A few days ago while scouring the internet for any information on George Hackenschmidt films, I came across this on WrestlingClassics mentioning that a 1908 Hackendschmidt match has been found in the collection of the New Zealand Film Archive.The video is in rough shape and it appears to be pending a possible transfer to the United Kingdom.
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| George Hackenschmidt |
This match is EXTREMELY important for historical purposes, so after hearing about this I dropped an e-mail to the good folks at Wrestling Observer/Figure Four Weekly, the issue was then discussed on the latest podcast featuring Bryan Alvarez and Karl Stern. who had a fascinating discussion on the earliest wrestling videos known (the earliest isn't a full match but is posted below).
This match is immensely important for historical reasons and this is also the type of project that will not be followed through upon without vigilance over time. I want to encourage anyone who cares about this to contact the New Zealand Film Archive through this form so they know what they have on their hands and ensure the film remains in everyone's attention span.
