Also known as Battlestar
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The Promoter’s Dream
Whenever wrestling fans re-live their memories of the good old days it doesn’t take long before the name Barry Douglas crops up. Little wonder. During a career that spanned four decades and covered the length and breadth of the UK and much of the world Barry Douglas certainly touched the hearts and minds of hundreds of thousands of wrestling fans.
“From a famous wrestling family” was the often stated by-line of Barry on the posters. Famous family? That was no understatement. Barry was proud of his wrestling pedigree, and rightly so. But having a granddad who was a double Olympic medal winner, uncle who was a top promoter, and dad a referee seemed to do him no favours at all. Despite his long service, international standing, popularity with fans, exemplary work ethic and those family ties there were no stand-out moments for Barry. No titles, no Royal Albert Hall glory, no memorable feuds. Even a run as the masked Battlestar was no more than an insignificant postscript to an outstanding career. Surprising, or maybe it was a low profile role that he chose, certainly an idea we are encouraged to embrace when we watched his noble jobbing to Red Ivan on television.
One eye witness has pointed us in the direction of a match that took place in January, 1979. Decades years later everyone who witnessed it remembers Barry at his best in a humdinger of a bout against the mighty John Quinn, televised for the nation’s delight from Wolverhampton Civic Hall.
Fans remember it as the match when he laid in to Quinn with a ferociousness rarely seen by any opponent. Yes, fans did believe this was the day when it just might come good for Burly Barry. If any one match was a tribute to a great worker then this would be the one. It was Barry receiving the payback due for years of loyalty, reliability and sheer hard graft. These qualities may be less well regarded these days, but they were (and still are) the qualities that made Barry a true ambassador of the sport, and a promoters dream.
Having turned professional no later than early 1960s, possibly late fifties, we were told that in the early days there were a few wrestlers who tried to make life difficult for the promoter’s nephew, but Barry held his own and soon everyone acknowledged that Barry’s achievements were a result of his own talent and hard work, nothing else.
Barry wrestled the lot. From Johnny Saint (on the S4C Reslo shows) to Giant Haystacks, and just about everyone else of any significance in between. Barry could be relied upon to put on a good show to please the punters whatever the requirement. A new lad who could do with testing? Send for Barry. Unknown overseas visitor who needed a bit of looking after? Barry will do the job. A stiff worker who could do with a bit of help making it flow? Barry could do that.
Newcomers to the business looked up to Barry. They knew they could learn a lot from him, and they did. Mind you, more than one remembers the time he got just a bit too clever for his own good, “If any youngster got a bit too big headed he’d grab their left leg, pull it over his right shoulder and fold them in half till their breath went.”
Colleagues respect for Barry never prevented them from having a smile at his expense. All good natured, of course, and a sign of their affection for the man.
“Ask Barry about his sandwiches,” we were told. Sandwiches? Apparently Barry’s sandwiches were legendary amongst the wrestling fraternity. Wherever they were travelling to, and for however long, Barry would take sandwiches for the duration. We are sure that any suggestion that three days supplies of sandwiches for a trip to Scotland could have anything to do with Barry’s Yorkshire blood causing him to take care of his money are wide of the mark!.
We were quickly reassured that any comments about Barry’s meanness were in good humour, as here was a very generous man. Generous in the kindness and consideration he gave to people. Gil Singh said, “Barry put me in for my first foreign trip, to Germany in 1974. It was the making of my career and opened the door for me to wrestle around the world.” One fan who watched the wrestling at Leeds Town Hall from 1969 until it moved to The Astoria Ballroom in Roundhay in the early 1980s, was Ann, who recalled, “I was fortunate to meet Barry at a gala a few years ago where he was refereeing. Not only did he take time to speak I was very surprised he realised that we had met before.”
It was a career that saw him appear on television no fewer than fifty seven times. That first television outing, November 1961 against Bill Rawlings, was reported in The Wrestler magazine, “Barry more than held his own against a much more experienced opponent and eventually ran out the winner by two falls to one.”
Barry was known throughout the world,wrestling regularly in France, Belgium and Spain, becoming one of the biggest names in the huge German tournaments and one of the first British wrestlers to work in Japan, alongside Billy Robinson, Johnny Eagles and Colin Joynson. Barry was undoubtedly one of British wrestling’s great ambassadors. He died on 23rd February, 2024.
Page added 24/02/2024
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