Steve Grey

[Grimmas]

Discuss here.

[ohtani's jacket]

The first ever Steve Grey match I saw was the Clive Myers match that Bix uploaded many years ago. At the time it was one of the coolest things I had ever seen and with the help of Real Man's Man (God bless you, wherever you may be), I was able to eventually see more WoS along with the torrents that made their way onto YouTube. Then I hooked up with my man in Birmingham and watched practically every Steve Grey match ever.

 

I'm now going to gush so much about Steve Grey he'll blush if he reads this... Steve Grey is for my money the greatest babyface in the history of wrestling. There's never been a more likeable face to me. He comes across as the nicest guy ever. When Walton gives that antidote about Grey teaching carpentry to pensioners and disabled people in his free time, how could you not take him home to meet your mother? And he's a world class wrestler to boot. Nobody has a deeper catalog of good WoS bouts than Steve Grey. I could list off a bunch of names and I guarantee one of their best bouts was against Grey if not their very best. And that's an ever expanding list with workers you've never heard of. He has been single-handedly responsible for changing my opinion of several different wrestlers from a negative to a positive, had classics in the 70s and 80s, and was one of the best guys even when Joint was going down the toilet. I think he's a serious candidate for the best British worker ever and will be in my top 20.

[Childs]

OJ, you should provide a quick match list for Grey, so people know where to start.

 

I'll happily co-sign all of the above. He'll likely be my top pure WoS guy.

[ohtani's jacket]

I don't know if all of these will be on YouTube. Some of them will be, but mostly with their air dates not the dates I've used.

 

Steve Grey vs. John Naylor (4/10/75)

Steve Grey vs. Ken Joyce (7/31/75)

Clive Myers vs. Steve Grey (10/8/75)

Clive Myers vs. Steve Grey (11/20/75)

Zoltan Boscik vs. Steve Grey (aired 5/8/76)

Steve Grey vs. Mick McManus (5/21/77) [Cup Final Day]

Clive Myers vs. Steve Grey (12/6/77)

Bobby Barnes vs. Steve Grey (7/26/78)

Steve Grey vs. Mark Rocco (10/11/78)

Johnny Saint vs Steve Grey (1/28/80)

Johnny Saint vs. Steve Grey (2/11/81)

Steve Grey vs. Jim Breaks (5/12/81)

Jon Cortez vs. Steve Grey (7/27/81)

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

Jim Breaks vs. Steve Grey (4/7/83)

Steve Grey vs. Steve Speed (1/25/84)

Steve Grey vs. Clive Myers (3/5/84)

Steve Grey vs. Keith Haward (2/5/85)

Steve Grey vs. Clive Myers (3/20/85)

[GSR]

Then I hooked up with my man in Birminghamand watched practically every Steve Grey match ever.

Is that Carl by any chance? I've nominated Myers now (whilst I prefer his earlier stuff, I don't mind his later martial arts schtick), also nice that someone has put forward Alan Sarjeant.

[ohtani's jacket]

Yeah, it's Carl.

[ohtani's jacket]

The '86 series with a heel Mal Sanders is another feather in the cap of Grey. Just a tremendously fun series along the lines of say Regal/Sting ten years later.

[GSR]

Steve Grey vs Jon Cortez (12.13.73)

This is one of the earliest Grey bouts on tape, with the only one earlier that I could find being a match against Eddie Capelli from the year prior. It is also during this bout that Kent Walton informs us how Grey teaches handicraft to OAPs and the handicapped! Nearly the entire first round of this contest was worked around a headlock, firstly with Cortez in control and then Grey. After two rounds of straight wrestling Cortez starts to get more aggressive in his offense, firstly palming Grey in the face and then hitting him with a great sounding uppercut. He cartwheels out of a headmare immediately throwing a dropkick and Walton is not happy with Cortez losing his cool thinking that it could spoil the contest. Cortez continues to be the aggressor into the fourth giving Grey a shot whilst he is on the ropes and another uppercut. Grey responds with a dropkick of his own which catches Cortez in the chest. He does a nice sell job as though he's been winded, even delaying releasing Grey when they are in the ropes on the next move to give him a little bit more time to get his breath back. Grey lands on his feet from a monkey flip and when Cortez tries it again Grey holds on to the knee as he goes over to take it with him. The finish comes after Grey again lands on his feet from a monkey flip and surprises Cortez with a dropkick, he follows up with a headmare but Cortez comes back with a cross body for the pin.

 

A slow burner of a bout as I went in with pretty high expectations from these two. It really picks up from the third round and it's interesting to see them work for so long just off a headlock. I've another Grey/Cortez match to come (from eight years later) so it will be interesting to see how it compares to this one.

[GSR]

Steve Grey vs Jon Cortez (07.27.81)

Prior to this match Johnny Saint comes into the ring as this is to be an eliminator for a shot at Saint's World Lightweight title later in the year. This is fought at a much quicker pace than the previous bout with Cortez having the advantage in the first round, even going for a pin attempt when turning a Grey back hammer escape into a sunset flip. At the end of the first we see Grey lose his temper thinking Cortez's attack came after the bell. Into the second and a front head chancery by Cortez which Grey spins out of and again Cortez is not breaking when on the ropes. Great action towards the end of the second as Grey tries to keep hold of a wrist lever whilst Cortez does all he can to escape. Full nelson by Cortez which is reversed by Grey, which Cortez then turns it into a crucifix for another pin attempt, but he's not happy with the referee thinking he's slow with his count. Cortez goes for a straight arm lift submission and then continues to concentrate on this hold, applying it a second time and when he goes for it a third (which could well get him the submission) Grey responds with a forearm smash that drops Cortez who has a look of 'Well the f____, so it's like that is it?' on his face. The bell rings to end the third but the two continue to argue after the bell with Cortez not happy at all about how Grey got out of the hold. Both are sweating considerably at this point with Cortez again looking at the left arm of Grey. Another straight arm lift but Grey escapes the fingerlock, stands on Cortez's shoulder, leaps to the canvas and hits a dropkick. Cortez barely beats the count and looks shattered. He bides his time trying to rest in the corner and slowing the pace whilst Grey beckons him to come in to the centre of the ring to continue. Leg grab from Grey and a kick to the thigh of Cortez and he isn't happy, complaining to the referee again. Grey has him backed up to the ropes and Cortez strikes him which prompts Grey to retaliate with a forearm to the chest and another kick to the leg. They again continue arguing after the bell and butt heads this time. The penultimate round and Grey looks for the surfboard, but has to give up when he can't get Cortez's arms. Cortez continues to suffer and sells the surfboard attempt nicely with his legs seemingly giving way. Monkey flip attempt from Cortez and Grey lands on his feet, tries it again but to his dismay he again lands on his feet. Goes for it a third time, but Grey drops him down for a folding press and Cortez just about kicks out in time and yet again there is more argy after the bell with Grey slapping Cortez. With one round left, Cortez jumps Grey immediately. Grey ends up getting his legs caught between the bottom two ropes and falls backwards hanging upside down outside the ring. The Red Cross and St. John's Ambulance come to help Grey, but the bout is called off with him unable to continue and Cortez is the victor by TKO.

 

This is a great, great match, and is probably the best match I've watched from 80's WOS so far. It doesn't have the high impact moves of Haward vs Myers, but I feel is a better match. The bout is really heated with both being more aggressive than normal (you rarely see Grey like he is in this one), as the added incentive of the title shot against Johnny Saint for the winner gives an added dimension to the contest. It'll take something special to beat this for my WOS match of the decade.

[Childs]

I watched Grey vs. Myers from 11/20/75 last night and it was absolutely spectacular. Those guys were phenomenal athletes--quick, deft, balanced, fluid. And the wrestling was just beautiful to watch, though it never got nasty, like some of my other favorite WOS bouts. Right now, I'm thinking Grey could easily crack my top 30, and Myers could make my list as well. I'd encourage anyone who's voting to give this stuff a taste, especially given how readily it's available on YouTube.

[ohtani's jacket]

Myers and Grey had a whole series of matches. I recommend checking out their other 70s bouts as well as their 3/5/84 and 3/20/85 bouts. It always impressed me how they had one of the bouts of the decade in the 70s and again in the 80s.

[Big Rob]

Longevity gives Grey an edge over a lot of the WOS guys too, they guy was flat out awesome in to the 00's, having really good matches with a wide range of guys like Taiji Ishimori, Marty Scurll and his old rival Mal Sanders.

 

I also saw him work heel once, it was spectacular.

[GSR]

Longevity gives Grey an edge over a lot of the WOS guys too, they guy was flat out awesome in to the 00's, having really good matches with a wide range of guys like Taiji Ishimori, Marty Scurll and his old rival Mal Sanders.

 

I also saw him work heel once, it was spectacular.

 

I've a couple of WAW DVDs and he makes an appearance on them first against Steve Quintain (who I've never seen) and against Jonny Storm on another (who I've always found really overrated). I'm kinda disappointed that I got rid of my LDN stuff as I'm sure he wrestled a few bouts on those aswell.

 

My plan is to watch my WOS stuff, then selected matches from Reslo and the Screensport shows (chuffed to realise that there are a couple of Cortez bouts in those) and then check out the most recent stuff.

 

[GSR]

Johnny Saint vs Steve Grey (01.28.80)

This is a return contest from the previous December where Grey came out on top. They open up quickly with Saint catching Grey in an armlock, who does all he can to try and escape; he biels him off the ropes, holds on to referee Peter Szakacs to flip over, tries using the top rope all whilst Saint maintains hold of the armlock. With the round closing out Grey finally works out an escape and frees himself. On to the second and the two exchange holds, each trying to gain the advantage but with Saint mainly having the upper hand. He moves back to working on Grey's arm and similarly to the first Saint holds on to the move despite everything that Grey tries to escape. Head mares are having no luck and eventually he rolls backwards, forwards and throws a grounded kick to the chest to release himself. Saint moves to working on a hammerlock as the bell sounds to close out he second. Again Saint concentrates on the arm and with a back hammer in place looks for a pinfall, but a series of reversals sees Saint spin Grey out of a folding press. Grey grabs the arm and wrenches Saint as he finally starts to get some ascendancy in the bout. He turns his attention to Saint's left arm, but Saint flips out of the hold and again moves back to holding the advantage. Hip toss takedown and pin attempt from Grey for a two count, double arm stretch by Saint and Grey repeatedly kicks Saint gently in the jaw to force the escape. Dropkick from Grey and Saint comes off the ropes with a sunset flip for a near fall. Saint takes a bump over the rope early in the fourth after being spun out of a Grey hold. A series of pin attempts by both and then Grey runs off the ropes, Saint leaps over him and immediately drops down into a ball. Saint offers the hand, Grey takes it, Saint flips him over and covers him for the first fall. Saint opens the next round with an abdominal stretch as he looks to take the contest in two straight. Grey briefly makes a come back, but Saint goes back to working for the submission. A single leg crab is followed by a full boston crab that Grey ends up powering out of, over the knee backbreaker, side surfboard and a version of the torture rack backbreaker all by Saint as he tries for that second fall.

 

Before Round Six starts, Kent Walton says that Johnny Czeslaw hasn't been well and sends him his best wishes whilst quipping about not putting any half nelsons on the nurses! At this point Walton stops calling the action and mentions how Steve Logan has recently had to retire due to injury and both Johnny Yearsley and Gwyn Davies are out of action recovering from injuries. He then talks about the 'clever boys' who write for 'sleazy newspapers' who say that the wrestlers don't really get hurt, and how he wishes they could get in the ring with one of these two. Back to the action and Grey has a back hammer on Saint that he flips over the back of. Grey misses a dropkick, Saint shoots him into the ropes looking for a hip toss take down but Grey reverses it into a backslide for the equalizing fall. With the bout all even Grey is back to working on Saint's arm, but he escapes and turns the tables starting on Grey's ankle in an attempt to try and slow him down. Monkey climb escape from Grey, Saint lands on his feet and looks to try and post Grey in the corner but he reverses it. Saint blocks the posting and ducks under Grey who goes over the top and down the back for a double leg nelson, folding press by Saint and Grey spins him out. Saint drops down and tries to schoolboy Grey but he turns on the move and tries for another pin attempt. Double leg nelson by Saint this time, folding press by Grey and he has the legs trapped and shoulder's down for the decisive fall. After the bout Saint says that as Grey has now beaten him twice, it's only fair that Grey now gets a shot at his World Lightweight title.

 

This was a great match that was fought at a tremendous pace from the onset. Often these matches will start out slow and they will move things up as the match progresses but that was not the case here. I hated the way that Saint got his fall, but this bout is a really good advert for him as a lot of his 'kooky stuff is kept to a minimum and wasn't really on show here. It'd be interesting to find out what led to Walton going off on one as it was so out of the blue and unexpected. I'd rank this a notch below Grey's bout with Jon Cortez but still one that is well worth checking out.

[Big Rob]

If I remember correctly, the Quintain match is the one where Grey works heel.

 

Longevity gives Grey an edge over a lot of the WOS guys too, they guy was flat out awesome in to the 00's, having really good matches with a wide range of guys like Taiji Ishimori, Marty Scurll and his old rival Mal Sanders.

 

I also saw him work heel once, it was spectacular.

 

I've a couple of WAW DVDs and he makes an appearance on them first against Steve Quintain (who I've never seen)

 

[Big Rob]

Steve Grey vs Johnny Kidd - October 2006

Certainly not a high-end Grey match, but definitely a good indicator of what he could in his later years. Still really athletic and showing good personality, and whilst there are some familiar spots and sequences it never seems like too much of an exhibition. This is actually quite short for the kind of match he would be having around this time, but still lots of fun and worth watching for Kidd as well, whose selling I always enjoy. I liked that it has Grey's frustrated elbow smash spot from the Cortez match from about 30 years previous. I'm sure Grey did it a ton in reality, but I'd literally just watched his bout with Cortez and the callback made me smile.

[GSR]

Steve Grey vs Ritchie Brooks (05.14.86)

Brooks is a 21 year old who has only been in the business a couple of years at this point. A side headlock and arm lever from him as he has some early dominance. Full nelson which Grey breaks and releases himself from and Brooks is back to working the side headlock which Grey handstands and flips his way out of. He tries to throw Brooks, but the youngster cartwheels through it. An arm lever which Brooks nicely escapes from before a back hammer and wristlock by Grey to close out the round. Round two and a quick schoolboy attempt from Grey. A cravat and headmare before a full nelson. Grey whips Brooks into the ropes, he ducks looking for the back body drop but Brooks goes over for a sunset flip, folding press by Grey and Brooks spins him out. Grey hooks the leg but Brooks sits down on him, reverse double leg nelson, countered with a folding press by Brooks but instead of going over he holds a headstand position for the first fall. Round three is cut from the broadcast, and Grey starts to work on Brooks' arm in the fourth. Backdrop and headmare from Grey but a quick roll up from Brooks gets him a two count. Brooks this time focusses his attention on Grey's left arm including throwing both a dropkick and head butt to it; he goes for a second dropkick but Grey steps out of the way. Boston crab by Grey but he gives up on the hold when it's clear to him that Brooks wont submit and with Brooks in pain from the crab attempt he looks for the surfboard submission, but the round ends before he can fully apply the hold. In to the next and a posting from Grey followed by a headmare and with Brooks clearly suffering with his back Grey again tries for the surfboard. This time he is in the centre of the ring and with plenty of time remaining is able to apply the hold getting the equalizing submission. The sixth and final round and Brooks is still selling his back. After his success in the previous round Grey goes for the surfboard, but Brooks struggles and fights the attempt to the point that Grey gives up on the hold. Over the shoulder backbreaker but he can't quite get Brooks up and he continues to concentrate his efforts on the weakened back of Brooks. Brooks gets a brief advantage returning his efforts to Grey's left arm even managing to execute a straight arm lift. He goes to post Grey but it's reversed and Brooks crashes into the turnbuckle. He fights off another surfboard attempt, but Grey grabs the double leg and turns it into a Boston crab. The timekeeper announces sixty seconds left and Grey decides to give up clear in his mind that Brooks wont submit to that hold. With the time limit expiring he goes for one last surfboard but no luck, and the bout is declared a draw.

 

I thought Grey did a tremendous job on this one and Brooks more than played his part. Grey gave him enough early and made Brooks seem like a credible threat to the point that when he rolled Grey up in the fourth, I genuinely thought Brooks was winning 2-0. As the match wore on the experience of Grey showed, whilst Brooks still had his hope spots. Brooks selling of the back was really nice, although you could question the over reliance on going for the surfboard (though it is a Grey staple), whilst there was a sense of a real struggle and fight over the hold in the last round. It also made a change to see Grey in the role of the veteran here working with a young and up and coming wrestler. Good stuff.

[Childs]

There's been talk about how Breaks might be the only British wrestler a lot of people rank. And I get that; he was both a terrific hold-for-hold worker and a memorable character. But I wanted to bump this in hopes that some folks give Grey a late look. His career was so well-documented on television compared to a lot of the other British greats, and he was consistently excellent, really one of the top pure babyfaces I've seen. He's in my top 30 at the moment.

[Matt D]

I'm sort of honing it in, but I do feel like Grey could be in my top 30 as well.

[ohtani's jacket]

Now there's music to my ears.

[Tim Cooke]

Breaks and Grey are in my top 30. Funny thing is I'm still nitpicking exactly where they fit and who will be higher

 

Cortez will be in the 70's or 80's

[ohtani's jacket]

Grey vs. Breaks is interesting. I'd say that Grey has the greater volume of strong matches on tape, but there are a couple of reasons for that. He debut later than Breaks so more of his prime is on tape, and Breaks was often booked in lengthy programs as opposed to the variety of opponents Grey faced. A lot of the time Breaks was assigned to work with young talent. Every now and again he'd face a gimmick worker. Grey avoided much of that. He was also on TV for longer and had productive years in '85 and '86. Grey also got to work a greater amount of catch weight bouts, which often produced the best matches. My gut feeling is that if we had more of Breaks' 60s and 70s work available that Breaks would come out on top, but I will say that not all of the rare Breaks matches I have are blow away bouts. Physically, he was in amazing shape in the early 70s, but I think his character stuff grew as TV wrestling became increasingly flamboyant. I actually think the Young David feud may be he peak of Breaks. In my mind anyway.

[Parties]

They're both top 35 - I've had Breaks higher but need to watch more Grey.

[Jimmy Redman]

Grey I'm definitely ranking. I don't know if I have him as high as my favourite British guys - Breaks, Jones, Rocco - but he'll certainly place well. Like OJ says, he's like the quintessential babyface. And just has so many great matches.

 

I'd like to repeat a point made earlier in this thread, in that if you've come across Breaks and liked him, you really should keep digging and look at guys like Grey, Jones, Cortez, Sarjeant, etc. There's lots to love in WoS, and a lot of GWE candidates.

[Dylan Waco]

Going through a lot of the World of Sport a second time has really led to me changing my opinions on a lot of guys. I wonder how much of this is that I have a broader base of knowledge about the stylistic quirks and elements of what to expect out of the Brit scene now than I did when I first encountered it. In any case I have probably done a more dramatic swing on Grey than anyone.

 

Steve Grey is a tremendous wrestler and will easily make my top 100.

 

This is a pretty shocking thing for me to say, because when I first saw the matches with Clive Myers years and years ago they seemed too cute to me, and lacking in anything approaching authentic drama. In hindsight I think I was probably taken aback by the lack of venom or violence in the series, but with more context now I think the matches are absolutely excellent, and probably have as much competitive spirit in them as any truly great wrestling series. While the first watch puts a lot of emphasis on the crafty and almost comical escapes and theatrical counters, I think the real genius in the series is way the pacing is worked, as both guys can adjust speed on a dime in a completely believable and effective way.

 

The Myers matches are the calling card, but I actually think they are a mistake to watch first. To me you get a greater appreciation for the chess game mentality that those bouts have at times, if you have seen Grey against a variety of other talents before hand.

 

To me the most impressive thing about Grey is that he's so adaptable. While he does use many of the same spots in every match, they are rarely center points of the match, so he doesn't ever come across as repetitive. More than that if you watch him work Cortez, McManus, Haward, et the approach he employs feel different every time. In general I think he excels most as a counter striker, but he is really good at folding his spots and style into his opponents schtick. He straddles the fence between being a true technical wizard who you believe can out wrestle anyone, and being a real underdog who is at the mercy of stronger, nastier, or even occasionally more skilled, opponents.

 

I think he has by far McManus' best taped match (at least from the 70's as I have not seen the 62 match), and he very well might have Cortez' too. In fact, I think it's possible that Grey has a larger volume of truly great matches than any other Brit wrestler from the WOS era other than maybe Breaks. I think I've seen all but one of the matches OJ listed above and I think I would safely rate all of them at borderline great at minimum, with several in the excellent category. On top of that I've watched him work people like Johnny England and Richie Brooks and have very entertaining matches with them. I may try and check out the aforementioned 86 series with Mal Sanders too both because he's a joy to watch, and because I am considering him for a reasonably high spot so would like to dig as deep as possible.

 

I can see an argument for rating him as the top WOS worker. At the moment he's still below Breaks on my list for two reasons. The first is that Breaks was a guy who grabbed me immediately and jumped off the page, where I had to grow into Grey. That sort of instinctual attraction is hard to quantify, but I do think it says something about a worker's talents. The second reason is that I think Breaks is a slightly more complete worker who could translate more places. Some might reject that sort of thought experiment approach to analysis and that's fine. Having said that, Breaks was a guy who could work both a crowd and a match in a very animated way that went beyond what Grey was doing. Perhaps that's a bit unfair to Grey because the role he played almost required him to be somewhat mild mannered, but on the margins I'd still rate Breaks over him at this point.