Wrestling Heritage

Crowd Control of the Purest Kind

Globetrotting Prince Kumali was a big man and his ventures to become Heavyweight Champion of the Middle East and of Africa combined with exotic Guyanan nationality to give us four continents in one as we watched this London-based matman over many years tackle foes of all persuasions but heavyweights all, and frequently in top-of-the-bill contests.

Today’s opponent was The Golden Boy Steve Viedor, so Prince was required to beef things up with some contentious moves and exaggerated crowd-antagonising antics.  Fingers were wagged from the outset and that was all that was needed for the crowd’s touchpaper to be lit, the die was cast, and Kumali was destined too be booed all the way to his predictable 1-2 defeat.

Prince Kumali was in that group of utility wrestlers whose style adapted chameleon-like around his opponent.  He could be the hero when faced with the evil of Bruno Elrington or Kendo Nagasaki, or, with the minimum of arrogant strut or sneer and the right opponent, he could appear sent direct from the devil.  Others in this category, which required a certain amount of aplomb to be done well over a period of years, were the similarly sized John Kowalski and Pat Roach.

It was actually Viedor who transgressed first with what seemed a genuinely unintended over-eager attack, but the statuesque negro giant’s protestations were enough to arouse uproar amongst Viedor’s fans.

It wasn’t always easy to be a good guy, there was a risk of putting on the same show each and every bout.  But Steve Viedor was masterful at seeming at times so wronged, and then so groggy, and then coming back from the jaws of defeat to snatch a last-gasp victory for Ellesmere Port and, seemingly, all that is right in the world.  His preparations were detailed and we saw a lovely touch in this bout with the smelling salts coming out as early as between the first couple of rounds.  Kent Walton passed this off as standard procedure, but what second ever had smelling salts in their pocket?  No, Viedor knew what was what and incorporated many deft touches such as this into his wrestling.

Viedor was so convincing in fact that Prince Kumali was booed all the way through even though he hardly infringed the rules at any time.  This was crowd control of the purest kind.

Prince Kumali versus Steve Viedor, Bletchley, 10th October 1974