St. Louis Wrestler Surprises Gotch

Frank Gotch holds the title of America’s greatest legitimate professional wrestler. Gotch competed in mostly legitimate contests with a few pre-arranged or “worked” matches thrown in the mix. Per 1904 o 1905, no one could really beat Gotch unless he allowed it.

In the early years of his career, Gotch was not so dominant. He dropped matches to his mentor, Martin “Farmer” Burns, before “the Farmer” started training him. He also lost to the man he would eventually crush for the American Heavyweight Championship in 1904, Tom Jenkins. Gotch also got a surprise on March 27, 1901 in Burlington, Iowa.

Oscar Wassem was a St. Louis wrestler, who would eventually make his way to Omaha, Nebraska for the majority of his career. Wassem was considered the wrestling champion of St. Louis, Missouri, so unsurprisingly, he signed an agreement to meet Frank Gotch. Gotch was considered the Iowa wrestling champ.

While Wassem possessed an impressive physique for the early Twentieth Century, he only weighed 168 lliures. Wassem was considered more of a middleweight or light heavyweight. Gotch was a full-blown heavyweight at 198 lliures.

Gotch appeared confident of an easy time when they met but was shocked by the challenge of Wassem. Després 31 minutes and thirty seconds of hard wrestling resulted in Wassem securing the first fall.

A shocked Gotch came out strong to start the second fall. He secured the second fall in 4 minutes and 35 segon. After such a quick pin, Gotch believed he had turned the tide. Wassem wasn’t done though.

Wassem took Gotch 26 minutes and 45 seconds and secured the third fall and match. Wassem immediately challenged Gotch’s trainer “Farmer” Burns for the middleweight championship.

I questioned in the past whether this outcome was legitimate based on Wassem’s immediate challenge of “Farmer” Burns. The victory could have been pre-arranged to build excitement for a Burns-Wassem match.

Però, I believe this match was actually legitimate. Frank Gotch was still green at this time only being a professional for two years. Most great fighters also lose earlier in their careers. These losses shape the men and women into the great fighters they become.

Little information is known about Oscar Wassem today. After wrestling in St. Louis for several years, Wassem moved to St. Joseph, Missouri and eventually Omaha, Nebraska. Wassem was still wrestling at least sporadically in 1915.

Frank Gotch would go on to win both the American Heavyweight Wrestling Championship and the World Heavyweight Wrestling Championships. The seeds of these victories were planted during Gotch’s early losses to his trainer “Farmer” Burns, Tom Jenkins and little known Oscar Wassem.

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