Alan Kilby

[ohtani's jacket]

Thought I'd start a thread for one of the most unique workers in the history of professional wrestling, Alan Kilby.

 

Kilby, to my knowledge, is the only deaf wrestler to have ever worked in a major promotion. He was actually deaf-mute, though I believe the deaf community no longer approve of this term. In Kilby's day, they referred to him as "the deaf and dumb star, Alan Kilby."

 

For the most part, his deafness was treated with respect. Walton never failed to mention it and there was a series of explanations he would go through from Kilby lip reading the referee's instructions, to having a corner man who could sign for him, and Kilby not being able to hear the bell and apologising for failing to release a hold. Occasionally, heel opponents would taunt him, but more so because he was a tremendously popular babyface and not because he was deaf. I can't remember too many overt taunts over his hearing, but heels loved to rile him up.

 

In the far flung future, if a DVDVR Europe set is released, I expect Kilby to be popular. He was a fantastic worker (one of the best to debut in the 80s) and an even better babyface. His selling was excellent and he excelled at playing the fired up babyface. Whether it was because of his perceived disability I'm not sure, but he wouldn't take shit from anyone, which often led to some tremendously heated bouts.

 

He was a mid to light-heavyweight, who wrestled the likes of King Ben, Dave Finlay, Chic Cullen and Rocky Moran in his own weight class. I'll add some reviews of those matches in due course.

 

[ohtani's jacket]

Dave Finlay vs. Alan Kilby (10/11/82)

 

This was one of Kilby's best feuds. The dynamic was almost perfect. It as never talked about on air, but you always got the feeling that Kilby had a bit of a chip on his shoulder, as though he felt he needed to work harder than everyone else to compensate for his disability. I think most of the fans watching in the halls and at home probably felt that too if only subconsciously. If true then there as no better opponent for Kilby than Finlay. You only had to take one look at Finlay and it became clear why every other wrestler wanted to wipe the shit eating grin from off his face. He was young, brash and full of himself and took real pleasure in the being an asshole. He didn't openly mock Kilby for his disability, but he made Kilby feel inferior in other ways and the subtext was clearly there. What's more, the Irishman had taken Kilby's British Heavy-Middleweight title from him, which was a real blow to Kilby's pride. Of the four Kilby/Finlay matches I've seen, I would probably place this as number two. It was joined in progress about a third of the way into the bout and while it started slow it got really good towards the end. Finlay had this spot he'd do in these early matches of his where he'd point at his opponent and give them a fair old warning about what to expect if they crossed some sort of imaginary line and because he was such an asshole his opponents wouldn't take to it too kindly. Here Kilby was so exasperated he used a mixture of his voice and sign language to complain bitterly to the ref, or as Walton so cringe worthily called it, "the deaf and dumb language." Kilby was so good at getting fired up. I'd put him in the top handful of babyfaces who could get fired up without seeming like complete dicks. It really was a beautiful dynamic between these two. The match went to a draw, but Walton did a really good job of laying out the stakes in the final rounds, what it would mean for Kilby to win and how the promoters would react to a Finlay win, that the final round felt like a title match and not a non-title bout. I wish there was more of this feud on tape.

[ohtani's jacket]

Alan Kilby vs. Ray Robinson (3/9/82)

 

Robinson's television debut. Highlights of each pinfall was all that aired.

 

Alan Kilby vs. John Elijah (4/4/84)

 

This was a good match-up. It wasn't as exciting as Kilby's matches against the top heels, but it was a neat contest and a good showcase for Kilby's wrestling skills. Elijah was always a bit of a JTTS in his own weight class and even in these catch weight contests, but he always gave a decent account of himself and I'd happily watch any of his match-ups. This was wrestled in his typical style with plenty of strength holds and power spots. What impressed me was how well Kilby sold Elijah's offence and how much effort they put into the holds. Nothing came easy; there was a great spot towards the end of the bout that epitomised this: Elijah picked Kilby up for a gorilla press but Kilby hooked Elijah's arms and tried to take him over for a body press. Kilby was wriggling frantically, but Elijah lowered his centre of gravity, walked forward and slammed Kilby over his shoulder onto the mat. Like this they fought for every bit of advantage. Not a heated bout as I said, but I dug Kilby in this and his selling and reactions were great.

[ohtani's jacket]

Alan Kilby vs. John Elijah (9/11/84)

 

A bit slower and more methodical than their first match from '84. Still plenty to like, but not as well contested as the Blackburn bout.

 

Alan Kilby vs. Chic Cullen (7/25/84)

 

This was all right, but disappointing by title match standards. The first time I watched it I thought it as a dull face vs. face bout and was down on Cullen. On re-watch, Cullen's grappling was better than I'd thought, but he controlled the bout a bit too much for my liking and consequently Kilby had a quiet match. I expected more from this because their earlier draw in June was very good.

 

Alan Kilby vs. John Elijah (5/22/85)

Alan Kilby vs. John Elijah (2/12/86)

 

Well, these two had their match and they didn't stray very far away from it. I didn't really need to see these as the first match they had was the best and the subsequent matches didn't add much, plus they weren't feuding so the finish was usually the same with Kilby getting the rub from beating a heavyweight.

[ohtani's jacket]

Alan Kilby vs. King Ben (6/18/86)

 

This had the potential to be an exciting bout but it was a bit flat. There was a spot that summed up Ben nicely. Kilby put him in a hold and Walton exclaimed "danger here!" but Ben just lay there with a dopey grin on his face. Walton was so embarrassed/taken aback that he went into a lengthy (and unusual for him) explanation about how older wrestlers used to submit people instantly with the same hold and that Ben deserved credit for not submitting. To me it was yet another indication that Ben didn't get the most out of his bouts. There was some good stuff down the stretch but nothing outstanding. And par for the course in '86 when Walton said there were two rounds to go they immediately cut to the final round. These two years that ITV tried to kill off wrestling was a slow painful death.

 

Skull Murphy vs. Alan Kilby (11/1/84)

This was joined half way through and was good stuff. I've been impressed in the latest batch of footage how good Murphy was working from the top. Of course Kilby is a great opponent for him since he's just the kind of guy that heels love to pick on, but he's gone up in my estimation by leaps and bounds.

Skull Murphy vs. Alan Kilby (7/10/85)

This was supposed to be a title bout but Murphy came in seven pounds too heavy so it was switched to a non-title bout. Since the weights were worked, I'm not sure why they pulled these bait and switch tactics, but perhaps they did it to maintain the legitimacy and credibility of the weight classes. Murphy took out his frustrations on Kilby and I actually thought he cheated too much here. They had a better bout in them if it hadn't been all about Murphy riding his luck with public warnings. One thing Murphy had going for him was that everywhere they played crowds hated his guts. I don't know if it was his shaven head or his constant cheating, but he rubbed them up the wrong way. For that reason alone, I would consider him one of the stronger heels of the decade, but like I said I wanted a bit more out of this bout.

Honey Boy Zimba vs. Alan Kilby (12/3/82)

Boy was Zimba fat here. The most interesting thing about this was the spilled water that led to the finish of the Marty Jones/Skull Murphy match. I still can't figure out whether that was an intentionally booked finish. It just seems so convoluted that they would set-up the finish to the next match but having Kilby innocuously spill his drink bottle. If it was booked that way then whoever came up with it was either a genius or bored.

Alan Kilby vs. Diamond Shondell (10/31/85)

Shondell was from the same stable of wrestlers that were trained by Finlay's dad Dave Finlay Sr, only you'd never guess it because it was an out and out comedy wrestler. Walton found him highly amusing and it's worth watching the bout just to hear Kent's reactions. Really quirky stuff. Kilby had some great reaction shots.

Alan Kilby vs. Billy Jo Beck (8/29/85)

Trivia time folks. If anyone asks you what the final wrestling bout shown on WoS was then here's your answer, Alan Kilby vs. another Northern Irishman. Not what you'd call going out on a high note. Hidden Kilby gems look pretty scant at this point.

Alan Kilby vs. Johnny Apollon (11/1/83)

Apollon was a bodybuilder type that had been brought into the business by Lee Bronson and owned the gym that Keith Haward and Tom Tyrone worked out at, all of whom were good connections. He looked a decent prospect but didn't have any connection with the crowd and lacked any showman skills. Kilby was better in '83 than just the late 80s malaise, but I don't think he was the type to carry a lesser worker. More of a quality foil for heels. By and large the heels were meant to call the matches in British wrestling, but Apollon wasn't all that heelish and that was another area where he wasn't doing it for the crowd. I liked him enough to want to see him again though.

[ohtani's jacket]

Mike Marino vs. Alan Kilby (2/11/81)

 

Marino was apparently 58 when he died, but he looked like he was in his 60s here. He was wearing a blue t-shirt underneath an amateur singlet, I suppose because he was conscious of his upper body. McManus did a similar thing in his final years. On the other hand, he had leukemia at the time so who knows what he was going through. Despite his ill health and advancing age, he was still an impressive mat wrestler, which meant the competitive part of this was good; but it was sullied by an injury finish that saw Kilby lose despite being up a fall. The point of the finish was for Marino to get on the mic and offer Kilby a rematch (and shot at his title); yet another shitty finish to a career full of them due to how protected he was. The rematch never eventuated due to an injury to Marino and he died in August, so this marks his final television appearance.

[ohtani's jacket]

One thing I forgot to mention about Marino is that when he gets on the mic it totally kills the Italian immigrant gimmick he had.

 

Alan Kilby vs. King Ben (8/7/86)

 

This looked much better than their June bout but was clipped to shit for television broadcast.

 

Alan Kilby vs. Barry Douglas (2/27/85)

 

Just the final two rounds. The action was decent if unspectacular. There weren't any standout performances from this last bit of Alan Kilby, which is disappointing, but like a lot of guys he went all right in the early 80s when Joint was still good then laboured in the waning years as it crapped out. Even so, his performances in these matches really wasn't anything special and I may have to concede that he has a smaller number of good matches than thought and perhaps not a premier worker.

[ohtani's jacket]

Alan Kilby vs. King Ben (10/7/81)

 

This was absolutely incredible. I would have no hesitation in calling this one of the best WoS bouts ever. It was a title bout for the vacant British Heavy-Middleweight title, made vacant when Rocco won the World Heavy-Middleweight belt, and began with Brian Crabtree asking everyone to rise for the national anthem. At first, I thought there was much less fanfare for the Heavy-Middleweight belt than there had been for the World Heavyweight Championship bout between Bridges and Quinn, but from that point on the bout was phenomenal. The intensity was like nothing I've seen in WoS. Ben didn't smile once. Here was a guy who would lie in a hold and grin, but there were no jokes, no smirks, no tricks, no shtick, just sheer, bloody-minded determination. Both men wanted the title bad and they put on a hell of a wrestling bout. Imagine for a moment all of the stuff you find gimmicky or exhibition-y about WoS, then imagine if they took it deadly serious. Whatever image you have, it doesn't begin to approach the level of intensity here. On an older British wrestling message board there was a suggestion that these two had heat in real life. Whether they did or not, the match was wrestled on a razor's edge. I don't want to give away the finish, but it was so special that Brian Crabtree treated the post-match like a tennis final interviewing both men in the ring and mixing commiserations with congratulations. A really special moment in the annals of WoS. Top 10 WoS match for the 80s minimum.

[Karl]

My memory is little hazy given the passing years, but Kilby was my first wrestling hero - I used to love watching him when I was a child, but have not seen a single match since. This will have to change. What sticks clearly in mind is the feud with Finlay and the vitriol with which Finlay used to taunt Kilby, but Kilby was always let his actions in the ring speak for him. Kilbymania ran wild in my house.

[ohtani's jacket]

Alan Kilby vs. Tony "Banger" Walsh (2/17/82)

 

I was excited to see this turn up. Sure it only lasted two rounds but it was fun while it was lasted. They could have had a really nice four rounder, but Walsh was a disqualification waiting to happen, and with two public warnings against him, his pearl harbour on Kilby after Al took the opening fall was enough for Kwango to throw the bout out. It reminded me of when my mate and I in New Zealand would pop for heels that marched to the beat of their own drum. Interesting that Walton mentioned that Walsh was writing a book given his infamous expose. Kilby was in such great shape in the early 80s. He didn't get to show his wares here, but what an awesome talent.