Wrestling Heritage

Ray Noble was fifteen years old when he first went with friends to the wrestling at Belle Vue. It was the start of a love affair with the sport that was to last for many years and holds fond memories until this day.

“It was the best two hours entertainment in Manchester,” Ray told Wrestling Heritage, and went on to recall vividly the magic of Belle Vue. The fun fair, the zoo and the speedway which covered spectators in red dust rising from the track. 

For Ray, though, the memories are of the wrestling. Three shows a week at its peak, with just about every big name in the business appearing at the huge Kings Hall venue.  The anticipation when the bright ring light was switched on, the house lights dimmed and calls from the fans to “Wheel ‘em in.”   Over 5,000 enthusiasts cheered their favourites and vociferously reassured the villains that they were doing their job well.

When Ray went through the doors for that first show the venue already had the longest tradition of professional wrestling in Britain. Over twenty years earlier, on 15^th December, 1930,  Belle Vue had hosted its first All-In wrestling tournament, the new style of wrestling introduced to Britain by Henri Irslinger. On that cold December evening fans had passed through the gates of Belle Vue to see Athol Oakeley beat Bert Assirati and a Doncaster miner, Jack Pye, beat Norman Ansell, who was later to gain notoriety as Norman the Butcher.

It was the start of five decades of wrestling at Belle Vue. In fact the Belle Vue wrestling tradition extended even further into history. Although the Kings Hall venue that is still remembered was first used for wrestling in 1921, the sport had been introduced to Belle Vue in 1910.

One wrestler was present on both that opening night in December, 1930, and the final presentation at the Kings Hall, some fifty years later. That man was Dirty Jack Pye, the one man most associated with Belle Vue wrestling. There was a saying that put Jack Pye on with one of the Belle Vue Zoo’s monkeys and he would still fill the stadium. Ray was a huge admirer of Pye, who engaged in some of the roughest and bloodiest bouts at the venue.

Ray is firmly of the belief that Pye’s contribution to wrestling history was good enough to have justified him a place in our Wrestling’s Most Inluential list. Not just a place, but the number one position. “There was no one else like him,” Ray told us, “He filled stadiums for years wherever he appeared.”