Results: The World Championship Tournaments in Paris (1898-1907)
The most prestigious tournaments in European pro wrestling at one time.
There is no doubt that at the end of the 1890s and in the early 1900s the most important and high-profile tournaments in European pro wrestling were the World Championship tournaments held in Paris. In the period in question there were World Championship tournaments held in some other European cities too, but no tournaments attracted more attention and turned more guys into top level stars than these tournaments. If you were to win a Paris World Championship then you were a made man everywhere else in Europe, because these tournaments received a lot of press not only in France, but outside of France as well.These were, of course, tournaments in the Greco-Roman style of professional wrestling (i.e. no holds allowed below the waist), which was experiencing an unprecedented boom in popularity in Europe back then. The very first tournament to be billed as a World Championship (in Greco-Roman pro wrestling) was actually held in Brussels, Belgium, in 1897. The winner was the Frenchman Maurice Gambier. However, that tournament didn't receive a lot of attention and, while it did have a few well-known wrestlers, there were no big stars in it. Therefore it's kind of been forgotten. Even in the early 1900s it would get ignored when writers and journalists would write about the history of the World Championships. The Paris World Championships completely overshadowed it.
Now that we've set the stage up let's go ahead and actually look at these tournaments. Format, participants, results, interesting details, etc.
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| Paris World champions: Paul Pons, Kara Ahmed, Laurent le Beaucairois, George Hackenschmidt Jess Pedersen, Ivan Poddubny, Stanislaus Zbyszko, Giovanni Raicevich |
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Event: the first Paris World Championship tournament
When: 17 December to 30 December 1898
Venue: Casino de Paris
Participants: 30 wrestlers
Backed by: "Journal des Sports" newspaper
Final placement:
1. Paul Pons
2. Wladyslaw Pytlasinski
3. Maurice Gambier
4. Cyrill Wetasa
Alexandre de Lucenski, the director of the popular French sports newspaper "Journal des Sports" was the one who came up with the idea to have a tournament in Paris and bill it as a World Championship. He was inspired by the aforementioned tournament in Brussels the year prior. Lucenski teamed up with the popular music hall Casino de Paris and together they promoted the first ever World Championship tournament in Paris. Keep in mind, at the time there were still no annual World Championship tournaments in amateur wrestling like there are today and the very first modern Olympics had just been held two years prior (and amateur wrestling was part of it) so the concept of a major wrestling tournament was still a very novel one.
Just like the 1896 Olympics, the first Paris World Championship did not have weight divisions. Keep in mind though, back then Greco-Roman pro wrestling was, for the most part, heavyweights and light heavyweights only so while there were no weight classes it's not like heavyweights were wrestling lightweights or something crazy like that. Most of the wrestlers in the 1898 tournament were heavyweights.
This being the first tournament of its kind in France it didn't feature a lot of international names - it was mostly French wrestlers who were part of it along with a handful of foreigners. The biggest foreign name in the tournament was the Pole Wladyslaw Pytlasinski, who was one of the top stars in Europe at the time (particularly in Russia) and so he was positioned as Paul Pons' chief rival in the tournament. The Frenchman Paul Pons had already been the most popular French wrestler for a number of years now, but this first World Championship tournament elevated Pons' name to a whole new level and made him more internationally renowned. Popular French veterans such as Maurice Gambier (the 1897 Brussels World champion), Auguste Robinet and Fenelon were also in the tournament, and Fernand Sabes had been advertised, but did not participate. The top Belgian wrestler Constant le Boucher was also advertised, but did not participate either.
Next let's clarify the format of the tournament, because the formats kept changing over the years and often with the European Greco-Roman tournaments if you don't know what the format was they can seem quite confusing. The 1898 tournament was pretty straight forward in its format. There was no official bracket or anything like that, but essentially it was a single-elimination tournament. Wrestlers would wrestle in elimination matches and whoever lost their match was out of the tournament. The matches were wrestled in three 15-minute rounds, with a 3-minute break between the rounds. One fall, both shoulders must touch the mat at the same time even if only for a second (there was no 3-count pin back then). In case of a time limit draw the wrestlers had to wrestle again on another day. This time the third round would be without a time limit and they had to wrestle until there was a winner. This rule in particular became a staple of the European Greco-Roman tournaments - if two wrestlers drew or there was no winner in the match for some reason, they had to wrestle again, and again if required, until there was a winner, so sometimes these matches would be extended over the course of several days.
The results of the 1898 Paris World Championship:
17 December 1898
1. Bossy def. Edmund Borie (0:22)
2. Maurice Gambier def. Louis Chappe (0:22)
3. Auguste Robinette def. Jules Queniart (2:26)
4. Favouet def. Henri Ajax (18)
5. Paul Pons def. Benoit (1:27)
18 December 1898
1. Fenelon def. Maurice (2:23)
2. Joseph Bonelli def. Eugene Mellet (0:28)
3. Celestin Moret def. Gabriel Berry (1:06)
4. Cyrill Wetasa def. Henri Lorange (5:54)
5. Henry Alphonse def. Leon (0:43)
19 December 1898
1. Jean Schackmann def. Salomon Max (0:45)
2. Francois le Farinier def. Edgar Joly (2:43)
3. Jules Mazin def. Jaccavail (6:03)
4. Fournier def. Charles Poiree (8:14)
5. Wladyslaw Pytlasinski def. Joseph Bondoux (1:15)
20 December 1898
1. Favouet def. Henri Ajax (4:25)
2. Celestin Moret def. Bossy (2:58)
3. Cyrill Wetasa def. Jules Mazin
4. Paul Pons def. Joseph Bonelli (8:52)
21 December 1898
1. Maurice Gambier def. Favouet (1:20)
2. Auguste Robinet def. Francois le Farinier (1:15)
3. Fenelon def. Jean Schackmann (1:15)
4. Wladyslaw Pytlasinski def. Henry Alphonse (5:12)
23 December 1898
1. Wladyslaw Pytlasinski def. Fenelon (2:46)
2. Cyrill Wetasa def. Celestin Moret (9:29)
3. Paul Pons def. Joseph Bonelli (7:28)
4. Maurice Gambier def. Auguste Robinet (4:25)
24 December 1898
1. Paul Pons def. Cyrill Wetasa (11:58)
2. Wladyslaw Pytlasinski drew Maurice Gambier (45:00)
Pytlasinski and Gambier were supposed to wrestle again on December 25, but Pytlasinski had sprained his wrist the night before so they gave him an extra day to recuperate.
26 December 1898
1. Wladyslaw Pytlasinski vs. Maurice Gambier was stopped (1:18:32)
= The match was stopped when Gambier ended up kicking Pytlasinski while he was on the ground, which was against the rules, and the referee got in there to stop the kicks. The crowd, however, booed the foreigner Pytlasinski so he got angry and walked away.
28 December 1898
1. Wladyslaw Pytlasinski def. Maurice Gambier (7:36)
= It's interesting to note that after being booed the night before, Pytlasinski received a big ovation for his dominant win here.
30 December 1898
1. Paul Pons def. Wladyslaw Pytlasinski (35) to become the World champion - cnc
= At one point Pons had Pytlasinski in what appeared to be somewhat of a strangle hold and ultimately Pytlasinski said he couldn't continue because his throat was hurting. The jury declared Pons the winner. In the days after the tournament Pytlasinski protested and called for Pons to be disqualified, but the jury's decision stood.
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| Paul Pons and Wladyslaw Pytlasinski |
It's worth mentioning that a couple of weeks after the first Paris World Championship another popular French sports newspaper, "Le Velo", jumped into the pro wrestling business as well and promoted their first tournament in Paris and the second important Greco-Roman tournament in Paris ever. They billed it as the Gran Prix of the city of Paris. Over 60 wrestlers were part of that tournament. Wladyslaw Pytlasinski won it. The tournament was largely based on the idea that Pytlasinski should have won the World Championship and so this was a chance for him to prove he was the top wrestler. The tournament also featured Constant le Boucher, Aimable de la Calmette, Laurent le Beaucairios, Nicolai Petroff and Court Derelli among others. Compared to the World Championship, it actually had a stronger line-up of wrestlers, and obviously more wrestlers in general.
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Event: the second Paris World Championship
When: 3 November to 5 December 1899
Venue: Casino de Paris
Participants: over 90 wrestlers
Backed by: “Journal des Sports” newspaper
Final placement:
1. Kara Ahmed
2. Laurent le Beaucairois
3. Constant le Boucher
The second Paris World Championship was much bigger in scope as the number of participants was triple what the first tournament had, and with that came some format changes. In a way the tournament was three tournaments rolled into one. The wrestlers were split into two categories - heavyweights and lightweights. To be considered a heavyweight you had to be at least 85 kg (187 pounds). Everyone else was classified as a lightweight. In the context of Greco-Roman pro wrestling they were called lightweights, but in reality almost all of them were light heavyweights. To begin with the lightweights would wrestle each other in elimination matches, and then the heavyweights would do the same. If you lost a match you were out. And this was to go on until there were only four lightweights and four heavyweights left. Then the four lightweights would wrestle to determine the lightweight champion and the four heavyweights would wrestle to determine the heavyweight champion, and after that all eight wrestlers were to wrestle to determine the World champion. It's a bit confusing, but the way I understand it is that at the end of the tournament you would have a heavyweight champion and a lightweight champion, but those two champions weren't necessarily considered World champions. They were just the winners of the heavyweight and lightweight tournaments, respectively. The World champion was the one who won the final phase with both heavyweights and lightweights. This first attempt at such a format didn't go down smoothly and there was some criticism that it was booked incorrectly. The complaint was that the lightweight and heavyweight tournaments were booked to end before the World one, which ended up causing a situation where one guy won the heavyweight tournament, but another guy (a guy the heavyweight winner had already beat in the heavyweight tournament) ended up winning the World Championship. It was generally recognized that things needed to be planned out better the next time.
The matches followed the same format as the previous year (three 15-minute rounds and a no time limit third round, if needed + a rematch was required if there was no winner). However, it's also important to note that the referee had the power to stop a match if it was getting too late in the evening or if he felt the wrestlers were too exhausted to continue. In such a case the match would be stopped (so it was like a draw in a way) and they would say it would resume the following night. That happened on a few occasions during the 1899 tournament.
In terms of participants this time around the field featured a wider range of foreign wrestlers. First of all, George Hackenschmidt made his French debut during this tournament. He wasn't the big name yet that he would become later, but he was starting to gain popularity in Russia (where he was already the amateur champion of Russia in both Greco-Roman wrestling and weightlifting) and this was his first major professional wrestling tournament. He reached the final phase of the tournament and had to drop out due to an injury, but the tournament solidified him as an up-and-coming star. The top Belgian star Constant le Boucher was in the tournament as were the top Dutch wrestler Dirk van den Berg and the number two Danish star at the time Camillus Ewertsen. Popular stars of the French scene such as Pietro Dalmasso, Auguste Robinet, Aimable de la Calmette and Laurent le Beaucairois were in as well, and French up-and-comer Raoul le Boucher was in too. Le Beaucairois in particular was considered a favorite to win the tournament. The biggest revelation of the tournament, however, ended up being the Turk Kara Ahmed. He had wrestled a bit in Europe a few years prior, but this was his big break. Ahmed went on to win the tournament and that made him one of the top wrestling names in Europe. Ahmed is s perfect example of the star-making platform that the Paris World Championship tournaments could be.
Conspicuous by his absence from the tournament was Paul Pons. He had been advertised as a participant, but ultimately did not participate. In fact, he did not wrestle in any of the Paris World Championships until 1907. It's very odd to have such big tournaments in Paris and not have the top French star in them, but it seems like Pons chose to do his own thing instead and tour France and Europe with a troupe of his own. I'm just speculating here, but to me it seems like probably Pons didn't want to work high-profile tournaments in Paris unless he knew he was winning them and in the tournaments with his troupe he had complete control over the outcome.
- Sidenote: When I did this research I wanted to focus on the heavyweights as they were the more important guys so I didn't make note of the lightweight matches. Hence why below you wouldn't find any lightweight vs. lightweight match results from the initial elimination phase of the tournament, but I have included the lightweights later on as they were part of the final and most important phase of the tournament.
The results of the 1899 Paris World Championship:
12 November 1899
1. Laurent le Beaucairois def. Alis Amba
14 November 1899
1. Emil Peyrouse def. Marius Feriol (4:47)
2. Trillat le Savoyard def. Muller (10:56)
3. Heinrich Eberle def. Victor Delman (4:34)
4. Constant le Boucher def. Capitan le Parisien (5:11)
15 November 1899
1. Laurent le Beaucairois def. Edouard Robin (5:31)
2. Auguste Robinet def. Bonera Domenico (12:33)
3. Charles Fengler def. Charles le Meunier (3:55)
4. George Hackenschmidt def. Loir (0:18)
16 November 1899
1. Heinrich Stark def. Jaccavail (2:10)
2. Pietro Dalmasso def. Henry Alphonse (5:20)
3. Merechal def. Camillus Ewertsen (13)
4. Aimable de la Calmette def. Baruet le Demenageur (1:26)
17 November 1899
1. Jean le Marseillais def. Louis Chappe (19:45)
2. Heinrich Niemann drew Edgar Joly (1:11:00)
3. Dirk van den Berg def. Henri Lorange (6:58)
4. Kara Ahmed def. Franc Raymond (3:04)
18 November 1899
1. Charles Fengler def. Emil Peyrouse (20)
2. Laurent le Beaucairois def. Heinrich Stark (16:50)
3. George Hackenschmidt def. Auguste Robinet (4:09)
4. Aimable de la Calmette def. Pietro Dalmasso (0:43)
5. Heinrich Niemann def. Edgar Joly (13:55)
19 November 1899
1. Heinrich Eberle def. Jean le Marseillais (5:01)
2. Dirk van den Berg def. Trillat le Savoyard (17:12)
3. Constant le Boucher def. Heinrich Niemann (2:49)
4. Kara Ahmed def. Merechal (12)
23 November 1899
1. Laurent le Beaucairois vs. Dirk van den Berg was stopped (42:40)
2. Constant le Boucher def. Heinrich Eberle (17:35)
3. Kara Ahmed vs. Charles Fengler was stopped (40:00)
4. George Hackenschmidt vs. Aimable de la Calmette was stopped (30:00)
= Le Boucher won, but the finish was a bit disputed so le Boucher offered to give Eberle a rematch the following night.
24 November 1899
1. Laurent le Beaucairois def. Dirk van den Berg (18:00)
2. Kara Ahmed vs. Charles Fengler was stopped (38:00)
3. George Hackenschmidt def. Aimable de la Calmette (17:19)
25 November 1899
1. Kara Ahmed def. Charles Fengler (26)
The elimination phase was over and the final four in the heavyweight tournament were now set: Laurent le Beaucairois, Kara Ahmed, George Hackenschdmidt and Raoul le Boucher.
26 November 1899
1. Laurent le Beaucairois def. Kara Ahmed (13:47)
27 November 1899
1. George Hackenschmidt vs. Laurent le Beaucairois was stopped (1:21:00)
2. Kara Ahmed vs. Constant le Boucher was stopped (1:03:00)
28 November 1899
1. Kara Ahmed vs. Constant le Boucher was stopped (1:45:00)
= Hackenschmidt was to wrestle le Beaucairois, but it was announced he had suffered an injured shoulder so he dropped out of the tournament.
29 November 1899
1. Kara Ahmed def. Constant le Boucher (1:18:50)
1 December 1899
1. Laurent le Beaucairois def. Constant le Boucher (33:22)
= This victory secured le Beaucairois the first place in the heavyweight tournament.
And then the final phase of the tournament began - the phase to determine the World champion. It was supposed to have four heavyweights and four lightweights, but with Hackenschdmit injured it became three guys from each category. The final three heavyweights were Kara Ahmed, Laurent le Beaucairois and Constant le Boucher, while the final three lightweights were Maurice Gambier, Chalzet le Frappeur and Gabriel Lassartesse. The heavyweights faced off with the lightweights in elimination matches and then an additional lightweight match determined who would be the fourth wrestler in the final four for the World Championship.
2 December 1899
1. Constant le Boucher def. Gabriel Lassartesse - cnc (25)
2. Kara Ahmed def. Chalzet le Frappeur (16:43)
3. Laurent le Beaucairois def. Maurice Gambier (17)
3 December 1899
1. Maurice Gambier def. Chalzet le Frappeur (24:31)
= This was determine who would be the fourth wrestler in the final four.
4 December 1899
1. Kara Ahmed def. Maurice Gambier (20:06)
2. Laurent le Beaucairois def. Constant le Boucher (0:57)
5 December 1899
1. Constant le Boucher def. Maurice Gambier (1:04:45)
2. Kara Ahmed def. Laurent le Beaucairois (1:06:14) to become the World champion
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| The final placement of the 1899 Paris World Championship |
A week after the World Championship concluded "Journal des Sports" also promoted a Criterium tournament at Folies Bergere with Paul Pons, Constant le Boucher, Aimable de la Calmette, Heinrich Eberle and a few others. The new World champion Kara Ahmed was also part of this tournament and agreed to put his title on the line in the tournament. The tournament never fully finished and during it Ahmed ended up wrestling Pons and Pons only in 1898 World champion vs. 1899 World champion matches to determine who the true World champion was. They wrestled four times and drew four times. Their final match lasted almost three hours. Curiously, a week after said match and outside of the tournament, Wladislaw Pytlasinski wrestled Ahmed too and beat him in 7 minutes, but then lost the rematch two weeks later in just 35 seconds.
Another curious thing during this time (early January 1900) was an elimination tournament of sorts at Moulin Rouge, which pitted the giant Turk Nourlah versus various challengers for what was billed as the Gold Belt. There was no newspaper behind this, just a financial backer (who was also Nourlah's backer). Nourlah beat Dirk van den Berg, Leon Dumont and a few others until he was the undisputed holder of the Gold Belt. Then in February 1900 there were three World champion Kara Ahmed vs. Gold Belt winner Nourlah matches.
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Event: the third Paris World Championship
When: 6 November to 18 December 1900
Venue: Casino de Paris
Participants: over 120 wrestlers
Backed by: "Le Velo" newspaper
Final placement:
1. Laurent le Beaucairois
2. Constant le Boucher
3. Dirk van den Berg
4. Aimable de la Calmette
5. Cotch Mehmet
6. Gabriel Lassartesse
7. Omer de Bouillon
8. Heinrich Weber
Since "Journal des Sports" closed shop earlier in the year, "Le Velo" took over the promotion of the 1900 World Championship tournament. The tournament had even more participants than the second tournament. The format was similar, but improved upon. Two weight classes, heavyweights and lightweights, same as before 85 kg (187 pounds) being the dividing line between the two. First the lightweights wrestled in elimination matches until only four were left, then the heavyweights did it and finally those eight wrestlers faced off in a round robin tournament to determine the World champion as well as the winners of the heavyweight and lightweight tournaments (more on that below). The elimination matches were in the following format: two 15-minute rounds (with a 1-minute rest between the rounds) and then a 30-minute round. If there was still no winner the jury would pick the winner based on points or so they said, but the jury didn't really decide any of the matches that way and on a couple of occasions the match format worked differently. As usual the referee could stop the match at any time if he felt the wrestlers were exhausted or if it was getting too late at night, and order the match to be continued on the following night.
The 1900 tournament was the crowning of Laurent le Beaucairois as World champion. He had come close the year before, but now he finally did it. In the absence of Paul Pons from the big Paris tournaments (more about that in a moment) le Beaucairois was viewed as the top French star. 1900 also saw the Belgian Constant le Boucher make a big splash by finishing second in the World Championship despite being a considered a lightweight (although, technically, he was just 1 kg/2.20 lbs short of being classified as a heavyweight). Other notable names in the tournament were Dirk van den Berg, Aimable de la Calmette and Omer de Bouillon. George Hackenschmidt was announced, but did not participate.
As I mentioned above, the top French star Paul Pons was nowhere to be seen in this tournament as he was off doing his own thing. He had established a touring troupe of wrestlers, which he was in charge of, and was going around wrestling in all sorts of places. In 1900 Pons won a pair of big tournaments in Berlin and Vienna that also featured some of the top stars from the first two Paris World Championship tournaments (Laurent le Beaucairois, Kara Ahmed, Wladislaw Pytlasinski, Dirk van den Berg and even George Hackenschmidt in the Austrian one). Again, to me this very much looks like Pons felt he was better off not getting involved in the Paris World Championship tournaments unless he was guaranteed to win, but he did make sure to go over the stars of those tournaments in tournaments outside of France.
As before, below I've not included the initial elimination matches with the lightweights - I've only listed the matches from the heavyweight elimination phase.
The results of the 1900 Paris World Championship:
19 November 1900
1. Paul le Mastoc def. Devaux (1:38)
2. F. Buisson def. Rigal l'Auvergnat by forfeit (Rigal no-showed)
3. Guy Baucard def. Edgar Joly (7:13)
4. Dirk van den Berg def. Balthazar (0:59)
5. Laurent le Beaucairois def. Trillat le Savoyard (1:47)
20 November 1900
1. Paul Lassus def. Jaccavail (2:29)
2. Auguste Robinet def. Charpentier le Transvaalien (1:54)
3. Carlos def. Benoit le Cocher (1:34)
4. Heinrich Stark def. Capitan le Parisien (1:44)
5. Joseph Bonelli def. Alphonse le Boucher (1:40)
21 November 1900
1. Marius Feriol def. Edouard Robin (0:48)
2. Delbrel drew E. Merle (30:00)
3. Victor Daumas def. Bourgeois (0:59)
4. Omer de Bouillon def. Paul Goillot (0:28)
5. G. Tetaud def. Mario (1:08)
22 November 1900
1. E. Merle def. Delbrel (3:41)
2. Honore Coutet def. Louis Chappe (3:38)
3. Emile Limousin def. Eugene Charpentier (1:24)
4. Pibens def. Laurent le Lyonnais (17:08)
5. Salim def. Eugene le Frise (0:34)
6. Charles Fengler def. Victor Delmas (2:41)
23 November 1900
1. F. Bordes def. Tvelac le Carcassonnais (2:26)
2. Ernesto Castelli def. Moreau (1:28)
3. Julius Cochard def. Mario (0:18)
4. Charles Green def. F. Faurie (10:30)
5. Aimable de la Calmette def. Charles le Meunier (0:36)
24 November 1900
1. F. Buisson def. G. Tetaud (4:22)
2. Marius Ferriol def. Carlos (2:09)
3. Guy Baucard def. Honore Coutet (3:45)
4. Joseph Bonelli def. Paul Lassus (7:11)
5. Salim def. E. Merle (2:43)
25 November 1900
1. Omer de Bouillon def. Auguste Robinet (37:01)
2. Julius Cochard def. Paul le Mastoc (0:11)
3. Pibens def. Charles Green (0:44)
4. Victor Daumas def. F. Bordes (4:47)
26 November 1900
1. Dirk van den Berg def. Ernesto Castelli (6:03)
2. Marius Ferriol def. Charles Fengler - cnc
27 November 1900
1. Emile Limousin def. Julius Cochard (20:58)
2. Laurent le Beaucairois def. Heinrich Stark (24)
28 November 1900
1. Pibens drew Guy Baucard (30:00)
2. Victor Daumas drew Joseph Bonelli (30:00)
3. Aimable de la Calmette drew Omer de Bouillon (30:00)
4. Salim drew F. Buisson (30:00)
29 November 1900
1. F. Buisson def. Salim by forfeit (Salim had an injured rib from the night before and wasn't there)
2. Aimable de la Calmette vs. Omer de Bouillon was stopped (1:24:25)
3. Pibens vs. Guy Beaucard was stopped (31)
4. Joseph Bonelli def. Victor Daumas (11:27)
30 November 1900
1. Omer de Bouillon def. Guy Baucard (1:35:52)
2. Aimable de la Calmette def. Pibens (9:58)
1 December 1900
1. Laurent le Beaucairois def. Marius Ferriol (5:38)
2. Dirk van den Berg def. F. Buisson (11:09)
2 December 1900
1. Omer de Bouillon vs. Joseph Bonelli was stopped (1:43:00)
2. Aimable de la Calmette def. Emile Limousin (19:32)
This led to the final phase of the tournament - the World Championship phase. The final four heavyweights were Laurent le Beaucairois, Dirk van den Berg, Aimable de la Calmette and whoever the winner of Omer de Bouillon vs. Joseph Bonelli was going to be. The final four lightweights were Constant le Boucher, Cotch Mehmet, Gabriel Lassartesse and Heinrich Weber. All eight guys were now going to wrestle each other in a round robin tournament, but in terms of the final placements this was three tournaments rolled into one. Lightweight vs. lightweight matches counted toward both the World and lightweight tournaments, heavyweight vs. heavyweight matches counted toward both the World and heavyweight tournaments, and heavyweight vs. lightweight matches counted only toward the World tournament. At the end of the round robin phase whichever wrestlers had the most wins in the respective tournaments would be declared their winners. The match format for this final phase was a bit different as well. Same as in the initial elimination phase, the matches were going to be wrestled in two 15-minute rounds, followed by a 30-minute round, if needed. However, if the first match ended in a time limit draw there would be a rematch under the same format plus a fourth 60-minute round, if needed. If there was no winner at the end of that round then the winner would be determined by the jury based on points.
3 December 1900
1. Omer de Bouillon def. Joseph Bonelli (9:42)
2. Laurent le Beaucairois def. Aimable de la Calmette (46:03)
3. Constant le Boucher def. Heinrich Weber (20:56)
4. Cotch Mehmet def. Gabriel Lassartesse (19:35)
4 December 1900
1. Dirk van den Berg def. Omer de Bouillon (20:22)
2. Aimable de la Calmette def. Heinrich Weber (10:59)
3. Laurent le Beaucairois drew Cotch Mehmet (60:00)
5 December 1900
1. Constant le Boucher def. Omer de Bouillon (12:07)
2. Laurent le Beaucairois def. Heinrich Weber (17:11)
3. Dirk van den Berg def. Gabriel Lassartesse (13:59)
6 December 1900
1. Constant le Boucher def. Gabriel Lassartesse (15:35)
2. Dirk van den Berg def. Aimable de la Calmette (20:49)
3. Omer de Bouillon drew Cotch Mehmet (60:00)
7 December 1900
1. Gabriel Lassartesse def. Heinrich Weber
2. Constant le Boucher def. Aimable de la Calmette (18:52)
3. Laurent le Beaucairois def. Cotch Mehmet (1:09)
8 December 1900
1. Dirk van den Berg def. Heinrich Weber (8:38)
2. Laurent le Beaucairois def. Omer de Bouillon (19:04)
3. Aimable de la Calmette def. Cotch Mehmet (59:32)
9 December 1900
1. Aimable de la Calmette def. Gabriel Lassartesse (22:25)
2. Cotch Mehmet def. Omer de Bouillon (1:27:23)
10 December 1900
1. Aimable de la Calmette def. Omer de Bouillon (23:21)
2. Laurent le Beaucairois def. Gabriel Lassartesse (14:09)
3. Dirk van den Berg drew Cotch Mehmet (60:00)
11 December 1900
1. Omer de Bouillon drew Gabriel Lassartesse (60:00)
2. Cotch Mehmet drew Henrich Weber (60:00)
12 December 1900
1. Constant le Boucher drew Cotch Mehmet (60:00)
2. Laurent le Beaucairois def. Dirk van den Berg (40:05)
= With this victory le Beaucairois won the heavyweight tournament.
13 December 1900
1. Omer de Bouillon def. Heinrich Weber (3:44)
2. Constant le Boucher def. Dirk van den Berg (8:29)
14 December 1900
1. Gabriel Lassartesse def. Omer de Bouillon (29:22)
2. Cotch Mehmet def. Heinrich Weber (22:22)
15 December 1900
1. Constant le Boucher def. Cotch Mehmet (1:56:36)
= With this victory le Boucher won the lightweight tournament.
18 December 1900
1. Laurent le Beaucairois def. Constant le Boucher (1:03:55) to become the World champion
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| The final placement of the 1900 Paris World Championship |
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Event: the fourth Paris World Championship
When: 6 November to 19 December 1901
Venue: Casino de Paris
Participants: over 110 wrestlers
Backed by: "L'Auto" newspaper
Final placement:
1. George Hackenschmidt
2. Constant le Boucher
3. Omer de Bouillon
4. Raoul le Boucher
5. Jakob Koch
6. Michael Hitzler
7. Emile Vervet
8. Maurice Gambier
“Le Velo” stepped away from the promotion of wrestling for some reason, and “L'Auto” (or "L'Auto-Velo" as it was known at the time) stepped in to promote the 1901 World Championship and a few other big tournaments later on as well. The 1901 tournament had the same format as the 1900 tournament - lightweight elimination matches, heavyweight elimination matches, then the final four from each category would face each other in a round robin tournament to determine the winner of the heavyweight tournament, the winner of the lightweight tournament and most importantly the World champion. If a match between two wrestlers reached the 60 minute time limit (2x15 + 30) the jury would judge the match on points and rule it in favour of one of the wrestlers. In the final round robin phase of the tournament if a match went to 60 minutes there would be a second match, which was to have a third round of 60 minutes instead of 30, and then the jury would decide the match based on points, if there was still no winner.
1901 was the year of "The Russian Lion" George Hackenschmidt. In 1900 he was already well on his way to becoming one of the top stars of European wrestling, but 1901 is when his superstar status became undeniable. Earlier in the year in Austria he had won a big tournament that also featured the 1898 Paris World champion Paul Pons and the 1900 champion Laurent le Beaucairois. Then Hackenschmidt won the 1901 Paris World Championship - his first World Championship win. The tournament also featured up-and-coming French star Raoul le Boucher (who was a Pons protege and was pegged as a future World champion), Constant le Boucher (who once again had a very strong showing despite not being a heavyweight, technically), top German heavyweight Jakob Koch, noted Belgian wrestler Omer de Bouillon and others. The Turks Adali Halil and Ahmed Madrali were announced for the tournament, but ended up not being in it.
Again, I haven't listed the initial lightweight elimination matches here. These are just the heavyweight ones and then when we get to the final phase of the tournament that's where the lightweights become more important and the results with them are listed there.
The results of the 1901 Paris World Championship:
18 November 1901
1. Pibens def. Rousseau by forfeit (Rousseau no-showed)
2. Fenelon def. Jaccavail (2:57)
3. Pierrard le Colosse def. Devaux (2:11)
19 November 1901
1. Francois le Portepieces def. Charles le Meunier (1:32)
2. Honore Coutet def. Charles le Lyonnais (0:38)
3. Paul Lassus def. Bordier (0:20)
4. Buisson def. Vivet le Farinier (1:11)
5. Jakob Koch def. Guinot (1:41)
6. Alexandre le Marseillais def. Capitan le Cuirassier (16:51)
20 November 1901
1. Tetaut def. Roche (1:51)
2. Julius Cochard def. Hugon (0:16)
3. Omer de Bouillon def. Millon (1:17)
4. Raoul le Boucher def. Henri Pechon (0:20)
5. Dirk van den Berg def. Bisson
21 November 1901
1. Emile Limousin def. Auburtin (0:40)
2. Goillot def. Milo (2:53)
3. Fournier def. Petit (17:50)
4. Louis Chorella def. Huguet (0:16)
22 November 1901
1. Mario def. Raimbaud (0:16)
2. Faurie def. Syllas (0:40)
3. Favouet def. Longchamp (1:52)
4. Clement le Terrassier def. Jolly (4:13)
23 November 1901
1. Diericks le Brasseur def. Henri Charpentier (16:15)
2. Antoine le Montois def. Albert de Paris (2:45)
3. Heinrich Winzer def. Eugene Charpentier (1:36)
4. Jess Pedersen def. Gricourt (0:21)
24 November 1901
1. Victor Delmas def. Marc le Lyonnais (13:05)
2. Paul le Mastoc def. Genotte (12:17)
3. Eduard Kreindl def. Louis l'Ecailleur (0:22)
4. Charles Axa def. Lair (1:22)
5. Orondi def. Bourgeois (4:25)
6. George Hackenschmidt def. Calvet de Carcassonne (1:04)
25 November 1901
1. Emile Limousin def. Goillot (12:33)
2. Buisson def. Paul Lassus (4:30)
3. Alexandre le Marseillais def. Louis Chorella (10:53)
4. Dirk van den Berg def. Tetaut (1:28)
26 November 1901
1. Pibens def. Antoine le Montois (2:27)
2. Clement le Terrassier def. Paul le Mastoc (5:53)
3. Jakob Koch def. Honore Coutet (3:30)
4. Raoul le Boucher def. Eduard Kreindl (1:41)
27 November 1901
1. Heinrich Winzer def. Faurie (18:47)
2. Diericks le Brasseur def. Francois le Portepieces (11:10)
3. Charles Axa def. Julius Cochard (20)
4. Pierrard le Colosse def. Orondi (0:40)
28 November 1901
1. Omer de Bouillon def. Favouet (4:16)
2. Jess Pedersen def. Victor Delmas (3:42)
3. Fenelon def. Fournier (18)
4. George Hackenschmidt def. Mario (8:07)
29 November 1901
1. Omer de Bouillon def. Pibens (16:56)
2. Jess Pedersen def. Clement le Terrassier (57)
30 November 1901
1. Emile Limousin def. Heinrich Winzer on points - 2 to 0 points (60:00)
2. Jakob Koch def. Diericks le Brasseur (6)
3. Alexandre le Marseillais def. Pierrard le Colosse
1 December 1901
1. Raoul le Boucher def. Charles Axa (5:16)
2. Dirk van den Berg def. Fenelon (4:14)
3. George Hackenschmidt def. Buisson (3:48)
2 December 1901
1. Raoul le Boucher def. Emile Limousin (2:37)
2. Jakob Koch drew Jess Pedersen (1:30:00)
3 December 1901
1. Jakob Koch def. Jess Pedersen
2. George Hackenschmidt def. Alexandre le Marseillais (20:17)
3. Omer de Bouillon def. Dirk van den Berg
This is when the final phase began. The final four heavyweights were George Hackenschmidt, Raoul le Boucher, Omer de Bouillon and Jakob Koch. The final four lightweights were Constant le Boucher, Michael Hitzler, Emile Vervet and Maurice Gambier. They were now to wrestle in a round robin tournament to determine the World champion, as well as the heavyweight and lightweight tournament winners.
4 December 1901
1. Constant le Boucher def. Emile Vervet (45:44)
2. Michael Hitzler drew Maurice Gambier (60:00)
5 December 1901
1. Raoul le Boucher def. Jakob Koch (7:07)
2. George Hackenschmidt drew Omer de Bouillon (60:00)
3. Michael Hitzler def. Maurice Gambier (3:54)
6 December 1901
1. Michael Hitzler drew Emile Vervet (60:00)
1. George Hackenschmidt def. Omer de Bouillon (20:01)
7 December 1901
1. Raoul le Boucher def. Maurice Gambier (3:12)
2. Constant le Boucher def. Jakob Koch - cnc
3. Michael Hitzler def. Emile Vervet (0:32)
8 December 1901
1. Omer de Bouillon def. Maurice Gambier (7:57)
2. George Hackenschmidt def. Michael Hitzler (45:59)
9 December 1901
1. Raoul le Boucher def. Emile Vervet (13:17)
2. George Hackenschmidt def. Jakob Koch (21:42)
10 December 1901
1. Raoul le Boucher def. Michael Hitzler (9:15)
2. Constant le Boucher drew Omer de Bouillon (60:00)
11 December 1901
1. Constant le Boucher def. Omer de Bouillon (10:28)
2. George Hackenschmidt def. Maurice Gambier (1:58)
3. Jakob Koch def. Emile Vervet (8:57)
12 December 1901
1. Omer de Bouillon def. Jakob Koch (8:02)
2. Constant le Boucher def. Maurice Gambier (4:41)
13 December 1901
1. Constant le Boucher def. Michael Hitzler
1. George Hackenschmidt def. Emile Vervet (6:50)
= With this victory le Boucher won the lightweight tournament.
14 December 1901
1. Maurice Gambier drew Emile Vervet (60:00)
1. Omer de Bouillon def. Raoul le Boucher (49:45)
15 December 1901
1. Emile Vervet def. Maurice Gambier (19)
1. Jakob Koch def. Michael Hitzler (28:13)
16 December 1901
1. Omer de Bouillon def. Emile Vervet (14:58)
2. Constant le Boucher drew Raoul le Boucher (60:00)
17 December 1901
1. Jakob Koch def. Maurice Gambier (4:20)
2. Constant le Boucher def. Raoul le Boucher on points - 7 to 4 points
18 December 1901
1. George Hackenschmidt def. Raoul le Boucher (21:33)
= With this victory Hackenschmidt won the heavyweight tournament.
19 December 1901
1. George Hackenschmidt def. Constant le Boucher (8:05) to become the World champion
 |
| The final placement of the 1901 Paris World Championship |
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There was no World Championship tournament in Paris in 1902. However, in 1902 "L'Auto" promoted a big tournament for the Gold Belt. In terms of importance this was treated almost as a World Championship tournament. The Gold Belt tournament ran for three years (1902, 1903 and 1904) and all three years it featured the Paul Pons troupe. Naturally, Pons himself won each one of the tournaments. The tournament was sponsored by the Dubonnet alcoholic beverage company (headed by Marius Dubonnet). In addition to Pons other notable names in the 1902 Gold Belt tournament were the 1900 Paris World champion Laurent le Beaucairois (who finished second), Raoul le Boucher, Simon Antonitch, Omer de Bouillon and Heinrich Weber.
Interesting sidenote. That same Gold Belt that Paul Pons had is still around today. Back in 2016 it was sold at a French auction for about 20,000 euro (equivalent to about $21,000 at the time).
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Event: the fifth Paris World Championship
When: 1 May to 5 June 1903
Venue: Casino de Paris
Participants: over 70 wrestlers
Backed by: "L'Auto" newspaper
Final placement:
1. Jess Pedersen
2. Raoul le Boucher
3. Stanislaus Zbyszko
4. Omer de Bouillon
5. Heinrich Weber
6. Celestin Moret
7. Chalzet le Frappeur
8. Michael Hitzler
The tournament format was pretty much the same as before - elimination matches with lightweights and elimination matches with heavyweights until there were four guys left in each weight class. Then it was a round round tournament with all eight wrestlers to determine the World champion, the heavyweight winner and the lightweight winner. In the results below I haven't posted the lightweight matches from the elimination phase.
In the initial elimination stage of the tournament the matches were to be wrestled in two 15-minute rounds, followed by a 30-minute round, if needed (although they did do three 15-minute rounds on a couple of occasions instead). And if there was still no winner after that the referee could rule the match in favour of one of the wrestlers based on points. As always, in case of a time limit draw a rematch was always required and that was usually on the following night.
The 1903 tournament was a very interesting one for a couple of reasons. First of all, it was the last one of the original "open" set-up. What I mean by that is that up to and including this tournament, the list of participants in the Paris World Championships was generally pretty open. That changed afterward. After 1903, for the most part, the Paris World Championship tournaments started featuring a specific wrestling troupe along with some special guest stars. Up to 1903 it was always a hodgepodge of different guys from different places and not one specific and already established troupe. I'm not going to go into details here as to why that is important and how it changed things overall, but there were clear differences once things switched to the tournaments being based around a specific troupe.
The second reason why the 1903 tournament was quite interesting is because of the specific wrestlers that were part of it - the Russian Ivan Poddubny, the Dane Jess Pedersen, the Pole Stanislaus Zbyszko, Frenchman Raoul le Boucher, the Estonian Alexander Aberg and the German Ernst Siegfried. Those six guys were six of the very best up-and-coming stars in European pro wrestling and most of them hadn't crossed paths much previously. All six would end up becoming big names down the road. This 1903 tournament was basically taking six of the best new stars and deciding who the next top star would be. Jess Pedersen ended up as the winner. He had already participated in a few big tournaments in 1901, but without any major success. 1902 is when his career really started taking off and by 1903 it was evident he was going to be one of top European stars soon. In March 1903 in Belgium he won the second ever European Championship and then in June he won the Paris World Championship. It's also worth pointing out in October he beat Magnus Bech-Olsen in Denmark, which was a passing of the torch type of match as Bech-Olsen had been the major Danish star for several years. Other notable names in the 1903 Paris World Championship were the Serbian giant Simon Antonitch, the top Belgian heavyweight Omer de Bouillon, and the popular German "lightweights" (i.e. light heavyweights) Michael Hitzler and Heinrich Weber.
The results of the 1903 Paris World Championship:
14 May 1903
1. Francois le Farinier def. Perwez (3:35)
2. Buzovac Mourzouck def. Goillot (2:01)
15 May 1903
1. Fritz Muller def. Jaccavail (0:58)
2. Stanislaus Zbyszko def. Nicotera (1:13)
3. Raoul le Boucher def. Gaston le Rouennais (2:30)
4. Nechad def. Auguste Robinet (5:50)
16 May 1903
1. Georg Strenge def. Fernandez (4:15)
2. Alexander Aberg def. Jean de Vriendt (1:11)
3. Simon Antonitch def. Ritzner (14:55)
4. Ivan Poddubny def. Favouet (1:05)
17 May 1903
1. Albert Sturm def. Antoine le Montois (3:55)
2. Pierrard le Colosse def. Caves (4:17)
3. Ernst Siegfried def. Noel le Frappeur (2:03)
4. Codja Hassan def. Detaffe (13:10)
18 May 1903
1. Pibens drew Jourdan d'Uzes (60:00)
2. Omer de Bouillon def. Louis Chorella (7:49)
3. Heinrich Winzer def. Fenelon (18:05)
4. Jess Pedersen def. Charles le Meunier (2:35)
19 May 1903
1. Emile Limousin def. Victor Mansard (19:51)
2. Diericks le Brasseur def. Fritz Muller (2:23)
3. Raoul le Boucher def. Francois le Farinier
4. Simon Antonitch def. Pierrard le Colosse (5:24)
20 May 1903
1. Pibens def. Jourdan d'Uzes (4:08)
2. Stanislaus Zbyszko def. Georg Strenge (13:30)
3. Ivan Poddubny def. Ernst Siegfried (1:09)
21 May 1903
1. Omer de Bouillon def. Jourdan d'Uzes (6:32)
2. Jess Pedersen def. Emile Limousin (5:58)
3. Heinrich Winzer def. Codja Hassan (17:47)
22 May 1903
1. Stanislaus Zbyszko drew Albert Sturm (45:00)
2. Simon Antonitch def. Diericks le Brasseur (9:35)
23 May 1903
1. Raoul le Boucher drew Alexander Aberg (45:00)
2. Buzovac Mourzouck def. Nechad (1:02)
24 May 1903
1. Raoul le Boucher def. Alexander Aberg by forfeit
2. Jess Pedersen def. Heinrich Winzer (12:48)
3. Stanislaus Zbyszko def. Albert Sturm (10:16)
= Aberg said he was injured and couldn't wrestle so le Boucher was awarded the match.
25 May 1903
1. Omer de Bouillon def. Buzovac Mourzouck (33:11)
2. Stanislaus Zbyszko def. Simon Antonitch on points - 3 to 2 points (60:00)
This is where the final round robin stage began. The heavyweights were Jess Pedersen, Stanislaus Zbyszko, Omer de Bouillon and the winner of the upcoming Raoul le Boucher vs. Ivan Poddubny match. The lightweights were Heinrich Weber, Celestin Moret, Chalzet le Frappeur and Michael Hitzler. Two 15-minute rounds, followed by a 30-minute round, if needed (but they did deviate from this in a couple of instances). If there was still no winner the third round in the rematch was to be 60 minutes as opposed 30. If there was still no winner at the end of the rematch the referee could decide the match result based on points.
26 May 1903
1. Heinrich Weber drew Michael Hitzler (60:00)
2. Raoul le Boucher def. Ivan Poddubny on points - 2 to 0 points (60:00)
= At the beginning of the match Poddubny complained that le Boucher had put oil on himself so le Boucher was asked to wipe it off, and then the match resumed.
27 May 1903
1. Heinrich Weber def. Michael Hitzler on points - 7 to 1 points (1:30:00)
2. Celestin Moret def. Chalzet le Frappeur (18:06)
28 May 1903
1. Michael Hitzler drew Chalzet le Frappeur (60:00)
2. Raoul le Boucher drew Omer de Bouillon (60:00)
29 May 1903
1. Heinrich Weber def. Celestin Moret (30)
2. Jess Pedersen def. Stanislaus Zbyszko on points - 3 to 2 points (1:15:00)
30 May 1903
1. Chalzet le Frappeur def. Michael Hitzler (7:15)
2. Raoul le Boucher drew Omer de Bouillon - 1 to 1 point (1:30:00)
31 May 1903
1. Raoul le Boucher def. Omer de Bouillon on points - 4 to 3 points (15)
2. Heinrich Weber def. Chalzet le Frappeur (1)
3. Celestin Moret def. Michael Hitzler by forfeit (Hitzler was sick and couldn't wrestle)
= Le Boucher and de Bouillon's points from the night before transferred over and after about 15 minutes of wrestling le Boucher was declared the winner by points.
= This concluded the lightweight tournament - Weber was the winner. With Hitzler being sick he was out of the tournament so everyone he was supposed to face was given a victory by forfeit over him.
1 June 1903
1. Jess Pedersen def. Omer de Bouillon on points - 4 to 3 points (45:00)
2. Raoul le Boucher def. Stanislaus Zbyszko on points - 7 to 5 points (45:00)
2 June 1903
1. Stanislaus Zbyszko def. Celestin Moret (16:11)
2. Raoul le Boucher def. Heinrich Weber (20:10)
3. Jess Pedersen def. Chalzet le Frappeur (6:18)
3 June 1903
1. Stanislaus Zbyszko def. Heinrich Weber (19:07)
2. Omer de Bouillon def. Chalzet le Frappeur (6:28)
3. Jess Pedersen def. Celestin Moret (15:58)
4 June 1903 (matinee)
1. Stanislaus Zbyszko def. Chalzet le Frappeur (26)
2. Raoul le Boucher def. Celestin Moret (19:20)
3. Omer de Bouillon def. Heinrich Weber (26:15)
4 June 1903 (evening)
1. Omer de Bouillon def. Celestin Moret (23:05)
2. Raoul le Boucher def. Chalzet le Frappeur (9:25)
3. Jess Pedersen def. Heinrich Weber (22:18)
5 June 1903
1. Stanislaus Zbyszko def. Omer de Bouillon (26:18)
2. Jess Pedersen def. Raoul le Boucher (75+ minutes) to become the World champion
= With his victory Pedersen also won the heavyweight tournament.
 |
| The final placement of the 1903 Paris World Championship |
It's also interesting to take a look at the 1903 Gold Belt tournament, which ran from late November 1903 through early January 1904. Pons won it, of course, but the curious part was that the 1903 Paris World champion Jess Pedersen was also in the tournament and lost to Pons in the final. Other notable names in the 1903 Gold Belt tournament were Raoul le Boucher, Laurent le Beaucairois, Simon Antonitch, Heinrich Eberle, Ivan Romanoff and Heinrich Weber.
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There was no Paris World Championship in 1904, but there was the final Gold Belt tournament. Pons won it, and Raoul le Boucher placed second. Other notable names in the tournament were Ahmed Madrali, Redjeb Pengal, Simon Antonitch, Ernst Siegfried, Laurent le Beaucairois, Ivan Shemyakin and Maurice Gambier.
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From late March through late April 1905 “L'Auto” promoted the first ever European Championship in France. There had already been a few European Championship tournaments in Germany and Belgium, but this was the first one held in France and it was pushed as a really big deal. The tournament was also for the Bostock Diamond Belt. The matches were held daily at the 7,000-seat Hippodrome de Montmartre so attendance-wise this was likely the biggest of all the Greco-Roman tournaments in Paris. It was reported the Englishman Frank Bostock and the Americans William Gaspar (or Casper – I've seen it both ways) and Rudolph Aronson were also involved in the organization of the tournament. Earlier in the year there had been talk of these two Americans bringing in a bunch of stars from Europe over to the U.S. for a World Championship tournament in New York, but that never came to fruition. Anyway, one of the top German stars Jakob Koch won the Paris European Championship. Other notable names in the tournament were Laurent le Beaucairois, Nicolai Petroff, Simon Antonitch, Omer de Bouillon and Ivan Romanoff.
Event: the sixth Paris World Championship
When: 6 November to 12 December 1905
Venue: Casino de Paris
Participants: over 40 wrestlers
Backed by: "Les Sports" newspaper
Final placement:
1. Ivan Poddubny
2. Jess Pedersen
3. Laurent le Beaucairois
4. Anastace Anglio
5. Raymond Cazeaux
6. Magnus Bech-Olsen
7. Josef Smejkal
8. Thefik Ali
9. Ibrahim Saffi
When the concept of a World Championship tournament returned in 1905 it was now being promoted by "Les Sports" newspaper instead. This Paris World Championship tournament, and all others after it, didn't have the weight class separation as the past tournaments did. In this tournament the wrestlers would wrestle in elimination matches until there were only nine left and then those nine guys would wrestle in a round robin tournament to determine the World champion. In the initial phase in order for a wrestler to be eliminated from the tournament they had to lose two matches. The match format was slightly different too - two 10-minute rounds followed by a 15-minute round.
By 1905 Ivan Poddubny had become a big star in Russia and won a bunch of tournaments there (including one where he beat Paul Pons in the final), but other than the 1903 Paris World Championship Poddubny hadn't worked anywhere else outside of Russia. He returned to Paris in 1905 and became World champion for the first time by beating the 1903 Paris World champion Jess Pedersen in the final. The 1900 Paris World champion Laurent le Beaucairois was also in the tournament as were other notable names such as the Dane Magnus Bech-Olsen, the Czech Josef Smejkal, the Swiss Emile Deriaz, the Swede Axel Krook, the Martinique Anastace Anglio, the up-and-coming Frenchman Raymond Cazeaux and a few new Turks. Magnus Bech-Olsen is an interesting name here, because up to 1904 he wasn't working much anywhere else in Europe other than his native Denmark, where he was a major star for a number of years (you can read more about Bech-Olsen in Denmark here). However, as his popularity there went down he now started venturing out more to other countries and participating in various tournaments (typically in the role of a big guest star who was there to put over the top star of the troupe he was working with). From the very beginning he was pushed as one of the favourites to win the 1905 Paris World Championship. They were advertising him as someone who had defeated Tom Cannon, Nourlah, Hackenschmidt twice and Pons three times.
It's also interesting to point out that while the World Championship by "Les Sports" was going on, "L'Auto" promoted a big tournament of their own at the same time. It was billed as the Cup of France and featured popular French wrestlers such as Paul Pons, Raoul le Boucher, Aimable de la Calmette and Emile Vervet. The winner? Paul Pons, of course. Running an opposing tournament at the same time was a precursor to what was to happen the following year (two World Championship tournaments at the same time).
The results of the 1905 Paris World Championship:
6 November 1905
1. Henri Stroobants def. Soyer le Parisien (9:07)
2. Thefik Ali def. Jean Sabatier (6:18)
3. Taakir Pehlivan def. Pietro II (12:07)
4. Heinrich Winzer def. Nicotera (6:42)
5. Anastace Anglio def. Victor Holden (9:40)
7 November 1905
1. Gabriel Lassartesse def. Gaumont le Frappeur (2:04)
2. Emile Deriaz def. Paul de Roubaix (6:03)
3. Raymond Cazeaux def. Vincent Illa (2:47)
4. Noel le Bordelais def. Walter Eigemann (13:48)
5. Jess Pedersen def. Ernesto Castelli (11:41)
8 November 1905
1. Carlos Wonders def. Brunlet le Mecanicien (13:48)
2. Jean-Francois le Breton def. Eugene le Normand (0:28)
3. Axel Krook def. van Rothen (4:02)
4. Ernest Lacroix l'Artilleur def. Roche (3:08)
5. Laurent le Beaucairois def. Bernhard Paxon (11:48)
9 November 1905
1. Henri Stroobants def. Darrigoli le Basque (3:47)
2. Taakir Pehlivan def. Soyer le Parisien (7:50)
3. Wilhelm Metzner def. Leonard le Tourneur (4:28)
4. Ibrahim Saffi def. Louis Chorella (0:13)
5. Anastace Anglio def. Heinrich Winzer (2:47)
10 November 1905
1. Pietro II def. Vincent Illa (22:07)
2. Harry Jackson def. Nicotera (0:11)
3. Jess Pedersen def. Eugene Charpantier (2:09)
4. Thefik Ali def. Montpezat (5:42)
5. Raymond Cazeaux def. Carlos Wonders (19:47)
11 November 1905
1. Gabriel Lassartesse def. Henri Stroobants (7:18)
2. Emile Deriaz def. Gaumont le Frappeur (3:21)
3. Anastace Anglio def. Bernhard Paxon (22:07)
4. Laurent le Beaucairois def. Walter Eigemann (8:14)
5. Josef Smejkal def. Darrigoli le Basque (13:27)
12 November 1905
1. Jean-Francois le Breton def. Brunlet le Mecanicien (5:11)
2. Ernest Lacroix l'Artilleur def. van Rothen (5:48)
3. Ibrahim Saffi def. Roche (0:09)
4. Raymond Cazeaux def. Jean Sabatier (16:22)
5. Jess Pedersen def. Noel le Bordelais (15:54)
13 November 1905
1. Carlos Wonders def. Montpezat (12:22)
2. Anastace Anglio def. Eugene Charpentier (1:02)
3. Thefik Ali def. Paul de Roubaix (4:37)
4. Josef Smejkal def. Louis Chorella (15:27)
5. Laurent le Beaucairois def. Harry Jackson (2:13)
14 November 1905
1. Emile Deriaz def. Pietro II (15:34)
2. Axel Krook def. Ernesto Castelli (16:11)
3. Jess Pedersen def. Ernest Lacroix l'Artilleur (0:37)
4. Ivan Poddubny def. Victor Holden (2:04)
15 November 1905
1. Jess Pedersen def. Jean-Francois le Breton (5:02)
2. Ibrahim Saffi def. Carlos Wonders (0:09)
3. Magnus Bech-Olsen def. Noel le Bordelais (2:08)
4. Raymond Cazeaux def. Darrigoli le Basque (15)
16 November 1905
1. Laurent le Beaucairois def. Taakir Pehlivan (18:20)
2. Thefik Ali def. Jean-Francois le Breton (5:48)
3. Ivan Poddubny def. Axel Krook (3:50)
4. Anastace Anglio def. Wilhelm Metzner (20:44)
17 November 1905
1. Raymond Cazeaux drew Gabriel Lassartesse (35:00)
2. Magnus Bech-Olsen def. Harry Jackson (0:51)
3. Laurent le Beaucairois def. Emile Deriaz (18:35)
18 November 1905
1. Josef Smejkal def. Ernest Lacroix l'Artilleur (6:43)
2. Magnus Bech-Olsen def. Axel Krook (3:15)
3. Ivan Poddubny def. Wilhelm Metzner (2:03)
4. Ibrahim Saffi def. Thefik Ali (7:48)
5. Raymond Cazeaux def. Gabriel Lassartesse (6:52)
19 November 1905
1. Laurent le Beaucairois def. Gabriel Lassartesse (12:09)
2. Anastace Anglio def. Emile Deriaz (11:47)
3. Jess Pedersen def. Taakir Pehlivan (17:56)
This is where the final stage began - a round robin tournament with nine wrestlers: Ivan Poddubny, Jess Pedersen, Laurent le Beaucairois, Magnus Bech-Olsen, Josef Smejkal, Anastace Anglio, Raymond Cazeaux, Ibrahim Saffi and Thefik Ali.
 |
| Eight of the final nine in the 1905 Paris World Championship |
20 November 1905
1. Jess Pedersen def. Ibrahim Saffi (15:45)
2. Thefik Ali def. Josef Smejkal
21 November 1905
1. Ivan Poddubny drew Anastace Anglio (35:00)
22 November 1905
1. Ivan Poddubny def. Anastace Anglio (30:44)
23 November 1905
1. Jess Pedersen drew Ibrahim Saffi (35:00)
24 November 1905
1. Magnus Bech-Olsen def. Josef Smejkal (6:05)
2. Laurent le Beaucairois def. Thefik Ali (20:52)
3. Jess Pedersen def. Ibrahim Saffi (49:05)
25 November 1905
1. Anastace Anglio def. Josef Smejkal
2. Ivan Poddubny def. Raymond Cazeaux
26 November 1905
1. Jess Pedersen def. Thefik Ali (15:16)
2. Raymond Cazeaux def. Josef Smejkal (26:22)
27 November 1905
1. Ivan Poddubny def. Ibrahim Saffi (14:44)
2. Jess Pedersen drew Raymond Cazeaux (35:00)
28 November 1905
1. Laurent le Beaucairois def. Josef Smejkal (24:05)
2. Magnus Bech-Olsen def. Ibrahim Saffi (1:13)
3. Jess Pedersen def. Raymond Cazeaux (13:47)
29 November 1905
1. Anastace Anglio def. Thefik Ali (29:27)
2. Ivan Poddubny def. Josef Smejkal (12:27)
30 November 1905
1. Ivan Poddubny drew Magnus Bech-Olsen (35:00)
2. Laurent le Beaucairois drew Raymond Cazeaux (35:00)
1 December 1905
1. Anastace Anglio def. Ibrahim Saffi (21:04)
2. Ivan Poddubny def. Magnus Bech-Olsen (27:45)
3. Laurent le Beaucairois def. Raymond Cazeaux (28:30)
2 December 1905
1. Magnus Bech-Olsen def. Thefik Ali (2:28)
2. Jess Pedersen def. Josef Smejkal (19:02)
3 December 1905
1. Laurent le Beaucairois drew Anastace Anglio (35:00)
2. Raymond Cazeaux drew Ibrahim Saffi (35:00)
4 December 1905
1. Ivan Poddubny def. Thefik Ali (3:05)
2. Laurent le Beaucairois def. Anastace Anglio (57:07)
3. Raymond Cazeaux def. Ibrahim Saffi (19:08)
5 December 1905
1. Jess Pedersen def. Laurent le Beaucairois (0:53)
2. Raymond Cazeaux drew Thefik Ali (35:00)
6 December 1905
1. Jess Pedersen drew Anastace Anglio (35:00)
2. Raymond Cazeaux def. Thefik Ali - cnc
7 December 1905
1. Non-tournament match: Ivan Poddubny def. Magnus Bech-Olsen (22:42)
2. Jess Pedersen def. Anastace Anglio (49:55)
= Bech-Olsen had asked for a rematch with Poddubny so he got it here.
8 December 1905
1. Ivan Poddubny drew Laurent le Beaucairois (35:00)
2. Josef Smejkal def. Ibrahim Saffi
9 December 1905
1. Raymond Cazeaux def. Thefik Ali (14:45)
2. Jess Pedersen drew Magnus Bech-Olsen (35:00)
3. Ivan Poddubny def. Laurent le Beaucairois (29:28)
10 December 1905
1. Josef Smejkal def. Thefik Ali (23:15)
2. Jess Pedersen def. Magnus Bech-Olsen (24:09)
= After this loss Bech-Olsen withdrew from the tournament.
11 December 1905
1. Anastace Anglio def. Raymond Cazeaux (1:08:57)
2. Laurent le Beaucairois def. Ibrahim Saffi (4:59)
 |
| The tournament standings as they looked heading into the final night (there's a mistake in the chart - the Beaucairois vs. Saffi result is missing) |
12 December 1905
1. Turkish wrestling: Thefik Ali def. Ibrahim Saffi (1:43)
2. Ivan Poddubny def. Jess Pedersen (1:36:09) to become the World champion
= “Les Sports” reported that the gate was 20,587 francs and said it was a record gate.
As the tournament ended Poddubny issued an open challenge to the top three wrestlers from the Cup of France tournament to wrestle him, but nothing happened. After his World Championship win is when Poddubny finally started wrestling more extensively outside of Russia as he was now a well-known name Europewide, not just in Russia. After the tournament was over Poddubny, Pedersen, le Beaucairois, briefly Bech-Olsen and a revolving cast of other wrestlers toured as a troupe for a number of months in France, Belgium, Italy and Russia.
-------------------
1906 was a pretty interesting year because there ended up being not one, but two World Championships in Paris, and they were held at the same time too. This had never happened in the history of European Greco-Roman pro wrestling before. As has been the case with all the other World Championships in Paris up to that point, these tournaments were promoted by popular sports newspapers - "Les Sports" did their tournament at Folies Bergere, while "L'Auto" held theirs at Casino de Paris. However, the venues themselves were an important part of the equation too as they were backing the tournaments financially and that's important to mention. In fact, I'd even say that by this point the venues probably had more of a say in what was going on than the newspapers did. And in case anyone's wondering: even though technically these were rival tournaments both newspapers covered both tournaments, but of course they focused more on their own tournament in their coverage.
There was supposed to be a third major tournament in Paris while those two were going on. It still took place, but it wasn't what was originally planned. The tournament was billed as Gran Prix of Paris and was held at Cirque Metropole from 23 October to 19 November. Originally it was supposed to feature heavyweights, middleweights and lightweights. Ivan Lebedev (a top Russian wrestling promoter) was supposed to be in charge of the tournament and there were some notable names announced for it (Wladyslaw Pytlasinski, Laurent le Beaucairois, Ivan Zaikin, Heinrich Weber, Kosta Maisuradse, Georg Strenge, Buzovac Mourzouck, etc.), but then the heavyweights were dropped and the Gran Prix of Paris ended up featuring only middleweights and lightweights. Ledebev's involvement seems to have stopped at that point too. The two most notable names in the tournament ended up being Maurice Gambier and Maurice Deriaz (who won the tournament). To me it seems like one of two things happened here: either Cirque Metropole realized their tournament couldn't compete with the other two so they downscaled it and/or they struck a deal with Casino de Paris to have some of the wrestlers they had signed up compete in the Casino de Paris tournament in exchange for getting some dates on wrestlers from the Casino de Paris tournament after it was over. No way to know for sure, but this is my theory. Either way, there were three tournaments taking place in Paris at the same time and that had never happened before (and I don't think it happened ever again either).
 |
| The finalists in the three Paris tournaments in 1906 |
Sidenote: In case you're wondering where Paul Pons was while all of this was happening - he was wrestling in Turkey, Greece and Egypt.
Event: Paris World Championship
When: 24 October through 23 November 1906
Venue: Casino de Paris
Participants: over 50 wrestlers
Backed by: "L'Auto" newspaper
Final placement:
1. Stanislaus Zbyszko
2. Georg Lurich
3. Constant le Marin
4. Wladyslaw Pytlasinski
5. Cyclop Bienkowski and Gustav Fristensky (tie)
7. Anastace Anglio
8. Glinkin Pugatschev
Originally this tournament was to start on 2 November, but it got moved up. It was in the usual format - an elimination phase first (two losses and you're out) and then a round robin tournament with the final eight remaining wrestlers. The announced match format was two 10-minute rounds followed by a 15-minute round if needed, but that changed and the third rounds ended up being 20 minute instead.
This tournament featured a lot of notable names - both current and future stars. First of all there was Stanislaus Zbyszko, who won the tournament. By that point he was already on his way to becoming a top star in Europe and had previously won a few tournaments elsewhere, but nothing as important and as high-profile as the Paris tournament. His victory in Paris cemented him as a top star. There was also Georg Lurich, who was a top name in Europe and was Zbyszko's main rival in the tournament. The Danish World champion claimant Magnus Bech-Olsen and the 1900 Paris World champion Laurent le Beaucairois were in the tournament too. Other popular names in it were the Turk Ahmed Madrali, the Pole Wladyslaw Pytlasinski, the Germans Michael Hitzler and Heinrich Weber, the Dutchman Dirk van den Berg, etc. There were also up-and-coming stars such as the Belgian Constant le Marin, Gustav Fristensky, John Pohl, Georg Rissbacher, Georg Strenge, Karl Saft, and others. Alexander Aberg, one of the top European stars, was advertised for the tournament, but did not participate in it.
The results of the 1906 Paris World Championship (L'Auto):
24 October 1906
1. Joseph Bonelli def. Chesinap (14:15)
2. Cyclop Bienkowski def. Jean Calvet (7:35)
3. Gustav Fristensky def. Emil Bau (18:15)
4. Jean Sabatier def. Van der Gold (18:13)
5. Wladyslaw Pytlasinski def. Hartel (4:03)
25 October 1906
1. Laurent le Beaucairois def. Paul Wilson (16:36)
2. Jourdan le Boucher def. Nicolas le Boulanger (19:25)
3. Jean Sabatier def. Abraham Finkelstein (5:04)
4. Max Schneider def. Monpaute (7:46)
5. Georg Lurich def. Constant le Marin (6:29)
= This Constant le Marin wasn't the famous Constant le Marin from Belgium. This was a French wrestler.
26 October 1906
1. Emil Bau def. Adhres
2. Georg Lurich def. Karl Milchthaler (20:04)
3. Heinrich Weber def. Corrado Carpini (11:04)
4. Nagy def. Georg Rissbacher (6:40)
5. Wladyslaw Pytlasinski def. August Kielbasson (11:15)
6. Gustav Fristensky def. Elberfeld (11:04)
27 October 1906
1. Karl Milchthaler def. Peter Schons (8:15)
2. Georg Lurich def. Bernhard Paxon (12:35)
3. Chesinap def. Josef Geilmeier (3:10)
4. Cyclop Bienkowski def. Renardo (2:10)
5. Paul Wilson def. Paul Jankowski (8:50)
6. Hartel def. Monpaute (3:36)
7. Nicolaevich def. Spirido (12:35)
28 October 1906
1. Zoehr def. Elberfeld (5:25)
2. Georg Lurich def. Hartel (5:30)
3. Sirgul def. Sirklips (1:20)
4. Cyclop Bienkowski def. Saifoulin (1:32)
5. Karl Milchthaler def. Abraham Finkelstein (4:28)
6. Jean Sabatier vs. Miller was stopped
7. Wladyslaw Pytlasinski def. Desire le Beaucairois (3:10)
= The Frenchman Sabatier kept roughing up the Englishman Miller until they finally got into a fight. The match was stopped, Sabatier was fined 100 francs and it was announced the match would resume the following night.
= Desire le Beaucairois was Laurent le Beaucairois' younger brother.
29 October 1906
1. Laurent le Beaucairois def. Paul le Contineur (3:10)
2. Georg Lurich def. Max Schneider (25:15)
3. Pat Connolly def. Hermann Dangers (6:45)
4. Ossip def. Peter Schons (0:35)
5. Karl Saft def. Victor Legrand (5:40)
6. Wladyslaw Pytlasinski def. Josef Rodel (4:01)
7. Jean Sabatier def. Miller (8:00)
30 October 1906
1. Chesinap def. Constant le Marin (0:40)
2. Georg Lurich def. Nicolaevich (24:05)
3. Sirgul def. Isidore Globus (2:22)
4. Jean Sabatier def. Renardo (11:20)
5. Georg Rissbacher def. Spirido (16:44)
6. Gustav Fristensky def. Karl Milchthaler (2:46)
7. Van der Gold def. Behrenstam (2:02)
31 October 1906
1. Karl Saft def. Adhres (7:19)
2. Heinrich Weber def. Jimmy McDonald (12:47)
3. Max Schneider def. Paul Jankowski (12:01)
4. Glinkin Pugatschev def. Renardo (2:21)
5. Cyclop Bienkowski def. Van der Gold (4:17)
6. Sirgul def. Van der Beck (1:55)
7. Wladyslaw Pytlasinski def. Corrado Carpini (5:33)
1 November 1906
1. Anderson def. Jean Calvet (1:12)
2. Wladyslaw Pytlasinski def. Max Schneider (11:20)
3. Jean Sabatier def. Josef Geilmeier (6:50)
4. Magnus Bech-Olsen def. Miller (0:45)
5. Stanislaus Zbyszko def. August Kielbasson (1:15)
6. Laurent le Beaucairois def. Karl Saft (17:17)
7. Gustav Fristensky def. Nicolaevich (12:20)
2 November 1906
1. Pat Connolly def. Desire le Beaucairois (7:30)
2. Dirk van den Berg def. Victor Legrand (1:19)
3. Michael Hitzler def. Isidore Globus (0:40)
4. Georg Lurich def. Jimmy McDonald (4:50)
5. John Pohl def. Chesinap (5:00)
6. Wladyslaw Pytlasinski def. Jean Sabatier (13:07)
= Constant le Marin, from Belgium, showed up and was upset that a French wrestler had been using his name during this tournament. Constant, the Belgian, offered to defeat the French Constant three times in 15 minutes or forfeit 500 francs. The match was booked for a couple of days later.
3 November 1906
1. John Pohl def. Bernhard Paxon (6:35)
2. Dirk van den Berg def. Nagy (1:15)
3. Ossip def. Karl Saft (5:45)
4. Magnus Bech-Olsen drew Georg Lurich (40:00)
5. Cyclop Bienkowski def. Jean Sabatier (21:15)
6. Stanislaus Zbyszko def. Joseph Bonelli (0:49)
4 November 1906
1. Michael Hitzler def. Hermann Dangers (7:24)
2. Pilkow def. Behrenstam (2:55)
3. John Pohl drew Ossip (40:00)
4. Georg Lurich def. Magnus Bech-Olsen (20:30)
5. Buzovac Mourzouck def. Josef Rodel (4:20)
6. Non-tournament match: Constant le Marin def. Constant le Marin (0:23, 0:15, 1:27)
= As he had said he would, the Belgian Constant le Marin beat the French Constant le Marin three times in 15 minutes and the crowd gave him a big ovation. After this win Constant officially joined the tournament and the French le Marin was no longer part of it.
5 November 1906
1. Georg Lurich def. Michael Hitzler (16:33)
2. Constant le Marin def. Nicolas le Boulanger (0:37)
3. Laurent le Beaucairois def. Heinrich Weber (17:28)
4. Gustav Fristensky def. Georg Rissbacher (14:15)
5. Stanislaus Zbyszko drew Ahmed Madrali (40:00)
6. John Pohl def. Ossip (9:30)
= Nicolas le Boulanger was a sub for Vasilesko.
6 November 1906
1. Anastace Angelio def. Pilkow (3:15)
2. Magnus Bech-Olsen def. Emil Bau (6:00)
3. Georg Lurich drew Dirk van der Berg (40:00)
4. Sirgul def. Renardo (2:01)
5. Constant le Marin def. Franz Saurer (16:35)
6. Stanislaus Zbyszko def. Ahmed Madrali (1:20)
7. Non-tournament match: Cyclop Bienkowski def. Jean Sabatier (2:30)
= Sabatier had requested a rematch with Cyclop, but since Sabatier was already eliminated from the tournament, this match did not count toward the tournament.
7 November 1906
1. Constant le Marin def. Georg Rissbacher (5:45)
2. Gustav Fristensky def. Paul Wilson (5:51)
3. Georg Lurich drew Laurent le Beaucairois (40:00)
4. Cyclop Bienkowski def. Ossip (6:57)
5. Dirk van den Berg def. Georg Strenge (11:50)
6. John Pohl def. Buzovac Mourzouck (24:15)
8 November 1906
1. Gustav Fristensky def. Franz Sauerer (7:25)
2. Wladyslaw Pytlasinski def. Joseph Bonelli (5:14)
3. Non-tournament match: Georg Lurich def. Magnus Bech-Olsen (27:50)
4. Glinkin Pugatschev def. Pat Connolly (2:17)
5. Stanislaus Zbyszko drew Dirk van den Berg (40:00)
6. Ahmed Madrali def. Jourdan le Boucher (4:19)
= Bech-Olsen didn't think he had been fairly defeated in the previous match with Lurich so he asked for a rematch.
9 November 1906
1. John Pohl def. Michael Hitzler (5:25)
2. Cyclop Bienkowski def. Sirgul (2:10)
3. Stanislaus Zbyszko def. Anderson (2:20)
4. Magnus Bech-Olsen drew Wladyslaw Pytlasinski (40:00)
5. Georg Lurich vs. Laurent le Beaucairois was stopped (57:00)
= At one point the Frenchman le Beaucairois believed he had won the match, the crowd disagreed and booed him quite a bit (Lurich had become a crowd favorite during the course of the tournament), le Beaucairois got angry and refused to continue. He did eventually agree to continue wrestling, but ultimately the match had to be stopped because it was getting too late. It was announced the match would be resumed a few days later.
10 November 1906
1. Glinkin Pugatschev def. Alec Bain (3:32)
2. John Pohl def. Anderson (6:14)
3. Constant le Marin def. Sirgul (3:19)
4. Stanislaus Zbyszko def. Magnus Bech-Olsen (18:30)
5. Georg Lurich def. Ahmed Madrali (9:15)
11 November 1906
1. Stanislaus Zbyszko drew Laurent le Beaucairois (40:00)
2. Constant le Marin def. Pat Connolly (1:33)
3. Anastace Anglio def. Alec Bain (1:34)
4. Cyclop Bienkowski def. Buzovac Mourzouck (24:12)
5. Georg Lurich drew John Pohl (40:00)
12 November 1906
1. Wladyslaw Pytlasinski def. Ahmed Madrali (11:40)
2. Stanislaus Zbyszko def. Heinrich Weber (1:19)
3. John Pohl def. Georg Strenge (18:56)
4. Georg Lurich def. Laurent le Beaucairois (1:31:12)
13 November 1906
1. Anastace Anglio def. Salim (1:10)
2. Stanislaus Zbyszko def. Laurent le Beaucairois (45:12)
3. Georg Lurich def. John Pohl (0:31)
The final round robin stage began here. The final eight wrestlers were: Stanislaus Zbyszko, Georg Lurich, Wladyslaw Pytlasinski, Constant le Marin, Gustav Fristensky, Cyclop Bienkowski, Anastace Anglio and Glinkin Pugatschev.
14 November 1906
1. Georg Lurich drew Anastace Anglio (40:00)
2. Constant le Marin def. Glinkin Pugatschev (4:21)
3. Non-tournament match: Stanislaus Zbyszko drew John Pohl (40:00)
15 November 1906
1. Constant le Marin def. Gustav Fristensky (22:25)
2. Stanislaus Zbyszko def. Wladyslaw Pytlasinski (34:15)
3. Georg Lurich def. Anastace Anglio (3:30)
16 November 1906
1. Non-tournament match: Stanislaus Zbyszko def. John Pohl (17:45)
2. Georg Lurich drew Cyclop Bienkowski (40:00)
3. Wladyslaw Pytlasinski def. Gustav Fristensky (21:15)
17 November 1906
1. Georg Lurich drew Wladyslaw Pytlasinski (40:00)
2. Constant le Marin def. Anastace Anglio (3:11)
3. Stanislaus Zbyszko def. Glinkin Pugatschev (6:30)
18 November 1906
1. Georg Lurich def. Wladyslaw Pytlasinski (12:14)
2. Stanislaus Zbyszko drew Cyclop Bienkowski (40:00)
3. Gustav Fristensky def. Glinkin Pugatschev (16:55)
19 November 1906
1. Anastace Anglio def. Glinkin Pugatschev (1:24)
2. Stanislaus Zbyszko drew Constant le Marin (40:00)
3. Georg Lurich def. Cyclop Bienkowski (23:03)
20 November 1906
1. Gustav Fristensky drew Anastace Anglio (40:00)
2. Cyclop Bienkowski def. Glinkin Pugatschev (5:05)
3. Stanislaus Zbyszko drew Georg Lurich (40:00)
21 November 1906
1. Stanislaus Zbyszko def. Constant le Marin (11:15)
2. Georg Lurich def. Gustav Fristensky (35:16)
22 November 1906
1. Stanislaus Zbyszko def. Gustav Fristensky (47:25)
2. Georg Lurich def. Constant le Marin (36:08)
3. Stanislaus Zbyszko def. Georg Lurich (16:08) to become the World champion
4. Anastace Anglio vs. Cyclop Bienkowski was stopped after Anglio injured his wrist.
= With his victory over Lurich Zbyszko won the tournament, but Lurich refused to accept the defeat so Zbyszko agreed to wrestle him again the following night.
23 November 1906
1. Stanislaus Zbyszko def. Cyclop Bienkowski (12:25)
2. Georg Lurich def. Glinkin Pugatschev (15:20)
3. Constant le Marin def. Cyclop Bienkowski (5:05)
4. Non-tournament match: Stanislaus Zbyszko def. Georg Lurich (33:25)
After the tournament was over some of the wrestlers from it moved over to Cirque Metropole and wrestled there for about ten days.
-------------------
Event: Paris World Championship
When: 25 October to 3 December 1906
Venue: Folies Bergere
Participants: about 60 wrestlers
Backed by: "Les Sports" newspaper
Final placement:
1. Ivan Poddubny
2. Heinrich Eberle
3. Aimable de la Calmette
4. Nicolai Petroff
5. Raymond Cazeaux
6. Simon Antonitch
7. Chambers Zipps
8. Emile Vervet
9. Josef Smejkal
10. Redjeb Pengal
As was the norm the tournament started with an elimination phase (two loses and you were out) and then the final ten remaining wrestlers were to wrestle in a round robin tournament to determine the World champion. The match format was two 10-minute rounds followed by a 15-minute round, if needed.
The biggest name in this tournament was Ivan Poddubny, who won it, thus becoming the first wrestler to win two World Championships in Paris, and in a row at that. Other notable names in the tournament were the German Heinrich Eberle, the Bulgarian Nicolai Petroff, the Serbian Simon Antonitch, the Frenchmen Aimable de la Calmette and Raymond Cazeaux, the Czech Josef Smejkal, and the Scots Alex Munro and Jimmy Esson.
The results of the 1906 Paris World Championship (Les Sports):
25 October 1906
1. Jimmy Esson def. Raulot (0:18)
2. Laurent le Stephanois def. Mikoul le Tzigane (14:07)
3. Jules Rosset def. Camille le Boucher (5:23)
4. Simon Antonitch def. Wilhelm Metzner (1:05)
5. Emile Vervet def. Santos Willis (22:20)
26 October 1906
1. Saynet def. Bigeyre (9:03)
2. Fritz Muller def. Roche (5:32)
3. Heinrich Eberle def. Mallet le Mecanicien (1:23)
4. Said Kahuta def. Louis d'Ivry (10:47)
5. Ivan Poddubny def. Marius Couly (5:57)
Earlier on Ivan Poddubny had issued a challenge to Zbyszko, Lurich and Aberg to wrestle him at Paul Pons' gymnasium. Poddubny went there at the time he had suggested, but the other three were nowhere to be found. Laurent le Beaucairois turned up instead, but Poddubny wasn't interested in wrestling him. This all ties back to a story where earlier in Moscow Poddubny had invaded, if you will, a card where Lurich and Aberg were wrestling and had challenged both of them to wrestle him, but they had declined and were now denying this incident had happened so Poddubny was now challenging them again, but this time in Paris. There's a strong possibility Poddubny's challenge was shoot one, because he wasn't working at all with the guys in question at this time.
27 October 1906
1. Aimable de la Calmette def. Adolf Witzler (12:13)
2. Simon Antonitch def. Joseph le Boulanger (6:51)
3. Ivan Poddubny def. Emile le Comtois (3:18)
4. Chambers Zipps def. Capitan le Cuirassier (0:34)
5. Raymond Cazeaux def. Max Schwarz (12:57)
28 October 1906
1. Snoe def. Karl Fürst (5:03)
2. Nicolai Petroff def. Buisson (12:20)
3. Chambers Zipps def. Roche (0:09)
4. Raymond Cazeaux drew Saynet (35:00)
5. Urban Christoph def. Louis Chorella (2:21)
Poddubny went to Pons' gymnasium again since he had heard Lurich may turn up and accept his challenge, but Lurich didn't show up.
29 October 1906
1. Santos Willis def. Camille le Boucher (3:17)
2. Mahmoud def. Gaumont le Frappeur (5:16)
3. Emile Vervet def. Mikoul le Tzigane (11:04)
4. Heinrich Eberle def. Charre dit le Maffe (2:31)
5. Redjeb Pengal def. Reniau (3:30)
6. Raymond Cazeaux def. Saynet (47:18)
30 October 1906
1. Otto Meyer def. Louis d'Ivry (10:43)
2. Laurent de Lyon def. Jungers (1:52)
3. Simon Antonitch def. Mallet le Mecanicien (4:13)
4. Adolf Witzler drew Bigeyre (35:00)
5. Ivan Poddubny def. Etienne Lecoufle (3:12)
31 October 1906
1. Josef Smejkal def. Delavigne (5:32)
2. Nicolai Petroff def. Naulot (5:24)
3. Heinrich Eberle def. Janssens (7:28)
4. Jimmy Esson def. Karl Raiser (2:37)
5. Alex Munro def. Herve le Congolais (0:31)
6. Adolf Witzler def. Bigeyre (13:17)
1 November 1906
1. Aimable de la Calmette def. Max Schwarz (14:01)
2. Simon Antonitch def. Colin dit Kilometre (2:43)
3. Chambers Zipps def. Louis Chorella (8:03)
4. Ivan Poddubny def. Van Praet (13:57)
5. Raymond Cazeaux def. Adolf Witzler (12:14)
2 November 1906
1. Aimable Jeune def. Karl Fürst (14:16)
2. Ivan Poddubny def. Mahmoud (17:46)
3. Fritz Muller def. Etienne Lecoufle (0:22)
4. Laurent de Lyon def. Van Praet (4:18)
5. Alex Munro def. Buisson (6:15)
3 November 1906
1. Otto Meyer def. Herve le Congolais (4:41)
2. Chambers Zipps def. Marius Couly (0:42)
3. Raymond Cazeaux drew Santos Willis (35:00)
4. Alex Munro def. Saynet (10:43)
5. Ivan Poddubny def. Jimmy Esson (21:57)
4 November 1906
1. Lucien Vranken def. Laurent le Stephanois (14:14)
2. Urban Christoph def. Joseph le Boulanger (10:26)
3. Karol Nagy def. Wilhelm Metzner (3:58)
4. Heinrich Eberle def. Mahmoud (5:22)
5. Aimable de la Calmette drew Said Kahuta (35:00)
6. Raymond Cazeaux def. Santos Willis (46:41)
5 November 1906
1. Emile Vervet def. Otto Meyer (11:58)
2. Lancoud def. Jungers (2:24)
3. Nicolai Petroff def. Reniau (6:14)
4. Josef Smejkal drew Jimmy Esson (35:00)
5. Ivan Poddubny def. Urban Christoph (16:44)
6. Aimable de la Calmette def. Said Kahuta (47:12)
6 November 1906
1. Redjeb Pengal def. Emile le Comtois (2:33)
2. Heinrich Eberle def. Colin dit Kilometre (2:26)
3. Raymond Cazeaux def. Lucien Vranken (27:22)
4. Ivan Poddubny drew Laurent de Lyon (35:00)
5. Alex Munro def. Janssens (0:57)
7 November 1906
1. Karol Nagy def. Charre dit le Maffe (2:42)
2. Snoe def. Gaumont le Frappeur (5:52)
3. Aimable Jeune def. Delavigne (0:30)
4. Chambers Zipps def. Karl Raiser (6:32)
5. Ivan Poddubny def. Laurent de Lyon (49:34)
6. Jimmy Esson def. Josef Smejkal via disqualification (20)
= Smejkal got very aggressive and managed to make Esson bleed from the mouth. The referee Pietro Dalmasso jumped in to stop Smejkal and Smejkal threatened to punch Dalmasso. The crowd got angry and started throwing stuff. Dalmasso blew his whistle and announced the disqualification of Smejkal. The jury approved this decision. The crowd popped. Eventually Smejkal apologized in front of the crowd for letting his anger get the best of him, but the referee couldn't reverse his decision without approval from the jury. It was decided that the jury would re-examine the decision the following day. The following day Esson said he did not want to accept such a tainted victory and ultimately the jury decided to reinstate Smejkal, cancel the previous match result and schedule a new match between Smejkal and Esson.
8 November 1906
1. Redjeb Pengal def. Laurent le Stephanois (1:04)
2. Simon Antonitch def. Capitan le Cuirassier (4:40)
3. Emile Vervet def. Jules Rosset (16:36)
4. Alex Munro def. Said Kahuta (14:45)
5. Heinrich Eberle drew Urban Christoph (35:00)
9 November 1906
1. Ivan Poddubny def. Karol Nagy (22:23)
2. Raymond Cazeaux def. Otto Meyer (13:05)
3. Lancoud def. Snoe (13:37)
4. Redjeb Pengal def. Laurent de Lyon (7:02)
5. Nicolai Petroff def. Lucien Vranken (14:10)
6. Heinrich Eberle def. Urban Christoph (0:20)
10 November 1906
1. Emile Vervet def. Aimable Jeune (23:22)
2. Heinrich Eberle def. Karol Nagy (2:53)
3. Raymond Cazeaux def. Lancoud (13:30)
4. Ivan Poddubny drew Alex Munro (35:00)
5. Josef Smejkal def. Jimmy Esson (42:24)
11 November 1906
1. Chambers Zipps def. Aimable Jeune (2:18)
2. Aimable de la Calmette def. Lancoud (13:26)
3. Ivan Poddubny def. Fritz Muller (25:27)
12 November 1906
1. Redjeb Pengal def. Jules Rosset (19:49)
2. Simon Antonitch drew Fritz Muller (35:00)
3. Ivan Poddubny def. Alex Munro via disqualification
= Right at the start of the second round Munro grabbed Poddubny's leg (which was against the rules of Greco-Roman wrestling), the referee ordered him to let go and when he didn't the referee disqualified Munro. By being disqualified in this match Munro was also disqualified from the tournament altogether.
This is when the final phase began. The ten wrestlers who were now going to wrestle each other in a round robin tournament to determine the World champion were: Ivan Poddubny, Aimable de la Calmette, Heinrich Eberle, Nicolai Petroff, Chambers Zipps, Josef Smejkal, Redjeb Pengal, Raymond Cazeaux, Emile Vervet and the winner of the Antonitch vs. Muller rematch.
13 November 1906
1. Josef Smejkal drew Raymond Cazeaux (35:00)
2. Ivan Poddubny def. Redjeb Pengal (19:50)
3. Simon Antonitch def. Fritz Muller (17:48)
14 November 1906
1. Ivan Poddubny def. Emile Vervet (24:34)
2. Aimable de la Calmette def. Redjeb Pengal (18:27)
3. Raymond Cazeaux def. Josef Smejkal (31:12)
= Some people objected to Cazeaux's victory saying that the hold he had used for the win wasn't a regulation hold so on the following day Cazeaux refused to accept the victory and asked the jury to cancel the result of the match, which they did. A rematch was scheduled for a few days later.
15 November 1906
1. Chambers Zipps def. Redjeb Pengal (10:18)
2. Ivan Poddubny drew Nicolai Petroff (35:00)
16 November 1906
1. Simon Antonitch drew Emile Vervet (35:00)
2. Heinrich Eberle def. Redjeb Pengal (3:32)
3. Ivan Poddubny def. Nicolai Petroff (26:36)
17 November 1906
1. Ivan Poddubny drew Aimable de la Calmette (35:00)
2. Simon Antonitch def. Emile Vervet (27:15)
3. Raymond Cazeaux def. Josef Smejkal (38:35)
18 November 1906
1. Emile Vervet drew Redjeb Pengal (35:00)
2. Ivan Poddubny def. Aimable de la Calmette (28:47)
19 November 1906
1. Chambers Zipps def. Josef Smejkal (11:43)
2. Heinrich Eberle def. Nicolai Petroff (25:24)
3. Emile Vervet def. Redjeb Pengal (32:09)
= Raoul le Boucher, one of the top French stars and Paul Pons' protege, turned up unexpectedly and challenged all the wrestlers from the top ten, with the exception of Poddubny, to wrestle him.
20 November 1906
1. Raymond Cazeaux def. Redjeb Pengal (18:31)
2. Ivan Poddubny drew Simon Antonitch (35:00)
21 November 1906
1. Heinrich Eberle def. Josef Smejkal (24:31)
2. For the title Champion of France: Aimable de la Calmette drew Emile Vervet (35:00)
3. Ivan Poddubny def. Simon Antonitch (24:24)
22 November 1906
1. Nicolai Petroff def. Redjeb Pengal (16:09)
2. Heinrich Eberle def. Simon Antonitch (4:49)
3. For the title Champion of France: Aimable de la Calmette def. Emile Vervet (44:12)
23 November 1906
1. Ivan Poddubny drew Raymond Cazeaux (35:00)
2. Aimable de la Calmette def. Josef Smejkal (31:19)
By this point Raoul le Boucher's challenge had changed - initially he had excluded Poddubny, but shortly afterward he offered Poddubny 5,000 francs if Poddubny agreed to wrestle him. Then Raymond Cazeaux jumped in the middle of all the challenges and wanted to wrestle le Boucher too saying le Boucher was no match for him and that in the past three years le Boucher had lost to Paul Pons 50 or 60 times (which is kind of ironic because the following year Cazeaux ended up joining Pons' troupe and lost to him a bunch of times). After more back and forth challenges ultimately it was agreed upon that le Boucher was to wrestle both Poddubny and Cazeaux at Paul Pons' gymnasium. All three turned up at the gymnasium, which was packed with people, including other wrestlers. Right as Poddubny and le Boucher were about to start wrestling a representative of Paul Ruez (the director of Folies Bergere) stopped them and explained that both Poddubny and Cazeaux had a contract with Ruez to wrestle only at his venue for the duration of the World Championship and he was paying them handsomely for it. They could wrestle le Boucher if they chose to, but then they had to pay a big penalty to Ruez. This was met with a lot of booing and shouting by the crowd. After some hesitation Poddubny and Cazeaux decided not to wrestle le Boucher. Again, much like with the Lurich challenges earlier, this seems like a shoot... or an elaborate work to drum up publicity. We'll never know for sure.
 |
| Scenes from the Ivan Poddubny vs. Raoul le Boucher gymnasium match that almost happened |
24 November 1906
1. Simon Antonitch drew Aimable de la Calmette (35:00)
2. Ivan Poddubny def. Raymond Cazeaux (15:31)
25 November 1906
1. Josef Smejkal def. Redjeb Pengal (17:48)
2. Aimable de la Calmette def. Simon Antonitch (16:14)
26 November 1906
1. Nicolai Petroff def. Simon Antonitch (24:44)
2. Ivan Poddubny def. Chambers Zipps (11:10)
27 November 1906
1. Raymond Cazeaux def. Chambers Zipps (19:48)
2. Emile Vervet def. Josef Smejkal (34:28)
28 November 1906
1. Raymond Cazeaux drew Emile Vervet (35:00)
2. Simon Antonitch def. Josef Smejkal (19:28)
3. Heinrich Eberle def. Chambers Zipps (13:18)
29 November 1906
1. Simon Antonitch def. Redjeb Pengal (18:53)
2. Ivan Poddubny def. Josef Smejkal (18:49)
3. Aimable de la Calmette def. Nicolai Petroff (26:47)
4. Emile Vervet def. Raymond Cazeaux (23:43)
= Cazeaux protested the loss and ultimately the jury agreed he hadn't lost fairly, cancelled the result and a rematch was booked.
30 November 1906
1. Nicolai Petroff def. Josef Smejkal (26:27)
2. Heinrich Eberle drew Aimable de la Calmette (35:00)
3. Simon Antonitch def. Chambers Zipps (16:11)
1 December 1906
1. Nicolai Petroff def. Chambers Zipps (18:23)
2. Heinrich Eberle def. Aimable de la Calmette (29:28)
3. For the title Champion of France: Raymond Cazeaux def. Emile Vervet by default
= Vervet said he did not agree with the decision to cancel the result of their previous match and refused to wrestle so Cazeaux was declared the winner.
2 December 1906
1. Aimable de la Calmette def. Chambers Zipps (18:43)
2. Ivan Poddubny drew Heinrich Eberle (35:00)
3 December 1906
1. For the title Champion of France: Aimable de la Calmette def. Raymond Cazeaux (18:13)
2. Ivan Poddubny def. Heinrich Eberle (52:42) to become the World champion
 |
| An illustration from the French press: the two World champions Stanislaus Zbyszko and Ivan Poddubny |
-------------------
In 1907 there were once again two World Championship tournaments in Paris at the same time. The story heading into first tournament, which was backed by "L'Auto", was that Paul Pons had sent a letter to businessman Marius Dubonnet complaining others had been trying to disparage him while he was absent from Paris, letting Dubonnet know that he would be returning to Paris for the first time in a couple of years and issuing an open challenge to any wrestler that would like to face him. Dubonnet had sponsored the three Gold Belt tournaments as well as the European Championship, and now he was sponsoring a World Championship where Pons would be taking on all-comers. Pons had participated in a few important Paris tournaments, but this was his first World Championship tournament since the 1898 one, which he won. Another notable name involved with this tournament was the playwright Henri de Rothschild, who was the president of the organization committee.
In addition to Pons also in the tournament were notable names like the winner of the 1905 Paris European Championship Jakob Koch, Constant le Marin, Omer de Bouillon, Raymond Cazeaux, Ivan Romanoff, etc. Fred Marcussen and Georg Oettinger were announced, but did not participate in the tournament. Pons, of course, won the tournament and continued his streak of winning every single Paris tournament he was involved in since 1898.
The tournament format was the usual one - an elimination stage followed by a round robin stage with the final ten wrestlers. Initially matches were wrestled in four 10-minute rounds, but then that changed to two 10-minute rounds plus a 15-minute round.
I'd also like to point out that the coverage in "L'Auto" was interesting too. They did cover the rival tournament as well, but very briefly and never referred to it as a World Championship while their own tournament was still going on. In their coverage the other tournament was just a tournament. After their own tournament ended, they started covering the other tournament in more detail, but still weren't referring to it as a World Championship until the very final day when they finally acknowledged it as such.
Event: Paris World Championship
When: 1 November to 9 December 1907
Venue: Apollo Theatre
Participants: over 40 wrestlers
Backed by: "L'Auto" newspaper
Final placement:
1. Paul Pons
2. Jakob Koch
3. Omer de Bouillon & Constant le Marin (tie)
5. Raymond Cazeaux
6. Ivan Romanoff
7. Raoul de Rouen
8. Ursus Jankowsky
9. Gabriel Lassartesse
10. Oskar Schneider
The results of the 1907 Paris World Championship (L'Auto):
1 November 1907
1. Strub def. Paquette (8:25)
2. Oskak Schneider def. Coconet (15:10)
3. Chalzet le Frappeur def. Plumkers (6:10)
4. Raoul de Rouen def. Heinrich Winzer (5:32)
2 November 1907
1. Andersen def. Delavigne (0:06)
2. Noel le Bordelais def. Paul le Brasseur (3:02)
3. Henri Stroobants def. Dacharry (2:15)
4. Gabriel Lassartesse def. Williams (8:25)
5. Jean Schackmann def. Laurent le Stephanois (17:03)
6. Constant le Marin def. Gustave le Cuirassier (0:30)
3 November 1907
1. Max Mignon def. Capitan le Cuirassier (1:04)
2. Albin Kutschke def. Mallet (7:00)
3. Os. Hubert def. Constant de Paris (7:54)
4. Andersen def. Salvador (3:05)
5. Ursus Jankowsky def. Milo (1:20)
4 November 1907
1. Otto Meyer def. Paul le Brasseur (1:40)
2. Alec Bain def. Delavigne (1:10)
3. Pietro II def. Sidi Ben Daoud (7:50)
4. Pat Connolly def. Gustave le Cuirassier
5. Raoul de Rouen def. Hubert Schott (7:00)
6. Coconet def. Paquette (2:05)
5 November 1907
1. Chalzet le Frappeur def. Salvador (5:25)
2. Strub def. Capitan le Cuirassier (5:25)
3. Jean Schackmann def. Max Mignon (1:35)
4. Oskar Schneider def. Williams (13:30)
5. Constant le Marin def. Noel le Bordelais (12:00)
6 November 1907
1. Plumkers def. Mallet (3:30)
2. Heinrich Winzer def. Dacharry (4:35)
3. Laurent le Stephanois def. Hubert Schott (12:30)
4. Gabriel Lassartesse def. Otto Meyer (5:20)
5. Ursus Jankowsky def. Pat Connolly (6:10)
7 November 1907
1. Edouard Miller def. Coconet (18:00)
2. Albin Kutschke def. Charles Poiree (3:25)
3. Raoul de Rouen def. Alec Bain (3:45)
4. Pietro II vs. Andersen was stopped (15:30)
5. Constant le Marin def. Constant de Paris (3:05)
= Pietro II and Andersen were wrestling so rough that they were busted open so the jury decided to stop the match and resume it a few days later.
8 November 1907
1. Oskar Schneider def. Max Mignon (2:14)
2. Ursus Jankowsky def. Strub (11:40)
3. Sidi Ben Daoud def. Milo by forfeit (Milo wasn't there)
4. Chalzet le Frappeur def. Jean Schackmann via disqualification (26:00)
5. Henri Stroobants def. Otto Meyer (3:08)
= Schackmann was disqualified for using prohibited holds and moves.
9 November 1907
1. Noel le Bordelais def. Os. Hubert (6:43)
2. Charles d'Anvers def. Pat Connolly (11:25)
3. Gabriel Lassartesse def. Plumkers (11:48)
4. Constant le Marin def. Hubert Schott (2:00)
10 November 1907
1. Albin Kutschke def. Laurent le Stephanois (12:30)
2. Heinrich Winzer def. Charles d'Anvers (8:12)
3. Andersen def. Pietro II (3:50)
4. Raoul de Rouen def. Sidi Ben Daoud (0:55)
11 November 1907
1. Oskar Schneider drew Chalzet le Frappeur (40:00)
2. Ivan Romanoff def. Alec Bain (0:55)
3. Raymond Cazeaux def. Edouard Miller (12:20)
4. Paul Pons def. Strub (1:05)
12 November 1907
1. Gabriel Lassartesse def. Henri Stroobants (21:10)
2. Omer de Bouillon def. Pietro II (12:18)
3. Ursus Jankowsky def. Noel le Bordelais (4:40)
4. Jakob Koch def. Andersen (4:45)
13 November 1907
1. Jean Amalhou def. Alec Bain (5:45)
2. Raoul de Rouen def. Charles d'Anvers (14:35)
3. Paul Pons def. Heinrich Winzer (3:45)
4. Constant le Marin def. Albin Kutschke (12:00)
= Ivan Poddubny and two of his managers showed up unannounced and challenged Pons to wrestle Poddubny with 20,000 francs at stake.
The story of Poddubny challenging Pons was a big one and eventually led to Pons suing Poddubny, Casino de Paris and two newspapers for unfair competition and defamation of character. I covered the story in detail here.
14 November 1907
1. Edouard Miller def. Pietro II (15:03)
2. Ivan Romanoff def. Strub (6:04)
3. Raymond Cazeaux def. Andersen (12:16)
4. Oskar Schneider def. Chalzet le Frappeur (15:25)
15 November 1907
1. Ursus Jankowsky def. Heinrich Winzer (3:35)
2. Henri Stroobants def. Alec Bain (1:45)
3. Omer de Bouillon drew Gabriel Lassartesse (35:00)
4. Jakob Koch def. Noel le Bordelais (6:00)
16 November 1907
1. Charles d'Anvers def. Strub (7:05)
2. Andersen def. Chalzet le Frappeur (11:35)
3. Constant le Marin def. Jean Amalhou (5:20)
4. Omer de Bouillon def. Gabriel Lassartesse (24:00)
17 November 1907
1. Ivan Romanoff def. Noel le Bordelais (8:35)
2. Raoul de Rouen def. Pietro II (5:05)
3. Raymond Cazeaux def. Albin Kutschke (13:00)
4. Jakob Koch def. Henri Stroobants (4:15)
18 November 1907
1. Ursus Jankowsky def. Charles d'Anvers (3:55)
2. Omer de Bouillon def. Henri Stroobants (13:05)
3. Gabriel Lassartesse def. Jean Amalhou (24:25)
4. Constant le Marin def. Chalzet le Frappeur (1:30)
19 November 1907
1. Ivan Romanoff def. Andersen (4:40)
2. Raoul de Rouen def. Albin Kutschke (7:12)
3. Raymond Cazeaux def. Jean Amalhou (15:30)
4. Paul Pons def. Oskar Schneider (6:07)
= Pons vs. Schneider was part of the final stage of the tournament.
The ten wrestlers in the final stage were Paul Pons, Raoul de Rouen, Ivan Romanoff, Gabriel Lassartesse, Jakob Koch, Constant le Marin, Raymond Cazeaux, Oskar Schneider, Ursus Jankowsky and Omer de Bouillon.
20 November 1907
1. Raymond Cazeaux drew Gabriel Lassartesse (35:00)
2. Jakob Koch def. Ivan Romanoff (16:30)
21 November 1907
1. Ursus Jankowsky def. Oskar Schneider (3:17)
2. Raymond Cazeaux def. Gabriel Lassartesse (16:00)
22 November 1907
1. Omer de Bouillon drew Ivan Romanoff (35:00)
2. Paul Pons def. Ursus Jankowsky (29:00)
23 November 1907
1. Raoul de Rouen def. Oskar Schneider (4:45)
2. Constant le Marin def. Gabriel Lassartesse (8:40)
24 November 1907
1. Jakob Koch def. Oskar Schneider (4:43)
2. Omer de Bouillon def. Ivan Romanoff (35:35)
25 November 1907
1. Ursus Jankowsky def. Gabriel Lassartesse (8:10)
2. Paul Pons def. Raoul de Rouen (20:15)
26 November 1907
1. Raymond Cazeaux def. Ivan Romanoff (30:10)
2. Constant le Marin def. Oskar Schneider (3:30)
27 November 1907
1. Raoul de Rouen def. Gabriel Lassartesse (13:40)
2. Omer de Bouillon def. Oskar Schneider (4:50)
3. Jakob Koch def. Ursus Jankowsky (23:40)
28 November 1907
1. Jakob Koch def. Gabriel Lassartesse (7:25)
2. Raymond Cazeaux def. Raoul de Rouen (22:05)
3. Paul Pons drew Omer de Bouillon (35:00)
29 November 1907
1. Ivan Romanoff def. Oskar Schneider (4:12)
2. Constant le Marin def. Ursus Jankowsky (21:00)
3. Paul Pons def. Omer de Bouillon (43:25)
30 November 1907
1. Gabriel Lassartesse def. Oskar Schneider (16:00)
2. Omer de Bouillon drew Raymond Cazeaux (35:00)
3. Paul Pons def. Ivan Romanoff (15:00)
1 December 1907
1. Raoul de Rouen def. Ursus Jankowsky (14:25)
2. Paul Pons def. Gabriel Lassartesse (4:32)
3. Omer de Bouillon def. Raymond Cazeaux (1:18:30)
2 December 1907
1. Omer de Bouillon def. Gabriel Lassartesse (16:30)
2. Constant le Marin def. Raoul de Rouen (22:40)
3. Raymond Cazeaux def. Ursus Jankowsky (4:15)
3 December 1907
1. Jakob Koch def. Omer de Bouillon (21:55)
2. Paul Pons drew Raymond Cazeaux (35:00)
4 December 1907
1. Constant le Marin drew Omer de Bouillon (35:00)
2. Paul Pons def. Raymond Cazeaux (25:40)
5 December 1907
1. Constant le Marin def. Ivan Romanoff (21:35)
2. Jakob Koch def. Raoul de Rouen (14:30)
6 December 1907
1. Ivan Romanoff def. Ursus Jankowsky (24:32)
2. Constant le Marin def. Raymond Cazeaux (29:00)
7 December 1907
1. Ivan Romanoff def. Raoul de Rouen (13:10)
2. Jakob Koch def. Raymond Cazeaux (16:00)
3. Omer de Bouillon def. Constant le Marin (40:00)
= Benefit show, proceeds going to those affected by the recent flooding in Southern France.
8 December 1907
1. Ivan Romanoff def. Gabriel Lassartesse (6:05)
2. Omer de Bouillon def. Ursus Jankowsky (16:10)
3. Paul Pons def. Constant le Marin (27:35)
9 December 1907
1. Omer de Bouillon def. Raoul de Rouen (15:25)
2. Paul Pons def. Jakob Koch (1:01:00) to become the World champion
 |
| The final standings of the 1907 Paris World Championship (L'Auto) |
-------------------
The other Paris World Championship in 1907 was held at Folies Bergere and was organized by "Les Sports".
The format was the same as always - elimination stage followed by a round robin stage. The matches were wrestled in two 10-minute rounds at first, and then three 10-minute rounds. And, of course, if there was to be a rematch that match was without a time limit.
The big story of this tournament was Giovanni Raicevich winning his first World Championship. The Italian Raicevich was already a popular name, but certainly not a major name anywhere else besides his home country. This Paris win elevated him higher. Giovanni's brother Emilio Ruggiero was also in the tournament and left a strong impression as a bit of a wildman. Other notable names in the tournament were Laurent le Beaucairois, Simon Antonitch, Wladyslaw Pytlasinski, Magnus-Bech Olsen, Dirk van den Berg and Janos Czaja.
Event: Paris World Championship (Les Sports)
When: 7 November to 16 December 1907
Venue: Folies Bergere
Participants: over 40 wrestlers
Backed by: "Les Sports" newspaper
Final placement:
1. Giovanni Raicevich
2. Laurent le Beaucairois
3. Simon Antonitch
4. Emilio Ruggiero
5. Wladyslaw Pytlasinski
6. Emile Deriaz
7. Janos Czaja
8. Jourdan d'Uzes
9. Paul Bahn & Wilhelm Stalling (tie)
The results of the 1907 Paris World Championship (Les Sports):
7 November 1907
1. Georg Altmann def. Victor Chenaye (1:04)
2. Wilhelm Stalling def. Emil Hiltmann (1:12)
3. Karl Derma def. Francois Fournier (4:04)
4. Hollerick le Boucher def. E. Crechon (4:17)
5. Jourdan d'Uzes def. Hermann Gehrke (3:22)
6. Franz Hissmann def. Wilhelm Pytlinski (13:38)
7. Ludwig Grammer def. Maurice de Bordeaux (1:05)
8. Wladyslaw Pytlasinski def. Pierre Fonson (3:22)
8 November 1907
1. Georg Altmann def. Gorcel (2:44)
2. Janos Czaja def. Andre Renian (3:02)
3. Josef Rodel def. Georg Bohm (5:39)
4. Michaud le Boucher def. Josef Lindinger (6:47)
5. John Roepell def. Victorius (6:47)
6. Emile Deriaz def. Pierre Fonson (11:40)
7. Giovanni Raicevich def. Albert Andre (0:41)
8. Laurent le Beaucairois def. Mittregger (2:42)
9 November 1907
1. Emil Hiltmann drew Francois Fournier (20:00)
2. Ludwig Grammer def. Hermann Gehrke (7:20)
3. Jourdan d'Uzes def. Willy Reichelt (1:33)
4. Michaud le Boucher def. Ernst Geisler (1:32)
5. Emilio Ruggiero def. Hermann Ehlert (1:34)
6. Simon Antonitch def. Hollerick le Boucher (7:40)
7. Magnus Bech-Olsen def. Eugene de Marseille (1:00)
8. Giovanni Raicevich def. Karl Derma (1:02)
10 November 1907
1. Pierre Fonson def. Maurice de Bordeaux (6:50)
2. Francois Fournier def. Emil Hiltmann (4:07)
3. Wilhelm Stalling def. Victor Chenaye (10:52)
4. Georg Altmann def. Eugene de Marseille (0:12)
5. Wladyslaw Pytlasinski def. Hollerick le Boucher (8:49)
6. Dirk van den Berg def. Desire de Beaucaire (3:46)
7. Giovanni Raicevich def. Ernst Geisler (1:40)
8. Laurent le Beaucairois drew Paul Bahn (20:00)
11 November 1907
1. Franz Hissmann def. E. Crechon (5:00)
2. Josef Rodel def. Andre Renian (4:22)
3. Georg Altmann def. Emil Hiltmann (1:44)
4. Emile Deriaz def. Hermann Gehrke (2:22)
5. John Roepell def. Albert Andre (4:21)
6. Emilio Ruggiero def. Victorius (7:12)
7. Magnus Bech-Olsen def. Karl Derma (3:22)
8. Laurent le Beaucairois def. Paul Bahn (21:02)
12 November 1907
1. Karl Derma def. Willy Reichelt (5:30)
2. Paul Bahn def. Wilhelm Pytlinski (7:40)
3. Emilio Ruggiero def. Corcel (4:43)
4. John Roepell def. Hermann Ehlert (4:37)
5. Michaud le Boucher def. Georges Boehn (5:35)
6. Jourdan d’Uzes def. Pierre Fonson (7:45)
7. Simon Antonitch drew Janos Czaja (20:00)
8. Giovanni Raicevich def. Ludwig Grammer (16:22)
13 November 1907
1. Desire le Beaucaire def. Mitteregger (9:15)
2. Janos Czaja def. Francois Fournier (5:10)
3. Dirk van den Berg def. Josef Lindinger (2:19)
4. John Roepell def. Hollerick le Boucher (11:48)
5. Emile Deriaz drew Georg Altmann (2:00)
6. Wladyslaw Pytlasinski def. Franz Hissmann (14:28)
14 November 1907
1. Wilhelm Stalling def. Crechon (4:07)
2. Josef Rodel def. Victor Chenaye (3:20)
3. John Roepell def. Eugene de Marseille (2:16)
4. Paul Bahn def. Corcel (4:45)
5. Giovanni Raicevich def. Michaud le Boucher (14:45)
6. Simon Antonitch def. Janos Czaja (33:10)
7. Emile Deriaz def. Georg Altmann (7:45)
15 November 1907
1. Josef Lindinger def. Maurice de Bordeaux (12:50)
2. Wilhelm Stalling def. Andre Renian (5:05)
3. Emilio Ruggiero drew Josef Rodel (30:00)
4. Laurent le Beaucairois def. Franz Hissmann (4:47)
5. Magnus Bech-Olsen def. Ludwig Grammer (6:07)
= There's conflicing reports about the Stalling/Renian match - some have the result as Renian beating Stalling.
16 November 1907
1. Janos Czaja def. Victorius (2:52)
2. Dirk van den Berg def. Mitteregger (1:23)
3. Simon Antonitch def. Hermann Ehlert (2:48)
4. Giovanni Raicevich def. Henri Aberegg (2:19)
5. Wladyslaw Pytlasinski drew Paul Bahn (30:00)
6. Emilio Ruggiero def. Josef Rodel (30:42)
17 November 1907
1. Janos Czaja def. Ernst Geisler (3:30)
2. Jourdan d’Uzes def. Georges Boehn (3:50)
3. Emilio Ruggiero def. Josef Lindinger (9:45)
4. John Roepell def. Henri Aberegg (6:31)
5. Wladyslaw Pytlasinski def. Paul Bahn (34:00)
18 November 1907
1. Desire le Beaucaire def. Willy Reichelt (6:16)
2. Francois Fournuer def. Albert Andre (14:40
3. Emile Deriaz def. Wilhelm Pytlinski (6:14)
4. Magnus Bech-Olsen def. Henri Aberegg (5:08)
5. Giovanni Raicevich drew John Roepell (30:00)
19 November 1907
1. Josef Rodel def. Francois Fournier (13:45)
2. Janos Czaja def. Georg Altmann (14:20)
3. Simon Antonitch def. Desire le Beaucaire (8:24)
4. Giovanni Raicevich def. John Roepell (30:04)
20 November 1907
1. Emile Deriaz def. Karl Derma (0:13)
2. Jourdan d’Uzes drew Wilhelm Stalling (30:00)
3. Laurent le Beaucairois def. Ludwig Grammer (9:50)
4. Giovanni Raicevich drew Magnus Bech-Olsen (30:00)
21 November 1907
1. Michaud le Boucher def. Karl Derma (6:25)
2. Emilio Ruggiero def. Franz Hissmann (17:26)
3. Wladyslaw Pytlasinski def. Georg Altmann (9:05)
4. Giovanni Raicevich def. Magnus Bech-Olsen (46:40)
22 November 1907
1. Jourdan d’Uzes def. Wilhelm Stalling (26:02)
2. Emilio Ruggiero def. Desire le Beaucaire (15:07)
3. Dirk van den Berg def. Franz Hissmann (6:02)
4. Laurent le Beaucairois drew John Roepell (30:00)
23 November 1907
1. Janos Czaja drew Wilhelm Stalling (30:00)
2. Paul Bahn def. Desire le Beaucaire (9:20)
3. Emilio Ruggiero def. Michaud le Boucher (25:02)
4. Simon Antonitch def. Magnus Bech-Olsen (22:16)
= After this loss Bech-Olsen announced he's leaving the tournament.
24 November 1907
1. Emile Deriaz drew Paul Bahn (30:00)
2. Giovanni Raicevich def. Josef Rodel (20:50)
3. Laurent le Beaucairois def. John Roepell (25:07)
25 November 1907
1. Janos Czaja def. Wilhelm Stalling (12:00)
2. Wladyslaw Pytlasinski def. Michaud le Boucher (12:42)
3. Emile Deriaz def. Paul Bahn (48:57)
= Czaja won his match with a move that was against the rules so the jury annulled the result of the Czaja/Stalling match and announced the match would take place again at a later date.
26 November 1907
1. Jourdan d'Uzes def. Josef Rodel (5:35)
2. Laurent le Beaucairois def. Dirk van den Berg (13:00)
3. Emilio Ruggiero drew John Roepell (30:00)
27 November 1907
1. Michaud le Boucher def. Josef Rodel (15:20)
2. Giovanni Raicevich def. Wilhelm Stalling (13:50)
3. Emilio Ruggiero def. John Roepell (25:02)
= Ruggiero vs. Roepell is described as a very unruly match with lots of slapping, arguing with the ref, arguing with audience members, etc. After the match was over Roepell attacked the referee and was therefore disqualified from the tournament.
28 November 1907
1. Paul Bahn def. Michaud le Boucher (14:02)
2. Simon Antonitch def. Wilhelm Stalling (13:45)
3. Laurent le Beaucairois def. Janos Czaja (24:02)
29 November 1907
1. Wladyslaw Pytlasinski def. Wilhelm Stalling (12:02)
2. Giovanni Raicevich def. Janos Czaja (15:00)
3. Emilio Ruggiero drew Paul Bahn (30:00)
30 November 1907
1. Giovanni Raicevich def. Jourdan d'Uzes (22:00)
2. Laurent le Beaucairois drew Emile Deriaz (30:00)
3. Emilio Ruggiero def. Paul Bahn (15:30)
1 December 1907
1. Simon Antonitch def. Paul Bahn (17:04)
2. Emilio Ruggiero drew Jourdan d'Uzes (30:00)
3. Laurent le Beaucairois def. Emile Deriaz (34:45)
2 December 1907
1. Wladyslaw Pytlasinski def. Janos Czaja (25:15)
2. Giovanni Raicevich def. Paul Bahn (21:12)
3. Emilio Ruggiero def. Jourdan d'Uzes (35:02)
3 December 1907
1. Emile Deriaz def. Jourdan d'Uzes (14:55)
2. Laurent le Beaucairois def. Wilhelm Stalling (6:02)
3. Giovanni Raicevich drew Wladyslaw Pytlasinski (30:00)
4 December 1907
1. Simon Antonitch def. Jourdan d'Uzes (15:50)
2. Laurent le Beaucairois def. Paul Bahn (15:55)
3. Giovanni Raicevich def. Wladyslaw Pytlasinski (37:18)
5 December 1907
1. Emile Deriaz def. Paul Bahn (25:00)
2. Wladyslaw Pytlasinski def. Jourdan d'Uzes (3:38)
3. Laurent le Beaucairois drew Emilio Ruggiero (30:00)
6 December 1907
1. Jourdan d'Uzes def. Wilhelm Stalling (5:47)
2. Giovanni Raicevich def. Emile Deriaz (16:15)
3. Laurent le Beaucairois vs. Emilio Ruggiero was stopped (55:00)
= Le Beaucairois ended up punching Ruggiero and knocking him out so the match had to be stopped as punching was against the rules.
7 December 1907
1. Giovanni Raicevich def. Emile Deriaz (4:10)
2. Janos Czaja def. Jourdan d'Uzes (25:53)
3. Simon Antonitch drew Wladyslaw Pytlasinski (30:00)
8 December 1907
1. Emile Deriaz def. Wilhelm Stalling (15:02)
2. Wladyslaw Pytlasinski def. Paul Bahn (23:00)
3. Laurent le Beaucairois def. Emilio Ruggiero (50:00)
9 December 1907
1. Janos Czaja def. Paul Bahn (41:38)
2. Simon Antonitch def. Wladyslaw Pytlasinski (35:14)
10 December 1907
1. Jourdan d'Uzes def. Paul Bahn (27:50)
2. Laurent le Beaucairois def. Wladyslaw Pytlasinski (43:10)
3. Emilio Ruggiero vs. Janos Czaja was stopped (20:00)
11 December 1907
1. Laurent le Beaucairois def. Jourdan d'Uzes (5:10)
2. Giovanni Raicevich def. Simon Antonitch (42:23)
12 December 1907
1. Simon Antonitch def. Janos Czaja (18:18)
2. Emilio Ruggiero def. Wladyslaw Pytlasinski (38:46)
13 December 1907
1. Janos Czaja def. Wilhelm Stalling (19:35)
2. Giovanni Raicevich def. Emilio Ruggiero (32:05)
3. Simon Antonitch def. Emile Deriaz (30:20)
14 December 1907
1. Emilio Ruggiero def. Emile Deriaz (35:06)
2. Laurent le Beaucairois def. Simon Antonitch (31:25)
15 December 1907
1. Wladyslaw Pytlasinski def. Emile Deriaz (30:32)
2. Simon Antonitch def. Emilio Ruggiero (38:05)
16 December 1907
1. Emile Deriaz def. Janos Czaja (28:25)
2. Emilio Ruggiero def. Wilhelm Stalling (8:00)
3. Giovanni Raicevich def. Laurent le Beaucairois (47:22) to become the World champion
 |
| The final standings of the 1907 Paris World Championship (Les Sports) |
There was also a third World Championship tournament in Paris that year, but it was a World Lightweight Championship. It started on 20 December 1907 and finished in January 1908. It was held at Casino de Paris and was backed by "L'Auto". This was the first World Lightweight Championship in Paris (so light heavyweight, basically). Gabriel Lassartesse won the tournament.
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There are a few more Paris World Championships, but this is where we'll end the story... for now.
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