Manjiro "Matty" Matsuda

Matty Matsuda (b. 1887 Yatsushiro City, Japan, d. August 15, 1929, Battle Creek, Michigan) ^[1] was the ring name of judoka Manjiro Matsuda 松田万次郎 (Matsuda Manjirō), who became a noted professional wrestler in the early 20th century.^[2] Matsuda moved to America as a teenager, giving judo exhibitions on athletic cards in British Columbia. He took up training in pro wrestling after being inspired by a wrestling match between Frank Gotch and Dan McLeod in Vancouver.^[3] After wrestling professionally around the Northwest, Matsuda moved to Minneapolis, wrestling around the Midwest and into the Southeast through the 1910s. He wrestled a four-hour continuous match with rival Johnny Billeter in April, 1912 in Toledo that ended in a draw. A rematch with Billeter that June gave Matsuda a claim to the lightweight wrestling championship.^[4] In the 1920s, he moved to Texas mainly wrestled there and Kansas. In 1920, he laid claim to the welterweight title by defeating rival Jack Reynolds in El Paso.^[3] Matsuda died after a brief illness in 1929.^[3]