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Jerry was a midlands promoter who presented both outright independent shows and others in co-operation with Joint Promotions in Birmingham and around the Black Country. His main venues were Birmingham Indoor Sports Stadium, Dudley Hippodrome, and Erdington Stadium. He was around for about twenty years from around 1947 until the mid 1960’s. There was controversy in 1949 when objections from the Sunday Observance Society led to the cancellation of his Sunday lunchtime shows in Erdington. In the first half of 1950s Jerry presented wrestling programmes in Erdington and the Birmingham Indoor Sports Stadium making use of Joint Promotion wrestlers.
In 1957 the directors of the Dudley Hippodrome decided to close the theatre during the summer months. The owners, the Kennedy family who had built the Hippodrome in 1938, agreed to hire out the hall to Jerry to promote wrestling, first show on May 24th, continuing to use Joint Promotion wrestlers. Weekly wrestling continued during the winter after the theatre had re-opened on other nights of the week, In February 1959 Jerry took over the lease of the Hippodrome from Scala Ballroom and moved wrestling to Saturday evening, later Sundays. At some point, certainly no later than 17th January, 1960 Jerry started using independent wrestlers, and the programmes suggest co-operation with Paul Lincoln Management, though this was never stated.
Jerry Jeary retired in February 1964 and sold the lease of the Dudley Hippodrome to Vic Kendrick. The following ears it was announced that Paul Lincoln Management were taking over at the Dudley Hippodrome, first show 12th September, 1965. Kendrick, who ran the Midland Entertainment Agency, said that wrestling would continue.
Jerry’s wrestling programmes were headed with the phrase “Wrestling – the men’s sport that women admire.” Fans of the time have recalled Jerry standing ringside as the wrestlers entered the hall calling out “Wheel ‘em in.”
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