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January 1st, 1966, was a pretty momentous day even by professional wrestling standards.
Whether or not it was all over for Paul Lincoln and his troupe of workers or whether it was just the beginning is a matter of perspective. For many Lincoln workers, such as Wayne Bridges, Zoltan Boscik and Bob Kirkwood it was a new chapter in what was to become glittering careers. For Lincoln men such as Dennis Dean. Kim Kendo and Dave Larsen it was the beginning of a drift away from the British spotlight. Veterans Don Stedman, Al Hayes and Mike Marino were moving on to another part of their already successful career cycle. Promoter Paul Lincoln was presumably more than satisfied with the outcome of his seven year onslaught against the might of Joint Promotions.
Fans who had turned on their television sets to watch the wrestling from the Coronation Hall in Kingston-upon-Thames on New Years Day were in for something of a surprise. The opening match between Johnny Dark and Steve Logan had gone much as could have been predicted. Newcomer, good guy Johnny put up a valiant performance against the Iron Man until Steve’s skulduggery inevitably wore him down. Logan won by a knock out.
It wasn’t the wrestling that was out of the ordinary. As fans waited for the arrival of the main event participants there was a flurry of activity as a dozen or so men headed towards the ring and climbed through the ropes. TV fans of some years earlier may well have recognised Don Stedman, Judo Al Hayes and Mike Marino. Bob Kirkwood, Zoltan Boscik, Wayne Bridges and most of the others were familiar only to those who watched wrestling in the halls of independent promoters. Oddly enough the men who would really have intrigued tv fans, Doctor Death and The Wildman of Borneo, were missing from the group.
Television commentator Kent Walton was invited into the ring to introduce the ring invaders and seek an explanaion of what was going on. Fans around the country were told by spokesman of the group, Judo Al Hayes, that these wrestlers had for too long been avoided by the television wrestlers of Joint Promotions and they were laying down a challenge to the tv men.
The reality, as is usually the case, was far more prosaic, and not as spontaneous as we were led to believe at the time.
The wrestlers concerned were regular workers for promoter Paul Lincoln, who had for seven years been presenting wrestling shows around the country in opposition to Joint Promotions. Creative matchmaking and a flair for publicity had enabled Lincoln to become a credible threat to the mighty DaleMartin Promotions despite using a small stable of regular domestic workers and colourful overseas visitors.
Lincoln’s success was enough for the parent owners of Dale Martin Promotions to successfully bid to absorb Paul Lincoln into their promotional empire. Paul Lincoln Management became inactive and, on 30th December, 1965, two days before the ring invasion, a new company, Paul Lincoln Promotions was formed with board members that included the Dale brothers, Al Hayes, Ray Hunter, and Paul Lincoln.
The merger of the two companies brought a host of newcomers to Joint Promotion rings: Al Hayes
Mike Marino, Ray Hunter, Don Steadman, Wayne Bridges, Dennis Dean, Bob Kirkwood, Dave Larsen, Steve Haggetty, Zoltan Boscik, Johnny Williams, Bob Anthony, Chris Anthony, Doctor Death, Alan Sargeant, Kim Kendo, The Wildman of Borneo, Jim Moser, Al Fontayne, and Roger Green.
For a few weeks promoters advertised challenge matches between Lincoln and Joint wrestlers, but as was so often the case it was a half hearted attempt at what could have been a real push for promoting wrestling.
The deal was no doubt a good one for most of the individuals involved; and it did bring a welcome fresh air as new blood swept into Joint Promotions rings. In the final aalysis, though, it did nothing to change the long, slow decline in the popularity of British wrestling that had just begun.
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