These are our shorter biographical portraits which we would like to extend if you can provide information or memories.
Mephisto
Professional wrestling was never short of colourful characters, but as a red masked man dressed as the devil, complete with horns and red tights, he was probably unique. Fortunately the horns were removed before the match commenced.We found documented records of matches against only Vic Hessle, Chick Elliott, Bob McNab and Tony Baer. At Blackpool spectators were so enraged that they started throwing objects into the ring and it was reported Mephisto almost received a knock out when he was stuck on the neck by an orange!
Pete Meredith
Post war British wrestling fans appreciated lighter weight wrestlers more than in many countries, but weighing little over 9 stones made diminutive Yorkshireman Pete Meredith a challenge for any wrestling matchmaker. That matchmaker was usually Relwyskow & Green Promotions, for whom Peter mostly worked in the 1970s at their venues around northern Englan and Scotland.
Pete was introduced to promoter George DeRelwyskow by the former rugby league star and professional wrestler, Sam Evans, who trained the Pete at his gymnasium in Hull before passing him on to Rewyskow’s StPatrick’s gymnasium in Leeds to put the finishing touches to his preparation for his pro wrestling world.
There was one moment of national fame with an unsurprising television defeat by the Dynamite Kid in October, 1976, a sacrificial lamb at the time Dynamite Kid was being given a big push in British rings.
Sadly Pete’s weight did seem to have proved a handicap and his career, to the best of our knowledge (and we would happily be proved wrong), was a short lived one.
Keita Meretana
Whenever this New Zealand heavyweight visitor of the 1961-2 winter climbed into the ring fans waited with anticipation for the ritual Maori dance which heralded the opening bell. Once the bout began Keita showed himself to be a wrestler of considerable skill, and gained popularity during his visit. The six feet tall heavyweight, born in 1935 as Keith Mildon, came to Britain in September, 1961, and was a crowd pleaser throughout the winter, initially in the north but later travelling nationwide. He took up amateur wrestling when he was sixteen years old and turned professional in May, 1959, drawing with Ricky Wallace. he and had worked in New Zealand, Australia and the USA before travelling to Britain. Within a year he had defeated Lofty Binnie to take the New Zealand heavyweight championship. A great influence on Keita was his uncle ,the Maori wrestler Ike Robins.
Chris Mettis
Twenty one year old Cypriot was nicknamed Atlas, due to his pocket giant stature, when he worked Dale Martin rings in 1961 and 1962. Amongst his opponents, usually capable second tier light heavies, were Charlie Fisher, Harry Kendall and Spencer Churchill.
Johnny (Young) Milo
One of three Greek born London based brothers, Johnny was the youngest sibling of Milo Popocopolis, and Tommy Milo. Sometimes billed as Young Milo in the late 1950s and early 1960s this name was also used by the eldest, Milo Popocoplis, at times in his youth. When not wrestling Johnny and brother Tommy ran a Mexican restaurant, The Acapulco.
Tommy Milo
Another “Golden Greek” of the 1950s and 1960s, this one was London restaurateur Tommy Milo. In 1953 Tommy and brother Johnny opened the Acapulco Coffee Bar in Hanway Street, London. Tommy was the brother of Milo Popocoplolis and Johnny Milo. Last seen in the rings of Paul Lincoln Management.
“A nice bloke, always good for a shilling when I was a kid,” remembers Alan Green.
Leon Minissini
French heavyweight made a short visit to Britain in February 1956 to face the likes of Mike Marino, Dai Sullivan and Reg Williams
Guy Mitchell
No, not the Canadian wrestler of that name, we had our own Guy Mitchell. Usually billed from Bradford and said to be “From a famous wrestling family” light heavyweight Guy Mitchell was not a member of the Mitchell family, who resented the use of their name. He weighed around 13 -14 stones and worked only for the independent promoters. We have unconfirmed information that he worked for Bradford Council full time. Highlight of his career was probably in 1967 when he was included in the roster of wrestlers engaged as fall guys for one of the Bholu brothers tours of Britain. For a fortnight in June, 1967 he duly went down to Hamid Bholu up and down the country from Wembley to Glasgow. Australian heavyweight Big John Marshall reported wrestling an Englishman with the name Guy Mitchell in 1969. Most of his matches were on the Sydney club circuit though we have heard of one high profile match on September 12h when he lost to Murphy the Magnificent (Maurice LaRue in the UK) at Sydney Stadium. Whether or not this was our man we cannot say. We have records of Guy Mitchell contests between 1964 and 1979.
Paul Mitchell
Our memories of Salford’s Paul Mitchell go back to the mid to late 1960s when he was one of a group of favourites on the northern independent circuit alongside Eddie Rose, Johnny Saint, Pete Lindberg, Ian Wilson and many others. In those days there were independent shows every night in Manchester alone, and so there was no shortage of opportunities for those with the skill. All those mentioned did have the skill, and each went on to work for Joint Promotions. Mitchell was invited to train at the Wryton Stadium, under the guidance of the Cadman brothers and Martin Conroy. Four years after turning professional Conroy decided Mitchell deserved exposure on the Joint Promotions circuit and he became a regular and popular figure on Best, Wryton and Atherton bills. The young middlewight combined skill with agility and speed; his flying head scissors and monkey climbs being the best in the business. Within a year he had made his television debut, drawing with another promising newcomer, Dave Barrie. His second televised contest, in which he defeated highly rated Bobby Ryan, was a demonstration of Paul at his best. He went on to near a dozen more television outings, in the opposite corner to the biggest names in wrestling at the time, Mick McManus, Jackie Pallo, and Steve Logan. Paul Michell also appeared in the January, 1973, special, Fanfare for Europe, recorded in our Armchair Corner section.
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Fazal Mohammed (Also known as Fazal the Flower)
A bearded Sikh described as a Herculean Indian the gigantic barefooted wrestler Fazal Mohammed claimed to weigh 22 stones and stand 6’3” tall when he arrived on the British scene in 1937. Even allowing for the excesses of promoters’ imaginations he was clearly a powerful man who was matched against top 1930s heavyweights Bert Mansfield, Dave Armstrong, Karl Pojello and World Champion Jack Sherry in a championship match at Nottingham in October, 1937. He was nicknamed “The Flower,” but we found little to warrant this name for a man with a tendency to toss referees across the ring. On his arrival in Britain he challenged Karl Pojello, who had recently defeated his brother, Daula Singh. In one report Fazal entered the ring and attacked Pojello, who was about to wrestle Henri Irslinger, and having pinned Pojello to the mat it took half a dozen officials several minutes to remove him.
Carlos Moll
The Spanish heavyweight, from Seville, made extensive visits to Britain during the winters of 1969 and 1970. He was a polished performer well known throughout all the countries of western Europe ans central America where wrestling was popular. Worked hard and gave Mike Marino a good match when he challenged him Retired injured when he challenged him for the World Mid heavyweight title in 1969 at Nottingham, Carlos took the lead in the third round and held on until a cleverly executed double knee shoulder press the equalising fall in round seven. Carlos was on the offensive in round eight when he eas thrown from the ring and failed to beat the count. The photo shows referee Joe Hill and opponent Marino attending to the injured Carlos. Marino retained the belt again when Carlos was given a second chance at Halifax. During his three or four month long stays in Britain he travelled extensively throughout the country. He made five television appearances, against Albert Wall, John Lees, Steve Haggetty, Gargantua and Tibor Szakacs.
Josef Molnar
Moustachioed, stocky Josef Molnar was a popular and frequent visitor to Britain during the 1960s. He was here off and on every year from 1960 until 1972, with the exception of 1970.
In the early 1960s he weighed around 13 stones, a middleweight. By the time of his last visit he was a heavyweight. The quality of opponents was mixed, ranging from low carders to main eventers. A Royal Albert Hall debut loss to British Heavy Middleweight Champion Eric Taylor was followed by a television win over the champion.
At one time he picked up and dropped the European light heavyweight title to Ernie Riley.
For his 1971 visit he was accompanied by Arpi Weber as the Hungarian Horsemen. Our recollection is that they made little impact following a two falls to one win over the Black Diamonds at the Royal Albert Hall. Unsurprisingly worked throughout Europe and we know he did wrestle in Mexico, but have no knowledge of American or Canadian visits.
Josef Molnar died in June 2019.
Harry Monk (Also known as Harry Ryan, Andy Ryan, Andrew Knight, The Liquidator, The Executioner, Doctor Death)
Weighing in at 22 stones Harry Monk must have squeezed into quite a few tight spaces over the years, and at his new lighter weight he’s squeezed into the Wrestling Heritage years. Taking the opposite route to most Harry turned professional wrestler following years of counting ’em out as a referee for promoters Mike DeMain and Ian Leeds. When a few wrestlers began taking liberties Harry decided if he was going to get thrown around he might as well get paid for his troubles by training as a wrestler. Al Marshall introduced Harry to Alan Kirby who gve the novice a bit of a pasting to test his mettle. Undeterred Harry moved on to Dave Bedford and Ray Robinson for training in the professional style. When the time was ready Harry made his professional debut against Scrubber Daly, and this was the start of a hectic career in which Harry juggled five or six matches a week with his work as a lorry driver. Mostly remembered by fans are his frequent tussles with Barry Douglas and Ritchie Brooks.
Sometimes villain, sometimes hero, Harry was always dressed in black tights and white boots, in tribute to Rough-house Harry Bennett. If the name Harry Monk is unfamiliar Harry can offer a few others as he has also wrestled under the names Harry Ryan, Andy Ryan, Andrew Knight, The Liquidator, The Executioner, and Doctor Death. “We all ended up as Doctor Death,” laughed Harry.
Jimmy Monroe
Liverpool’s Jimmy Monroe started out working for the independent promoters in the mid 1970s. Just made it onto tv in July 1988, three months before transmissions ended.
Buddy Montes
Buddy Montes came to Britain in 1967, the highlight no doubt being a disqualification victory in a tag match over Johnny Yearsley and Danny Lynch at the Royal Albert Hall.
Charro Montes
Mexican Charro Montes came our way in 1951 and 1954 and returning in 1967. It was claimed that Carro and Buddy Montes were brothers, but doubts have been cast on this.
Francois Monteverde (Also known as Monte Verde)
The publicity may have proclaimed “The Italian Wonder” but we have found no evidence of a distinguished career for this London born heavyweight of the late 1930s.
Ron Historyo discovered that Monteverde was neither Italian, Swiss, French or Argentinian as was claimed, but born Frank Monteverde in Lambeth on 14th July, 1911. His father had been born in Holborn whilst earlier generations were Italian.
We came across Monteverde for the first time in June, 1934 taking on Douglas Clark in Hull, a J.J. Tooth Promotion. Monteverde was said to be a powerful, strong and capable18 stone wrestler. Not powerful, strong or capable enough it took Clark five of the scheduled twelve rounds to win by two straight pinfalls. During the following five years he wrestled around the country with opponents that included Carl Reginsky, The Iron Duke , Bert Assirati, Margerich Anaconda, Bert Mansfield and Bulldog Bill Garnon. All top class opponents but with the outbreak of war he disappeared from our rings, we last find him in action on 26th August, 1939.
In the 1939 census Frank Monteverdi described himself as a carpenter’s labourer and we have found a newspaper report from 1942 where he is selling fruit from a barrow, and obstructing the highway!
Frank Monteverde died in 1967.
Antonio Montoro
“The Master of Masters” was the nickname of the Spaniard that visited Britain for the first time in 1955, and returned in 1956, 1959, 1960, 1961, and 1968. Was it the food or the weather he found appealing? Although the majority of his matches were in southern England he did travel extensively and worked for all the Joint Promotion members.
Marcel Montreal
French heavyweight Marcel Chauveau made a fleeting visit to northern England and Scotland at the end of 1966 for Relwyskow and Green Promotions, tussling with the likes of Kendo Nagasaki, Jim Hussey, Bill Howes and even challenging Mike Marino at Sheffield for the World Mid Heavyweight title. He was back in Britain again for a May 1971 tag match at the Royal Albert Hall, partnering Vassilios Mantopolous against the Hells Angels. With a background in boxing and Greco Roman wrestling Marcel Montreal was an accomplished technical wrestler well known throughout Europe wrestling the likes of Andre Bollet, Jack Lasartesse and Andre Drapp. He retired from wrestling in 1990
Wrestling Heritage 