Wrestling Heritage

J

We reach the letter J, for Joyce, Joyce and Joyce. We think you’ll rather like the remaining ones also.

Jacobo

Jacobo was a Spanish strongman type, domiciled in Argentina.  Trained by Quasimodo.

He toured the UK in the early seventies at a time when many hispanic visitors appeared to be replacing the French and Germans who had regularly visited in the sixties.  Unfortunately, this trend also brought with it a rise in no-shows that had been a rarity previously.

Black Butcher Johnson

He was known for his speciality,which was a ferocious savate kick that often collided with an opponents chin, resulting in a knock out.

Arthur Johnson, known as Black Butcher, was one of the great characters of the pre and post war wrestling scene. He began his career working for Atholl Oakeley in the 1930s and was still wrestling regularly well into the 1960s when he also promoted under the name Ring Promotions. 

In 1954 he defeated Norman Walsh in Aberdeen to take the World Mid heavyweight title, before losing it to Mike Demitri.  Holder of the World Light heavyweight title from 11th April, 1955 (defeated Norman Walsh in Edinburgh) until February 1956 when he lost it back to Walsh.

Butcher’s brother, Bully Johnson, went on to great things in another guise, but you’ll need to keep reading our pages if you want to find out who he was.

Marty Jones

Marty Jones arrived on the wrestling scene in 1972, at a time when technical abilty was giving way to an excess of showmanship and gimmicks. This wasn’t the case for Marty Jones, who was one of a handful of 1970s newcomers that could have more than held their own with professionals of any age. The eighteen year old novice had been trained by Bill Robinson, and it showed. Younger fans will no doubt want to tell us that Marty was a great villain who could generate the wrath of fans through his deeds and microphone skills. Maybe so, but none of this should allow us to overlook the fact that Marty Jones was one of the last great real professional wrestlers, a man who didn’t just look as though he was hurting an opponent, but could really hurt him if he put his mind to it. Marty’s feud with Dave Finlay is the stuff of legends, matches that often ended in blood, sweat and maybe a few tears. Like so many of his generation Jones took the opportunity to travel and demonstrated his special brand of wrestling to the fans of North America, the Far East and the rest of Europe.

David Jons

Transatlantic travel was something of a rarity in the 1950s, but that didn’t stop London’s physical cultural marvel, David Jons, travelling to the USA and challenging the great Lou Thesz for his world heavyweight crown. Although unlucky against Thesz the Londoner did go on to gain success in the United States, and held the Mid Western Heavyweight Title for some time after defeating Billy Goetz..  Prior to his wrestling career Muscle clad Jons won the “Mr London” title, and his muscular frame added to his appeal as a wrestler. He proved something of a sensation as soon as he turned professional, with wins over many established stars leading to the chance to challenge Bert Assirati for the heavyweight crown at Ipswich in March, 1949. 

Mike Jordan

Kurt Jorgens

The blond hair, athletic, muscular physique and pronounced cheek bones were sufficient to transform Streatham’s Fred Storer into the far more exotic sounding Kurt Jorgens. Billed as the “Swedish Wonder Boy,” Jorgens became a regular on the independent bills of London and the South East during the late 1950s.  A frequent opponent was his old rival, Bert Lamb, whilst other opponents went on to gain greater fame than was destined for Fred. One fan with memories of Kurt told us that his over-riding recollection was of fans screaming abuse at the heavyweight villain as he punished Lamb by working on an old leg injury, something that seemed to happen with some regularity. 

Born in 1933 Fred Storer turned professional in his mid twenties, having received encouragement from no less a man than the legendary Bert Assirati.

In the colourful world of professional wrestling promoters were always seeking ways to add a touch of colour and glamour and Fred’s Scandinavian like appearance naturally led to the creation of Kurt Jorgens. Looks like his would be wasted on a simple Fred Storer when he could easily adopt a new nationality and the name of a famous film star. He trained in the now demolished boxing and wrestling gymnasium that could be found behind “The Gun” public house on Church Street, Croydon, and now the home of regular rock concerts.

Despite frequent work Fred was to remain one of the lesser lights; one of the infantry without whom the likes of McManus, Pallo and all the other stars could not have existed.  Called Fred or Kurt this Londoner is one of the unsung heroes that enriched Britain’s wrestling heritage. The programme was kindly provided by Mike Hallinan, proprietor of  http://www.allinwrestling.co.uk/

Terry Jowett

For many fans Terry Jowett lived in the shadows of his tag partner Johnny Eagles. Eagles was the more experienced of the two, and it was he that gave the name to their successful tag partnership, the White Eagles.  None would say, though, that Jowett gave less than 100% and matched his illustrious partner in every aspect. Many would say that Jowett was the real worker of the team. Terry was one of the bright young stars of the early 1960s, a classy wrestler whose career stretched from the early sixties late into the 1980s. If covering your body in tattoos is considered a gimmick then Jowett was a gimmicky wrestler. The truth is he relied on nothing more wrestling ability and speed to make him a popular middleweight. He turned to wrestling following national service, losing to York’s Jim Grosert in that first professional bout. The first few years were spent gaining experience and it was a surprise to many when Eagles chose the inexperienced Jowett as his tag partner. That it was  a good choice is  beyond question.

Bill Joyce

Bill Joyce was arguably the finest heavyweight wrestler of our time. He was the man who taught the great modern day shooters, Bill Robinson and Karel Istaz (Karl Gotch), how to wrestle professionally. Furthermore, it would be hard to deny his technical superiority over other greats such as Bert Assirati.

For Joyce it was a case of the appliance of science over strength, as shown in his televised defeat of twenty stone Bruno Elrington. Two submissions with single leg Boston Crabs gave Joyce a 2:0 win over the Pompey giant. No one looked less the part of a professional wrestler than Joyce, who was light for a heavyweight, but nevertheless kept a firm grip on the British title for most of the time between 1955 and 1967.

In the twilight years of his career he dropped down a weight to establish himself as champion of the light heavyweight division. Billy Joyce was the epitome of substance over style, forever a great technician, but never a showman.

Undoubtedly, a true wrestling great. Read more about Billy Joyce in The Shy Shooter of the North.

Doug Joyce

Ken Joyce

Colin Joynson