The Beginner's Guide To British Wrestling

[David Mantell]

On 4/20/2014 at 3:20 PM, ohtani's jacket said:

Ray Steele vs. Johnny South (3/27/74)

 

More no frills heavyweight British wrestling. Not everybody's cup of tea, but I've come to like these bouts more and more over time. This was a neat opportunity to see Johnny South as more than just a foil to the Les Kelletts and such. He had a really 70s look, kind of like a balding Maurice Gibb. Since these were a pair of plain old blue eyes amid the glam of television wrestling, South livened things up a bit by needling Steele. Steele thought South was a right bugger and led with the knee a lot, making this a really testy, physical heavyweight contest.

Memo to @JNLister - What source was this recording? It looks like it might be a colour kinescope. 1974 was one year too early fa U-Matic home VCR.

Twenty years before The Legend Of Doom. South was more of an Old Anderson tribute. Hd has hair - lots of it.  And handlebar whiskers.

Round 1:  South gets an arm around, Steele looks to roll out so South puts in an arm to go over so he has to take the bump.  South keeps the arm but Steele links with the other arm to get behind and form a hammerlock. He gets a frin chancery but South spins him out but Steele rolls nicely and up.  Steele gets a side headlock, south straightens it to a wristlever, Steele turns it the rest round and back to front chancery but South works the same escape.  So again South rolls to upright on the mat.  South gets a side headlock into side chancery throw into seated front chinlock.  Steele escapes front behind with a wristlever into hammerlock. Johnny tries a run out but is driven to the mat.  Steele holds the hammerlock with a knee and adds an underarm armbar, eventually holding it in place on the mat with the other knee. South bridges to avoid a pin.  Steele tries getting the shoulders down but South pulls up with the finger Interlock and they are both grappling from collar and elbow. South gets a front chancery on Steele.  Ray gets the arm into a rear armbar, hammerlock on the mat and final arm weakener.  He gets Arn armbars, passes it overhead twice and forces a hard bump. South swivels round on his head and rolls out and away.  South gets a legdive and seated leglock, Steele gets the chin.  South keeps the leg but breaks the chin hold and starts working on one leg while Ray annoys him with the other foot.  Steele gets the chin back and pulls it into a further nelson, South bridges and tries to roll out. Steele gives up and they reset.  South gets armbars into hammerlock with bar. Bell goes, they shake hands. Kent Walton refers back to Steele's June 70 debut with Leon Arras and says he could one day be a champion (He was British Heavyweight champion forca while although this was a disputed Joint/ITV branch against Tony StClair's version recognised on Reslo and All Star shows except on ITV). 

Round 2. Steele gets a side chancery, South forces him all the way to the opposite ropes.  Steele gets a "Headlock and Strangle" (sleeper). South goes down and Steele arjusts to side headlock.  South gets a face bar from underneath. Two way holds. Steele breaks South's holds, South tries to regain but referee Ernie Baldwin is unhappy with where  South's hand is and throws it away. Steele leans down in the side headlock and turns it into a front chancery. South straightens the arm into a wristlock and starts rising. Steele tries to reach round to reapply to Headlock.  He gets the sleeper but South reaches up for Ray's neck and gets a kneeling rear snapmare out of the sleeper and keeping an arm held by his knee to work on.  He scissors the wrist. South gets nastier repeatedly elbowing Steele in the ribs (and saying "Boom!" each time LOL! ) Steele gets a one handed chinlock. South continues to both elbow the ribs and hold the other arm.  Steele hooks the elbowing arm with his other leg and gets a further nelson but it goes into the corner where Baldwin has to separate them.  South gets an Indian Death Lock and continues to hammer away  with the elbow.  Steele has enough, sits up and gets a front into side chancery then pulls a leg free from the leglock.  He gets a crossface, frees his other leg and switches to sleeper, a brief crosspress, sleeper again then standing side chancery. South hammers away but Steele keeps the hold before finishing with a kneelift.  South gets a headlock and pushes Ray into the top rope, he is turning heel.  Steele gets a front chancery and a heel of hand blow, forearm and back elbow.  He gets a side chancery throw and a chinlock that looks like fishooking in the mouth. He gets and elbow in on the bell. Baldwin has to order them apart. Walton profiles South, mentions him wrestling for The Opposition (Paul Lincoln?)

Round 3.  South kick Steele in the legs, he is angry.  Steele gets a side headlock, crois buttock into another side headlock plus short armscissor. South pulls down on the head and Ray focuses on the heädlock.  South slips out behind in the seated position, gets figure 4 headscissors. Steele turns into the guard, pulls the scissors loose and gets his head out. He gets a single toehold, South gets a side headlock.  South breaks the toehold and gets a sleeper of his own. Steele fires him off the ropes and leg trips him into the Gotch toehold. He reverts to the single toehold and drops weakeners on the lower knee.  He tries to add a chinlock South clips out and gets a crossface while still in the toehold.  Steele switches to over neck leglock to full Boston Crab.  South gets the ropes and an angry Steele stomps him.  South in retaliation gets in a concealed closed closed fist punch but no Public Warning, possibly as it was retaliation for the stomp in Baldwin's mind. South gets two postings and a snapmare, slingshot to the ropes and three forearm smashes.  He whips again but Steele gets in behind forca side folding press. After a couple of 2s, Steele slides towards direct shoulder press. South gets an armscissor and wristlever They pull apart and Steele gets the knee on the bell.

Round 4  South gets a posting but Steele double  kicks him as he follows in. They have a finger lock test of strength then Steele gets an arm force high whip but South collars him to block this. Steele takes the wrist downstairs but South kneels him in the back and smashes him in the face. South throws Steele off the ropes and Ray takes a heavy bump. South gets a far distant side chancery throw. Another throw and rebound produces a bodycheck which floors both men.  They hits the ropes again, South dives under as Steel leaps over him, catches him with a cross buttock throw for 2 and a kneelift.  Rope run again and Steele gets a reverse waistlock slam (not a piledriver as Kent incorrectly claims) and double knees for 2. He switches to double arm stretch. South turns upright until bowing over Steele, gets in stomps, a brief double knee, an armbar from in front, shoulderblock and high whip forcing Steele to take a bump. A stomp to the ribs finally earns himself a Public Warning  He is now clearly working villain as Rasputin charmingly called it in that clip with Dave Finlay Senior. Steele gets two uppercuts and a knee. He gets a legdive while South takes a wrist. , gets his man down and applies armscissors.  He tries to crank the arm but it's not effective as it goes with the joint not against, as Kent Walton notes.  South loosens the arm, kneedrops it, contemplates a straight arm lift , bashes away with a body check or two, high whips Steele to force a bump and STILL he has the hold.  Steele gets himself free with a series of forearms which draw juice.  He gets a Rick Rude style Rude Awakening for 5, a dropkick for 7 and the Aeroplane spin and double knees for the double knees and required fall. Despite the needle they shakes hands and both receive a polite clap.

Despite the needle, South experimentation with his future heel self and the odd bit of brawling it was mostly a good intelligent technical match. I'm glad to read that by 2014 OJ was developing a taste for bouts like these.

 

[David Mantell]

@JNLister Was wondering if you know the chronology of Klondyke Kate and Naughty Nicky Monroe's kayfabe relationship?  I know that they were a heel tag team together at the Royal Albert Hall in 1987 then they fell out and Nicki became a blue eye and Kate beat her for the vacant British Ladies championship on the BBC2 Raging Belles docu and injured her and a couple of years later Nicki came back and won the title and then by 1995 Klondyke Kate and Naughty Nicky were heel tag partners once again. But here in 1985 they seem to be enemies with Nicky on the good girls' side. To further complicate matters Kate and Rusty, tag partners here, had a bout on Reslo around this time.  I would ask Mrs Nicola South or Jayne Porter but do not expect a helpful answer from either so shan't bother.

Okay, the singles bout first.

Round 1 JIP: Rusty is working on a leg. Releases and retakes the limb but Rusty refuses to submit. They Bascule back and forth with the leglock still on. Nicky gets a legspread and knocks Rusty down. Rusty goes for straight arm lift attempt, whips and forces a bump, switches to ground top wristlock, goes up for another high whip and bump then down again, Nicky gets headscissors, twists forward, Rusty gets the ropes and the bell goes. 

Round 2:  Rusty gets a standing full nelson. And the odd hair grab too. Nicky reverses, Rusty drops and backs through Monroe's legs and gets rear double leg takedown. She uses headbutts to Nicky's behind to stop her sitting up.  Nicky turns the whole thing over and gets a double arm stretch. Rusty tries to use her feet to bait Nicky, this nearly backfires when Nicky gets the folding press but Rusty crawls out at 1.   Rusty gets a headbutt then goes dirty with a bottom rope choke held with a boot. She then chokes on the top rope opposite then catapults her down on the mat. No count due to fouling.  Rusty gets an elbow to the back of the neck and a stomp to follow.  She gets a side chancery, some hair and a concealed punch, one of these three is not a foul!  Rusty stomps on. She headbutts Nicky down but the referee stops the count when he sees Rusty  standing on Nicky's hair.  Nicky gets a bearhug but Rusty concealed punches out. Bell goes but Rusty continues and gets a public warning.

Round 3:  Rusty gets another concealed fist to down Nicky.  She gets two rolling suplexes and a crosspress for a 1 count.  Nicky gets her own concealed punch and referee John Harris (later briefly the English commentator on New Catch before Orig took over.) is suspicious and argues with her.  Nicky posts Rusty, hooks her up in the corner and gets three blatant punches and a public warning of her own. Very naughty of Naughty Nicky. Harris stops Nicky attacking the downed Rusty in the corner. Comedy spot - Rusty leans on the ropes to complain about hairpulling, Nicky boots her in the behind, flooring her. Rusty posts Nicky and gets in a stomp too - just permissible as continuous movement.  She axehandles the bass of Nicky's spine which is not thus allowed. She collars Nicky getting up and elbowsmashes said base of spine. She slams Nicky's head in the corner.  She slams and double kneepresses Nicky for three 2s. She front Chanceries Nicky on the ref's side and gets a concealed fist on the other side. Rusty gets double rear arms (surfboard component.) Bell goes but Rusty will not release, Harris prises her off. 

Round 4, Rusty gets a posting and lifts Nicky by the hair and headbutts her way to a Second And Final Public Warning. She cruises for a DQ by standing on the bottom rope on Nicky's bicep. She posts Nicky but Monroe gets behind for a folding press and the one required fall.

Not bad, some good if not sparkling technical work early in the bout, more dirty wrestling later on. Nicky seemed to be quite happy to use dirty tactics herself. That and the Naughty nickname suggests she was already an accomplished heel.

Now for the tag match:

Kate comes out looking young and vicious like Kathy Burke in Sid & Nancy. She is introduced from Canada (not Stoke on Trent!). Nicky gets a big pop. She and Kate have matching red outfits like they've already been tag teaming.  Tina is blond and looks like a weather girl Like Mitzi she's the big sister for the kiddy audience.

Rusty punches and throws Tina who cartwheels out twice. Tina and Rusty exchange headbutts and punches.  Rusty slings and rather crappily throws Tina who lands feet first then slumps in the corner.  Tina leapfrogs Rusty, gets double legs and a folding press.  Kate tries to intervene but arrives too late.

Rusty takes Tina down with pressure points. Tina powers up, shoves Rusty away. The heels choke Tina on the top rope. Rusty headlocks Tina while Kate elbowsmashes her, Nicky hauls Rusty off. Posts and blasts Rusty in the back. Kate holds Nicky while Rusty gets concealed punches.  She gets a public warning. Undeterred she Full Nelsons Nicky holding her for two Kate bodychecks. On the third, Nicky dodges and the heels collide. Blue eyes posts heels into each other. Heels try it but good girls switch round and headbutt the heels. Rusty gets Nicky in a headlock into front chancery. Concealed punch and boot. Finally Kate tags in! She headbutts Nicky down and gets a public warning. Nicky concealed punches (retaliation?) slings, boots and fells Kate. A double axehandle follow down gets a private warning from Harris. Nicky posts Kate,  hooks her up in the corner and concealed punches her twice, finally she took has a Public Warning, only that nice Tina Starr lass has none. Harris demands Kate be disentangled, the blueceyes comply but cause her to drop on her behind in the process. Kate's illegal punch is not concealed as such -;Harris is inside and reprimands Kate thoroughly. Tina tags in, the heels get to work on her. With a slingshot and double clothesline. They do it again. Kate slams and double knees Tina for the equalising fall.But Kate also gets that Second And Final Public Warning. She and Rusty cuss out the kids at ringside.

Kate offers a handshake. Tina is suckered in and Kate pounds her on the ropes.  Rusty tags in, ragdolls Tina and chokes her on the ropes. Tina falls out and Rusty gets a Second And Final Public Warning. One more PW to either heel and they are DQd. Nicky and an old lady help Tina back.  Rusty elbowdrops Tina who gets a concealed punch of her own (a girl can't be good forever) and tags Nicky.  She pounds Rusty but Kate grabs her hair while the referee counts Rusty. Kate argued about this with Harris while Rusty illegally punches Nicky.  Rusty gets a posting and one stomp. Nicky reverses the next posting. Kate tags, headlocks and concealed punches Nicky. She takes an armbar over her head and a nibble on Nicky's hand. She gets double rear arms on Nicky who flips out and ground dropkicks Kate in the torso. Kate fires back in kind but misses a splash. Nicky cross presses her for the decider.

More rough and tumble, less science than the singles bout (Tina's opening folding press was great though.). Fair play to the kids in the audience for non discrimination - they just treated it the same as a men's bout, an idea American women's wrestling is struggling to come to terms with right now with a hist society unreceptive to such ideas.

 

 

 

 

[David Mantell]

17 hours ago, David Mantell said:

To further complicate matters Kate and Rusty, tag partners here, had a bout on Reslo around this time. 

Round 1 JIP: Kate down on the mat with a leglock into legscissor. Splashes the knee as a weakener then goes back to legscissor twice.More leg weakeners and scissor. Blair tries facebarr, avoids splash, posts and entraps Kate, charges her twice. Kate gets loose but is selling her back. Kate plays for time on the ropes. Bell goes.

Round 2: Kate uses concealed punch and rope choke. Kate gets armbars, stomps hand, posts Rusty. Tries to punch Rusty's back, distraction for choking her. Knocks her down. Armbar passed overhead and elbowdropped. More blows to fallen Rusty gets Kate a First Public Warning. Kate gets a Boston Crab for the first submission.

Round 3: Kate posts Rusty, gets headlock.chrages into Rusty headbutt to chest. Rusty bears her down and out of the ring and slingshots her back in.more kicks. Kate gets an elbow and kick  Rusty. Kate corners and chokes her, misses a charge into the corner. Rusty splashed Kate who easily throws her off.Kate gets a concealed punch.Armbar/one arm chinlock combination. Rusty won't submit so Kate high whips her and forces a bump. Bell goes.

Round 4  Kate gets Semi Japanese stranglehold. Unwinds and pulls her in for a bodycheck.Posts Rusty. Bashes her while down. Rusty absorbs posting well, comes back with headbutt to chest and flying tackle for an equalising pin.

Round 5: Rusty posts, kneesmashes and corners Kate. Posts and concealed punches Kate, ref John Harris is suspicious. Kate gets a chop and drop down into a throttle. Referee stops the contest and DQs Kate, although I'm not sure why. At most a Second And Final Public Warning would have sufficed?

Brawling/Rulebreaking heel Vs sympathetic heel match with the odd good wrestling move thrown in.

 

[JNLister]

On 6/22/2025 at 10:17 PM, David Mantell said:

Memo to @JNLister - What source was this recording? It looks like it might be a colour kinescope. 1974 was one year too early fa U-Matic home VCR.

 

 

Not sure, but I think it's from a couple of shows (another being in Sheffield) where it's the entire taping (including the into, gaps between matches and MC saying goodnight) rather than the TV broadcasts. So I assume it's originally from a master tape at ITV.

[David Mantell]

55 minutes ago, JNLister said:

Not sure, but I think it's from a couple of shows (another being in Sheffield) where it's the entire taping (including the into, gaps between matches and MC saying goodnight) rather than the TV broadcasts. So I assume it's originally from a master tape at ITV.

Or possibly copied at the time from a master tape and the copy taken home?

Unless there was a very rich fan who owned a pre U-Matic pre 1975 VCR, the likeliest bet is that this copy was made from an archive tape reel a few years after broadcast, say one of the earliest VHS/Betamax machines in 1978.  It's not a modern copy, there are better quality off air VHS recordings of mid/late 80s matches.

I've seen off air World Of Sport recordings from 1975, some even with bits of advertisements eg Kendo Nagasaki Vs Jamaica Kid, summer 1975

[David Mantell]

On 9/1/2024 at 12:19 PM, David Mantell said:

Quote

Kamikaze vs. Tally Ho Kaye (5/11/82)

Kamikaze has got to be one of the worst characters to grace the small screen. This was over in a flash and was still pretty awful.

Well I liked Kamikaze when I watched this bout when I was eight. I especially loved the grinning slanty eyed mask - we had a can of rust repellent in the garage with a similar scary grinning face on it.

Kamikaze was Ian Gilmour repackaged as an update on Kung Fu Eddie Hamill.  (Clive Myers also started Iron Fist as a martial arts masked good guy- not on TV though.) The Jim .Breaks match (with him in his dark green top from his "Scotsmen" stint with Finlay on French TV 1980) is probably a better vehicle for the character. He gets his couple of minutes then Kaye gets a TKO and like a real good old villain accepts it. I liked as a kid how Kaye got scared of the scary mask!

Booting up this bout of Ian Gilmour's Kamikaze as we have been discussing Modesto Aledo's version on the French Catch thread.

[David Mantell]

Ian Gilmour's Kamikaze had two other TV bouts. A tag DQ win with Ron Marino over The Rockers (Pete Lapaque and Tommy Lorne) and this one. The aim was clearly to turn Gilmour into the new Kung Fu.

@JNLister this looks like more raw footage as Kent Walton does a sound test at the start. Breaks is of course not a champion hence his heat garnering exercise at the start.  Referee is Gilmour's old Barons tag partner (in both Britain and France 

Round 1, Gilmour easily slips out of two side headlocks and flails his way out of a legdive. Slippy customer.  Another Headlock get reversed into an armbar. Jim rolls and kips up in two stages to escape. Kamikaze gets a small package for 2. He back out of a chinlock into a knee press and delivers a double ankles to Breaks' head He converts a side headlock into a grapevine and armbars. He goes from arm to arm to a throw. Gilmour gets a hammerlock, Breaks boots him into the ropes but he comes back past in a Kamikaze gets a figure 4 top wristlock  Breaks tries bridging and gets a front chancery but Gilmour spins him off. Breaks rolls away nicely. Breaks gets a leg and single toe hold. Kamikaze spins him off. Gilmour gets an armbar into side chancery throw, then a standing full nelson. Breaks makes the ropes but Gilmour manages another side chancery throw and single stomp. Breaks is still selling this when Kamikaze delivers a slap to the face. Annoyed, Breaks roughs up the masked man during a headlock. He  takes Kamikaze down with pressure points. Kamikaze reaches with his leg for the top rope so Jim moves to an upright position where Kamikaze breaks free of Breaks with chops and a dropkick. Breaks goes from front chancery to armbars the other side and begins to behind it intomthe Breaks special. Kamikaze bashes him on the back of the head as the bell rings.

Round 2 Breaks takes his man down in a grovit. He holds on even when Gilmour turns it upright. Jim  hasn't quite got it right, the left hand should be on the shoulder says Kent. Kamikaze forces the hold open. Breaks gets his own full nelson but the masked man rears into him to break the hold then floors him with two chops and a kneelift. Breaks throws a strop and while he is distracted Kamikaze comes in from behind with a reverse flying double leg nelson into a folding press for the opening fall.

Cut to Round 4. Breaks has the arm extended and tried for his Special . He gets it again and illegally bends it around a rope.   Breaks goes front chancery into Breaks special. Kamikaze turns it into a whip but misses with a follow up dropkick.  He gets in a stomp (and a private warning) before getting the Breaks special for the equalising submission but a second and final public warning also.

Round 5. Jim is tempted by a seemingly unguarded hand and gets two karate kicks for his pains. Kamikaze gets an armbar. Breaks reverses it to one of his own with a clear view to.getting another Breaks Special but Kamikaze rolls out, rolls back and clips Breaks with a boot.  Breaks starts to get the move on again but Kamikaze counters with a flying arm hank, a whip, a chop and .. he misses the ropes and goes to the floor. The bell goes for TKO.

OJ won't like that last bit so note what happens next. Any good sporting blue eyes would refuse such a win of course. MC Max Crabtree asks Jim if he'd like to be a gentleman about it and refuse the victory. And Jim, like the HORRIBLE LITTLE MAN that he is replies certainly not and takes the win. And that, kids is how you get heat.

Kamikaze wasn't really the martial artist Kung Fu was (well Ian Gilmour was nowhere near the martial artist Eddie Hammill was!).  His chief weapon. like the Spanish Inquisition, was surprise.  Sudden jumpy movements. One jumpy movement too many was his undoing this time.

 

 

[David Mantell]

There was one other Kamikaze in British Wrestling - the Lavender Ninja of the Big Daddy show of the early 90s.  This is from the 1990 Aberdeen taping for .Grampian and STV.  I think this might be Johnny Adams - aka Johnny Angel. Doctor Death and Masked Undertaker Gloom.  Two years after this in 1992 this Kamikaze appears in a solo match plus a battle royal on the Crabtrees' 1992 Battle of the Brits video. I've got it on DVD but if ioon YouTube it's not as a standalone video. 

Kamikaze teams with Anaconda who wears a sailor's hat like Popeye. Klondyke Kate is very proud of her involvement in the top tag matches of the taping. The villains get Dadied - this Kamikaze can REALLY bounce around to sell. He throws Johnny Kidd and Kidd throws him and they can both roll with the throws and handspring with them too. Kidd gets a dropkick.and posting but Kamikaze takes it well and comes back with a forearm. Kamikaze has a fantastic double arm chop.  Kidd Bloks it with a scissor chop and dries of headbutts of his own. Anaconda and Kamikaze gets squashed by Daddy.

Kamikaze can do dirty too, a well concealed punch and pressure points. Kidd chops him and Anaconda leading Daddy in for another foursome except the heels both scarper when Daddy gets in.  Daddy, Anaconda and Kamike all get First Public Warnings for double creams.

Kamikaze gives Kidd the Sgt Slaughter noogie and tags Absconds who gets heat. Daddy tags and bounces both villains around as is his wont.  Anaconda beats down Kidd and gets heat. He gets a backbreaker submission but it is disallowed as Kamikaze was holding on to Kidd's feet. Daddy gets a second and final Public Warning for his slapstick hitting of Kamikaze with the traditional plastic bucket.  Anaconda dominates Kid until he tags Daddy who does his usual on Anaconda culminating in the splash for the official opening fall. Kamikaze also gets a second and final Public Warning for using the tag rope as a tourniquet on Kidd. The villains take their corner pad off but Daddy posts Anaconda into it and he rolls out. Daddy twice posts Kamikaze then  does his Double Elbows backdrop on him - the one Bret Hart said Max Crabtree would bribe opponents to take.  Kamikaze takes the bump and the selling magnificently!  He is  pulled out by his own side and taken backstage as the count completes - KNOCKOUT!!!.

Afterwards Count Von Zuppin(Martin Warren challenges Daddy who daddies Klondyke Kate just like he Daddies the boys.

If you are prepared to concede that there are some curate's egg good bits in a Big Daddy tag between the blue eyed tag partner and lighter heel then you should appreciate the Kamikaze Vs Johnny Kidd bits of this Daddy tag. I would love to see the solo bout.

 

[David Mantell]

This was the follow-up match You know the Daddy tag formula by now.   Zuppi gets unmasked at the end but covers his face to hide that it's former referee Martin Warren. Unable to see due to this. a referee actually has to guide him to the exit.  Kate gets the Daddy treatment. Wilkie is a lot less interesting than Kamikaze. Johnny Kidd steals whatever show there is - including a fabulous rolling press on Wilkie for the second straight fall, but he doesn't have a fantastic foil like he had in Kamikaze in the earlier bout.  Zuppi would get some more of the same as one of Dai Dihyrin on Reslo on S4C. Good Northern insult by Daddy to Kate at the end "Get back to where ye come from!  Get on yer way"

 

[David Mantell]

Short bout, only one fall and we join it in round 3. Bond looks like he is doing something untowards but the audience aren't too bothered.  Steele tries an over the shoulder arm lever (should have tried over head with a taller man like Bond) and a hammerlock, but Bond easily rolls off then rides Steele to the mat in a hammerlock of his own. Steele gets Bond in a fireman's carry then places him in the corner. Steele gets a side chancery but the bell goes before he can do anything about it.

Round 4 - Steele gets a legdive into leglock.He does some weakeners on it, then starts over after getting a leg from Bond but being  unable to progress it further. Bond gets a side chancery.  Steele untwists to am armbar then a side chancery of his own.  He switches to a posting but Bond reverses it. After headbutting Bond's ribs but coming off the worst for it, he tries a flying bodypress and gets slammed by Bond. But Steele catches Bond with a ground dropkick. Bond returns the favour on Steele. Steele catches Bond coming off the ropes and nails him with a forearm smash. On the next rebound  Bond gets a leg dive but Steele gets the reverse waistlock looking to progress to a piledriver but not getting it. Stalemate, reset. Steele gets a posting for a 7 count. He then slams and cross presses Bond for the one fall required.  The two shake hands.  

Another heavyweight bout but better than Zarak Vs Siki or  Eagle Vs Bayle on the French thread or even Dieter Sr versus Bull Power on the German thread. It's a pity it was just the final stages, the early rounds were probably really fine and technical.

[David Mantell]

Hopefully this should be a pallette cleanser, short but sweet Skill and Speed bout.  From just over a month before The Final Bell.  It'a one fall bout joined in progress round 1.

Straight down to work, Nipper gets a rear waistlock into rear snapmare in to crosspress but Kidd bridges out. Eddie gets a leg but Kidd rolls himself into the figure four Gotch toehold and rolls out. Kidd gets an armbar, Riley needs two rolls to get up but when he does, snatches Kid's arm and forces a high whip and bump. They finger Interlock but Johnny breaks one half and slides in behind Eddie for a folding press, gently colliding with  referee Ken Joyce (Kidd's trainer) who isn't too bothered. Kidd gets double legs and legspread on Riley but the bell goes. Johnny sportingly resets Riley's legs and helps him up. They shake hands and get a round of applause. 

Round 2 Kidd gets a standing full nelson, spins him round into a side chancery throw, gets in behind his man for a further nelson but only gets a 2 count.  Riley lunges and doubles up Kidd and plants an elbowsmash in his upper back. Riley gets a wristlever in the corner and prepares to post Kidd but Kidd slips the arm over his head to take control andposts Riley, but Riley takes the impact on his foot, spins 180 and darts down and through Kidd's legs . Riley gets a finger Interlock, pulls down and steps over one arm to form two rear wristlocks (surfboard component) then drops into the arm stretch. Kidd rolls backward and Riley clamps his legs down in a bridging folding press but Kidd untucks his head in time and crawls away. Eddie gets a headlock but Johnny stretches it into a wristlever. He whips Nipper into the ropes. Nipper rebounds with a sunset flip but leaps too high and Kidd moves to the side, leaving Eddie to take a backdrop-type bump for an 8 count. Capitalising on the impact to the back, Johnny puts Eddie in an over the shoulder backbreaker but Eddie forces the grip open, lands feet first and rebounds with what looks like a bodycheck (hard to tell as the cameras change at just the crucial moment.) Both men are floored. They get up, Kidd charges Riley but he throws Kidd who goes over the top rope but lands well and climbs back in.  He slips right behind Riley into a side folding press but Nipper scuttles out. They finger Interlock and Kidd rolls backward to make it a crossed finger interlock. Riley switches to one arm of Kidd's, getting a hammerlock, turning his man over and into the mat in the guard and slipping on a headscissors. Kidd turns the scissors upright and easily slides his head out, Kidd just as easily pushes it back in again. So instead Kidd puts a foot on Riley 's crossed feet to push himself fully upright as he uncorks his head.   Finger Interlock and Kidd switches from there to abdominal stretch. Riley resists and Kidd switches to a rear double leg takedown just as the bell goes.  

Round 3. Riley gets a side chancery but Kidd backs into the ropes. Kidd gets a single leg into toe and ankle but Riley snips off and Kidd, to go with the momentum, has to somersault and take a bump.  Riley twice whips him off the ropes and both times trips him down with his instep. He delivers a side chancery throw and a vertical splash (like Earthquake but quicker and sharper. It's just too bad John Tenta AFAIK never saw this bout.). Riley gets a headlock but Kidd extracts an arm, whips Riley into the ropes and aims but misses with a dropkick for his rebounding opponent. Riley posts Kidd but this time it's Kidd who takes it sole first, rounds and shoots through the legs (as Riley did in round 2) , gets a double legs takedown but gets spun out again but makes a feet first landing, bounces his man off the ropes, leapfrogs him on the first pass, then Riley goes behind for a folding press but Kidd grabs the legs of Nipper, clamps down in a double leg folding press and gets the one fall required.

Aaah, now that's a refresh after all those repetitive throws and firearms of the Schmidt/Bayle Vs Ramirez/Wherle match  and the various strength and brawling bouts I've reviewed lately. More interesting detail in those 7min 40secs than in some half hour clips of recent.

 

[David Mantell]

On 6/16/2015 at 2:31 AM, ohtani's jacket said:

Dave Finlay vs. Masakatsu Funaki (Caernarfon, taped 3/14/89)

Y'know who I'm sick of? Dave "Fit" Finlay, that's who. Just wrestle the man, Finlay. Now Masakatsu Funaki was the man in my eyes, but here he was doing all sorts of flippy juniors shit. Even so, he trounced Finlay with his athleticism here. Maybe pre-Paula Finlay could have hung with Funaki, but not the sluggish four-leaf clover version.

 

If you're wondering who Carwyn James was - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carwyn_James

Fit Finlay Vs Flying Funaki. FF versus FF.

When Fuji Yamada came back for a second tour in 1989 he brought a tag partner with his, Flying Funaki.  I wish we had one of their tag bouts but here is Funaki on his lonesome.  Fit Finlay in Bully mode being used as a Luxury Jobber like Ax and Smash at the Tokyo Dome. This same year he jobbed his British Heavy Middleweight title to Danny Collins, the kid he SLAUGHTERED three years earlier. So he was in the trim for putting the kids over and making them look good. 

Funaki's first big move is the same spinning escape from a side headlock dear old Mike Marino used to do!  Finlay does a lot of attacking moves like his hammerlock and a lot of dirty wrestling to make sure the crowd are on Funaki's side.  .  He also still has a decent flip to bum out of Funaki's whip while growling with rage. Actually Funaki's rolls and cartwheels are as British as boiled beef steeped in Dynamite Kid and Danny Boy Collins and only became "Juniors shit" in Japan from the UK/Japan/Calgary triangle.  ("Juniors" in any case is short for "Junior Heavyweight which is Americanese for Mid Heavyweight.  Marty Jones and Nelson Royal were opposite number on each side of the Atlantic.) Funaki also gets a great sunset flip which Finlay punches his way out of like he did against Johnny Saint at Croydon on ITV a year earlier.  Funaki also start putting on the Scorpion Deathlock (OK the Masa Chono Powerlock.) . Funaki also does a lot of chops which Finlay sells His Flying dropkick on Finlay gets a slow mo replay.

Funaki gets the win and all the little kids in the audience run WILD banging on the ring apron. A Star is born and Finlay did his job making the kid look good just like Sid Cooper. Blackjack Mulligan and Tally Ho Kaye did for Sammy Lee nine years ago . Sadly no sign of Paula at the end giving her man HELL.

WTF is that awful buzzing sound at the end?

 

[David Mantell]

Well we've had wrestlers doing Euro rodeo on the French thread, we've had wrestlers having a crafty football match on the German thread.  So for Britain I thought I'd post a few clips of the fine and manly art of beating up smug TV presenters.

[David Mantell]

McCoy, the rising whizzkid lightweight star of the mid 80s gets a heel to deal with. This is part of the 1988 Golden Grappler trophy with its famous father/son final, so while I don't want to spoiler you with the result, quite frankly ...

McCoy cartwheels out of two throws and Jack. fair play to him, rolls up from on my Kid nails him with a dropkick, draping him over the ropes like a towel hung out to dry. Mulligan gets an armdrag into armlock on the mat. Kid briefly tries for a headscissors before opting toj ust stand up.  Mulligan arm drags him down again. McCoy gets up again, holds firm with a top wristlock, vaults his mand  and forces him down. Mulligan firwards rolls to untwist his arm,but finds himself in a standing wristlever. He accepts a finger Interlock, eventually getting the armbar advantage. McCoy rolls back and forth, kips up and botches a victory roll but gets a side chancery throw. before being wristlocked and whipped over arm to force a bump and the splashed. Mulligan comes in early on an axehandle to his fallen opponent and gets a quiet reprimand from referee Ken Joyce. He gets a snapmare and stomp. A fans shouts to the referee "Sort him out, Ken!". McCoy in a wristlock walks the ropes and jumps off taking Mulligan in an armdrags.  Mulligan gets two concealed punches in. Joyce is suspicious. Mulligan gets a crotchhold, throw and kneelift and what Kent thinks is another illegal punch but Joyce disagrees.  He gets a side chancery throw and splash for 6, a kneelift and a chop to the neck when the bell goes.   During the interval. Walton mentions how McCoy's dad King Ben is also a quarterfinalist.

Round 2. Mulligan off to a quick and barely legal shaft with repeat shoulderblocks, a side chancery and a final stomp.  He slams the kid, goes to the top turnbuckle and-just as Kid stands -  comes down with a flying axehandle worthy of Randy Savage.  McCoy, up at seven, gets a forearm and a boot to the chest, but takes a posting well. climbsò the post and dives down and scoots through and dropkicks Mulligan.  Kid gets rough himself with an elbowsmash and kneelift. He gets double legs and slingshots Mulligan through the ropes, hanging on to the middle rope with the tops of his kneecaps. It doesn't get any better for Mulligan, he gets backdropped and slungshot out again this time into the concrete. McCoy flips him back in off the apron,  whips, leapfrogs  and legflios him- Al getting massive POPS from the crowd. "Nice mover this boy" says Walton.  A Mulligan shove gives the villain time to get to the top turnbuckle but is caught and slammed by McCoy. From there it's Kid all the way, he dropkicks Mulligan in the corner, body trips him from behind, folds him in a folding press and seals it with a bridge for the one fall required and a place in the semifinals as defending champion.

A vehicle for McCoy bouts like this were as important for building him as a blue eye as bouts like his loss to his father in the final or his two TV British Lightweight Championship matches (including the second where he took home the belt on a TKO) were for building him up as a serious young technical master.  Such is the life of the Young And Pushed ...

 

 

 

 

 

[David Mantell]

An unusual but interesting moral take on the subject of Disqualification.

This is a clean match for the 1987 Golden Grappler Trophy and a rematch from a 1986 semifinal which McMichael won 2-1. McMichael was always the gentleman except against the most provocative of villains. Brooks, the Golden Apollon was at this stage a clean cut young lad with little sign of the heel character he became on Reslo in 1990 or the subtle heel of his title feud with Danny Collins that year, much less those evil cheating Sheffield Boys of 1993. This is the last bout you would think would end in a DQ and it's NOTHING to do with what Brooks became later on.

Round 2 JIP.  Richie has an arm bar on McMichael and is tightening it up. Mick is selling the pain by making fists which the referee gets a bit fussy about.  But he doesn't punch his way out, the fireman's carry takedown (while still in the armlock.) Richie eventually gets one end of himself free and swivels round into the sunset flip position so Mick grabs a rope for a break and they start over after a handshake. They lock up and Mick gets a posting on Ritchie who sells his back. Mick side chancery throws him and delivers an elbowsmash to the chest, allowed as continuous movement.  McMichael gets a chop and a fulls nelson.  Brooks breaks it and comes off the ropes with a bodycheck but it is ineffective. McMichael goes for another posting but Brooks absorbs it well, gets on the second rope for a sunset flip into double leg nelson for 2. McMichael gets a side chancery throw and spinning stomp. Brooks gets a chop and Mick a headbutt. He goes for a chinlock a bit too late and is warned by the ref.  The break and lock up. Richie gets a rear standing chinlock but Mick opens it up into an armbar. It is developing into a hammerlock when Mick transfers to a ground armbar, He steps over the arm, into and past the armhank position to give it an extra twist. Richie is selling heavily but manages to position himself for the rollout when the bell rings.  They briefly slap hand and go back to corners.

Round 3: They lock up and McMichael whips Brooks into the ropes and backdrops him on the rebound. Brooks takes quite a bump along with a count of 7 and is met with a McMichael headbutt once up that sends him down again for 4.  McMichael tries again for the whip into backdrop but this time Brooks lands feet first and gets a double legdive. McMichael however throws him off with his legs and Brooks has to somersault out and take another bump and 4 count- hel sells his back, reaching behind himself to rub the pain away. Mick gets pressure points and transitions to a throw, Brooks hits the ropes and rebounds with a flying tackle which floors McMichael but the momentum causes Brooks to roll out of the ring to the floor. He vaults back in, bounces off the ropes and goes for an armdrags but Mick deftly reverses it for a crosspress and 2 count. Brooks' kick out causes McMichael to land on the ref, a common spot in Germany and often the source over there (and sometimes in France with the likes of Saulnier as L'Arbitre) of referee/blue eye misunderstandings and public warnings to good guys. This referee is a sensible chap who accepts McMichaels apologies.  The wrestlers lock up, Brooks gets a side headlock into side chancery but Mick resists the throw attempt. He whips Brooks into the ropes and dodges a sunset flip leaving Brooks to somersault and crash to the mat. (You may recall Nipper Riley making this same mistake against Johnny Kidd a few posts earlier.) It's another nasty back weak weakener, and so is the throwdown by the chin Mick gives him but Ritchie kips up nicely, headbutts McMichael in the chest and does the same move back to him.  However as he goes down, McMichaels' boot hits Brooks in the crotch. The referee examines him and calls off the match.

It's an accident of couse and McMichael is as worried as anyone but the fact is that Villains do this sort of thing as a nasty foul, and when they do there is only one punishment for them.  And besides, Mick was being a bit rash and reckless there. As MC Brian Crabtree puts it "the referee has no alternative but to technically - TECHNICALLY!!! - disqualify Mick McMichael.". Mick takes his punishment like a man and shakes the referee's hand.  Brooks advances to the semi finals.

Mick is a lot more philosophical about it than some of the crowd who boo - possibly the first bit of heat in Ritchie's career - in time it will become a staple diet. But McMichael has shown himself to because good honourable man who accepted he'd been reckless, took his punishment like a man and was a gentleman about it all.  And that made him even more of a blue eye than ever.

[David Mantell]

On 6/2/2015 at 8:01 AM, ohtani's jacket said:

King Ben vs. Ritchie Brooks (Caernarfon, taped 4/6/90)

Brooks had a horrendous mullet here and looked like a British Crush. He was doing a heel gimmick, which I don't remember him doing on ITV, but then I skipped a lot of Richie Brooks matches. Ben looked well and truly middle-aged. Pretty innocuous squash.

It seems that McMichael's fine moral example was lost on Brooks as he heels it up here. Ben was another tougher older wrestler, more into strength hold than technical skill.  Inside the business he was known, apart from being Dad McCoy, for  long sweltering heat with Peter "Kendo Nagasaki" Thornley.  This started in the late 60s when Nagasaki badly beat up Ben's mentor Ernie Baldwin in a match and Ben tried to ambush Nagasaki in the locker room and came thrillingly unglued.  Fast word to summer 1990 in Chelmsford or Chiselhurst., some place beginning with a C.  The Boothmans were due to main event against Naggers and Blondie Bob Barrett and backstage Thornley was overheard discussing the 1967 incident Word reached the elder Boothmans who spent to match "playing up" in various ways before Nagasaki finished him. And afterwards buttonhole Brian Dixon and had the elder Boothman fired from All Star with Kid walking out in solidarity and resigning his British Lightweight title (although he continued to wrestle for Max C and also for Orig, appearing on Reslo, even with Dixon refereeing, until he quit and got into the roofing trade in 1994.

Back in 1990, Ben, 1988 Golden .Grappler trophy winner and briefly British Heavy Middleweight Champion (a title Ritchie also held in 1990), was taking on the increasingly sour attituded Brooks. The mullet one takes his time releasing onb  the ropes before getting a good spinning armbars, tightening the torque with each twist. He tried  switching to a hammerlock but Ben rolls out to a crowd pop and a sour look from Brooks. Ben getting a sharp armdrags doesn't cheer him up. Kipping up out of an armbar and making Ben roll through a whip does cheer him, but he is down again when Ben reverses his high armbars and looks to be getting a top wristlock until Brooks pulls him down by the hair which sets the crowd on a downer at such dirties so early in the match. Brooks gets a side headlock and brags to the crowd but Ben breaks it open into another top wristlock and another armdrags. Ben has to release his ground armlock when Brooks puts his foot on the ropes and Ritchie gets a legdive and toe & ankle hold. He stretches and weakens the knee, illegal hair pulling and stomping, stopping to argue with referee Brian Dixon (who refs Ben despite having sacked him that year.). He whips and chops Brooks who spends a long time upset  rear wIstlock slam.by the crowd cheering his opponent until Ben gets him in a rear waistlock slap.  Brooks gets a Headlock and posting and bashes Ben's head in the corner. Ref Dixon tells him off, Brooks begs for mercy then stomps Ben more in the corner.He throws his man to ringside, grinning and taunting the crowd as Ben gets counter. He knocks Ben off the apron, so Ben drags him out and smashes his head on a table.He then slams Ritchie on a ringside mat but Richie comes back. Brooks gives Ben a chop to the throat and a top rope axehandle. He throws Ben in the ropes who comes back with a shoulderblock and bodyslam and crosspress for a 1 count.Brooks gets Ben in a rear chin lock for a long while then two chops to the throat, the second illegal for not letting the man up. Brooks delivers a Legdrop of Doom to only get a 2 then a 1 count, Ben takes over  with pressure points into reverse pressure points into a Rude Awakening neckbreaker for a crosspress but only gets a 2 count.  Brooks stretches Ben's neck in a seating position, shoves him to the mat and lands kicks and stomps of varying legality.He pulls Ben up by the hair slams his head back down, crosspresses and only gets 2. Ben gets a standing full nelson then a high spinning kick then a cross buttock throw and press for a 2 of his own. He gets a front snapmare and bodycheck but gets back a bodychecks from Ritchie who climbs to the top turnbuckle and leapfrogs over Ben, reaches the opposite corner, backwards leapfrogs overca charging Ben and getting him in an actually quite beautiful folding press for the one required fall.

And he ain't modest about it. grinning smugly and taunting the crowd as he has done all the way through when things went well (and complaining and begging when things weren't going his way. He's come on a long way, 1990 with a British title was his peak.  Ironically considering his new rule ending ways, he won it by DQ (over a dazed and confused Danny Collins in Croydon who went wild after taking a bump on the head ringside).

[David Mantell]

Just a quick one to even things up, the Reslo Battle Royal on the Wrestling Madness videotape.  It ends up with Tony and Danny Vs Ravishing Robbie Hagen Vs Drew MC Donals. Tony goes and the heels beat up on  Danny til he elimins first Drew then Hagen.

 

[David Mantell]

On 6/14/2025 at 8:17 AM, David Mantell said:

Nice short clean match and a good reminder that even in the wild excesses of Screensport Satellite Wrestling there was still room for the purist matches just as with Reslo, just as with All Star and Rumble to the present day. Chuckle Brothers Miller and Beezely seemed more into said wild excesses , talking more about their ongoing angle than the match, but never mind.

Scotland versus Northern Ireland, the battle of the blonds.  Cullen tries for a leg but Hammill dodges him and gets a headlock, breaking off for a bodycheck before reapplying, then getting another bodycheck. Cullen gets a rear elbow and headlock of his own but Kung Fu straightens the arm and transitions to his own headlock into a front chancery, but Cullen gets a quick sharp slam. Kung Fu gets a wristlever into hammerlock takedown. He turns him into a crosspress for four two counts then back to the hammerlock.  Cullen stands up in the hold and scores a back elbow. He drags Kung Fu down with a wrist lever. Kung Fu uses his Vicks to get a leg spread that floors Cullen and breaks the hold.Cullen gets a rear waistlock takedown. From there, he grabs one leg, scissors the other and makes a Frank Gotch toehold of it.Hanill straightens himself and rolls over a couple of times to get to the ropes(no heat as he had to struggle for them.) Kung Fu posts Cullen and superkicks him on the rebound. Another posting and flying headscissors. He misses a whip off the ropes and is whipped himself but goes over and rotates into a sunset flip to get the double leg nelson opening fall.  Bezely loses himself with excitement "To Kung Fu, King of ... of ... Of Those Moves!"

Round 2 (I think).Cullen gets a back elbow, a knee to an arm, another back elbow, a posting, a suplex and cross press for 2, a rear chinlock, one handed chinlock with armbar and lean-back neck crank. Kung Fu breaks it open leaving Cullen with rear double wrists. Unable to get a surfboard, he shoves Hamill down from behind. The Irishman comes back with straight fingers and two postings. Cullen gets a back elbow but Kung Fu takes him down with a single leg. He gets the other and is ready to go for a legspread but referee Frank Casey won't have it so he sportingly releases. Cullen gets an arm and axehandles it. He picks his man up over one shoulder, slams him in the corner and posts him in the opposite corner then gets a slam and an over the shoulder backbreaker but Kung Fu wriggles out.  Cullen gets a kick, tries for a tombstone piledriver and settles for a powerslam for the equalising fall.

Round 3 (if there are rounds, it's not really clear.  The caption slide says it's a session.) Cullen corners and posts Kung Fu who headbutts him down. Cullen dodges a charge and gets a belly to belly suplex for a 2. He follows with a side chancery throw and guillotine elbowsmash. He tries for a piledriver but Hammill backdrops him.  He tries for a splash but Casey refuses the count as Cullen was down. Kung Fu gets a slingshot into the ropes but Cullen catches him with that back elbow again. Cullen gets a fireman's carry into cross body suplex (a la Finlay.) Kung Fu is up at 9 with a chop, side chancery throw and ground victory roll into bridging folding press but Cullen crawls out. He gets a wrist (actually more of a gi sleeve) but Kung Fu gets a wrist of his own and escalated into a crucifix takedown into further nelson pin attempt but the bell goes. 1-1 draw.

On the whole I think Kung Fu came up with the best moves, Cullen had his moments but a little too over reliant on that back elbow for my taste. Still nice to see respect for the pure from even on Screensport.  I gather these two also met on Reslo, perhaps I shall check that out too.

 

On 6/14/2025 at 4:21 PM, David Mantell said:

There are two Cullen-Hamill bouts filmed but @ohtani's jacket only seems to have reviewed one and I presume he was watching the other one (correct me if I'm wrong OJ.)  This one was in Wales, the other was in Crewe, a town in Cheshire with an inordinately large and complicated railway station. 

We join the action near the end of Round 2 with Hammill winning a test of strength by putting his feet on Cullen's hands. Cullen can't slide them out so Kung Fu agrees to release but then jumps on them. behaviour which could have turned a lesser mortal heel on the spot.  Cullen gets a cross armed shoulder grip, boots his man slowly but firmly in the chest to set him on his knees and switches to rear pressure points but the bell goes before he can get any revenge for having his hands stomped on.

That referee looks downright ancient, like he was dug up from somewhere.

Round 3.  Kung Fu VERY QUICKLY gets a snapmare and double knees press. But Cullen inprone guard position fires a knee into Kung Fu's ribs then bucks him off like a bronco. Cullen grand the waist and Kung Fu gets the shoulders which he switches to a wristlever and posting with a superkick on the rebound. Kung Fu gets a snapmare and kneedrop, a posting and flying headscissor throw, pressure points on the kneeling Cullen and double knees to the head as he tries to get up. He gets a scissor chop then off the top turnbuckle for a magnificent sunset flip and double leg nelson opening pin.

I like those nice golden brown stage curtains by the was, very plush theatre.

Round 4.   Collar and elbow lockup, Cullen gets a posting and then on the rebound he delivers - yes you've guessed it - a back elbow. Then a forearm and flying tackle but Hammill gets the advantage with a slam and double knees press but Cullen throws him off. Kung Fu tries his own flying bodypress but makes no impact and falls to the mat. Cullen gets a legscissor takedown, Eddie goes for pressure points. Frank pushes him off then switches to standing toehold and delivers leg weakeners. Kung Fu makes it up at 9, really selling the knee. Chic whips Kung Fu off the ropes and shouldeblocks his knee on the rebound, sending Hammill flying for quite a bump! He leivers a kick to the Achilles tendon which again floors Eddie. He blasts the back of the knee and takes the leg to do damage with a hold. This turns out to be the double foothold start of a surfboard but Cullen fails to get the arms and falls backwards as Kung Fu gets to his feet. Cullen floors Hammill again with a kick to the thigh. Odd he's doing these kinds of moves as his opponent is the one with the martial arts gimmick.  He gets another superkick and an over the shoulder kneebreaker but with Hammill still in the corner so the referee demands a break. Cullen complies - he is still a blue-eye. Cullen again gets the legdives, leg weakeners and a basic leglock. The bell goes and Cullen sportingly helps his man up.

Round 5. (A baby in the audience is not enjoying it! Probably middle aged by now.).  They lock up,  Kung Fu gets a side chancery throw and bodycheck but misses with a second one and Cullen pitches him to ringside. A little kid offers to help him up but Kung Fu gets back on his own power. He gets shit into the ropes but rebounds with a flying forearm.  He gets a flying tackle which takes both of them over the ropes to ringside - the same little kid is encouraging them to get up - and they both make it back, Cullen via a showy jump over the ropes. If it was to avoid an ambush it fails, Hammill gets a karate kick, shoulderblock and over the shoulder armdrag. Cullen on the mat kicks Hamill in the back of the knee, fells him and gets a leglock into single leg Boston Crab then a straight leg bar against the chest ( a leg spread variant in fact.) Not getting a submission he stands and yanks the leg straight as a final weakener. Kung Fu is up and gets a wristlever augmented by a foot on the underside of Cullen's neck, he asks the ancient referee (Tiny Clarke is his name) to check for a submission. Not getting it, he switches to a standing arm scissor. Cullen lifts him up in the hold and Kung Fu gets a victory roll and folding press with bridge but Cullen crawls out. This is the same spot as in the Screensport match but it's done rather better here and gets a fantastic and well deserved round of applause from the crowd. (The baby from earlier still isn't impressed though!) Cullen gets a low flying bodyscissors on Kung Fu and takes him down with Hammill on top and himself in guard. Kung Fu tries a shoulder press and gets a 1. He briefly considers an elbow to the chest but Cullen swiped it away before Hammill can do any damage. Cullen tightens his bodyscissors making Hammill cry out. Kung Fu tries getting his arms inside the bodyscissors but to no avail. He tries for another shoulder press, gets a 1 but more importantly uses Johnny Saint's old trick of using his heel to pull the bodyscissors down until it is around his knees. The bell goes before he can capitalise. Tiny Ancient Clarke undies the feet and gets a clap for his efforts. 

Round 6.  Final round, a good naturedly distrustful handshake, the crowd chuckles a bit. Cullen shoves Hamill into the ropes and Hamill briefly gets hooked up but quickly unties himself, no in the ropes antics you might expect from a blue eye Vs heel match on Reslo or in France or Germany. Cullen gets the head and chops down with an elbowsmash. He backs Eddie into the ropes, gets a wristlever, yanks it straight, knees the bent over Kung Fu in the chest, flooring him for 5. Cullen side chancery throws Hammill and dropkicks him out of the ring, hanging by his toes from the top rope. Cullen sporting lyb helps him back. He goes for a throw but Hammill stops him with a headlock, changes arms, goes for the ropes and a Kid McCoy Yorkshire Rope Trick MK2, turns 180 into a sunset flip position and takes his man down into a side folding press (instead of the usual double leg nelson)  but disappointingly only gets a 2. (With only 70 seconds of clip left, I really thought that would be the second straight fall.) He tries again and gets a couple of 1s and a heel smash over the skull which keeps him down for 8. Kung Fu again stymies a throw off the ropes and this time gets a shoulderblock. He tries another but Cullen ducks the first pass,leapfrogs the second and gets a belly to belly suplex for the final round equaliser which is almost as good a finish as the sunset flip would have been 1-1 draw.  They shake hands and Kung Fu gestures the 1-1 score to Cullen.

A better and slicker bout than the Screensport one, the victory roll spot done better, the near second straight and the final equaliser were both joys to watch. Better filmed too - S4C had top notch camera crews from HTV/BBC Wales backgrounds whereas Screensport's cameramen probably had graduated up from filming wedding videos and the like.  A good technical match and a good appreciative crowd (except the baby!).

 

 

RIP Eddie "Kung Fu" Hammill.

Bumping these up in his memory.

[David Mantell]

On 3/23/2025 at 3:32 AM, David Mantell said:

No previous review of this. Sound quality is pretty dire too. Still the bout itself is a pretty decent scientific match.  Danny, double crown British/European Welterweight Champion (the referee here Ken Joyce once held said European title) was looking to challenge for heavier title. He'd started the previous year chasing Fit Finlay and got his tail kicked to the point where even Kent Walton criticized the matchmaking. Over three years Danny would improve against Finlay until 1989 when he beat him for the British Heavy Middleweight title . Meanwhile here he faced the then current champion, ex masked man Eddie Kung Fu Hammill. (although his title is not mentioned by MC Brian Crabtree and neither man wears any of their belts to the ring.) This was also Danny's first TV match since having an operation to remove a kidney

Round one, Hammill gets a real waistlock on Danny, jabbing a foot or two through to term the young whizzkid to make a grab through the legs. Instead he breaks it first and  when Hammill reverses, he reverses back a few times until Hammill switches and  goes for rea double legs, runs up the spine to go for a double leg nelson but falls off as Danny gets up.  Collins gets side headlock into side Chancery throw. Hammill gets a standing full nelson., switches to side chancery throws into further nelson/crucifix press.  Danny bridges to prevent any pins being more than 1. Reset - Hammill offers Danny his foot to make into a Gotch toehold but this is a ruse so he can turn into a side headlock, take his man down with a trip from behind  and switch to a further nelson, then a cross press. Danny bridges and resists. He goes wrist level to armdrag to cross press but Hammill kicks out.  Danny gets a wrist lever and rolls to take down to the mat. Hammill stand so Danny switches to hammerlock. Hammill cannot unpick it with a foot behind. It goes down to the mat and up again with them hammerlock intact. Hamill tries snapmares which Danny resists.  Danny still has his fist and takes Kung Fu back down to the mat.  He kips up and rolls a couple of times before kicking Danny's ankle to finally break the hold.  They finger interlock but Danny gets a leg takedown switching back into the wrist lever!  Hammill stands and unpicks the wristlock with a foot.  He snapmares Danny down,  gets a rear seated bodyscissors. He managed to traps Danny's finger between his toes, tries for a further nelson.still has the finger. Hamill sportingly let's go. Danny gets a leg takedown as the bell goes.

Round 2.  Danny cross buttocks into a ground side headlock. switches to headlock & Strangle (sleeper.) Hamill turns, lefts Danny in a fireman's carry and places him on the turnbuckle. Break- Hamill throws Danny but he handsprings upright.  They hit the ropes, Kung Fu gets 2 with a cross buttock throw and press. Hammill gets double rear wrists. Danny flips forward then backwards for a ground dropkick. Hamill gets an ankle takedown. He pulls up Danny to drive the knee into the mat but Danny pushes upright.  Hamill folds Danny into a folding press but Danny straightens and a Bascule ensues. Stalemate.  Hamill gets a folding press takedown but Runs Out Of Mat. Finger Interlock and Danny rolls back. He gets a wristlock into leg lock.  Hamill tries widening the legs but Danny rectified. He turns himself into the Gotch toehold and a foot of Danny's neck to turn him into a folding press for 2. Danny gets a finger interlock, bridges and powers upright, moving Kung Fu into an underarm position. Switches into backwards roll up, he pulls Hamill over into a small package but Eddie kicks out. Danny gets a headbutt to the chest then a wrist lever then jabs him down with a double stomach blow. Kung Fu looks to be contemplating a Kung Fu blow or two but then the bell goes and they shake hands, no needle. Nice applause.

Round 3 Hammill gets a rear waistlock, switches to pressure points, forces Danny to his knees, sits down and reapplies the seated rear bodyscissors from round 1. He gets Danny underarm into a folding press, untucking his own shoulders and using the bodyscissors (now in a reverse underneath position) to hold the pin attempt. He turns over into the seated bodyscissors then over again into a more securely applied version of his previous pin attempt. Danny turns it up right and when Hammill tries to keep the turn going back to pin attempt Danny four times rolls through before Hamill gets a one count. Danny rolls backwards Ito a standing start to rest. He offers his hand, Hammill bows instead, no matter. It is the thought that counts. Hammill gets a posting on Danny, keeping him down until 7. He bounces him off the ropes for a double handed chop that Danny oversells with a somersault. Up at 6, Danny retaliates with a bodycheck but Hammill gets a crucifix/ further nelson takedown for the opening fall.

Round 4. Cut to Danny releasing either a Boston Crab or Gotch toehold. They shake hands. Danny gets a bearhug  of all things (having just earlier done a bodycheck. That's quite a few heavyweight type strength moves he's trying out here.) He pushes Hammill back who comes off the ropes with a kick then follows in with a big splash and misses as does Danny with a guillotine elbow attempt. Hammill gets a snapmare and kneedrop follow down, allowed as continuous movement. Hammill forces Danny down from initial lockup to pressure points. Danny forces his way up. Hammill gets a double kneelift.then a flying tackle but Danny overpowers him with a Powerslam for a 2 count. Hammill gets a single leg takedown. He stands up with a toehold and behind to turn. Danny boots him into the ropes but Hammill stops himself going over, springs back and regains the toehold. He kneels to prevent a repeat of the the previous boot and turns Danny into the guard in a foldup leglock. Hammill looks to develop it to another Gotch toehold but Danny keeps his leg firmly straight. Hammill eventually gets the hold, lifting underneath for extra pressure, which Danny pushes up on his knuckles to relieve. The bell goes.

Round 5. Danny must equalise In this round if he wants a 2-1 win. He gets a kneelift and snapmare and another sleeper. Hammill lifts and drops him by one knee with the free leg taking the weakener. They go for a finger interlock, Hammill tries a drop toehold but doesn't properly fell Danny who ends up with a wristlever out of it. He stands, gets in a twist an running whips Kung Fu who takes the bump.bDanny gets the wristlever slips in an underarm and throws Kung Fu, softening his bicep with a well placed knee before getting a seated armhank on. Hammill kicks from side to side like a high-kicking clockwork Majorette doll fallen over on its back, until rolling up the hanked arm and getting a side headlock on the mat. Danny turns into a further nelson press but Hammill back rolls out. Danny gets a wristlever and yanks it as a weakener, then a twisted wristlever. He gets  a stranding armlift but Kung Fu shifts his weight to drop behind Danny, taking him down in a small package attempt but it doesn't come off and Danny still has the wristlever. Hamill gets in a low dropkick to the chest then a rear leg scissor in the mount, switching to rear double wrist (possibly a failed surfboard attempt.) He gets Danny kneeling with another low dropkick to the spine and applies a double arm scissors which becomes a crossed double wrist scissors. It has Danny pinioned from behind anyway. Hammill doesn't get a submission from this so he turns it upside down into a folding press secured by the wrists. He goes up onto his knees to further turn Danny's shoulders back but it isn't getting anywhere so he releases with help from the referee untangling the legs.  They get up and Hammill gets a rear waistlock then switches to a hammerlock then gets a leg overvand straightens the arm to make a standing reverse hammerlock. He switches back to hammerlock this time from the reverse front-facing position. Danny puts his head between Eddie's legs and tries for a backdrop, eventually making it with some effort but is too worn down to follow up and in any case the bell goes. Danny sportingly helps Kung Fu up.

Final Round 6 - Hammill can only lose by KO (or DQ - unlikely from Hammill  and an undesirable finish anyway for a technical bout like this, as Kent notes). Danny's only other option against the heavier champion is to force a 1-1 Broadway with a final round equaliser.  Danny goes to work to stop a 1-0 at time win for Hammill, jabbing, snapmaring and leg diving him but Kung Fu gets in a kick from behind that again Danny oversells with the somersault!  He gets a kick to the stomach and a posting, but on a second posting Danny scuttles through Kung Fu's legs and fires off a night dropkick. He fires off a posting of his own but Hammill easily reverses. He tries a third posting but Danny goes into a sunset flip into folding press. It's a little lopsided but he gets the shoulders down for the equaliser.  So there you have it, 1-1 draw.

Shortly afterwards  Kung Fu would lose his title to Chic Cullen who in turn would lose it to Fit Finlay at the same Bradford TV taping as Kendo Nagasaki's World title win over Wayne Bridges.  Finlay and Kung Fu would face off in 1988 in New Catch's very first bout on TF1.  OJ has previously reviewed that bout on here but I shall post my upcoming review to the French Catch thread instead.   Danny also developed a new urgency to avenge the beating from his first TV match with Finlay by dethroning him - a goal reached in 1989, too late for TV.  He also pursued world champion Rollerball Rocco with bouts on ITV, S4C and Eurosport but was never a Mountevans World champion above Middleweight (although in later years in the 2010s he became WAW's World Heavyweight Champion.)

 

 

On 3/23/2025 at 3:22 PM, David Mantell said:

Having reviewed theIr New Catch bout, I thought I'd come back here to compare it to this one. We start with Bryn Fon outside the prefab leisure centre where this was filmed. Then cut to inside where unlike in France , Princes Paula is part of the fixtures and fittings.

Finlay takes down Kung Fu with a finger interlock, stomps his hand and gets a wrist lever. Hammill turns backwards, unpicks the hold with a foot, snapmares and double stomps Finlay 's face, all in one move. Finlay attacks Hammill on the ropes and floors him with a concealed closed fist punch.  He posts him and holds him in the corner with a knee despite referee Brian George  (Dixon) warning him. Finlay with another chop, concealed closed fist punch and pressure points. Finlay appears to release on the ropes but then follows in with chops until Eddie ducks sending Finlay flying through the ropes to Paula. Eddie taunts the Finlays from the ring. Finlay gets a legdive and standing toehold. Eventually Eddie spins him out.  Finlay gets headbutts and elbows, following down illegally. This gets him a public warning, making him angry and the Welsh crowd happy. He slingshots Kung Fu into a backdrop but KF goes for a sunset flip which Finlay punches out of. Referee is suspicious ofit. Finlay illegally works Hammill in the corner but a posting gets reversed leaving Finlay landing crotch first. Kung Fu gets a couple of postings, a flying tackle and 2 count. Finlay stomps Hammill but Edie catches his foot, spins and chops him. Finlay is selling his throat. Hammill is by the ropes, seemingly not paying attention. Finlay attacks from behind but it's a trap and Hammill hiptosses him out. Paula says (in English ) that should have been a. Public warning but he didn't dump him over.  Finlay gets a wristlever, Hammill goes from behind to go for the head but gets his fingers bitten by Finlay.  He smashes Hamill into the post and bionic elbows him, moving out the ring to get his man on the ring apron and then dragging ihim out to the floor. S4C unlike ITV can get away with showing this but rules are rules and Brian privately warns Finlay. He misses a punch and hits the corner post, Hammill rolls back in as Paula checks on her husband's injured paw. Finlay argues a lot with Dixon. He gets on a front chancery, throw and kneedrop but misses a second one and Hammill kicks him out. Paula aids and comforts her husband who gets in and out again, trying Dixon's patience.  Finlay gets a bearhug and concealed punch and two kneelifts. He uses the ropes to stand on Kung Fu's throat but Eddie pulls him outside before disciplinary action can be taken. Hammill hauls him in, whips and slingshots him and dropkicks him. Finlay offers a handshake which Hammill accepts after a brief pause. It works out and fans clap politely. Finlay gets a forearm, a fireman's carry into a throat first drop on the ropes which surprisingly Dixon lets go and gives an 8 count to. He double leg slingshots Hammill up into the ropes which Dixon warns him about but Finlay protests innocence until Dixon tells him about the ropes, then warns him again about the rules. Finlay boots Kung Fu out the ring and stomps him on the outside so Kung Fu gets his legs and drags his crotch knto the post, that old spot. Finlay protests but Dixon puts it down to retaliation. Hammill ties Finlay in the ropes and charges. Finlay dodges but Hammill headscissors him over the ropes. He gets the returning Dave with chops and knees, he responds with similar and gets the one fall required with the same inverted waistlock and slam as the TF1 New Catch bout.

Longer than the French match and more of a fight, I can see this fitted OJ's tastes more than mine. A bout between King Fu and the younger hungrier Finlay of 1983-1984 would really have been something both for intensity and technical speed. The crowd were happy to see Bully Finlay get a hard time before he ultimately prevailed.

 

Ditto these. Rest in peace Eddie.

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I've written a short obit on Eddie Hamill's career: https://substack.com/home/post/p-168471409

RIP.