20 Pro Wrestling Firsts You Need To Know

9. True Heel

Wrestling Bladejob
WWE

Taking a break from matches and focusing on gimmicks now, truly identifying the first heel in professional wrestling is impossible. One name that frequently comes up in the discussion however is Billy Edwards, who fought out of Kansas City and Nebraska.

Edwards was a household name when wrestling was still a carnival attraction, and it was here that he became regarded as the first truly great bad guy. Edwards became the first man to become an expert at inciting crowds to make money. He was tasked with egging crowds on to try their luck against him, then make his 'opponents' look good enough that the crowds would lump more and more money on someone beating him.

Edwards is also credited with using one of the first well-publicised submission moves, a rather horrible sounding hold called the 'chiropractic headlock'. Edwards wore diamond rings and an elk's tooth on a chain around his neck, and is also considered to be one of the creators of what would become the Texas Death Match.

Edwards' battles with Ira Dern were so brutal but so popular that promoters abandoned all rules. Everything was allowed, with the exception of the stranglehold. There you are, three firsts for the price of one.

Contributor
Contributor

Born in the middle of Wales in the middle of the 1980's, John can't quite remember when he started watching wrestling but he has a terrible feeling that Dino Bravo was involved. Now living in Prague, John spends most of his time trying to work out how Tomohiro Ishii still stands upright. His favourite wrestler of all time is Dean Malenko, but really it is Repo Man. He is the author of 'An Illustrated History of Slavic Misery', the best book about the Slavic people that you haven't yet read. You can get that and others from www.poshlostbooks.com.