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03 October 1932
The Old World Meets The New
By anyone’s standards Billy Riley was a “proper wrestler.” A master of the catch-as-Catch-Can style he had travelled the world from his Wigan home, won the World middleweight title and had established himself as one of the greatest middleweight wrestlers of all time. For Billy Riley the purity of wrestling may have been sacrosanct but it was always a means to an end, the end being putting bread and butter on the table. So when All-In wrestling came along Billy was ready to seize the moment, and the money.
Jack Pye was no Billy Riley. He too had seized the moment, turning to All In wrestling as a means of escaping life down a coal mine. But Pye had been moulded for the All-In style, he was what we would now term a show wrestler.
Riley was a man of immense experience, wrestling from the time he left school, aged fourteen, before the start of the First World War. In America he is reputed to have won all his fourteen contests. During a tour of South Africa he defeated Jack Robinson for the Empire middleweight championship.
When Billy Riley wrestled Jack Pye it was a case of the old world meeting the new. Nothing is unique in wrestling and we will not give the impression that the two matches we are recording are their first encounter. The two men were familiar withe each other and had already wrestled each other twice at Belle Vue in Manchester, and at other halls around the country.
But it was when they clashed for the first time on Riley’s home turf, Wigan, that a great deal of interest was aroused. Riley the home town hero, vastly experienced, and Pye the younger, heavier man. Pye had been a professional for less than two years but already singled out as a star of the new era. Here’s an aside that may well surprise many. Although Riley was forever associated with Wigan he was born some seven miles away in Leigh, whilst the Doncaster Panther, Pye, was actually Wigan born.
The Wigan match was arranged for 3rd October, 1932. The match was widely previewed in the press, there was huge interest in both towns, and buses were chartered to transport Pye’s fans from his home town of Doncaster to Wigan.
The venue was the Empress Hall. Newspapers reported that the hall was packed with 3,000 spectators and hundreds were turned away, unable to gain admission. Riley was billed as British Empire middleweight champion and Pye, not to be outdone, was billed as British light heavyweight champion.
Pye started aggressively and almost gained a first round fall, thwarted by Riley throwing him out of the ring. Pye returned to the ring and this time it was he that threw Riley from the ring. It seemed apparent, though, that Riley was the better of the two men. Until the third round when Pye drew blood, literally, with a cut on Riley’s forehead and blood streaming down his face.
In the third minute of the fifth of the ten minute rounds Riley applied a hammerlock. Pye vigorously attempted to extricate himself, no sooner had he done so but he was caught in another and Riley took the first fall.
Doctors were called and it was declared Pye had badly sprained his arm and retired from the match.
A return match was arranged but didn’t take place until the following year. 17th July, 1933 was a warm summer evening and the old world met the new once again. when Billy Riley wrestled Jack Pye at Springfield Park, Wigan.
Seven thousand fans paid their money at the turnstiles of the Springfield Park in Wigan to watch the match. Pye had the advantage of 22 pounds and seven years younger. Riley had the advantage of a lifetime of experience.
Referee for the fight was a real pioneer, Job Shambley, a champion himself in the first decade of the Twentieth century.
As was to be expected it was an exciting match, both knew how to put on a show. At one point in the contest a majority of the crowd standing in the cheap enclosure, about fifty yards from the ring, broke through the railings and charged towards the ring.
Riley scored the winning fall after one minute 57 seconds of the fourth round, but not before referee Shambley had been tossed from the ring when trying to separate the wrestlers. A win for Riley and the Wigan crowd went home happy.
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