Georg Hackenschmidt - Wrestler

Wrestler

In his entire professional wrestling career, Hackenschmidt engaged in about 3,000 matches, losing only two. Modern wrestling historians list him among the top four greatest wrestlers of all time, alongside Frank Gotch, Stanislaus Zbyszko, and the Great Gama.

Powerfully built, Hackenschmidt's measurements for his 1905 match with Alexander Munro were: Age - 28; Weight - 204 pounds; Height - 5', 9 1/2"; Reach - 75"; Biceps - 19"; Forearm – 15 1/2"; Neck - 22"; Chest – 52"; Waist - 34"; Thigh – 26 3/4"; Calf - 18". He also rose to prominence when the governing style of wrestling was the slower, more ponderous Greco-Roman style that emphasized muscle power more than speed, agility and ring generalship, and involved holds only above the waist. Being bulkier of build than his sleeker opponents, and slower of movement, Hack’s style and temperament were not geared as much to the newly popular catch-as-catch-can style.

Nor was he a natural showman. Honest, straightforward and serious, he would finish off his opponents quickly. His manager, C. B. Cochran, had to convince him to extend his matches and put on a show, which in turn ensured more bookings and sold-out shows. This did not mean the matches were fake. Excluding exhibitions, his matches were all on the level. But he might allow a local wrestler to last ten minutes and collect his £25 prize, and set up a highly publicized match for later in the week, where he would naturally defeat his foe handily.

Which reveals one of Hackenschmidt's finest qualities. Unlike many other wrestlers, including Frank Gotch, Hackenschmidt was neither mean, vindictive nor unnecessarily rough in the ring, “contrasting his physical prowess and fighting skills with a quietness of spirit,” David Gentle explained. “George Hackenschmidt was the epitome of calm, self-assurance and inner peace, with full awareness of his own capabilities and thus like all masters of combat found NO NEED FOR MACHOISM or outward aggression. His tactic to win was skill and speed, born of confidence in his own ability and fighting prowess.”.

He had, however, three weaknesses. Against a first-class opponent, of which he faced extremely few, he could be slow to adapt. Gotch reported after their first match that “every move the Russian made he telegraphed me in advance, which shows that he thinks too slowly.”

Hack was also given to depression and irascibility. When he came to Chicago to train for his first match with Gotch, promoter Jack Curley had arranged for Hack to work out every day before a paying public, which Hack refused to do. Barred from the athletic club, he spent his time before the match either exercising in his room or taking morning and evening walks along Lake Michigan, but no serious workouts. The more depressed he got, the more difficult he was to work with. This all worked against him because, for the first time in his professional career, Hackenschmidt faced a foe fully capable of defeating him.

Finally, and worst of all, in both matches with Gotch, Hackenschmidt was accused of lack of heart. Referee Ed Smith, following the 1908 match, said that “deep down in my own mind, I decided that George Hackenschmidt had quit – quit quite cold, as a matter of fact – because there was nothing about Gotch’s treatment of him in that first encounter that could by a stretch of the imagination call for a disqualification. There was some face-mauling, just as there always is…but at no time did the vaunted Hackenschmidt ever make a serious move toward slapping down his opponent, never showed much in the wrestling line during the entire two hours… Again, I say, that as the referee of that match, I thought that the ‘Russian Lion’ quit.”

Following the 1911 rematch, one newspaper described Gotch’s easy victory and then added that “In the parlance of the sporting world, Hackenschmidt is yellow… He quit when his position became dangerous.”

Perhaps the most frustrated was Hackenschmidt’s second, Dr. Benjamin Roller, who himself had lost several times to Gotch but had displayed the utmost gameness and courage. “Hack did not get started,” Roller explained. “That’s largely a matter of gameness.” Hack’s injuries had not been serious enough, Roller felt. “I have tried my best to make a winner out of him and put him into the ring in the best possible condition, but…gameness is something you can not put into a man.”