Il più antico film di wrestling esistente
Joe Stecher che conquista il campionato mondiale di wrestling da Earl Caddock è il più antico film di wrestling professionistico esistente. Tragicamente, i promotori hanno filmato le partite più importanti degli anni '10 e '20, inclusa la seconda partita Frank Gotch-Georg Hackenshmidt, ma marcivano nelle aree di stoccaggio.
Camera operators filmed Ed “Strangler” Lewis vs. Wayne "Grande" Munn, Stecher vs. Stanislaus Zbyszko, and the reunification match between Stecher and Lewis. Historians searched for these films but so far have come up empty handed.
Joe Stecher with his championship belt (Public Domain)
In this match, Caddock defended his title against Stecher. Caddock recently returned from France where he served in the U.S. Army during World War I. Stecher served in the U.S. Navy during the war. Promoter Jack Curley arranged for a Navy color guard and Army Color Guard to escort Stecher and Caddock to the ring, respectively.
Fans anticipated a rematch between the rivals, who were the two biggest stars of the late 1910s. Ed “Strangler” Lewis surpassed them in the 1920s, but 10,000 fans paid to see this rematch. Curley booked Madison Square Garden for this match. Il $80,000 gate justified Curley moving the match to the more expensive arena instead of his normal 71st Regimental Armory. The Armory seated around 6,000 spettatori.
The film, a 26 verbale, captures the highlights of the men’s training and the match. Stecher wrestled Caddock for 2 orario, 5 minuti e 30 seconds before pinning him for the only fall. Championship matches were normally 2-out-of-3-falls, but this match was one fall to a finish.
After Caddock dropped the title back to Stecher, he started transitioning to a career in business. Il 32-year-old Caddock wrestled 18 more months but did not wrestle a full schedule. Curley booked Caddock to help build a star like the returning Stanislaus Zbyszko or as a credible title challenger for the current world champion. In early 1922, Caddock retired for good.
The surviving copy of the match is grainy and difficult to see. Stecher is the taller wrestler in the dark boots. Caddock is shorter. He is wearing the white or light-colored shoes.
Remember, this match occurred 5 years before Joseph “Toots” Mondt changed the style of wrestling. The action looks more like today’s no-gi submission wrestling or free style wrestling than modern professional wrestling.
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Sources: The New York Times, Gennaio 31, 1920, p. 12
