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Like so many readers Johnny Kidd was a wrestling fan from his school days. In those days he was John Lowing, born in Balham, though the family moved to Luton when he was young.
John would go along to local shows at Luton and Dunstable, and sometimes further afield to London. One of those memories he told us about was the night he watched Bob Kirkwood beat Mick McManus. “I couldn’t believe what I had just seen,” Johnny told us. Little did he imagine that one day he would share a ring with both Mick and Bob. Johnny did dream of being a wrestler and when he was in his late teens signed up at the Ampthill Amateur Wrestling Club. It was a bit of an eye opener for Johnny as he quickly discovered amateur wrestling was nothing like the wrestling he watched on the television. Undeterred Johnny gained a thorough amateur grounding before embarking on a pro career.
Johnny and a few amateur pals tried practising some of the moves they had seen on television but he realised this was no way to get into the business. So an enterprising approach was necessary and Johnny looked in the phone book for the number of wrestler and promoter Ken Joyce. He phoned Ken and told him of his aspirations. With Ken’s guidance this led to a professional debut at Salisbury on 21st October, 1978 with Tony Scarlo in the opposite corner. A few days later he was in the ring with early opponents Derek Collins and Black Jack Mullligan. Further work followed from Max Crabtree, who had just taken over bookings at Dale Martin Promotions. It was Max Crabtree that created the name Johnny Kidd. Frequent opponents in those early days were Blondie Barratt and his mentor Ken Joyce. It was a fitting tribute to Johnny that he was selected as the final opponent for Ken in his last televised match in 1982.
In April, 1981, Johnny came to national attention when he was given his first match on television. His chances were slim, and he went down by two straight falls to Jimmy Breaks. The following two matches were no easier but Johnny has always expressed gratitude that those first three tv opponents were generous workers from whom he learned a great deal; Jim Breaks, Johnny Saint and Mick McManus. Whilst losing to vastly more experienced men the agility, speed and skill were always evident. Success came only in his sixth planned appearance, a win over Blondie Barratt, quickly followed by the disappointment of the match not being broadcast.
Fans enjoyed watching Johnny in technical matches and more rumbustious affairs against the likes of Syd Cooper and Bobby Barnes, but it was when Max Crabtree took to partnering Johnny with Big Daddy in tag matches which gave him a higher profile.
This was to be the start of twenty-four televised contests that stretched all the way to the end of Saturday afternoon wrestling with one final small screen outing against Eddie Riley. Had British wrestling not been removed from our television screens in 1988 we are sure that Johnny Kidd would have remained one of the biggest names that would be entertaining us every Saturday afternoon well into the twenty-first century.
The 1980s slow decline in the popularity of wrestling accelerated in the early 1990s as the withdrawal of television exposure took effect. Thanks to the perseverance of Johnny and a handful of other skilled younger wrestlers the sport never disappeared though the glory days were now long gone. As time passed Johnny gained increasing respect from the old timers like Mick McManus, Johnny Saint and Joe D’Orazio; and it is a respect for the sport in general reciprocated by Johnny.
In the early part of the Twenty-First century things started to look up for British wrestling and a few of the stars from the traditional days, including Johnny, Mal Sanders, Steve Grey, Johnny Saint and Drew McDonald spearheaded the revival. In 2011 another honour for Johnny when American promoter Mike Quackenbush invited him to the United States where he and Johnny Saint introduced the British style to American audiences. Johnny remained faithful to the traditional British style and the fans were appreciative. He continued to wrestle sporadically until the 2020’s specialising in British rules revival contests and legends matches.
Page added 12/06/2022
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