97 Years ago today, on January 3, 1917, wrestling fans in the Bay Area were talking excitedly with each other and their friends and family about the tremendous main event that promoter Frank Schuler had presented the night before at the San Francisco Civic Auditorium. In a match that lasted 2 ½ hours, Ad Santel, despite about a 50 pound weight disadvantage, had wrestled Ed “Strangler” Lewis to a draw, where neither man scored a pin fall in the bout that was scheduled for two out of three falls. Despite the length of the match, the full house of 7,000 fans were not given cause to sit on their hands, as the Santa Cruz Evening News reported that it was “fast from beginning to end, [and] the match was the sort that furnished a thrill with every minute. Seven thousand fans were there and from start to finish they were on their toes cheering in a frenzy of excitement!” Lewis was a strong draw most places he went and Santel was the Golden Goose of San Francisco, as good a draw as anyone who ever set foot on the Bay Area wrestling scene. But in a time when freeways were non-existent, cars were an extreme rarity, and public transportation (by train) was not what it would become, fans in the other Northern California wrestling towns did not have to do without when it came to mat action. For the night after the Lewis vs. Santel bout, fans at the 1800-seat Modesto Auditorium were treated to a bout between featherweight world wrestling champion Vernon Breedlove and Erwin Ireland, also known as “Kid Irish”. Both contestants in the non-title bout weighed less than 130 pounds, but their size belied there wrestling prowess. Breedlove would take the bout in two straight falls, but considering that he purportedly won over 2,000 matches during his career, supposedly winning 99% of his matches, it was no shame to lose to him. Trained by pro wrestling pioneer Farmer Burns, Breedlove, like his trainer and like Lewis and Santel who had wrestled the night before, was every bit a legitimate shooter and hooker, and it was commonplace to hear that he had won his matches via a toehold, double-wristlock and body-scissors, or some other submission hold. You weren’t going to see him secure a pin after a “619”. Not only did Breedlove experience tremendous success against his fellow wrestlers, but he also participated in some mixed matches against jiu-jitsu practitioners. In 1923 he began issuing challenges to boxers to participate in a mixed-match. No one was really stepping up until one welterweight pro took up the challenge. He was quickly taken down by Breedlove and then had his arms locked up while simultaneously placed in a head scissors. In 55 seconds, the boxer, who outweighed Vernon by 20 pounds, had had enough. That same year, Breedlove would enroll at Palmer College where he was a part of the school’s wrestling team and where he earned his Doctor of Chiropractic. He would practice his new profession for over 50 year and he passed away in 1986 at the ripe old age of 96. He is one of many nearly-forgotten legends in pro wrestling, men who entertained with actual wrestling and could actually wrestle when put to the test. The suspension of disbelief was so much easier to accomplish when you heard someone screaming for mercy. And while the name of this group page is “When it was Big Time Wrestling” and much of the discussion revolves around the Roy Shire era, Northern California has a rich pro wrestling history that goes back much further than that 20-year period from 1961 to 1981. Muldoon, Whistler, Bauer, Malcewicz, Santel, Lewis, Detton, Hansen, Steele, Londos and Thesz were just some of the legitimate wrestlers who graced the Northern California wrestling rings, and did so on a regular basis. It’s hard to believe that the territory still has not received it’s just due as a premier region of pro wrestling history. But a precious gem is still a precious gem and a priceless work of art is still a priceless work of art, regardless if one has the trained eye and knowledge to recognize them as such. (Talk about a serious hooker; Vernon slaps a toehold on a bear. Umm..yeah, he did shoot it first)
Posted on: Sun, 04 Jan 2015 02:06:13 +0000
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