Clive Myers

[Grimmas]

Discuss here.

[ohtani's jacket]

Clive was cool in the 70s, but that Ironfist kung fu gimmick killed it for me. He still had great matches with Grey in the 80s, but his matches against other top flight talent were disappointing. A good worker but not one I'd vote for.

[Yo-Yo's Roomie]

Myers was very talented, and I think could have easily got over in the States or Japan had he travelled. Really athletic guy, with perhaps the best 'cartwheel to avoid opponent' I've ever seen (or maybe 1a behind Porky). Good technical skills, could hang with just about anybody, and a good range of strikes. I didn't like the Iron Fist gimmick either, but I think he made it work. Good personality too. Really would have loved to have seen him in some different environments, as I'm convinced he would have excelled, and having good matches with Kobayashi or Hamada in Japan could have guaranteed him a spot on my ballot.

[ohtani's jacket]

One thing I've noticed about Myers of late is that while his singles matches suffered from the Iron Fist gimmick, he became quite an exciting tag wrestler by the standards of the day. That's a pretty low bar when it comes to British tag wrestling, but he ushered in a flashier, more workrate driven style of tag wrestling that made it seem more like the spectacle it was billed as.

[Dylan Waco]

Myers gets lost a bit, and seems like he's less on the radar for inclusion than someone like Grey. I get why as I'd rate Grey above him, but I don't think the gap is THAT big, and I honestly can't imagine rating one and not the other.

 

I completely agree with Yo-Yo's in that I really think Clive would have gotten over anywhere. I love Breaks, but if I'm being completely honest with myself I think Myers is the most translatable, and clearly charismatic great worker to appear on WOS t.v. His look, the way he carried himself, the style he worked, and especially his facial expressions make him a really fun guy to watch wrestle. He's not the best worker of the bunch, but if you gave me the option of going down a rabbit hole watching any of the greats from that place and time I'd probably take Myers first. He's just a magnetic personality.

 

While I do think some of his act could be a bit repetitive, I also think he was so good at what he did that it doesn't really wear thin. When it comes to fast paced exchanges, bursting into highspots, and throwing strike flurries, I think he's almost certainly the best Brit based worker of the 70s or 80s. His timing on a lot of this is actually pretty mind blowing for the era, and would stand out as upper tier even by the more high energy standards of today.

 

In terms of exciting spots, flash, and charm I'd actually rate him ahead of Saint, though I'm not positive he was a better worker than Saint as a whole. As a criticism I would say that there are times where his matches feel more like a collection of nice sequences, rather than a complete match. I also think that while his best matches are excellent, and he has lots of good ones, I don't think his peak performances are at the level of Grey, Breaks, or Cortez.

 

Still he was a dynamic guy that jumped off the page for the right reasons. I can't imagine rating World of Sport performers and leaving him off my ballot. He's in.

[ohtani's jacket]

A few things:

 

If such a rabbit hole existed, Myers would be far from the first guy I'd choose. I find it hard to believe there are a ton of entertaining Myers matches out there when so much made tape already.

 

I don't see how he's joined to the hip with Grey. Grey clearly has more good matches on tape than Myers.

 

If you ever hear Myers speak, you may have a different opinion of whether he could get over in certain territories.

 

No mention of Iron Fist? I'd love to know what people think of his Bruce Lee ripoff compared with Cool Clive, the West Indian.

[Childs]

I've watched a bunch of British stuff over the past week and I've decided to rank Myers. His best work pops off the screen to a greater extent than a lot of guys I'll have above him on the list. Just a sensational athlete, and when he was paired with another sensational athlete such as Grey or Sarjeant, magic happened. He also seemed to take a real delight in wrestling, and I find that infectious.

 

I agree with OJ that his Iron Fist stuff generally wasn't as good as his earlier work, but even that I find more endearing than not.

[Matt D]

OJ, can you point to some Iron Fist matches you think are particularly weak?

[El McKell]

On 2/13/2016 at 9:55 AM, ohtani's jacket said:

No mention of Iron Fist? I'd love to know what people think of his Bruce Lee ripoff compared with Cool Clive, the West Indian.

The gimmick is kinda cringe, he looks stupid in a brightly coloured gi especially when he has the headband on, but the matches aren't bad, I definitely like the Finlay match.

But he absolutely rules in the 1970s, Steve Grey's best opponent and has really good matches with Kung Fu & Sid Cooper