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Three separate companies, each closely linked and members of the Joint Promotions organisation.
Bill Best Wrestling Promotions
William Bernard Peter Best was born on 20th June 1916 in Liverpool. As far as we can tell Bill Best promoted alone only at Liverpool Stadium and Blackpool Tower, two iconic halls. Elsewhere he worked in conjunction with Wryton Promotions, and occasionally with Morrell and Beresford. His were lively shows with creative matchmaking.
Billy came from a family steeped in sporting tradition, his older brother already staged regular boxing tournaments at Liverpool Stadium and Billy promoted first class Friday night shows at the Stadium for many years. Liverpool Stadium fans had a reputation for letting wrestlers know when they were none too pleased. Billy Best’s other stadium, Blackpool Tower, was another with a long history of involvement in the sport. Weekly shows, on Sunday or Monday dependent on the time of year, took place for a half a century.
Bill Best Promotions became members of Joint Promotions in 1953, one year after the organisation had been formed. Bill Best retired in 1972 and the company became part of the William Hill organisation. Bill Best Wrestling Promotions went into voluntary liquidation on 16th December, 1974.
Billy Best died in Sefton, Merseyside, in 2004.
Wryton Promotions
They claimed to be the world’s biggest wrestling promotion, though we struggle to understand how they reached this conclusion with Dale Martin controlling nearly half of England. Started by a young Mancunian business man, Arthur Wright, he promoted his first show at Hyde during the war. Possibly Wryton’s first regular big hall was the Victoria Hall in Hanley in 1942, and in 1944 they took over the Parr Hall in Warrington from Jack Cullen.
Wryton Promotions presented shows at many halls throughout the north and midlands. Their shows tended to be a bit more adventurous than the Dale Martin variety. Of all the Joint Promotion members the chance of seeing a bit of blood or action outside the ring was most likely at a Wryton shows.
New talent for Wryton Promotions was developed at an old cinema in Bolton that they owned and grandly re-named Wryton Stadium and where they presented weekly Friday night shows. For quite a few years masked man Count Bartelli worked exclusively for Wryton Promotions as part of an arrangement as he re-paid a loan for the purchase of a garage. It was, therefore, no surprise that Wryton Promotions gave a young Kendo Nagasaki his professional debut and matched the two masked men in a loser to unmask contest at Hanley in 1966.
When Martin Conroy became a manager of Wryton Promotions around 1970 a new lease of life was brought to the group with an import of stars from the independent promoters that included Johnny Saint, Wild Angus and Al Marquette.
Like all the other component parts of Joint Promotions, except for Relwyskow and Green Promotions, Wryton and Best Wryton Promotions were absorbed by the William Hill organisation in 1972.
Wryton Promotions went into voluntary liquidation on 16th December, 1974. The Best-Wryton company endured, until 1992, when it was dissolved on 27th October.
See also British Wrestling Promoters Association
See also Joint Promotions
Best Wryton Promotions
An association of Wryton and Bill Best Promotions. Best Wryton were absorbed into the William Hill organisation. As the individual Joint Promotion members morphed into one (with the exception of Relwyskow Green) the Best Wryton company was the most enduring of all. In 1989 Max and Beryl Crabtree were listed as owners of the company (and of Dale Martin also). Best Wryton Promotions were dissolved on 27th October, 1992.
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