American Heavyweight Championship
Encyclopedia
The American Heavyweight Wrestling Championship was the first Heavyweight professional wrestling championship
in the United States. The title existed from 1881 through approximately 1922.
Championship (professional wrestling)
A Championship or "title" in professional wrestling is a recognition promoted by professional wrestling organizations.Championship reigns are determined by professional wrestling matches, in which competitors are involved in scripted rivalries...
in the United States. The title existed from 1881 through approximately 1922.
Title history
| Wrestler: | Times: | Date Won: | Location: | Notes: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Edwin Bibby | 1 | January 19, 1881 | New York City, New York | Defeats Duncan C. Ross in a catch-as-catch-can match for "the championship of America". |
| Joe Acton | 1 | August 7, 1882 | New York City, New York | Has defeated Tom Cannon on December 9, 1881 in London, England for the Catch-as-Catch-Can Title; Bibby is billed as champion for a match against World Greco-Roman champion William Muldoon on September 3, 1882 in Elmira, NY. |
| Evan "Strangler" Lewis | 1 | April 11, 1887 | Chicago, Illinois | Lewis unified the American Catch-as-Catch Can Championship and the American Greco-Roman Championship by defeating Ernest Roeber Ernest Roeber Ernest Roeber was a German-American professional wrestler who held the European Greco-Roman Heavyweight Championship in 1894 to 1900 and again in 1900 to 1901. It is believed that the newsreel of his 1901 match against August Faust at the old Madison Square Garden is shown briefly in the current... on March 2, 1893 in a 3 out of 5 falls match with alternating Greco-Roman match and Catch-as-Catch can matches. The two titles became known as the American Heavyweight Wrestling Championship. |
| Martin 'Farmer' Burns Martin Burns Martin "Farmer" Burns was a world champion "catch-as-catch-can" wrestler as well as wrestling coach and teacher. Born in Cedar County, Iowa he started wrestling as a teenager and made money traveling around the Midwest wrestling in carnivals and fairs... |
1 | April 20, 1895 | Chicago, Illinois | |
| Dan McLeod Dan McLeod For the professional wrestler Dan McLeod, see Dan McLeod .Dan McLeod is one of the founders and the present owner, publisher, and editor of the influential weekly newspaper, the Georgia Straight in Vancouver, Canada.... |
1 | October 26, 1897 | Indianapolis, Indiana | |
| Tom Jenkins Tom Jenkins Thomas Wayne Jenkins is an American golfer.Jenkins was born in Houston, Texas. He attended the University of Houston, where he was a member of the winning 1970 NCAA Division I golf team. He graduated in 1971 and turned professional. His only PGA Tour victory was the 1975 IVB-Philadelphia Golf... |
1 | November 7, 1901 | ||
| Dan McLeod Dan McLeod For the professional wrestler Dan McLeod, see Dan McLeod .Dan McLeod is one of the founders and the present owner, publisher, and editor of the influential weekly newspaper, the Georgia Straight in Vancouver, Canada.... |
2 | December 25, 1902 | Worcester, Massachusetts | Jenkins forfeited the title to McLeod after having blood poisoning in his leg during their match. |
| Tom Jenkins Tom Jenkins Thomas Wayne Jenkins is an American golfer.Jenkins was born in Houston, Texas. He attended the University of Houston, where he was a member of the winning 1970 NCAA Division I golf team. He graduated in 1971 and turned professional. His only PGA Tour victory was the 1975 IVB-Philadelphia Golf... |
2 | April 3, 1903 | Buffalo, New York | |
| Frank Gotch Frank Gotch Frank Alvin Gotch was an American professional wrestler of German ancestry, the first American to win the world heavyweight free-style championship, and credited for popularizing professional wrestling in the United States... |
1 | January 27, 1904 | Bellingham, Washington | |
| Tom Jenkins Tom Jenkins Thomas Wayne Jenkins is an American golfer.Jenkins was born in Houston, Texas. He attended the University of Houston, where he was a member of the winning 1970 NCAA Division I golf team. He graduated in 1971 and turned professional. His only PGA Tour victory was the 1975 IVB-Philadelphia Golf... |
3 | March 15, 1905 | New York City, New York | |
| Frank Gotch Frank Gotch Frank Alvin Gotch was an American professional wrestler of German ancestry, the first American to win the world heavyweight free-style championship, and credited for popularizing professional wrestling in the United States... |
2 | May 23, 1906 | Kansas City, Missouri | |
| Fred Beell Fred Beell Fred Beell was a German-born American professional wrestler and police officer.-Biography:Fred Beell was born in West Prussia, Germany. At the age of three, his family migrated to the United States, settling in Marshfield, Wisconsin... |
1 | December 1, 1906 | New Orleans, Louisiana | |
| Frank Gotch Frank Gotch Frank Alvin Gotch was an American professional wrestler of German ancestry, the first American to win the world heavyweight free-style championship, and credited for popularizing professional wrestling in the United States... |
3 | December 17, 1906 | Kansas City, Missouri | |
| Vacant | April 3, 1908 | Gotch vacates the title after defeating Georg Hackenschmidt Georg Hackenschmidt Georg Karl Julius Hackenschmidt was an early 20th-century Estonian strongman and professional wrestler, and the first free-style heavyweight champion of the world. He launched his professional career in Russia and lived most of his life in London, England, where he gained the nickname of 'The... , the World Heavyweight Champion, to win that title on April 3, 1908 in Chicago, Illinois. |
||
| Henry Ordemann | 1 | October 25, 1910 | Minneapolis, Minnesota | Defeats Charlie Cutler and awarded the title by special referee Frank Gotch Frank Gotch Frank Alvin Gotch was an American professional wrestler of German ancestry, the first American to win the world heavyweight free-style championship, and credited for popularizing professional wrestling in the United States... . |
| Charlie Cutler | 1 | February 1, 1911 | Minneapolis, Minnesota | |
| Dr. Benjamin Roller | 1 | March 6, 1911 | Chicago, Illinois | |
| Charlie Cutler | 2 | March 25, 1911 | Buffalo, New York | |
| Jess Reimer | 1 | November 7, 1911 | Des Moines, Iowa | |
| Henry Ordemann | 2 | December 14, 1911 | Minneapolis, Minnesota | |
| Charlie Cutler | 3 | March 25, 1912 | Chicago, Illinois | Jess Westergaard (Reimer) defeats Ordemann on January 7, 1913 in Minneapolis, Minnesota to claim a title but loses to Cutler on January 22, 1913 in Dallas, Texas. |
| Dr. Benjamin Roller | 2 | July 4, 1913 | Benton Harbor, Michigan | |
| Ed "Strangler" Lewis Ed Lewis (wrestler) Robert Herman Julius Friedrich , was a professional wrestler best known by his ring name Ed "Strangler" Lewis, whose career spanned four decades.-Wrestling career:... |
1 | September 18, 1913 | Lexington, Kentucky | |
| William Demetral | 1 | October 21, 1913 | Lexington, Kentucky | |
| Dr. Benjamin Roller | 3 | July 10, 1914 | Rock Island, Illinois | Ed "Strangler" Lewis defeats Roller during an international tournament on January 15, 1916 in New York City, New York (title may not be on line). |
| Wladek Zbyszko Wladek Zbyszko Wladek Zbyszko , real name Wladyslaw Cyganiewicz, was a Polish professional wrestler and strongman. He is the brother of Stanislaus Zbyszko... |
1 | January 8, 1917 | Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania | Still/again champion as of September 22, 1922 (or a different reign, possibly by winning a tournament which has started on February 21, 1922). |
| Retired | Title forgotten and abandoned |