Earl Caddock

Earl Caddock (February 27, 1888 – August 25, 1950) was an American professional wrestler and World Heavyweight Champion who was active in the early portion of the twentieth century.

After his father was killed in a bizarre accident in which he fell down a manhole, Earl Caddock moved to his uncle's farm in Anita, Iowa.

[10][11] Through Cutler and Kartje, Caddock was introduced to Frank Gotch and Martin 'Farmer' Burns who began to train him for Professional wrestling.

His popularity grew and on April 19, 1917, he defeated Joe Stecher for the World Heavyweight Championship in Omaha, Nebraska.

Caddock walked out of this tournament over promoter Jack Curley's refusal to bill him as World Heavyweight Champion.

Video on YouTube Caddock's career continued successfully for the next few years but he wouldn't be in another World Title match until 1921.

[18] Another title match in November against Stanislaus Zbyszko resulted in another failure to recapture the World Heavyweight Championship.

An illustration of Caddock following his first World Heavyweight Championship victory in 1917.