Lord Alfred Hayes dead at 77

[Guest Big Papi]

Lord Al Hayes dead at 77

By GREG OLIVER - Producer, SLAM! Wrestling

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Wrestling/2005/0...21/1141424.html

 

 

Remembering Lord Alfred Hayes -- who died Wednesday at age 77 -- as just the buffoon second-banana on the WWF Tuesday Night Titans is to do a huge injustice to one of the greatest wrestlers ever to come out of the United Kingdom.

 

Beginning to wrestle in the early 1950s in Britain, the 5-foot-9, 238-pound "Judo" Al Hayes was a top-notch heel wherever he wrestled in the 1960s and 1970s, including Florida, the Central States territory and Texas. He was usually billed as being from Windermere, England.

 

Then, in 1982, he joined the expanding WWF under Vince McMahon Jr., and upped the Britishness of his act. He was in countless skits on Tuesday Night Titans, The Bobby Heenan Show and the various WWF programs, as well as serving as commentator on matches on those shows. He recalled the skits in a 2000 interview with the Wrestling Perspective newsletter. "Yeah, I didn't mind doing those at all. They were good. One or two of them I didn't because I didn't want to and that was okay. Vince [McMahon] said, 'Okay, we'll get somebody else to do that.'"

 

Besides his work as a wrestler and announcer, Hayes served as a heel manager in the American Wrestling Association as well.

 

"I did some managing that I didn't really want to do, but I did it up in Minneapolis. Verne Gagne persuaded me to," Hayes said in Wrestling Perspective. "I said to him, 'No, I don't want to be a manager because when you?re a manager, you go in and you do the main event and the wrestler gets the money and you who do all the work and all the talking get nothing.' So he said, 'I'll pay you what the main event gets.' So that's how much he wanted me to manage."

 

After his time in the WWF came to an end in 1995, he faced a number of health challenges. At the 2001 Cauliflower Alley Club reunion, he was in a wheelchair.

 

 

For the last number of years, Hayes lived on his own in Dallas, Texas. When a stubbed toe led to an infection, which led to gangrene, he had to have part of a leg amputated.

[sek69]

Wow, I figured he would have been a lot older than 77. I heard he was in bad health recently, but it's sad to hear of his passing as he was a big part of my early experiences in wrestling.

 

One thing that article failed to mention (and it's probably his biggest contribution) is him being the guy who brought Andre to the WWF, at least in storyline.

[Guest WidowsPeak]

This is very sad news :(

[Loss]

"Promotional consideration paid for by the following."

 

*RIP*

 

I'll always remember his voiceover for Fruit Stripes gum.

[Al]

And I remember his promos for freezer pops.

 

I always liked Lord Alfred. This is indeed a shame.

[Guest Some Guy]

"Promotional consideration paid for by the following."

 

*RIP*

 

I'll always remember his voiceover for Fruit Stripes gum.

That's exactly what I was thinking. I never cared for him as a commentater, but he was a decent interviewer and his lecherous old man act was subdued enough to be funny at times, as opposed to Lawler's over-the-top act.

[Guest SweetMama Scaat]

Its kindve like whoever the Velocity commentators, no matter whos wrestling seem kindve out of place.

 

Thats the impression I got when Lord Alfred and Sean Mooney were on commentary.

 

But I kinda liked it. RIP.

[Guest Bruiser Chong]

Odd that I was just watching some of the Coliseum Videos Will burned to DVD for me with Hayes on commentary. I never liked him on commentary, but he was a unique announcer, I can give him that.

 

For some reason, 77 seems too old for me. I would've imagined in his 60s. I recall reading about how poor of health he'd been in (even getting part of his leg amputated), so perhaps it's for the best. His work for the advertisers was the bomb, though.

[goodhelmet]

Well, if you believe that wrestling deaths happen in threes, You have Miguel PErez, Shinya Hashimoto and Lord Alfred Hayes all dying near the same time. I am looking forward to next week's Observer, esp. since Dave will probably have a write-up on his career. To be honest, outside of his announcing, I know very little about the man.

[Guest WidowsPeak]

I was watching one of his wrestling matches from 1975 England the other night.

[goodhelmet]

Well.. how was it?

[Guest WidowsPeak]

I thought it was quite good actually. The match used the rounds system with 6 five minute rounds with a 30 minute time limit. Hayes' certainly played a good heel and the crowd was behind Steve Veidor, who was his opponent. I really need to watch it again to have any real opinion of it since I watched it at like three in the morning

 

Hayes' cheated so many times that he exhausted his public warnings and was on the verge of losing by DQ when he was pinned by Veidor after a sunset flip.

[Guest Dazed]

From the British matches I've seen recently, "Judo" Al was quite the heel. Of course, everything was more pantomimesque, with the heels stamping on toes and denying everything to the referee. His sense of comic timing, something which came over somewhat in his WWF days was far more evident then, and he was effective in his role as a heel.

 

The wrestling was far different then, with the emphasis being on the struggle over each hold, and recuperation after each move, which makes the pace far slower than (I'm struggling to come up with a better word than "usual".) His matches were certainly watchable though, which is about as big a compliment I can give him working that style. I'd be interested in seeing him in other promotions, if such footage exists.

 

A shame to see him go, especially given the way he'll be remembered after his tenure in the WWF. He's no bumbling Englishman, dammit.

[Guest Some Guy]

Well, if you believe that wrestling deaths happen in threes, You have Miguel PErez, Shinya Hashimoto and Lord Alfred Hayes all dying near the same time. I am looking forward to next week's Observer, esp. since Dave will probably have a write-up on his career. To be honest, outside of his announcing, I know very little about the man.

I seem to remember reading somewhere that he had a big dick. That's something about him, I suppose.