Wrestling Heritage

By Graeme Cameron

A British History of Australian Wrestling
By Graeme Cameron

Part 11:
SORT OF IRISH

In the Thirties, several wrestlers appeared who either portrayed Irishmen or had an Irish connection (or both), Mitchell Gill as Mike McGill being the most well-known. None of them were born in Ireland and at least one wasn’t even born anywhere in the UK. In this part, we look at the careers of four wrestlers who fit into this category, Mike Finnigan, Pat Murphy, Pat Gallagher and Rocky Britton.

“IRISH” MIKE FINNIGAN (1933-39)

Mike Finnigan did have an Irish connection. He was Liverpool Irish and was born plain old Bill Brown. When Bill was still a boy, the family moved to Vancouver, Canada. As an adult, he became a fireman, joining the Vancouver Fire Brigade. A light heavyweight, he was trained to become a wrestler by Vancouver wrestler Patsy Flanagan (not the one who appeared in the UK), who portrayed an Irishman. The “Mike Finnigan” name appears to be a tribute to his trainer. After gaining experience in Canada, USA and New Zealand he arrived in Australia in 1933, eventually settling permanently.

He first lived in Melbourne. The only record for this period is a draw against the 6ft 7″ bearded American “Whiskers” Blake. He moved on to Sydney for a few months, where he worked in the suburban stadiums. There are three records for this period, a loss to Peter Limutkin, and wins over Greek Con Grivas and American Dave Shikat. In November, he continued north to Newcastle where he lost to American Jake “Thunderbolt” Patterson and met New Zealand’s Jack Clarke (result unknown).

Finnigan arrived in Brisbane in December 1933 where he had three bouts at Bohemia Stadium, defeating England’s Krupps Miller and Scot Terry Morrison, then in early January 1934, was injured and forced to concede to Leo Demetral. He was briefly a member of the Brisbane Fire Brigade, then he moved on to the North Queensland circuit and finding it to his liking, bought a property near the coastal town of Bowen, 1,130 km north of Brisbane. He also had a second career as a professional axe man, recording a number of wins and high placings in woodchopping contests. He later opened a gym in Bowen in partnership with a local businessman. Mike Finnegan continued working on the North Queensland circuit, with occasional bouts at Bohemia Stadium until the outbreak of World War II.

At Bohemia Stadium, Mike Finnigan lost to South African Peter Venter in 1934 and opposed Terry Morrison again in 1935 (result unknown). In 1938, he lost to New Zealand’s Jim Bartlett by disqualification, went to a No Contest with local wrestler George O’Brien and in 1939, met Neville (Assad) Batros (result unknown). In 1934 in Rockhampton, he lost to Sam Burmister,  Terry Morrison (as The Masked Marvel) by disqualification, and Swiss wrestler Henry Boesch. He also met John Saveloff twice, a loss and a No Contest. In Townsville, he had two matches against New Zealanders, Māori Hori (George) Tiki and Billy Bayne (results unknown) and lost to Russian Nick Drpenovsky.

In his hometown of Bowen in 1935, Mike Finnigan defeated Norwegian “Tiger” Carl Swenson in a bout billed as being for the Queensland Cruiserweight title. In 1936, he twice defended it successfully against another “Tiger”, Bill Turner, with two victories, and also defeated Frenchman Henri de Guecin. The result of a bout with Russian Ivan Volcoff is unknown. In other towns, he again defeated Krupps Miller in Mt Morgan, met American Dave Dusek in Nambour (result unknown) and lost to local wrestlers Les Price (1936) and Joe Colton (1938) in their respective hometowns of Mt Coolie and Proserpine. The final record for Mike Finnigan is in November 1939 in Townsville, a loss to local wrestler Colin Harris, but that’s not where this story ends. 

With war declared, Mike Finnigan retired, and Bill Brown enlisted in the army, rising to the rank of Warrant Officer 2nd Class (Sgt. Major). He was posted to Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea, where he co-commanded a unit tasked with overseeing the welfare and protection of the native tribespeople. He remained in this position until the end of the war. In 1943, for the entertainment of his men and to boost morale, he brought Mike Finnigan out of retirement for one last bout. Sgt. George Ash wisely did his duty to his commanding officer. 

After the war, Mike Finnigan did not reappear. As far as is known, Bill Brown returned to his farm near Bowen where he quietly lived out the rest of his life. 

Opponents: Whiskers Blake, Peter Limutkin, Con Grivas, Dave Shikat, Jake “Thunderbolt” Patterson, Jack Clarke, Krupps Miller, Terry Morrison (Masked Marvel), Sam Burmister, Leo Demetral, John Saveloff, George (Hori) TIki, Dave Dusek, Henry Boesch, Peter Venter, Billy Bayne, Nick Dprenovksy “Tiger Carl Swensson, “Tiger” Bill Turner, Ivan Volcoff, Les Price, Joe Colton, Jim Bartlett, George O’Brien, Neville Batros, Colin Harris and Sgt. George Ash 

PAT MURPHY (1933)

Pat Murphy was also Liverpool Irish. Given nearly half of his match records are in Cairns, Queensland, it seems likely this was where he was living but this is unconfirmed. A heavyweight, the only records of him in Australia are from early February to the end of November 1933, largely it seems, as the exhibition partner of Sam Burmister, who was touring around Northern New South Wales and Queensland at that time. Of the 22 match records for Pat Murphy, half are bouts with Burmister. Beginning in Lismore in Northern NSW, the two met all over Queensland, the final bout being in the town of Tully in late November. The record for Murphy was one draw and ten losses 

When not working with Burmister, Murphy had bouts against other opponents in various towns around Queensland. He met Spaniard Luis Pardello five times (one win, one draw, one loss, two results unknown). He also clashed three times with North Queensland wrestler Alex King “The Queensland Wonder Boy” (two wins, one result unknown) and twice with German immigrant Paul Egel (results also unknown). The other match was a 0-2 loss to American Leon Labriola in Cairns. Other results suggest Burmister, King, Pardello and Murphy worked together as a troupe. 

A record noting his involvement in separating wrestlers at a card in Brisbane suggest he was still active in 1934, but no records survive and there is no further mention of him after this.

Opponents: Sam Burmister, Luis Pardello, Alex King, Paul Egel, Leon Labriola 

“IRISH” PAT GALLAGHER (1931-39)

A newspaper article relates that Pat Gallagher left Ireland at the age of 14, travelling the world and gaining experience as a wrestler before arriving in Australia, all of which is complete fiction. Also false is another reference stating that his parents were immigrants from Great Yarmouth in Norfolk. “Irish” Pat Gallagher’ was actually born William Percy Wagg Junior in Sydney in 1907. His grandparents were immigrants from Devon who settled in Sydney.

This is really the story of two people.  “Irish” Pat Gallagher, the wrestler and Percy Wagg, the kleptomaniac.

A heavyweight, standing over six feet tall and weight over 16 stone, Percy Wagg began his pro wrestling career around 1931, the same time as he became a police officer. He was known for his incredible strength. He at first worked under a mask as “Red Shadow” as police regulations forbade officers from holding a second job. There are no match records for this period. His police career was short-lived. Feeling that the police issue gun was too heavy, he purchased a lighter gun from a pawn shop and used it in the line of duty without approval, leading to his dismissal from the police force. After leaving the police force, he worked as a labourer and lorry driver. However, it would be far from the last time he saw the inside of a police station. 

At this point he adopted, the “Irish” Pat Gallagher character, despite having not a drop of Irish blood. In 1931-32, he travelled a lot. The first record of him is in Perth in December 1931, a draw with Leon Labriola. The first three months of 1932 saw him in North Queensland where in three bouts at Rockhampton City Stadium, he defeated John Saveloff 2-1and split two matches with Alex Lundyn. In August in Adelaide, he defeated Jim Bartlett, who was unable to continue after losing the first fall. By December he was back in Sydney where he lost 0-1 to Luis Pardello in Parramatta Stadium in Sydney’s west. In February 1933, at the same venue, he defeated Greek Chris Ritsis on points and lost a return match with Pardello by disqualification.

There are no match records for Pat Gallagher for the period 1934-36, though he was known to be active. However, there are several records of Percy Wagg in the court reports. In 1935, he was alleged to have stolen a bicycle from outside the courthouse where he was up on another charge but there were no witnesses to confirm this. In 1936, his land lady caught him stealing 8 pounds and he was convicted and fined. The most notable one is that the foreman at a military facility at Holsworthy in Sydney’s southwest, where railway tracks were being made, was staggered to witness Percy carrying a rail, weighing half a ton, over one shoulder out of the yard (He didn’t work there). When the foreman caught up with him, the rail was in pieces beside Percy’s lorry, but he denied the accusation of theft.  The charge was not proved as there were no other witnesses. 

Getting back to his wrestling career, Pat Gallagher began 1937 with three matches at Auburn Stadium, also in Sydney’s west. Over three successive weeks, he met Mike McGill, American Tony Lamaro and John Saveloff, the results of all three being unknown. There are no further results until August 1938 at Leichhardt Stadium when he defeated Swiss wrestler Henri Ding and met Fred Atkins (result unknown). In November, he defeated local Keith Smith and lost to Billy Meeske at Sydney Stadium. The results for three other bouts against Syria’s Assad Batros and locals Dick Thompson and Hal Morgan at The Arena at Lakemba in Sydney’s South are unknown (It was and still is a cycling velodrome. The matches were interspersed with cycling races). In December, he met Billy Meeske (result unknown) and lost to Thompson on points at Leichhardt Stadium. He had the dubious distinction of defeating Meeske in the first ever mud wrestling match in Australia at The Sydney Sports Ground in the city’s East. It got such a poor reception that they never did it again.

January 1939 saw him at Carlton Stadium in Sydney’s South, a draw against Tom Lurich and bouts against local Tom O’Grady and Hungarian American Lou Szabo (results unknown). in June, Percy Wagg had an assault charge dismissed when it established both men had been drinking, and that other party was the instigator but was overpowered by Wagg. In August, Pat Gallagher lost a return match with Henri Ding in Adelaide. This was the final match record for Pat Gallagher, but, again, that’s not the end of this story.

When war came, Percy Wagg enlisted in the Army where his skills as a lorry driver were put to use. Even then he couldn’t stay out of trouble. In 1941, he and another soldier were sentenced to three months jail for stealing aircraft maintenance spanners. However, all of his other offences paled into insignificance with what happened next. While transporting army supplies through the suburb of Leichhardt, his truck collided with a tram, killing the conductor and a passenger. Wagg was found to have been speeding and driving recklessly and was sentenced to two and a half years in prison for manslaughter. Now after this you would think he would have learned his lesson, but no. In 1949, he was charged with stealing someone’s legal documents from his own solicitor’s desk. He was again found not guilty as there were again no witnesses. 

After this, Percy Wagg appears to have committed no further offences. He is believed to have lived into the 1960s but while there is a record of his birth, curiously, there is no official record of his death

Oppponents: Leon Labriola, John Saveloff, Alex Lundyn, Jim Bartlett, Chris Ritsis, Luis Pardello, Mike McGill (Mitchell Gill, Tony Lamaro, Henri Ding, Fred Atkins, Keith Smith, Assad Batros, Dick Thompson, Hal Morgan, Tom O’ Grady, Lou Szabo

ROCKY (JACK) BRITTON (1933-38)

According to one reference, Rocky Britton was born John Bishop in Labrador, Canada to Irish immigrant parents.  This turns out to be not entirely true.  His mother was from Walsall and his father from West Brom and John was born in Birmingham.  Whether or not the Canadian part is true is unknown. Always known as Jack, when he was still a boy the family migrated to Australia, where they settled on a property known as McKellar’s Paddock, just outside the town of Lithgow, 150 km west of Sydney. His father was a keen member of the local choral society and Jack also sang. Jack would grow up to become wrestler Rocky (Jack) Britton.  A heavyweight, he was very similar in physique George Pencheff and had the same fast-paced, athletic style. He was one of the most active wrestlers of the period, once wrestling 11 matches in 30 days. He much preferred country life and would travel to Sydney, take part in in two or three matches in a week, then return to Lithgow, a round trip of 300km. For the period 1933-36, there are almost 100 match records for him.

For the first two years of Rocky Britton’s career, almost all of his matches were in Sydney’s suburban stadiums. In 1933, almost of them were exclusively against two opponents, Joe Keatos and another villain, Greek George “The Caveman” Calvas, most of them losses. The three of them went to the Philippines in July for a few weeks where Britton alternated wrestling Keatos or Calvas in matches in Manila.

In December, Britton defeated Keatos twice in his hometown of Lithgow (He always made sure of appearing in front of his hometown crowd at least once a year).  Other results that year were a win over Hal (Henri) De Geucen, a loss by injury forfeit to Greek George Vassilis and a win and draw with another Greek villain Jim “Basher” Bonos. 

Bonos would be his most frequent opponent in 1934, the pair clashing 15 times with the honours about even. He fared less well against former amateur champion, Neil Whittaker losing four and winning and drawing another two, with three results unknown. Other opponents that year were Jim Robinson (3 wins, 2 unknown), Joe Keatos (2 wins), Jack Coleman (1 win, 2 results unknown), George Vassilis (1win, 1 result unknown) George Calvas (1 loss, 1 results unknown) and Joe Dawson (1 loss). The results of bouts against Assad Batros, American Karl Steinberg and Pakistan’s Rahim Posti are also unknown. In June, he defeated Keatos at Wade Park in the town of Orange, 60 km west of Lithgow. 

Rocky Britton’s break came when in April 1935, he went to Brisbane for 4 months and was a featured performer at Brisbane Stadium, matched with many top-class opponents. He recorded victories over Nick Drpenovsky, Leo Demetral, and Billy Bayne, split two matches with Peter Venter and lost to Fred Atkins, Americans Tex Bolt and Hardy Kruskamp and India’s Harbans Singhs, all close decisions. He drew with Tom Lurich, but the feature was the long-awaited clash with George Pencheff and it didn’t disappoint. The spectacular match finished one fall apiece, with Pencheff being awarded the match “on points”. Britton defeated Bayne a second time in Rockhampton.  

He returned to Sydney for two months in October where he found himself back on the suburban stadium circuit up against old, familiar faces such as George Calvas (2 wins, 1 result unknown) and Neil Whittaker as well as Americans Reub Wilson and (again) Hardy Kruskamp, and made a quick trip back to Lithgow for a bout against fellow Lithgow wrestler, Billy Coleman (all results unknown). He was back in Brisbane in December, where he largely remained until October 1936. At Bohemia Stadium, he defeated split two matches with Con Grivas, and he and Fred Atkins were both disqualified. At Brisbane Stadium, he defeated Grivas (again), Tommy Nilan and Americans Dr. Karl Stenning and Alex Lundyn. He drew twice with Luis Pardello but lost to Nick Dprenovsky and Harbans Singh. Against Billy Meeske, it was one loss and one result unknown, the latter also the case against German George Baumann. In two matches with Tom Lurich, he lost the first and won the second by disqualification.

In April 1936, Rocky Britton made a quick trip to Adelaide where he met American Johnny Woods (result unknown) and another to New Zealand in August, where he defeated fellow Aussie Neil Rex in Wellington. The highlight of this year was his two matches with Douglas Clark. In the first in Brisbane, he lost by a single fall. The second in Newcastle finished one fall apiece with the referee awarding the decision to Clark “on points”. In October/November at Sydney Stadium, he scored an upset win over Tom Lurich at Sydney Stadium and drew with Mike McGill. In December Britton drew with Lurich in Launceston, Tasmania. Rocky Britton’s career appeared to be on the rise. Then things changed.

In 1937, he undertook four matches in Melbourne for which there are two known results, a knockout loss to McGill in late March and a 1-2 loss to Lurich in early April, both at Fitzroy Stadium. He then suffered a leg injury and spent two months on his parents’ farm recuperating. He returned with two matches in July and August against Mike McGill at Alfred Park, Ballarat (both results unknown). Late in the year, a group of Lithgow businessmen, no doubt aided by Britton, persuaded Leichhardt Stadium promoter Herb McHugh to run fortnightly cards in Lithgow, starting in 1938. This was the ideal scenario for Rocky Britton. He could maintain a wrestling career and mostly remain in his hometown. Then fate stepped in. 

In January 1938, Rocky Britton met American Lou Szabo on the first Lithgow card (result unknown). The next month, Britton lost to American Tony Felice in Brisbane, then reversed that result in Lithgow. That’s the final match record for Rocky Britton. He suffered another leg injury and with his ageing parents needing his help on the farm, he decided to retire. He is recorded as being in the audience for a card in Adelaide in 1939 and there are two records of him acting as referee on cards in Lithgow but by 1942 war had resulted in the closure of all wrestling venues except Adelaide and Leichhardt. Again, this story doesn’t end here, 

There is no doubt that Rocky Britton had the talent and ability to be an internationally successful wrestler, but that’s not the life he wanted. However, under his real name, he did find international fame in another field. In 1940, Jack Bishop took a job at the Lithgow Small Arms Factory as a gardener (it had extensive grounds), retiring as head gardener in 1954. He became known internationally as a grower and exhibitor of Chrysanthemums, winning numerous first prize ribbons all over Australia, and in New Zealand and America, thus earning the name “The Chrysanthemum King”. The last request of ex-prime minister Ben Chifley (1945-49), who hailed from the neighbouring town of Bathurst and was a keen gardener himself, was that when he died, two dozen of Jack Bishops’ Chrysanthemums being planted around his grave. When Jack found out, he promised to plant them himself. When Chifley died from heart failure in 1951, Jack fulfilled that promise.

There is no record of Jack Bishop after 1955. Given how active he was in the community, the worst has to be assumed, although oddly, there are no reports of his death in the local paper. 

Footnote: Lithgow was the birthplace of Roy Heffernan, who would have been in primary school when Rocky Britton was making appearances in the town. It may be that seeing Rocky Britton’s matches inspired a young Roy Heffernan to become a wrestler.

Opponents: Joe Keatos, George Calvas, George Vassilis, Jim Bonos, Henri DeGuecen, Neil Whittaker, Jim Robinson, Jack Coleman, Assad Batros, Karl Steinberg, Rahim Posti, Nick Dprenovsky, Leo Demetral, Billy Bayne, Peter Venter, Fred Atkins, Tex Bolt, Hardy Kruskamp, Harbans Singh, Tom Lurich, George Pencheff, Reub Wilson, Billy Coleman, Con Grivas, Tommy Nilan, Dr. Karl Stenning, Alex Lundyn, Luis Pardello, Billy Meeske, George Baumann, Johnny Woods, Neil Rex, Douglas Clark, Mike McGill, Lou Szabo, Tony Felice

Honourable mentions have to be given to “Tiger” Pat Kennedy and “Tiger” Pat Rafferty, who also portrayed Irishmen but for whom there was insufficient information to include them in this series.

Page added 23/03/2025

14295