Early 1900s Pro Wrestling Weight Classes

About Weight Classes
     In the 1900s-1910s, wrestling was divided up into five classes:

featherweight (125 pounds)
lightweight (135 pounds)
welterweight (145 pounds)
middleweight (158 pounds)
heavyweight (anything above 158 pounds)

    As there was no governing body for the sport to officially recognize champions, it was not uncommon for several men to claim the same title across the country.  While the regional champions were usually recognized within their limited geography by various athletic clubs, newspapers and the National Police Gazette (which was sort of a cross between Esquire, True Detective, Playboy and Sports Illustrated), when two title claimants met, the winner was typically recognized as the more definitive champion.  The most accepted method for a claimant to be widely recognized was for him to simply arrange matches with all the other prominent claimants and defeat them decisively.

     However, in order for the title to change hands, both contestants were expected to make the appropriate weight for the title in question.  If a challenger could not make the 158 pounds to officially wrestle for the middleweight title, then even if he beat the champion, the title would not be at stake.  When this occurred, the match was often said to be wrestled "at catch weights".   An example of this was when Chris Jordan wrestled Eugene Tremblay in 1907.  At the time, Tremblay was the recognized as the world lightweight champion, but when they met, Jordan outweighed Tremblay by 11 pounds so Jordan's victory did not qualify him for the lightweight title.  Knowing that Jordan outweighed him, Tremblay didn't have to qualify at the 135 pound limit for this encounter, though there is nothing in the newspaper articles before or after the match to indicate whether or not he did.

     However, that never stopped newspaper writers or those advertising such an event as a "Championship Wrestling Bout" as was seen in this Columbia Theater ad in the Boston Journal.  After all, the goal was to make money.  In some cases this led to confusion as to who was legitimately the champion.   More to follow...