The Beginner's Guide To British Wrestling

[JNLister]

Which show has the wrong date? And what should it be?

[ohtani's jacket]

These two shows:

 

September 22nd 1984 (Malvern, 21/6/84)

September 29th 1984 (Malver, taped 21/6/84)

 

The taping date should be 21/8/84 according to the britishwrestlingarchive.co.uk site.

[ohtani's jacket]

I found some more stuff from '84 on YouTube:

 

Eddie Riley vs. Ian McGregor (11/20/84)

 

These two were proteges of Marty Jones. Walton was particularly fond of Eddie Riley, who was 10 st 9 lbs and speedy. McGregor was only 17 here and it's kind of hard for a 17 year old to be interesting. The closest I've seen anyone come is Dynamite Kid. The bout was okay, but nothing major.

 

Tally Ho Kaye/Sid Cooper/Roy Scott vs. Chic Cullen/Drew McDonald/Ian McGregor (9/11/84)

 

This has to be one of the worst worked WoS bouts I've seen in terms of how pathetic it was. How hard would it have been for them to work a short workrate sprint? The crowd would have loved it, Walton would have loved it, and everyone would have looked good. Instead they pissed around and did some comedy before Scott walked out (since he wasn't even a heel) and the Scots won. Just inexplicably poor.

 

Steve Kelly vs. "Banger" Tony Walsh (aired 1/24/84)

 

I'm fairly certain this was taped on 12/13/83, but we'll go with the air date for now. Steve Kelly was the son of long time independent wrestler Pete Kelly. He made his television debut in the late 70s at the age of 16, but after a handful of appearances on television wasn't heard of again until this 1983 taping. And even after this he never appeared on television again. One of those stories, I suppose. Walsh wrestled completely cleanly here, which Walton couldn't really explain. Not a great bout by any stretch of the imagination, but it was neat to see Walsh in a singles match rather than the usual Big Daddy tags. Incidentally, for those trivia buffs out there, this was the first televised bout reffed by Ken Joyce.

 

Chic Cullen vs. Ripper Derek Collins (11/1/84)

 

No, not that Ripper Collins. The British Ripper Collins. A long time vet who really didn't get a look in against a prime Chic Cullen in this a quarterfinal bout for the 1984 Grand Prix Belt. Short and meaningless.

 

Lucky Gordon vs. Andy Blair (6/13/84)

 

Gordon had to have been one of the least talented Irish wrestlers to make World of Sport. The only good thing he did in this entire bout was his headbutts to Blair's torso as Blair was trying to get up. I think this was the young Scottish wrestler's television debut. You could argue that it was solid enough in that respect, but Gordon was so talentless that it's hard to make a case.

 

Big Daddy/Pat Patton vs. Masked Marauder/Tony Walsh (2/2/84)

Big Daddy/Pete Ross vs. Bruiser Ian Muir/Tony Walsh (11/1/84)

Big Daddy/Pete Ross vs. Scrubber Daly/Tiny Callaghan (11/13/84)

 

These were all terrible as you'd expect. The mystery of the Masked Marauder being revealed as Scrubber Daly pretty much sums up how utterly shitty the booking of Big Daddy was. Then you had Charlie McGhee bringing in Tiny Callaghan as the man to finally stop Big Daddy as though he could succeed where Quinn and Stax had failed, Scrubber Daly teasing out his hair as though he were Jerry Blackwell or Moondog Mayne with nowhere near the amount of talent, and the camera man missing Farmer Boy Ross' hot tag after he had bust his ass in the ring. About the only entertaining thing in these matches was Brian Crabtree being less than amused when they played the Big Daddy music for the heels' entrance and listening to Daddy's anguished ring apron work ("C'mon tag boy! You've got to tag!") Referee Peter Szakacs deserves some credit for selling the impact of a reverse irish whip posting between Daddy and Daly as though an earthquake had just hit the hall, but that's the only selling that was going on.

 

Well, that puts a wrap on 1984. '84 marks the end of what I would consider the best era we have on tape: 1974-84. It was the last full year of wrestling on World of Sport, and while the deflections to All-Star had hurt the talent roster there were still a dozen or so workers who made Saturday afternoons great. It was very much the era of Marty Jones and Fit Finlay, who could not only lay claim to being the two best wrestlers in the country, but were responsible for training a lot of the newcomers as well. It was the end of the Breaks era (and Faulkner too for that matter), but Murphy surprised me by taking over as a premier heel. Daddy was really stale on top and it's probably fair to say that the heavyweight division was lacking he likes of Bridges and St. Clair. But all told it was a better year than '85 would be.

[ohtani's jacket]

A few oversights before I continue:

 

Pat Patton vs. Johnny England (4/23/79)

 

Patton's 70s hair was immense. He looked like the lead singer of Boston, Brad Delp. It took me a while to warm to Johnny England because he wasn't the most naturally gifted wrestler, but what a great character. An obnoxious little bodybuilding brat with a punk rock edge to him and a knack for getting under people's skins. We didn't see the entire match here, but already there was a chemistry between the workers and you could see why they'd go on to have such a good match in 1981.

 

John Quinn/Yasu Fuji vs. Steve Veidor/Lee Bronson (5/13/80)

 

This was a simple but effective tag match. It wasn't great or anything, but a damn sight better than those Big Daddy matches. The brief Quinn vs. Veidor exchanges had me imagining an alternate reality where Veidor and Quinn feuded for the World's Heavyweight title, but this was actually Veidor's last appearance on television. Walton tried to fob Quinn off as the NWA World Heavyweight Champion, which made me wonder whether if even Kent was clueless about this fake belt of Arion's. Wayne Bridges got on the house mic at the end and cut a passionate promo stating that Quinn had taken three things from his: his belt, his pride, and his blood. He told Quinn he had 90 days to defend the title and to pick the day. Quinn wanted to go there and then and Bridges had to be held back. Simple but effective stuff.

Now for one last dig into 1983...

 

Vic Faulkner vs. Mick McMichael (8/3/83)

Typical Faulkner vs. McMichael bout. It took them a while to warm up but by the end they were cracking out the comedy. Walton kept saying it was impossible not to enjoy a Faulkner vs. McMichael bout. I don't know about that Kent. I will say that while the spots weren't ad-libbed in the slightest, the speed at which they were able to call them was impressive to watch. My problem is that I don't find McMichael that funny, but hey, comedy and humour is a personal thing.

Alan Dennison vs. Black Jack Mulligan (8/3/83)

These two always had good matches together. I'm not sure if it was because they were friends or because Mulligan always seemed to target Dennison's arms and bump big for his strength spots, but they had about as good a series as I can imagine from a run of extended squashes. Dennison always seemed to give him that little bit more. A few extra rounds, a bit more offense than usual, no bullshit comedy designed to embarrass his opponent. Quite different from a lot of the two fall maulings Mulligan received.

Jim Breaks vs. Grasshopper (3/23/83)

For what it's worth, this was the most fun Grasshopper match I've seen, but it was far from vintage Breaks. Even taking into account that it was a tournament bout, it wasn't up to his usual standards. Unfortunately, he got booked in a lot of these situations towards the end of his television run.

Colin Joynson vs. Pat Roach (12/15/82)

This was great stuff. Joynson hadn't appeared on TV since the very beginning of 1980 and this aired on 4/16/83 even though it was apparently taped five months before. Walton was excited to have him back just like he was any time an older face showed up, but what excited me was Joynson's initiation into the forearm smash club. I'm a huge fan of heavyweights who trade forearm smashes and Joynson slotted right in. They did a great job of establishing that Roach wouldn't have it all his own way while at the same time making it clear that nobody could stop him from performing a crotch hold and slam any time he wanted. Joynson was tenacious and really hung with Roach here. Every now and again, Pat would start throwing forearms and have to check himself since he was a blue eye in the movies now, but for sheer physicality this was everything you could hope for and more. Joynson was considerably shorter than Roach, but bigger than he'd ever been and he threw that bulk behind every move. I love this kind of power wrestling. This was also notable for an out of position Dave Rees getting taken out by Joynson. You don't see that too often. Even Walton commented that Rees looked a bit white around the gills after the collision.

Vic Faulkner vs. Rocky Moran (11/2/83)

This was one of Moran's early television bouts and he was still wrestling as though it was his first day in the company instead of as an out and out heel. That was a shame as I wanted to see him wipe that smug look from Faulkner's face. The match was disappointing short and ended on a lame injury note.

Tiger Dalibar Singh vs. Colin Joynson (11/2/83)

The Colin Joynson television comeback continues. According to Walton, Joynson was only a part time wrestler now. I think he owned a pub or was running a boarding house. Something like that. At any rate, Colin Joynson in 1983 equaled smash mouth wrestling. These two were not afraid to throw forearm smashes or deliver hard body checks. There was so much weight in the ring that any time they slammed one another into the canvas it looked like the most forceful body slam imaginable. Even the back body drops were a thing of beauty here. Really great Singh bout. Almost at the level of the Terry Rudge stuff. The strikes were awesome and Joynson showed why he earned his "panzar" nickname.

Keith Haward vs. Kurt Heinz (8/23/83)

Poor old Kurt Heinz. He actually survived into the third round against Haward, but you wouldn't know based on the way ITV chose to edit it. Haward knocked him out on a release german suplex, which was pretty loose looking.

Jim Breaks vs. Rick Wiseman (8/23/83)

This was entertaining stuff. It was the semi-finals of a knockout tournament but Breaks still found a way to make their ten minutes memorable. Realistically, Wiseman stood no chance, but Breaks' performance was so good it made you wonder if the upset was possible. The Swadlincote crowd rode Breaks hard and were right behind Wiseman. Walton kept going on about how Wiseman was using Breaks' own moves against him, but practically everybody tried that at some point or another. The awesome thing about this was that when Breaks finally took over and executed the Breaks Special he went after the arm with a quiet fury that was designed to shut every mouth in the hall. Not as good as Murphy/Robinson, but one of the better pre-final tournament bouts you'll see.

[ohtani's jacket]

I'd actually seen a couple of these before (this shit happens.) Let's compare and see what I wrote a few years ago:

Alan Dennison vs. Black Jack Mulligan (8/3/83)

These two always had good matches together. I'm not sure if it was because they were friends or because Mulligan always seemed to target Dennison's arms and bump big for his strength spots, but they had about as good a series as I can imagine from a run of extended squashes. Dennison always seemed to give him that little bit more. A few extra rounds, a bit more offense than usual, no bullshit comedy designed to embarrass his opponent. Quite different from a lot of the two fall maulings Mulligan received.

Colin Joynson vs. Pat Roach (12/15/82)

This was great stuff. Joynson hadn't appeared on TV since the very beginning of 1980 and this aired on 4/16/83 even though it was apparently taped five months before. Walton was excited to have him back just like he was any time an older face showed up, but what excited me was Joynson's initiation into the forearm smash club. I'm a huge fan of heavyweights who trade forearm smashes and Joynson slotted right in. They did a great job of establishing that Roach wouldn't have it all his own way while at the same time making it clear that nobody could stop him from performing a crotch hold and slam any time he wanted. Joynson was tenacious and really hung with Roach here. Every now and again, Pat would start throwing forearms and have to check himself since he was a blue eye in the movies now, but for sheer physicality this was everything you could hope for and more. Joynson was considerably shorter than Roach, but bigger than he'd ever been and he threw that bulk behind every move. I love this kind of power wrestling. This was also notable for an out of position Dave Rees getting taken out by Joynson. You don't see that too often. Even Walton commented that Rees looked a bit white around the gills after the collision.

 

 

10/26/13:

Alan Dennison vs. Black Jack Mulligan (8/3/83)

Mulligan had shaved his head at this point and was as close to an asskicking Terry Rudge as he'd ever get. This was easily the best Dennison match I've seen and something I came close to recommending, but I'm not sure it would mean much to people unfamiliar with Dennison. Pretty much a straight contest with very little bullshit. Mulligan gave Dennison a tremendous run for his money and Dennison was a guy who was fairly well protected by Joint. The finish was another one where Mulligan gets knocked out easily, but he took his bump over the ropes like a man and I really liked this.

4/29/11:

Pat Roach vs. Colin Joynson (12/15/82)

This might have been good in the late 70s, but by this stage Roach was already into the decline that all big men go through and Joynson was out of shape and making a comeback to the television screen. Dull match.

Nice change of tune there!

[JNLister]

New YouTube channel with a lot of stuff updated in the past few weeks. Not sure if any of it is "new": https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYRqU2G_RxGJDWBBVRaS-Ww?app=desktop

[ButchReedMark]

Some real memory lane stuff with that Reslo, cheers John! My mate Beefy still calls a wrestling ring the "Ongl Sgwar".

[ohtani's jacket]

Continuing with the 1983 theme:

 

Vic Faulkner vs. Johnny Kidd (aired 5/28/83)

There's been some talk on here lately about how there are two types of Faulkner, the smart alec prankster and the royally ticked off type (pun intended.) But there was a third variation and that was a straight wrestler. He still had a smart arse grin on his face and pulled a few of his tricks, but for most part he was determined to guide the Ken Joyce protege through a solid bout. It didn't last long, however, as there was a screwy finish a few rounds in.

Tom Tyrone vs. King Kong Kirk (4/7/83)

Inexplicably bad match as Kirk just did whatever he liked, including laying on top of Tyrone and cutting off his breathing, and yet Rees refused to throw him out. That kind of heel cheating works okay if there's a payoff, but it's boring in a bout like this one where the heel is going over.

Pat Patton vs. John Wilkie (11/1/83)

I had disc troubles on this one but it looked all right. It was a short bout from a special Haystacks vs. Daddy team event. Wilkie was a journeyman, but solid. In Patton, they not only had a replacement for Kung Fu, but someone who was better. I doubt he drew as well as Kung Fu. though.

Jim Breaks vs. Mick McMichael (3/23/83)

Pat Patton vs. Sid Cooper (3/23/83)

Steve Grey vs. Pat Patton (3/23/83)

These were part of a special one night only knockout tournament, which meant that each match had a five minute time limit. The Breaks match was awful from the point of view of those of us who want to see more of his matches as he was DQ'ed after only a few minutes. He had an amusing reaction to being awarded a baby doll with pacifier however. The Cooper match was a flash pin and another nothing bout. The Grey bout went to the time limit, and was good, but you want more than five minutes from those two. I made a mistake and didn't order the final between McMichael and Patton, but surprise, surprise it went to a draw.

Mick McMichael vs. Pat Patton (4/7/83)

The standard rematch. I thought McMichael looked somewhat stupid trying to do the same comedy spots from his Faulkner bouts in a more serious tournament final. After forcing a replay of this bout, they actually had the nerve to book a screwy finish with Patton going down injured.

Marty Jones & Clive Myers vs. John Naylor & King Ben (6/13/83)

I think this is the first time I've seen Jones wrestle Ben. It was awesome to see that match-up. Jones vs. Naylor was also good, but a bit more flippy-floppy. What was less impressive were the Myers sections. Myers vs. Ben was okay, but the Naylor stuff was downright sloppy. It seemed to me there was a step up in quality every time Jones was in the ring.

Steve McHoy vs. Barry Douglas (4/7/83)

Only the last few minutes of this were shown, but the young heart throb Steve McHoy continued to look impressive. He was extremely athletic for a heavyweight and won with a beautiful folding pin move that looked wonderfully executed given the size difference between the two men.

John Naylor vs. Kid Chocolate (2/16/83)

This may have been the most predictable bout I've ordered. Kid Chocolate always underwhelms and Naylor is Naylor. There was some decent looking stuff, but you knew they were going to potter along until the finish.

Dave Duran vs. Jim Moser (3/21/83)

Perhaps the most inauspicious World of Sport debut ever as poor Dave Duran was injured only minutes into the opening round. Fuck knows why. He deserved more as he was a solid worker.

[ohtani's jacket]

Back to the 70s:

Kendo Nagasaki vs. Prince Kumali (4/6/76)

I'll say this for Nagasaki: he drew an incredible amount of heat. The crowd were right behind Kumali here and I don't think it was because he was a crowd favourite. You won't hear too many bigger pops in British wrestling than the nearfall Kumali got here. It even had me sitting up and taking notice. Nagasaki actually looked good here. Not "all-time great" good, but he was definitely backing his gimmick up with some substance. It helped that the crowd were electric, but there was a clear formula to what he was doing and the whole Nagasaki act went up in my estimation off this one match. Fun stuff.

Kendo Nagasaki vs. Lee Bronson (1/25/77)

Same Croydon crowd, same hot match. Maybe the Nagasaki act worked well in Croydon, I don't know. These were the days when Bronson was the next young hope, before he lost all his hair and they moved onto the next young heart throb. His attempts at rolling his eyes back into his head on Nasagaki's chokes were almost comical, but apart from that he was perfect babyface material. Nagasaki again looked slicker than in other matches I've seen. He could execute the basic holds all right, he just wasn't that pretty a mover. I absolutely love his finisher. There's no getting up from that unless you're one of the top stars, which Bronson obviously wasn't. Another thumbs up for Kendo.

Dynamite Kid vs. Tony Scarlo (7/29/77)

This was a neat match between Dynamite Kid and skilled veteran Tony Scarlo. It wasn't particularly long but everything they did was quick and extremely fluid. I said it the other day, but with Dynamite being this good at such a young age and having already taken the British Lightweight title off Breaks, if he'd stayed in England and bought a pub or something (and never done steroids), he would have been every bit as good as Breaks, Grey and Jones in the 80s and possibly the best of the lot

Steve Kelly vs. Dino Scarlo (7/29/77)

Young "boy match" between two proteges of Mike Marino, one the son of Peter Kelly and the other the nephew of Tony Scarlo. They did their thing for several minutes and the crowd gave them good support. Scarlo kept putting his dukes up, which was amusing. The finish was a bit of an over eager double countout that they were probably nervous about. Scarlo tried to sell how much pain he was in, but it sounded almost obscene. Never underestimate how hard it actually is to sell well. Afterwards, Marino was in the ring with the Kelly and Scarlo Sr., and Walton tripped over himself to shake hands with Marino. Man did he love Mike Marino.

Mike Shannon vs. Steve Kelly (10/4/77)

Young Kelly got a big win over a second year man here. Not much of a match, but a neat moment. I thought the MC did a superb job of handling the result afterwards without embarrassing Shannon.

Wayne Bridges vs. Ed Wensor (10/4/77)

Before the match, Bridges was approached by this woman wearing a sort of cheap "I Dream of Jeannie" outfit. She gave Bridges a peck on the cheek and some sort of homemade gift, and Walton could be heard off air telling something that her "racket" was pretending to be a Duchess. Wensor was making his re-debut here, having appeared once before on television according to Walton. He pushed Bridges pretty hard for a couple of rounds. The match was no great shakes, but not as bad as a lot of Bridges' stuff. Wensor would go on to feature sporadically over the next few years and "sporadic" is being generous.

Sid Cooper & Joe Murphy vs. Johnny Kwango & Clive Myers (8/15/74)

It took me a while to click here that Kwango and Myers were actually called "The Coloured Superstars" and that announcer Bobby Palmer wasn't simply calling them that. This was the usual tag mess. "The Roughnecks" Murphy and Cooper got tremendous heat with the crowd throwing the towel in for them and almost coming unhinged when Cooper threatened to get into a scrap with Bobby Palmer, but Murphy was one of the least talented journeymen I've seen on a television broadcast and there wasn't much super about the Superstars.

The Exorcist vs. Bob Kirkwood (12/4/74)

This was the supposedly long awaited debut of The Exorcist. I was hoping he'd come to the ring with a bible and cross, maybe a little holy water, but he was just another masked grappler. I think it Clayton Thomson under the mask here. Walton did his best to put the gimmick over, stating repeatedly how The Exorcist had refused to speak to him in the locker room or give any information about himself. There was some awkwardness at first as Thomson did some freestyle moves while Walton was trying to put over that he was a slow mover, but he soon settled into his work with the claw hold. As with most angles on WoS, it could have been done so much better (and probably would have on a Paul Lincoln show, I imagine), but credit to Bob Kirkwood. He may not have looked like much, but he was the consummate pro who did whatever the promoters asked of him, including putting over masked men.

Clive Myers & Johnny Kwango vs. Pete & John LaPaque (10/10/74)

The LaPaque brothers were awesome. I love Pete LaPaque. One small regret I have is that I didn't order every match he has on tape. This was much better than the Roughnecks tag with the LaPaques operating more like a 60s catch team, cutting off the ring and working more of a Southern style tag. There were a lot of great exchanges between all four men, but this was another tag where Walton saw no drama in the final stanza. With three minutes to go it was anybody's match yet Kent was remarkably subdued. In the end there was a result, but it was another case where the losing partner stood by idly as his teammate was pinned. That's a hard convention to get used to when you're coming from other styles. Apart from that it was an enjoyable tag.

Bill Torontos vs. Ivan Penzecoff (5/8//74)

It's been a while since I've seen Torontos in full blown comedy mode. I'd forgotten how mad it was. Some of the jokes here were pretty funny actually, and as with most British comedy matches, the timing of the spots was excellent. Torontos had this ongoing bit where he'd try to copy what his opponent had just done to great effect. As a piece of post-modernism, his gimmick was actually quite intriguing given how well conditioned the WoS fans were. I mean these were fans who were so well trained by Walton that they'd cry "that's not wrestling!" at rule benders. They knew their wrestling well and they had to have been in on the work here. Performance-wise, I think the biggest compliment you can pay Torontos is that was an element of the silent film comedians to him. This is the first time I can remember seeing Penzecoff's Indian Rubber Man schtick. or maybe I just never noticed before. The match wasn't as fun when they started taking it seriously and it went a bit long, but surprisingly Penzecoff jobbed. I guess he was just happy to get out of there and hit the bar.

[ohtani's jacket]

Back to Wales for the best disc of wrestling I've watched in quite some time.

Tony St Clair vs. Caswell Martin (Unknown location, taped 1982)

St. Clair had filled out quite a bit at this point. It gave him a much more physical presence and made his stuff look better, IMO. He's definitely a guy I feel was missing from Dale Martin and World of Sport at this time. Reslo actually resembled WoS at this point, but something about the style was different. I can't quite put my finger on it, but feels less showy. If this were WoS, you'd expect to see more undressing of holds, but it's more of a straight up bout. It never really kicked into high gear, but any opportunity to see a decent length Martin bout is appreciated.

Keith Martinelli vs. Chic Cullen (Aberystwyth, taped 1983)

Chic Cullen was the man in Reslo. Of all the guys I've seen work Reslo so far, he's the one who's benefited from working a different territory. He's back in my good graces big time after this Martinelli bout. Martinelli was a veteran middleweight from Bolton whose real name was Keith Williams. I'm guessing he went by "Martinelli" due to Mike Marino and other Italians of dodgy descent. Regardless of how he came about the name, he was allegedly one of the hardest men in professional wrestling and a real nightmare to face. His nickname was "blood boots" and he loved a good scrap apparently. All of that makes him badass, and this was indeed a great journeyman bout. I've seen a couple of his bouts against Johnny Saint and Steve Wright, but I think I liked this more. Early 80s Reslo's the shit.

Jon Cortez vs. Keith Haward (Caernarfon, taped 1987)

This was really short, but more of the grappling that only these two are capable of. There was a strange lull before the finish, but other than that it was almost RINGS like at times.

Kung Fu vs. Jon Cortez (Porthmadog, taped 1987)

Several notches down from the Haward bout, but it's almost unfair comparing the two. Cortez looked almost unrecognisable in the Haward fight. I think he'd put on weight, particularly in the face. Maybe you can tell this bout wasn't very interesting. Reslo appears to have suffered the same malaise as the rest of the UK, but booking this kind of stuff in '87 really didn't help. A guy who was a part timer at best against a washed up Kung Fu isn't the greatest look.

Jackie Robinson vs. Carl Jason (Anglesey, taped 1982)

The elusive Jackie Robinson! Jackie Robinson was the younger cousin of Billy and a lightweight of some repute, but the footage we have of him is usually clipped or compromised in some other way. Reslo probably provides the best look at him. I was actually more taken with his opponent here. Jason was one of those long time pros who'd worked the indies and never gotten in with Dale Martin and the TV, and while this appeared to be a Jackie Robinson showcase, Jason took the bull by the horns and had himself a memorable outing. Neat to see someone get their shit in during a showcase bout.

Rollerball Rocco vs. Chic Cullen (Llandudno, taped 1982)

This was a typical post-70s Rocco performance. It didn't need to be a typical post-70s Rocco performance because it was a bout with Frank "Chic" Cullen, but the Rocco persona was a bit of a monster at this stage. Not that it was bad or anything, but I'm more interested in watching Cullen take centre stage in this territory.

[ohtani's jacket]

Johnny Saint vs. Jackie Robinson (Llandudno, taped 1982)

Another solid working class bout. I thought Robinson might have gotten more more of a chance to shine, but he was really just along for the ride and the only memorable stuff he contributed were his signature spots. Saint was still Saint, and did plenty of escape holds, but it was more competitive than the usual wink and a grin.

Mike Jordan vs. Jackie Robinson (Porthmadog, taped 1982)

It figures that the one bout where Robinson looked really good would have half the footage missing. Robinson busted out a bunch of cool holds and finally looked like a lightweight of note.

Johnny Saint vs. Jim Breaks (Unknown location, taped 1985)

This was years after their primes and not worth watching compared to their 70s stuff, but still kind of fun to see the latter day rendition of their feud. Breaks looked like he could have still been a television regular in '85 and maybe even produced another classic like the Collins bout. The real downside to this was that it was criminally short.

Chic Cullen vs. Dave Duran (Unknown location, taped 1985)

Dave Duran is so great. I haven't had this much fun watching a jobber to the stars since Studs Lannigan. He had this really great look -- thick stocky guy, hair cut neat, prick-like moustache and a grubby wrestling style. Max Crabtree didn't know what to do with guys like this. He gave Cullen an absolute bruising and even bust out a legit looking choke submission. Awesome stuff. The front row was full of these mischievous looking kids so of course Duran took a bump into the crowd. Neat souvenir. Cullen looked awesome again.

[ohtani's jacket]

The next disc from my stack of World of Sport is a collection of matches from '85-88. Unlike 1980-84, I wasn't interested in getting all of the footage we have of the final few years, so this will be a pretty random selection of matches:

 

Tiger Dalibar Singh vs. Bully Boy Muir (5/22/85)

Joined in progress getting started right at the point where the forearm smashes begin, which is basically what you want to see from these two. Some decent clobbering. Nice appetizer for better wrestling on the disc.

King Ben vs. Little Prince (10/16/85)

Rumour has it that these two didn't like each other, which you'd hope would lead to a stiffer than usual bout, but my god was this boring .Even Walton could barely mask his contempt, criticising the poor technique of each wrestler on their winning falls.

Steve Grey vs. Rick Wiseman (6/24/85)

Lord knows what Rick Wiseman had done to receive a British Lightweight title shot, but it should come as no surprise that Grey gave him the best match of his television career. It's a broken record at this point, but Grey's name really needs to be thrown in the hat for best television match worker ever, along with best babyface and a number of other plaudits. Somewhat oddly, this match aired on TWC but had no commentary. A television bout without Walton was a bit of a shock, but it gives you a different perspective on what watching a taping was really like. Wiseman put in a credible showing, but wasn't a match for the Lightweight champ and Grey ended up working knots around him.

Ray Steele vs. Colin Joynson (5/22/85)

This was Steele's first title defence as British Heavyweight Champion and another challenger that didn't make a lot of sense. Joynson was a fine worker, but the line on him was always that he was part time. So even if folks believed he could lift the heavyweight title, he wouldn't have been able to defend it. This was a slowish bout that didn't have a lot of the forearm smashes that make a select group of the British heavyweights exciting, mostly because it was a clean bout. Walton tried to stay enthused, but aside from the odd moment of skill, you could tell after a lifetime of watching this stuff he was burnt out.

John Naylor vs. Little Prince (6/26/85)

Better than the King Ben bout, but just about anything would be better than that. If Walton is to be believed, Little Prince was the same weight as a heavyweight, which seems hard to believe. This was okay, but ended with an injury. After watching the original broadcast stuff, the injury finish was a lot less common than it seems watching TWC footage, but it doesn't suck any less.

Pat Roach vs. Colin Joynson (9/17/85)

These two had better in-ring chemistry than Joynson and Steele. The size difference always makes for a fascinating match-up. At one point you had the short, tank like Johnson lifting the giant Roach in the air and I swear it was one of the more memorable images I've seen from British wrestling. They were also better on the mat against each other and just seemed to generally click better.

[ohtani's jacket]

King Ben vs. Dave Finlay (6/26/85)

Finlay vs. Ben is actually a match-up with a lot of potential provided the "good" Ben shows up, but as many of you will know, Finlay's matches in this era were a showcase for what a great wrestler he was and how obnoxious his wife could be. There was some good stuff in here, but Ben was there to put Finlay over as just about everyone in the midcard did.

Mike Bennett vs. Clive Myers (9/3/85)

Mike Bennett was an interesting case. He was a former teenage "boy apprentice" who turned heel in the 70s by writing "Marvellous Mike" on his trunks with black felt pen. That's all it took in the UK, really. Joint had never given him much of a run, but Dale Martin brought him in during '85 and gave him a strong push. In fact, you could probably argue he was the méchant de l'année in 1985. With the likes of Rocco, McManus and Breaks gone, Joint needed more rule benders who were over with the crowds. Myers did a good job of putting Bennett over -- no more headband just an incredibly fired up Clive Myers. Bennett could have pushed the envelope a bit more, but the ref was Peter Szakacs and he was always quick to throw a bout out.

King Ben vs. Kid Chocolate (11/27/85)

Solid bout between these two. Pretty much what you'd expect from both men as well as the television clipping and what not. Kid got a legit bloody nose which Ben later targeted. He took the match with a nice vertical suplex, making this basically a showcase for a guy higher up the pecking order than Kid. I'm not sure wrestling was popular enough anymore to have simple showcase bouts like this. Joint Promotions and Dale Martin had always conservative -- those were the sort of barbs thrown at them by Paul Lincoln during their promoting war, and I'm sure by Dixon too when he was strong arming his way into a TV spot -- but they really should have been trying harder in '85 for the sake of the business. People like to blame Greg Dyke for wrestling's decline w/ him shunting around the time slot, but to be brutally honest, the product wasn't up to scratch.

Jackie Turpin vs. Rick Wiseman (11/5/86)

Jackie looked out of shape here and disinterested in this wrestling racket. He jobbed to Wiseman, which pretty much tells you they had no use for Jackie Turpin in 1986.

Pete Roberts vs. Bearcat Wright (5/14/86)

It seems odd to me that they brought Bernie Wright in '85/86 and billed him as being from Calgary. The did the same thing with Steve Wright, billing him as the German "Bull Blitzer." I guess they needed more heels. Bernie had come back from Calgary considerably heavier (surprise, surprise) and was rocking a Mad Max look. I never really got into Bernie, but I thought his strikes looked good here as well as his submission work. Just about anything where Roberts was grounded looked good, but he was pretty crap when he had to move about. Things were starting to warm up when Peter "you're outta here" Szacaks struck. He DQ'ed Wright for intentionally throwing Roberts over the ropes in a spot that didn't even good. Hold your fire, Peter Szacaks!

Pat Roach vs. Skull Murphy (8/7/86)

The purpose of this bout was ostensibly for Roach to announce that he was relinquishing the British Heavyweight Championship as outside business interests made it impossible for him to defend it (so why the fuck did they give it to him?), but was this ever a crazy round or two. I don't know that I've seen Roach take a bigger beating than he did here or sell more for a guy. Murphy was all over him. They did some cool shit like Murphy trying to put his gator submission on Roach despite Pat's height. It was a bit like a gnat annoying a lion. It didn't last long, but it was cool while it did. Afterwards, Roach delivered an eloquent speech vacating the heavyweight title. Mean Gene would have loved that. I still don't get why they gave Pat the belt.

[ohtani's jacket]

Back to the 70s:

Count Bartelli vs. Johnny Czeslaw (3/27/74)

I figured if Barteli was ever going to have a fun match it would be against Czeslaw since the Pole had a good sense of humour; and sure enough it was decent while it lasted, but just as Czeslaw was warming to the task they went with an awful, awful finish where Czeslaw crotched himself on the ropes and continued continue.

Mike Marino vs. Johnny Yearsley (10/10/74)

This was part of a one night knockout tournament. Unlike the 80s where these sort of matches had a time limit, this was a regular six round bout. Ordinarily that would be a welcome change, but this was 25 minutes of Yearsley threatening to cheat without going the whole hog and Marino retaliating without going all the way. The end result of all the tentativeness was that they didn't do much of anything and it went on like that for 25 excruciating minutes. If it had been any other worker, Walton would have been critical of the match, but not his boy Marino. Actually, in fairness to Kent, he had a veiled criticism towards the promoters about Yearsley and Marino being paired together when a catchweight contest would have been more exciting.

Spencer Churchill vs. Ivan Penzecoff (8/1/74)

This was all right, but of all the interesting things about Spencer Churchill, his wrestling ability is the least. I like the fact he was into modern jazz more than I do his matches. Walton was surprised that the crowd were mildly into the match as he thought it was slow without much action (try watching your boy Marino against Yearsley, Kent.) He repeated the criticism after the bout so it must have bugged him for some reason.

Mick McManus vs. Catweazle (10/8/75)

This was always such a fun match-up. I have no idea why Colt Cabana and Regal thought McManus never gave Catweazle anything. He gave him about a thousand times better a match than Catweazle usually had; that's what he gave him. Do you wanna watch a guy do comedy all the time or do you want to see him have a dramatic bout every now and again? Because this bout did more to get Catweazle over as a serious competitor than feed McManus' ego. I'm not sure if it was better than their Wembley bout in '77, but it was better than the typical Catweazle outing.

Mike Marino vs. Johnny Yearsley (4/17/75)

Not a hell of a lot better than their '74 bout to be honest. Call it a coincidence, but these two don't seem like a good match-up. I've seen Yearsey do good stuff against other opponents and Marino was a hell of a grappler, but together they were boring. This had a ridiculous structure where Yearsley took a one fall advantage deep into the bout and Marino ended up squashing him with two quick falls. Yuck. I was was excited to get the last bit of Marino I hadn't seen, but these were easily the worst Marino bouts I've seen.

Mick McManus & Steve Logan vs. Mick McMichael & Eddie Capelli (4/17/75)

This was a fun bout. It was too short to be of much consequence, but McManus and Logan showed why they were such a good heel act and Capelli was so fired up he was retaliating without so much as a boo from McManus or Logan. Fun stuff.

Caswell Martin vs. The Exorcist (1/23/75)

This was much better than I thought it would be. Walton and the Exorcist weren't on the same page to start with as Walton thought the Exorcist was shaping to make the claw and he wound up doing a bunch of free style moves, but man was Martin pretty to watch in full flight. What a beautifully fluid worker. Eventually, the match descended into the type of rule-bending that Walton was expecting. Martin got the chance to make a big comeback and kicked a bunch of arse before the Exorcist took over. Considering these matches are usually a squash in the masked wrestler's favour, there was a competitiveness to this that was well welcomed. Usually, you'd look at a bout like this on the match listings and think "ah, there's a waste of Martin's talents" or "I wish we had another of his bouts available instead," but it was a pleasant surprise to see not only the fist he made of this sort of booking but how decent the bout was.

Count Bartelli vs. Pete Roberts (2/10/76)

This was a defence of Bartelli's Commonwealth Heavyweight title. It's pretty rare to see one of the non World, British or European titles defended on television, and I was eager to see how Roberts would fare in a title match against Bartelli, but unfortunately this was also a rare case of TWC channel being joined in progress. A disappointingly small amount of the bout aired and I couldn't get much of a feel for what was shown. Bartelli won in straight falls, though, so it's unlikely that the early rounds would have salvaged much.

Johnny Czeslaw & Ivan Penzecoff vs.Tiger Dalibar Singh & Rajendra Singh (2/21/77)

Another fun tag. Dalibar and Rajendra Singh getting introduced as the "coloured Indian stars" was cringe worthy, and Walton's insistence that every Indian wrestler was from the Punjab was also colonial, but these matches reflected the melting pot that England had become and race was clearly part of the way the product was promoted and sold. Some fun exchanges here between Rajendra Singh and Johnny Czeslaw and Gil came across like a real bruiser. Good stuff.

[ohtani's jacket]

One final batch of Reslo:

Mike Jordan vs. Steve Peacock (Merthyr, taped 1983)

I don't think I'll ever see what Regal saw in Peacock. I'm sure it makes a difference when you know a guy personally and see him work on the same shows as you, but there were so many amazing performers in the history of British wrestling that I'm not sure why you'd single Peacock out for special attention. Different strokes for different folks, I guess. He looked like a shorter, chubbier version of Greg Valentine here, and I was surprised that this was only from 1983 given how big he'd become. Most of the cool stuff was done by Mike Jordan. This Reslo stuff has salvaged Jordan's rep for me; not to the extent that I think he's a blow away worker or anything, but better than the guy I wrote off from his WoS stuff.

Rollerball Rocco vs. Kung Fu (Rhyl, taped 7/12/83)

This is the definitive Kung Fu vs. Rocco bout in so far as Kung Fu vs. Rocco matches matter. It's also the best Reslo match I've seen in terms of providing a clear arc. Most Reslo bouts feel incomplete and even the good ones are a tad underdone, but this was as complete a match as you're going to get without the master tapes It was wrestled in front of a tiny audience, but Rocco put on a master class anyway. If you know Rocco, you'll know he was hyper all the time, to the point where when you worked against him it was a wild ride with Rocco flying about everywhere and the odd stray knee or finger to the eye. What made this special wasn't so much that Rocco was a ball of energy, but that Kung Fu matched his vigour. Rocco was up to his usual tricks and Kung Fu retaliated with his "shoot" kicks leading to some balls-to-the-wall exchanges, including one of the most amazing arm roll exchanges I've seen in a British ring. Rocco was visibly calling shit as usual, but it didn't really matter because of how good the flurries were. Both guys worked incredibly hard here. Kung Fu's gi was drenched in sweat and Rocco also had a workout even by his standards. There was a guy in the crowd who got so into it he had to be restrained from hitting Rocco (meekly hitting him it should be said, but you've got to love the passion.) Great "cheat to win" finish that was the walk off home run of cheat to win finishes. Rocco cut a fun promo on the people of Wales afterward. One of Rocco's career best. Probably Kung Fu's best match on tape as well.

Dave Taylor vs. John Kowalski (Merthyr, taped 1983)

Young Dave Taylor! Man was he baby-faced here. This was a decent vet vs. young punk bout, but there wasn't much heat so it was somewhat marred by the sounds of bodies hitting the canvas echoing throughout the sports and leisure centre. Kowalski always reminded me a bit of a British Johnny Valentine, but here he looked more like Dickie Murdoch.

Chic Cullen vs. Rocky Moran (Unknown location, taped 1985)

This was all right but failed to live up to their WoS title bout. To be fair, I'm starting to wonder if anything can live up to that WoS bout, and whether it set the bar impossibly high for the Moran bouts that followed. Reslo by this stage had become less like the WoS Lord Mountevans style and more like regular American style bouts. That basically meant there wasn't as much cool matwork, but instead a lot of heel vs. face segments. Workers like Rocco thrived in that environment, but I really want to see a guy like Cullen bust out his mat game instead of selling a beating.

Rollerball Rocco vs. Johnny South (Amlwch, taped 2/5/87)

Fun late period match. A little bit on the short side, but veteran Johnny South is another of the pluses of digging deep into the Reslo catalogue. Match was pretty stiff and would easily rub shoulders with the best of the late period stuff, which isn't very much, but still...

Wayne Bridges vs. Rocky Moran (Porthmadog, taped 1987)

Now this was a good Moran performance. As with the above matches, it was less WoS and more all-in American style wrestling, but Moran did a good job or working that style and I think he would have fit in quite well in the territories. He's still a bit of a disappointment in terms of not being the Emilio Charles Jr style worker I thought he was after the first few matches I saw, but perhaps he had more of these hidden gem performances in Wales.

Chic Cullen vs. Johnny South (Unknown location, taped 1985)

This is a match I should probably watch again as on first view it wasn't the kickass blow away Johnny South vs. Chic Cullen bout I was lusting for.

Johnny South vs. Johnny Palance (Unknown location, taped 1985)

South got a chance to shine here as he was evidently higher up the totem pole than Palance. Veteran Johnny South is just badass. I don't know how well it would translate if you haven't seen the footage we have of him from his younger days until this point, but there's something awesome about watching a fringe guy turn into a veteran journeyman and still maintain a high standard of personal performance in the ring albeit adapted into a veteran's game. Palance got in a bit of offence towards the end and it's still weird seeing a Jack Palance look alike working a match. All sorts of movie quotes start rushing through your head not to mention that breathing sound Jack always made.

There's some more Reslo being uploaded on YouTube, which I'll check out in due course, but it was a neat territory that didn't exactly provide blow away matches, but provided an opportunity to see guys who were no longer working for Joint in the 80s and therefore not on television, and for whatever reason, a better stage for workers like Cullen, Johnny South, Mike Jordan and even Caswell Martin to show their wares. Most people are vaguely familiar with early 90s Reslo, but the earlier stuff is much more interesting and worth investing some time in if you're a fan of British or European wrestling.

[ohtani's jacket]

Engand, 1982

Jim Breaks & John England vs. Pat Patton & Steve Logan (3/9/82)

This was super heated proving that Breaks was just as good at getting over in tags as he was in singles. At one point he mooned the audience ala Ric Flair or Greg Valentine, which I'd never seen before on television, though I'm sure it was probably done in the halls. Patton and England provided their usual break neck exchanges (great pairing, that), and this was rocking along until it cut out a few minutes before the end. Apparently, it ended in a draw.

Dave Bond vs. Steve McHoy (7/27/82)

This was a special 15 minute one fall, no rounds contest that was an excellent heavyweight contest. Bond brought his A-game here, which he didn't really need to do, and truth be told, didn't always manage to do, but the lack of rounds helped him lay out a solid match here, and McHoy continued to look like the future of British heavyweight wrestling.

Tom Tyrone vs. Bully Boy Muir (12/7/81)

This was typical Ian Muir -- just beating on a guy until either a public warning or a disqualification. You know what you're getting with Muir, a bruising and little else, but the way the falls were laid out made this a bit silly.

Bill Bromley vs. Tom Tyrone (2/3/82)

Just the scoring here, so it was impossible to gauge how good it truly was, but it was from one of those TV team challenges so it probably wasn't from the top drawer. In any event, it wasn't at Tyrone vs. Roach or Tyrone vs. Rudge levels.

Tiger Dalibar Singh vs. Bill Bromley (7/22/82)

This was a 20 minute time limit bout with two falls, no rounds, and again it produced a great little heavyweight contest. I know some people think Singh is the most boring motherfucker to ever grace a British ring, but he was at his best here. If you can appreciate the mechanics of British heavyweight wrestling and the subtle shifts in strategy you'll appreciate this. Add to that the little touches with selling and the fact that Bromley really wasn't that great outside of the physical attributes he brought like height, and you'll find that Singh carried this well despite the fact he was no mind blower. I'd list it as one of my favourite Singh bouts for his professionalism and all-round ring leadership. Plus he threw some forearm smashes and there were headbutts and Singh rules at that shit.

[ohtani's jacket]

Clive Myers vs. Johnny Apollon (7/27/82)

The story here was that Apollon had a rib injury but wasn't really experienced enough to threaten Myers anyway. More of an offensive workout for Myers than a truly competitive match, though Apollon did hang with him for five or six rounds. Myers' shit looked great, which isn't always the case with his Iron Fist shtick, and Apollon did a good job bumping and selling for it even though there was an apparent styles clash on the surface with Apollon being a legit amateur type. Worth watching if you're a Myers fan and want to see him do his shit with some extra snap to it.

Steve McHoy vs. Jim Moser (8/11/82)

Just the finish.

Vic Faulkner vs. Kid Chocolate (6/15/82)

This was pretty fun from two guys who are pretty hit and miss for me. Kid Chocolate didn't have a ton of personal charisma, but he played along with Faulkner well, and there was a smattering of quality wrestling in there to go along with the smart-aleckry.

Wayne Bridges vs. King Kong Kirk (11/9/82)

Slow, plodding match that Bridges intended to more dramatic than it actually was. Unless he's working a technical contest against a quality heavyweight, I have no real use for Bridges. The exception is that wild title match against Quinn, but most of the credit should go to Quinn for that one. I don't think this was a title match, but Bridges wore the belt to the ring all the same. Walton was still referring to him as the NWA World Heavyweight Champion, which was an amusing bit of bullshit given how many years had passed since Arion had been in the country and Walton first pushed that line.

Tom Tyrone vs. King Kong Kirk (3/9/82)

This was joined in progress with the two beating the absolute shit out of each other. It was night and day compared to the Bridges/Kirk match and showed that not only could Kirk go under the right circumstances, but the merits of a young heavyweight who bumped and sold his ass off to make the match exciting. This rocked from beginning to end with only small let ups in the action. Again that growth on the side of Kirk's head creeped the shit out of me, and there was one close-up of it which looked like he didn't have an ear. I think it was actually a patch of hair he wasn't shaving for some reason, but with the grainy VHS transfer footage it takes on a life of its own. At one point he had all this white shit over his face, which Walton explained was a combination of sweat and Tyrone's newly "blancoed" boots (yeah, I had to look it up too.) Kirk was such a mongrel.

Tally Ho Kaye vs. Kid Chocolate (1/27/82)

Typically sold-to-fun Tally Ho Kaye performance. Nothing to write home about, but enjoyable all the same. He behaved himself fairly well in this bout, though the crowd gave him stick over the MC's description of him as a country gentleman. In a sign of the times, Walton mentioned Chocolate had been having reoccurring problems with a concussion every time he wrestled. I can't see a commentator putting that sort of info out there these days given that it was very likely true that KC had been concussed.

Peter & Johnny Wilson vs. Clive Myers & Kwik Kick Lee (11/9/82)

Some decent action in this, but a bit flat considering that it was supposed to be the semi-finals of an important knockout tag contest. Myers looked really small mixing it up with the heavyweights, but provided the only real highlights. Perhaps sensing it hadn't been that great a bout, he decided to bow out of the tournament in the most insane way possible by taking a huge bump over the ropes and into the announcing table. That was pretty dramatic and reminiscent of the bump he took into the crowd in his match against McManus. A bit risky, though, as he could have knocked Walton's block off.

John Elijah vs. Tom Tyrone (5/11/82)

Solid bout that was more along the lines of the quality Tyrone we're familiar with from his bouts against other top heavyweights. It didn't reach any great heights, but I've never really seen Elijah be a poor foil for an opponent. Tyrone and McHoy were exciting heavyweight prospects.

Jim Breaks vs. Vic Faulkner (11/3/82)

This was a fun 1982 version of what was a fairly typical match between the two. Faulkner stirred the pot, Breaks responded with inside shots, Faulkner got pissed and began throwing punches while Breaks complained to all and sundry. You can fill in the details yourself if you know the wrestlers. A couple of women had a real go at Breaks, and the match finished with Faulkner and Jimmy having a right old scrap. Nothing that will make you forget their bout from '77, but pretty good for a rehash.

Ray Steele vs. John Elijah (7/22/82)

Another excellent heavyweight contest. There were a number of these low key bouts that punctuated the 1982 landscape. Really great power wrestling with tremendous strength holds and plenty of speed and athleticism from Steele. There were a few hecklers in the back accusing them of being boring, but they picked up the pace a bit and got a warm response from most of the crowd. The entire thing aired on World of Sport back in the day, which was a rarity, and was more proof that the heavyweights decline was slower and less pronounced than the lack of quality light and middle weight work.

[ohtani's jacket]

Some extra bouts from '82:

 

Pat Patton vs. John Wilkie (2/3/82)

 

This was from one of those Davis Cup style team tournaments they'd run between a team of blue eyes and a team of villains, in this case the "Jets" vs. the "Ring Battlers." Despite Wilkie being the "pride of the Potteries," he was too much of a journeyman to really trouble Patton, but they managed to fill in a fun couple of minutes before taking it home. I love me some Pat Patton, so I didn't mind watching this despite the fact it was a bit of fluff.

 

Big DaddyKwik Kick Lee vs. Crusher Brannigan/Tony Walsh (5/11/82)

 

This was actually pretty entertaining. I have no idea whether Maeda understood the significance of Cup Final Day, but it was a hot match nonetheless with the heels going full throttle and Walsh pin-balling all over the place. The awkwardness of Daddy tagging with a guy who doesn't speak English is painful to beyond, but it worked in the bout's favour as I don't think anybody clued Maeda into the fact that this was a bout where he should pull his kicks. Walsh was great and again I lamented the fact that he worked so many of these tags instead of appearing in "proper" television bouts. Brannigan, of LA, New Zealand and Australia fame, was also game, charging about like a smaller John Quinn. Generally speaking, these Daddy bouts live and die by how good the heel performances are, and this was definitely one of the better ones.

 

Marty Jones vs. Bret Hart (11/30/81)

 

We only really saw the latter scoring rounds of this, so I have no idea how good it really was, but if you've ever seen early Bret you'll know he was fairly nondescript with a focus on execution and not much in the way of charisma or playing to the crowd. He tried to play the outside foreign heel w/ his heathen North American "all-in" rules in the same subtle heel manner he'd perfect later on, but it was in direct contrast to Walton trying to put him over as one of twelve children, and so on. Marty Jones vs. Bret Hart is actually a match-up with a lot of potential, but the timing wasn't right with each man peaking ten years apart.

 

Dave Taylor vs. Jamaica Kid (Caernarfon, taped 1982)

 

This was supposedly from the very first Reslo taping on 8/18/82, but I can't confirm that. In any event, it appears to be the first Taylor match to make tape, so if you're interested in that sort of history/trivia you should check this out on that basis alone. Taylor is pretty smooth for such a young worker even in spite of his family pedigree, and Jamaica Kid (or "George" as he was more commonly known) was another in a long line of solid West Indian UK grapplers. Not an epic in terms of structure, as you ought to be aware, but some nice work from a WCW b-show favourite who'd go on to be a staple in the German scene.

[ohtani's jacket]

Back to the 70s:

 

Steve Veidor vs. Phil Rowe (10/4/77)

You may remember me mentioning the "Duchess" from this episode of World of Sport -- an eccentric female fan who wore a cheap looking Disney princess outfit and gave gifts to the wrestlers on the way to ringside. She was wearing a homemade t-shirt that read "Steve's Lady," so apparently Veidor was her favourite. Can't fault her taste, but Veidor didn't seem that comfortable with it. She gave him a basket of fruit, which he presented to MC Mike Judd, and Judd stood there doing the introductions with the basket in his hand. Unfortunately, that was about as eventful as the match got. Rowe was from Cleveland originally near North Yorkshire, but according to Walton learnt to wrestle in South Africa. This was his television debut and they basically worked some holds until Rowe started cheating. Veidor overreacted massively and drew a public warning, stream rolling Rowe for the win. Afterwards, the Duchess tried to make her way to Veidor's corner, but he looked ready to bolt.

Sandy Scott vs. Johnny Kincaid (1/10/78)

This had a surprise start with the Scot Sandy Scott absolutely railing on Kincaid from the get-go. It was a squash match for all intents and purposes, but Scott made sure to get his licks in. Kincaid had such a great heel run in the late 70s. It's a shame the racial element made it too hot for television, because I'd actually put it in my top 10 heel runs for the entire period we have footage from. He took a bunch of shots from Scott before a really beautiful gut wrench suplex put Sandy out of business. Kincaid seems like such a nice guy outside the ring, but talk about a guy born to play the heel.

Tally Ho Kaye vs. Chris Adams (7/12/78)

Well, here you have Chris Adams' television debut for all of you Gentlemen Chris Adams fans out there. Kaye was one of those trusted hands like Cooper or Breaks that the promoters could put with a newcomer like Adams and ensure he got over with the crowd. The story here was that Adams had the judo background but Kaye knew all the tricks of the trade professionally. As far as television debuts go, it was an entertaining bout with some pretty good wrestling mixed in with the heat seeking elements. Adams definitely looked a ton better than he really was in the early part of his career, so there's a testament to Tally Ho Kaye.

Kendo Nagasaki vs. Pete Roberts (7/29/77)

I'll say this for Nagasaki: he knew how to work a crowd. His manager Gorgeous George was decent on the mic, but after the bell rang it was Nagasaki's ability to pace a performance that really shone. He'd start with some legit grappling, which he was only half way decent at but good enough to look credible, then slowly start backing off as his man took the upperhand. Then he'd begin with the inside moves and cheating and bring the house down. Here Roberts got a questionable fall where it really did seem like Nagasaki's shoulders were up, and he took it out on Roberts by giving him a hard head first posting after the bell and dishing out quite a lot of violent punishment. Roberts was doing a silly "Kung Fu Fighter" gimmick at this time being the era of Bruce Lee and Shaw Brothers films, and Walton showed the limits of his ability to dress this slop up by claiming that Roberts had picked kung fu up in Japan and Korea. At any rate, Roberts used a chop he hardly ever used in ordinary bouts and went after Nagasaki's mask lucha style trying to pull it up over Nagasaki's nose while Kendo fought to cover his face. The crowd were worked into a lather by this point, and even though the schmozz finish was inevitable, it was a great television brawl that I imagine the ITV higher ups frowned upon. If they had a problem with Rocco and the Caribbean Sunshine Boys then I couldn't see them approving of this as it was much more violent than your ordinary World of Sport bout. Gorgeous George, who looked like a member of Sweet during this taping, cut a promo afterwards claiming that Kendo deserved a shot at Tony St. Clair and rubbishing the likes of Roberts as an opponent and Pete got another of his sharp tongued retorts in. It's funny how a guy with such little in-ring personality could have such a sharp wit on the mic.

Kendo Nagasaki vs. Pete Roberts (7/12/78)

Same match a year later. Same sort of bout, same finish, and just as entertaining. Nagasaki was unmasked and wearing those crazy red contacts that made his eyes look the kids from Village of the Damned. He also did this great bit of schtick where he'd try to block out the crowd noise by covering up both his ears. I'm actually starting to gain a bit more respect for him as a performer. He wasn't a great worker, but he had a well honed act and pushed the limits of what was acceptable on TV. Here he actually beat on a second, which you never saw happen on television. Of course it helped that he was wrestling Pete Roberts, who didn't mind working stiff, but both these matches were wild brawls that would have maybe had some blood if they'd been wrestled in the halls but were otherwise great theatre for Saturday afternoon TV.

Brian Maxine vs. Gary Wensor (2/6/78)

Fun squash with Mick McManus on ringside at the commentary and both wrestlers making sure to spill out onto the announcing table as a rib. Maxine got on the mic afterwards and cut a rousing promo where he was drowned out by the crowd. Tremendous heat for wrestling's greatest self-promoter.

(Note to John: the ITV site has a typo on that last date listing it as 6/12/78 instead of 6/2/78. The Kincaid bout should also be 10/1/78 not 10/11/78.)

[ohtani's jacket]

The following matches were from a special team tournament episode of World of Sport, which, while not the first of its kind, was rare enough for Walton to comment on how unique it was. On paper it was a lopsided match-up with the superstar pairing of Kung Fu and the Royal Brothers taking on Black Jack Mulligan and two heels I'd never heard of, Roy Paul and Terry O'Neill. The heels called themselves The Liverpool Skinheads despite Mulligan being the only one who was remotely skinhead (and that was only because he was bald), while the faces used the generic TV All-Stars name.

 

Vic Faulkner vs. Roy Paul (3/8/78)

 

Roy Paul's get-up! He was wearing wrestling boots, jean shorts, a red belt and a pair of red suspenders. He looked like a cross between a He-Man figure and a model from one of the thousands of British porn mags that flooded New Zealand dairies and stationary shops when I was a kid. Paul wouldn't let Faulkner wrestle his normal match, which Walton lamented but I quite enjoyed since fired up Faulkner is a lot more palpable than smart arse Faulkner. Paul appeared to take the bout, which also pleased me, but fucking MC John Harris told referee Max Ward that Faulkner's foot was in the ropes and the ref disallowed the fall. You're all pro-wrestling fans and you know what happened next. Mulligan was livid at ringside, and if this had been heathen all-in America, I'm sure the Skinheads would have bum rushed the show and beat the shit out of the shitty All-Stars. Alas, the decision stood.

 

Kung Fu vs. Black Jack Mulligan (3/8/78)

 

Black Jack Mulligan has got to be in the conversation for greatest jobber. In his favour is the fact that he always worked competitive squashes, and he had a distinct look and in-ring character despite only being an enhancement talent, but he made Kung Fu look like an absolute world beater here to the point where I forgot that he's not usually this good! Man, did Black Jack eat Kung Fu's kicks. After having his hands tied behind his back, Kung Fu broke free of his shackles (literally!) and beat the shit out of the perpetrator. Mulligan was trying to undo the ring padding and took a head first posting that rung out like the bells on Christmas morning then ate the finish blow to end all finishing blows. That was some Game of Death/Mortal Kombat shit right there. Only Mulligan could make Kung Fu this cool.

 

Bert Royal vs. Terry O'Neill (3/8/78)

 

Terry O'Neill was the captain of the Liverpool Skinheads, and a heavyweight, making his decision to wear the same outfit as Roy Paul even more disturbing. Apparently, they were a regular tag team in the North West, including the big venues at Liverpool stadium and Belle Vue in Manchester. That explains the outfits. I guess they were similar to Les Blousons Noirs. Royal opted to take on O'Neill because Royal's a hero and O'Neill was the heaviest man. Easily the worst of the three bouts with O'Neill being less mobile than the other heels and Royal doing the typical prat Royal Brother shit. According to Walton, O'Neill was also a diver and did public stunts where he'd dive from a 100 feet into a 6 feet pool surrounded by flames. It was hard to imagine a man O'Neill's size pulling off a dive like that and was more interesting than the bout.

 

Terry O'Neill, Roy Paul & Black Jack Mulligan vs. Bert Royal, Vic Faulkner & Kung Fu (3/8/78)

 

Shitty six-man tag, or three aside as they put it. Joint Promotions has the worst six man tags of any promotion I've seen. The faces completed the whitewash by quickly winning 2-0 in a match that was about as necessary as denim shorts with suspenders. Afterwards a pair of local ladies were practically ripping Kung Fu out of his gi. He owed Mulligan a beer for that. Why have the heels go down 4-0? Only Dale Martin would book this kind of shit. At least the first two matches were entertaining.

[JNLister]

 

 

(Note to John: the ITV site has a typo on that last date listing it as 6/12/78 instead of 6/2/78. The Kincaid bout should also be 10/1/78 not 10/11/78.)

 

Have updated the first of those, which is indeed a typo. The second of those I have as 11 October 1978 in my original source -- where did you get 1 October?

[ohtani's jacket]

On the website it says:

March 11th 1978 (Hemel Hempstead, taped 10/11/78)

 

Since it can't have aired before it was taped, I checked the British Wrestling Archive and got this:

 

HEMEL HEMPSTEAD – 10/1/78. Filmed for ITV’s World of Sport…Mick McManus v Jeff Kaye…Kung Fu v Colin Joynson…Pete Roberts v Sandy Scott…Bert Royal v Ivan Penzecoff…Johnny Saint v Vic Faulkner…Zoltan Boscik v Mal Sanders. 6 x 5 – Mick McManus PW3/PW4 beat Jeff Kaye PW1/F2/PW5/KO’D R5. 6 x 5 – Kung Fu F3/PW4 beat Colin Joynson PW3/S5/DISQ R6. 6 x 5 1F – Bobby Barnes PW3/F4 beat Ivan Penzecoff PW3. 6 x 5 1F – Johnny Kincaid PW2/F3 beat Sandy Scott. 6 x 5 1F – Johnny Saint v Vic Faulkner RSF R3 – No Contest. 6 x 5 1F - Zoltan Boscik PW2/S3 beat Mal Sanders.

 

Making it from January 10th.

[JNLister]

Ah, right, gotcha. That's updated now -- thanks again.

[ohtani's jacket]

John Elijah vs. Mohammed Butt (4/10/86)

Before the bout, weightlifter turned pro-wrestler Butt made an unofficial attempt at breaking his British record for the one-arm clean and jerk. He lifted 198 lbs to the delight of the Pakistanis in attendance then treated us to a crappy wrestling bout. This was type vs. type, and while I like Elijah, Butt was an absolute stiff. The theme of this episode was Pakistan vs. England, and as usual the opposition ran rough shot over England sweeping them 3-0. British wrestling was extremely diplomatic about these things. In any other country, whether it's the US, Japan, Mexico or Puerto Rico, the home country would win, but England always jobbed. Perhaps reflective of the nation's pessimism towards its national teams? I wonder.

Skull Murphy vs. Clive Myers (11/27/85)

This started off like a house on fire with Murphy hanging with Myers on some amazingly quick exchanges and impressing the shit out of me, but it fell apart as the cheating began and ended on a flat note. Disappointing after the first round hinted at something special.

Clive Myers vs. Caswell Martin (4/10/86)

Some lovely work in this, as you'd expect from Martin vs. Myers, but it was the same sort of incomplete bout that dogged Martin his entire career and prevented him from having the great matches that guys like Jones and Grey did despite being equally talented. An example of a guy being technically excellent, but not having a thoroughly grasp of structure.

Lenny Hurst vs. Jean Le Force (7/15/86)

Originally, I thought Le Force would be some cool catch wrestler, but now that I think about it there weren't really any cool catch wrestlers left in the 80s. Anyway, he was actually Rambo from the CWA, who later became part of the Truth Commission and was originally from Montreal. He looked like an early John Cena prototype here and was absolutely massive compared to Hurst. Hurst did a good job of working logical spots against a big man and was thrown around like a rag doll when Le Force took over, but was embarrassing late period stuff. Hardcore fans are always looking to blame the Crabtrees for the demise of televised British wrestling, and while it's true that the post-Wembley Arena Big Daddy era sucked hard, there was shit all up and down the card. Another nail in the coffin.

Dave Duran vs. Ray Steele (5/7/87)

I like Duran more than a lot of guys who were on regular television at this time, but they only showed the final round of this. I'm not sure why they bothered.

John Elijah vs. John Kowalski (9/16/87)

I also like John Kowalski, and I'm a fan of maestro wrestling, but how could anyone think that the British public wanted to see John Kowalski in 1987? I can imagine an alternative universe where Walton is given the book and brings back Bert Royal and the corpse of Mike Marino. They did the same thing with Moser. No wonder All-Star seemed more exciting.

Ray Steele vs. Tiger Dalibar Singh (11/25/87)

This started off slowly (complete with corny pre-match promos), but turned into one of the better late period matches. It was a British Heavyweight title defence for Singh, and in classic Joint fashion, Steele had beaten him 2-0 the last time out. The action was superb for a pair of heavyweights, though they may have overdone the kick outs. You don't often see kick outs in British wrestling as pinning maneuvers tend to gain the fall, but they upped the ante here with a number of nearfalls. A few of them weren't timed that well, but that was my only complaint in a heated bout that showed the workers had a bit of life left in them even if the television didn't.

Jon Cortez vs. Jackie Robinson (11/25/86)

The start of this was awesome with Cortez rocking an ugly moustache and Finlay's dad reffing, but they couldn't keep up the pace and it meandered. Not uncommon for a Jackie Robinson bout, I'm afraid.

[GSR]

Kowalski looked old in the 70s footage of him that I've seen, so must've looked positively ancient in 1987!