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Tom Hegarty is another of those wrestlers who could well have been forgotten in the mists of time had it not been for Wrestling Heritage readers like Mike Hallinan who was a friend and has told us, “He was always fit, and strong, and a good wrestler.” Tom was a also good friend of Bert Assirati who greatly influenced him and encouraged him initially as a body builder and then as a wrestler.
Tom trained at the Foresters Club in Ladbroke Grove, West Kensington,and then went on to Dale Martin`s gym at Brixton. Ron Harrison had the task of testing the new recruits at the time. After passing the test Tom was given bookings for Dale Martin Promotions.
He was booked to go to Germany to work in the tournaments when fate took an unfotunate turn. Before flying out to Germany on the Monday he stopped at a friends disco at Crystal Palace on the Sunday evening, where he had sometimes worked as a doorman. Sudenly all hell broke out and he Tom was forced to get involved. During the ensuing fight he was slashed across the face and had part of his thumb sliced by the razor carrying assailant. Thus his wrestling career was over before it had fully started.
Tom finished his working life by working as a doorman, and as a stuntman in the Bond movies. He has a fight scene with Roger Moore around the swimming pool in the film “For Your Eyes Only” 1980.
Tom Hegarty died suddenly, aged 86, on March 7th, 2022 at his home in Listowel, Co. Kerry.
Page added 22/02/2024
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