western wrestling timeline

PHD ADVISOR 戴国斌 (DAI GUO BING)PHD CANDIDATE 安东尼 (ANTONIO GRACEFFO)UNIVERSITY 上海体育学院 (SHANGHAI UNIVERSITY OF SPORT)STUDENT NUMBER 学号 _1310104008___ CONTACT [email protected]

TITLE: THE HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF WESTERN WRESTLING

mailto:[email protected]

The earliest images of western wrestling were found in Sumeria,

dating back to 3000 BC.

Antonio Graceffo ( 安东尼 )

Images found in an Egyptian burial tomb, dating to around 2600 BC.


A Bronze figurineof two wrestlers was found in Khafaji, Iraq which dates to around 2300 BC.



The Epic of Gilgamesh,

written around 2000 BC,

gives one of the first literary references towrestling, when Gilgamesh wrestles against Enkidu.

708 B.C: Ancient Greek Wrestling was added to the Olympic Games. This style of wrestling allowed wins by pin or submissions.


646 BC: Greek Pankration, a fighting art which combined wrestling, boxing, submissions, and kicks, a popular spectator sport at the time, was added to the Olympics, alongside wrestling and boxing. All three were contested as separate sports.


His competitive wrestling career spanned 24 years. He ate 20 pounds of meat, 20 pounds of bread, and eighteen pints of wine, everyday. Legends say that his training routine included carrying a baby calf around for years. As the calf grew, so did Milo’s strength.

Milo of Croton was a six-time Olympic champion, once in the boy’s division and five times in the men’s division, (between 536 and 520 BC).


480 BC: Theogenes of Thasos, The Pugilist at Rest

A statue, from 330 B.C, called The Boxer of Quirinal, or the Terme Boxer, was discussed in a short story called, The Pugilist at Rest. Author, Thom Jones stated that he believed the famous statue commemorated the life of Theogenes of Thasos.

One of the greatest athletes in Ancient Greece. He won at the Olympic Games twice, once in boxing and once in Pankration. He also won as many as 1,300 other championships in both boxing and Pankration.


264 BC , the first recorded Gladiatorial Games

During the Roman era, Pankration mutated into the

gladiatorial games. Because of the superior military

planning and strategy of the Roman legions, the power of

the individual soldier became less important. Wrestling

remained a beloved sport in both the Olympics and in

military training.


1848: Greco-Roman wrestling was born in France.

The Greco Roman

Style is unique in that

It forbids attacks to

the legs. The wrestlers

must possess powerful

upper bodies and have

the ability to lift and

throw their opponents.


In 1896, Greco-Romanwrestling wasincluded in the first modern Olympic Games.

Greco Roman wrestling has been included in every edition of the summer Olympics since 1908.


1870: Catch-as-catch-can, or Lancashire wrestling, or just “Catch wrestling” was invented in Lancashire, England.


Catch wrestling matches can be won by pin, choke, or submission. They had no time limit. And a title fight once lasted for over 11 hours.

In 1904, catch wrestling was included in the St. Louis Olympics. All of the wrestlers were Americans.

Consequently, the US won all of the medals. Catch wrestling was also included in the 1908 London Games and the 1920 Antwerp Games.Antonio Graceffo ( 安

东尼 )

1865: From the end of the US Civil War, until the mid 1920’s professional catch wrestling was one of the largest spectator sports in the USA.

The Great Gama

Earl Caddock Antonio Graceffo ( 安东尼 )

The Great Gama (1878 – 1960) the only wrestler to go undefeated in a career of 50 years.


Gama’s training routine included 5,000 squats and 3,000 pushups. Every day, he ate a pound and a half of crushed almond paste and drank 10 liters of milk .

Martin “Farmer” Burns (1861 – 1937) born in Iowa, is generally regarded as being the greatest, American catch wrestling trainer. He was instrumental in promoting wrestling in Iowa, and the US as both a high school and collegiate sportHe trained the first

Iowa high school wrestling championship team, as well as Frank Gotch, the first American World Heavyweight titleholder.


In 1908, catch wrestler Frank Gotch defeated George Hackenschmidt to become the first American professional wrestler to win the world heavyweight title, which he held from 1908 to 1913.


George Hackenschmidt

Frank Gotch

Frank Gotch is credited with having pioneered the great wrestling tradition in the state of Iowa and across the USA.

Today, partly due to the legacy of Frank Gotch, there are nearly half a million competitive wrestlers in US high schools and universities. And the state of Iowa is considered to have one of the best wrestling programs in the country. Antonio Graceffo ( 安东

尼 )

Earl Caddock "The Man of a Thousand Holds" who had won the world heavyweight title in 1917, by defeating Joe Stecher, was forced to give up the title, while he served in WW I. After the war, in 1920, Earl Caddock defeated heavyweight champion Stecher, to regain his title. The match was filmed and is, to date, the oldest known wrestling film.


In 1921, the last “real” catch wrestling title match was held between Ed “Strangler” Lewis and Earl Caddock. Although Caddock lost the match, he is considered to have been the last legitimate champion.


Ed “Strangler” Lewis

Because catch wrestling matches could last for

hours, ending in a draw, and with long periods

of one or the other competitor stuck in a hold, fake professional wrestling was a more exciting form of entertainment.

1920’s: Professional wrestling becomes fake.


In 1922, catch wrestling was dropped from boththe Olympics and the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) in favor of freestyle and Greco-Roman wrestling, the two styles which are still in the Olympics today. Antonio Graceffo ( 安东

尼 )

1939-1950’s Gorgeous George Wagner changed the face of pro wrestling forever

Gorgeous George created

his own costumes and character,

intentionally making himself the

most Hated, and the best Earning, man in professional wrestling. He also became the

first TV wrestlers.


1970’s Andre the Giant

Andre the Giant becamethe first international starof professional wrestling.He was also the firstclosed circuit TV star andthe highest paid wrestlerin history.


1980’s: Hulk Hogan Hulk Hogan became the firstpay-per-view wrestling star.His period of super-stardom,dubbed Hulkamania, waslike nothing that had beenseen before, or since. HulkHogan appeared onSaturday morning cartoons,movies, action figures,vitamins, exerciseequipment, board games andthousands of other products.

Hogan is credited with having elevated the World Wrestling Federation (WWF) to a billion dollar industry. Antonio Graceffo ( 安东

尼 )

1993: UFC and the birth of MMA

1993: The Ultimate FightingChampionships (UFC) held its first event in the US. Andthe sport of Mixed MartialArts (MMA) was born.Although all martial arts arepermissible, the mainarts which the fighters studyare: wrestling, BrazilianJujitsu, Muay Thai, and boxing.

Fights can be won by chokes, submissions, KO, TKO, referee stoppage, or judge’s decision. Antonio Graceffo ( 安东

尼 )

1990’s through 2000’s: Wrestlers dominate MMA

Wrestlers see MMA asa way of earningmoney and the UFCbecomes dominatedBy former high schoolAnd collegiatewrestlers. In the

2000’sapproximately 80% ofUFC champions areformer wrestlers.


Partially because of the popularity of MMA there hasbeen a resurgence of interest in many classical forms ofwrestling, such as: catch wrestling, Pankration, sambo,and shuai jiao.


1990’s – 2000’s classical forms of wrestling make a comeback

谢谢你们大家听我的报告

博士生姓名安东尼 (Antonio Graceffo)

[email protected]

western wrestling timeline

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