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Hungarian Glamour
Kalman Gaston was one of the glamour boys of 1960s British wrestling. We could never imagine as anything other than a wrestling hero, the type the fans would always get behind. Enough for him to win the TV Times Wrestler of The Month in 1966 (voted by readers of TV Times).
We were told at the time of Kalman’s extensive amateur success in his native Hungary, and although we have no primary sourced evidence of this his skill in the ring would certainly back it up. Most of the Hungarian wrestlers that came to Britain following the 1956 Hungarian uprising, and Kalman was one of them, had a good grounding in Greco Roman style wrestling.
Justice would have required this talented technician with matching looks to be one of the big names of wrestling. Alas, such was the richness of quality in British wrestling during the 1960s that many youngsters who would otherwise have been championship contenders remained in supporting roles. Kalman Gaston is a typical example of a victim of an overcrowded market place.
A professional debut in 1961, with an unconfirmed report it was against Pasquale Salvo at Reading, resulted in a not unexpected loss, but this was only the beginning. Further bookings, courtesy of Dale Martin Promotions, quickly followed and most nights of the 1961-2 season he could be seen working against opponents that included Basil Coulolias, Stefan Milla, Jackie Pallo, Peter Szakacs and Jean Morandi.
Everything was looking bright until the spring of 1963, when a couple of serious injuries, a broken hip and a broken collar bone kept Kalman out of action for much of the year.
By the end of 1963 his career was back on track. He quickly established himself as a firm favourite in the south of England and national exposure came in July, 1964, when he made his television debut against Camden hard man Peter Rann. This was the first of more than a dozen televised contests, including the inevitable defeat by Mick McManus.
November 1965 brought one of the highlights of Kalman Gaston’s career. A Royal Albert Hall billing against Jackie Pallo. Not only that, the cream on the milk was that Kalman won. A disqualification win admittedly, but a win is a win. Another Royal Albert Hall victory, this time vanquishing stylish Greek visitor Tsouris Tsickrikas. Dale Martin Promotions may have used him mostly in supporting matches, but these results show he was much more than your average support wrestler.
A higher profile came Kalman’s way when he formed a tag partnership with another Hungarian Peter Szakacs. Their name, The Magyars, may have lacked inventiveness but they formed a welcome addition to the tag scene for around eight years, from 1965 until 1973. Often seen in combat with other good guy teams, a rarity for tag matches, blue eyed opponents like the Cortez brothers, Eddie Capelli and Ken Joyce, and the Royals. That’s not to dismiss frequent more rumbustious encounters against Peter Rann and Pasquale Salvo, Jimmy Ryan and Joe Murphy and the Hells Angels.
Mostly working for Dale Martin Promotions in southern England travels to Northern England and Scotland were certainly not unknown, as were visits to the Continent and, in 1971, Kalman was one of a group of ten wrestlers to visit Kuwait as part of British Trade Week, sponsored by Craven A cigarettes.
Fans were shocked when Kalman Gaston disappeared from rings in 1973. To this day we don’t know what became of him We would welcome first hand information from anyone in the know.
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