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Wrestling’s Billy Elliot
“I don’t want a childhood. I want to be a ballet dancer.”
These were the words uttered by Billy Elliot in the film of the same name about a working class boy with a passion for ballet. There’s probably little need to remind anyone that Billy struggled to find success in the world of ballet whilst keeping his interest hidden from a disapproving father.
Mark Hudson had no desire to put on the ballet shoes, but he was just as determined as Billy, wanting to swap his childhood for a life in the professional wrestling ring. There were other similarities also; like Billy he too had to keep his passion hidden from a disapproving father.
Nevertheless he was successful and became a full time professional and regular feature on the bills of Wryton Promotions. Many readers will be wondering why, should that be the case, Mark Hudson is not a name that they recollect. Well that is because our fairy tale story does not have a happy ending and Mark’s career was abruptly cut short by a serious injury less than two years after his career began, and that was more than fifty years ago.
It was inevitable that Mark knew about wrestling from an early age because he came from Liverpool, and in Liverpool everyone knew that Friday night was fight night at the stadium. However, it wasn’t wrestling but the Stadium’s other sport, boxing, that interested Mark. Mark declared that he wanted to be a boxer and his father enrolled the eleven year old at a boys’ club to learn how to box.
Mark enjoyed his nights at the club but things didn’t turn out quite as he planned. He found that he didn’t quite take to boxing in the way he had dreamed, and he soon realised Rocky Marciano would have nothing to worry about:
“After a short time I realised that I would have been better off if I had used the soles of my boots for advertising space!”
Other boys at the club were learning how to wrestle and it seemed to Mark that they were having more fun than he was. So Mark asked if he could join them and started to learn a few wrestling moves. To his surprise he found that he was more suited to wrestling and was having much more fun.
Unfortunately Mark’s father didn’t quite see it in the same way and soon let the twelve year old know that he disapproved of this new interest. Undeterred Mark continued to wrestle at the club and about the same time became aware of the professional shows at The Stadium.
Those were great days at the Stadium. Every Friday night the likes of Jack Pye, Man Mountain Benny, Anaconda and Dave Armstrong would top the bill. Mark made his way to the Stadium but on the first night found to his dismay that children were not admitted without an accompanying adult. Not one to admit defeat Mark would hang around the hall waiting for a kindly adult to take him in, which they invariably did.
Mark remembers Jack Pye doing all sorts of dastardly deeds on that first bill. Although he can’t remember Jack’s opponent the youngster did recognise, and still remembers, one member of the audience. Bessie Braddock, Member of Parliament for Liverpool Exchange, was an ardent fan and ringside regular at The Stadium.
“At one time, Jack came to the edge of the ring and Bessie Braddock let fly with her handbag, hitting him on the foot. It was said she carried a brick in her handbag. Seeing his reaction, that was believable. She was the only person who could get the Dockers back to work when they took their often strikes.”
Mark’s father frequently reminded him that he disapproved of his new found interest. Tensions rose at home and as soon as he had left school, fifteen in those days, Mark left home and moved to Wales to live with his mother in Abergele. The youngster managed to get a job at Gwrych Castle. In January, 1951, Randolph Turpin set up his training camp at the castle in preparation for his world middleweight championship contest against Sugar Ray Robinson in July of that year. Not surprisingly the presence of Randolph Turpin was of great interest and excitement for the fifteen year old. Mark continued:
“One day his trainer/sparring partner was taken ill. Randy asked me if I would like to spar with him. I agreed but made him agree not to hit me! We went three rounds, me trying to hit him without much success and getting well out of my depth.”
Mark stayed in Wales less than a year before moving to Manchester where it would be easier to pursue his wrestling interest. In Manchester he joined the YMCA wrestling team. One night following a competition, after he’d been beaten, he was approached by a man who asked him if he’d ever considered turning professional. Needless to say Mark had thought about it many times, and it took no time at all to give his answer. The man asking the question was Arthur Wright, of Wryton Promotions.
From that time on Mark became a regular at the Wryton gym training alongside the likes of Chopper Conroy and Red Callaghan. The wrestler that did most to help the youngster learn the professional trade was Tiger Freddy Woods. He spent many hours showing Mark the differences between a good amateur and a promising professional. When he was just sixteen years old Arthur Wright decided that it was time to give Mark the chance to show what he could do in front of the paying public.
Aware of his his father’s continued disapproval of his new career the name Mark Hudson was chosen for his ring debut, dropping his real name of Geoffrey Illingworth.
“I was scared stiff! I was just 16 years of age. I was matched with Tiger Woods who had trained me. I think he was very kind to me and virtually ‘took me through it’. This match was at the Tower, New Brighton. I was billed as the youngest professional wrestler in England and coming from Liverpool, was a favourite with the crowd. I felt a little more confident after that.”
Within a few months of stepping into the professional ring Mark was signed up to work the summer season holiday camp circuit.
“I liked travelling to the different parts of the country to matches but the most I liked was Butlin’s five Holiday camps. We had a lot of fun there, mostly messing about but some good fights too.”
Mark’s enthusiasm and growing knowledge meant that Arthur Wright began to match the youngster with more experienced wrestlers. Just sixteen years old he was inevitably the fans’ favourite when he opposed the likes of Tommy Pye, Alan Colbeck and Chic Purvey.
“I had been matched with Alan Colbeck, European middleweight champion, a couple of times and several times with Chick Purvey, Scottish middleweight champion. I would have loved to have had a title fight with either, perhaps a little later. My main regret is that I was injured after about 20 months and had to retire from the scene.”
Which brings us back to the start of our story and the reason why our Billy Elliot of Liverpool wrestling did not find lasting success despite ambition, determination and a promising start to his professional career.
With his ultimate goal now out of his reach Mark had to find a new ambition. For a short time he was unsure which way to turn, but not for long as he chose to join the army. Still only seventeen years old he knew that National Service would be beckoning when he turned eighteen and so chose to be proactive and sign up for three years.
Fifteen years later Mark left the army and move to Australia where he and his family have lived ever since. Having got wrestling and the army out of his system maybe Mark saw his new career, twenty years as a private investigator as a quieter life!
Mark Hudson: Born 2nd March, 1937, died 20th August, 2012.
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