L'Homme Masqué - Pro Wrestling's First Masked Superstar

The story of the masked wrestler(s) of Paris in 1867.

In this article we will take a look at the wrestler known simply as L'Homme Masqué (The Masked Man) who took Paris by storm in 1867. He wasn't the first masked wrestler in professional wrestling history, but he was without question the first one to become a major sensation. Furthermore, he attracted international attention at a level no other wrestler before him had ever done. The original masked wrestler of Paris, the other masked wrestlers that followed, the lawsuit involving him, a controversial newspaper cover, and plenty more will be discussed below.

French illustration from September 1867 depicting L'Homme Masqué (The Masked Man) in action

The Beginning of Pro Wrestling in France

It's difficult to trace the exact beginning of pro wrestling as we know it. One thing is for sure, it was definitely around by the late 1820s in Southern France. This was pro wrestling in an early version of what was to become known as the Greco-Roman style. In that style no holds below the waist were allowed and you won when both of your opponent's shoulders touched the ground/carpet (there were no mats or rings back then) at the same time, even if just for a second (there was no 3-second rule in Greco-Roman pro wrestling).

At the start of it French pro wrestling was mostly a wrestler or two, who were often also professional strongmen in addition to being wrestlers, coming to town and taking on all-comers. By the early 1850s things had changed and now there were traveling troupes of wrestlers who went from town to town putting on wrestling events. In the past pro wrestling had been almost exclusively based in the South of France, but now it was more national (although still most popular in the South). Even the French capital Paris experienced its first "wrestling boom" when in 1850-1853 guys such as "The Terrible Savoyard" Arpin (the most famous wrestler in France at the time), “The Invincible Peasant” Rabasson, Anthelme Baboula, "The Tireless Miller of La Palud" Marseille (the elder of the two Marseille brothers) and others wrestled at Salle Montesquieu in Paris, which was also where the former actor Rossignol-Rollin got his start in the wrestling business as a director (i.e. matchmaker).

French illustration from March 1852: Arpin vs. Marseille (the elder) at Salle Montesquieu 

Back in the 1850s and 1860s no wrestling troupe was more well-known than the troupe run by Claude-Eugene Rossignol-Rollin. Wrestlers with memorable monikers (i.e. characters), rivalries, prizes and championship belts, tournaments, other sports as an added attraction, etc. Rossignol-Rollin's events were truly an athletic spectacle and Rossignol-Rollin himself was known as an excellent promoter and barker. One journalist humorously said that "Rossignol-Rollin would have invented the sales pitch, if the sales pitch hadn't already been invented", and that's a pretty accurate description of Rossignol-Rollin. He was the ultimate salesman. By the mid 1850s, with Rossignol-Rollin as the top promoter, the pro wrestling industry in France had fully taken shape and was thriving. 

Claude-Eugene Rossignol-Rollin

Wrestling Finally Returns to Paris

1867 was a major year for the city of Paris, because that year it hosted the so-called Exposition Universelle. That was the second World's Fair to take place in Paris and was the biggest one anywhere yet. It went on from 1 April through early November and it featured more than 50,000 exhibitors from 32 countries. It drew millions of visitors to the city, including a number of foreign monarchs. And where there are millions of potential paying customers, there's opportunity...

I haven't been able to confirm exactly when or why, but at some point after the big early 1850s run at Salle Montesquieu, wrestling was banned in Paris. It was only allowed at the rare open-air fair or public celebration, and even then authorization was needed from the Paris authorities. As of 1867 wrestling had been gone from the indoor venues in Paris for more than a decade. With the World's Fair on the horizon, however, the situation changed. Rossignol-Rollin himself traveled to Paris in January 1867 to plead the case for wrestling to be allowed back in the city during Exposition Universelle. I do not know whether it was him or someone else who managed to convince the authorities to allow it, but wrestling did indeed return to the French capital in March of that year.

Eugène Paz was a French journalist and physical culture pioneer who had built a venue known as Grand Gymnase Paz. It was located on 40 des Martyrs street and it could hold up to 3,000 people. It was at his venue where wrestling made its return to Paris. From 17 March onward Paz would do two wrestling shows a week (Tuesdays and Sundays) and the shows drew the attention of the public right from the start. For example, over 2,000 spectators were reported as being in attendance for the second show. Some of the featured stars on these shows were "The Bull of Provence" Creste, "The Superb Parisian" Beranger, "The African Farnese" James Gettes (who one could make a case was pro wrestling's first black star), "The Colossus of Gironde" Pujol, "The Terrible Baker" Deligne, "The Steel Wrestler" Lacaisse, and others. Almost all of them were guys who had worked for Rossignol-Rollin in the past, some as late as the previous month in Lyon. And then the man himself, Rossignol-Rollin, arrived on the scene and officially took over the management of the shows at Grand Gymnase after 16 April. The shows were now on Tuesdays and Fridays. Rossignol-Rollin also brought additional stars with him such as "The Giant of the Alps" Bonnet le Boeuf, "The Pretty Parisian Model" Alfred and "Good-hearted" Lacroix. In his typically colorful style, when announcing the matches Rossignol-Rollin dubbed Grand Gymnase "the cathedral of muscle" and things at "the cathedral" were going quite well.

Grand Gymnase Paz

Rossignol-Rollin's arrival brought about something else too: competition. From 21 April onward a second venue in Paris started hosting wrestling events when another troupe began performing at Casino Cadet (a large dance hall located on Cadet street, hence the name). The shows there were twice a week as well - Thursdays and Saturdays. The wrestling troupe at Casino Cadet was led by the experienced wrestler Marseille (the elder). Its featured stars were "The Lion of La Palud" Marseille (the younger), "The Iron Man" Vincent, "The Carabinier of Bugey" Richoux, “Pitiless” Milhomme, "The Agile Lyonnais" Dumortier, "The Madder Harvester" Fraissinet, and a brand new star in "The Beast of the Jungles" Faouet (who within the next few years would become the top French wrestling star). Wrestling was alive and well in Paris and was reportedly drawing strong interest from the public, including many women. As one article from 9 May put it, "there is no doubt that these wrestling matches are immensely popular everywhere".

Rossignol-Rollin's shows at Grand Gymnase went on until mid May. They would have surely lasted longer, but a lawsuit prevented that. Grand Gymnase was built by Paz on land owned by a man by the name of Auguste Lohse and the contract between the two stated that the building was to be used as a gymnasium and for hydrotherapy. It didn't happen right away and Lohse even attended at least a couple of the wrestling events (Paz gave him complimentary tickets that Lohse himself had asked for), but eventually Lohse decided to sue Paz on the premise that the leasing agreement did not give Paz the right to promote wrestling (and boxing) events in the building. The court agreed and ordered Paz to stop the events.

As for Marseille's shows at the Casino, they lasted through the middle of June. Then a brand new arena was built, specifically for the purpose of hosting wrestling events, and his troupe moved there. That new arena was known as l'Arène Athlétique (the Athletic Arena).
 

The Athletic Arena and the Arrival of The Masked Man

The Athletic Arena was a wooden structure in the style of a fairground/circus arena and it was located on 49 Le Peletier street. The plan for it was already in motion in early May, but it wasn't ready until mid June. It's not clear what its seating capacity was. The owner/director of the arena was the painter Rodolphe Julian. Julian was from the same town as the Marseille brothers so most likely that was the connection that got him involved in the wrestling business. From 16 June onward the Athletic Arena began hosting three wrestling events per week (Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays). The shows were with wrestlers from the Marseille troupe, plus the addition of Bonnet le Boeuf and eventually Alfred and a few others. And this gets us to 19 August when everyone's attention shifted entirely to one man and one man alone - L'Homme Masqué (The Masked Man).

Sidenote: Before we move on with the story, a quick note. The Masked Man of Paris in 1867 was not the first masked wrestler in pro wrestling history. The first masked wrestler that I've been able to find a record of appeared in Toulouse on 11 June 1848. On that day a local student, who did not want his identity to be known, was advertised to wrestle under a hood against Arpin. There were a few others after that too, both in France and outside of France, but none of those guys were around beyond a match or few and certainly they got nowhere near the attention that the Paris one did.

The men in charge of the Athletic Arena: Marseille (the elder) and Rodolphe Julian

The way The Masked Man was introduced to the audience was as follows. The director of the matches Marseille (the elder) announced that he had received an unsigned letter from an amateur wrestler who wished to wrestle the professional wrestlers that were competing at the Athletic Arena. This amateur, however, wanted to maintain his anonymity so his condition was that he would wrestle only if he could arrive every evening in a closed carriage, dressed in wrestling attire, his face covered with a black velvet mask (hood), and his hands gloved. A convenient exit needed to be arranged for him as well so that he could leave hidden from the public view. Marseille initially refused, building further anticipation, and then a follow-up letter by the amateur supposedly convinced him to agree to the amateur's conditions. And so The Masked Man's debut was set.

On the night of 19 August, just as agreed upon in advance, a carriage drawn by two Percheron horses arrived at the Athletic Arena. A man covered with a black cloak, with black gloves on and a black hood on his head (with two holes for eyes) exited the carriage and headed for the arena. He first went to the ticket booth, paid for his seat (like any spectator/amateur would) and entered the arena. Instead of taking a seat he went up to the referee, speaking to him in a low voice so as not to be heard by the audience, and the referee announced that this masked individual was challenging the Arena's wrestlers. The Masked Man then went off to the side waiting for his opponent to come forward. When the time came for The Masked Man to wrestle he took off his shoes and threw off his cloak, revealing a well-defined physique, clad in a white silk jersey with a red belt and black velvet shorts.

The Masked Man's opponent that night was Dumortier. The stipulation, as suggested by The Masked Man, was that if Dumortier could defeat him then The Masked Man would give him 100 French francs. The match did not last long. Dumortier kept trying to throw The Masked Man to the ground, but the mysterious individual was unshakable. Around the third minute he grabbed Dumortier in what could best be described as a bear hug, lifted him off the ground and slammed him down hard, both of Dumortier's shoulders touching the ground. The Masked Man had achieved his first victory. The crowd exploded with excitement. The Masked Man quietly put his cloak and shoes back on, exited the arena, got into his carriage, his driver got the carriage going and The Masked Man disappeared into the night.

French illustration from 1867: The Masked Man's signature slam

The appearance of this masked wrestler caused a sensation in Paris. Paris had never seen anything like him before. Yes, there was the mystery of who was under the hood and that was a major part of his appeal, but there was also the fact that this individual appeared to be a force to be reckoned with. After all, he defeated Dumortier, one of the more popular French wrestlers at the time, with ease. As "Le Journal de Paris" newspaper later poetically described him, "this masked man is not strong, he is strength itself". And this dominance continued. Marseille (the younger) and Faouet, perhaps the two top stars of the troupe at the time, were the next two to fall victim to The Masked Man in mere minutes and in the very same manner as Dumortier did (only one significant offensive move by the masked wrestler, the bear hug into a slam, was all it took for him to win). What followed were several rematches and a few new opponents. The result was always the same - quick dominant victories for The Masked Man. The grandiose way he would enter and exit the arena remained the same too.

The Masked Man's first three opponents (left to right):
"The Agile Lyonnais" Dumortier, "The Lion of La Palud" Marseille (the younger), "The Beast of the Jungles" Faouet

Paris was abuzz. Rumors and speculation were running rampant. Who was this masked man, this amateur who was scoring overwhelming victories over some of the best French professionals? A ton of guesses were being thrown around. Some serious, others in jest. A few of the mentioned possibilities that one can find in the French press of the time are: one of the kings or princes who were in town for the World's Fair, a count from the Savoie region in France, the famous strongman and physical culture pioneer Hippolyte Triat, the famous author Alexandre Dumas fils, the famous opera singer Louis Guéymard, the famous hunter Eugène Pertuiset, the famous miracle healer Zouave Jacob, a broken down older man who was miraculously healed by Zouave, the illustrator Gustave Doré, the novelist Paul Féval, the composer Jacques Offenbach, the journalist Louis Veuillot, a criminal by the name of Williams Oulley, an Englishman known as Professor Hercules, a former tutor from Rouen who had a mutilated face and was known as Poignon, etc. I'm omitting one name here on purpose. We'll get to it later. The important thing to understand is that L'Homme Masqué (The Masked Man) transcended wrestling and entered the cultural zeitgeist in France like no other pro wrestler anywhere had ever had. The Masked Man was being discussed outside of the context of wrestling, he was part of French pop culture for a time and used as a reference in all manner of subject areas. As a matter of fact, he was such a hot topic that Palais-Royal in Paris started putting on a play based on him (although to be fair said play was a re-imagined version of an old play about Arpin) and one of the most popular French newspapers featured masked wrestlers on its cover (more on that later).

The Popularity of Wrestling in Paris

Wrestling was already pretty popular in Paris before the arrival of The Masked Man and now it was even more in vogue. At the end of August "La Liberté" newspaper featured this interesting quote:

"If this continues, in a few years the most lucrative profession, after that of an opera singer and the profession of a minister, will be that of a wrestler. Already, individuals who consent to show their bare torsos in public have appointments that would make the principals of the government administrations dream. They receive from 400 to 800 francs per month, and have received from their impresario the promise of a raise if the type of show they help put on takes off as promised... Thus, Faouet, a fellow whose strength is equal to Mr. Otto von Bismarck's ambition, is said to have recently replied to the director of the Athletic Arena, who summoned him from Lyon to compete with The Masked Man, that he expected to receive 500 francs per session, whether he loses or wins."

Similarly, in October "Le Charivari" magazine reported the following:

"The wrestlers earn almost the salaries of provincial opera singers: 800 francs a month; it goes without saying that the first king is paid more than the utility man or the second comic. Those hired for a one-off or for a limited run of shows earn between 100 and 300 francs per evening, and I've heard that the famous Richoux, currently hauling timber rafts on the Rhône, asked for 500 francs to try and defeat The Masked Man." 

Keep in mind, depending on their profession and whether they were based in Paris or in the provinces, the average Frenchman's earnings back then ranged from about 50 to 200 francs per month so the money the top wrestlers were reportedly making were way, way above the average (especially compared to people working in the French provinces where pay was generally much lower than in Paris). Based on the reports above, the wrestlers could earn more money in a single night than the average French worker would earn for the entire month! That is how popular pro wrestling had become in the French capital.

And just because I think this is some nice context, here is how "L'Opinion Nationale" newspaper described the atmosphere of the wrestling matches at the Athletic Arena:

"These evenings are very interesting and well-attended. The fans, in fact, become passionate, adopt this or that athlete, support him, beam with his victory, or grimace at his defeat. You should hear the cheers, the stamping, the clamor of this crowd. The wild instincts, ignited by this spectacle of valiant force, set fire to the very core. One might almost be swept away in the arena, and one would defend one's opinion in a closed field. Does this mean that the spectacle is brutal, and, I might add, chaotic? On the contrary. This fury soon subsides, and one leaves there, strengthened and perhaps more robust. Then, it must be said, what makes these performances so attractive is that passion is not confined to control; rather, the spectator plays his part, casts his vote, applauds or protests as he pleases, and is not brought to a standstill - as in our theaters - by propriety or civility."

From the French press in 1867: various humorous illustrations featuring The Masked Man

International Coverage

Another aspect that we have to touch upon is just how far-reaching The Masked Man was. Not only was he featured in newspapers and magazines all across France (including very popular ones such as "Le Petit Journal", "Le Figaro", "Le Monde Illustré", etc.), but newspapers in other European countries, the United Kingdom, Australia, the United States and elsewhere also wrote about him. From today's perspective that may not sound all that impressive, but for 1867 it absolutely was. Back then wrestling coverage was mostly local. What happened in your town was generally written about only in your town. Some occasional matches or stories were bigger and would get national coverage, but national coverage for wrestling was definitely not the norm in France yet. And for a wrestler to be written about on multiple continents, that was unheard of. I'm not aware of any other wrestler before The Masked Man of Paris getting such extensive international coverage and it would be quite a while until another wrestler would. In short, you could make a case that The Masked Man was the very first international wrestling sensation.

UK article about The Masked Man

Masked Man vs. Masked Man: The Lawsuit

Monetary success does not go unnoticed and inevitably someone else would want a piece of the pie too. In the case of The Masked Man that someone else turned out to be Pierre-Célestin Arnault. Arnault was the owner/director of the Hippodrome (a large open-air venue in Paris). I've seen conflicting information about the Hippodrome's capacity, but it seems to have been for over 10,000 people. In August Arnault promoted a one-off wrestling event with Vincent and Alfred as the main stars and then on 8 September he took things further. For that night he announced that The Masked Man was going to be wrestling the winner of a Vincent vs. Beranger match that was to also take place the same night. So, had The Masked Man jumped ship and left the Athletic Arena? No, not all. Arnault was using an imposter. Reportedly, the crowd filled the Hippodrome that night, but what they saw was disappointing - The Masked Man lost. Keep in mind, the Athletic Arena's Masked Man was undefeated.

No sooner had the event ended than Arnault was hit with a lawsuit. Rodolphe Julian, the owner/director of the Athletic Arena, sued Arnault over Arnault advertising The Masked Man for his Hippodrome show.  Julian claimed that Arnault misleadingly advertising The Masked Man and then The Masked Man losing was unfair competition and had harmed his business. Julian was seeking 12,000 francs in damages and for the verdict of the case to be published in ten newspapers.

Before we get to the verdict, another interesting situation unfolded. On 23 September a young wrestler by the name of Alfred Perrier (not to be confused with Alfred, "The Pretty Parisian Model") showed up uninvited to the Athletic Arena and issued a challenge to The Masked Man, who had just won his latest match. Perrier said he had wrestled for three months at the Athletic Arena as an amateur and on several occasions he had requested to wrestle The Masked Man, but was always turned down by the arena director. Now Perrier was no longer associated with the Athletic Arena and he was challenging The Masked Man to wrestle him on 27 September. Your first thought might be that this was part of the show and it was leading to a match between the two, but that was not the case. Perrier was indeed not part of Marseille's troupe at this time. On the very next day a few articles popped up in the press questioning the legitimacy of The Masked Man's matches. "Le Soleil" newspaper, for example, wrote: "I think, and I like to believe, that Mr. Julian will not hesitate for a single moment to act as an intermediary to bring about a meeting next Friday between The Masked Man and Mr. Perrier, because the public is demanding, even expecting, this meeting. It is perhaps the only way to prove to the public - which is beginning to cry 'trap', which already believes itself the victim of collusion - that there is not the slightest agreement in The Masked Man's wrestling matches." Another newspaper, "La Liberté", had this to say: "The Masked Man, by dint of being undefeated, has lost, in the eyes of many of his admirers, the reputation of invincible man that had been briefly bestowed upon him. It is said that to triumph so easily over the most vigorous athletes, the latter must be paid for it. We will soon be enlightened on this subject... Will the vanquisher of vanquishers accept Perrier's challenge? If he values ​​his reputation, I strongly urge him to do so; but I believe he will not accept." For the first time since bursting onto the scene The Masked Man's reputation was openly under attack in some newspapers. Coincidence? Perhaps, but I don't think so. More on that shortly. A few days later The Masked Man responded to Perrier's challenge through the pages of the newspaper "Le Soleil". In a letter he sent them The Masked Man agreed to wrestle, and I quote, "this third-rate wrestler whose name I do not know", but only if Perrier could first defeat Dumortier or Marseille (the younger), for which The Masked Man was also going to pay him 30 francs if he succeeded. Only in that case would The Masked Man wrestle Perrier. Amusingly, the newspaper itself openly questioned whether it was The Masked Man who wrote that letter in the first place because the style in which it was written, apparently, sounded awfully familiar to the style in which the posters for the events were written (i.e. the journalist thought Julian or Marseille had written the letter). The newspaper concluded: "The Masked Man, if he wishes to keep his reputation for strength untarnished, has to only accept the challenge thrown down to him; otherwise he will be considered a crony." There doesn't seem to be much in the press about the challenge after that, but one thing is for sure: the Athletic Arena's Masked Man and Perrier did not wrestle.

Back to the lawsuit. The Commercial Court of Seine rendered its judgement on 2 October. They ruled that they could not prohibit Arnault from featuring a Masked Man, especially since his posters and newspaper adverts did not in any way disparage the Athletic Arena's Masked Man. There was no unfair competition. Furthermore, the court noted that evidence had shown that after 8 September the Athletic Arena's receipts for each evening had undergone a significant and progressive increase so there was no harm caused to its director, quite the opposite actually. The case was dismissed and Julian was ordered to cover Arnault's legal expenses. Since the Hippodrome was an open-air arena its season was already scheduled to wrap up by that point and the arena was to begin hosting events again in May of the following year. However, Arnault lucked out with the weather and managed to put on a few wrestling events in October. Not only did his events feature The Masked Man, his Masked Man, but I'll give you one guess as to who The Masked Man's main opponent in these events was. If you guessed Alfred Perrier then you'd be correct! I have no way of confirming this theory, but how good do you think the chances are that it was Arnault who orchestrated Perrier showing up at the Athletic Arena and the negative press the original Masked Man got afterward? I think pretty good...

Alfred Perrier as he looked later in life

Black Mask vs. Red Mask

You can probably guess where the story is headed after that headline, but before we get there let's backtrack a bit and immerse ourselves into the atmosphere of the time. Back in those days, apart from newspaper adverts, the wrestling events were promoted by large posters plastered all over town. And these posters were often very wordy and over-the-top in a larger-than-life kind of way or as "Le Temps" newspaper put it when describing the Athletic Arena's posters "epic one day, lyrical the next, heroic always, had hitherto been the style of the Arena posters". Rossignol-Rollin was the one especially known for that bombastic style of poster, and it seems the Athletic Arena's management were quite adept at it too. Here's an example of what they had put on a poster for one of their events from around the time of the Perrier challenge.

    "TO THE MASKED MAN

Who are you, dark phantom?
Do you come from the infernal realm?
Have you, there, on the dark shores, 
taken from some swarthy specter
that cloak, that sinister mask that
chills the strongest hearts?

Who are you, dark figure? By triple
Hecate, I swear that your strength is
not human: the burning robe of Nessus put an
end to the exploits of Hercules...
Yours have no tomorrow!

Who are you then? The proud
colossi, whose rounded muscles snare their
vigorous loins, are, in your terrible
embrace, like supple vines bent by an impetuous wind!

You do not belong to the earth!
Your strength, dreadful mystery! Was
forged in the horrible crucible that,
by night, in the clearings, the witches kept
burning, the three witches of Macbeth!

You have no adversary! Thrice woe to
the rash one who comes to offer himself to
your heavy arm! In play, your arm embraces
him, then he falls like a lump onto the
ground, which gives a dull thud!

Who are you then, dark face, who
appears to us like a shadow? What is your secret
virtue? Does it come from heaven
or from the devil? Oh black mask,
impenetrable! Who are you then? Who are you then?"

If this was how they were hyping up The Masked Man to the masses, I can only imagine what sort of stuff they cooked up once the decision was made to introduce a second masked wrestler at the Athletic Arena - Red Mask. Sadly, I don't know any details about those posters. All I can say is that by that point they were also putting lines like the following one on their wrestling posters: "the favorite spectacle of the intelligent and the only one that truly captivates an audience".

Satirical French illustration from November 1867 depicting a masked wrestler

Now that the Arena had two masked wrestlers the clash between The Masked Man (now also known as Black Mask) and Red Mask (also billed as The Masked Wrestler) was inevitable. It happened on 18 October. Black Mask vs. Red Mask, The Masked Man vs. The Masked Wrestler, the original vs. the latest. Black Mask won. He also won the rematch three days later. He then disappeared for a while and the focus shifted to Red Mask.

Here we have to mention a most curious series of articles by "La Petite Presse" newspaper. It ran from 25 to 27 October and it was titled "The Truth About the Masked Man". In this series the newspaper claimed that one night they had slipped a note into The Masked Man's coat while he was wrestling, asking him for an interview and he had agreed to meet with them. He then supposedly met them at a café, unmasked, and told them his life's story, a rather dramatic story might I add. I'll spare you the details, because I think this interview was a complete fabrication, but I'll just say that the claim put forward in it was that The Masked Man was an Irishman known by the name Wils. While I think this was a fake story, it does serve as confirmation of a very real thing - even as late as the end of October there was still speculation about The Masked Man's identity and journalists were still trying to outscoop each other about it (and sell some extra newspaper copies in the process).

Back to the matches at the Arena. With the original Masked Man leaving for a while, Red Mask's main rival over the next few weeks was the shepherd Etienne (one of the top French stars, who joined the Arena shows right as The Masked Man left them). Red Mask and Etienne had a three-match series, the popular shepherd ultimately winning the tiebreaker. The Masked Man, who was still undefeated by the way, eventually reappeared on 20 November and within a couple of weeks both him and Red Mask disappeared from the Athletic Arena's shows for good. For one of his last matches, against Etienne, "La Liberté" newspaper described the attendance as "the stands were absolutely full, and among the crowd of spectators, a large number of artistic and literary figures could be seen" so even to the very end of his run The Masked Man was still filling up the Arena.

The End of the Athletic Arena

The two masked wrestlers being gone was not the end of the wrestling shows at the Athletic Arena. Far from it, in fact. There continued being shows there until March 1868 (with a bit of a break in January for a few weeks). The wrestling matches stopped earlier in the month, I think, but it was at the end of March that the Athletic Arena was torn down. Faouet, Marseille (the younger), Bonnet le Boeuf, Fraissinet, Richoux and "The Human Cannon" Dubois were the main stars after the disappearance of Black Mask and Red Mask. Meanwhile, on 23 December two brand new masked wrestlers appeared. It seems only briefly, however, because I could only find two shows with them. They were referred to as the masked colossi and were billed as the "The Infernal Wrestlers". At the end of year the Arena introduced another very curious additional attraction: a pair of hunchbacks wrestling each other. When wrestling returned to the arena in February there was a new headline star, and how's this for a twist. The new headline star? The Masked Man. No, not the one from before, but rather the one from the Hippodrome, according to the adverts. And for at least one of the shows, he was advertised to wrestle without his mask on. 

The Controversial Newspaper Cover

Before we wrap up the story of The Masked Man there is another interesting situation that we have to mention. It's not directly related to our story, but it is connected to it in a sense that it shows that the masked wrestlers had entered the mainstream consciousness, so to speak. "La Lune" was a weekly satirical newspaper that was very popular at the time in France. It had about half a million readers, reportedly. Black Mask vs. Red Mask had been the big story in Paris wrestling in October and then on 3 November "La Lune" came out with this cover:

Black Mask vs. Red Mask on the cover of "La Lune" with the following text below the illustration:
"It is expressly forbidden for the 500,000 readers of La Lune to see in this fight of the Red Man and the Black Man any insidious allegory. Let them not forget that certain current events are forbidden to us."

At first glance, apart from it being a pretty cool-looking cover, it may not seem significant, but that cover along with an article inside the newspaper, titled "Les Lutteurs Masqués" (The Masked Wrestlers), were pretty controversial for the time and got the newspaper in legal trouble. To understand why you need to know the context.

The Red Mask on the cover was supposed to be the Italian nationalist revolutionary Giuseppe Garibaldi while the Black Mask, about to be thrown over by the Red Mask, was supposed to be Pope Pius IX. This was not explicitly stated, neither on the cover nor in the aforementioned article, but it was heavily implied and it was clear to everyone that's exactly what it was. At the time Garibaldi was trying to seize Rome and oust The Pope. Meanwhile, the French Emperor Napoleon III had sent French troupes to Rome in support of The Pope. That cover by "La Lune" was essentially stating a wish for Garibaldi to take down The Pope. The sentiment was the same in the article and the article was also questioning France's intervention. In other words, "La Lune" was putting forward a position that was opposite that of Napoleon's.

Okay, so "La Lune" expressed an opposing view to the state. What's the big deal about that, you may wonder. The big deal was that at the time under Napoleon III's rule the French press was heavily controlled through strict censorship when it came to commenting on political matters. To publish political commentary newspapers needed to get authorization from the authorities and also pay a large permission tax of sorts. "La Lune" was not authorized to do so, nor had it paid the tax. As a result of them publishing that illustration and article, which were both clearly political commentary, the editor-in-chief and publisher of the newspaper, François-Paul Polo, was taken to court. The sentence was given on 29 November: one month in prison and a fine of 100 or 500 francs* for publishing the illustration without authorization + one month in prison and a fine of 500 francs for publishing the article without authorization and without having paid the tax. Polo was also ordered to stop publishing the newspaper. He, naturally, appealed the decision. In the appeal the first part of the verdict was dropped, but the second one was not. In the meantime, "La Lune", which had continued being published while things were in appeal, came out with a very unflattering cover of Napoleon III himself. That was the final straw and ultimately the newspaper was put to an end in January 1868.

* There are conflicting numbers mentioned in the press.

The Masked Man... Revealed

Now of course, I am not going to finish this story without addressing the elephant in the room. Who was The Masked Man after all? In the months, years and decades that followed the names of a lot of different French wrestlers were put forward as the man under the black hood. Marseille (the younger), Falcet, Folliet, Alfred Perrier, ​​​Professor Deligne, Andre Christol, Thiebaud Bauer, etc. Some like Christol and Perrier even claimed it themselves in American interviews (Perrier, for example, was claiming it as late as 1902). One cannot say with 100% certainty who the original Masked Man was. Having said that, enough French newspapers reported it as a fact that I strongly believe it was the guy I'm about to mention. Him being The Masked Man was actually revealed by "Le Soleil" newspaper the very next day after The Masked Man's debut. Here is exactly what "Le Soleil" wrote: 

"The bout was quite long and well-wrestled; some malicious tongues even added that it must have been rehearsed several times and that the outcome had been decided and agreed upon in advance between the two athletes. This version doesn't seem too implausible.

All sorts of rumors are circulating about The Masked Man. Some claim to have recognized Mr. Charavay, an amateur who has garnered considerable acclaim in the wrestling world. The latter, it is said, was seen at the checkpoint until 9:30 and then disappeared immediately to take refuge in a house on a neighboring street, where a carriage from Brion was waiting for him. He supposedly got out twenty minutes later in the costume we know."

Over the next few months, as speculation was running wild in the press as to The Masked Man's identity, Charavay's name kept coming up in the press, but always in the context of denying the rumors that it was him. Even "Le Soleil" walked back their original report and said that it appeared it wasn't Charavay after all. That said though, once The Masked Man disappeared for good, the reporting in the French press became pretty consistent that it was Charavay. Perhaps the best confirmation that it was indeed him came from one of The Masked Man's main opponents, Faouet, who in an 1877 interview with "Le Petit Journal" newspaper revealed that The Masked Man was sometimes Charavay and other times Marseille (the younger). Marseille being under the hood was also implied by the UK article I shared above so it wouldn't surprise me if he too was The Masked Man on occasion.

And actually, who was this Charavay guy anyway? First of all, you can find the name spelled two ways in French sources: Charavay and Charavet. In French both spellings are pronounced the same so that would explain the alternative spelling. I'm not sure which spelling is the correct one, but I'm leaning toward Charavay and that's the spelling I've seen more often. An 1870 article by "Le Centre Gauche" newspaper added the detail that his first name was Thierry. Charavay was a photographer by trade while also being an amateur wrestler, known for his great physical strength. He was especially known for his grip strength as evidenced, reportedly, by his performance with dynamometers at fairs. I've also seen claims that he worked as a masseur. An article from "Gil Blas" newspaper in 1886 claimed Charavay was now a doctor and living in Nice. 

I would be remiss not to mention that Edmond Desbonnet, the most knowledgeable French wrestling historian of the early 20th century, wrote that The Masked Man was actually a masseur by the name of Charvet and that the Athletic Arena shows were under the direction of Charavay (i.e. he was the matchmaker). My belief is that Desbonnet was wrong about that. The two names are similar enough to where something probably got mixed up somewhere along the way, which led to Desbonnet confusing the two. And besides, Marseille (the elder) was the Athletic Arena matchmaker. This was reported consistently in the French press and it makes total sense for an experienced pro like him to be the one calling the shots.

It should also be pointed out that in 1912 "Le Gaulois" newspaper ran a story where they claimed The Masked Man was a man by the name of Coeurderoy, an athletically-gifted shop assistant who, reportedly, later became a fugitive after accidentally killing a police officer and was eventually shot dead. Personally, I don't put much stock into this theory, but it is interesting to see French newspapers still putting out new claims about The Masked Man 45 years after the fact.

As for the other masked wrestlers in Paris in 1867, the identity of one of them was also revealed in the French press, the rest remain a mystery. I'm referring to The Masked Man from the Hippodrome. In their article covering his debut "Le Journal de Paris" newspaper reported that in the match The Masked Man's hood was accidentally torn off and some of the spectators recognized that it was Deligne under the hood. Deligne had wrestled on the Grand Gymnase shows earlier in the year so it makes sense that he would be a familiar face to the audience. 

In Conclusion

The wrestling run at the Athletic Arena from June 1867 to March 1868 went down as a legendary run in the history of French pro wrestling, French journalists still referencing it decades later. You simply cannot write the history of French, nay European, pro wrestling without talking about the Athletic Arena and L'Homme Masqué in particular. His impact was huge that year. Mask-a-mania was running wild in Paris and elsewhere in France. In 1867 masked wrestlers also popped up in Montpellier, Saint-Quentin (on shows run by Arpin), Lyon (Rossignol-Rollin shows), and probably elsewhere too. The Hippodrome featured a Masked Man for a brief while once again in September 1868. From there on masked wrestlers would occasionally appear, in France and other European countries, but overall no other masked wrestler in the 19th century had anywhere near the notoriety that the original 1867 one had.

On a final note, it's worth mentioning another two interesting facts that are somewhat related to The Masked Man. In 1876 a troupe of French wrestlers toured the United Kingdom. Among them was the very first masked wrestler in the history of the UK. His name? L'Homme Masqué. Many years later, in 1958 when promoter Alex Goldstein decided to reintroduce masked wrestlers to French pro wrestling (catch) after they had been away for several decades, he christened his first masked wrestler... L'Homme Masqué. A few weeks after that Goldstein also introduced the world to Homme Masqué's future arch rival, L'Ange Blanc (The White Angel), and masked wrestlers once again became a major attraction throughout France, and then elsewhere in Europe. And yet again, just like in 1867, it all started with L'Homme Masqué (The Masked Man).


Acknowledgements: Thank you to Jimmy Wheeler for his help with some of this research and to ACME Historia for pointing me in the direction of Coeurderoy.