Ron Historyo
John Naylor, Quite late starting out in 1970, I have him earlier than WD.Com.
Not so sure he travelled all over the country and a possible reason why the Promoters did not see him as a champion..
But in his own way, by 1975 The Golden Ace was quietly Box Office.A real challenge for anyone is the Morrell and Beresford bill below.
No town and no date, but the paper was the 22nd August 1975
I think the town may have been Epworth in Lincoln. Tagging with Rocco and winner of the TV Tournament.
Great wrestler to watch, I can only find a bill in 1984, but know that he wrestled on until the summer of 1985.
I guess age 41 was a decent age to call it a day after starting out a little late , it was a slightly short career, but memorable.
Anglo Italian
Funny how his career highlight was The Big Time with the late Esther Rantzen and Rip. More secrecy there still than any unmasking. I love that show and seeing all the other wrestlers in the background.
Love that Cleethorpes bill, too. I saw War Eagle in one of my top three ever bouts, on another Pier, in the Cleethorpes of the South. He was fascinatingly unco-operative.
I remember seeing Naylor for the first time on tv when he walked along the top rope. I was gobsmacked and thought there was still hope for the business.
By 1984, even the once loquacious Frank Woodhouse has dumbed down to bare minimums on the poster. It almost bears the hallmarks of someone else’s hand …
RIP again dear Al Tarzo, a great friend of ours on here for many years from the noughties.
Hack
John Naylor was great, and a rarity to see a 1970s newcomer who really knew the business. I always felt he meshed the best of two worlds- he had the speed and acrobatic skills to match anyone and also the grittiness and harder edge of Dempsey and Riss That climbing up onto the top rope and propelling himself off was quite something. There were some good uns around in the 1970s, he was one of the best, shame the management of the decade let them down.
Not a heavyweight in site on the Shrewsbury bill. Contrast that with ten years earlier. Then compare that bill with Naylor’s last discovery. So much quality on the 1970 bill, not much to excite on the latter. Signs of steep deterioration, I don’t blame anyone for getting out.
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