56-509: American Heavyweight Championship Details Date established January 19, 1881 Statistics First champion(s) Edwin Bibby Final champion(s) Wladek Zbyszko Most reigns Tom Jenkins , Frank Gotch , Charlie Cutler, Dr. Benjamin Roller (3 times) The American Heavyweight Wrestling Championship
112-519: A Cornish wrestling match, while Jack claimed to be world Cornish wrestling champion. Gotch and Hackenschmidt finally met on April 3, 1908, at the Dexter Park Pavilion in Chicago. Showing his contempt for Gotch and for American wrestling in general, Hackenschmidt was not in the best condition, unlike Gotch, who used his speed, defense and rough tactics to wear Hackenschmidt down and then assume
168-637: A 3 out of 5 falls match with alternating Greco-Roman match and Catch-as-Catch can matches. The two titles became known as the American Heavyweight Wrestling Championship . Martin "Farmer" Burns 1 April 20, 1895 Chicago Dan McLeod 1 October 26, 1897 Indianapolis Yusuf İsmail 1 June 20, 1898 Chicago Tom Jenkins 1 November 7, 1901 Cleveland, Ohio Dan McLeod 2 December 25, 1902 Worcester, Massachusetts Jenkins forfeited
224-640: A 57-minute match" . Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online . Retrieved February 16, 2017 . ^ Wisconsin Historical Society. Wisconsin Local History & Biography Articles; "Milwaukee Journal"; "Marshfield", "WI"; "August 8, 1933"; viewed online at https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Newspaper/BA335 External links [ edit ] American Heavyweight title history at Wrestling-Titles.com v t e [REDACTED] Professional wrestling in
280-424: A biography written by Mike Chapman published in 1999, and is listed as "in pre-production " on its official website, yet still does not appear on the film company's IMDb credits page as in production as of April 2015. In February 2015, WHO-TV news of Des Moines aired Iowa Icon: Gotch Up There with Feller, Warner, Gable with quotes from University of Iowa wrestling coach Tom Brands , among others, with
336-617: A coal miner in 1871. Bibby began his wrestling career in 1872 and quickly became a top wrestler. He performed for Queen Victoria in Prince Albert's Court in London. In 1879 he immigrated to America and later sent for his family. He lived in New York and later Rhode Island and became a naturalized citizen in 1900. On 19 January 1881, Bibby became the first American Heavyweight Champion with his victory over Duncan C. Ross . He lost that title
392-523: A decade would begin to dominate golf. When Gotch defeated Hackenschmidt, the domination of professional wrestling passed to the Americans. In addition, many matches had still been conducted under Greco-Roman wrestling rules, but this match caused Greco-Roman to be forever replaced by the more exciting catch-as-catch-can style. Because of both his superior ability and his gift for self-promotion, Gotch became one of America's greatest sports idols. He achieved
448-1273: A different reign, possibly by winning a tournament which has started on February 21, 1922). See also [ edit ] [REDACTED] United States portal Professional wrestling in the United States Early wrestling championships World Catch-as-Catch-Can Championship World Greco-Roman Heavyweight Championship References [ edit ] ^ "BIBBY THROWS ROSS.; WINNING A MATCH WITH THE GIANT-- THREE OUT OF FIVE FALLS GAINED. - The New York Times" . ^ "Edwin Bibby 1848 - All about Bibby" . ^ "BIBBY THROWS ROSS.; WINNING A MATCH WITH THE GIANT-- THREE OUT OF FIVE FALLS GAINED. - The New York Times" . ^ F4W Staff (April 3, 2015). "ON THIS DAY IN PRO WRESTLING TITLE CHANGE HISTORY: GOTCH VS. HACKENSCHMIDT, INOKI VS. HANSEN, GUERRERO VS. JERICHO" . Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online . Retrieved February 10, 2017 . {{ cite web }} : CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list ( link ) ^ Hoops, Brian (May 23, 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling history (May 23): Antonio Inoki Vs. Hulk Hogan, Andre Vs. Sakaguchi, Frank Gotch in
504-566: A favorite sport and major league baseball was growing in popularity, but was not yet the national pastime. Automobile racing was in its infancy; golf was still the province of the wealthy; basketball had just been invented and was vying for attention; boxing offered a man a chance at fame and fortune, but was at this time riddled with scandals; the National Hockey League was formed the same year; and college football—the Ivy League game—was on
560-453: A hot shower to rid his body of an abundance of oil, but the referee ignored the complaints and told Hackenschmidt he should have noticed the oil before the match began. The match continued until the two-hour mark, when Hackenschmidt was forced against the ropes. Gotch tore him off the ropes, threw Hackenschmidt down and rode him hard for three minutes, working for his dreaded toe hold. Hackenschmidt had trained to avoid this hold, which he did, but
616-466: A level of popularity similar to that formerly held by boxer John L. Sullivan and harness racehorse Dan Patch , and enjoyed later by such sports heroes of the Golden Age of Sports as boxing's Jack Dempsey , baseball's Babe Ruth , tennis's Bill Tilden and golf's Bobby Jones . This in turn made professional wrestling mainstream. Mac Davis wrote in 100 Greatest Sports Heroes , "As the idol of millions in
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#1732858898865672-451: A match against him without being pinned or conceding. Not once did he have to pay. He grew tired of touring and moved back to Humboldt . After a year of health troubles, Gotch died at home in 1917 of what was rumored to be syphilis, but the official cause of death was uremic poisoning . He left behind his wife Gladys and their son, Frank Robert. All are entombed together in the Gotch mausoleum in
728-529: A rematch in Europe. As undisputed free-style heavyweight champion of the world, Gotch spent the next three years establishing his dominance over the sport, defeating the likes of Jenkins, Dr. Ben Roller , and Stanislaus Zbyszko , who was believed to have won over 900 matches before falling to Gotch on June 1, 1910. The victory over Zbyszko was particularly spectacular, as Gotch took both falls in slightly less than half an hour, and thoroughly dominated Zbyszko. He took
784-644: A rematch on January 27, 1904, to take the championship . After trading the title with Jenkins and Fred Beell, Gotch set his sights on the World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship , then held by the undefeated Estonian George Hackenschmidt . The opponent, called the " Russian Lion", had gained undisputed title recognition by defeating Jenkins in New York in 1905. Upon defeating Jenkins, however, Hackenschmidt ignored Gotch's challenge and sailed home to England. In 1905 Gotch beat Jack Carkeek in
840-787: A title but loses to Cutler on January 22, 1913, in Dallas, Texas . Dr. Benjamin Roller 2 July 4, 1913 Benton Harbor, Michigan Ed "Strangler" Lewis 1 September 18, 1913 Lexington, Kentucky William Demetral 1 October 21, 1913 Lexington, Kentucky Dr. Benjamin Roller 3 July 10, 1914 Rock Island, Illinois Ed "Strangler" Lewis defeats Roller during an international tournament on January 15, 1916, in New York City (title may not be on line). Wladek Zbyszko 1 January 8, 1917 Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Still/again champion as of September 22, 1922 (or
896-593: Is an extensive Gotch collection in the Dan Gable Wrestling Museum in Waterloo, Iowa . On display are the wrestling shoes he wore into the ring in 1911 against Hackenschmidt, his Mason's sword and leather scabbard , the roll-top desk that sat in his living room in Humboldt, and many other rare items. In addition, an independent film company acquired the rights to the book Gotch: An American Hero in 2008,
952-501: Is another side to this story that, when Lou Thesz was just starting out in the early 1930s, there were a good many professional wrestlers still active who had known Gotch and were not reluctant to talk about him. "The picture that emerged of Gotch from those conversations", Thesz recalled, "was of a man who succeeded at his business primarily because he was, for lack of a kinder description, a dirty wrestler. That's not to say that he wasn't competent, because everyone I ever talked with said he
1008-568: Is credited for popularizing professional wrestling in the United States. He competed back when the contests at championship level were largely legit (see catch wrestling ), and his reign as World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion (from 1908 to 1913) is one of the ten longest in the history of professional wrestling. He became one of the most popular athletes in America from the 1900s to the 1910s. Pro Wrestling Illustrated described Gotch as "arguably
1064-494: Is mispronounced as "Strangular" by River City Mayor Shinn in one of many malapropisms throughout the show. On July 4, 2012, an eight-foot tall bronze statue of Gotch was unveiled in Bicknell Park in Humboldt, the site of his outdoor training camp where as many as 1,000 people watched him train before his second Hackenschmidt match. In December 2011, a street running along the park was renamed Frank Gotch Boulevard. There
1120-417: Is not mentioned in any account of Hackenschmidt's training by either Hackenschmidt or Roller, both of whom offered their insights and accounts. Whatever the case may be, if the injury was real, Dr. Roller did not consider it serious and referee Ed Smith dismissed it as inconsequential. Hackenschmidt himself ignored it completely in declaring, the day before the match, that he was "fit to wrestle for my life" and
1176-514: Is one of the longer reigning world champions in the history of professional wrestling, with a reign that spanned nearly five years; the only other champions to have longer reigns than Gotch are Bruno Sammartino , who held the WWF World Heavyweight Championship for a record of seven years and eight months, Lou Thesz , whose fifth NWA World Heavyweight Championship lasted seven years and seven months, and Verne Gagne who held
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#17328588988651232-653: Is the king of the class, the greatest man by far I ever met", Hackenschmidt said. "After going nearly two hours with him, my muscles became stale. My feet also gave out. I had trained constantly against the toe hold and had strained the muscles of my legs. When I found myself weakening, I knew there was no use continuing and that I had no chance to win. That was the reason I conceded the championship to him. I have no desire to wrestle him again. A return match would not win back my title". Hackenschmidt later reversed his opinion of Gotch and Americans in general, claiming to have been fouled by Gotch and victimized in America, and calling for
1288-494: The AWA World Heavyweight Title for seven years and three months. Gotch competed in an era when a championship wrestling match was the same as a championship prize fight: i.e., it was a major event for which the wrestlers went into training and which promoters publicized for weeks. Thus, he did not have a long career in terms of the number of matches wrestled. His mentor Farmer Burns , and later champions Ed Lewis ,
1344-689: The Catch-as-Catch-Can Title ; Bibby is billed as champion for a match against World Greco-Roman champion William Muldoon on September 3, 1882, in Elmira, NY. Evan "Strangler" Lewis 1 April 11, 1887 Chicago Lewis unified the American Catch-as-Catch Can Championship and the American Greco-Roman Heavyweight Championship by defeating Ernest Roeber on March 2, 1893, in
1400-539: The "Strangler", as well as Lou Thesz , each engaged in more than 6,000 matches in their careers. Gotch engaged in only 160, finishing with a record of 154 wins and only 6 losses. Of those six losses, however, two were in the first year of his career – to Dan McLeod and Farmer Burns – and three were to Tom Jenkins . His last defeat was to Fred Beell on December 1, 1906, when he had crashed head-first into an uncovered turnbuckle and been rendered nearly unconscious. He defeated Beell in seven rematches and never lost again by
1456-479: The Championship silver belt that can allegedly still be found at a Lancashire museum. Frank Gotch Mid 20th Century 1970s and 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s and 2020s Frank Alvin Gotch (April 27, 1878 – December 17, 1917) was an American professional wrestler . Gotch was the first American professional wrestler to win the world heavyweight free-style championship , and he
1512-1146: The Impact ECW Hardcore TV ECW on TNN ECW on Syfy Lucha Libre USA: Masked Warriors Lucha Underground MLW Fusion MLW Underground Wrestling NWA USA Superstars of Wrestling UWF Fury Hour WCW Monday Nitro WCW Thunder WCW Saturday Night WCW WorldWide Wrestling at the Chase Wrestling Society X WWE 205 Live WWE Heat WWE NXT UK WWE Superstars WWE Velocity Attendance records Hall of Fame History Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=American_Heavyweight_Championship&oldid=1231641410 " Categories : Heavyweight wrestling championships National professional wrestling championships Hidden category: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list Edwin Bibby Edwin Bibby (15 November 1848 – 5 May 1905)
1568-490: The Union Cemetery in Humboldt. "The story of American Wrestling at its greatest", Nat Fleischer wrote in 1936, "is the story of the career of its most illustrious champion—Frank Gotch... Gotch was to wrestling history in this country what John L. Sullivan was to boxing. He dominated the field. Through his extraordinary ability, he gained for wrestling many converts and brought the sport into such favor that it became as big in
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1680-497: The United States Tom Jenkins had been rather easily beaten by Hackenschmidt, so there was no American to capture the nation's fancy until Gotch; and none of the other great professional wrestlers had either the amazing physical attributes or the gift for self-promotion that Gotch possessed. Furthermore, the United States was beginning to dominate some of the world's major sports. Americans already dominated boxing and within
1736-602: The United States in the early part of the 20th century. In fact, a large number of high school and college wrestling programs can trace their roots back to the 1910s and 1920s—the era when Hackenschmidt and Gotch were still household names, and highly respected athletes". Gotch was also a major sports superstar, often called the Hulk Hogan of his day, who lifted professional wrestling to new heights of popularity. When he became world champion, there were not many sports competing with wrestling for public attention. Horse racing remained
American Heavyweight Championship - Misplaced Pages Continue
1792-467: The United States, Canada and Mexico, Gotch made [professional] wrestling a big-time sport in his day. He drew larger audiences than did the heavyweight champion of boxing when defending his title". Gotch's first match against Hackenschmidt also remains perhaps the most famous professional wrestling encounter of all time. Gotch was among the first elected to the Iowa Sports Hall of Fame (1951), and
1848-492: The annual Frank Gotch Wrestling Tournament. Because of Gotch's legacy, Iowa remains a wrestling stronghold at the high school and collegiate levels to this day. Gotch's success and fame is credited with playing a part in the creation of the Iowa High School Wrestling Tournament in 1921. The 1957 musical The Music Man mentions the exciting contest between Gotch and Strangler Ed Lewis , whose nickname
1904-416: The attack. The wrestlers stood on their feet for two full hours before Gotch was able to get behind Hackenschmidt and take him down. While on their feet, Gotch made sure to lean on Hackenschmidt to wear him down. He bullied him around the ring, and his thumbing and butting left Hackenschmidt covered in blood. Hackenschmidt complained to the referee of Gotch's foul tactics and asked that Gotch be forced to take
1960-479: The best North American professional wrestler of the 20th century". The son of Frederick Rudolph and Amelia Gotch, and of German ancestry, he was born and raised on a small farm three miles south of Humboldt, Iowa . He took up wrestling in his teens, earning a reputation by beating locals. He adopted the toe hold as his signature finishing move. Gotch wrestled and won his first match against Marshall Green in Humboldt on April 2, 1899, but his first important match
2016-412: The effort took his last remaining strength. Hackenschmidt quit the fall. "I surrender the championship of the world to Mr. Gotch", he said, and stood up and shook Gotch's hand. The wrestlers then retired to their dressing rooms before coming out for the second fall, but Hackenschmidt refused to return to the ring, telling the referee to declare Gotch the winner, thereby relinquishing his title to him. "He
2072-401: The first fall in just six seconds with a surprise move and quick pin , and won the second fall in only 27 minutes. Gotch outmaneuvered and outclassed Zbyszko every second of the match. Gotch became a national sensation, and he was in demand everywhere for public appearances. He starred in a play called All About A Bout , and whenever he walked on stage he was greeted by a standing ovation. He
2128-647: The guidance of Burns, Gotch won a series of matches in Iowa and later Yukon . While in the Yukon, Gotch wrestled under the name Frank Kennedy and won the title of "Champion of the Klondike". During his time in the Yukon, Gotch tried his hand at boxing , but failed miserably against the heavyweight Frank "Paddy" Slavin . Gotch returned to Iowa and instantly challenged the reigning American Heavyweight Champion Tom Jenkins . Gotch lost his first match in 1903, before defeating Jenkins in
2184-658: The next year, on 7 August 1882, to Joe Acton in New York City . Bibby's final wrestling match was against Sorakichi Matsuda , whom he defeated on 28 October 1887, in Buffalo, New York . On 5 May 1905, Bibby died from rheumatism at the age of 56. He is buried in Saint Patrick's Cemetery in Bristol , Fall River, Massachusetts alongside his wife Mary Ann who died in 1929 and their son Thomas who died in 1950. Bibby's son Tom donated
2240-591: The oil, pull hair and even break a bone to get an advantage in a contest, and he was unusually careful to have the referee in his pocket, too, in case all else failed". Referee Ed Smith, who officiated several of Gotch's bouts, including both of the Gotch-Hackenschmidt contests, had observed after the second match that "to my mind... he wasn't just exactly through one hundred percent on the courageous side. Two or three times I saw needless acts of absolute cruelty on his part that I did not like. Always will I think that
2296-509: The promotorial field as boxing". As Mark Palmer pointed out, "For starters, George Hackenschmidt and Frank Gotch were major sports superstars of the early 20th century. Fans of all ages collected cabinet cards and postcards with their images, read their books, and devoured articles about them in newspapers. Their epic matches were front-page news around the world—akin to today's Super Bowl or soccer's World Cup in terms of garnering global attention—and helped to launch organized amateur wrestling in
American Heavyweight Championship - Misplaced Pages Continue
2352-543: The really courageous man, no matter how ferocious and filled with the killing instinct and eager to win he may be, is willing to let up on a beaten foe and not punish needlessly or wantonly". For years one of America's most eligible bachelors, Gotch married Gladys Oestrich (born 1891) on February 11, 1911. She died on October 15, 1930. They had one son, Frank Robert Gotch (February 24, 1914 - December 7, 1971). While in retirement, Gotch joined Sells-Floto Circus where he would pay any man $ 250.00 if they could last 15 minutes in
2408-522: The time of his retirement in 1913. Gotch was, by all accounts, a superior professional wrestler possessing tremendous strength, lightning quickness, genuine agility, cat-like reflexes, impeccable technique, superb ring generalship, a mastery of the use of leverage, and a full knowledge of professional wrestling holds , counterholds and strategy. He was always in the best of condition and possessed both enormous courage and an indomitable will to win, ever ready to match his heart, his gameness, against any man in
2464-921: The title after two years as a double crown champion to concentrate on the World Heavyweight Wrestling Championship he won from Georg Hackenschmidt on April 3, 1908, in Chicago, Illinois. Henry Ordemann 1 October 25, 1910 Minneapolis Defeats Charlie Cutler and awarded the title by special referee Frank Gotch . Charlie Cutler 1 February 1, 1911 Minneapolis Dr. Benjamin Roller 1 March 6, 1911 Chicago Charlie Cutler 2 March 25, 1911 Buffalo, N.Y. Jess Reimer 1 November 7, 1911 Des Moines, Iowa Henry Ordemann 2 December 14, 1911 Minneapolis Charlie Cutler 3 March 25, 1912 Chicago Jess Westergaard (Reimer) defeats Ordemann on January 7, 1913, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, to claim
2520-570: The title to McLeod after having blood poisoning in his leg during their match. Tom Jenkins 2 April 3, 1903 Buffalo, N.Y. Frank Gotch 1 January 27, 1904 Bellingham, Washington Tom Jenkins 3 March 15, 1905 New York City Frank Gotch 2 May 23, 1906 Kansas City, Missouri Fred Beell 1 December 1, 1906 New Orleans Frank Gotch 3 December 17, 1906 Kansas City, Missouri Vacant 1910 Gotch vacates
2576-521: The verge of being outlawed because it was too rough and too dangerous. Wrestling at the higher professional levels was still a legit sport with the added bonus that it was popular on every continent of the globe. A number of great professional wrestlers were competing for top honors. In India, The Great Gama was already a legendary champion, and in Europe George Hackenschmidt had reigned supreme with Stanislaus Zbyszko coming along. However, in
2632-535: The world. He was highly aggressive, but always kept his cool. Critics saw in him both the strength of the old school of professional wrestling and the skill of the new, "as agile as a cat in his manoeuvers" and having "the grappling sport down to such science that he had assumed a rank all by himself". Gotch's measurements for his 1911 victory over Hackenschmidt were: age – 33; weight – 204 pounds; height – 5'11"; reach – 73"; biceps – 17.5"; forearm – 14"; neck – 18"; chest – 45"; waist – 34"; thigh – 22"; calf – 18". There
2688-682: Was "satisfied with my condition and confident of the outcome". If there was a knee injury, Gotch discovered it quickly and took advantage of it, so Hackenschmidt was easy prey for Gotch, losing in straight falls in only 30 minutes. Gotch clinched the match with his feared toe hold, which forced Hackenschmidt to quit. Gotch reigned as the World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion from his first victory over Hackenschmidt in 1908 until he retired in 1913 after defeating Estonian Georg Lurich April 1, 1913, in Kansas City , Missouri . Gotch
2744-599: Was a huge hit, as it seemed that everywhere he went, fans wanted to see him. Everywhere he went, he made wrestling "big time". Gotch met Hackenschmidt again on September 4, 1911, at the newly opened Comiskey Park in Chicago , which drew a crowd of nearly 30,000 spectators and a record gate of $ 87,000. The rematch is one of the most controversial and talked about matches in professional wrestling history, as Hackenschmidt injured his knee against Roller, his chief training partner. Years later, wrestler Ad Santel told Lou Thesz that he
2800-557: Was an English wrestling champion during the 1870s and 1880s. He was a popular catch-as-catch-can style wrestler in his generation. He became the first American Heavyweight Champion in 1881 with a victory over Duncan C. Ross . During his career he was also known as Ned and Eddie. Bibby was born in Ashton-under-Lyne, Lancashire , United Kingdom on 15 November 1848. He married Mary Ann Connelly (age 16) in 1867. They had 13 children, only three of whom survived. He began working as
2856-653: Was in Lu Verne, Iowa on June 16, 1899, against a man claiming to be a furniture dealer from a neighboring town. Gotch held his own for nearly two hours, but lost the hard-fought contest. Only later when he received the impressed man's visiting card , did he learn that his opponent had actually been reigning American Heavyweight Champion Dan McLeod . On December 18, 1899, Gotch challenged another former American Heavyweight Champion, "Farmer" Martin Burns , losing in 11 minutes, but impressing Burns as well, who offered to train Gotch. Under
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#17328588988652912-648: Was invited to the White House by United States President Theodore Roosevelt , and wrestled a Japanese ju-jitsu expert in the East Hall, making his opponent submit . The night before his second match with Hackenschmidt, he attended a Chicago Cubs baseball game at Wrigley Field with his wife and in-laws and took his seat down front. After the game, nearly every member of the Cubs team came to his private box and asked for his autograph. When he traveled overseas with his play, Gotch
2968-424: Was one of the best. But those same people described him as someone who delighted in hurting or torturing lesser opponents, even when they were supposed to be working out, and he was always looking for an illegal edge when he was matched against worthy ones. One of the old-timers I met was a fine man named Charlie Cutler, who knew Gotch very well and succeeded him as world champion; according to Cutler, Gotch would check
3024-482: Was paid $ 5,000 by Gotch's backers to cripple Hackenschmidt in training, and make it look like an accident. However, according to Hackenschmidt himself, the injury was accidentally inflicted by his sparring partner, Dr. Roller, when trying to hold Hackenschmidt down onto his knees and Roller's right foot striking Hackenschmidt's right knee. According to Hackenschmidt, his sparring partners were Americus (Gus Schoenlein), Jacobus Koch, Wladek Zbyszko and Dr. Roller. Ad Santel
3080-599: Was the first heavyweight professional wrestling championship in the United States . The title existed from 1881 through approximately 1922. Title history [ edit ] Wrestler Times Date won Location Notes Edwin Bibby 1 January 19, 1881 New York City Defeats Duncan C. Ross in a catch-as-catch-can match for "the championship of America". Joe Acton 1 August 7, 1882 New York City Has defeated Tom Cannon on December 9, 1881, in London, England, for
3136-634: Was the first inductee to both the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum (2002) in Amsterdam, New York and the George Tragos & Lou Thesz Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame (1999) in Waterloo, Iowa . There is a 67-acre camping park named the Frank A. Gotch State Park , four miles south of Humboldt near his childhood farm, in homage to Gotch. The Humboldt Community School District sponsors
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