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A Giant of the Ring
At a claimed 6’5” tall and 19 stones Digger Bill Watson was the Australian Goliath. Apart from other times when he was Herbert Watson the miner at Ormonde Colliery in Heanor, Derbyshire. For such a small town, the population is still under 20,000 Heanor certainly boasted a rich wrestling history, largely due to the efforts of Jack Taylor and Ron Moore.
Although Herbert showed an interest and promise in boxing it was wrestler and promoter Jack Taylor that encouraged him to take up wrestling, training him at his wrestling school at Heanor Football Ground. Taylor created the persona of Big Bill, or more often Digger Bill, Watson. Unsurprising for a man of his stature Digger was a rough, bruiser of a wrestler, nothing too technical, and an expert at arousing the wrath of the paying public.
He turned professional in 1959, twenty-one years old at the time, and we first discovered him working for Jack Taylor at the Granby Halls, Leicester, in October 1959. On occasions Digger would travel to Halifax, training with Shirley Crabtree and working on Twentieth Century shows for Max and Shirley.
In the years that followed Digger worked mostly in the midlands with quality opponents that included Prince Kumali, Bruno Elrington, Don Mendoza, Shirley Crabtree and Black Butcher Johnson.
Our last sighting of Digger Watson was in May 1968, wrestling Bill Clarke. He died on 1st June, 2015, aged 77.
Page added 01/05/2025
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