Original Masked Marvel Passes
On August 4, 1939, Mort Henderson passed away in Rochester, New York at 60 years of age. Wrestling fans likely did not remember the name Mort Henderson but as his alter ego, the original Masked Marvel, he saved the fall version of the 1915 International Wrestling Tournament in New York City.
Sam Rachmann promoted the tournament with the goal of Alex Aberg replacing retired Frank Gotch as the recognized world champion. The spring tournament sold out the Manhattan Opera House almost every night. 6,000 fans turned out each night to watch the Greco-Roman wrestling tournament despite catch-as-catch-can wrestling displacing Greco-Roman as the dominant style in America.
Photo of Mort Henderson, who wrestled under a mask as the Masked Marvel in the 1915 International Wrestling Tournament (Public Domain)
With the success of the spring tournament, Rachmann held a second tournament in the fall. Fans stayed away this time. Even after Rachmann added in catch wrestling bouts, recruited more well-known American wrestlers, and allowing wrestlers to work with each other to put on more exciting matches, fans still stayed away.
Rachmann introduced a mysterious man in a mask sitting at ringside in early December 1915. The man demanded entry into the tournament as fans and newspaper reporters speculated on the masked man’s identity. From almost no coverage of the fall tournament, newspapers across the country carried stories about the mysterious ringsider.
Rachmann “allowed” the Masked Marvel to enter the tournament in the second week of December. Fans filled the Manhattan Opera House again saving the fall tournament. The Masked Marvel turned the fall tournament from a financial disaster to a financial success.
Towards the end of the tournament, a ringside reporter discovered Mort Henderson, a 36-year-old journeyman wrestler and part-time railroad detective, was the Masked Marvel. Despite the exposure, Henderson, as the Masked Marvel, continued to sell out arenas until he sold the mask and gimmick to another wrestler as he eased into retirement in 1921.
Henderson promoted wrestling in Watertown, Ogdesnburg, and Altoona, Pennsylvania after his retirement. Henderson had worked as a railroad detective in Altoona prior to the Masked Marvel gimmick. Henderson eventually returned to Rochester, New York, where he lived out the remainder of his life.
Henderson died after having a heart attack in early August 1939. However, the 60-year-old had been sick for some time. The former 230-pound athlete only weighed 120 pounds at the time of his death. Henderson’s wife and daughter survived him.
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Sources: Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, New York), August 5, 1939, p. 15 and The Evening Times (Sayre, Pennsylvania), August 5, 1939, p. 2
Masked Marvel to the Rescue is available on Amazon in e-book, paperback and hardcover
