The Beginner's Guide To British Wrestling

[ohtani's jacket]

Steve Grey vs. Tim Fitzmaurice (1/9/79)

 

Fitzmaurice was a small little Irish lad who Walton said wrestled like a terrier. World of Sport joined this after Fitzmaurice had already scored a surprise opening fall, which kind of killed the dynamic the workers were going for, but even down a fall this was a walk in the park for Steve Grey.

 

Marty Jones vs. Steve Logan (1/30/79)

 

One thing we're lucky about with WoS footage is that we get a lot of Jones' prime. This is from right smack in the middle of Jones' best years and was a nice, solid bout that I enjoyed. Logan brought his usual bag of tricks and spent most of the bout pissing Jones off, and if you know Marty Jones you'll know he had a filthy temper. Despite it getting heated, Jones was able to use his superior athleticism to get the better of Logan here. The only thing I didn't like was Logan getting straight up after the winning pinfall as though nothing had happened. Other than that it was a good bout. It wasn't off the charts like it could have been if they'd really ratcheted it up, but considering this was 1979 Steve Logan it was pretty good.

 

Chato Pastor vs. Gary Wensor (6/12/79)

 

Pastor was this little Spanish guy who did some cool flips and had interesting ways of attacking the body. Gary Wensor was a much bigger guy who wasn't flashy but a good pro. This was a catchweight contest to put Pastor over before he took on Mal Sanders for the European Middleweight championship. It didn't really work at getting him over, and he probably would have been better off working someone in his own weight class as he struggled on both of his pinfalls, but it's always fun seeing a new, relatively unknown Euro worker.

 

Wayne Bridges vs. Ray Steele (6/27/79)

 

I'm probably in the small minority of people who enjoy this type of match. This was no frills heavyweight British wrestling. Neither guy has much in the way of personality. Bridges I'm not a huge fan of, and Steele I can give or take depending on his opponent. They didn't do much to try to excite the large Wembley Arena crowd like almost all of the workers usually did, but the wrestling was good, there were some nice holds, and the highspots they did work looked great.

[ohtani's jacket]

Jackie Turpin vs. Alan Dennison (7/11/79)

Just the final round. Looked like a fun bout with Dennison doing spots like Turpin being unable to break his wrestler's bridge.

Tony St. Clair vs. Colin Joynson (7/11/79)

The late 70s were Tony St. Clair's peak and 1979 may well have been St. Clair at his best. He was quick for a heavyweight and this was a match which showcased his speed and athleticism. Colin Joynson, who Walton was besotted with calling the "little tank" on this occasion, was game for an up-tempo bout and so there was a lot more rope running in this than you'd usually find in a heavyweight wrestling bout. Joynson really was tank-like, so St. Clair's arm drags (or rolls as Walton called them) looked awesome. Really good, energetic heavyweight bout.

Mal Sanders vs. Chato Pastor (6/27/79)

Joined in progress. Sanders was the new young superstar at the time and had the type of annoying habits you'd associate with a new guy getting a big push. Pastor was fun, but not the superworker you want a visiting Spaniard to be. To their credit, the crowd were really into it and completely behind Sanders, but I felt like I've seen this kind of thing done better.

Tony St. Clair vs. Lenny Hurst (6/27/79)

Another good St. Clair bout. Hurst is a bit of an underrated grappler as he's another who wasn't too flamboyant, but he was a good opponent for St. Clair and they were able to do the quick, all-action stuff that made Tony popular with the crowds.

Spiros Arion vs. Romany Riley (10/30/79)

This was the twilight of Spiros Arion's career. He was doing this gimmick where he claimed to be the World Heavyweight champion with Walton actually referring to him as the National Wrestling Association World Heavyweight champion. The belt he brought to the ring ended up becoming the UK version of a World Heavyweight championship and was taken to All-Star when Quinn jumped, but at this point they were pretending it was a US belt. Because Quinn had just had a successful run that culminated with the big Wembley show, Arion did a similar anti-British gimmick where he got on the house mic and ran down the local talent, even aligning himself with Quinn, who they planned to bring back in the new year. Unfortunately, his accent was a little thick and he didn't speak into the mic properly, but once the bout got going he drew tremendous heat for his heathen all-in wrestling style. Riley put up a fight, but he was fodder here and Arion soon ran rough shot over him.

Colin Joynson vs. Spiros Arion (11/13/79)

This was crazy. One of the most heated WoS bouts I've ever seen. Arion did the same schtick as above, but this time he claimed he'd beat Joynson within two rounds. He did his all-in brawling and somehow bust Joynson's nose wide open. Then he took the pad off the corner post and rammed Joynson's head into it. Well, the crowd didn't like this. They were on their feet and swarming the ring. More than a few guys had their jackets off and were ready to jump Arion. The only other time I've seen this sort of reaction was with the Caribbean Sunshine Boys. Joynson was the victim, but he was punching guys off the apron to stop them from entering the ring. Finally, Big Daddy came down and cleared Arion from the ring, and one kid who kept trying to enter the ring finally made it through the ropes and tried to raise Daddy's arm, but Daddy being the prick he was shoved the guy out of the way. The ring area was just a swarm of people as Walton closed out the show. Daddy vs. Arion was something they were obviously teasing, but Bridges took his title the following month and that was the end of Arion's run.

[JNLister]

I don't know how true this is, but some wrestlers of the era claim the idea was to create the title for Arion to drop to Daddy, but he refused to do so and they had to have him lose it to Bridges instead.

 

It's certainly a story that makes sense as they did Daddy-Quinn at Wembley in the summer of 79, Bridges got the title in late 79, Quinn took it on Cup Final Day 1980, then they had a Daddy/Bridges-Quinn/Fuji tag match at Wembley in June 80. The working plan was a Daddy-Quinn singles match back at Wembley later that year, but Quinn jumped with the title.

 

I've never really thought it through before, but had that singles match taken place Quinn would have been champ, so there's a good shot they were still planning to put the title on Daddy at that point.

[ohtani's jacket]

I read that the Arion run was derailed somewhat by ITV going on strike during the autumn. Looking at the results, he worked for Joint up until the end of January, 1980. He seems to have been booked against Pat Roach quite often, similar to how they used Roach against Quinn. Apparently, Arion got huge heat in the halls the same as the Joynson match. Whoever was booking this stuff at the time, whether it was McManus or Marino, was keen on foreign heels. Aside from Arion and Quinn, they had Adnan Al-Kaissie and his controversial sleeper hold in the same time period.

[ohtani's jacket]

Leon Arras vs. Ray Steele (6/2/70)

 

This is from the sole episode of WoS we have from 1970, a show which provides us with the only real Jackie Pallo match in circulation. Arras was a school teacher and part-time wrestler who became an actor and writer in the 70s under his real name, Brian Glover. He was a bit of a poor man's Les Kellett and a walking bundle of catch phrases, though I did enjoy his film and television acting the few times that I saw it. This was actually Ray Steele's television debut, and he would go on to appear on television right up until the end in 1988. Walton kept on playing up the fact that Arras had broken Steele's nose in only Steele's third professional fight, as though it was going to play a part in the afternoon's bout, and when Steele got off to a slow start Walton seemed almost miffed. Walton was never one to hide his frustration with a bout, and I can only imagine what the reaction would be if a guy like Gorilla Monsoon acted the way Walton did, though to be fair to Walton this was pretty average.

 

Johnny Wilson vs. Steve Logan (2/4/76)

 

Another television debut, this time Johnny Wilson. Usually, the wrestlers are skinny teenagers on debut, but Wilson was already built. Walton was gushing over how handsome he was, playing on the sexual undercurrent to the Saturday afternoon wrestling, whereas Wilson immediately wormed his way into my heart by smashing Logan with forearms. Wilson put in a good showing here and got Logan to work a bit, which is like getting a donkey to move at times. It was a one fall contest, so a bit on the short side, but Wilson made a good first impression.

 

Steve Logan vs. Johnny Kincaid (2/21/74)

 

Typical example of Logan not wanting to work. Kincaid was better as a heel than a face, so there was that too, but it seemed to me that Logan was dogging it.

 

Dave Bond vs. Steve Logan (2/21/77)

 

This was another less than stellar Steve Logan bout. He had a style that generated a lot of heat despite the fact he would ignore the crowd completely and only acknowledge their existence by staring at the odd fan during the break between rounds, but it relied very much on Logan fueling the fire, and when he wanted to mail it in, nothing would happen in his bouts.

[ohtani's jacket]

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

 

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

 

Ray Steele vs. Romany Riley (10/10/74)

 

This was another solid contest. I always rag on Steele a bit for his lack of personality, but there must have been a reason why the promoters had him on TV a dozen times in 1974 other than the fact they were grooming him as heavyweight star of great potential. Perhaps the crowds viewed him as a good clean cut lad. He was a fine wrestler, no doubt about that. Nothing flashy just sound fundamental grappling and strength holds that make sense.

[ohtani's jacket]

Steve Logan vs. Spencer Churchill (10/10/74)

 

Logan was wrestling twice in one night, so this was never going to be more than a trip to the final for him, but it was a decent enough tussle while it lasted.

 

Terry Rudge vs. John Carlo (3/14/74)

Pre-asskicker Rudge. He did a pretty valiant job of putting over local boy John Carlo, letting him kick out of more than half a dozen finishing moves. Good day at the office in terms of what they were trying to achieve, but not the asskickery you want to see from Terry.

Reverend Michael Brooks vs. Johnny Peters (aired 8/30/75)

Only old-school British wrestling could have a wrestling priest. I don't see how he could ever lose what with the Lord being on his side and all. Father Brooks hadn't been on TV for several years, but worked this quasi-exhibition match on a card which featured a rare George Kidd appearance. Peters was making his TV debut and this was pretty genial as you would imagine with a wrestling priest.

Romany Riley vs. Johnny Wilson (2/21/77)

More solid heavyweight wrestling. As usual, I enjoyed the effort. It's impressive the depth that British wrestling had in the heavyweight ranks when you have such good matches from the second tier guys.

[ohtani's jacket]

So, I decided to get a disc of Ray Steele matches made. Steele is an unlikely choice for a comp, and even though I chose plenty of matches against guys I like, it was either going to be a tremendous surprise or a complete waste of money. But boy has it been fun.

 

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

 

I loved this. I've always had a soft spot for John "the Bear" Elijah, the paleontologist and zoologist, and one time owner of a bear. He was a power wrestler and did a lot of strength holds, including the bear hug of course, and while he wasn't a complete grappler he always gave 100% just like his opponent and had a few neat tricks like Arn Anderson style comedic expressions. Steele, of course, was no showmanship just straight up wrestling, but what I've discovered was that he was a better worker than I gave him credit for in the past. This was a battle of strength holds and a Larry Z game of human chess, and as I've said recently it won't be everyone's cup of tea, but the perspiration and effort that went into this for a pair of big men was terrific to see.

 

Tom Tyrone vs. Ray Steele (4/11/84)

 

I was a bit worried when this was joined in round four, but they ended up showing half of an eight round bout so we got to see plenty of wrestling. Tom Tyrone was a promising young heavyweight who had the misfortune to come along at a time when the business was dying. I've seen him have great matches against Terry Rudge and Pat Roach. This wasn't on the level of those bouts, but it was very satisfying for what it was. Steele treated the kid like he did everyone and gave the best he had that night and the wrestling was very good.

 

Pat Roach vs. Ray Steele (12/19/84)

 

These two matched up countless times over the years and their fights were always good. This was only a 10 minute bout as it was one of those one night knock out tournament deals, this time featuring super big men, but it was great while it lasted. I love how Steele approaches these bouts against Roach, as though he has to chop Roach down to size. They always have really bruising encounters where they uppercuts and knees at each other. Roach usually overpowers Steele in the end, but it's always entertaining.

 

Ray Steele vs. Pete Roberts (9/3/85)

 

This was from the first stand alone episode of wrestling the week after World of Sport ended, and what a great bout to start the new format. This was some serious wrestling. Eight five minute rounds, and the result was an epic contest. Steele had just won the British Heavyweight Championship defeating Roberts in the final of a tournament to decide the vacant title (at least that's what Walton said, the title history I'm looking at says otherwise), and this was a return bout with Roberts trying to earn a title shot. Great feeling out period, great strikes, tremendous game of human chess. Roberts really had a fantastic 1985. I'd have to think about it, but he may have been the best guy on TV that year.

[JNLister]

Correction on an earlier post. The plan in 1980 was for the second Wembley Arena show of the year (which never happened) being Quinn dropping the title back to Bridges, not wrestling Daddy again. No idea whether or not Daddy would have been on the show as well, though they didn't have any obvious singles opponent lined up at that point.

[ohtani's jacket]

Ray Steele vs. Pete Roberts (10/2/85)

 

This was the title shot that Pete Roberts earned by beating Steele in their last bout. The story here was that Roberts had always had a bit of hard luck whenever he challenged for a title and there was a surprising amount of focus on him as the challenger. In fact, Steele was presented as somewhat weak for a guy who had just claimed the heavyweight crown. The action wasn't bad -- it couldn't be really with these two -- but the booking left a bit to be desired. The finish was a double knockout after Roberts had been leading by a fall and it was obvious he would have won on points.

 

Ray Steele vs. Tiger Dalibar Singh (12/11/85)

Pat Roach vs. Tiger Dalibar Singh (12/11/85)

 

This was another in Joint Promotions' endless series of knock out tournaments. Singh/Steele went to a points decision and was pretty typical one night only tournament wrestling. Roach/Singh ended surprisingly quickly, just to maintain the veneer that anything could happen on any given night. None of this was offensive, but not too memorable either.

 

Ray Steele vs. Pat Roach (3/18/86)

 

Steele not being booked as a strong heavyweight champion culminated with this rather unnecessary title loss to Pat Roach. It wasn't a bad bout as these two could still wrestle well despite the fact they were getting on in years, but again the booking was a mystery. I will say it was definitely one of the lesser bouts in their long series, but there was still the same dynamic of Steele trying to chop down a large tree. Mick McManus was the special guest referee here, and I got a kick out of him telling both wrestlers he wanted a good, clean bout. Mick was a small man, and he really made Roach and Steele seem like giants. Some of their exchanges where like watching the Hulk fight Thor in a Jack Kirby splash page.

 

Ray Steele vs. Caswell Martin (5/14/86)

 

So, as with all champions, Steele had the right to a rematch within 90 days of losing his title. You'd think they'd use the time between to put Ray over. That's what most promotions would do. But then Joint never really followed any rhyme or reason. This went to a draw, and again while it wasn't a bad bout, it was hard to see where it fit into the overall picture.

 

Ray Steele vs. Dave Taylor (8/27/86)

 

This was joined close to the end, right before the scoring... It wasn't possible to get a feel for how the bout was over all. Taylor looked awfully young. Roach vacated the British heavyweight title almost as soon as he won it, and they stretched out a tournament to decide the vacant belt with a draw here and a draw in the final, both pending rematches. Singh went on to win the title as poor old Steele got shafted again.

 

Really, this disc could have been anything, but it ended up being rock solid. Steele wasn't booked great when he finally because the British Heavyweight champ, but my admiration for him as a worker has grown exponentially, and I doubt I'll ever hesitate to watch him work again.

[ohtani's jacket]

Ray Steele vs. Tiger Dalibar Singh (10/2/86)

 

This was a rematch to determine the vacant British Heavyweight title after the first match ended in a draw. Joint Promotions loved booking replays. It wasn't uncommon for the final of a tournament to be replayed once or twice before a champion was decided. It gave a sort of football feel to the wrestling; the same way the FA Cup final is replayed if it ends in a draw. Unfortunately, these two didn't match-up particularly well. They were the least of the Roach/Singh/Steele/Rudge/Roberts match-ups at any rate. There was some cool shit in their match-ups, especially involving Singh's headbutts, but overall a bit disappointing. Singh had his father and brother in attendance and they flooded the ring at the end, but he still couldn't muster a shred of emotion.

 

Ray Steele vs. Dave Taylor (12/10/86)

 

These two were supposed to have a rematch of their semi-final from the tournament for the British title, but in typical Joint Promotions fashion the rematch never happened and Steele advanced to the final without any explanation. Anyway, they went to another draw here in what was a decent enough bout. It was fun seeing Taylor in this environment as most of his available stuff is from the German tournaments.

 

Ray Steele vs. Tiger Dalibar Singh (10/8/87)

 

Steele was still chasing the title here. This time he beat Singh in straight falls to stake his claim with the promoters. Again the bout was average.

 

Ray Steele vs. Pat Roach (5/21/86)

 

Steele had the right to a rematch within 90 days of losing his title to Roach and here he exercised that right. "Bomber" Pat Roach, who was rarely used in the title picture, was a popular champion it seemed. At least with this Digbeth crowd. This was okay, though Roach was a bit long in the tooth at this point. The finish was a good old fashioned injury finish. Haven't seen one of those in a while. If I don't sound so excited by all this, it's probably because Steele to Roach to Singh isn't the way I would have booked the heavyweight title. I think they should have given it to Roberts.

 

 

[JNLister]

Thought you'd be interested to know I interviewed Steve Grey today. He had absolutely no idea the Clive Myers match has such a cult status on the US tape trading scene, but seemed genuinely touched to find out.

[ohtani's jacket]

Awesome. Grey has the best body of work of any WoS worker in my opinion.

[rovert]

Thought you'd be interested to know I interviewed Steve Grey today. He had absolutely no idea the Clive Myers match has such a cult status on the US tape trading scene, but seemed genuinely touched to find out.

 

Love hearing stuff like that. I have your Adrian Street piece in the new FSM beside me. Looking forward to reading it over the weekend.

[ohtani's jacket]

Lenny Hurst vs. Pete Roberts (9/1/83)

 

This was a nice solid bout from Roberts and Hurst. Pretty much what you'd expect from Hurst vs, Roberts in his prime. Lenny wasn't really the type to have great matches, but when you put him in with a guy who could work the match was usually pretty good. And Roberts now I pretty much regard as one of the super workers of the era, charisma be damned.

 

Keith Haward vs. Lenny Hurst (6/5/85)

 

Solid draw. If you were looking at it from a booking perspective, it doesn't make much sense for Haward to be drawing with a veteran like Hurst if Haward is supposed to be one of the wrestlers with great potential, but so much of British wrestling exists in a stand alone sense and therefore you just have to buy that Haward wasn't having the best of days. That's actually how Walton puts over the match, as I guess he noticed that Haward wasn't working full bore.

 

Mick McManus vs. Lenny Hurst (12/7/81)

 

Mick was washed up at this point. I'm not sure what the point of him continuing past '77 was. He was only ever pinned a couple of times on television, but he at least lost here. Then again, what's the point in losing to Hurst?

 

John Elijah vs. Lenny Hurst (10/11/83)

 

This was a match with huge potential, but it ended with a bullshit injury finish in the second round. Dunno why they bothered airing this on The Wrestling Channel. Disappointing.

 

Little Prince vs. Keith Haward (12/11/85)

 

This was really good. I liked this. I'd say it was easily the best Little Prince bout I've seen. He kept attacking throughout the bout and really pushed the tempo. Haward got annoyed with him after a while, and it broke down into a big of a chop fest. I didn't realise the Prince had such great chops. The finish was a bit soft, but this was a nice bout with good intensity.

[ohtani's jacket]

Clive Myers vs. Keith Haward (7/15/81)

 

Beautiful bout between these two. Everything you could possibly want from two skilled athletes. The great thing about the match-up is that on the surface it seemed as though Haward had the strength advantage while Myers was the quicker of the two, but Myers was every bit as strong being an arm wrestling champion, and Haward had all the speed of a world class athlete. Lots of slick work in this one and some tremendous highspots (especially from Myers), but also some terrific strength holds and counters. Just a fantastic contest with both guys forced to rethink their strategy between rounds. One of the best Euro matches of the 80s.

[ohtani's jacket]

Steve Grey vs. Jackie Turpin (5/22/85)

This was shaping up to be a truly excellent bout until they pulled an injury finish. To Turpin's credit, he took a committed tumble through the ropes and sold the injury about as well as you'll see in British wrestling, but it was still an injury finish. The meat and potatoes was great tho. Turpin had an unnatural build for wrestling because of his boxing background, and didn't seem like he'd be much chop, but he was extremely quick and matched up well with Grey. Mind you, everyone matches up well with Grey.

Jackie Turpin vs. Steve Grey (12/15/82)

This was a gimmick match similar to the German tiebreakers, where you'd get a point every time you threw your man to canvas. It was the final of a knockout tournament and Walton raved about how this new format was going to really take off. Suffice to say, it didn't. It was interesting to see them see something different, but I was hoping for more of the same re: the above. Brian Crabtree also bugged me by not counting the first point. That bugged me for the entire duration.

Davey Boy Smith vs. Bernie Wright (2/9/83)

This has to be seen to be believed. Davey had been away for a few years and clearly he's been saying his prayers and taking his vitamins. The difference between Davey Boy here and his Young David days is staggering. He uses his new found strength to pretty good effect against Bernie Wright if you can get past how roided he is. Unbelievable.

Colonel Brody vs. Steve Logan (1/9/86)

Steve Logan was rocking the new wave hair style. Brody's gimmick was pretty watered down on British television. I don't think Walton acknowledged that he was South African military. The match was okay, I guess, but without the edge to Brody's character his work isn't all that compelling.

[ohtani's jacket]

Keith Haward vs. Mal Sanders (5/10/83)

 

I didn't realise until this was over and I checked my notes that I'd seen it before. That's an increasing problem now that I've watched just about everything. Looking back on my comments, it seems I was nonplussed with the lack of charisma from Haward and the lack of any spark from the match. This time I thought it was pretty damn good. It might even be the best Sanders match I've seen. Haward outclassed him severely, but it was still an enjoyable contest. It was interesting that after taking a long break from Haward, I was more excited by his wrestling than the last time I saw a bunch of him. He's a wrestling machine, and that's all you get -- just relentless wrestling -- but it's cool if you're in the mood for it.

 

Steve Grey vs. Jackie Turpin (8/11/82)

 

This was a sensational match. Turpin troubled Grey more than anybody had in a while, so much so that Grey began losing his cool. I don't think I've ever seen Grey lose his cool because an opponent is getting the better of him. Turpin pushed him so hard that when Jackie injured himself, Grey went after it with an almost frenzied desperation. Great match that made me want to see every other Jackie Turpin match despite the fact I know they won't be as good. Call it the Steve Grey effect.

 

King Kong Mal Kirk vs. Johnny Wilson (1/13/81)

 

I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but this had the most heat I've seen outside of the Caribbean Sunshine Boys. I'm not sure poor old Mal Kirk enjoyed this period of his career, but he was ugly as sin and over as hell and the people wanted to see Daddy squash him.

 

Catweazle vs. Steve Peacock (1/9/80)

 

Steve Regal says this match is better than McManus vs. Catweazle. Can't say I agree with you there, Steve. Catweazle taking the lead was bloated and not particularly funny. It didn't help that 'Gaylord' Steve Peacock didn't seem to do his gay gimmick on debut, and Walton was putting over his black belt credentials and the fact he was a defensive man in ice hockey instead of the usual fair with Bobby Barnes and Adrian Street. But still, Catweazle is better when he's playing off a guy like McManus than when he's calling the bout.

 

Giant Haystacks vs. Wayne Bridges (7/26/78)

 

This was what you'd expect -- Haystacks stalled and jawed with the crowd, threw some cheap shots and used his tremendous weight advantage to crush Bridge's leg, and Bridges then made a comeback with flying shoulder blocks -- but Haystacks again proved he was about a trillion times better than Dandy. The match finished with a floor board popping up, which they sold as people the result of 50 stone falling on it, but the planned finish would have been some sort of schmoz anyway.

[ohtani's jacket]

Johnny Saint vs. Terry Jowett (12/11/74)

 

I'm pretty sure I've seen this before, but my records say I haven't so I gave it a watch. Not a bad match, really. Jowett didn't have a ton of charisma, but he was clearly a good worker. He took Saint by surprise by pushing the action in the early going, using the type of fast paced moves you'd usually expect from Saint. Johnny had to work his way into this one, which was good because it meant less schtick. Walton mentioned that Jowett had been touring Mexico, which made him seem immediately cooler, and things were going along nicely until the exceedingly lame finish. It wasn't an injury finish or anything like -- in fact, it was clean -- but it was one of those shitty 70s finishes where they drop all the matwork to go the ropes and win off a weak exchange. Hate that shit.

 

Mike Marino vs. Man Mountain Moran (9/11/75)

 

True to his name, Man Mountain Moran was a large man and kind of moved around like the British version of Baba. This was a Super Heavyweight knock out tournament that somehow involved a middleweight. Ours is not to question why. Moran threw Marino into the ropes to start and the top rope came undone. After a short delay the match resumed, and it was basically a whole bunch of cheating from Moran and a mix of retaliation and guile from Marino. But it was entertaining enough.

 

Ray Steele vs. Giant Haystacks (11/18/81)

 

How would my boy Ray Steele fair against Haystacks? Oooh, Haystacks got himself DQ'ed. Way to go, Steele!

 

Giant Haystacks vs. Kwik Kick Lee (1/19/83)

 

Kick him in the head, Maeda! Maeda must have loved this. You could almost see the germ of the UWF idea in his dazed look as Haystacks splashes the absolute fuck out of him.

 

Giant Haystacks vs. Jamaica George (5/7/87)

 

Y'know, for a 1987 match I thought this was pretty damn good. Not guilty pleasure good, but legitimately good. It was a competitive squash, but a really good one. George tried to take the big man to the pay window, which is all you can hope for from tonight's lucky jobber, but it was tight and he sold Stax' elbow drop like a champ. I also got a kick out of Haystacks legit pulling the finger on TV.

[GSR]

Giant Haystacks vs. Kwik Kick Lee (1/19/83)

 

Kick him in the head, Maeda! Maeda must have loved this. You could almost see the germ of the UWF idea in his dazed look as Haystacks splashes the absolute fuck out of him.

 

It's years since I saw this, but this match aired on one of the early episodes of World of Sport on TWC. I remember at the time enjoying this and thinking that Maeda gets a fairly passable and enjoyable match out of 'stacks.

[ohtani's jacket]

I find most of Stax' stuff pretty watchable. He does the same moves in each bout, but they're short and make for good TV at times.

 

Giant Haystacks vs. Steve McHoy (2/24/83)

 

Walton would not stop going on about how good looking McHoy was both "physically and in the face." I guess McHoy was part of the generation of stars who never were. This was a pretty standard Haystacks bout. The formula goes something like this:

 

* Haystacks' opponent tries to take him off his feet

* Haystacks cuts him off with an inside move and begins cheating

* The referee issues a public warning, and the opponent fights back with whatever strike they have

* Haystacks hits the slam and splash, or drops the elbow, and knocks his opponent out

 

The only real variation on it was Haystacks getting himself disqualified. The cool thing about this bout was that afterwards he started messing with the MC Brian Crabtree about wanting a piece of his brother. Crabtree told him Big Daddy was on his way to the ring and Haystacks back elbowed him in the face. The crowd were all on their feet by this point. Haystacks was avoiding Daddy and Crabtree was taken backstage to the dressing room. It was a nice bit of TV that got all the kids stomping their feet and chanting along. Some hilariously bad acting too w/ Big Daddy's "What has he done to Brian?" line being comical.

 

Professor Aki Mojo vs. Johnny Czeslaw (9/26/74)

 

Aki Mojo was a bit of an odd one. According to Walton he was an Israeli with a Japanese name residing in France. The Japanese name part doesn't sound right, but he was doing a judoka gimmick. I couldn't find any information about him in French, so I'm not sure if he was a Catch worker. He didn't do anything particularly amazing. but he looked a lot like some of the rudos we've been seeing in 60s Catch. Walton pulled out his old chestnut of a foreigner not being able to speak a word of English. I love it when that one backfires on him. It's almost as amusing as when he gets uptight over the ring announcer making a mistake or the onscreen graphics being wrong. The bout was mostly Czeslaw schtick, but that's okay. I like his schtick.

 

Bob Anthony vs. Johnny Saint (11/26/80)

 

This was one of the first WoS bouts I watched. I made a few disparaging remarks about Anthony since he was a complete nobody to me at the time. These days, I've come to appreciate the less known wrestlers who appear on tape. Anthony is a bit of a strange case in that he appeared on TV in the early 60s then moved to the independents, but somehow had a handful of TV appearances again in 1980. Walton treated him as a boy despite his age and there was no real mention of him being a vet or an established guy. He was a better worker than I gave him credit for all those years ago and he had some nice exchanges with Saint, but once it was time to go to the finish, Saint's stretch work was again weak.

 

Giant Haystacks vs. Honey Boy Zimba (1/30/79)

 

Zimba was giving away 20 stone here and there wasn't much he could do, but he was jinking and jiving and put on a bit of a show. The headbutt came into the equation, as you'd expect from a gimmick like Zimba's. He had a fun burst before the finish and then it was over. KO. I wonder if you got paid the same for these matches as you did the full rounders.

 

Giant Haystacks vs. Gwyn Davies (3/17/76)

 

I was quite interested in this one as Davies was the British Heavyweight champion at the time, so this time a competitive squash was unlikely. That's not to say the match didn't follow the general formula for most Haystacks matches, but it went 2/3 falls and Davies got more chances to retaliate. We've only got three Davies matches on tape -- one of them being an all-time classic -- and it's a shame that this is one of them when so many better match-ups exist, but it was interesting to see a younger and slimmer Haystacks even if youth didn't greatly improving his wrestling.

 

Giant Haystacks vs. Prince Mann Singh (10/8/80)

 

I guess being heavyweight champion of the Punjab isn't enough to earn you an even contest with Stax. This was extremely similar to the Zimba bout right down to the exact same spots. The only real difference was that Singh used chops instead of headbutts. Stax was a bit sloppy with his trademark spots, but he got the job done with a thunderous splash. Another one bites the dust.

[PeteF3]

In a way I was disappointed to see Davies work that Haystacks match as a total bouncing babyface. I like the idea of either the cocky Davies being overmatched or the big nasty Haystacks having to face an equally nasty opponent.

[ohtani's jacket]

Heel vs. heel would have been cool, but that was pretty rate. IIRC, Breaks wrestled McManus on TV once. I can't imagine how that turned out.

 

Giant Haystacks vs. Tony Francis (10/2/86)

 

The bigger Haystacks got the more the crowd seemed to loathe him. His heat seemed in direct proportion to his girth. Tony Francis is a great wrestling story, like so many unknown Brits, whose career dated back to being a second for the legendary Dirty Jack Pye at Blackpool Tower, but here he was jobbing for Haystacks in 28 seconds. A bit sad really. Afterwards, there was a clip of the wrestlers cutting promos (an innovation that came along late in the piece.) Haystacks was a decent promo by British standards, but Marty Jones jeez. It was endearing, I guess, what with the lazy eye and all, but they harder they tried to match the American presentation the shittier the product looked.

 

Giant Haystacks vs. Johnny Wilson (aired 4/18/81)

 

For some reason, Wilson got longer than the usual one round against Haystacks. Dunno what the politics behind that were. In his last TV appearance, Mal Kirk beat the crap out of him, so you could be forgiven for thinking Wilson was in the dog house. Because it went a few rounds, Haystacks was on top for longer and that sure gets boring after a while. Wilson did a decent job working from underneath, especially on the double interlock (I love Walton-speak), but yeah.. Highlight of this was Brian Crabtree's yellow jumpsuit. Well, that's not entirely fair, the slam and splash looked good w/ Haystacks catching Wilson's crossbody attempt.

 

Giant Haystacks vs. John Cox (9/16/86)

 

John Cox was a hard looking man. Since the WoS footage that aired on TWC is uncut, you often get a little insight into the TV set-up before Walton joins in on commentary. Here we got to see the MC warming up the crowd a bit, and what a shitty crowd it was. Hecklers and assholes doing football chants. Haystacks was big here and his mobility was starting to suffer. Cox jobbed, but it was really poorly orchestrated and about a 10th as well put together as a WWF Superstars match. Walton was at a loss for words and Haystacks got heckled on his way out. Quality!

 

Bert Royal/Vic Faulkner vs. John & Peter LaPaque (12/11/74)

 

This was better than your average WoS tag, but a long way off French catch. The structure was a bit of a mess as it was double FIP without a hot tag, but the LaPaques' cheating was great and the Royals always amuse me with how dickish they are. Vic Faulkner has got to be the ultimate dick babyface. Such a cocky shit. The messiness of the bout made it exciting, but it's odd that British workers didn't cotton on to the hot tag.

 

Mick McManus vs. Bob Anthony (4/21//80)

 

Thought I'd watch this again to give Anthony a fair shake and was surprised by how competitive it was. McManus gave Anthony a frigging shitload of the bout compared to the amount he usually gave opponents. There was very little in the way of Mick's shtick, only the forearm smashes really. Easily the best McManus bout from the 80s, though not representative of his formula. Anthony had some nice holds and acquitted himself well.

 

Catweazle vs. Chris Bailey (7/26/78)

 

Chris Bailey was awesome. Really similar to heel Mike Jordan a decade later with the moustache and male pattern balding. I wish we had more of him as he stomped the everloving shit out of Catweazle, who deserved every bit of it. I enjoyed that. Too bad he took a tumble outside and needed the St.John's people.

[ohtani's jacket]

Giant Haystacks vs. Pat Roach (2/3/82)

 

You'd think if anybody could stand up to Haystacks outside of Big Daddy it would be Pat Roach, but this was bullshit. Both men scored a pinfall over each other and then they were both disqualified for fighting between rounds, but really it looked like they had no chemistry together whatsoever.

 

Giant Haystacks vs. Tiger Dalibar Singh (1/8/87)

 

Singh was the British Heavyweight champion here, so how would he fare against Haystacks? The answer was not very well. He got the DQ win, but was left writhing in pain from the elbow drop to the knee. You'd think Haystacks could do the odd job now and again, especially to put over the British Heavyweight champ. He did it for St. Clair at one point, but Singh could have done with the rub as he wasn't exactly Mr. Charismatic. After the bout, Brian Crabtree went off at Haystacks about finding a bigger, nastier opponent for him to face and Haystacks threw him across the ring. Now there's a match I want to see -- Giant Haystacks vs. Battlin' Brian Crabtree.

 

(All three of the Crabtree brothers were wrestlers incidentally, even promoter Max Crabtree, who was apparently a decent light heavyweight in his day.)

 

Giant Haystacks vs. Rasputin (4/20/88)

 

This was set up by an angle a few weeks earlier where a Super Eight-Man Battle Royal came down to Haystacks and Rasputin, who were tag team partners at the time. Rasputin didn't want to fight his partner, but Haystacks had no qualms about eliminating the Irishman. So this was a short, hot bout with Rasputin looking for revenge. He wasn't a particularly good worker, but some of you may be familiar with him from the Fit Finlay documentary. Match was the usual DQ bullshit, but Haystacks was miffed at the decision and took a swing at referee Jeff Kaye. Kaye dropped like a sack of potatoes and Haystacks followed up with the big elbow. You don't see that much in WoS and it got a chuckle out of me.

 

Wild Angus vs. Pat Roach (11/18/81)

 

Well, after all that it was nice to see two big men who could actually work. Wild Angus was a Scotsman who looked a bit like Alan Moore. Not a great technical worker, obviously, but his work fit his character and he knew his way around the ring well enough. He was pretty well traveled and there's a chance you would have seen his work in Japan or the US. This went a bit long, but it was a decent antidote to the short changing on the Stax matches.

 

Wild Angus vs. Caswell Martin (3/31/81)

 

All right, I've decided. If Gravesend was the best venue for wrestling in the country then Hemel Hempstead was the worst. Every time they taped there, there would be these young guys who would not stop heckling the wrestlers. Wild Angus was Scottish so in this match they wouldn't stop harassing him with English football chants. It was distracting for the wrestlers, distracting for Walton on commentary and distracting for the viewer. A shame really, because Caswell Martin is almost always excellent and Angus could work, but they definitely seemed to be affected by it.

 

Giant Haystacks/Big Daddy vs. Steve Veidor/Tibor Szakacs (4/21/76)

 

This was a fun match. During the intros, I had no idea what to expect. On one side you had two of the all-time great professional wrestlers and on the other side you had Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks, and there was this moment where Tibor was standing there in his yellow jacket looking cool as shit and I had no idea how he was gonna play it. But to Veidor and Szakacs' credit, they hammed it right up. Both guys had awesome strikes and Daddy and Haystacks bumped like fools for them, so it was a pretty good spectacle. Daddy sucked, but we know that. What surprised me was what good buddies he was with Haystacks in their leaner days. They were thick as thieves those two. It almost makes their later rivalry Shakespearean.

 

Wild Angus vs. Honey Boy Zimba (4/7/81)

 

If Hemel Hempstead is the worst crowd ever, then I need to give some props to this Guildford crowd for being an excellent wrestling crowd. They were right behind Honey Boy Zimba, who wasn't exactly a top drawer star, and kept on screaming to the ref about Angus breaking the rules even when he wasn't. In fact, it would've nice if they could have given the partisan crowd a Honey Boy win, but they'd spent a couple of weeks building Angus up as Giant Haystacks' new tag partner and promoting their first match against Daddy and Al Kilby. But Zimba got a lot of heat so this was enjoyable.

[JNLister]

Discovery of the day -- I may have previously mentioned in this thread that ITV had a load of reels of film of 1960s shows that is sat gathering dust because they charge a large sum just to play it and see what's on it, then another large sum to get a copy (which comes with no reproduction/distribution rights.)

 

Turns out it's actually just short of 450 reels of the midweek broadcasts. If one reel=one show, that's the best part of the decade covered.