WHY SO LONG?

Dear Friends,

recently I have received an email from a wrestling fan who was asking me a question - why in Old Lancashire some matches lasted for hours, or even continued on the second day.

Here is the answer.

Yes, in Lancashire all kinds of back falls counted whether they were rolls, pins, or flying falls, two shoulders strike the ground at the same time end the bout, you call it touch-fall in modern International Olympic freestyle. And you would expect that it would make matches go really fast.

Yes and No.

Let's say when Lancashire system was introduced in the State of New York in 1921, all pro wrestling matches were decided literally in minutes. Actually few months ago I even made a post about how the world pro wrestling title match between Strangler Lewis v Stan Zbyszko was according these old rules.

But in South Lancashire it didn't happen that often. The thing is under such conditions (and considering that there was no VAR back then like it is in a modern day football) it is the ref who is a decision maker...if he feels like he is NOT quite sure then he would be honest about it - and the fall is not awarded. And that would happen over and over again, they would roll, and throw each other in all ways imaginable...and may be the ref at the end would be brave enough to say - OK this one definitely was a COVETED FAIR BACK FALL. Obviously when it is a pin then there is nothing to say, it is a pin, you see it as everyone else sees it. That is why in the United States in the late 1800s they decided for all pro wrestling matches whether it is Greco-Roman or Catch 3 count pin ONLY decides the match.

Thanks,

Russian Concussion