Ultimate History of Pro Wrestling - A Time Line of Every Major Event in Pro Wrestling History - 1902
By: Karl Stern
Much of the text of this entry comes from issue 82 of the DragonKing Press Newsletter available as a downloadable .pdf in the digital downloads section.
1902
The Long Form History of Pro Wrestling podcast covers the years 1900-1903 on this episode - Click Here.
01-07-1902: Frank Gotch defeats Dan McLeod in Sioux City, IA. Gotch’s only previous meeting with Dan McLeod was one of his five losses. McLeod had previously defeated Gotch on June 16, 1899. If records to this point are complete then Gotch’s record up to this point is 53 wins and 5 losses.
04-18-1902: In Buffalo, NY: Dan McLeod failed to throw Jim Parr (3 falls in l hour, no falls)
04-25-1902: In New Haven, CT: Farmer Burns beat M.J. Dwyer.
05-15-1902: Cleveland, OH at the Central Armory: Tom Jenkins beat Jim Parr.
05-19-1902: In New Orleans, LA: Tom Jenkins failed to throw Professor Otto Schoenfeld (3 falls needed, won only 2).
05-25-1902: New Orleans, LA: Tom Jenkins failed to throw Prof. Schoenfeld (3 times in time limit. Tom won only 2 falls).
05-27-1902: Turkish wrestling champion Kara Ahmed dies in Constantinople, Turkey.
05-30-1902: In Cincinnati, OH: Tom Jenkins beat Charley Wittmer.
06-02-1902: In Cleveland, OH: at the Star Theater: Dan McLeod beat Kid Clay and Doc Payne.
06-03-1902: In Cleveland, OH at the Star Theater: Dan McLeod beat Charles Weidemeyer and Kid Clay.
06-06-1902: In Cleveland, OH at the Star Theater: Dan McLeod beat Eddy Conley.
06-10-1902: In Cleveland, OH at the Central Armory: Tom Jenkins failed to throw Dan McLeod (2 falls in 90 minutes, Tom won only fall of bout).
07-04-1902: In Cleveland, OH at the League Park: Tom Jenkins beat Dan McLeod (2-0 falls, 22 & 15 minutes). This match was claimed to have been filmed.
07-11-1902: In Youngstown. OH: Tom Jenkins beat Max Ozersky (2 falls in 5 minutes).
07-27-1902: In Davenport, IA: Farmer Burns beat Charles Wittmer.
08-13-1902: In Batavia, NY at the Opera House: Tom Jenkins beat Ed Atherton (3 falls in 1 hour).
09-04-1902: George Hackenschmidt defeats Tom Cannon in Liverpool, England.
10-28-1902: In Worcester, MA: Dan McLeod failed to throw Prof. M.J. Dwyer (3 times in 1 hour, Dan won 2 falls).
11-25-1902: At Madison Square Garden in New York City, NY: Tom Jenkins defeated Joe Carrol for the Catch-As-Catch-Can championship… Cuban Wonder (Clarence Bouldin) defeated Jack Fenton… Cuban Wonder defeated Teddy Sitter.
12-13-1902: Frank Gotch is said to have lost to Tom Davis in Alaska on this date. There is a gap in the Frank Gotch record from June to December 1902 suggesting he may have made another trip to the Yukon. Further research is needed on this period.
12-19-1902: Wrestling and promoter Roy Welch (Roy Edward Welch) is born in Sallisaw, OK.
12-25-1902: Dan McLeod recaptures the American title from Tom Jenkins in Worcester, MA. Jenkins suffers from blood poisoning in his leg and forfeits the third and deciding fall.
12-26-1902: If Frank Gotch had been wrestling in the Yukon again he has now returned home and defeats Christ Pearson in Tacoma, Washington.
Dan McLeod
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DragonKingKarl (Karl Stern) is a long time pro wrestling historian who has been published in books, newsletters, and podcasts since the mid-1990s.
The Ultimate History of Pro Wrestling Zone is Karl Stern's attempt to chronicle the entire history of pro wrestling and is a work in progress with hundreds of pages of text added each month.
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