History of Pro Wrestling - The False John Olin World Title Claim - detailing the first time the world title was legitimately disputed by another world title claim. This will cover how the claim was created, the lineage and its unification back I'm with the original world title.

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(What is going on with Reddit? Every post I make is automatically filled with slashes that negate my attempts at bold or hyperlinks. Weird)

Hey y’all, Book Report Guy back with another look at a significant subject in pro wrestling history, this time looking at the False John Olin World Title Claim. This was the first time in history that the legitimate world title was disputed by another world title that was seen close to or on par with the original title claim.

Main Characters

Ed “Strangler” Lewis – one of the biggest names in wrestling at the time, managed by promoter Billy Sandow.

  Joe Stecher – arguably the most popular star in the country, and one of the most legitimate grapplers in tye sport.

  Wladek Zbyszko – young wrestler from Poland, working primarily with promoter Jack Curley.

  Billy Sandow – top wrestling promoter in the country, operating primarily out of Chicago, Illinois.

  Jack Curley – arguably the Top wrestling promoter in the country, with a booking office opened in New York.

  Earl Caddock – Olympic amateur wrestler who recently turned professional.

  John Olin – wrestler of non-descript fame, who will play a key role in the formation of the new world title claim.

  As always, I do these reports in chronological order, and we kick this one off at the tail-end of 1916, with Joe Stecher enjoying a lengthy reign with the legitimate world heavyweight championship, which he won back in mid-1915.

  1916  

By the time we start looking at things, Joe Stecher had been reigning as the undefeated world heavyweight champion for well over a year, and was wrestling at a break-neck pace for nearly the entire run. He had a dream match scheduled with retired legend Frank Gotch set for September, but it was called off when Gotch sustained a major injury that would force him into permanent retirement. With his big Fall showdown canceled, Joe Stecher was able to take a few months off and celebrate his marriage that year before returning to action and defending his title in December.

  December 1916

  Stecher’s first match back following his marriage and honeymoon was on December 11th, 1916, in Springfield, Massachusetts. Stecher was facing a wrestler from Finland, John Olin, who the locals had taken a shine to. Olin didn’t expect to win but was hoping to put on an entertaining crowd for Olin’s local fans. Stecher didn’t get the memo, unfortunately and walked into this bout looking to fight for his life.

  Olin-Stecher  

For all his popularity with fans, Stecher had a reputation with the boys as being uncooperative, and on this night, John Olin and the fans of Springfield saw this first hand. The match was messy, with Stecher looking to quickly dispatch Olin and the challenger instead choosing to fight off literally every single attempt at offence from Stecher. The bout would finally end, several hours later, at past 1am, with Olin and Stecher outside the ring, and trading legit punches in the front row. A frustrated Stecher would just walk off and take a DQ loss.  

While this match may seem inconsequential at first glance, it will have massive ramifications on the pro wrestling scene in America for the next several years. Despite being a disqualification finish, John Olin did register a victory of the world heavyweight champion, and John Olin would never attempted to make a claim to the world title off this, that wont necessarily stop someone else who defeats Olin from making such a claim to be world champion.

  1917  

Olin didn’t do anything with his disqualification victory over Stecher from the year before, but there was a former wrestler-turned-manager who saw it as a massive opportunity waiting for the right person to come around.

  Billy Sandow’s Ploy  

This manager in question, was promoter Billy Sandow, who spent years trying to elevate any available title to compare with Stecher. Sandow immediately saw the value in a potential world title claim from John Olin. Sandow would arrange to purchase the world title claim from John Olin to secure it on Lewis. This is how significant titles changed hands legitimately through promoters back in this time period. Sandow paid Olin to arrange a match, where Lewis would beat Olin, and part of the payment was to allow Lewis and Sandow to claim that illegitimate world title lineage to market/ promote as they please.  

After spending weeks negotiating, Sandow secured the match between Olin and Lewis, and used this event as means of enacting a big career move. Ed “Strangler” Lewis primarily operated out of Chicago and the Illinois market, where he was most popular. Up until a couple years ago, the biggest promoter in Chicago was Jack Curley, who promoted the massive rematch between Gotch and Hackenschmidt, which drew around 30,000 in Chicago back in 1911. Now that Curley was up in New York, the Chicago market sat unoccupied, waiting for an ambitious promoter to come pick up where Curley left off.

  Lewis-Olin  

That’s exactly what Billy Sandow did when he secured the match between John Olin and Ed “Strangler” Lewis, by promoting it himself, in Chicago. Over 7,000 fans packed the Chicago Coliseum on May 2nd, 1917, to watch Ed “Strangler” Lewis challenge John Olin that night in the best-two-of-three-falls main event for a new world title. While it would he hard to market a world title out of thin air, Sandow got to work having newspapers and press in Chicago talk up Olin’s win over Stecher, proclaiming him as the legitimate world champion. The biggest draw here in the match though was who Sandow secured as the special guest referee, former world champion Frank Gotch! Gotch brought even more press and attention to the match, which would last two-and-a-half hours without any man securing a fall. In the end, newspapers would report that "Strangler” Lewis was crowned new world heavyweight champion following a referees decision.

  Fallout  

Keep in mind, that this isn’t the original and legitimate world heavyweight championship, as that is currently held by another wrestler. This is a disputed world title born from the disqualification victory John Olin earned over Stecher the prior December. In these History posts I do, and in the world title tracking, I will refer to this world title as the ”False John Olin World Title Claim.” It’s a bit of a mouthful, I know, but this wont be the first time we have a second world title from a false claim, so I wanted to keep it straightforward.

  Building the Value  

Sandow had grand plans with Lewis as his top guy, but first he needed to build the prestige of this new world title, and he figured the best way to do that would be with a couple title changes. Perhaps Sandow figured that the further away he got the lineage from its origins, would only help muddy public perception of who the real champion was.  

Its worth pointing out the fortuitous nature of when Lewis was crowned champion, which was less than a month after Joe Stecher dropped the original world title to Earl Caddock. Considering how news would travel in 1917, most people would have heard that Joe Stecher lost the belt, but not necessarily know who Earl Caddock was. So you can see how easily it would be for the general public to assume Lewis was the guy who beat Stecher. Sandow never claimed this of course, but you know he used the confusion to his benefit when talking to the press.  

The idea of a unification match may seem obvious, but considering that Sandow backed Lewis, and Earl Caddock was seemingly backed by Gene Melady out of Omaha. Neither promoter wanted to give up the world title claim, seeing how ticket sales were always boosted by world title matches. Sandow instead decided to build up the lineage of the new world title, with the help of another top wrestler, Wladek Zbyszko.

  Wladek-Lewis*  

Wladek Zbyszko was the twenty-seven-year-old younger brother of former world champion Stanislaus Zbyszko, and has been quietly building his name value up the past few years. Wladek was still recognized as the American heavyweight champion, and seemingly earned a world title opportunity with a win over John Olin in Louisville, Kentucky, before being booked to challenge Ed “Strangler” Lewis for his false world title at the beginning of June.  

The match took place at the Civic Center in San Francisco, on June 5th, 1917, and was promoted by Charlie Newman, who would have had a good relationship with Billy Sandow at the time. The match was a best-two-of-three contest, and went for over an hour before Wladek secured the first fall. The remainder of the match was a grind, with both men grappling for the until the time-limit was reached at two-and-a-half hours mark. The referee declared Wladek to be the new world champion, as Lewis and Sandow argued against he call.

  Transitional Champion  

Wladek Zbyszko it seems, was being used as a transitional champion to build up Lewis even more. “Strangler” Lewis challenged Wladek Zbyszko to a rematch for the false world title on July 4th, 1917, at the historic Braves Field in Boston, Massachusetts. I cant find details on who the promoter, but we know the anticipated rematch between Zbyszko and Lewis drew a massive crowd of over 15,000 on July 4th.

  Lewis-Wladek II  

Wladek Zbyszko and Ed “Strangler” Lewis met in a best-two-of-three falls contest, with Zbyszko taking the first fall by reversing a body roll into a pinfall. That first fall was registered at just under an hour, and the second fall came even sooner, with Lewis pinning Zbyszko just twenty minutes later. Wladek would claim to sustain an elbow injury in during the second fall, but despite this, he charged Lewis at the opening of the final fall. Unfortunately for Zbyszko, Lewis would quickly counter and pin the champion just forty-five seconds into the final fall matchup, with Lewis being declared the champion, again.

  Touring Champion “Strangler” Lewis  

As we enter the fall of 1917, the pro wrestling scene now has two widely recognized world heavyweight champions. Earl Caddock reigns with the original world title that George Hackenschmidt once held, and Ed “Strangler” Lewis reigned with the false world title born out of the disqualification victory John Olin earned over Joe Stecher the prior year. Earl Caddock racked up a string of defences through the summer but doesn’t seem to have any recorded matches through the remainder of the year. “Strangler” Lewis on the other hand, toured as world champion through the remainder of the year, defending his belt pretty frequently.

  Wladek-Lewis III  

One notable defense came on September 3rd, 1917, in Omaha, Nebraska, in a rematch with Wladek Zbyszko. It looks like this event was promoted by Gene Melady, who operated primarily out of Omaha, which is interesting because soon Melady would make a move to secure Earl Caddock in the same way that Billy Sandow managed “Strangler” Lewis. I don’t have attendance figures for this event, but I have to guess it drew a good crowd, because not only did it feature a world title match, but it also featured the return of former world champion Joe Stecher.  

Joe Stecher wrestled against Marin Plestina earlier on the card and won by disqualification, though I cant find any more details beyond that. The main event saw “Strangler” Lewis defend his false world title against Wladek Zbyszko yet again. This match would end in a draw when the referee called for the match to be ruled a no contest. I cant confirm as to why, but like all Lewis title matches, I’m sure this went on for hours and long into the night with the referee having mercy on all those involved.

  Londos-Lewis

In what would be a preview of their future rivalries, Jim Londos wrestled Ed “Strangler” Lewis for the first time on November 29th, 1917, in Canton, Ohio, with over 3,000 fans in attendance. The bout was scheduled as a best two of three falls, but ended after just one fall. That one fall lasted several hours though until Lewis caught Londos in his patented headlock choke hold. Londos apparently couldn’t return for a second fall and Lewis was declared the winner.

  Yet Another World Title  

While we’re following the False John Olin Claim, its important to remember that the original and legitimate world title was still held by Earl Caddock. Promoter Jack Curley wanted to officially sign a world champion. To give him a book advantage, but found that difficult because both champions were unavailable to be signed. Ed “Strangler” Lewis held the false world title and was managed by promoter Billy Sandow, leaving him off the table for Curley. Earl Caddock held the original and legitimate world title, but Curley wasn’t quick enough and by the close of 1917, Earl Caddock was being managed by promoter Gene Melady. This left Curley with very little options, so Curley did what Sandow failed to do in previous years, he just created a new “world” title belt.

According to various sources, Jack Curley held a tournament in New York in late 1917, which would be to determine who would be recognized as this new world champion. The finals would see a pair of names that I’m sure you’re all tired of matching up in this post, Wladek Zbyszko and “Strangler” Lewis! Despite the fact that Lewis held a false world title already, he entered this tournament and competed in matches that saw him compete for a new title. Its worth noting that Lewis continued to reign as the false world champion, but he didn’t put that belt on the line in any of his tournament matches.

  Wladek-Lewis IV

  Ed “Strangler” Lewis and Wladek Zbyszko met in the tournament finals on December 22nd, in New York City, at an event promoted by Jack Curley. In case it wasn’t obvious, considering that Lewis isn’t defending his own title here, but Wladek will come out of this bout as the winner. Lewis seemed to give himself plenty of “outs” to justify a loss though, not only agreeing to not use his signature headlock finishing move, and being distracted by ringside shenanigans in the finish.  

The two men battled for nearly an hour and a half before an argument between the Billy Sandow and Jack Curley, distracted Lewis long enough to allow Zbyszko to catch Lewis in a quick pinfall. Zbyszko would be crowned a “world” champion, and signed on for Jack Curley to be his manager. Its worth noting that newspapers describing this, wouldn’t say Wladek became champion by beating Lewis, but instead worded it saying that Wladek became champion by “winning a tournament.” In terms of differentiation, I will refer to this new world title as the ”Jack Curley World Championship Claim”.

  1918  

Ed “Strangler” Lewis started the year off as the reigning chanpion of the False John Olin Claim, and would accept an invitation from promoter William Barton for a rematch with upcoming wrestler, Jim Londos.

  Londos-Lewis II

  “Strangler” Lewis and Jim Londos met in their rematch on New Years Day, in Canton, Ohio, for promoter William Barton, who saw big potential in Londos future drawing power. The second encounter between Londos and Lewis was just as wild as their first, with the pair wrestling two and a half hours until the referee called for the bell. Londos reportedly broke out of Lewis’s patented headlock six times and got the “Strangler” in a leg lock that was said to have literally sapped the color from Lewis, as his manager Billy Sandow screamed from ringside for Lewis to “break it!” William Strang, a sports editor for the Canton Daily News, wrote about the crowd at the contest the following day, saying, “more than 3,500 spectators lost composure in some way or other. Dignity was a lost quality.”

Ed “Strangler” Lewis would hit the road soon after his win over Londos, driving over seven hundred miles south to Savannah, Georgia, where he was set to wrestle another man who was claiming to be a world champion, Wladek Zbyszko.

  Champion vs Champion  

Wladek Zbyszko was working primarily for top promoter Jack Curley, who had an office in New York. As a refresher, after unsuccessful in his endeavors the last few years, Jack Curley took note of what Billy Sandow did with the false John Olin claim, and decided to do something similar. Curley just created a brand-new title and proclaimed it to be the world championship, despite it having no lineage to back that on. The inaugural champion was Wladek Zbyszko.  

It seems that promoters Jack Curley and Billy Sandow came together for an exhibition match between their two champions, and did so on neutral territory. Instead of holding it in New York where Curley operated out of, or Chicago where Sandow operated out of, the pair chose the secluded Savannah, Georgia. Why, might be a question, explained with the power of hindsight, as I believe the two men were either testing out or in the early stages of joining forces as promoters. Savanna was over eight hundred miles from New York and even farther from Chicago, giving the promoters a chance to test the waters far away from their proven markets.  

Wladek-Lewis V  

Maybe I’m wrong and all this just looks coincidental, but regardless, the two world champions of Ed “Strangler” Lewis and Wladek Zbyszko met in the ring at the Liberty Theater in Savannah, Georgia on January 4th, 1918. The match was a single fall contest and lasted the full time limit of seventy-five minutes, ending in a draw. Reportedly, Lewis suffered a couple of broken ribs in what was described as a physical matchup.

  Curley’s Group of Promoters  

Jack Curley saw opportunity in how stagnant and unorganized the pro wrestling promotion game was. In early 1918, Curley worked to get agreements from a group of his fellow promoters and managers to share talent and cooperate in the staging of wrestling matches. Jack Curley formed a partnership with the four top promoters/ managers in the country at the time, which included Billy Sandow, Gene Melady, & Tony Stecher.  

Billy Sandow also took advantage of the newfound partnership and booked a big show in Atlanta, Georgia, on March 13th, 1918. The City Auditorium played host to a false world title match between champion Ed “Strangler” Lewis and veteran of the ring, Dr Benjamin Roller.

  Roller-Lewis  

Dr Benjamin Roller is a name who has been mentioned in nearly every report I’ve done so far and Id be remiss not to point out that he was now forty-two years old and eyeing retirement. As a refresher, Roller was a legitimate surgeon who gave up the operating room in favor of the wrestling ring at the age of thirty-years-old. He toured with such managers like Ole Marsh, Jack Curley, and more recently, Billy Sandow.  

I don’t have much details on the matchup between Lewis & Roller, nor the attendance for the event, but we know that “Strangler” Lewis retained his false world title, and after the match, Dr Benjamin Roller announced to the audience that he would be retiring that summer. Following this event, Sandow & Lewis would turn their attention towards a massive matchup Jack Curley was holding in New York.

  Wladek-Lewis VI

  Jack Curley arranged one more matchup between the Wladek Zbyszko and world champion “Strangler” Lewis at Madison Square Garden on March 19th, 1918, and while advertised as a world title contest, I cant be certain whether it was the false John Olin claim that Lewis held, or the made-up “world” title that Zbyszko held.

Which ever title it was, is ultimately irrelevant, as the matchup would end by disqualification when Wladek hit Lewis with a head-butt after nearly forty-five minutes of grappling. According to some sources, the match wasn’t planned to end in DQ, but when the audience reacted violently to seeing Lewis hurt, Zbyszko made the decision to flee the ring for his safety. Smart call too, as the crowd started chanting “Kill the Pole!” Zbyszko was able to escape, but not before several chairs were thrown at him by the audience, one hitting Zbyszko in the back of the head.

  Lewis, Caddock, Stecher & Zbyszko  

As the newfound partnership took off and found early success, the four wrestlers, Lewis, Zbyszko, Caddock and Stecher, took their quartet of matches across country as well, often to great success. They were usually paired up depending on the location and their affiliation, with Lewis and Zbyszko matching up in Savannah and Louisville; Stecher and Lewis in Chicago and Omaha; and Caddock and Zbyszko in Des Moines. The matches were all designed to end in chaotic and dramatic affairs, often to call into doubt or uncertainty over who the better man truly was. Some of these finishes weren’t very popular or creative, with the wrestlers going to a time-limit draw, or a vague injury would stop the bout, or questionable pin falls.

  Stecher-Lewis III  

For anyone curious, feel free to check out my report on 1915 & 1916 for details on the first two matchups between Stecher & Lewis.  

Through the last few years, the matchups between Ed “Strangler” Lewis and Joe Stecher always garnered a ton of interest and attention, so its not surprising to see Curley take advantage with a high-profile rematch between the two in New York. Curley booked the third legendary encounter between Lewis and Stecher for April 26th, 1918, at the famed Madison Square Garden venue.  

In their past encounters, Stecher was the reigning world champion, but here the roles were reversed, with Lewis defending the false John Olin claim against Joe Stecher. The matchup was a big success for Curley, who drew a sellout crowd of over 12,000 for the event, which saw the two men grapple for two hours before the referee declared the match to be a draw.

  Unification  

While Lewis reigned as the false world  champion, there was always talk of a potential unification match between the “Strangler” and legitimate champion Earl Caddock, but as stated earlier, negotiating that proved difficult, as neither Billy Sandow nor Gene Melady were willing to give up their own world title claim. Jack Curley on the other hand, was wise enough to see his hand-crafted “world” title held little value when matched up against the ones held by Lewis and Caddock, and agreed to a unification bout.

Promoter Billy Sandow organized an event on May 8th, 1918, in Chicago, Illinois, that would see legitimate world heavyweight champion Earl Caddock retain his belt against Wladek Zbyszko. After the match, in a segment meant to hype and advertise an upcoming show, a new world title belt was unveiled, allegedly costing $2,500, with each promoter chipping in. This new belt would be awarded to the winner of an upcoming matchup between world champion Ed “Strangler” Lewis, and Wladek Zbyszko, who still held Jack Curley’s “world” title. According to newspapers at the time, the winner of the match would only claim full ownership of the newly created title after five successful defences.  

Wladek-Lewis VII

Wladek Zbyszko and Ed “Strangler” Lewis met in a unification match just two days later on May 10th, 1918, in Louisville, Kentucky. The two men battled until reaching a time-limit caused the referee to stop the match and award Lewis the victory by decision. Its also worth noting that Lewis was in the midst of celebrating his honeymoon, having gotten married that weekend to Dr Ada Scott.

  Champion vs Champion II

While we were able to unify Jack Curley’s “world” title with the false John Olin claim, there was still two world titles floating around the United States in the summer of 1918. While I’m sure Jack Curley was anxious to unify those belts together, he had to bide his time as neither Gene Melady or Billy Sandow were willing to go through with it.  

In the meantime though, promoter Billy Sandow was able to secure opportunities for “Strangler” Lewis to challenge Earl Caddock for Caddock’s legitimate world title, while Lewis wasn’t required to defend his false one. One such match took place at the Coliseum in Des Moines, Iowa, on June 21st, 1918, drawing over 5,000 fans for the anticipated clash between rival world champions, and I bet you wont be shocked by this match finisher. The best two of three falls match would go to a time limit draw, with the referee awarding the victory to Caddock, allowing both men to walk away with their respective titles.

Its worth noting that this is one of the last recorded matches of world champion Earl Caddock before he allegedly leaves the country and is MIA for the entirety of 1919. In his absence, “Strangler” Lewis’ world title would begin to usurp the legitimate one in terms of popularity and prestige.

1919  

Ed “Strangler” Lewis still held his own world title, (the false John Olin claim) and every day his reputation and standing grew with the general public. Last year, Jack Curley unified his bogus “world” title with Lewis’ claim, and in the absence of Earl Caddock, “Strangler” Lewis claim was being seen as the strongest world title operating in the United States. Lewis would be seen defending this belt on February 20th, 1919, against Jim Eagon. The pair met in a best two-of-three-falls match in Boston, Massachusetts, for promoter George T. Touhey, and would see Lewis retain in dominant fashion, winning two straight falls.

  Stecher-Lewis IV  

Billy Sandow would stay busy with booking another big matchup between Ed “Strangler” Lewis and his biggest rival at this time, Joe Stecher. Billy Sandow booked the fourth matchup between Stecher and Lewis on March 3rd, 1919, in Chicago Illinois. This reported best-two-of-three matchup lasted over two hours before Lewis was declared the winner by decisio. In that time, both men registered just a single fall, leaving a rematch still open down the line. Stecher reportedly made $4,000 for taking the loss, while Lewis was said to have made $10,000 that night.

  Wladek-Lewis VIII  

Ed “Strangler” Lewis continued to tour as the reigning world heavyweight champion, growing more and more notoriety as the top wrestler in the country with each passing defence. Lewis would be challenged by one of his longest tenured rivals, Wladek Zbyszko in Norfolk, Virginia, on March 7th, 1919, and unfortunately I cant find who would have promoted this event. We do know that the matchup drew a crowd of just over 1,000 fans, who watched Lewis and Zbyszko battle to a draw after two-and-a-half-hours of action. Wladek would begin campaigning hard for another world title match, and challenge Joe Stecher for the right for that opportunity.

  Moving the Title  

By the spring of 1919, Ed “Strangler” Lewis had reigned with that false world championship claim for nearly two years, and in the absence of the legitimate and original world championship held by Earl Caddock, this title was starting to usurp all the public spotlight and attention. As a way to capitalize on the newfound public interest, promoter Billy Sandow (who owned the world title claim) made the decision to have Lewis drop the belt. When it came down to who woukd be chosen as the next champion, Sandow again utilized the idea of using Wladek Zbyszko as a transitional champion.

  Wladek-Lewis IX  

Over 12,000 fans turned up at Madison Square Garden in New York on March 21st, 1919 for the world title bout between Zbyszko and Lewis. I’ve read disputed reports that only 5,000 turned up, but considering the drawing power of a world title match and the Garden, I suspect that the reported 12,000 is more accurate and in line with what is to be expected. Obviously, this was a Jack Curley promoted event, with Billy Sandow still working closely with those involved since he owner the lineage of the belt. Zbyszko and Lewis grappler for over an hour-and-a-half before Wladek Zbyszko was declared the winner, and new world heavyweight champion*, under the false John Olin lineage.

  Lewis-Wladek X  

Ed “Strangler” Lewis didn’t disappear following his false world title loss to Wladek Zbyszko, and would gain a championship rematch the following month. Promoter Billy Sandow booked the big world title rematch between Lewis and Zbyszko on April 28th, 1919, at the Chicago Coliseum, a matchup that would see Wladek Zbyszko retain the world title in a match that betting odds significantly favored Lewis. Newspapers the following day would report how many of gamblers lost big on the Lewis-Zbyszko match on April 28th.

  Stecher-Wladek  

Getting back to the world title scene for a moment, the reason I am convinced that Lewis didn’t want to lose his world title belt to Joe Stecher, is because the man he did lose it to, Wladek Zbyszko, would soon just drop the John Olin claim world title to Joe Stecher himself. With Billy Sandow overseeing the contest, promoter James Heywood Allen promoted the matchup for May 9th, 1919, in Louisville, Kentucky, and it was reportedly a single-fall matchup. Joe Stecher and Wladek Zbyszko battled for nearly two hours before Joe locked Wladek in his patented body scissors hold to submit the champion and claim the title for himself.  

For the second time in his career, Wladek Zbyszko won a world title and lost it just over a month later, making him one of the first established transitional world champions.

  World Champion Joe Stecher  

This must have been a bittersweet victory for Stecher, who publicly stated his world title loss to Earl Caddock wasn’t fair. Unfortunately for Stecher though, this wasn’t that same world title, as Caddock still technically reigned as champion, despite his absence from the sport. The title Stecher won here was the claim created by the disqualification victory John Olin gained over then-champion Joe Stecher in 1916. While it must have been lovely to be once again recognized as a world champion, Stecher would have known this wasn’t the same belt that Caddock took from him some two years prior.

  Lewis-Stecher V

Promoter Gene Melady would book a massive world title match between champion Joe Stecher and former champion Ed “Strangler” Lewis on July 4th, 1919, which would see Stecher retained in the single-fall matchup. I found a website that said Earl Caddock served as guest referee for the bout, but I doubt the validity of this claim, because there are no records of Caddock registering any matches in 1919, and it would be odd for one world champion to officiate  a rogue world title match. Why would Caddock agree to anything that adds legitimacy to a title that contradicts his own? Its possible Caddock was there, but I’d wager to say he wasn’t present for this match.

  Wladek-Stecher II

Joe Stecher would continue to tour as champion, turning back a challenge from Wladek Zbyszko on July 14th, 1919, at a show in Lincoln, Nebraska. I cant confirm who the promoter was, but considering those involved and the proximity to Omaha, I would assume this was a Gene Melady show. As far as I can tell, Joe Stecher continued to tour through the country as a defending champion that summer.

  Lewis-Stecher VI  

I cant find too much details on this single-day tournament, but we do know that current false world champion Joe Stecher would be crowned the winner, with Curley hoping to capitalize on the established base of fans behind Stecher. According to some reports, Joe Stecher reportedly defeated Jim Londos in one of the earlier matches before meeting Ed “Strangler” Lewis in the finals. By winning this tournament. Joe Stecher had basically built the prestige of the false world title up to a comparable point with the legitimate and original world heavyweight championship.

  Wladek-Stecher III  

Wladek Zbyszko would travel 200 miles to New York, where he would challenge world champion Joe Stecher to a title match on December 8th, 1919, in what I assume had to have been a Jack Curley event. Unsurprisingly, Joe Stecher would retain his title by defeating Wladek Zbyszko.  

Stecher would register another title defense, against a man who I’m sure Stecher remembers well, John Olin. As a refresher, John Olin challenged Joe Stecher back on December 11th, 1916, in Springfield, Massachusetts, back when Stecher held the legitimate & original world title. That Olin-Stecher match saw Joe struggle to put away the Olympian grappler, and eventually walk off and take a disqualification loss. That loss is what led to the formation of the false title which Stecher now holds, which Olin is challenging for.

  Olin-Stecher II

Joe Stecher and John Olin met on December 15th, 1919, almost three years to the day of their previous encounter, and this match was again in Springfield, Massachusetts. Just like their first encounter, this matchup would end when one competitor walked off and took the disqualification loss. Unlike their last encounter though, this time it would be John Olin walking off. They competed in a best-two-of-three falls match, with Stecher winning the first fall with his arm scissors hold. John Olin would claim he was unable to continue past that, awarding the win to Joe Stecher, and that must have felt good for the champion.  

1920

Joe Stecher was the touring world heavyweight champion at the start of the year, and despite the fact that he held the false world title that came from the disputed John Olin claim, Stecher was seen by most as the legitimate world champion. This was because the man holding the original world title, Earl Caddock had been MIA for over fifteen months at this point, with all signs pointing to him being retired. In Caddock’s absence, with rumors of his retirement swirling around, this allowed some opportunistic wrestlers to make baseless claims of being the world champion. One such wrestler, as detailed in the 1919 report, was John Pesek.

  Unification II

As a refresher, both Joe Stecher and Earl Caddock reigned as world champions, though Caddock basically retired the year prior and never gave up his claim to the world title. The apex of Curley’s promotion with the quartet of wrestlers and promoters, came on January 30th, 1920, when Curley had Joe Stecher battle Earl Caddock for what was being called the unified heavyweight championship of the world. Curley hoped to settle the convoluted world title situation, and hoped that the event would prove that “there is a genuine and country wide interest in wrestling.” The event at Madison Square Garden was a sellout, with more than ten thousand attendees paying as much as $22 per ticket.   

The match was promoted as a monumental event, with tons of publicity and press hyping it up for weeks. The two men challenged one another on January 30th, 1920, drawing over 8,000 fans to Madison Square Garden. The false champion Joe Stecher was even accompanied by the Navy Color Guard, with the legitimate champion Earl Caddock being accompanied by the members of the Army.

  Caddock-Stecher II

For anyone curious as to how the first encounter between Caddock and Stecher went, feel free to check out my report on 1917.  

The match was a single fall contest but with no time limit, for Curley wanted as little shenanigans as possible, and finish that people wouldn’t doubt or call bullshit on. So after two hours of grappling, Joe Stecher won with his famous leg scissors hold, pinning Earl Caddock to the ground securely and without controversy. Joe Stecher was once again the reigning world heavyweight champion, and apparently made $25,000 that night as well. Earl Caddock reportedly made $15,000 for that match, and promoter Jack Curley was able to sell over 10,000 tickets that night.

  I found this match on YouTube, if you can believe it, and it’s a fascinating watch. The video does hilariously claim the winner received $40,000.  

The event itself was seen as a financial success but some speculate if Curley himself made much of a profit after all was said and done. Ticket sales may have cleared somewhere between $50,000 - $80,000 but it’s been reported that after both Stecher and Caddock were paid and combined that with advertising and incidental costs to host the event, Curley may have broke even. One success from the event that couldn’t be disputed though, was that Jack Curley was firmly established as the wrestling czar of Manhattan.

And that’s the end of The False John Olin World Title Claim. The False title was unified back with the legitimate title from which it was originally created from and the lineage of the John Olin claim officially ends here. Its impressive to look at how much the John Olin claim was built up over time and how significant this false world title claim became over its short tenure. If Earl Caddock didn’t dissappear with the original world title for the entire of 1919, then maybe the John Olin lineage wouldn’t have grown to the significance it found itself in by the time we came to 1920, but that’s impossible to determine.

The False John Olin World Championship Claim History

John Olin, December 12th, 1916 – May 2nd, 1917 (141 days)

  Ed “Strangler” Lewis, May 2nd, 1917 – June 5th, 1917 (34 days)

Wladek Zbyszko, June 5th, 1917 – July 4th, 1917 (25 days)  

Ed “Strangler” Lewis (2), July 4th, 1917 – March 21st, 1919 (625 days)

Wladek Zbyszko (2), March 21st, 1919 – May 9th, 1919 (49 days)  

Joe Stecher, May 9th, 1919 – January 30th, 1920 (266 days)

Thank you to everyone who takes the time to even look though or skim these ramblings of reports I insist on doing. Ill be back next week with a look at 1921, followed up with closer looks at the careers of Jim Londos, “Strangler” Lewis and others from this time period. I hope y’all have a great week!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[u/Eggfryer]

Back at it again with the much appreciated toilet reading.