SLAM! Wrestling Canadian Hall of Fame: Jack Taylor
DIED: Saturday May 19, 1956 of heart failure in a Edmonton hospital
Perhaps I don't know a great deal about Jack Taylor, and some of
the information that I do have may be useless to you, but I will submit it
all with hopes that it will help to illustrate the significant role that
this man played in the pioneer years of Canadian wrestling.
Taylor was considered in his era to be one of the finest overall
wrestlers of his day. From the onset, he was heralded as a star on the
rise. These high regards may have been what led promoters to sign a bout
between Taylor and then (NWA) world heavyweight champion, Charley Cutler in
Winnipeg in 1914. The match was highly controversial with the referee
awarding the bout to Taylor by disqualification, and to my knowledge, Taylor
never received a re-match despite massive public outcry in this region.
To date, I have not uncovered any information on Taylor for another
eight years, when he re-surfaced in Manitoba, billed as the Canadian
Heavyweight champion and an undisputed big draw in this territory.
(From this point, I will note his schedule as fully as I know it, offering
any additional information that I can where applicable)
Dec 5, 1922 - Winnipeg - Defeated Leo L'Heureux (L'Heureux was Winnipeg's top star)
Dec 15, 1922 - Winnipeg - Defeated John Freberg
Dec 20, 1922 - Regina - Defeated I.A. Johnson
Jan 19, 1923 - Winnipeg - Defeated Yussif Hussane
Feb 2, 1923 - Winnipeg - Defeated John Freberg
Apr 18, 1923 - Winnipeg - Defeated Yussif Hussane
May 18, 1923 - Winnipeg - Defeated Taro Miyaki
June 6, 1923 - Winnipeg - Defeated Ernie Maupas
June 15, 1923 - Winnipeg - Defeated Taro Miyaki
July 17, 1923 - Winnipeg - Defeated WLADEK ZBYSKO
Aug 21, 1923 - Winnipeg - Defeated John Freberg
Sept 18, 1923 - Winnipeg - Defeated Frank Simmons
Oct 18, 1923 - Winnipeg - Defeated Tom Johnstone (Winnipeg Police Champion)
Nov 5, 1923 - Winnipeg - Defeated Wladek Zbysko
Jan 1, 1924 - Winnipeg - Defeated REGINALD SIKI (First colored wrestler in Wpg)
Feb 6, 1924 - Lethbridge, AB - Defeated Dan Koloff
Mar 12, 1924 - Edmonton - Defeated Dan Koloff
Apr 1, 1924 - New York City - Lost to Wladek Zbysko
Apr 25, 1924 - Winnipeg - Defeated Leo L'Heureux
May 8, 1924 - Winnipeg - Lost to Dick Daviscourt (Match for #1 contender to
Ed Lewis, with winner to receive a title shot on May 24)
May 24, 1924 - Winnipeg - Defeated Howard "Hangman" Cantonwine
June 17, 1924 - Winnipeg - Lost to Dick Daviscourt
Oct 1, 1924 - Medicine Hat, AB - Defeated John Freberg
Oct 5, 1924 - Aneroid, SK - Defeated Anton Peterson
Oct 18, 1924 - Swift Current, SK - Defeated Leo L'Heureux
Nov 22, 1924 - Swift Current, SK - Defeated Fred Grebmire
Apr 3, 1929 - Saskatoon - Defeated Jack Demetral
As well, Jack Taylor is credited with training
Stu Hart, so in a
way, Jack Taylor is (to quote Dusty Rhodes) ". . The grand-daddy of 'em all"
in relation to Canadian wrestling.
This bio was written by central Canada's leading wrestling expert, Vern May of Canadian Wrestle-Media. To learn more about wrestlers from Manitoba and Saskatchewan, Vern encourages you to email him.
