11 January 1947
President of the Board
Lord Mountevans named as First President of the British Wrestling Board of Control
11 January 1956
The Ghoul KO’d!
Well not quite, but as he walked in treacherous conditions to the Music Hall in Aberdeen he fell and injured himself.
11 January 1957
The Tibor Challenge
Hungarian refugees living in Westgate on Sea in Kent were invited to the wrestling at the Coronation Hall in Ramsgate. One of the Hungarians was Tibor Szakacs, who issued a challenge to British wrestlers.
11 January 1961
Turpin Returns
Former middleweight champion of the world Randolph Turpin returned to the ring. Not as a boxer, but as a wrestler. He made his debut at Paisley Ice Rink for promoter Peter Keenan against Frankie Hughes. Reports suggest fans were not overly impressed as he knocked out the wrestler in the second round.
12 January 1968
Wrestlers Commit Suicide
Eight Iranian wrestlers committed suicide following the death by suicide of wrestler Gholam Ream Takhti. Three of the wrestlers left notes saying they could not live forllowing the death of their idol.
12 January 1977
The Bulldog Lost His Bark
Marty Jones defeated Bulldog Colin Joynson at the Sheffield City Hall to retain the British light heavyweight title.
13 January 1940
Green Asp Unveiled
In Newcastle the Blue Mask defeated and unmasked his rival the Green Asp, to reveal the identity of Canadian Carl Van Wurden. Of course, Van Wurden was soon to pull the mask back on and the Green Asp persona continued until the early 1950s.
13 January 1956
Disappointment at Quick Ending
Wrestling fans at the Drill Hall in Halifax were disappointed when the first appearance of Australian heavyweight Gene Murphy ended in the opening round. His opponent, The Ghoul, took charge from the start and Murphy didn’t get a look in until the match ended when he fell out of the ring following The Ghoul’s famed Guillotine Chop.
13 January 1959
A Royal Win
Champion Bert Royal defeated Paul Anton Vargas to retain his European Middleweight title in Wolverhampton.
13 January 1976
Counted Out
World Mid Heavyweight champion Mike Marino stepped up a weight class to challenge British heavyweight champion Gwyn Davies at the DeMontfort Hall, Leicester. Scores were even at one fall each when a clash resulted in both men failing to beat the count.
13 January 1983
Jones Wins
Marty Jones retained the World Mid Heavyweight title against Dave Finlay in Bristol.
14 January 1932
Rumours in Wrestling! Who Would Believe It?
Rumours have always surrounded professional wrestling, but this was a new sort of rumour. As the fans assembled at the Granby Halls in Leicester a rumour spread quickly amongst the thirty or so fans assembled that the programme was about to be cancelled due to lack of interest. So much unrest was caused that the Director of World’s Wrestling Promotions, Mr Wykeham-Martin announced that the programme would definitely go ahead with all advertised matches taking place. There need not have been any worry because eventually a sufficiently large contingent of customers entered the hall. Unsure of what to expect the crowd watched the opening match with some bemusement and politely applauded at it’s conclusion. All that changed later in the evening and the fans cheered enthusiastically.
In the main event Atholl Oakeley, conceding around two stones beat Francois Berthod, heavyweight champion of France, in 51 minutes, the sixth of the schedules six rounds. It was a popular win with enthusiastic fans scrambling into the ring to congratulate Oakeley. There was better fortune for the French when Alexander Poizat outclassed Bob Norman with a win in under 14 minutes. Norman was substituting for Bob Gregory. Belgium’s Walter Magnee struggled against the much younger Jack Pye and the contest ended in a draw with neither man scoring.
The match between Cordite Conroy and King Curtis ended with just 30 seconds of the 30 minute contest remaining. A collision between Conroy’s face and Curtis’s knee resulted in the blood flowing and a win for King Curtis. Referee for all matches was Fred David.
That was it. More than three hours of wrestling without a hint of biting, gouging or nose twisting. Just a promise of another show in two weeks time.
14 January 1950
A Wrestling Hero
Mary Forge, aged 94, died in hospital shortly after being rescued from a fire in her home by wrestler Jules Kiki. The wrestler dashed into the blazing room, rescued Mrs Forge and then attempted to extinguish the flames.
14 January 1952
Colbeck Outclasses Royal
Following a close contest in the same hall in November Alan Colbeck defended, and retained, the British welterweight title against young Bert Royal. This was one of the first Lord Mountevans title matches since the formation of Joint Promotions two weeks earlier.
14 January 1955
Kidd, Naturally.
George Kidd retained the World lightweight title against Ischa Israel in Leicester.
14 January 1960
Age Over Youth
Mike Marino (holder) defeated Bill Robinson to retain his World Mid Heavyweight title in Barrow
14 January 1962
A Late Christmas Party
One hundred and thirty children in Huddersfield attended a party at the Empress Ballroom organised by promoter Ted Beresford. Santa Claus made a late appearance and the more discerning may have noticed a remarkable resemblance to Masambula.
14 January 1967
Scots Wizardry
George Kidd defeated Vento Castella by two falls to one at the New St James Hall, Newcastle, in a defence of the World Lightweight title.
14 January 1967
Un Fixed!
Peter Preston beat Mick McManus on TV.
The Story of That Match!
14th January 1968
What A Night
It was quite a night at the Victoria Hall in Halifax. One guinea probably seemed a bit steep for a ringside seat but was justified by the quality of the programme.
- In the Main Event Jackie Pallo gained a rare victory, albeit by disqualification, over arch rival Mick McManus.
- In a mask v mask contest Kendo Nagasaki defeated the Zebra Kid (George Bollas).
- European middleweight champion Vic Faulkner retained his title against European welterweight champion Alan Colbeck.
- Masambula drew with John Lees. If all that wasn’t enough then finish off with a tag match; Les Kellett and John Allan defeated Honeyboy Zimba and Ezzard Hart.
15 January 1953
Mitchell TKO Win
Success for British light heavyweight champion Dennis Mitchell at the Victoria Baths, Nottingham. He defeated challenger Vic Stewart on a technical knockout when Stewart was injured in the tenth round. The title challenger was leading by a fall scored in round 8.
15 January 1954
Yorkshire Grit
Ernest Baldwin retained his British heavyweight title against Francis Gregory at Leicester
15 January 1954
Wigan Peer
Jack Dempsey beat Ken Joyce to retain the British welterweight title.
15 January 1954
Colbeck Champion
At the St Mungo Halls, Glasgow, Alan Colbeck defeated Lucien Goullou to keep the European welterweight title.
15 January 1966
Not Enough Iron
At the Corn Exchange in Kings Lynn Iron Jaw Joe Murphy failed in his bid to wrest the British welterweight title from Jack Dempsey.
15 January 1969
Not Good Enough
“Not good enough” was a catchphrase of Jim Breaks, usually before his downfall. He was good enough to retain his British lightweight title when he knocked out Zoltan Boscik at the City Hall Sheffield.
15 January 1970
Is This The Chop For Judo Al?
Judo Al Hayes had been elected Conservative councillor for Islington in May 1968. Labour councillors were demanding his resignation due to a failure to attend sufficient council meetings. It was claimed that Judo Al had attended four meetings out of a possible thirty-one since elected and none at all since July 1968. Hayes said that attending meetings would mean turning down wrestling jobs, which would cost him money.He said he had no intention of resigning.
15 January 1986
Man of Steel
Ray Steel defeated Pete Roberts in Hertford to retain the British heavyweight title. It was a tenth round win for Steel at the Castle Hall. Champion Steel took the lead in round six with an equalising submission for Roberts in round nine. Victory came for the champion with a further pinfall in round ten.
16 January 1936
Sunday Gossip
Whether it was the women or the wrestling on the sabbath that caused offence, or maybe just a chancer looking to make some money but wrestling was back in the docks. Francis James Kelly claimed £300 as Common Informer for reporting the promoting of wrestling on a Sunday promoted by Alf Allen. Contests between women were reported to have taken place on Sundays in June and July, 1935.The Informer attended on three Sundays to confirm just how disgusting the proceedings were. Kelly was awarded £300.
16 January 1960
Mann’s Your Mann
Fans in Grantham were treated to a British middleweight championship clash when the experienced champion Tommy Mann made a defence against a newcomer to the professional ranks, Nottingham’s Al Nicol. Nine rounds passed without either man gaining the advantage but in the tenth a back-breaker by Mann caused Nicol to submit. The challenge was far from over and Nicol started to gain the advantage, which resulted in an equalising arm-lock submission in round 13. With Mann’s arm appearing to cause him trouble the fans cheered on the more popular Nicol. The score was to remain even and the drawn verdict after fifteen rounds was sufficient to have the Mountevans belt secured once again around Tommy Mann’s waist. In the supporting contests Masambula beat Seamus Donlevy, young Tony Charles beat Mick McManus and Alec Bray was disqualified when he clashed with Germany’s Axel Dieter.
16 January 1964
No Honor For Mr TV
It’s not often that wrestling made the front pages of the national press, and when it did it was inevitably not good news. In a television tussle with actress Honor Blackman, whilst filming for the Avengers television programme, Jackie Mr TV Pallo was left unconscious. Contrary to the urban myth Jackie was not knocked out cold by the actress. She overcame him and pushed him into an open grave as scripted. Jackie hitting his head and knocking himself out was not scripted. And they said wrestling was fixed!
16 January 1969
A Royal Double
It was double championship night in Blackburn. Vic Faulkner defeated Mike Bennett to retain the European welterweight title. Vic’s brother, Bert Royal beat Peter Preston to keep a hold on the British Heavy-Middleweight title.
16 January 1972
Challenger Breaks KO’d
Vic Faulkner knocked out challenger Jim Breaks to retain the British welterweight title in Halifax. Breaks had taken the lead with a submission in round 5, gaining a public warning for his troubles. Faulkner took an equalising submission in the sixth and went on to knock out the challenger.
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