Known locally as Les Riley
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To be sure, to be sure, he’s as Irish as the King
A plumber from Langley Mill as top of the bill might not sound too enticing. Transform him by night to the unpredictable Irishman Spike O’Reilly and it was a different matter altogether.
Wrestler Mick Collins, who told us that Spike was the wrestler he admired most, said: “He was one of life’s characters, Spike, larger than life, arriving at the hall in his Mercedes and always keeping that dressing gown of his in immaculate shape.”
That green dressing gown and trunks were the hallmark of this popular light heavyweight of the 1960s, billed from Donegal, though we are unsure of the connection.
William Leslie Riley, known to friends and family as Les, was born in Derbyshire in 1928. He was a formidable wrestler who learned the wrestling trade whilst he was in the Royal Navy. Serving in the Royal Navy at Chatham Les enjoyed body building, running and wrestling, and was said to be the Navy’s Light heavyweight champion. In 1951 he took part in the The Royal Navy Field Gun Competition at the Royal Tournament at Earls Court in London. Les’s job was to steady the descent of the huge barrel ready for delivery.
We first came across Les in 1951, performing a muscle control demonstration at the Heanor Festival of Britain celebrations. He would doubtless already know another local man, Jack Taylor, who was to become a guiding influence at his gym and eventually promote many of his matches.
The local paper announced that Les had turned professional wrestler in July, 1955. Spike O’Reilly became a well known figure on the independent circuit in the 1960s. He continued wrestling into the early 1970s, we last saw him in 1972, usually in the midlands and north of England, but occasionally further afield to Scotland and southern England. Opponents included Randolph Turpin, Shirley Crabtree Don Mendoza, and most of the top names working the independent circuit.
Spike O’Reilly died on 12th February, 2009.
Page added 14/03/2024
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