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 Duncan C. Ross for the World Mixed Style Title.
George W. Flagg
1883-03<
Recognized as the United States mixed style champion.
Henry M. Dufur
1883-04-05
Rochester, NY
Also defeats Duncan C. Ross on 83-04-26 in Rochester, NY; also wins a tournament on 83-06-12 in Boston, MA.
Duncan C. Ross
1883-10-11
Rochester, NY
Wins a one-night round-robin tournament in which Dufur also particiates; has also won another tournament on 83-09-10 in Cleveland, OH; Ross wins another tournament on 83-11-30 in Cleveland, OH.
May defend his claim of the title in this match; also defeats another title claimant George W. Flagg on 84-09-05 in Detroit, MI; Duncan C. Ross defeats Tom Cannon on 84-12-08 in San Francisco, CA to claim the title (or defends it on this day); George W. Flagg defeats W.A. Burbank on 85-04-30 in Brockton, MA to claim the title (or defends it on this day).
Henry M. Dufur [2]
1886-04-05
St. Paul, MN
McLaughlin, claiming this to be his final match, defeats Dufur but awards the title to him for being the best opponent ever.
Duncan C. Ross [2]
1888-11-09
Boston, MA
Henry M. Dufur [3]
1889-01-04
Boston, MA
Duncan C. Ross [3]
1889-01-28
Worcester, MA
Billed as world or American champion depending on the card; loses to Evan Lewis on 93-11-12 in Chicago, IL (see below).
Evan "Strangler" Lewis
1893-03-02
New Orleans, LA
World catch-as-catch-can champion, defeats World Graeco-Roman Title holder Ernest Roeber in a mixed-style match with greco-roman
and catch-as-catch-can styles in best of 5 falls to become the world mixed style champion; defeats another title claimant Duncan C. Ross on 93-11-12 in Chicago, IL; loses to Ismail Yousouf on 98-06-20 in Chicago, IL (see below).
John King
1898-08-17<
Claims the title in Houghton, MI.
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..
Claimant of the World Catch-as-Catch-Can Title, defeats World Graeco-Roman Title holder Ernest Roeber for the mixed style title; Georg Hackenschmidt, recognized as world graeco-roman champion mainly in Europe, defeats Jenkins 05-05-04 in New York, NY in a catch-as-catch-can style match to be recognized as world
champion in North America; Jenkins continues to defend American Title.
