Jan Wilko

Good for you, Gernot.

So exciting, and now increasingly unusual, when we can be in contact with sixties greats.

Have great fun.

Great information, Gernot, but as always with Professional Wrestling, this brings up even more questions!

I thought Jan Wilkens promotion was for the EWU (European Wrestling Union) and that he wrestled Don Leo Jonathan, and others, for the EWU belt, and not the CWA belt?

We talked here about Otto Wanzs title win against Jan Wilkens. I always doubt that this ever happens. But now I found a south african fan on fb who was live at the venue, probably as a child. I want to share his answer to my question (similar as my post above). I am more confused than before.

"Hi there. Jan Wilkens did in fact challenged all these wrestlers in South Africa whose name you have mentioned. Whether they were all titles fights I can’t remember. I can put you in touch with the wrestling promoters son, Roger Kohne. I can contact him and hopefully get his email address and you can contact him too. Roger’s dad Willie Kohne managed all the wrestling promotion in South Africa at the time. He has however passed on. Jan Wilkens was apparently Willie’s business partner when it came to wrestling Also in that era there were also 3 fights that declare you to become champion. The fights would be in Durban, Johannesburg and Cape Town. I remember Jan Wilkins having matches against Angelo Mosca, Don Lou Jonathan, Otto Wanz, and many more. We were to believe the belt on the line then was the Canadian World wrestling belt"

We know now that the CWA or at least a Canadian World title was mentioned but what does this meant? The origin of Ottos world title claim was always a mysterium which I want to solve.

Great information!

So I have to clear some thing about Ottos CWA win in South africa. I highly doubt that there was a tournament or a match about the title. Why?. The CWA didnt exist before 77 and also after this year it was only a title (which was named Canadian Wrestling Association at this time). The CWA (Catch Wrestling Associatian) wasnt found before 86 more 87. So Otto was invited to come for a tour to South Africa in 77. He organized July 2nd a event for a qualifing match for a World Championship. There he beat Pat Roach. So Otto did the build up allready at home. There was never ever mentioned a CWA in South Africa before. They have there own think WWU World Title. I have a programm where Otto faced Don Leo Jonathan in Durban August 9th in an World Title Elimination Bout. So this was only a few days after Otto should have won the CWA title. This makes no sense. Also you have to see this from a promotor standpoint. Why should they fight for two world title? Also why should the make a tournament for a title which never ever was seen in South africa again? And why should there top star Jan Wilkens loose against a unknown foreigner? Also Otto was named in the programm only European Champion. So my theory, Wanz declared himself after the bout with Wilkens, if this really happend, as World Champion. He talked to Don Leo that he loose, at least on papers, his title to him, so he can bring him to austria for a great payday. Then in my opinion Otto got mor credibility when he beats a champion in front of his homecrowd as he comes back from a foreign country with a title and defend it against Johnathan. So the fans saw it live with there own eyes that there hometown hero becomes new champion. And also there is one question. Why Otto never ever returned to South Africa?

Just came across another bill on Jan Wilkos tour which takes it to at least six weeks.

Not found him in the north as yet.

But this thread has certainly put him more on the map.

It was called the European Wrestling Union because it was a time of Apartheid. There were separate wrestling promotions, at that time in the colloquial language the "white promotion" and the "non-white promotion" or "coloured promotion" (which mainly featured wrestlers of Indian heritage, e.g. Dalibar Singh).

Sax mentioned someone called Apollo. here he is.

I like the way Gordon Nelson - previous year's RAH Trophy winner - goes down twice by a ko. He was at the same time wrestling invincibly as The Outlaw. Fascinating how wrestlers accorded winning masked streaks pay back by losing consistently after unmasking (Bartelli, Black Mask) or in this case, beforehand. Or are required to pay back.

So when Otto Wanz defeated Wiko for his title did Wanz return to Europe with the title and belt to create the C.W.A. or did Wanz lose to Wilko in a return match before returning home?

Not sure why some of the font, above, appears in different colours.

Here is an article from 2015, in the Potchefstroom Herald (the newspaper of a South African university town), where they interview Jan Wilkens, 72 years old at the time.

As I have translated this from Afrikaans, you can expect some wording and grammar mistakes.

Jan Wilkens: The great wrestling legend lives on

Long, long ago there was a young strong Boer who wrestled numerous opponents from far and wide with his wrestling grips and backbreakers. Jan Wilkens was a wrestling machine that collected numerous heavyweight titles and trophies over decades and is considered South Africa's best wrestler of all time. 

Wilkens (72) has lived on a farm outside Potchefstroom for many years, where he has been farming since his retirement in 1987. The heyday and glory days of his illustrious career are now over, but there is still a bright spark in Wilkens' eye. You immediately notice it in the way he greets you with his big hand - a decent grip of the chest. The years were mercifully good for Wilkens who, with nostalgia for Potchefstroom Herald, took a nostalgia tour across land borders and within wrestling crayons that all started at Carletonville High School.

The wrestling bug's first bite:

“My primary school education was a small farm school at Rysmierbult, Carletonville High School up to Standard 8 and at Virginia High School. I'm in St. 7 exposed to wrestling. My friend invited me to an amateur club in town. "He pinned me in a wrestling match and it was very bad for my ego," he says jokingly.

Wilkens then went back to the amateur club and so the wrestling bug bit him properly.

In Virginia he entered the Free State Championships, where the level of competition was very high. To some extent, it was the perfect exposure for Wilkens.

"I was 16 years old when I won the SA Heavyweight title in my age group in 1960 in Port Elizabeth. My amateur career then began in earnest. Shortly afterwards I started wrestling senior and won the Free State senior championship. "

Wilkens then joined the police in Pretoria for a while and then won the SA police championship and wrestled for the Northern Transvaal.

"I decided to wrestle professionally with the chances that were zero to represent South Africa at amateur level, because of the international boycott that was applied to us," he said.

England and great success calls for Wilkens:

The gifted wrestler then went to England to practice professional wrestling, where he won all 40 of his fights in the country. Furthermore, he also went to Germany and still experienced success in Japan as well. "I won the Pacific Trophy in 1969, which was very special to me."

Wilkens also participated in the 1975 New Japan Pro Wrestling Series, which to this day is one of the largest professional wrestling promotions in the world.

1975 was a special year for Wilkens, who then won the world title for the first time, after defeating Don Leo Jonathan.

"In all, I fought in 42 world title fights. I won 32 and lost 10 and was a three-time heavyweight champion from 1975-1987, ”he says.

One of Wilkens' big moments was when he told Mr. X (Percy Hall) won to become the South African heavyweight champion. "Percy had been my hero and just wrestling against him was already a great privilege for me," says Wilkens with a smile.

Overseas opponents such as Blackjack Mulligan, Big John Studd, Seiji Sakaguchi and Big John Strongbow provided plenty of action in the chalk - these were big fights that Jan will remember for as long as he lives.

"I used forearm bumps and the Boston Crab to soften them and then used the back breaker to defeat my opponent," he said.

"Bull Hefer was the greatest South African promoter of all time. Without him, our sport would never have been so successful in my years. Amateurs monitored the game and one had to be fit and able to wrestle. If you applied clown regions, they took away your wrestling license. ”

When the wrestling license and governing body were dissolved, there was no actual control and everyone could wrestle. From there, it became systematically weaker.

"In my years, guys still had a chance, but now they have to go overseas to get good professional wrestling training. There is no longer good training, ”he says.

Wilkens wrestled in England, Germany as well as Japan and achieved great success outside South Africa, even though he did not wrestle full time.

"We did not wrestle full time. At one stage I had three jobs and farmed. Those times were very different from professional sports today. ”

According to Wilkens, Amateur Wrestling is almost another game in itself. "Amateur wrestling is a lot like Judo. Professional wrestling is fun, because every grip has a counter-grip. For example, a wrestler knows 50 grips and a good wrestler will then have an opponent for a grip. Any game where money is involved and where crowds have to be attracted, there is a degree of spectacle, Wilkens defends the sport of professional wrestling.

"In South Africa we wrestled six rounds with the wrestler who would win the best from three to two falls, which was demanding.

"In this respect, this demanding nature itself has led to a number of injuries. My fingers were broken, my sternum cracked and my worst injury was to Percy Hall when he hit my main artery and I developed a blood clot in my calf. I still have that injury, ”said Wilkens, pointing to the scars on his leg.

Interesting stories were there though, especially after wrestling fights were over and over and the bunch of wrestlers traveled to different destinations.

"We had a lot of fun. One time I, Bull Hefer and the other wrestlers drove from the Cape and it was terribly hot. We found a farm dam in the Free State and decided to swim poodle naked in the dam.

We then saw one of my fellow wrestlers taking our clothes to the other side of the road! "After a long struggle we got our clothes and then we threw clothes and all in the pond," he laughs.

Such anecdotes are but some of the memories that Wilkens will remember from the sport that gave him a full life.

"I led a very clean life thanks to wrestling.

I did not drink or smoke. It was important to maintain my body. Wrestlers have excellent camaraderie and if you keep winning, they will see you.

I think all my victories in more than 3,000 wrestling fights have contributed to my fame. ”

Great Info. That does him justice.

Both the "Internet Wrestling Database" & the 'Wrestlingdata' websites have Jan entering 3 of the German Tournaments in 1967. Horst Hoffman is the only man to defeat Wilko at each meeting, and Gideon Gida defeats the South African one time. Apart from that Wilko excels by beating everyone including Gideon Gida, Josef Kovacs, Hermann Iffland, Micha Nador, Dennis Mitchell, Peter Kayser and Frank Valois. Pretty outstanding!

Then both websites show Jan having 2 to tours of Japan 1969 & 1973 where unfortunately he just appears to have been jobbing in mainly tag matches, what a waste. Further, in 1977 Wilko loses the C.W.A. title to the up and coming Otto Wanz.

And a pin up picture from January the same year.

Here's an article about Jan from the April 1966 edition of "The Wrestler." Quite the statement too "The Biggest Sensation Since The Zebra Kid!"

There is a clip of him on YouTube, battling Giant Haystacks.

Yes and fought Gwyn Davies before end of year as well. He has not really cropped up before and seems to be an "A" lister. Don't think he made TV.

I have read that he defeated Gordon Nelson, twice, by knockout, on the 6th and 14th of December, 1965.