By Ruslan Pashayev
THE MODERN XX CENTURY CATCH PRO WRESTLING RULES, circa 1930
THE NEW RULES OF AMERICAN CATCH AS CATCH CAN WRESTLING (NICKNAMED ‘ALL-IN’) AS INTRODUCED BY HENRI IRSLINGER AND ATHOLL OAKELEY IN 1930.
These were the rules adopted by the British Wrestling Association, an independent body set up by Irslinger to control the sport, and under whose auspices all wrestlers had to be licensed as in U.S.A. Presided over by Mr. Fred Davies (former professional lightweight champion of the world-Paris 1909-and well-known International referee) the association barred no one and laid down that champions must defend their titles each year against the leading contender in open competition. The association was disbanded in 1954 soon after the closure of Harringay Arena. It is noteworthy that all wrestlers competing under the association had to sign contracts undertaking to wrestle to the best of their ability under these rules.
RULES
- The new form of wrestling is known as Modern International Catch as Catch Can and all wrestling meetings in Britain held under these rules must be advertised as being controlled by the governing body, the British Wrestling Association, to whom all Pro-moters, M.C.’s, Referees and Contestants taking part in such meetings are required to be licensed.
- The word ‘new’ means the amalgama-tion of the leading styles of wrestling in vogue in 1930 (namely Catch as Catch Can Graeco-Roman and Judo) and was intro-duced to Great Britain from America in 1930 by Henri Irslinger and Atholl Oakeley.
- These rules are copyright and may not be quoted in part or in whole in Great Britain except with the written permission of the British Wrestling Association.
- Contests are divided into three minute rounds with thirty seconds between rounds but one minute between falls. A fall ends a round and a K.O. ends a match. Contests can be of one, three, four, six, eight, ten, fifteen or twenty rounds duration. Contests for British National Championships are over ten rounds, best two out of three falls, K.O. or points decision. British Area Championships are over six rounds, one fall, K.O. or points decision. British County Championships are over three rounds, one fall, K.O. or points decision. British Army, Navy, Air Force and Imperial Services Championships are over ten rounds, two out of three falls, K.O. or points. Empire, European and Asiatic championships are over fifteen rounds, two out of three falls, K.O. or points.
World championships are over twenty rounds, two out of three falls, K.O. or points. - Each contest shall be controlled by a referee in the ring and shall be judged by three independent judges sitting on opposite sides of the ring to the Arbitrator who shall be responsible to the owners of the Arena for law and order in the wrestling and for making such announcements to the public during the contest as may be necessary. Before disqualification a contestant shall be warned publicly by the Arbitrator, the contest being stopped while this is done. After one warning the referee may, with the consent of two out of three judges or the Arbitrator, disqualify any contestant who is guilty of a breach of the rules or who is deemed to be not trying. In the event of contestants each obtaining one fall or, in the event of neither of them obtaining a fall the M.C. shall ask the three judges for their opinion as to which contestant has won or whether the contest shall be declared a draw. In the event of one judge saying one contestant, the second judge say-ing the second contestant and the third judge declaring a draw, the Arbitrator shall have the casting vote and his decision shall be final. Points are awarded solely to the most aggressive opponent for variety of holds, initiative and attack. If there is nothing between the contestants, the result should always be declared a draw and a re-match made at an early date. To be defeated, champions in the heavyweight division must have a decision given against them, but, in the lighter division, champions can only be defeated when losing a decision and when the challenger is within the weight of the Championship Class which he is contesting and for which he has been weighed, prior to the contest, by an official appointed by the British Wrestling Association.
- There are two types of falls:-
Pinfalls. A pinfall is obtained when the referee decides that the shoulders of a contestant are simultaneously touching the mat and remain so for three seconds. The referee shall begin the count immediately the two shoul-ders appear simultaneously to touch the mat and shall continue until the contestant CLEARLY raises one or other or both shoulders away from the mat, or until the count of three when the underneath contestant shall be deemed to have lost the fall.
Submission Falls. A submission fall is obtained by a contestant so locking his opponent and GRADUALLY applying pressure, that his opponent, in pain, and unable to extricate himself, gives in or submits by clearly saying to the referee I submit or ‘Finish’, when the referee shall immediately order the hold to be released and shall award a submission fall to the contestant who obtained the hold.
- A K.O. is awarded:-
(a) When a contestant, STRUCK DOWN BY A BLOW FROM THE FOREARM, OR THE HAND (OTHER THAN BY A DIRECT PUNCH IN WHICH THE THIRD PHALANGES OF THE FINGERS, WHEN CLENCHED, CONTACT THE FACE, HEAD, NECK OR BODY) fails to rise, entirely clear of the ropes and ground, except for the soles of his feet, before the count of ten.
(b) When a contestant, thrown, falling or otherwise ejected from the ring, fails to return, standing and clear of the ropes, before the count of TWENTY.
(c) When a contestant unable to continue, drops to the canvas.
- The weights in wrestling are as follows:-
Heavyweights…… over 191 lbs.
Junior Heavyweights 191 lbs.
Light Heavyweights 175 lbs.
Middleweights 160 lbs.
Welterweights 147 lbs.
Lightweights 135 lbs.
Featherweights 125 lbs.
Bantamweights. 115 lbs.
Flyweights. 108 lbs.
Paperweights 100 lbs.
9. Championship Holders
(a) Must defend their titles at least once every six months when called upon to do so, against the leading contender as proven by matches wrestled, i.e., the winner of an open eliminating championship tournament.
(b) Contenders must be British by birth.
(c) Any wrestler of over two years’ professional experience, proving that he knew nothing about the tournament referred to, shall be entitled to meet A NEW CHAMPION, by giving the Association three months’ notice in writing and always provided, during this period, he first beats the winner of the last open eliminating championship tournament.
(d) In the event of a champion retiring or failing to abide by Rule 9(a), an open championship eliminating tournament shall be held forthwith and the former champion, or retiring champion, invited by pre-paid registered letter post to meet the winner of the open eliminating championship tourna-ment-whoever he may be. Failure to accept the invitation is to be taken as mean-ing that the previous champion is no longer holder of the title.
10. Fouls
(a) Kicking with the toe or instep.
(b) Kidney punch or any form of direct knuckle punching as laid down in Rule 7(a).
(c) Striking in the groin or abdomen
(d) Horizontal pivot punch.
(e) Elbow in stomach when bridging.
(f) Hammer lock with bar. Flying mare with palm uppermost. Strangleholds. Throttle. Choke. Carotid-artery lock.
(g) Knee in stomach.
(h) Gouging. Finger wrenching. Scratch-ing. Biting. Hair pulling. Ear-twisting. Hair plucking and spitting.
(i) Striking the referee, seconds, officials or members of the audience.
(j) Oiling. Towel sweating. Anaesthetics on the hair or clothes. Resin or the use of pepper or any noxious drug.
(k) Throwing the opponent out of the ring over, and without touching the top rope.
(l) Failing to apply submission holds gradually, i.e., jerking so as to try and cause an injury.
11. Ring Rules
(a) The Ring must not be less than 16 feet and not more than 24 feet square.
(b) The Ring shall have not less than three ropes and not more than four-all taut.
(c) The ring shall be covered with a canvas cover stretched over suitable padding such as layers of felt, coconut matting or sawdust.
(d) Corner posts must be covered and ropes bound.
(e) There must be no resin on the canvas.
12.Contestants
(a) Contestants must be properly dressed for wrestling with a jock-strap and short or long trunks with soft-soled wrestling boots or bare feet are permissible.
(b) Contestants are not allowed to be greased nor to have water put on them nor to be sponged down during a contest.
(c) Contestants must be dried with a towel at the end of each round.
(d) Finger nails are to be kept close clipped.
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