American Heavyweight Championship
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The American Heavyweight Wrestling Championship was the first Heavyweight professional wrestling championship in the United States. The title existed from 1893 through 1908.
[edit] Title history
| Wrestler: | Times: | Date Won: | Location: | Notes: |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Evan 'Strangler' Lewis | 1 | March 2, 1893 | New Orleans, Louisiana | Lewis unified the Catch-as-Catch Can Championship and the American Greco-Roman Championship by defeating Ernest Roeber on March 2, 1893 in a 3 out of 5 falls match with alternating Greco-Roman match and Catch-as-Catch can matches. The two titles became known as the American Heavyweight Wrestling Championship. |
| Martin 'Farmer' Burns | 1 | April 20, 1895 | Chicago, Illinois | |
| Don McLeod | 1 | October 26, 1897 | Indianapolis, Indiana | |
| Tom Jenkins | 1 | November 7, 1901 | ||
| Don McLeod | 2 | December 25, 1902 | Worcester, Massachusetts | Jenkins forfeited the title to McLeod after having blood poisoning in his leg during their match. |
| Tom Jenkins | 2 | April 3, 1903 | Buffalo, New York | |
| Frank Gotch | 1 | January 27, 1904 | Bellingham, Washington | |
| Tom Jenkins | 3 | March 15, 1905 | New York City, New York | |
| Frank Gotch | 2 | May 23, 1906 | Kansas City, Missouri | |
| Fred Beell | 1 | December 1, 1906 | New Orleans, Louisiana | |
| Frank Gotch | 3 | December 17, 1906 | Kansas City, Missouri | Gotch defeated Georg Hackenschmidt, the World Heavyweight Champion, to unify both title belts on April 3, 1908 in Chicago, Illinois. |
