able to turn Muldoon but brought him back to the ground two more times after Muldoon stood up.

Muldoon finally broke loose from the back hold. Muldoon lifted Whistler over his head only to be reversed by a neck hold flip, which almost scored the first fall for Whistler.

The Sacramento Bee reporter claimed Whistler actually took the fall but Muldoon rolled off the platform taking Whistler with him before the referee could see the fall. The men continued wrestling on the floor before the referee was able to separate the men.

Muldoon’s seconds claimed a foul against Whistler for grabbing Muldoon’s leg, which was a clear violation of Greco-Roman rules. Any hold below the waist is banned. The referee did not allow the foul as the action occurred out of the ring.

After a few minutes confusion, the men returned to wrestling until Whistler attempted to lift Muldoon and fell backward. Muldoon pinned Whistler’s shoulders for the first fall after 48 minutes of action. Both men took a ten minute rest before resuming the match.

Whistler was more aggressive to begin the second fall. Whistler scored three near falls in the first 15 minutes but the referee did not call any of the near falls for Whistler. Clarence Whistler would not be denied however. After continuous wrestling of about 42 minutes, Whistler slammed Muldoon onto his back to end the second fall and tie the score.

The capacity crowd that attended the fight went wild as the previously impervious Muldoon lost a fall to Whistler. Whether the crowd reaction irritated him or his frustration with Whistler boiled over, William Muldoon would end this match in a brutal fashion.

After several minutes of fierce wrestling, Muldoon lifted Whistler over his head and threw him towards the floor head first. Whistler kept his head from striking the floor but landed on his left shoulder. Whistler attempted to re-engage but signaled to the referee that he was injured. A doctor looked at Whistler’s shoulder and diagnosed a broken shoulder-blade. The referee declared the match a draw due to Whistler’s inability to continue the match.

Muldoon protested that he should be declared the winner but gave Whistler half of the $2,000, when public opinion turned against him. Despite his strong showing, Whistler was not able to wrest the title from Muldoon in the future. He continued to be Muldoon’s toughest challenger. They wrestled for 7 hours with no falls in one match.

William Muldoon would reign as champion for 6 more years before retiring to become America’s first celebrity trainer. He lived into his 80s and trained many statesmen, athletes and celebrities at his New York state health farm Olympia. Until the day he died, he would single out Clarence Whistler as his toughest challenger.

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