Ike Robin

A noted sportsman as a young man, Robin was "a keen competitor at Caledonian sports days". At one competition in Napier he participated in the shot-put, hammer throw, caber toss, high jump, tug of war and two styles of wrestling. He won many of the events and collected £26 in prize money.[1] He especially began to excel in wrestling and, after winning the North Island catch-as-catch-can wrestling championship at the Taihape Caledonian games on 24 January 1924,[5] he decided to turn professional later that year.

Robin, with his powerful strength and "wire and whipcord" build, was easily able to dominate his opponents. His earliest professional match was against the Indian wrestler M. A. Sunni at the Municipal Theatre in Napier on 3 May 1924,[6] whom he defeated in two falls within 15 minutes.[7] In August, he defeated the South Island champion and was from then on regarded as the best wrestler in all of New Zealand. Also during that year, Robin wrestled World Light Heavyweight Champion Walter Miller in the earliest-known outdoor wrestling match in New Zealand. The event, held by the Hawkes Bay Wrestling Association, attracted a crowd of 12,000 among whom included then Governor-General Sir Charles Furgusson.[8] At the end of the season, Robin suffered a serious shoulder injury in a title defence against M. A. Sunni. The match lasted for two hours before scoring the pinfall at around midnight. Although he retained the title, and won the £1400 purse, doctors prohibited him from wrestling for at least one month.[9]

On 16 March 1925, he defeated Sunni in two straight falls in Auckland to win the NWA New Zealand Heavyweight Championship, and a £750 purse,[10] becoming the first champion[4] officially recognised by the National Wrestling Alliance. Four months later, accompanied by former Scottish heavyweight champion and manager Alec Bain, Robin travelled to Australia with Sunni and Japanese wrestler Koraeda where he defended the national heavyweight title in a rematch against the Walter Miller. A side wager was made for £500.[11] In October 1925, he defeated Walter on points in a six-round contest in Hastings for the NWA Australasian Heavyweight Championship.[12] That year, he was also on the first wrestling event ever held in Brisbane Stadium where Robin defeated Peter Limutkin.[13] He would successfully defend the national title against local and foreign wrestlers for over a year until his retirement in 1926.

Prior to his retirement, he defeated Clarence Weber in a Best 2 out of 3 Falls match for the NWA Australasian Heavyweight Championship in Melbourne. Upon returning to Napier, he was apparently awarded a gold medal in recognition of his victory. Robin became so popular in the country that a patented wire-strainer for fencing, the "Ike Grip", was named after him.[1]

Robin and Stanislaus Zbyszko shake hands before their 1926 bout in Auckland.

In the final months of his career, Robin wrestled Polish-American wrestler Stanislaus Zbyszko at Auckland Town Hall on three occasions;[14] over 1,000 people were turned away from the sold-out Town Hall during their bout on 22 June 1926. Although Zbyszko was billed as the World Heavyweight Champion, he had lost the title to Joe Stecher the previous year.[15] According to one account by the New Zealand Railways Magazine, one of their matches lasted for several hours before ending in a time limit draw[16] which had "gone on for many weary hours and when midnight Saturday chimed and Sunday commenced the match had to cease".[17] Zbyszko later praised Robin's wrestling abilities claiming that few wrestlers could equal Robin for strength and that "with proper training for two months or so, he would be a world-beater".[1]

Robin chose to compete in his home country, however, because there were so few local professionals active at the time it was difficult to earn a living and he decided to retire. The national title would remain vacant for three years until Tom Alley won the title shortly before of the founding of the Dominion Wrestling Union. He briefly came out of retirement to compete for the Wellington Wrestling Association in 1930,[18] refereeing some preliminary amateur bouts at the Wellington Town Hall,[19] and visiting American wrestler Ed "Strangler" Lewis expressed interest in wrestling Robin for the NWA Australasian title.[20] By 1932, Robin was in full training in preparation for a comeback[21] and, after a six-year absence, had his first return bout against Finnish wrestler Peter Limutkin at the Wellington Town Hall on 18 July 1932. Although he was awarded the victory, Robin's in-ring performance was considered disappointing. The Evening Post noted "Against Peter Limutkin he did not show anything which would give hope of his performing creditably against a visiting wrestler approaching his own weight. Robin certainly won, but that was all, and the match can best be written down as just another effort on the part of the [Dominion] Wrestling Union to give a local man a chance to prove his worth".[22]

As the season went on, his later bouts were more favourably reviewed. His 21 July match against younger Māori wrestler Toa Kaha, for example, went to the full four rounds amazing the audience "at the endurance shown by both Native giants".[23] On 16 September 1932, Robin's match against Abe Kaplin went to a time limit draw and was called by The Evening Post as "one of the best wrestling matches seen at Hastings".[24]

The following year he wrestled American wrestler Harry Mamos in Napier on 28 June 1933,[25] which ended in a draw.[26] Throughout the 1933 season, he challenged George Walker for the NWA New Zealand Heavyweight Championship and was considered a top contender for the title, along with Harry Mamos and Rumberg, by the end of the year.[27] He and Billy Meeske were reportedly in line to challenge George Walker for the NWA British Empire/Commonwealth Championship during the summer of 1935.[28]

The 49-year-old Robin, however, was now nearing middle age and in the midst of a changing business[29] decided to retire. His nephew, Keita Meretana, also became a noted amateur and professional wrestler during the 1950s.[4] Long after his retirement, wrestlers visiting from overseas would often stop by Robin's home to pay their respects.[1] Over 40 years after his death, he was ranked No. 7 in a top ten list of New Zealand's greatest wrestlers by Fight Times Magazine in 2009.[14]