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We are always pleased to hear from wrestlers who look back on their careers with fondness and a respect for the wrestling that gave us fans so much enjoyment. So it was with Eddie Riley, who told Wrestling Heritage, “It was a privilege to be in the ring with Johnny Saint, Jim Breaks, Steve Grey, and Sid Cooper, plus many more great wrestlers.” Well Eddie, we are sure the privilege was reciprocated because you were a worthy opponent of any one of them
Eddie Riley was nicknamed Nipper for obvious reasons, and the young lightweight could certainly move around the ring. He was one of the bright young stars in the 1980s when the wrestling business was starting to look a bit jaded around the edges. With a few more like Eddie around the future of wrestling in the 1980s might well have had a brighter future.
Motor mechanic Eddie learned to wrestle as an amateur for two years at Marty Jones’ gymnasium, before he was considered ready for the professional style. He turned professional in 1978, a last minute substitute against Johnny Saint.
Comfortably inside the lightweight limit he could soon be found flying around the ring against the likes of Mike Jordan, Jackie Robinson and Sid Cooper. Over the years that weight did increase a little and Eddie eventually filled out to just over 12 stones, adding a bit more power without losing any of the speed or agility.
Eddie was a television favourite in the 1980s, making sixteen appearances on the small screen following a 1982 debut. Opponents included Jim Breaks, Peter Kaye, Alan Dennison and Johnny Kidd.
Highlight of his career came on 24th March, 1988. The place was the Queen Elizabeth Hall in Oldham and the occasion was Eddie defeating Jim Breaks to win the European welterweight title. Following the eighth of twelve rounds Eddie’s hand was raised in victory having gained two falls to Breaks one submission. In any hall that would have been a popular victory but with Eddie the local boy he told us that the place just erupted, a moment to remember all his life.
Another title tilt ended less successfully as Eddie wrestled Johnny Saint for the World lightweight title on 29th May 1991 at Brigg in Lincolnshire.
Although our last documented match for Eddie is in 1993 he told us his last match was in 1998, when a persistent knee injury finally got the better of him. Eddie’s final words: “These are memories no one can take away from me, and this is why we have to keep our heritage”
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