Ringer Throws Wasem

Op zaterdag, November 25, 1899, St. Louis wrestling fans experienced a shock, when a visiting wrestler easily threw local champion Oscar Wasem in a little over 20 notulen. After the easy victory, fans smelled a rat, when the “Indianapolis Cyclone” spoke with a Lancashire accent.

Oscar Wasem surpassed George Baptiste as St. Louis’ wrestling champion in the mid-1890s. Wasem possessed good enough wrestling skills to defeat Frank Gotch in a legitimate wrestling match during 1901. On this night, echter, Wasem was no match for the obvious “ringer”.

When professional wrestling was conducted in circuses and carnivals, promoters would hire smaller but highly skilled wrestlers to perform in their shows. The promoter would offer a cash prize to anyone, who could last a certain amount of time with the wrestler. Usually, the promoter never paid out a dime.

In the 1880s, several talented but smaller English wrestlers like Edwin Bibby came to America to ply their trade against the much larger Americans. Bibby beat the 180-pound Evan “De Strangler” Lewis in a legitimate wrestling match. Echter, he wasn’t the smallest member of the troupe.

The smallest of the English wrestlers but one of the most talented technicians was Tom Connor. Hailing from Lancashire, Engeland, Connor surprised his opponents with technique and leverage to quickly throw the victim for a fall.

Taking on Connor was hard enough. It is even harder for the opponent, when he doesn’t actually know who he is wrestling. Wasem found himself in this position, when promoters booked “J. Edwards” for the match.

Wasem was not gigantic at about 160 naar 170 pounds but possessed a powerful physique. Wasem could often make up for a deficiency in technique by overpowering his opponent. With Tom Connor, Wasem never got the chance.

Connor put Wasem on the defensive from the start of the match. Wasem couldn’t use his strength offensively because he was concerned with stuffing Connor’s repeated takedown attempts. Connor continued to apply the pressure to Wasem without the effort seeming to have much effect on him.

After 18 minutes of wrestling, Connor secured the first fall. Connor returned to his corner looking fresh but the strain was obvious on Wasem. Wasem appeared to be the 38-year-old instead of Connor.

When the wrestlers met to start the second fall, it was a relatively short affair. Wasem gamely tried to stave off the inevitable but was thrown in 2 minuten en 30 seconden.

Wasem did not take kindly to being duped but he may have taken solace in the fact that Connor’s group did not make any money on the betting. Fans suspected something odd about the match up and would not bet on the outcome. The fans knew “J. Edwards” was more than he appeared.

Wasem’s reputation wasn’t hurt by losing to Connor either. Wasem was St. Louis Wrestling Champion, when he wrestled Frank Gotch.

The episode does show dirty tactics and parlor tricks were always part of the professional wrestling circuit even during the (mostly) legitimate era. Connor and his backers robbed Wasem of a decent showing as he would likely have prepared differently with specific techniques for a wrestler of Connor’s skill.

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Source: De St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Zondag, November 26, 1899 editie, p.25

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