Week Beginning 3rd May
03 May 1915
Raise A Glass of Canadian Rye.
For a man who didn’t step into a British ring Stu Hart certainly made an impact. The late Bob Leonard made sure that every British fan knew of Hart and his Stampede wrestling. We read of the antics of Abdullah the Butcher, The Stomper, Gorilla Monsoon and The Sheik. Leonard kept us posted when Stu Hart tempted over Billy Robinson, Geoff Portz, Kendo Nagasaki, Les Thornton and more Brits. Stu returned the favour by sending his sons over to wrestle in British rings. Stu Hart was born on 3rd May, 1915.
03 May 1930
Birth of George Harris
George Harris is in the A-Z
03 May 1932
Birth of Paul Lincoln
Read our tribute to Paul Lincoln
03 May 1937
Birth of Erich Froelich
Read our tribute to Erich Froelich
03 May 1950
Fans turned away.
Further signs that wrestling was gaining popularity as it was reported hundreds were turned away from a wrestling show at Beacon Park, Plymouth, with a capacity crowd of more than 2,000 witnessing Tony Mancelli defeat Anaconda, who was disqualified.
03 May 1957
Much More Wrestling.
Dale Martin Promotions announced that as a result of the removal of the Entertainment Tax in the April budget they planned a substantial increase to the numbers of shows staged.
03 May 1962
Joyce Overcomes Wall
At the Adam Smith Hall in Kirkcaldy Billy Joyce retained the British heavyweight title against Albert Wall.
03 May 1973
Headbanger Win
Successive banging of Johnny Saint’s head on the mat was certainly not the most eloquent strategy but it was enough for referee Joe D’Orazio to stop the contest and award the win to Jim Breaks and retention of the British lightweight title.
04 May 1877
Birth of Peter Gotz
Read our tribute to Peter Gotz.
04 May 1932
Birth of Paul Luty
Read our tribute to Paul Luty
04 May 1937
More Problems for the Ladies.
Gainsborough Urban Council banned female wrestlers from appearing at the Town Hall
04 May 1938
Sherry Defeats The Ghoul
The Ghoul suffered what was reportedly his first defeat at the New Brighton Tower. Jack Sherry did not put his title on the line but the wrestling blarney was that he would give the Ghoul 25,000 dollars and give him a title match in the event of the Ghoul pinning him. Referee Lew Roseby was thrown from the ring in the fourth round following which The Ghoul protested in vain that he had pinned Sherry during that period. Sherry won with a submission after 26 minutes.
04 May 1957
A Close Call for Tommy Mann
Tommy Mann put his World Middleweight title on the line against Bolton’s Bert Royal and almost lost it. The match went the full ten rounds duration and ended in a one fall each draw. Mann had taken the lead with a submission in round six with the challenger gaining an equalising fall in the ninth.
04 May 1977
Saint Again
At the DeMontfort Hall in Leicester Johnny Saint retained the World lightweight title against Jim Breaks.
04 May 1988
Frenchman Misses Out
At the Assembly Hall in Walthamstow a World Mid Heavyweight title match. Champion Marty Jones retained the title against French wrestler Marc Mercier.
05 May 1909
Birth of Cab Cashford
Read our tribute to Cab Cashford
05 May 1935
Birth of Billy Two Rivers
Read our tribute to Billy Two Rivers
05 May 1959
Age Overcomes Beauty
Jack Dempsey retained the British welterweight title against Tony Charles at the St George’s Ballroom in Hinckley.
05 May 1959
See You In Court
A writ alleging libel was issued on behalf of Joint Promotions, Norman Morrell and Walter Leonard Beresford against Norman F. Berry, Shirley Crabtree and Max Crabtree, partners in Twentieth Century Promotions, and Fawcett Greenwood and Co., printers in Halifax.
05 May 1962
Let The Rivalry Begin
Cup Final Day and in possibly the finest hour of British promoting history we embarked on what was to become the never ending saga of Mick McManus and Jackie Pallo, disregarding the reality that the two had many previous encounters.
Read The Greatest Feud of All Time
05 May 1962
What a match!
Let’s not take anything away from the thrills of the Pallo-McManus bout on the same bill but the European mid heavyweight title match between Bill Howes and Jacques Lageat was what wrestling was all about. At Wembley Town Hall European champion Jacques Lageat put the belt on the line against Howes. Howes was on the attack from the start, failing to get an early attempt at a fall and stunning Lageat with a powerful drop kick. The Howes offensive continued through round two and into the third and then… a series of forearm smashes from Lageat, a reverse double leg nelson and referee Lou Marco counted to three; first fall to Jacques Lageat. Rounds five and six, Howes on the offensive again but to no avail. That changed in the seventh, an aggressive Howes, a shoulder press and an equaliser for Billy. Lageat came back aggressively but Billy responded as only he could, body slammed the champion in round nine and followed through to take the winning fall. Bill Howes was the new European Mid Heavyweight champion.
05 May 1962
Unmasking In Newcastle
Billy Joyce defeated and unmasked The Black Mask in Newcastle to reveal George Nuttall.
05 May 1983
Champions Win
In Bristol it was double championship night. Marty Jones defeated Skull Murphy by two falls to nil to retain the World Mid heavyweight title. Dave Fit Finlay retained the British light heavyweight crown by stopping Ringo Rigby
05 May 2012
Death of Peter Deakin
Read our tribute to Peter Deakin
06 May 1901
Birth of The Iron Duke William Welsh
Read our tribute to The Iron Duke
06 May 1921
Birth of Bert Nuttall
Bert Nuttall is in the A-Z
06 May 1960
Wrestlers Help Refugees
Ten wrestlers, including Dirty Dominic Pye, Jack Taylor, Joe Reid and Jim Bevan gave their services free of charge in a wrestling programme at the Free Trades Hall in Manchester in aid of the World Refugee Year Appeal.
06 May 1961
Baldwin’s Last Stand
Ernie Baldwin’s wrestling career ended abruptly when he broke his leg in a match with Billy Joyce at Newcastle.
06 May 1961
The Big Match Before The Big Match
It was F.A. Cup Final Day. Commercial television broadcast the F.A. Cup Final for the first time and started a tradition of starting the afternoon of sport with professional wrestling. Billy Two Rivers knocked out Francis Sullivan. On the same bill Mick McManus defeated Modesto Aledo and Dazzler Joe Cornelius beat Farmer John Allan. And the football? It was Tottenham 2, Leicester 0.
06 May 1969
Digbeth Memories
This was a night remembered distinctly by Commonwealth Heavyweight champion Count Bartelli when we met up with him a few years later. Bartelli was making a defence of his title against a recently arrived Indian wrestler by the name of Maruti Vadar. Bartelli’s memory of Vadar was of a very strong wrestler who seemed to have little understanding of how the business worked in this country and either did not, or could not, follow the instructions he had been given. This made for a very hard match that went to a fifteen minute draw. Also noted by Bartelli was that the promoter, Lew Phillips, of whom he had great respect, was fond of a drink or two during the interval. The start of the second half was delayed as Lew finished his drink, and this combined with the length of the match resulted in disgruntled fans either leaving early or missing the last bus home.
06 May 1978
Tony The Tiger
A one fall apiece draw was enough for Tony St Clair to retain the British heavyweight title against Pat Roach at the Victoria Hall in Hanley.
06 May 1982
Wrestler Voted a Winner
It was election night and a clear win for Aberdeen wrestler Len Ironside. Len was elected Labour councillor for St Nicholas Ward.
Leonard Ironside (Lab) …………937
Heather Smith (SDP Lib All)…..387
Margaret Morrison (Con)……….227
Majority ………………………………550
07 May 1905
Birth of Tiger DeLisle
Read our tribute to Tiger DeLisle
07 May 1909
Birth of Patrick O’Connor
Read our tribute to Patrick O’Connor
08 May 1954
Walsh Too Good for Mancelli
At the New St James Hall in Newcastle Norman Walsh retained the British Cruiserweight title when he defeated Tony Mancelli by two falls to one in the ninth round.
08 May 1971
Wall Regains Belt
Albert Wall had conveniently dropped his British heavyweight title to Gwyn Davies in January shortly before he left for South Africa. On his return he was all set to acquire the belt once again. The smiling Davies had not endeared himself to fans as champion with his rule bending style whilst champion. There was no change to either smile or tactics at Belle Vue in Manchester as he defended the title. The bell rang for round one. Both men moved towards centre ring, Davies smiled and held out his hand. As Wall put forward his hand to shake Davies dropped his hand to snatch Wall’s legs, shoulder press and first fall in seven seconds. That was it. Never a man to easily love, the Manchester fans now loved Albert. Davies was given a public warning before Wall equalised in round six having stunned the champion with a magnificent drop kick. Wall was now in control and took the winning fall, and the championship, in round seven, much to the delight of the fans.
08 May 1971
Enter The Masked Man
The authorities finally relented and on Cup Final Day 1971 Kendo Nagasaki made his tv debut. We only caught the final few rounds of a quiet victory over Wayne Bridges.
08 May 1982
Lumberjack Is Felled
At the Victoria Hall in Hanley Tony St Clair beat John Quinn in a British Heavyweight title match.
08 May 1982
Mick’s Last Jab
It was an historic occasion for wrestling fans as Mick McManus made his final appearance in the ring. A professional for more than thirty years there was no one more famous than Mick. His final opponent was Catweazle.
08 May 2012
Death of Fred Clayton
Fred Clayton is in the A-Z
09 May 1936
Birth of Linde Caulder.
Read our tribute to Linde Caulder
09 May 1939
Wrestling Promoter Fined.
Harold Lane, one of the pioneers of 1930s wrestling promotion, was fined £2 when he appeared at Tottenham Magistrates Court and found guilty of staging wrestling at the Beresford Arena, Haringey, without the required licence.
09 May 1959
Riley Finishes Fight To A Finish
Ernie Riley was established as British light heavyweight champion. Even though Alf Cadman had drawn with the champion in April we couldn’t imagine a defence against Alf creating too much excitement. So at the Victoria Hall in Hanley Wryton Promotions made the championship match a fight to a finish, no rounds, first fall wins. Riley won and kept the title.
09 May 1961
Unlucky Scot.
Eric Taylor successfully defended his British Heavy Middleweight title against challenger Clayton Thomson at the Music Hall, Aberdeen. Fans believed the Scot was unlucky in his attempt due to sustaining an elbow injury in the sixth round. Taylor took advantage of Thomson’s handicap and dominated the following three rounds before gaining the first fall in round nine. A re-energised Thomson fought back and gained an equaliser in the twelfth and final round.
09 May 1982
A Royal Medal
Bert Royal presented the awards at the Leek Tug of War Staffordshire Championships. Twenty teams had taken part.
09 May 2007
Death of Bert Craddock
Read our tribute to Bert Craddock
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