Following the name of the champion(s): Indicates the number of times the wrestler has held that title at that point.
[...]
Indicates a gap in the listing where title changes are not known.
*
If used next to the names of the wrestlers, they may, in fact, not have held the title in the period indicated. If used next to the dates or places, either they are possibly wrong or the title changes are fictitious.
<
Title was held or changed hands no later than this. In these cases, it is known that a wrestler held the title at a certain time but not when he/she won it.
+
Broadcast date; the actual recording date is unknown.
@
Order uncertain. Different titleholders may be known for the same year, for example, but it is not known who held the title before whom.
#
Unofficial or disputable claims. These are usually matches that certainly took place, but where there is doubt that the wrestler shown should be recognized as a true title holder. These listings are also italicized in HTML files
Defeats Andre Christol for the world graeco-roman title; also defeats American champion William Miller in a world championship match on 76-08-29 in Cincinnati, OH; loses to William Muldoon on 80-01-19 in New York, NY.
Duncan C. Ross
1883-09-10
Cleveland, OH
Defeats Dennis Gallagher and Mervine Thompson in two sets of 3-man round-robin tournaments in catch-as-catch-can and collar-and-elbow styles.
Charles Wittmer
1893-05-05<
Claims the world graeco-roman title in Ohio; loses to Hali Adali on 98-12-22 in Cincinnati, OH but continues to claim the title; often billed as American champion; still/again world champion as of 02-01-12 and 03-05-11; billed as Cincinnati champion as of 04-01-25.
Ismail Yousouf (Yusuf İsmail)
1898-05-05
Cleveland, OH
Billed as European champion, defeats American title claimant Tom Jenkins in what is billed as "a Greco-Roman, catch-as-catch-can wrestling match for the championship of the world" (The Cleveland Leader, 98-05-05); also defeats the world catch-as-catch-can champion Evan "Strangler" Lewis (see above) on 98-06-20 in Chicago, IL; passes away on 98-07-04 in the collision of SS La Bourgogne.
Also defeats Jack Carkeek, claimant of the British version, on 05-01-10 in San Francisco, CA; Georg Hackenschmidt, recognized as the world champion in Europe, defeats Jenkins 05-05-04 in New York, NY to be recognized as the world
champion in North America; Jenkins continues to defend American Title.
Starts claiming the world title in Ohio when Sonnenberg ignores his challenge (Columbus Evening Dispatch, 29-03-01) and "refuses to meet him" (Dayton Daily News, 29-03-20); originally scheduled to face Jim Londos for the NBA recognition on 30-04-09 in Columbus, OH, but the match is indefinitely postponed due to Pesek's collarbone fracture (Londos is said to have refused to wrestle for the title anywhere but Philadelphia, PA or St. Louis, MO); Londos defeats Dick Shikat on 30-06-06 in Philadelphia, PA to be recognized by NBA and is still recognized in Cleveland, OH as of 31-02-03; Pesek defeats Marin Plestina on 31-03-26 to be officially recognized by MWA; wins Kansas City version of world title by defeating Everette Marshall on 32-05-16 after their first match ended with a no contest on 32-04-11; drops the title claim in 33 when he starts wrestling for Jim Londos group.
NWA champion, also recognized in some parts of Ohio; wrestles Pesek to a draw on 33-05-19 in Cleveland, OH; loses to Danno O'Mahoney on 35-06-27 in Boston, MA.
Leo Numa
1933-09-22<
Billed as "the real world champion" in Cleveland, OH (Cleveland Plain Dealer, 33-09-27); still claims the title as of 33-10-24.
