Also known as The Zulu
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Zulu of Man
Light heavyweight Harry Bison was a tall, six feet 3 inches, muscular bearded wrestler based in the Isle of Man during the 1970s. Not a native of the island he was a Manchester lad, born in 1952. He was usually billed as The Zulu, but should not be confused with Ezzra Francis, the Manchester Zulu. Hey, this is pro wrestling, one Zulu would never be enough.
Harry was trained by Manx lightweight Bill Kennedy at the George Barnabus wrestling club, the lifeline for aspiring professional wrestlers on the Isle of Man in the early 1970s. A dozen or so Islanders would wrestle visiting men from the mainland during the weekly summer season shows. We met up with Harry in 1971. He had recently wrestled Colin Joynson and Chief Thunderbird and was pleased with his performance against the two heavier, more experienced men.
A respecter of the fans Harry told us, “I enjoy meeting people, and I always like to have a chat with the fans; after all, they are the people who pay my wages. British fans are the greatest.”
We even wrote an article about Harry, published in The Wrestler magazine but in all honesty lost track of him after that. Until April 2021, that is, when daughter Michelle contacted us and reported, “He was a right celeb in his day and he still keeps fit. He rides a bike every morning.”
Page added 23/05/2024
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