Earl Caddock-This Iowan legend started out as the proverbial sickly child. (He suffered from tuberculosis). He joined the YMCA to build up his body. He began with calisthenics and eventually switched to heavy dumbbells. His first sport was swimming but then he switched to wrestling and that was a perfect fit for this man with an encyclopedic knowledge of the game.

He won numerous amateur titles in his home state and this led to his being sponsored by the Chicago-Athletic Club which entered him in San Francisco’s Panama-Pacific Exposition Olympiad of 1915. At this event, Caddock won the middleweight amateur wrestling title and then the light heavyweight and the then the heavyweight title. Quite a feat.

Caddock stood 5’11” and tipped the scales at 190 pounds. He turned pro in 1917 and beat Joe Stecher for the World’s professional championship in two falls, the first after one hour and 22 minutes, and the second after one hour and 40 minutes. That’s some stamina, folks!!

Caddock’s knowledge of wrestling was so vast that he was known as the “man with a thousand holds.” We would all be lucky to know a tenth of what he knew.

Barbados Joe Walcott-No, not Jersey Joe Walcott, the light-heavy/heavyweight champ, but the great welterweight. Barbados Joe, was a double-threat, a champion wrestler before trying his formidable hands at boxing. He held the welterweight title from 1901 to 1904.

Joe fought in the despicable days when the color barrier prevented the majority of black vs. white matches. Joe racked up over 300 bouts in carnival boxing booths and 110 official fights. His pro career lasted 21(!) years with him often giving up weight to gain matches. To know how good this welterweight was, one only has to know that he fought the Prince of Fouls “Mysterious” Billy Smith in a bitter six-matches, he beat lightweight phenom Baby Joe Gans, he beat heavyweight Sam Langford, and he knocked-out(!!!!) the very tough heavyweight Joe Choynski who gave Corbett a run for his money. Barbados did all of this as a welterweight. Now that’s a legend in my book.

Joe Stecher-Joe Stecher was born April 5th, 1896 in Dodge, Nebraska. He grabbed the World Heavyweight Wrestling title once Frank Gotch retired. He held that title from July of 1915 until losing it to Earl Caddock in Omaha, Nebraska, on April 9, 1917. He snagged the belt again in 1920 and held it for a few months until Ed “Strangler” Lewis took it form him in December of that year. He regained it in May of 1925 only to lose it to Lewis again in February of 1928.

That’s a lot of back and forth title shifting and some have claimed that a few of the later matches were works. What all agree on though was that Stecher, not a big man by any stretch of the imagination, had the most wicked leg scissors in the game. It was said that he could burst a two-bushel sack of grain with his scissors, exerting up to 1,800 pounds of pressure with his legs. (Not a man who’s guard/bottom scissors I’d like to be inside of). It’s that kind of power. That kind of aggression that should be taken into consideration anytime you get an opponent between your legs. Think to yourself, “How would Joe Stecher treat this situation.” Ouch!!

Hiro Matsuda-Although a pro (show) wrestler, Matsuda had real skills. He held several pro/show titles but of interest to real scientific wrestling enthusiasts was his reputation as a “policeman.” A “Policeman” in the world of show wrestling was a performer who could actually wrestle and do some damage if need be. They would be employed to keep certain performers in line or to settle acrimonious territory disputes.

Hiro’s skills were such that he impressed no less a legend than Lou Thesz, which is saying a lot. Matsuda’s conditioning was said to be phenomenal. He was known to be able to wrestle an hour straight with absolute ease. A formidable feat as many of us know.

Otto Arco- This powerhouse of a human being was born in Poland in 1889 and is generally considered to be one of the most powerful wrestlers/human beings of all time. Otto, won the Austrian wrestling title in 1903 and was considered to be the best Greco-Roman wrestler in the world, pound-for pound. (That’s Hackenschmidt included, folks).

Arco, was also known for his remarkable physique that the esteemed French sculptor, August Rodin, often utilized in posing sessions. He won the 1913 contest for the World’s Most Perfectly Developed Man. But perhaps Arco is best known, today, for his astounding feats of strength. Check out some of his lifts:

Clean and Jerk 279 pounds.

Lay-Down and Get Up with a 175 pound barbell in one hand extended overhead.

One more thing to mention about this amazing human being is that he performed these lifts at a height of 5’ 2” and a weight of 138 pounds. With that in mind, look at those figures again. Now, that is a legend in anyone’s book.