19 April 1927
Birth of Bernard Murray
Read our tribute to Bernard Murray
19 April 1940
Angus Beats Benyon
Harold Angus retained the European and World welterweight title at the Majestic Skating Rink in Preston. The match between Angus and challenger Ron Benyon was a return contest that resulted from Benyon’s surprise win over Angus in the same hall on 15th March. Scheduled over six ten minute rounds Benyon took the lead in the second round. Benyon was the more aggressive of the two in the third round but in round four Angus was the faster and more skilful, levelling the score with a double arm lock and press. Benyon submitted in round five when the champion applied a Japanese arm stretch.
19 April 1978
Ladies Please
Rhyl Town Council voted to allow female wrestling in the town.
19 April 1979
Rollerball Rocks
Mark Rollerball Rocco retained the British Heavy Middleweight title against Alan Dennison in Bristol.
19 April 2018
Death of Manie Maritz
Manie Maritz is in the A-Z
20 April 1920
Birth of Johnny Kwango
Read our tribute to Johnny Kwango
20 April 1931
Birth of Frankie Hughes
Read our tribute to Frankie Hughes
20 April 1933
Champions, Champions Everywhere
Although wrestling was continuing to spread around the country the Daily Mirror reported that crowds were falling away in the north of England. Questions were being raised over the number of champion claimants and how men allegedly injured in brutal contests could wrestle again within days.
20 April 1946
Wrestler Injured
Max Martin Schultz was seriously injured in his contest against Leo Lightbody in Manchester, and died two days later.
20 April 1962
Purvey Disqualified
Tommy Mann defeated Chic Purvey by a disqualification in a British middleweight title match in Glasgow.
20 April 1984
Fit Finlay Fells Faulkner
Dave Finlay defended the World Mid Heavyweight title against Vic Faulkner at the Civic Hall in Bedworth.
21 April 1903
Birth of Ernie Mack
Read our tribute to Ernie Mack
21 April 1934
Wrestling Goes West.
All-In wrestling made it’s debut in the Cornish town of St Austell promoted by boxing promoter Bob Lewis in the Public Rooms. Francis Gregory defeated Herbie Rosenberg by two submissions to one fall, Jack Bice beat George Burns by two falls to one submission, Red Jakes drew with Hiram Maxen.
21 April 1936
Birth of Keith Williamson
Read our tribute to Keith Williamson
21 April 1962
In The Beginning …
Jackie Pallo jumped into the ring at Wembley Town Hall on this Easter Saturday and challenged McManus prior to McManus’ match with Bob Anthony, which Mick won by two falls to one in round six.
21 April 1969
A Royal Night for Pallo
Jackie Pallo beat Bert Royal at the Nottingham Ice Rink to win the British Heavy Middleweight title. On the same programme Jim Breaks defeated Zoltan Boscik to keep the European lightweight title and George Kidd beat Jon Cortez to retain the World lightweight title.
21 April 1983
Breaks Regains Title
Challenger Jim Breaks took a submission and a fall over champion Steve Grey and his one fall, to win the British lightweight title in Colne.
21 April 2005
Death of Wild Angus Campbell
Read our tribute to Wild Angus Campbell
21 April 2020
Death of Taffy John Jenkins
Read our tribute to John Jenkins
22 April 1931 All Aboard.
Self proclaimed British heavyweight champion Atholl Oakeley boarded the Homeric and left for New York, a journey reported in the Daly Mirror.
22 April 1946
Death of Max Martin Schultz
Read our tribute to Max Martin Schultz
22 April 1961
Crabtree Holds Heavyweight Title
At the Granby Halls in Leicester BWF (independent) British heavyweight champion Shirley Crabtree retained the title against Roy Bull Davis.
22 April 1961
On The Same Day Joyce Holds Another Heavyweight Title
Lord Mountevans British heavyweight champion Billy Joyce faced a tough challenge from former champion Ernest Baldwin at the Barracks in Grantham. Baldwin took the lead in round five with a folding body press. Having just escaped from a Boston crab in round seven Joyce snatched the advantage and took the equalising fall. An abrupt end came in the ninth round as Baldwin seemed to be getting on top of the champion when Joyce moved quickly to obtain the winning fall and keep the belt.
22 April 1961
Dempsey Keeps Welterweight Crown
Jack Dempsey retained the British welterweight title against Bob Steele at Belle Vue in Manchester.
22 April 1970
Boscik Best of Britain
Zoltan Boscik beat Jim Breaks at London’s Royal Albert Hall to retain the British lightweight title.
22 April 1976
Death of Steve Clements
Read our tribute to Steve Clements
22 April 1983
Too Big A Mountain For Saint
At the Northgate Arena in Chester Rollerball Rocco retained the World Heavy Middleweight title against Johnny Saint.
22 April 1986
Death of Sandy Orford
Read our tribute to Sandy Orford
22 April 2019
Death of John Quinn
Read our tribute to John Quinn
23 April 1890
Birth of Charlie Glover
Read our tribute to Charlie Glover
23 April 1899
Birth of George Boganski
Read our tribute to George Boganski
23 April 1903
Birth of Tom Blinkhorn
Tom Blinkhorn is in the A-Z
23 April 1931
Wedding Bells.
Harold Angus married Peggy Statham in Doncaster. Harold’s brother, Billy, was best man.
23 April 1937
A Close Shave
Three wrestlers were mistakenly reported dead when they were involved in a car crash between Paris and Calais. Bob Gregory was driver of the car with passengers Charlie Green and Billy Watson. The car skidded on gravel, turned a somerault and crashed into a tree. The three wrestlers were taken to Calais Hospital and thankfully lived to fight another day.
23 April 1958
Dempsey Outfoxes McManus
Jack Dempsey defeated Mick McManus at Kensington’s Royal Albert Hall to win the British welterweight title.
23 April 1962
War of the Roses
At the St George’s Hall in Bradford a War of the Roses as Wigan’s British Light Heavyweight title holder, Ernie Riley, retained the title despite being held to a draw by Bradford’s Eric Taylor.
23 April 1964
Passing The Test
The Daily Mirror reported that a ginger haired schoolboy from Sandbach had passed his driving test just three months after his seventeenth birthday. The boy was Barry Condliffe, son of Count Bartelli.
23 April 1966
Robinson Wins For Now
Billy Robinson had snatched the European heavyweight title from his tutor Billy Joyce in June 1965 but Joyce’s British title remained elusive. That changed on this night at Belle Vue in Manchester, albeit temporarily. Robinson and Joyce placed their respective belts on the line and it was Robinson that took the honours. His tenure as champion was short lived as Joyce was destined to regain the British title three weeks later.
23 April 1966
A New Champion
Geoff Portz and Bill Howes met at the New St James Hall in Newcastle to contest the British Mid Heavyweight title vacated by Norman Walsh following a car crash injury. Portz knocked out Howes to win the title.
23April 1977
Dynamite
Two title matches at Belle Vue in Manchester. Dynamite Kid defeated Jim Breaks to win the British lightweight title. Challenger Tony St Clair was closing in on the more experienced British heavyweight champion Gwyn Davies but tonight was not the night as the match ended inconclusively in a No Contest result.
23 April 1978
Death of Bearded Ken Davies
Read our tribute to Ken Davies
23 April 1983
Champions March On
Two title matches and both champions retained their titles at the Victoria Hall in Hanley. Tony St Clair defeated John Quinn to retain the World Heavyweight title and Mark Rocco knocked out Chic Cullen to keep the British heavy middleweight title.
23 April 1986
Bully
In Worsley Bull Blitzer beat Marty Jones two falls to one to win the World Mid Heavyweight title.
24 April 1916
Birth of Lou Thesz
Read our tribute to Lou Thesz
24 April 1927
Birth of Russ Bishop
Read our tribute to Russ Bishop
24 April 1953
Ernie Keeps Title
Ernest Baldwin retained the British heavyweight title against Dave Armstrong at Levenshulme Skating Rink.
24 April 1954
Title Clash
Chic Purvey defended the British middleweight title against Frankie Hughes in Hanley. We have no result but this may have been the match Hughes defeated Purvey to win the title.
24 April 1970
One Tough Battle
Yugoslavian born wrestler Emile Wolfe was having a tough battle, most likely his toughest, as the opponent was the home office. Emile, who was an Australian citizen now living in Widnes, wanted to visit his sick father in Yugoslavia. First problem was that his passport had been detained by the Home Office whilst they were assessing his right to stay in Britain to live with his English wife. When that problem was solved and the passport returned it transpired that as his passport would expire whilst he was away neither he nor his Australian born children would be allowed back into the country.
A Home Office spokesman said, “He is a Commonwealth citizen and as such under current legislation husbands, or indeed wives, are not allowed to join their wives in this country.”
24 April 1976
Ryan Doubles Up
Bobby Ryan added the British lightweight title to his European title when he beat champion Jim Breaks by two falls to nil. Scheduled over 15 rounds Ryan pinned Breaks in rounds five and six.
24 April 1976
Kung Fu Unmasked (Again)
The masked Kung Fu had already been unmasked by Kendo Nagasaki on 24th March at the Royal Albert Hall. Most wrestling fans around the country would be unaware of this event and so a second unmasking took place in a televised show at Woking on 21st April (to be broadcast on 24th April).
Mick McManus, the matchmaker, gave himself the honour of unmasking the masked man who had chosen to go maskless due to the number of imitators that had sprung up. It was the usual lucky win for McManus. Kung Fu mistimed a corner posting and injured his foot, seized on by McManus for the inevitable submission.
An unceremonious unmasking saw a kneeling Kung Fu remove his own mask to reveal Eddie Hamill. Hamill was honourable in defeat until McManus pulled the discarded mask over his own head, leading Hamill to set into him all over again
24 April 1979
Goldbelt Gold
Brian Maxine beat Bert Royal at the Wolverhampton Civic Hall to retain the British middleweight title.
24 April 1979
Breaks Beats Grey
A submisssion for Jim Breaks in round seven with an equaliser for challenger Steve Grey in round ten and a twelve round draw was enough for Jim Breaks to retain the British welterweight title in Guildford.
24April,1982
Marty Betters Martin
Marty Jones defeated Caswell Martin by two falls to one in eight rounds at the Victoria Hall, Hanley, to retain the British light heavyweight title.
25 April 1936
Gill On The Go
Mitchell Gill set sail on the Otranto from London to Sidney.
Read Mitchell Gill, Ambassador of Wrestling
25 April 1966
Angry Scenes
One thousand fans at the Globe Cinema in Bristol started the night in jubilant mood but turned angry and demanded their money back at the non appearance of famous tv wrestlers Billy Two Rivers and Tibor Szakacs. The wrestlers were not even booked to appear because the show was promoted by an independent promoter, Worldwide Promotions, at a time the two men were contracted to work exclusively for Joint Promotions. Flower pots, cigarette packets and sweets were amongst the debris thrown into the week.
25 April 1977
A Popular Win
A world lightweight championship clash in Bradford with the fans vocally supporting champion Johnny Saint against their local challenger Jim Breaks. Breaks fleeting acquaintance with the rules earned public warnings in rounds three and six. Saint took the lead in round five, Breaks equalising with a submission in the sixth. Saint retained the title when Breaks retired injured in round seven.
25 April 1979
Tony the Giant Slayer
Having lost the championship five months earlier Tony St Clair regained the British heavyweight title when he defeated Giant Haystacks at the Royal Albert Hall. The contest lasted just five of the twelve scheduled rounds. Haystacks had taken the lead in round three but his violent protestations at a St Clair equaliser in the fifth led to disqualification by referee Joe D’Orazio.
25 April 1982
Death of El Greco
Read our tribute to El Greco
25 April 2008
Death of Bob Bannister
Read our tribute to Bob Bannister
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