Billy Meeske (1891–1970) was an Australian professional wrestler who was three-time Australian heavyweight champion and one time Pacific Coast light heavyweight champion.
He was an active professional wrestler from 1915 to 1947. While he achieved his greatest fame in professional wrestling he was also an all-round sportsman competing in many sports at the amateur and professional levels, served in the Australian Imperial Force during the First World War with the rank of sergeant,William Meeske at Discovering ANZACS website and performed as part of vaudeville acts demonstrating feats of strength, such as supporting the weight of five men, feats of agility, and Russian dancing.
Biography Early life Meeske was born in South Melbourne, Victoria, to Australian born parents and he would later claim to be 'purebred' Australian with the exception of one of his grandfather's grandfathers being Russian. He achieved renown as an all-round athlete in his youth, particularly for cycling, wrestling, weightlifting, swimming, gymnastics, and as a motorcyclist.
In 1903 he enrolled in the wrestling school of Weber and Rice. In 1907 he began cycling professionally, however in 1910 he decided he wished to compete in amateur events and was required to stand down from athletic competitions for one year in order to qualify for them. He began competing in amateur wrestling after his hiatus and became the Australian middleweight champion, holding the title from 1912 to 1914. He began his professional wrestling career in 1915 wrestling on an athletic program in April that year at a Melbourne event held to raise money for Belgium. He wrestled again in October on a Police Charity Carnival program.
Military service In November 1915 he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force due to the First World War. At the time of his enlistment he was married to May J. Meeske. During his training he was appointed physical instructor to the Royal Park Camp and began training for boxing. He showed an aptitude for boxing and in July 1916 he sparred with twenty men in one evening at the Royal Park Camp. He was valued for his ability as a physical trainer and as such his superiors were reluctant to deploy him however he wished to serve at the front and was finally deployed with the Railway Unit in early 1917. He wrestled a Russian soldier during the voyage to the front, and while boxing competitions took place during the voyage Meeske was banned from participating due to his skill.
As of November 1917 he was serving as a sapper in Belgium, and boxed against fellow soldiers while on active service there. As of 1918 he was in France and serving on the physical training staff of a convalescent camp, and wrestled in a competition between Australian, American, Canadian, English, and Belgian soldiers in 1918, and judged a boxing competition in 1919. During his time deployed in France he had eighteen boxing matches winning seventeen and drawing one and defeated former French wrestling champion M. Pernin in a wrestling match.
First reign as heavyweight champion of Australia Meeske was back in Australia in 1920 and became an instructor at the Victorian Railways Institute and at some point became physical instructor for the Essendon Football Club. In February he directed an athletic program during which he demonstrated Russian dance, jiu-jitsu, and weightlifting. In April he issued a challenge wagering twenty pounds that no light heavyweight wrestler in Australia could beat him in a catch-as-catch-can style best of three falls match. As of September 1920 it was being suggested that he may have a superior physique to respected wrestler Clarence Weber, and he challenged Weber to put the heavy-weight championship on the line, but later learnt that Weber had officially retired in 1913 and as such claimed to be the Australian heavyweight champion and stated that he was willing to defend the title against any challenger including Weber. Weber declined to wrestle Meeske unless he was paid one hundred pounds, and in 1921 it was suggested that there were no worthy opponents for Meeske in Australia. In August 1921 he wrestled his first match after the war defeating Billy Tonkin.
In January 1922 Meeske had a jiu-jitsu match against Billy McGarvey. Professional wrestling was described as having almost lapsed out of existence in Australia as of 1922, and in late January the company Country Stadiums Ltd. moved to reinvigorate the sport organizing for Meeske to wrestle Billy Kopsch under their auspices in March. Victorian wrestler, Bert Potts, challenged Meeske for the Australian championship before Meeske had wrestled Kopsch. As the scheduled date approached Meeske delayed the match by a fortnight, but by April it had still not taken place, with Kopsch stating he had not heard any news regarding it. As of July 1922 Meeske was still claiming the heavyweight championship and giving wrestling demonstrations with Billy Tonkin, and in July he issued a challenge claiming he was able to throw any twelve wrestlers in Australia within an hour.
In August 1922 a meeting of all professional wrestlers in Victoria was held by the newspaper Sporting Globe to organize and reinvigorate the sport and resolve the issue of scheduled matches falling through. At the meeting it was decided that the two wrestlers with the best claim to the heavyweight championship of Australia were Joe Bailey and Meeske and a match was scheduled. In September 1922 to promote the match Meeske antagonized Bailey by having ten pounds delivered to him via the newspaper the Sporting Globe as a wager and suggesting that Bailey may not show due to cowardice. He later sent an additional fifteen pounds to Bailey saying he would wrestle him at any time and any location with ten days notice. Meeske finally wrestled for the heavyweight championship against Bailey on November 22 at Melbourne Stadium, defeating him and becoming the recognized heavyweight champion of Australia. After his victory he went on holiday to Gippsland Lakes.
In January 1923 Meeske agreed to face Dave Smith for the heavyweight title in February, and announced that he would defend the title against Billy Kopsch if he defeated Smith ahead of the match. He defeated Smith with the victory being described as easy, and decisive with the match lasting just three minutes. Meeske's manager demanded that Kopsch wager twenty-five pounds ahead of their match, accusing him of not drawing large enough crowds to his matches, and Meeske instead wrestled and defeated Scotsman Jim McMurdo in April 1923. Another notable event in April was that Meeske joined the coaching staff of the South Melbourne Football Club.
In May, 1923, Kopsch challenged Meeske again, and they finally wrestled on May 31 with Meeske winning after Kopsche sustained a shoulder injury he claimed seriously handicapped him. They wrestled a second time in June with Meeske winning again. After this a match between Meeske and Clarence Weber, who had recently come out of retirement, was hotly anticipated but Meeske postponed scheduling a bout due to his commitments with the South Melbourne Football Club, although he did wrestle and beat Charles Honroth in late June. In July the date of a Meeske and Weber wrestling match was set, and the prospect received interest throughout the month. In early August Meeske won a jiu-jitsu match against Billy Kopsch which was billed as a 'fight to the death' due to strangle holds being allowed. They fought a second jiu-jitsu match with the stipulation that they wear jackets in late August which Meeske also won.
In late August Weber and Meeske participated in vaudeville acts to promote their match, demonstrating feats of strength, and they finally wrestled on 1 September 1923 before a crowd reported to be from 8,000 to 9,000 strong with Weber dominating the match and winning the championship. Meeske claimed to have been hampered by injuring his knee during training, and limped from the ring, but declined to release a medical certificate due to 'medical etiquette'. Shortly after the match he offered to wager one hundred pounds that he could defeat Weber in a fair fight.
Cruiserweight champion After losing the championship Meeske performed at a local concerts across Victoria, performing demonstrations of feats of strength and agility and Russian dancing. He also gave wrestling exhibitions in Melbourne alongside Weber, and their joint promotional work was credited with greatly increasing the popularity of professional wrestling in Melbourne.
In November 1923 Meeske announced his knee had recovered and he was ready to wrestle again, and a match against Jim McMurdo was scheduled for the cruiserweight championship with Meeske describing it as a chance to have "another chance at Weber". Meeske spoke positively about McMurdo's skill prior to the match, which took place in December and was described as an even contest which Meeske won with some cheating. A notable spot in the match was Meeske being thrown out of the ring and landing on a reporter.
In January 1924 Meeske and McMurdo were scheduled to wrestle again but McMurdo was injured causing the match to be canceled. In February Meeske wrestled Charles Honroth instead in a match which Meeske won, but was criticized for being slow paced. Meeske then accused Weber of avoiding a match against him, and reiterated that he felt he had only lost due to his leg injury. In March 1924 Meeske was scheduled to fight Peter Fatouros, a Greek wrestler, in his debut in a challenge match in which he had to throw Fatouros out of the ring twice. He claimed to have cut open his hand on a kerosene tin full of soap ahead of the match, which was postponed as Meeske was booked to wrestle the visiting American wrestler Walter Miller after Weber pulled out of a match against him. The bout was promoted as being a test of the standard of Australian wrestling relative to America, and a test of whether Meeske deserved to challenge for the world championship. Miller defeated Meeske, badly injuring his shoulder in the finish resulting in tension between both wrestlers camps, Meeske demonstrating discontent with his own team for throwing in the towel after his injury, and Miller being heckled as he left the ring.
In late May 1924 Meeske expressed that he wanted a no-rules rematch with Walter Miller before he returned to America and then a title match against Weber. The Miller-Meeske rematch took place in June and was evenly matched going the distance with Miller winning on points to the crowds dismay, although there was a lack of heat for the match and attendance was poor. Meeske almost immediately issued a challenge for a second rematch wagering two hundred pounds that he could beat Miller, and it was suggested that a rematch may decide the heavyweight championship, as Miller had beaten reigning champion Clarence Weber, however it was determined that as Miller had not lived in Australia for six months before beating Weber he could not qualify as champion and the match did not go ahead. Miller invited Meeske to come to America with him when he departed Australia.