The Beginner's Guide To British Wrestling

[David Mantell]

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On 4/6/2012 at 4:21 AM,  @ohtani's jacket said:

I watched a Rocco/Cullen match from Screen Sport yesterday that was completely different from the traditional WoS freestyle style and it sucked like the majority of Rocco's work. All that Screen Sport/ASW stuff is an abomination.

Well this wasn't it. This is from Reslo 1982.

Cullen isn't Chic yet, he's Dynamite Frankie Cullen.  Rocco has only just recently defected from ITV/Joint to Orig's BWF and would soon expand to Brian Dixon's Wrestling Enterprises.  I think Max Crabtree was quietly happy to see him go. Whereas Dixon was a big Rocco friend, Max saw him as a silly nutcase who smashed things up and kept getting banned from TV by the IBA.

It starts out as a similar faster paced version of clean British wrestling, like Round 1 of the Rocco Vs Dynamite Kid World Heavy Middleweight title match mere months earlier.  Rocco rolls out of wrist levers and unpicks them with a foot. Cullen snaps out of a side headlock and quickly convert it into an arm scissor.  Rocco gets a snap suplex and switches to a side headlock. Then the brawling breaks out. Rocco kicks the fallen Cullen in the head and drops an elbow.  A concealed punch, more kicks and a kneedrop follow.  Rocco gets a side chancery, snapmare and chinlock. Rocco does a lot of attacking of his floored opponent and the crowd do not like it. This may be odd to Americans as this is perfectly legal in America but it would get amazing heat not just in Britain but across Europe (see Judd Harris Vs Rolo Brasil on the German thread and several French bouts).  Rocco chinlocks Cullen then reels him in for a bodycheck that gets a 5 count. He stomps on Cullen's throat as the bell goes.

Rocco carries on in the same way for round 2 but Cullen surprises him with a sunset flip for a 2 count.  Cullen tries for Rocco's legs but Rocco knees him down.Rocco monkey climbs Cullen but he lands on his feet and dropkicks Cullen out of the ring. Rocco uppercuts Cullen from the apron and climbs the post but Cullen throws him off. He posts and atomic drops Rocco but Rocco gets the upper hand with the brawl. He throws Cullen out and obstructs his return so Cullen drags him out and stomps him at ringside, right in front of the town Mayor (his chain of office clearly visible onscreen)  Rocco slams Cullen at ringside and kicks him around. It's more ringside action than ITV would ever allow although nothing like as violent as French TV brawls going back to the late 70s.  Finally Rooco flips Cullen back in and paces about like a caged animal as the ref counts Cullen.  He goes for a slam but Cullen turns it into a small package getting a couple of 2 counts.  They brawl out the rest of the round.  During the interval, the commentator says something in Welsh about Canada - Cullen wrestled for Stampede a fair bit as Robbie Stewart.  

Round 3 and Cullen gets a waistlock rear suplex for a 2 count. Rocco works on weakening Cullen's leg.  He takes a bodycheck but comes back to backdrop Cullen to ringside.  An old lady (not a fan) wipes Cullen down with her towel. Rocco tries to intervene in Cullen's return but gets a public warning. He grabs Cullen off the corner for a slam and gets a rope assisted slingshot suplex then a regular one and cross press for the opening pin.

Rocco's attacks on the fallen Cullen gets too much and he gets his second and final Public Warning.  He argued with the ref and the crowd, giving Cullen plenty of time to recover and strike a chin kick on a charging Rocco.  cCullen slams and guillotine elbows Rocco - a bit late but the ref lets it go and he gets a 2 count on the pin. He tries typing up Cullen head in the ropes. Fans are chanting "Out! Out! Out!" for Rocco to be DQ'd. He bashed Cullen 's head in the corner but Cullen reverses a posting attempt, sending Rocco flopping to ringside selling an injury.  He reenters via the corner post but Cullen catches him with a top rope superplex that would have made the young Barry Windham around this time round, then turns into a pin cover for the 3 and the equaliser . 

Round 5 and Cullen jumps all over Rocco with stomps til he quits the ring, pointing in complaint. The ref agrees and gives Cullen a public warning. Rocco tries Cullen in the ropes and charges but Cullen dodges and  Roco sells an injury.  Cullen pulls Rocco off the ropes by both legs with a bump, headbutts Rocco's stomach a la Mr Fuji and double leg slingshot for a 2. Rocco, is then slingshot in to top turnbuckle. Rocco Tree of Woes Cullen but the ref will have none of it and unhooks Cullen's legs. He snapmares Frankie and they continue to brawl Cullen. chinlocks Rocco who slips out of the ring and wanders around a lot, soaking up the heat until the bell rings.

Round 6 and Cullen catches Rocco with a fine dropkick. Rocco snapmares Cullen and gets a 2 count.  Ditto a cross buttock and press. He gets a string of tombstone piledrivers on Cullen but keeps on pulling him up before finally holding him for 3 to win the match.

Wild Brawl with a technical bit at the start and occasionally therin.  Very like thOJ will like it. I'm rather keen to see this Screensport fight.

Cullen had a number of runs with the British Heavyweight Middle weight title until 1987 as well as a short world title run in the mid 80s.  He had another run later, from beating Robbie Brookside in 1992 and held it for a decade until his 2002 retirement. The following year 2903, it was Rocco and Cullen who curated the tournament for a new champion, won by one Brian Danielson in Croydon.

 

I assume this is the one @ohtani's jacket didn't like:

Cullen is British champion. Rocco is still World champion and has been spending a lot of his time making life miserable for two idiot presenters.  Good man.  He's been off ITV some years by now and has fully developed his Maniac persona in silver jacket, headband and Road Warrior/Demolition spiked gauntlet.  This is at Victoria Hall Hanley, we had a bit of an in depth look at this venue a page or so back. Referee is Frank Casey who also wrestled as the British Bushwhacker (see video 1993 Vs Spinner McKensie and finally ended up doing triple tags alongside the real Luke and Butch.  This is a trophy tournament final. No rounds just one fall to a finish.

No technical bit at the start, Rocco and Cullen brawl like on the first match, but like they are both on speed. Snapmares. Snap suplexes. Kip ups. Kick downs.  Sunset flip.  Cullen also has a Jim Breaks special, a hammerlock with bar and a French Catch style headscissors takedown. Screensport was very liberal about out of the ring brawls and the stage makes a good place to have them. At this point audiences are allowed to sit onstage (this was later banned by Health and Safety by the time of Dean Allmark Vs Mikey Whiplash 2003 as seen on here previously. Like a TV taping studio audience the crowd. One brawl near the end sees equipment from a "hospital radio table" (file under "Spanish announcer's table") and the live camera which still catches Rocco being thrown back in the ring.  

Cullen on the stage leaps over the ropes and catches Rocco with a missile dropkick that sends him tumbling to the theatre pit, in amongst the old grannies! This bit is surprisingly well shot from the back of the hall.   We get another excellent top rope superplex and a not so well filmed splash off the ropes by Cullen.  When Cullen is trapped in the ropes, the camera zooms in on him suffering and choking, tongue flapping out. The two fight in the theatre pit.m  A cardboard sign for the Screensport show gets used as a weapon.

When Cullen kicks Rocco in the head, one of the Chuckle Brothers makes a dreadful joke about using Rocco's head to score a goal for Liverpool FC and that Rocco's new song will  be "I ain't got no Body".  These two are like a working class version of the snooty French commentators.  

On a more positive note, Cullen neatly handstands his way out of a Frank Gotch toehold.

After a series of near knockouts. Rocco gets the winning pinfall with a Tombstone piledriver.  The trophy is presented by former world boxing champion Jon Conteh. Afterwards one of the Chuckle Brothers, Max Beesley, buttonholes Rocco about his rule bending ways and is beaten down.  Cullen, interviewed backstage, vows retribution on Rocco.  Roddy Piper,,if you can get Internet in the Afterlife, THIS IS HOW YOU DO A SCOTS ACCENT.

A lot of violent action, much of it utterly unsuitable for ITV. Fortunately ITV were happy to arrange compromises to edit the All Star style into sometwhich spiced up the ITV shows rather than demolished them. As for Rocco and Cullen, they appeared in that first All Star show on ITV. I think next I shall review that match.

All Star are returning to Victoria Hall Hanley next month. Buy your tickets now

[David Mantell]

So here is what ITV finally made of this matchup. Same referee too, Frank Casey.  Filmed at the London Hippodrome nightclub. with the bar in the background and thereby hangs an exasperating tale! Nice lightbulb tree either side of it though.  (In actual fact another show at the Lewisham Theatre Watford had already been filmed by this point.)

As with Reslo, they start off technical, using not just rolls but double handed backflips to untwist each others' wristlocks. Rocco gets a Full Nelson. but Cullen rears into him then comes off the ropes for a sunset flip 2 count.  Rocco gets in a few smashes to the back of Cullen's neck but he scientific wrestling resumes. Rocco considers an underarm suplex before going for a front chancery takedown. Cullen gets a hammerlock and Gotch toehold but Rocco powers up. Cullen bodychecks Rocco and gets a side headlock, then an "inner arm" blow off the ropes.  After the bell goes Rocco gets a headbutt in and it earns him a public warning.  

Cut to Round 3, Rocco gets a front facing piledriver in early.  He misses a knee off the corner for a seven count then Cullen headbutts him.  A second piledriver, somersault splash and a slingshot suplex get him the opening pin. Round 4 and Cullen breaks open a Rocco chinlock to gets an arm lever. A posting and then a dropkick.  Rocco goes over nicely on two hands from a whip for a feet first landing only to get another dropkick.  Rocco bodychecks Cullen but Cullen comes back with a cross buttock and press off the ropes for the equalising fall .

Round 5, Cullen slams and splashes Rocco, gets in some uppercuts, finally a brawl breaks out although not as wild as the Screeport one. Rocco soon gets a Second And Final Public Warning.  Cullen gets a suplex for a 2 count.  Cullen goes for the top turnbuckle but Rocco German suplexes him down by the legs. He gets a piledriver, a top rope guillotine (no public warning much to some consternation among the audience) and then a sidewards folding press (an American style Small Package) for the deciding pin.

Far more my sort of match than the Victoria Hall bout and an example of how All Star had to refine it's product to get mainstream respectability.

[David Mantell]

Sunlounge Death Match or Cheap location?

Jim Breaks, mid 80s, fell out of contention again for the British Welterweight Championship after losing to Danny Collins one too many times as we saw a few pages back but soon got himself a new title, the European Lightweight Championship from Jackie Robinson.  He also took the World title from Johnny Saint for a while in 1985. Today he faces Max Hunter, no relation to Rick nor Rebel Ray, at the Stoke Garden Festival in what can only be described at a spare hothouse for plants.  There is a visible audience on one side of the ring. perhaps 100 people.

Good technical start, Hunter wedges out of side headlock, Breaks spins horizontally on his backside out of a wristlever. Breaks starts work on Hunters arm, putting it in a hammerlock and getting in a stomp. Hunter levers and bridges out of a chinlock. He snapmares Breaks but the champion rolls through.  Figure four armscissor on Breaks.  Breaks working on Hunter's nose a lot.Hunter makes pin attempts using leverage out Breaks pushes out.Breaks continues work on Hunter's arm. Max gets a double arm on Breaks. Hunter goes to work on a Breaks leg.  Breaks attacks the eyes of Hunter and gets told off by  zFrank Casey.. Hunter gets a full Nelson but Breaks back kicks to foul his way out. He gets on a chinlock but Hunter double ankles smashes him. Breaks throws Hunter around but he takes it well and finally bounces off the ropes to spring power a headbutt.  Armdrags Breaks and gets a two. Hunter tries a reverse snapmares but Breaks drops Hunter, hammerlocked arm first.  He then kicks the arm which finally gets him a public warning.  A couple of postings where the arm takes the brunt, some stomps on the folded arm and finally a Breaks special and Breaks has the one submission required.

Probably the eyepokes would not have been acceptable for ITV but otherwise if British wrestling had TV squash matches Vs enhancement talent, this is what Jim Breaks' ones would look like. Only in a better venue than a greenhouse.

 

 

[David Mantell]

Cooper stays technical for a lot longer than you would expect in this bout but that doesn't make the crowd like him although Kent Walton takes a glass half full attitude, wishing that Cooper could stay technical for longer before the heeling kicks in.  I'm like that about Kendo Nagasaki's 1970s bouts. 

Pete Ross does several toupees (Gilbert LeDuc style inverted cross scissor throws, for those unfamiliar with French Catch) on Cooper and it gets his goat. He eventually gets a DQ after first accidentally then deliberately attacking the referee.  I feel sorry for Cooper here, he tries to be a good boy but the people won't have it and it all goes to pieces in the end.  A lot of good solid technical wrestling but I fear certain folk on here will find the ending unforgivable.

[David Mantell]

On 8/23/2023 at 12:04 PM, David Mantell said:

His brother Mike Bennett (no relation to late 80s WWEer Mike Kanelis) had something of a push in the mid 80s as a heel feuding with Danny Collins.  Bennett had a wedding ring  that he was unable to remove due to the finger swelling (it happens! )  This he frequently used as a foreign object in a territory not noted for such things (heel-era Alan Dennison's notorious leather wristbands being another rare example.)  

Marvellous Mike beat Danny Boy early in 1985 by submission in a one fall bout, then challenged Collins for his British Welterweight Champion (there was a challenge ceremony a few weeks beforehand that involved them high fiving each other).  The title match ended in Bennett DQ'd controversially, with all sorts of repercussions including referee Jeff Kaye coming out of retirement to take on Bennett (and lose 2-1), the two of them co-win a battle royal which somehow ended in a time limit draw (!)  and even Big Daddy getting involved with Collins and Bennett on opposite sides of the big Christmas Daddy tag match with Bully Boy Ian Muir on Bennett's side  which again ended in DQ when Bennett struck Collins with the ring leaving him in agony on the mat and Daddy up on the corner post screaming abuse at Bennett.

Just to top things off, the following year, Bennett won the annual Grand Prix Belt, beating the Birmingham Steve Logan in the final:

I didn't properly review this match at the time, OJ has reviewed Bennett and Logan's earlier 1985 match (he liked it). Like a lot of these bouts it starts off fairly clean. Logan snapping open a Bennett headlock into an armbar which Mike then rolls to untwist. There are hints of heelery from MaB to get the crowd started - he gives a nasty clout to Steve's stomach with a first that looks to be (1) closed (2) the one with the infamous signet ring.  He also attempts to force his forearm down on Logan's windpipe. Logan keeps his cool, pulling him off with a headscissor which Mike kips out of. Mike breaks a full nelson and resists a snapmares but then not only goes for the ropes (jeers of cowardice from the audience) but starts to do some rope related duties before referee Jeff Kaye pulls him off.  Logan gets a great throw from a top wristlocks, MB gets a headscissor and jerks it as he releases on the bell. Cut to Round 4 and Bennett is brawling and using dirties including knees in the corner which gets him a First Public Warning.   Bennett gets what should have been his second battering Logan in the corner but Logan suddenly gets an opener with a flying bodypress and in the confusion Kaye and Brian Crabtree both lose count and call it his First.  And so it remains. 

Bennett nearly gets a small package equaliser and managed to manipulate Kaye out of giving him a second. He holds a single leg Boston Crab for a good while which he converts to a Gotch toehold. Logan gets a wrist, forcing the release and posts MB . Another leglock is reversed by Logan into a hammerlock and Benet goes for the ropes.  A knee in the corner to Logan and other fouls get Bennett his Second and final but he reapllies the Single Leg Boston for the equaliser. In the next round he again gets this hold but Logan goes for arm counters that eventually force MB to drop the Boston to deal with the attack. Bennett gets a reverse front chancery down on the mat but learns too far forward and gets two double knee smashes to the head.  Each man tries for armbars til the bell goes.  In final Round 8,  Bennett carries on his rule ending, gets a Reminder of being two public warnings in and the crowd chanting for a DQ -"OUT! OUT! OUT!". Logan gets a reverse waistlock suplexfor a 2 count, before Bennett gets the deciding submission with the same single leg Boston for the win and the Grand Prix Belt to add to his push.

Solid but not sparkling technical work mixed with plenty of fouling from Bennett to get a heel victory and an upset crowd. He may have got Joint Promotions answer to the IWGP belt but the belt he really wanted- Danny Collins's British Welterweight title - remained elusive. This would be Bennett's penultimate TV match - he would lose a Golden Grappler trophy quarter final to Ritchie Brooks and that would be the end of his push.

However it puts me in mind of Sting and Lex Luger in early 1988. Sting could only get a draw against Ric Flair at Clash I. Luger and Barry Windham did win the World Tag Team Championship from Tully and Arn only to lose it back when Windham turned Horseman and heel mid match. So Sting and Lex won the Crockett Cup and that,at least, was a trophy to satisfy their main event babyface pushed.  Likewise, Marvelous Mike Bennett might not quite have beaten Young Danny Boy Collins in a British or even European Welterweight title match but he took home the 1986 Grand Prix Belt, so that was something for his troubles.

[David Mantell]

The entire show that contained the legendary Danny Collins Vs Owen Hart World Middleweight Championship bout. A co-promotion between All Star and infamous fan (and Grand Wizard wanna be) the late Mad Eli's MEGA promotion (it's only just now dawned on me the first two letters of that stood for Mad and Eli.  I wonder what the last two letters stood for.) held as a fundraiser for the BBC's infamous Children In Need telethon.

Collins Vs Hart is very much the one for the purists. There are no fewer than four gimmick matches (one chain match plus a four man knockout tournament held entirely in a cage.) Also Klondyke Kate defends her ladies title and Stax and Regal go up against each other just a month before they got audition/legally demanded slots on WCW's first UK tour - both eventually bagging full time slots as a Lord and a Loch.

The chain match is for a British Chain Match Championship -preceding Scott Conway's  TWA's British Hardcore championship by a decade. I never saw the point of these -there was never a British Brass Knuckles title in the 60s/70s/80s. It's an all Scottish match between Chic Cullen and Drew McDonald.  Drew's valet is Miss Crystal who may or may not be Monika Markwart aka Doctor Monika Kaiser, manager of Drew/the Spoiler on ITV 1987-1988 and real-life  life partner of Drew.   If it's her, she has had done one of those trendy short hairdos Madonna and Missy Hyatt circa 1993 had. The blond hair colour is the same and so is the manner.

The mat appears to have been borrowed from a  Reslo taping (WCW would also borrow the Reslo ring.)

[David Mantell]

Royal Rumbles (WWE copyright be damned) have become a staple end of the night attraction at traditional British shows since the ,mid 90s (heck, Stephen Barker even named his PROMOTION Rumble!).  They offer blue eyes a shot at revenge against the heels who beat them earlier in the night and send fan, especially the family audiences, home happy.  Here is a specimen from the final ever episode of Relo.  Your typical heaving mass of bodies, nothing much technical here.  Danny Collins gets cheered by the crowd which is particularly surprising not just because he went heel in 1994 but for more reasons I'm about to get into on the German Catch thread.

This was the last Traditional British Wrestling on TV (and apart from that Japanese visit to Croydon in 96,  Rumble Promotions' VHS that same year and a couple of all-Brit bouts on VDB in Germany's deliberately retro 1998 video, the last Traditional British wrestling to be professionally filmed) until 2003 and Premier Promotions contributions to Johnny Vaughn's World Of Sport on digital channel BBC3.

[David Mantell]

On 1/11/2025 at 10:15 AM, David Mantell said:

The entire show that contained the legendary Danny Collins Vs Owen Hart World Middleweight Championship bout. A co-promotion between All Star and infamous fan (and Grand Wizard wanna be) the late Mad Eli's MEGA promotion (it's only just now dawned on me the first two letters of that stood for Mad and Eli.  I wonder what the last two letters stood for.) held as a fundraiser for the BBC's infamous Children In Need telethon.

Collins Vs Hart is very much the one for the purists. There are no fewer than four gimmick matches (one chain match plus a four man knockout tournament held entirely in a cage.) Also Klondyke Kate defends her ladies title and Stax and Regal go up against each other just a month before they got audition/legally demanded slots on WCW's first UK tour - both eventually bagging full time slots as a Lord and a Loch.

The chain match is for a British Chain Match Championship -preceding Scott Conway's  TWA's British Hardcore championship by a decade. I never saw the point of these -there was never a British Brass Knuckles title in the 60s/70s/80s. It's an all Scottish match between Chic Cullen and Drew McDonald.  Drew's valet is Miss Crystal who may or may not be Monika Markwart aka Doctor Monika Kaiser, manager of Drew/the Spoiler on ITV 1987-1988 and real-life  life partner of Drew.   If it's her, she has had done one of those trendy short hairdos Madonna and Missy Hyatt circa 1993 had. The blond hair colour is the same and so is the manner.

The mat appears to have been borrowed from a  Reslo taping (WCW would also borrow the Reslo ring.)

Actually Miss Crystal doesn't have the German accent.

Talking of accents, that's a Somerset accent Mad Eli is doing.

Interestingly the new British Cage Match champion is Gary Welsh aka Gary/Geraint Clwyd, he of the all-TBW clean matches with Pete Bainbridge on ITV and Tony Stewart on Reslo. (Later in life Gary B Ware and before that one of two Dunk the Clowns.)

Shane Stevens is introduced as a Hangman but wears the same tailcoat and top hat as the White Undertaker on TF1//Eurosport New   in 1991 opposite Flesh Gordon.

[David Mantell]

Straying away from the motherland to the former colonies, here is some footage of Giant Haystacks and Dalbir Singh in Zambia July '76 just 12 months after Stax arrived on TV  tagging with a heel Big Daddy (with whom he was still tagging by this point although they were mostly getting cheers against Kendo Nagasaki.

The big eyecatcher is the advertising board for the tour, with one side plastered with all the top stars from imported prints or tapes  of WRESTLING FROM GREAT BRITAIN. The other half all having strong African names and prals.  Trips like these were one of the career perks for a young wrestler of having one's work sold across Asia and Africa.

Zambian TV info. Available in B/W at the time. Went colour 79.

(Just next door to Rhodesia which would a few years later be one Zimbabwe. Robert Mugabe. who would one day declare Stax an honourary citizen of his country, at this point was a rebel leader.)

Anyway Singh gets brutalised by Haystacks but then rallies and KNOCKS HIM OUT with a load of forearms the does the same to Stax's manager.

Also here is some rare Colour footage of Saddam's infamous state promotion in Iraq with a babyface Adnan Al Qaisi, hero of his nation, here against Bop Roop. I believe this is a fan cam, there is a more professional looking camera on a stand. I wonder where that footage is now?

 

[David Mantell]

 

On 12/25/2014 at 1:34 PM, ohtani's jacket said:

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.

Joined in progress, perhaps OJ saw more of the bout, apparently both had a near miss pinfall attempt each just before the start.

Kid Chocolate. No more or less blaxploitative a ringname than Koko B Ware. Real name Alan Bardouille. Good dropkick. But of a grumpy old so and so backstage. Died a few years ago.  Bout is going through a slow patch at the start mainly about various KC attempts to escape a side chancery not getting anywhere. The action hits up, Naylor is the more engaging of the two with his cartwheels out of trouble but Chic does get a good 2 count with a sunset flip.Another slow intense patch over a single leg Boston Naylor gets but Chocolate resists. Kid looks to be trying a toupee but instead does the double ankles smash to surprise Naylor. A run of good near bridging folding press attempts by both men gets a nice clap from the crowd. As Kent says "the speedy action stuff that the crowd like." So then we get a leg submission with Kid resists up to the bell.

Round 3 and Kid catches Naylor on the run with a basic folder that becomes a bridge folding press for a 2 count.   Test of strength turns into a bridge then a monkey climb.Naylor gets the winner with a Leotard Burke folding press like Davey at SS92.

Naylor is the star as the more experienced man of the two Bout tended to grind to a halt every once in a while while Kid struggled out of a hold. Decent short exhibition of technical skills.

[David Mantell]

The Rockers, am team that were up OJ's street, team with Sid Cooper in Triple Tag (as Six Man tag was known here- you can keep your trendy "trios" too.). Mal Sanders and Steve Grey - former European Middleweight champion and the British and nearly World Lightweight champion team with current hip TBW. Steve Logan MK2. Compare Tommy Lorne to Helmut Lukestik from the German thread, you will see the similarities.  All the blue eyes keep it fast and furious.  Sanders breaks a full nelson on Sanders and rebounds off the ropes with a sunset flip for the opening fall. Cooper gets the equalising submission on Grey with a single leg Boston Crab. He tries for another but Grey turns 180 degrees ito crawl towards his partners Logan tags in and after absorbing some punishment uncorks a sunset flip of his own for the deciding pinfall and a definite feather in his TBW teenage boy push.

Short but sweet action packed Triple Tag.

 

[David Mantell]

On 5/24/2015 at 2:42 AM, ohtani's jacket said:

 

Kung Fu vs. Kid McCoy (Denbigh, taped 2/15/89)

 

By and large, I think the Reslo footage helps Kung Fu's case as being a decent worker; certainly moreso if you only watch his World of Sport stuff, but this wasn't really given enough time to mean anything.

 

Nice scientific bout cut short due to a double knockout because the alternative was a time limit draw and they presumably needed to fill in other stuff. The first half is a shop window for Kid and his technical skills, particularly his escapes (rollouts plus bridge into toupee.) and his flying armdrags.  Kung Fu takes over more in the second half, I like how he nips sideways out the way of Kid's sunset flip attempt.

[David Mantell]

Heel versus heel with the crowd siding with the loudmouth heel and against the growly heel. A double disqualification and what I expected Adrian Street Vs Jim Breaks the first time I watched. A brawl which breaks down totally until the ref asserts his authority. Nice pair of pinfalls, a high backslide and shoulder press by Graham. Pallo wheeling Graham to the centre of the ring, releasing him then catching him with a folding press (the "BREAK!" gag would make more sense if Graham had Pallo in the hold and Pallo duped him into releasing it) before it all gets out of hand and they are sent back to the dressing room in disgrace.

 

Pallo and referee Don Branch . Two expose writers in one ring.

[David Mantell]

Am astonished that I can't find an earlier review of this.  Introduced by Dickie Davies's holiday cover man Fred Dineage.  Part of a tournament to fill the British Heavy Middleweight title Rocco lost to Light Heavyweight champion Marty Jones but which Jones had to give up.  First three rounds of this were not screened, but were presumably quite technical and clean. So is the next round that we DO get to see.  Good surfboard from which zRocco uses the bottom rope to nicely tug himself free.  Rocco neatly unrolls an armbar and uncorks himself from a headscissor in the guard with his knees.  Royal scoots through Rocco's legs from behind to take said legs instantly for a Boston Crab.  Rocco rolls out into into La Bascule back & forth pin attempts. Ironically it's Bert who triggers the breakdown of this towards the end of round 5, slapping Rocco around to provoke Rollerball into a string of closed fists punches that get him a first public warning.

From there the technical bout is (mostly) over and the fight begins.  Rocco gets a count of 6 with a Tombstone piledriver which softens Royal for a reverse suspended neck breaker (lengthways over shoulder backbreaker) for the opening submission.    Rocco scores an excellent Randy Savage top rope axehandle, Royal is standing so it's legal but fishhooking in his mouth is not, so Rollerball gets a Second And Final Public Warning.  A bite (real foul) is not spotted however.  Rocco nearly gets a second straight fall with a folding press as counter to monkey climb. Royal resorts to an illegal closed fist of his own and has a double arm submission in the works by the end of round 7

Round 8 is mostly brawling and fouling apart from a neat power lock (standing figure four leglock ) by Royal. Early in round 9 he legflips, slams and shoulder presses Rocco for the equaliser. And so to the final round, more of the same as round eight with Royal fouling (closed fists) as badly as Rocco. It goes to time and Rocco wins a coin toss and eventually win the tournament and take back his British title, which he eventually cashed in for the World title in 1981.

[David Mantell]

Two big round numbered anniversaries this month.

• The 40th anniversary of All Star Wrestling's first show at what would be it's showcase venue, the main Concert Hall of Fairfield Halls Croydon on February 12th 1985
• The 30th anniversary of the final show of Max Crabtree's Ring Wrestling Stars, the former Joint Promotions.

[David Mantell]

On 2/5/2025 at 12:28 AM, David Mantell said:

The 30th anniversary of the final show of Max Crabtree's Ring Wrestling Stars, the former Joint Promotions.

(Oh good, the board is working again)

This was not just the end of the Joint Promotions era but the conclusion of the All Star Vs Joint promotional war which saw ASW taken over the territory from Joint. ASW remains dominant to this day.

[David Mantell]

On 5/11/2015 at 6:45 AM, ohtani's jacket said:

Rollerball Rocco vs. Danny Boy Collins (Caernarfon, taped 4/6/90)

 

Rocco was nearing the end here. He looked considerably older.. and fatter.. but still worked the same frenetic, all-action style that differentiated him from so many of his peers. The guy didn't possess an off switch and was a maniac in the ring. Collins I've never been a fan of, but I've mostly seen teenage Collins and have no idea what he was like as a man. This wasn't a good place to start as late 80s-early 90s Reslo is as bad as the latter years of ITV, but it looks like I'll have plenty more opportunity to delve into Collins.

Nearing the end?  Rocco's end a year later was actually a bolt from the blue.  In 1990 in his late 30s he had a raging hot feud with ex tag partner Kendo Nagasaki going, reignited after the Mongolian Mauler's failed attempt to reunite Kendo and Rocco for a triple tag (six man tag) ended in Rocco falling out with both.  When Rocco and Danny were not having bouts like this, they would have been teaming up on All Star shows to face Kendo andvthe Mauler or else Kendo and Blondie Barrett.

The two play to type.  Collins is handling the action and science, using technical escapes and the odd flying bodypress, moonsault  or dropkick to Rocco's roughouse and dirty tactics,  his only actual wrestling being a decent headscissor. Fans would have just put the heat on Rocco but it would have been good to see more what he could do technically.

Bryn Fon clearly mentions Rocco's dad Jim Hussey among the Welsh. Collins at one point throws his water bottle at Rocco and gets away with it. (retribution for similar antics by Rocco in their ITV match or maybe just a regular spot these two did.  Collins gets a good folding press attempt for two. The two exchange face first piledriver attempts. Several times they tie each other up in the ropes, the last time  Collins getting his neck caught in the ropes like in their New Catch bout in Paris France the following year (which quite properly is reviewed where it  belongs on the French Catch thread, not on here, and which I've just bumped up to page 44). Unlike that one where the ropes ended it on a TKO, here Rocco goes for a standard piledriver for the pin, a more OJ-friendly finish. 

Plenty of action if a bit lacking in actual technical wrestling and Kent Walton would have criticised it for that, more a good fight than a good wrestling.  Bear in mind the context of Rocco's war with Kendo at the time, the wild stuff was what he was most in practice at doing.

[David Mantell]

From the Introduing thread, in response to @ButchReedMark

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 On 9/4/2014 at 9:47 PM, ButchReedMark said:

I'm from Wales. I've been watching religiously from 1989, but very little of it was actually British, unless it was Reslo which I'd watch often as a child and mark out for any Welsh babyface.

Lucky old you being one of the youngest to get into British wrestling via regular TV. I'm glad Reslo was a formative experience for people much younger than me. After the likes of you, there was only a few thousand in Croydon (Fairfield Hall), Hanley (Victoria Hall) Bristol (Colston Hall) Southampton (Guildhall) etc who got that upbringing from having a relative takes them along ever month into the late 90s and the C21st.

 

[David Mantell]

Had two job interviews on Teams this afternoon and watched this bout while chilling out in-between the two.  I enjoyed it and decided to share here.

At first glance Diamond Shondell (named apparently on account of being a fan of Tommy James And The Shondelles who did the original I Think We're Alone Now as covered by Tiffany - and apparently a lovely of jewel studded ring  jackets - not really visible on the dark green velvet effort he wears here) wrongfoots the live audience who check out his stereotypically villainous looking bald head and moustache and boo him as the heel he is, not least as he's in against the hugely popular (and legitimately deaf) Kilby. Kent telling the TV 

In fact, DS is very much a clean wrestler and something of a funnyman  as evidenced by his early overselling of fotearm smashes. - Walton compares him to Kevin Coneely whom we examined several pages ago. He isn't as loudly comic as Coneely. It's more subtle stuff to do  with expressions etc. On the attack he is quite a methodical wrestler, working down body parts, including a bodyscissors atomic drops similar to the French "Ah Ouais" spot.

His mind games get him unglued in round 2's opening seconds when he taunts Kilby   wdith fisticuffs posturing and slaps to the head - Kilby is not amused and responds with a hard forearm, powerslam and cross press for the opening fall. Shondell looks like he's going to attack Kilby between rounds but in fact he just wants to shake Kilby's hand. Kilby accepts and looks to be returning the favour but blasts Shondell with a forearm- clearly he doesn't trust this opponent. In Round 3Shondell maintains control of an armlevers for quite some time despite various tricks by Kilby. In the end Alan blasts the Irishman between the shoulder blades to break the hold - an ironic response given what happens in round 4. Back in the third, Shondell takes a leg but Kilby smartly widens DS's leg angle to floor him with a boot to the chest. The two shake hand after the round.

In the fourth Shondell repeatedly attacks Kilby with blows to the upper back between the shoulder blades. He builds on this attack by dropping Kilby on the ropes neck first and posting him so the original injured back shoulder blades bear the brunt.  These shoulder weaknesses soften up Kilby for a victory roll equaliser. Some fans still boo Shondell, most respectfully clap a well scored fal.Suddenly Shondell is not just a funnyman but a potent wrestler not to be underestimated. Kilby is taking him seriously too - starting with a standing atomic drop, bouncing Shondell saddle first of the top rope and getting the winner with a vertical suplex and cross press. The two shake hands and the crowd cheers Shondell unanimously.

Not necessarily a technical masterpiece despite a few good bits but a masterclass in how to turn a crowd around and get them to like someone their instinct is to distrust.

There's quite a good retrospective piece on Shondelles here:

 

[David Mantell]

On 11/22/2015 at 2:59 AM, ohtani's jacket said:

Danny Boy Collins vs. Eddie Riley (10/9/84)

Riley was a trainee of Marty Jones and a decent worker. Walton was high on him (undoubtedly because he was a trainee of Jones') and put over how quick and decisive he was with his decision making while lamenting the fact that he kept running out of mat with his pinning maneuvers. Some good action here but nothing overly special.

Two of my favourites having what I will expect will be more my sort of match from OJ's - the shoe on the other foot from when I have to review a German brawl.  It's both promising and short enough to do a blow by blow, so I'll risk the vast amount of typing involved and bite the bullet.

"We join it near the end of Round 2" says Dickie Davies. We are just in time to see Nipper convert a side headlock to a grovit but Collins break it open into an arm at and force a whip that Riley has to take a bump in order to go with. Riley himself is impressed, the camera zooms in on him grinning from ear to ear about it. He gets a lunge on Danny before the bell goes. In the third, Riley gets an armbar of his own but a Collins gets behind to take him down in a folding press. Riley rolls back to get his feet on the ropes in time for the two count.  Riley converts a rear waistlock to a standing full nelson but Collins rears out of it. They hit the ropes and Danny goes for a flying tackle.  Nipper kicks out of the resulting pin attempt at 2.  The first run out of mat comes after Riley absorbs a posting leg first, enabling him to turn, go through Danny's legs then when Danny tries for a legdrive step over him, twist round into the sunset flip position and take him down in a double leg nelson - but Collins like Riley manages to roll through and catch the ropes with his feet to force a break, to Walton 's disappointment. Colin's has got a cut under one eye but is not bothered, bashing Riley with two postings and a bodyslam that he takes a fair bit of a knockout count each time to recover from(8 for the second posting, nearly a KO!!!).  Coming of he ropes. Nipper nips down on the mat but Danny leaps over to avoid a trip. Nipper leapfrogs him on the next rebound and catches him in motion with a neat cross buttock pin attempt that Danny BRIDGES out of beautifully. 

Walton praises Nipper for his speed and impactfulness of moves (Memo to OJ - That is what "Decisiveness" means, coming to quick decisions, right or wrong, not deciding to do something and doing it perfectly, hence why he has the  the "running out of mat" problem. ) Nipper gets a legdrive into single leg Boston Crab. Collins starts to counter by pulling a leg out from under Riley so he converts to a single leglock plus cross face.  He converts again to a Boston Crab - a nice neat transformation echoing both  Kent's words and his own nickname -  but Collins has a good go at pushing up out of it and looks likely to succeed on further attempts so Riley sportingly gives up and Danny pops up quickly to start over. Danny legdives and elbowsmashes the foot as an added weakener. He gets another legdive and tugs again on the leg sharply as a further weakener.  Riley gets a legdrive of his own and tries to advance it into another single leg Boston but Danny just turns on the mat with the hold to stay in the guard. Eventually Eddie starts to turn Danny but Danny turns him back and uses a leg against Riley's face as an anvil to bash down on and transmit the impact to Eddie's head to break the hold, leaving Nipper worried about his teeth. He side chanceries Collins into a cross press but Danny kicks out.  A lunge floors Danny and Nipper whips him into the ropes but Danny comes back with a sunset flip for a count of two. Riley goes for another side chancery when the bell goes. They shake hands.

It turns out this bout is during Steve Grey's brief capture of the British Welterweight title and Kent plugs the upcoming rematch where (Spoiler alert and I don't mean Drew McDonald in a mask) Collins regained the title and relieved kind hearted good guy Grey of his guilty conscience for dethroning the kid and leaving him in tears.  You can see the cut from earlier dried up - I guess it was an accidental hard way.  

Round 4 starts with Riley knocking Collins down with a lunge.  He whips Collins into he ropes but Collins slips in behind for a takedown into folding press and get 2 counts before releasing. Riley comes off the ropes with a sunset flip for a folding press but Danny reversed it into a folding press with bridge then goes with Riley's escape for a more standard folding press.  It's Riley in fact who reaches the ropes for a get out -  despite Kent's words it's actually COLLINS who runs out of mat here!    They comes off the ropes again and Nipper tries again for the sunset flip and again Collins counters with the bridging folder - and this time gets the one required pinfall!   Riley sportingly helps Collins up and shakes his hand and raises it to concede Collins' victory.

"A nice little bout" says Kent and I concur - well I certainly liked it enough to delve into microscopic detail about the moves and counters - detail which, when  watching the match in normal time, the brain processes at TOP SPEED.  It shows you how Kent brought up myself and a nation of other TV babies to appreciate this sort of thing - whereas for someone like @ohtani's jacket who has not had that upbringing as a fan it comes across as "nothing overly special" . Which goes to show the difference in tastes that different wrestling fan backgrounds can produce. Clearly a good wrestling match is in the eye of the beholder.

 

[David Mantell]

@WingedEagle the above illustrated the problem of making definitive recommendation lists. European and North American wrestling fans were educated by the respective promoters to have different expectations of what constitutes "Good wrestling" - sometimes there can even be variations between different European countries or different US/Canadian regions.

[WingedEagle]

Nothing's perfect. But I think there's value in having a starting point or approach other than "do everything." Its always easy to add to and expand from a limited starting point, or go back and fillin gaps from there.

[David Mantell]

5 hours ago, WingedEagle said:

Nothing's perfect. But I think there's value in having a starting point or approach other than "do everything." Its always easy to add to and expand from a limited starting point, or go back and fillin gaps from there.

It boils down to whether you view British Wrestling- and the other old school European territories-  as Defective or Different?  You can insist on judging it through the eyes of American fans or you can understand how it was consumed by indigenous European fans.

[WingedEagle]

28 minutes ago, David Mantell said:

It boils down to whether you view British Wrestling- and the other old school European territories-  as Defective or Different?  You can insist on judging it through the eyes of American fans or you can understand how it was consumed by indigenous European fans.

Those not the only two approaches to British wrestling, other European territories, or any wrestling. Nor are those the only two approaches to any consumable culture, for that matter. But I am sorry if you're unable to recognize any other ways to tackle such material.

[PeteF3]

Am I listening to The Clash wrong because I didn't grow up in the Winter of Discontent? Is it cultural appropriation for me to listen to Ladysmith Black Mambazo?