Memories of Peter Rann are that of the ultimate professional. Here was a man who wrestled well, usually stayed just inside the rules, but had a hard, aggressive style that made fans turn up to see him lose.
They were usually disappointed because Peter Rann was a very accomplished wrestler, just missing out on the top run behind the likes of McManus and Pallo.
He was always billed from Camden Town, though actually born in Doncaster and moved to London as a child. He turned professional in 1951 after training at the Foresters AWC, Kensington.
When it came to choosing our Shining Stars we have so many favourites that it seems almost unfair to be excluding others by including some.
In the end we surprised ourselves with our choice of the Camden Town henchman and night-club bouncer himself in our extended feature.
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Arguably the father of modern day professional wrestling. There was a saying about putting your hand down a coal mine in Wigan and you’d pull up a wrestler or a rugby player.
Riley was from Wigan, and this was the wrestling capital of twentieth century. Not a miner himself Riley wrestled, with those who were, in the Lancashire catch-as-catch-can style. Billy Riley founded Rileys gym in the 1950’s, and many of the mid 20th Century professional wrestling stars owed their skill to Billy Riley and the other trainers at “the Snakepit.”
Stories abound of successful wrestlers who turned up just the once at Riley’s gym and vowed never to return because the experience was too painful.
Billy himself excelled in wrestling and was British Middleweight Champion in the 1920’s, as well as holding the World title from 1919-23, before losing it to the Finnish wrestler Waino Ketonen. Wrestling authority Charles Mascall rated Ketonen and Riley respectively as the two greatest middleweights of all time.
Billy Riley retired from wrestling in 1946. He continued to referee and promote shows in conjunction with Jack Atherton. Most notably of all he continued to train youngsters (and those not so young) at his Snakepit gym until his death in September, 1977.
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Ernie Riley was another of the post war greats to emerge from Wigan and the Snakepit gymnasium.
Not surprising, really, as he was the son of Billy Riley and continued his father’s tradition of being the best that Britain could offer. Riley was a more familiar figure on the professional circuit than his father, a sign of the times.
Dismissive of gimmicks, which he didn't need, some fans complained that he lacked colour, and complained even more loudly that his championship defences were too sparse. In his latter years this criticism was justified. What was without doubt, though, was that Ernie Riley was the best at his weight, and there was no way that the belt could be removed from him. Here was a man who could really wrestle; like no other light heavyweight.
He was four times British Light heavyweight champion between 1952 and his retirement in 1969; and we are convinced that when he eventually relinquished his title it was on condition that it was passed on to Billy Joyce, a man of the same wrestling heritage. Joyce came out of retirement and dropped down a weight to beat Tony Charles for the now vacant title at Blackburn.
On occasions he added the European title to his collection, winning and losing it to Josef Molnar.
Ernie Riley died in October, 2000
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Northamptonshire was of course Ken Joyce territory and the two had an ongoing feud, with Rowney ever the one booed by the fans. See the pair right.
We had first become aware of him in the very early seventies with tales of wrestling lions inside their cages at the zoo
His first televised bout was in
1977 against Dynamite Kid.
Due to his daytime job at a steelworks, Tony was greatly limited travel-wise throughout his career, but we are sure he would have become a big name had he chosen to dedicate himself full-time to wrestling.
Tony passed away on 25th June 2009.
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Photos exist of a young Bert Royal as a masked wrestler, which surprised us as much as his other fans. Royal was one of the big name middleweights from the 1950s until the mid seventies, a Middle and Heavy Middleweight champion of long standing. Very popular, though we would dare to suggest that much of that popularity rubbed off from his far more youthful looking brother, Vic Faulkner. Nonetheless, he was exceedingly well-liked, and an acrobatic, skilful wrestler, albeit criticised by Jackie Pallo for an unwillingness to allow opponents look good.
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Can claim one of the most ourageous quotes: his toughest opponent was Tornado Torontos!
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