L’Ange Blanc
The original Spanish White Angel who wrestled in
Won his Royal Albert Hall match against John Carlo but knocked out by Kendo Nagasaki at Belle Vue Manchester in September 1975.
Jon Lapaque
Leicester tearaway who turned pro in 1961. A regular in televised tag matches alongside brother Pete, and also with Tommy Lorne in The Rockers. Fared better in local halls than on the small screen and the brothers had verdicts over established teams such as The White Eagles and The Dennisons. Their tactics didn't go down well with the crowd, particularly in Digbeth where they were always assured a hostile reception.
Pete Lapaque
A World of Sport regular right up until 1988's final bell. Frequently disqualified in tag action alongside brother Jon, or as The Rockers with Tommy Lorne. Disqualified even in single combat against Steve Logan. Career highlight must rate as the family's sole tv success when Pete defeated Ricky Wiseman. More information under Autographs - Tag Teams.
Dave Larsen
The wunderkind of the Paul Lincoln set-up seemed headed for high places as 1966 dawned. He featured at home as the blue-eyed golden boy, struggling against villains and particularly regular foe, Steve Haggetty, and even had the rare honour of victory over Tony Charles at the Royal Albert Hall.
Maurice LaRue
The blond Australian bombshell strutted and preened himself as he enraged the fans on the way towards frequent disqualification. Heavyweight La Rue came to
Scarface Laval
20 stones French villain who appeared in
No surprise to see Paris-hopping Hayes once again linked to a French visitor.
Ski Hi Lee
6’10” heavy-drinking heavyweight from
John Lees
Memories of John Lees are of a fine wrestler who never quite made it to the first division and television commentator Kent Walton drooling over his muscular frame. No offence intended to either men, who were both excellent practitioners in their own field. Lees did indeed have a muscular frame, which led to numerous body building achievements, culminating in the 1957 Mr Universe title. In the wrestling ring he was a skilled wrestler who lacked the flair to lift him to the very top. Remember, though, that this was an age when the heavyweight division was brimming with talent, and although he may never have been number one John Lees was more than capable of holding his own with the likes of Joyce, Robinson, Davies, Wall, and anyone else you care to mention.
Le Petit Prince
Diminutive French lightweight who caused a stir on his trips to the
Gentleman Jim Lewis
Mancunian Jim Lewis was known as Gentleman Jim, though his style failed abysmally to reflect the nickname. It took only the swagger of an over-confident champion, the flicking of the blond hair and the slow-motion use of the mirror and comb as he preened himself for Jim to have the crowd at fever pitch. Then the bell would ring for the first round. The blind-side moves, blatant punches and more of the swagger would confirm that here was the villain of the night. Keep in mind that all this took place at a time when the likes of
Luther Lindsay
One short 1961 visit to the
KO win over Mike Marino at the Royal Albert Hall, or destruction of Josef Zaranoff on television. World Heavyweight Champion, Lou Thesz, said of Lindsay,
“the best black wrestler ever. Luther had a fantastic body and limitless energy to compliment his skill. Like many other industries, wrestling was not open to African-American wrestlers during his career, so it was an amazing accomplishment for Luther to even learn his craft. His place in history is not because he was black; it is in spite of the fact he was black."
Lindsay died, aged 48, from heart failure following a match against Bobby Paul on
Steve Logan
The vaguely neanderthal appearance gave Steve Logan little choice, he just had to be a villain. Obligingly, he sneered at fans from behind his straggly hair, showing obvious pleasure from the delivery of lethal forearm smashes and the application of each submission hold, of which there were many. Despite being overshadowed by his high profile tag partner many consider the Brixton hard man, Steve Logan, to be far more versatile and exciting than McManus. Without the burden of a seemingly invincible record to protect
Dennis Lord
Look how he’s changed. Popular sixties and seventies star of British wrestling Dennis Lord has swapped the world
of weird and colourful characters of the wrestling ring with the equally weird and colourful characters of his 007 roadshow, which features Bond movie lookalikes available for hire. Dennis hadn’t planned a life as a professional wrestler, nor as the lookalike Bond villain Jaws come to that. Events just seemed to transpire which brought him to work in Ron Taylor’s wrestling booth. It was a demanding start to a wrestling career, taking on challengers from around the country, numerous bouts a night and never being quite sure what lay around the corner. He was in good company, learning the trade alongside Big Pat Roach amongst others, and has many happy memories of those early days. With experience under his belt Dennis was persuaded to try his hand in the professional ring, a career that was to last the best part of a decade. He was an immediate success and soon began to gain regular work on the independent circuit. Fans loved him in fast, technical bouts, but seemed to like it even more when he gave away weight to tackle some of the best villains on the independent circuit, the Wildman of Borneo, Klondyke Bill and Doctor Death amongst them. Stardom always seemed on the horizon, but Dennis’ aspirations were shattered when a serious road accident in 1976 brought a sudden end to his wrestling career. By now wrestling was in his blood and when Dennis recovered he returned to the business as a promoter, putting on quality shows around the country. Invariably crowds began to fall away, a sign of the times, and Dennis re-considered his business opportunities. He decided to move further into the entertainment business, assembling a group of characters you’d probably prefer not to meet on a dark night, and started an 007 roadshow of Bond lookalikes.
Danny Lynch
The blond Yorkshire-billed heavyweight (though