Evan Lewis (May 24, 1860 – November 3, 1919) was an American

professional wrestler Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to real-life wrest ...

who was the first recognized American Heavyweight Champion and is credited with perfecting the "stranglehold" or "neck yoke" more commonly known today as the sleeperhold. He is sometimes confused with Ed "Strangler" Lewis, a later six-time

World Heavyweight Champion At boxing's beginning, the heavyweight division had no weight limit, and historically the weight class has gone with vague or no definition. During the 19th century many heavyweights were 170 pounds (12 st 2 lb, 77 kg) or less, tho ...

also credited with first using the hold, whose moniker is attributed to Lewis's after a reporter noted a resemblance between the two.

Life and wrestling career

Born in Ridgeway, Wisconsin, of Welsh descent,''The wrestling match'', Butte Semi Weekly Miner, 22 December 1888, p4. Lewis began wrestling professionally winning a 64-man tournament in Montana in May 1882. He returned to Wisconsin and defeated Ben Knight for the Wisconsin Heavyweight Championship in a Mineral Point match on March 20, 1883. Moving to Madison in 1885, he later defeated several international wrestlers, including Andre Christol, Tom Cannon, and Matsuda Sorakichi. Defeating Joe Acton in

Chicago, Illinois Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, for the American Catch-as-Catch-can Championship on March 14, 1887, he later unified the World Catch-as-Catch-can and American Greco-Roman Heavyweight Championship in a best-of-five match against

Ernest Roeber Ernest Roeber (September 1861 – April 30, 1944) was a German- American professional wrestler who held the European Greco-Roman Heavyweight Championship from 1894 to 1900 and from 1900 to 1901. Roeber also held the American Greco-Roman Heavy ...

New Orleans, Louisiana New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

on March 3, 1893 (he also had defeated him for the "Collar and Elbow Championship" on May 18, 1890). After defending the title for over eight years, Lewis lost the

American Heavyweight Championship The American Heavyweight Wrestling Championship was the first heavyweight professional wrestling championship in the United States. The title existed from 1881 through approximately 1922. Title history See also *Professional wrestling in the ...

Martin Burns Martin Burns (February 15, 1861 – January 8, 1937), nicknamed Farmer Burns, was an American Catch wrestling, catch wrestler, wrestling coach, and teacher. Born in Cedar County, Iowa, he started wrestling as a teenager and made money travelin ...

, whom he had previously defeated in his debut match in 1886. In the 1880s he fought in

Cornish wrestling Cornish wrestling () is a form of wrestling that has been established in Cornwall for many centuries and possibly longer. It is similar to the Breton people, Breton Gouren wrestling style. It is colloquially known as "wrasslin’"Phillipps, K C: ...

challenge matches against various opponents. He lost a protracted series of matches in 1883 and 1884 against

Jack Carkeek Jack Carkeek, (January 22, 1861''The next bout'', Daily News Advertiser, 9 September 1906, p6. – March 12, 1924) was an American wrestler from Rockland, Michigan. He was a champion in Cornish wrestling and Lancashire catch-as-catch-can wre ...

.Wisconsin Eau Claire Daily Leader, 2 October 1883, p35.Butte Daily Miner, 7 January 1885, p4. As with most wrestlers at this time, he fought in mixed style challenge matches for significant prizes. For example, in 1892, in Chicago, he beat the

champion Jack King in a 5 styles match (

Greco-Roman The Greco-Roman world , also Greco-Roman civilization, Greco-Roman culture or Greco-Latin culture (spelled Græco-Roman or Graeco-Roman in British English), as understood by modern scholars and writers, includes the geographical regions and co ...

, Catch as catch can, American side hold, Cornish and

Collar-and-elbow Collar-and-elbow wrestling (Irish language, Irish: Coiléar agus Uille or Brollaidheacht) is a Martial arts, martial art and form of jacket wrestling native to Ireland. Historically it has also been practised in regions of the world with large I ...

) for $500.''The wrestling match'', New York Clipper, 2 April 1892 , p57.''Wrestling'', The Wichita daily eagle, 22 March 1892 , p2. In Chicago on June 20, 1898, Lewis faced

Yusuf İsmail Yusuf İsmail (1857 – July 4, 1898), also known as Youssouf Ishmaelo, was a Turkish professional wrestler who competed in Europe and the United States as Yusuf Ismail the Terrible Turk during the 1890s. During his lifetime, native Turks knew h ...

, a 300 lb wrestler known as ''the Terrible Turk'', with a claimed record of 115 wins and no losses across Europe. The match took place in front of a reported audience of 10,000, for a purse of $3,500 and the “championship of the world”, and the strangehold was barred. Within three minutes, İsmail as able to get Lewis into a stranglehold so the fall was awarded to Lewis. After being cautioned a second time for the strangehold, İsmail won the second and third rounds in six and seven minutes respectively, though the method was reported to be a strangehold again, which was barred. Afterwards Lewis was quoted as saying, “I was licked. The Turk is the better man.” This was İsmail's last match as he died at sea the next month. Lewis died of cancer in

Dodgeville, Wisconsin Dodgeville is a city in Iowa County, Wisconsin, United States, and its county seat. The population was 4,984 at the 2020 census, making it the county's most populous city. Dodgeville is part of the Madison metropolitan area. History In 1827 ...

on November 3, 1919.

Championships and accomplishments

Catch wrestling Catch wrestling (also known as catch-as-catch-can) is an English wrestling style where wrestlers aim to win by Pin (sport wrestling), pinning or Submission (combat sports), submitting their opponent using any legal holds or techniques. It emph ...

** World Catch-as-Catch-Can Championship (1 time) ** American Catch-as-Catch-can Championship (1 time) *

Greco-Roman wrestling Greco-Roman (American English), Graeco-Roman (British English), or classic wrestling (Euro-English) is a style of wrestling that is practiced worldwide. Greco-Roman wrestling was included in the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 and has been i ...

** American Greco-Roman Heavyweight Championship (1 time) * International Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame **Class of 2021 *

Professional wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...

( 1 time) ** British World Heavyweight Championship (1 time) ** Wisconsin Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *

Wrestling Observer Newsletter The ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON'') is a newsletter that covers professional wrestling and mixed martial arts. Founded in print in 1982 by Dave Meltzer, the ''Wrestling Observer'' website merged with Bryan Alvarez's ''Figure Four Wee ...

Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame The ''Wrestling Observer Newsletter'' (''WON'') Hall of Fame is a professional wrestling and mixed martial arts (MMA) hall of fame that recognizes people who make significant contributions to their professions. It was founded in 1996 by Dave Mel ...

( Class of 2007) *

Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum The Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame (PWHF) and Museum was an American professional wrestling hall of fame and museum located in Wichita Falls, Texas; following the postponement of its 19th induction ceremony, planned for May 2020, and an annou ...

** Class of 2009

References

External links

WAWLI Redux No. 37 - The Toughest Madisonian Who Ever Lived
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Evan 1860 births 1919 deaths 19th-century professional wrestlers People from Ridgeway, Wisconsin Sportspeople from Madison, Wisconsin American catch wrestlers American male professional wrestlers Professional wrestlers from Wisconsin Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum