Clarence Whistler Dies in Australia

Clarence Whistler was born in Indiana during 1856.  While standing only 5’09” or so and weighing 165 pounds, Whistler was considered one of the most powerful wrestlers of his era.  Whistler was the only wrestler able to give William Muldoon a hard time during Muldoon’s 9-year run as World Champion.

Whistler primarily competed in Greco-Roman wrestling, the dominant style in America during the 1870s and 1880s.  However, Whistler also wrestled in catch-as-catch-can wrestling bouts, which were starting to become more popular.

Whistler got his start in wrestling while working in an Iowa foundry.  Several men were impressed by his great feats of strength in the foundry, so they arranged for him to wrestle a local professional wrestler.  Whistler easily defeated him.  Based on this early success, Whistler started to seek out more professional bouts and was soon a full-time wrestler.

Whistler would eventually develop a big enough reputation to challenge William Muldoon for his Greco-Roman World Heavyweight Championship.  Whistler wrestled him to a draw in the first of several bouts between the men.

Many of their matches were boring as Whistler had the strength to prevent Muldoon from throwing him.  The bouts lasted for hours with very little action but Whistler would occasionally put Muldoon in danger of being thrown.  Fans had never seen any wrestler trouble Muldoon during his long title reign.

Muldoon developed such respect for Whistler that they began a stage tour, where they would work with each other in a wrestling match as part of the stage production.  These matches were prearranged and part of the show.  The tours were very lucrative but the same problem, which would take Whistler’s life, would end these tours.

Whistler, like many combat sports athletes before and after, enjoyed the high life of alcohol and partying.  Whistler struggled with limiting his partying to his off-hours though.  He would occasionally show up to the stage productions in a drunken stupor.

Muldoon was concerned about someone getting hurt during the stage productions particularly himself, while wrestling with Whistler in the worked match.  Muldoon told Whistler if he continued to show up in a drunken state he would be off the tour.

Whistler resented Muldoon’s scolding and several times fist fights would break out between the men on and off stage.  After several chances, Muldoon finally fired Whistler from the tour.

In their last competitive match together, Muldoon threw Whistler down on his shoulder.  While he wasn’t pinned, Muldoon so injured Whistler that Whistler was unable to continue.

Some observers felt Muldoon was paying Whistler back for the fisticuffs but Muldoon always denied it.  Whistler didn’t believe Muldoon was trying to intentionally injure him either as they shook hands after the match and mended their friendship.

Most coverage of the match opined that Muldoon was frustrated by his inability to throw Whistler.  When he finally got Whistler off his feet, he threw him towards the mat at hard as possible.  Instead of landing on his back, Whistler turned onto his chest and his shoulder was the first thing to strike the mat.

Unable to beat Muldoon, Whistler was lured to Australia for a very successful tour culminating with a defeat of the local champion.  Whistler spent the next month celebrating the tour and spending all the money he made in Australia.  On November 6, 1885, Clarence Whistler died in “a gutter in Melbourne, Australia” according to the St. Paul Daily Globe.

How he died is the subject of many legends but all the accounts agreed it was related to his heavy drinking.  When Whistler died, he didn’t have any money or possessions to his name.  Fortunately for him, the Australian wrestling fans were so taken by his performances that they stepped into the void.

After raising between $800 to $900, the Australians paid for Whistler’s burial in Melbourne.  His tombstone inscription read, “Clarence Whistler, Born in Dill County, Indiana, USA, Died in Melbourne 1885, The Peer of All Wrestlers”.  The remainder of the funds were sent to Whistler’s widow in the United States.

Clarence Whistler only wrestled for 6 years but it was a storied career.  If he had been able to control his alcohol consumption, he might have been the successor to Muldoon as World Champion in 1889.  His untimely death made this impossible.

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Sources: St. Paul Daily Globe, March 24, 1889 edition, p. 7 and wrestlingdata.com

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