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Steve Clements was a man with two distinct identities, one on each side of the Atlantic. In Britain he was always the popular good looking boy next door, whilst in America he was a man who could create heat. Lots of heat.
British fans knew Steve Clements as a popular twelve stoner who made a big impression for around five years in the 1960s. Five years with lots packed into them. Blond haired Steve came from famous stock, being the son of Huddersfield wrestling promoter Ted Beresford. It was his wrestling skill, though, that made him such a popular and successful wrestler. Like so many wrestlers, though, it was in the boxing ring where Steve was first combative, a member of the Globe Amateur Boxing Club from his early teens.
Steven Geoffrey Beresford was born in Huddersfield on 14th November, 1947. With his father, Ted, a successful wrestling promoter his environment made a career path of professional wrestling far from surprising. When he turned professional he adopted the ring name of Steve Clements, the latter being the maiden name of his mother, Marjorie.
He joined the professional ranks in 1965, and barely more than a year later, in the summer of 1966, made his first overseas wrestling tour of Spain, along with Leon Arras and Dave Larsen. Heritage member Phil Lions provided information that on this tour, 3rd September, 1966, Steve challenged Modesto Aledo for the European middleweight title at the Plaza de Toros de Murcia.
Whilst many wrestlers would spend ten years or more “paying their dues” and slowly rising up the wrestling hierarchy success for Steve Clements was relatively meteoric. His television debut in November, 1966, losing to a highly rated Spanish visitor, Juan Rodriquez Questa, was followed swiftly with two more, wins over the experienced Jeff Kaye and Ted Heath, before the year was out. That’s three television appearances within six weeks. Three months later, March 1967, came a debut at the Royal Albert Hall in London, opponent Terry Jowett. The course seemed to have been set; Steve Clements was going to be a success.
Things were to move up another gear in the autumn of 1967 when Steve joined forces with the more experienced Doncaster wrestler, Mick McMichael, to form the Yorkshire Terriers tag team. This raised the profile of both wrestlers as they became a team with a popularity on parr with the Royal brothers to take on the villains of the ring – Hells Angels, Black Diamonds, and the Dennisons.
Sixteen televised matches, singles and tag, before the end of 1968 established Steve as one of the leading wrestlers in the country. As he was known to travel far and wide it came as no great surprise to fans that at the beginning of 1969 he set off on a trip to Mexico, accompanied by Terry Jowett. Fans weren’t too concerned. He would be back. The Wrestler magazine kept us informed of Steve’s travels with a report of 46000 fans witnessing him defeat Karloffe Lagarde in the Pueblo stadium, Mexico, to take the World welterweight title. He travelled on to the USA where he partnered Don Greene to take the Tennessee Tag Team Championships.
Steve did return to Britain, but not until 1972, and that was to be only a visit. In those four intervening years a great deal had changed. In the United States he had picked up a deputy-sheriff’s badge, the title of honorary lieutenant in the Alabma State Militia, a Mexican wife, two children and around three stones in weight. Clearly Steve was not here to stay. On television we saw him wrestling Colin Joynson and Tony Charles, whilst in our local hall he stood little chance against Kendo Nagasaki. In September, 1972, his father gave him a European Mid Heavyweight title tilt against Bill Howes on one of his Nottingham spectacular bills. Steve returned again in 1973, most likely the draw of his parents rather than wrestling opportunities, but his home was now firmly established in the United States.
In America he was, true to form, elevated to Sir Dudley Clements or Sir Clements, and went on to gain more fame, and notoriety, as a villainous Aristocratic manager .
Yet tragedy lay in store. What started as an ordinary day’s work on 22nd April, 1976, ended in tragedy and the death of Steve Clements. He had appeared at St Mary’s High School in Ohio in his role as Sir Dudley Clements, manager of Brute Bernard, were travelling to Detroit when when the vehicle veered off the road into a concrete bridge near the town of Van Wert, around 80 miles south of his home in Cheyenne Boulevard, Toledo. Bernard sustained a broken arm, cracked ribs and lacerations in the accident. Steve Clements died in a local hospital shortly afterwards, aged just 28 years.
Page added 21/04/2024
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