18 January 1932
Wrestling Comes to Bristol
British heavyweight champion, or at least one of them, Atholl Oakeley wrestled on the first ever All In wrestling show at the Colston Hall, Bristol. The wrestling matches were part of a combined boxing and wrestling programme. Main wrestling contest was a six 10-minute round match between Oakeley and Norman the Butcher. After an even first round Oakeley gained the advantage in the second and third rounds, aggressively attacking the Butcher’s legs. The match ended in the fifth round with Oakeley body slamming Norman just seconds in to the round and pinning him.
18 January 1936
Heading South
Douglas Clark set sail from London on the Orion to Sidney
18 January 1952
A Royal Disappointment
Johnny Stead retained British Lightweight title against Bert Royal at Leicester
18th January 1956
A New Year at the Royal Albert Hall
The opening show of 1956 at the Royal Albert Hall saw the giant Mongolian Iska Khan defeat he turbulent one, Alan Garfield. Tasmanian Rebel Ray Hunter pulled off something of a surprise with a win over Francis St Clair Gregory on the same bill. Dale Martin promotions had now established the Royal Albert Hall as the nation’s premier wrestling venue with programmes that were to become the benchmark of excellence for decades to follow.
18 January 1958
Dark Owl Unmasked
A fight to a finish, one fall to decide in Kings Lynn where Count Bartelli unmasked Dark Owl to reveal Ernie Riley. The same match with the same result had taken place at Hanley on 14th April, 1956.
18 January 1969
Bitten Off More Than He Could Chew
The court in Dumfries fined William Thomas £25 for assault. Thomas was found guilty of throwing a punch at another customer and striking him with a piece of crockery in a Dumfries cafe. Unfortunately the other customer was wrestler Adrian Street. Street grabbed the man and held him until the police arrived.
18 January 1968
Jack is Busted
Wrestler Jack “Buster” Martin was fined £7 for speeding at court in Whitchurch.
18 January 1970
No Holds Barred
The People newspaper reported that professional wrestlers were forming a union and threatening strike action.
18 January 1971
Big Gwyn Outguns Giant
When British champion Bill Robinson had permanently left our shores many fans were surprised to find that it was Steve Veidor, and not Gwyn Davies, who had been chosen to face Albert Wall in a championship contest to fill the vacancy. In Loughborough that wrong was righted when Davies was finally given a tilt at the title. Call us cynical if you like but a Davies victory would prove convenient for Joint Promotions as Wall was about to leave the country on a tour of South Africa. In a niggly contest Wall took the first fall and was shortly afterwards disqualified by referee Joe Hill.
18 January 1978
Breaks Still Champion
Jim Breaks retained the British welterweight title against Vic Faulkner in Lincoln.
18 January 1986
Bartelli’s LastBig Night Out
The final contest of Count Bartelli.
Bartelli’s Big Night Out
19 January 1904
Control for Wrestling
The National Wrestling Association of Great Britain for the government of wrestling was formed in London. It was decided that the one body should govern both amateurs and professionals. A Committee was elected and included wrestler and prolific author Percy Longhurst and strongman William ‘Apollo’ Bankier. The elected Chairman was John Atkinson, listed as a well known bone setter.
19 January 1939
British Empire Championship
At the Civic Hall in Exeter Tiger Daula wrestled Alan Muir in a match advertised as for the British Empire Heavyweight title. Daula was billed as champion of India and Muir as British champion. We do not have a report.
19 January 1954
No Kidding
A capacity crowd at the Music Hall, Aberdeen, witnessed George Kidd defend both his World and European lightweight titles against Sankey Allan (Carlton Smith). Whilst Kidd displayed the greater skill Allan demonstrated greater power and took the lead with a submission in the fifth round. Kidd equalised with a clever combined leg and arm lock which forced a submission from Allan who was unable to continue with the contest.
19 January 1963
Unlucky Scott
Tommy Mann retained the British Middleweight title against Chic Purvey in Grantham. The Scot was in the lead when he was forced to retire through injury in the eighth round.
19 January 1964
It’s In The Sunday Papers So It Must Be Filth
Forget Jack Dempsey, Bill Robinson or George Kidd, the papers weren’t interested in serious wrestlers. But they were quite happy to piece together the phrases “men flock,” “girls fight,” “muscular girls writhe” and the result was “grotesque.” Truth was it was a couple of hundred men and women, and Ann Starr versus Mademoiselle Chi-Chi Djaileb, Empress of the Black Dagger, who between them were veterans of approximately two bouts. Their match was over four five minute rounds and the result was a draw. They were raising money to form a wrestling club at the Red Lion pub in the Kent village of Hawkhurst. Well, if anything’s worth the wrath of the Sunday papers it must be that.
19 January 1970
Wrestlers Strike First Blow As They Battle New Opponents
Wrestling in Newbury and Colchester was cancelled and police weaare called to Croydon on standby for trouble as working wrestlers crossed the picket line. Five wrestlers failed to appear in Hertford but the show went ahead as substitutes were found. The cause was a strike by wrestlers of Dale Martin Promotions demanding an increase of £2 per bout and a rise from £40 to £60 for television bouts. The wrestlers complained that promoters were bringing in wrestlers from the north to take their place. A spokesman for Wryton Promotions said that wrestling in the north was not affected.
20 January 1966
A War of the Roses Battle
Doncaster’s Albert Wall beat Wigan’s Billy Joyce to win the British heavyweight title.
21 January 1933
It’s the Future
BBC radio presented a programmes on the National Service in which wrestler Bob Gregory posed the question “What is the future of wrestling?”
21 January 1969
Colbeck Triumph
Alan Colbeck retained the European welterweight title when he beat local wrestler Al Nicol at the Festival Inn, Trowell.
21 January 1969
Devereux Wins On A Submission
Devereux Promotions refused to pay an increased charge from £21 to £36 for the hire of The Capitol. The promoters complained that there had already been one increase within the last year from £15 15s (£15.75) to £21. The Council, who said the new fee was based on musical shows they would consider making the charge £22, which was the fee for stage plays.
21 January 1970
A Quick Submission
Well, this hardly turned out to be the greatest moment of union strife. Two days after making their move and striking for a £2 a match pay rise the sixty striking wrestlers agreed to a new offer from Dale Martin Promotions. At a meeting in West Norwood, London, the wrestlers compromised with the acceptance of a £1 a bout rise. Dale Martin Promotions had threatened to cancel shows indefinitely if the wrestlers did not accept the offer.
21 January 1978
Bartelli Keeps His Belt
Count Bartelli defeated Marty Jones by two falls to one at Hanley to retain the Commonwealth Heavyweight title.
21 January 1984
Saintly Win
At the Corn Exchange in Kings Lynn Johnny Saint retained the World Lightweight title against Jackie Robinson.
22 January 1937
Golden Hawk Felled
At the White City in Hull the European heavyweight champion Karl Pojello defended his title against the Golden Hawk. Both wrestlers were reported to have shown a great deal of class though Pojello was by far the better wrestler and dominated the contest. The ending was unfortunate and came in the third of the ten minute rounds after twenty-six minutes. When Pojello slammed the Hawk he fell awkwardly and failed to beat the count.
22 January 1942
Gregory Scare
The Western Morning News reported that Lance Corporal Francis Gregory was feared to never again be able to wrestle or play rugby having already been in hospital since July 1941 having received serious injuries to his neck and head.
22 January 1951
Miquet Wins World Title
Felix Miquet beat Frank Sexton to win the World Heavyweight title.
22 January 1960
Mann Slaughter
Tommy Mann retained his British middleweight title against challenger Chic Purvey at the Govan Town Hall.
22 January 1963
Wall Holds Champion
Bill Joyce defended his British heavyweight title against Albert Wall at the DeMontfort Hall in Leicester. The challenger took the champion to a one fall apiece draw, leaving Joyce the champion.
22 January 1981
Jones Keeps Belt
Marty Jones defeated Pete Roberts at the Colston Hall, Bristol, to retain the British light heavyweight championship.
22 January 1985
Four Years Later – Different Title, Same Result
Marty Jones retained the World Mid Heavyweight title against Pete Roberts at the Fairfields Hall, Croydon.
23 January 1935
First wrestling atHastings St Leonards.
https://wrestlingheritage.co.uk/not-so-genteel-ladies-and-gents/
23 January 1954
Royal is Rumbled
At the New St James Hall Alan Colbeck beat Bert Royal for the British welterweight title by two falls to one in the ninth round.
23 January 1967
Yes, Sir.
It was a case of the pupil finally taking over from the teacher as Billy Robinson beat Billy Joyce in Bradford to add the British heavyweight title to the European title he had acquired from Joyce in June, 1965. Robinson had won the British title previously in April 1966, but for only three weeks before Joyce had regained it. This time Robinson established himself as Britain’s best heavyweight. There are erroneous reports that Robinson had won the British heavyweight title from Joyce in Manchester five days earlier on 18th. However, no wrestling took place at Belle Vue on that night as the venue was hosting the circus.
23 January 1967
Sarjeant Travels Well
Romford’s Alan Sarjeant made a rare visit north and retained the British welterweight title at Leeds Town Hall against challenger Michael Bennett.
23 January 1978
Just Dynamite
At the Royal Hall in Harrogate Dynamite Kid beat Jim Breaks by two falls to one to retain the British lightweight title.
24 January 1961
Mad Enough to Split
The Daily Herald reported that speedway star Split Waterman had taken out a writ alleging misrepresentation against Premier Promotions who had advertised a bout between Chic Linton and “Split Waterman – ex speedway star.” The speedway star said hundreds of speedway fans had been disappointed when they had turned up and expected to see him wrestle. Bert Waterman said he had used the name Split for about five years.
24 January 1956
Referee Angers Fans
Aberdeen wrestling fans were disgruntled to say the least at referee Ron Johnson. He had just disqualified Scotland’s George Clark in his match against Mongolian Iska Khan. Fans disputed the referee’s decision that Clark had struck Khan with a clenched fist, and moreso because until that moment neither man had received any warnings,
24 January 1965
Marino Keeps Hold
Mike Marino’s defence of his World Mid Heavyweight title against Judo Al Hayes at the Aston Hippodrome ended in a draw, one fall each.
24 January 1966
Dempsey Leads a Yorkshireman a Murray Dance
Jack Dempsey defended his British welterweight title against Bernard Murray at London’s Seymour Hall
24 January 1968
Thomson Remains Supreme
Mick McManus could not keep his bad habits under control as referee Joe Hill disqualified him when he wrestled Clayton Thomson at the Royal Albert Hall for the latter’s European middleweight title. Skulduggery began in the first round when McManus tried to strangle Thomson. McManus was the more aggressive of the two with Thomson’s bandaged knee receiving particular attention. A public warning came McManus’ way shortly afterwards as a result of kicking Thomson through the ropes. With McManus again piling on the pressure Thomson submitted in the fourth round to a pressure hold on the right knee. McManus’ attempts to gain further advantage came to an end when Thomson gained an equalising fall with a folding body press. As Thomson went further on the offensive McManus resorted to more rule breaking. When McManus twice refused to break an illegal hold the referee lost his patience and Joe Hill sent him back to the dressing room, leaving Clay Thomson the European champion.
24 January 1971
Two Champions for the Price of One
Promoter Ted Beresford staged a double championship bill in Halifax. Vic Faulkner fought off the challenge of Mick McManus in a European middleweight title contest and Jim Breaks retained the European lightweight title against Jon Cortez.
Wrestling Heritage 