Wrestling Heritage

By Graeme Cameron

A British History of Australian Wrestling
By Graeme Cameron

Part 8 : BETWEEN THE WARS
A NEW ERA BEGINS (1922-30)

After the war pro wrestling did not immediately bounce back. People needed time to recover. In fact, there’s no record of any activity until 1922. In November of that year, Clarence Weber’s protege, Billy Meeske (pronounced mess-key) organised a tournament in Melbourne to find a new Australian Heavyweight champion, which he of course won, defeating New Zealand’s Joe Bailey in the final. In 1923, Meeske persuaded his mentor to come out of retirement and dropped the title to him so he could go on an American tour. On his return, Meeske and Weber for the next three years engaged in a series of title matches which spearheaded the revival of pro wrestling in Australia, with Meeske regaining the belt in 1926

Meeske and Weber headed something of a wrestling boom. There were weekly cards featuring a pro wrestling main event, an undercard of boxing matches and vaudeville to fill the gaps between matches in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Perth, Adelaide and Broken Hill, as well less frequent cards in smaller towns. There was a large influx of foreign wrestlers from all over the globe. Names familiar to Heritage readers would be Sam Burmister, Henry Irslinger, George Boganski and Luis Pergantes.  Highlights were the 1927 tour by former two-time world heavyweight champion Stanislaus Zbyszko of Poland, a 1928 tournament to settle the disputed American version of the world light heavyweight title and in 1929, a series of matches between Americans John Pesek and Jim Browning, a former and future world champion respectively.  It was the start of what some historians regard as a golden era and British wrestlers played their part.

JIM McMURDO Part 2 (1922-32)

As mentioned in Part 7, while many wrestlers who served in the armed forces did not return to the ring after the war, Jim McMurdo was one who did, and in fact, continued wrestling for another decade.  Despite being a middleweight the little Scot often faced much bigger men. As there are over 40 match records for him for this period, only the highlights will be possible.

Jim McMurdo played a peripheral role in establishing the new Australian Heavyweight champion. He was a participant in the title tournament in 1922. In April 1923, he was the warm-up opponent for Clarence Weber in Melbourne prior to his regaining the title from Meeske, losing by a fall. He was a frequent but unsuccessful challenger to Billy Meeske’s title. They met multiple times between 1923 and 1932, with McMurdo coming up short every time.

He had more luck with other opponents. Between 1923 and 1932, in Melbourne he lost to local Charles Honroth and to Sam Burmister, but defeated the masked Grappling Terror, India’s Mohammed Ali Sunni, Russian “Billy” Kopsche and Adelaide’s Hughie Whitman. In regional Victoria, he again defeated The Grappling Terror and had two wins and draw against Dane Hugo Jorgensen. In Broken Hill, he drew with fellow Scot Willie Withers Bain and again defeated Sunni and Kopsche but lost to Poland’s Peter Limutkin. In Brisbane’s Bohemia Stadium, McMurdo lost to Londoner Krupps Miller, and in Sydney’s Newtown Stadium, he fell twice to Meeske, but defeated Greek Con Grivas. Those are the edited highlights of his career. There are many more matches than this but there is not sufficient space to cover them all.

Jim McMurdo retired at the end of 1932. In all of the references to him, there was never any mention of his life outside wrestling. It’s known that he was closely associated with Clarence Weber and Billy Meeske and likely worked as a trainer in Weber’s Melbourne health business. A wrestler credits McMurdo as his trainer in 1939. His passing was not noted in the papers. 

Opponents: Gung Brahms, William McKenzie, Prof. Ryugoru Shima, Clarence Weber, Billy Meeske, Charles Honroth, Sam Burmister, The Grappling Terror, Mohammed Ali Sunni, Billy Kopsche, Hughie Whitman, Hugo Jorgensen, Krupps Miller, Peter, Limutkin, Willie Withers Bain, Con Grivas and many more.

WILLIE WITHERS BAIN (1907, 1926-28)

Another member of the famous wrestling family from Aberdeen, the wonderfully named Willie Withers Bain was a younger and smaller brother of Alex “Big” Bain. Willie, a highly regarded middleweight, actually preceded his brother to Australia arriving in 1907. He became friendly with Peter Bannon and, probably with Bannon’s help, a match was arranged with Bhuttan Singh. The match was heavily promoted; however, it never took place. Singh entered the ring ready for action. A forlorn looking Willie entered the ring in his street clothes, apologising that he couldn’t compete because he was unable to raise all of his share of the stake. If you’re finding this difficult to believe, so did the audience, who let their displeasure be known. Conveniently, Bannon just happened to be on hand with his wrestling gear and stepped in. As you may recall Singh and Bannon were in cahoots. It seems poor Willie was a pawn in Singh and Bannon’s “bait and switch” scheme. They had always intended to replace Willie with Bannon. No doubt feeling humiliated and betrayed, Willie left the country without ever participating in a match, but this would not be the last we would see of him in Australia

Nineteen years later (1926), Willie Withers Bain returned to Australia, this time as an immigrant. He settled in Sydney and continued his career. Only a few records survive.

In June 1926, Willie lost to Peter Limutkin in Adelaide. The following month, he drew with Jim McMurdo in Broken Hill. There are no records for 1927, possibly because he was working for his brother in New Zealand. In August 1928, Willie defeated New Zealand’s Theo Gudding, a fellow middleweight, in The Globe Theatre in Wollongong, just south of Sydney. There are no further records for Willie Withers Bain. By this time, he had been wrestling for 25 years so it is likely he quietly retired and joined his brother in New Zealand, but that’s unconfirmed.

Opponents: Peter Litumkin, Jim McMurdo, Theo Gudding

SAM CLAPHAM (1926,1927, 1933)

Bradford’s Sam Clapham, a light heavyweight, was something of a globe trotter. He left England in 1919 and worked across Europe, before heading to America, where he eventually settled. He spent several years working around America, his most notable opponent being former world champion Earl Caddock. He even competed in a Greco-Roman tournament in Buenos Aires, where he lost in the first round due to his unfamiliarity with the style.

Clapham arrived in Australia in June 1926. He began with a win over German Martin Ludecke in Melbourne, which later that month was followed by losses to Stanislaus Zbyszko in Sydney, and in August, to Americans Ted Thye and Mike Yokel (twice) in Melbourne. He next repeated his win over Martin Ludecke in Brisbane in September but here’s where the tale takes a twist.

Ted Thye had come to Australia claiming the American version of the world light heavyweight title. In fact, he HAD been champion earlier in the year for a few months but lost it back to the same man he taken it from, fellow American Clarence Eklund. This didn’t stop him continuing to claim the title and he defended that claim against Sam Clapham. Clapham defeated Thye on September 25 in Melbourne, thus enabling him to also claim the title. Clapham defeated and drew against Thye in two rematches in October, and in November also drew against another American Mike Yokel, himself a former world welterweight champion. All of these matches were in Melbourne. 

Following these matches, Clapham returned to America. He was reported to be training in London in April 1927 in preparation to return to Australia. By late May, he was back in Australia. All but one of his matches on this tour were in Melbourne. He defeated American Al Karasick on May 28, then lost again to Mike Yokel a week later in June. In July, he met Ted Thye again and lost the world light heavyweight title claim back to him, then drew against Yokel a week later. He lost a rematch with Thye in August. In September, Clapham drew with former world middleweight champion, American Walter Miller, then drew a rematch with Miller in Adelaide, the final match of this tour.

In truth, neither Clapham nor Thye were the true champion. Clapham had lost twice to champion Clarence Eklund in America in title matches and apart from one victory, Thye had failed repeatedly in title challenges, but for 11 months Sam Clapham was recognised as the World Light Heavyweight champion in Australia.

Clapham returned to Australia for a third tour in 1933. He was one of a group of American and American-based wrestlers brought out by Stadiums Limited promoter Dick Lean for a two-month tour, which included Dean Detton, who had held a minor version of the World Heavyweight title in America.

Two records survive from this tour. In June Clapham defeated Greek Harry Mamos at Sydney Stadium. In July, he met American Abe Kaplan at Brisbane Stadium. The result of this match is unknown. This marked the end of Sam Clapham’s time in Australia. 

Opponents: Martin Ludecke, Stanlislaus Zbysko, Mike Yokel, Ted Thye, Al Karasick, Walter Miller, Harry Mamos, Abe Kaplan

JACK WINROW (1928)

In 1928, Dick Lean and Ted Thye organised a tournament in Australia to settle the disputed American version of the World Light Heavyweight title. The current champion, Clarence Eklund participated, as well as three former champions, Thye, German Ad Santel and Greek-born American Pinky Gardner plus future champion Hugh Nichols. Also in the tournament, were Mike Yokel, Luis Pergantes and Billy Meeske. 

The British representative in the tournament was Jack Winrow. Billed as a former British Navy wrestling champion, Winrow was from the town of Heywood in Lancashire. He had spent the previous 18 months wrestling in America where, according to one article, he had held two-time world heavyweight champion Ed “Strangler” Lewis to a draw.

With such a stacked field, Winrow was something of a fall guy in the tournament, losing all of his matches However, he proved to be invaluable as a PR man for the tournament due to his talent as an opera singer. Winrow would serenade the audience to open proceedings, as well as performing on radio and talking up the tournament. He also took matches outside the tournament

There are six surviving records of his time in Australia. In early June he lost to American Clete Kaufman in Sydney in a tournament match. At the end of that month, he lost 2-1 to Ted Thye in Melbourne, also a tournament match. In another tournament match in August, he lost to Clarence Eklund in Sydney. The next night, he lost to Count George Zarynoff in Brisbane. In September, he lost to Al Karasick in Adelaide. In October, He met Clarence Weber, also in Adelaide. The result is unknown, although it was likely another loss. The last three were non-tournament matches. The Weber match was the final record for Jack Winrow in Australia. 

Opponents: Clete Kaufman, Ted Thye, Clarence Eklund, Count George Zarynoff, Al Karasick, Clarence Weber

The tournament, by the way was won by Clarence Eklund, who defeated Ted Thye in the final. Thye, Al Karasick and Walter Miller all became promoters, Karasick in Hawaii, Thye in Oregon and Miller in New Zealand where he settled. Thye would come to have a great influence on Australian wrestling, acting as the American agent procuring talent for Stadiums Limited promoter Dick Lean for decades. 

1929 saw the Browning-Pesek series of matches and the debut of Russian Tom Lurich, who would become the first holder of a new version of the Australian Heavyweight title. In the Thirties, wrestling got even bigger in Australia

Next time: The 1930s: Into the Heritage era

Page added 28/07/2024

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