Dan McLeod (wrestler)

Dan McLeod (June 14, 1860 – June 20, 1958) was a Canadian catch wrestler of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, who held the American Heavyweight Championship twice. Born in Hamilton, Ontario, he worked as a miner in Nanaimo, British Columbia^[1] and wrestled his first match in 1889,^[2] winning the Pacific Coast heavyweight championship that same year.^[3] He was born Dan Stewart McLeod, Scottish heritage in 1867.,^[2] and his Scottish ancestry was confirmed by Dame Flora McLeod.

On October 26, 1897, McLeod defeated Martin Burns to win the American Heavyweight Championship, which he would retain for four years. The most notable incident during his reign as champion came far away from the media spotlight when on June 18, 1899, McLeod met and defeated a young Frank Gotch in a hard-fought impromptu match on a cinder track.^[4] It was Gotch's very first professional match and he later recounted that McLeod had hustled all involved by pretending to be a simple furniture dealer from a neighboring town, but was sufficiently impressed by Gotch's talent to leave him a visiting card revealing his true identity.^[5] Gotch would go on to defeat McLeod on multiple occasions after much training under Martin "Farmer" Burns.^[6] McLeod occasionally used the "catch name" alias George Little.

McLeod's reign as champion came to an end on November 7, 1901, when he was defeated by Tom Jenkins. Amid a series of rematches between the two men, McLeod recaptured the title on Christmas Day 1902^[7] but lost it to Jenkins the following April.^[1]

After retirement, McLeod worked as a wrestling instructor at the Los Angeles Athletic Club.^[3]

Championships and accomplishments

• Catch wrestling
  • World Catch-as-Catch-can Championship (1 time)
  • American Catch-as-Catch-can Championship (1 time)
• Professional Wrestling
  • American Heavyweight Championship (2 times)

References