Also known as George Flynn
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The Sleeper Man
Good grief, where were the health and safety officers in the 1960s? Having a fit, no doubt, if they had seen Irish American heavyweight Tim Geoghegan demonstrate his famed sleeper hold on a collection of unwitting fans prior to his contests.
Often claimed to be the inventor of the sleeper, which allowed Geoghegan to unceremoniously place opponents into a state of unconsciousness, the wrestler said he learned of the hold from an orthopaedic surgeon in the 1950s. The surgeon, Professor Drohl, had never been in a position to try out his theory you understand, so he left that task to Tim who tested it with regularity in the wrestling rings of the world.
Tim’s sleeper was a pressure hold that impacted on the nervous system and did not prevent the opponents from breathing. He was able to reverse the effects of the hold by massaging the neck muscles, which brought the opponent back to consciousness.
Wrestling enthusiast SaxonWolf said, “I have done this and had it done to me, so I can assure you it works (you can see it in many UFC matches), as has been explained, the pressure on the side of the neck restricts blood flow to the brain, causing a fainting type of result. Shifting the position means it chokes the Adams apple, very painful. In the USA, I read that Verne Gagne (owner of the American Wrestling Association, where Billy Robinson spent a lot of time) taught the sleeper to US troops.”
Other fans also have recollections of Tim’s use of the hold. Duncan for instance, “The only time I saw it was when he used it to good effect in a contest against Yuri Borienko at the Burton Place Drill Hall, Taunton around 1964. After the contest a friend of mine volunteered to go into the ring where Tim applied the hold and put my mate to sleep.”
Matey Dave also had an unfortunate friend, “Tim Geoghegan demonstrated his sleeper hold at Wembley Town Hall one night on a friend of mine who was being a bit foolhardy. Friend said afterwards he felt very calm and peaceful when he went to sleep. He was quieter afterwards.”
Geoghegan was born in Ireland on 4th October, 1922, and had a background of amateur and fairground boxing and wrestling before turning professional. Working for John Duffy’s circus he was said to be Ireland’s strongest man as he bent iron bars and performed tug of war battles with horses.
He moved to the United States around 1950, later moving to Canada where he took Canadian citizenship. Most of Tim’s career was spent in North America, where he once held Lou Thesz to a draw, with the occasional visit to Europe. In an earlier identity Charles (his birth name) Geoghegan wrestled under the name George Flynn, quickly changing to Tim Geoghegan .
He made his way back to Britain for the 1952-3 season. Matched against top heavyweights Sandy Orford, Bert Assirati, Dave Armstrong and Ernest Baldwin. It looks like a mixed bag of results but most, other than the fourth round submission to Assirati were reversed at some point during his year stay. Without doubt here was a man to be reckoned with. Newspaper reports told of the amazement of audiences when they witnessed an unusual new hold which put opponents to sleep in seconds.
Tim returned to Britain in 1964, now an established Main Eventer putting the nation’s best to sleep. Following matches members of the audience were invited to experience that the hold was genuine, which our readers have verified that it was. He certainly wasn’t permitted invincibility during the tour, which ended in December, 1965, but did defeat the best, including Gordon Nelson.
Following his retirement from wrestling Tim Geoghegan worked as an osteopath and managed a Health and Fitness gym in North Carolina.
Tim Geoghegan died on 29th April, 1998.
Page added 02/10/2022
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