From the horrors and tragedy of The Civil War, one of the darkest and most pathetic periods in American history, emerged a man who was destined to become non pareil in the world of professional wrestling.
   William Muldoon was just 16 years old when America was sliced into two in 1861 as the North and the South took up arms in the country's most senseless war ever, perhaps even surpassing Viet Nam one hundred years later.
   Muldoon's parents had migrated from Ireland in the early 1830's and settled in Belfast, N.Y. where he was born on May 25, 1845.
   William liked all sports from an early age, particularly wrestling which he read about whenever he could find the material.
   When the Civil War broke out, Muldoon enlisted as a private and he served admirably until the conclusion of the conflict in 1865. There was no time for an official tournament but I William participated in so many matches with the boys in blue that he was considered champion of his regiment.
   Muldoon was just 20 when he was discharged but the ravages and the catastrophe that is war had matured him beyond his years just as World War I and II, Korea and Viet Nam were to do to other generations.
   With death as a daily companion, Muldoon learned a lesson that was to stay with him until his death at 88 in 1933 - physical fitness was important to a soldier as the weapon he carried and good condition could sometimes mean the difference between life and death.
   Like any ex-soldier of any era, Muldoon had trouble settling down to the comparatively quiet life in Belfast.
   In the spring of 1866 he found himself in New York city - the big town where he took a shot at fame and fortune. It was an inauspicious beginning as William worked as a bouncer in restaurants and cheap dance halls and later drove a livery cart 12 hours a day.
   Actually Muldoon sort of drifted into wrestling by chance. One night he met a man with a black eye and inquired how it happened.
   "At a club on Houston street," was the reply. Muldoon made tracks to smooth-talk the club's matchmaker into staging some wrestling matches. William won his debut and was paid $15.00 for his efforts.
   The Irish lad started running up a winning streak and the local newspapers began dropping items on Muldoon's triumphs on the sports pages.
   Muldoon gradually worked his way up until he was invited to compete at Harry Hill's Club, one of the most famous sport clubs of the gaslight era, catering to the finest of New York's society.
   Harry Hill's place excelled in entertainment, food and drink... it was a superb supper club which offered wrestling and boxing matches as part of its policy and Muldoon became one of its biggest stars.
   Williams was doing alright a solid backup security wise and in 1876, he won an appointment to New York's police department. Shortly after joining the force, William was instrumental in forming the first Police Athletic Club in the city's history which is still in existence today with a reputation that has become national.
   Muldoon's shift was 12 hours a day but it didn't deter him from his daily workouts at the PAL gym. He was always a stickler for top flight condition and taking care of his body was something akin to a fetish with the big Irishman.
   And who could blame him... his beat was the waterfront... the Bowery where the toughest bums, hoodlums and cutthroats in the world assembled at one time or another.
   Muldoon was more than equal to the task primarily because his training period lasted anywhere from three to four hours a day.