Wrestling Heritage

Doncaster’s heavyweight Albert Rocky Wall  epitomised everything that was good about post war professional wrestling. 

Skill, ruggedness, tenacity and courage were his hallmarks. The latter two characteristics actually getting him into the professional ring in the first place as a diagnosis of rheumatic fever would have put paid to most others ambitions.  Albert made his professional debut, aged 22, at Middlesborough against Cyril Morris.

Watching him enter the ring was not an overly exciting event because the dour Yorkshirman’s  style had nothing to do with  grand entrances, flashy outfits or fashionable gimmicks.

He was simply a plain, powerful  heavyweight technician at its finest; a man who who reached the top of his profession in a quiet, dignified way.

Often in the shadows of Billy Robinson Albert held the British title for a fleeting three weeks in 1966 before losing it to rival Gwyn Davies.

It was  Davies he beat again in 1970 to win the title again, this time in Nottingham. The title moved back and forth between the two, but by the 1970s Albert had firmly established himself as one of the UKs top post war heavyweights.

Heading many a true fan's realistic wishlist for a TWC discovery, the Doncaster Panther is discussed in detail in the Shining Stars section.

Read our extended tribute: Rocky  

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One of wrestling’s tragedies surrounds London’s Sonny Wallis.

A fine wrestler he was one of the heroes who struggled to successfully revive professional wrestling after the second world war. Sonny wrestled around the country and defeated  the biggest names in the business.

His reward came in July, 1950, when he was given a championship chance and  defeated   Charlie Fisher to become the  British light heavyweight champion.

Tragedy was to come his way in 1956 when Sonny Wallis was killed in a car crash.

He was a graduate of Wigan’s Snakepit and  one of the last Mountevans style wrestlers to quite literally rub shoulders with legends such as Bill Joyce, Jack Dempsey and Billy Riley.

This trio of old masters were instrumental in training a young Bobby Walsh who had turned up at the Whelley gymnasium demanding that they teach him to wrestle.

Teach him they did, and Bob was one of the minority who returned time and again to learn more about his chosen sport.  Heavyweight champion Billy Joyce took to the youngster and arranged a daily 3.45 pm rendezvous at the gym for Bob’s next  lesson in wrestling, the Wigan style. Others that had an influence were fellow Wigan masters Jack Fallon, Roy Wood, Jack Cheers and Ernie Riley.

In the early days the grand master himself, Billy Riley, would sit in the corner offering advice whenever he thought it necessary, which seemed to be quite ofen. Joyce prepared Walsh for his professional debut, but so keen was the newcomer that on Sunday mornings he would travel to Ted Beckley’s gym in Warrington for a pull-around with the likes of Bernie Wright and Davey Boy Smith. 

Having turned professional Bob wrestled  for both Joint promotions and the independents, with opponents including Honey Boy Zimba, Sid Cooper , Bert Royal and John Naylor. It was Naylor in the opposite corber when Nob made his only television appearance, narrowly losing by the odd fall. A technician at the start Bob soon learned to mix it and a harder-edge found him often the object of fan’s abuse. He is pictured at an open air show in Wigan with the legendary Billy Joyce serving as his second. Bob Walsh passed away in August,2008, following a long battle with cancer. Wrestler Steve Fury said, "Bob  was a very fit and strong wrestler who  trained with the very elite in Wigan. A nice man, another sad loss to the wrestling business."

Another of those wrestlers who combined their careers with farming. Middlesborough’s Norman Walsh was a rough, tough, mid heavyweight who was a long time holder of the British mid Heavyweight title.

Like other Northerners he had an aggressive style that fans sometimes confused with villainy, and a villain he was not. A car crash in 1963 put Walsh out of action for many months but he returned to establish his supremacy once again until retiring in the mid 1960s.

Royal Albert Hall wins over international stars included Ricky Waldo and Felix Gregor. Our last recorded Joint Promotions bout for him is against the Zebra kid at Cliftonville in 1967, but he continued for a couple of more years on the independent circuit.

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Two Tony Tony Walsh was the first wrestler to be profiled in the Shining Stars section.
We told you there he was a bit of a hell-raiser but just look what they thought of him on home turf, right!

Read our extended tribute: The Epitome of An Unsung Hero 

American Indian who visited Britain in 1974 to 1975 and gained victory in his sole Royal Albert Hall appearance over Johnny Yearsley.  Bearing a remarkable physical similarity to the more renowned Mohawk Billy Two Rivers, War Eagle was a harder hitting no-nonsense wrestler and we witnessed his humourless style in an angry televised clash with Johnny Czeslaw as well as live.  In view of his name hardly going down as one of the all time greats, we have to classify him as grossly under-rated - and possibly under-promoted due to the exaggerated nostalgic reverence the promoters had for Two Rivers' initial impact.   A hard-hitting 16 stoner in the Jon Cortez and Albert Wall school of very realistic fighters. When back in the USA he drew with big name champions Dory Funk, Eduardo Carpentier and Gene Kiniski before going on to take the North American tag titles alongside Billy Two Rivers.

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Wellingborough heavyweight  Ed Wensor first appeared on the Joint Promotions scene in about 1965 for Devereax Promotions.  He would sit track-suited in the audience and then rise to lay down a challenge to any wrestler. At the conclusion of his bout, he put the track suit back on and left without visiting the dressing rooms at any time.  At that time he was known as Mr X, and he soon started to appear fully on published bills.
He went on to appear in his own name and tagging with "brother" Gary throughout the seventies.

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Wellingborough light-heavyweight billed as Ed's brother but in fact his son.  Scaled no heights as a pro, but was a journeyman type who put in many years of good service.  Just like his father, he failed to score a single success in his televised appearances, even featuring in a rare loss for Big Daddy when partnering him against Bruno Elrington and Giant Haystacks.

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Legendary in Canada as one of the country’s all time great wrestlers and trainers (he had a gym in Hamilton, Ontario), Jack Wentworth was born in Lancashire in 1907. the family moved to Canada when he was two years old. His name at birth was Alfred Hodgson, but when he turned professional wrestler he chose the name Wentworth, which was the name of the Canadian county in which he lived. His professional debut, in Canada in 1932, was quickly followed by a move to Britain by Jack and his family where he became part of the flourishing all-in scene. Jack and the family returned to Canada in 1940, where he became one of the biggest names. He returned to Britain, with a group of his protégés, in 1958.

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Though billed at 18½ stones, this barefooted behemoth probably struggled in reality to reach the lower mid-heavyweight limit - unless all that hair was made of lead. An important attraction on Paul Lincoln programmes in the early sixties, where his regular opponents included Bob Kirkwood and Judo Al Hayes, and see him here with colleague The Society Buy, the Wild Man became Dale Martin property from 1966 but was used rather sparingly:  just the one Royal Albert Hall appearance, against Kirkwood in 1968, and just the sole television appearance against heavy-middleweight Peter Preston.

Clad in fur anklets and leopardskin cape, he was a sight to behold and managed, in spite of the exposure restrictions mentioned, to become a household name.  By 1969 he had moved over to the independents and enjoyed a lasting run.   Paradoxically, he produced one of the most literate and legible autographs of them all.

In 1980 a new Wild Man of Borneo had appeared, much taller at 6'2" and a true super-heavyweight.  Due to the shock of hair, it was rather easy for the imitator to pull of the deception, but we shall always remember with great fondness the one and only original Wild Man of Borneo. 

Read our extended tribute: No Bad Hair Days  

The Johnnesburg Giant was 22-year-old Jan Wilkens from South Africa who caused quite a stir when he arrived in Britain late in 1965.  At 6'5" and 20 stones, this ex-policeman demolished French Canadian giant Paul Vachon in 8 minutes on his Royal Albert Hall début.  Unusually invited back to the next bill, he was even quicker proving it had been no fluke, disposing of Big John Cox.Back home in South Africa he welcomed and wrestled visting British wrestlers down the years including Rocky Wall, Mal Kirk and, as late as 1981, Tiger Singh, in front of a national record crowd in excess of 20 thousand.

Definitely an international star we would have liked to have seen much more of.

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Many young wrestlers have claimed to be the youngest in Britain (you can read about quite a few of them elsewhere in Wrestling Heritage) and when fifteen year old John Williams stepped through  the ropes for the first time in 1971 he was said to be the youngest at that time.

Quite possibly he was, but most definitely he looked the part, and fans at the cavernous Granby Hall, his local hall, and throughout the north and midlands took him to heart.

His young appearance couldn't disguise his wrestling skill, the result of many hours of knocking about with his famous father from an early age. That famous father was wrestler and promoter Jack Taylor.

Jack had coached his son for many years before giving him his chance in the professional ring whilst still a schoolboy.  Not that wrestling consumed all of the youngster's energy because he was also a keen rugby player, swimmer and cyclist.

John favoured training with weights which enabled him to progress swiftly through the weight divisions. 

John Williams died suddenly in 2009, aged just 53 years.

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Dynamic middleweight from Belfast who often wrestled in Judo gear and barefoot.

Tagged with Mark Rocco in the Rockets.

A former merchant navy officer who learnt his judo whilst trravelling in Japan. 

His capabilities are described more fully in the Armchair Corner. 

Note;  another Tug Wilson was active in the thirties and forties.

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Welterweight going on Light-heavyweight from Stockport, Cheshire who had amateur grounding at Hollywood Amateur Wrestling Club in the early sixties. Also a contemporary of Johnny Saint at Grant Foderingham's gym in Openshaw, Manchester. Debuted professionally in 1966 and well into the 21st century still wrestling occasionally – making him an active wrestler for well over 40 years!

Ian Wilson wrestled mainly on Independent shows all over the country. He was one of the mysterious Les Diables Rouges in Joint promotions rings in 1972, and then developed this guise in single and tag as a more pronouncable Red Devil.  He was given the monicker “Mad Dog” Wilson after a particularly memorable bout in the Midlands against Skull Murphy.

Nowadays Ian Wilson is to be seen principally as an emcee on Ian McGregor Promotions.

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Footballer Johnny joined Dale Martins at the end of 1974.  From the hunky-dory Portsmouth/Southsea/Fareham hub of south coast wrestling, his career highlight was, no surprises, a Royal Albert Hall defeat of his trainer, Big Bruno Elrington.  Why on earth the promoters didn't bill him form the African jungle and have dione with it we shall never know, it would have been far more interesting.

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After a couple of years with independent promoters, goalkeeper Peter joined his elder brother Johnny within the Joint Promotions network in 1975.  They tagged successfully against heavyweight pairings and even against lighter weighted opposition such as McManus and Logan.  Pete also had singles matches but never struck any chord of indentity or originality.  He did his job.

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In the early 1960s with British wrestling audiences at their highest levels ever there was an  unprecedented demand for new wrestling talent.

A similar scenario thirty years earlier had led to some promoters using wrestlers with little experience or skill, with the consequence of wrestling falling into disrepute. The promoters of the sixties did demonstrate that they had learnt something from the previous generation and provided sufficient training facilities for potential professionals  to learn at least the basics of the trade before stepping into the ring.

Known to fans as an all action, value for money wrestler, and to promoters as a reliable worker, bookings increased gradually for Ace Ricardo to the point that he was able to turn professional full time, with regular bookings from Jack Taylor, Brian Dixon, Terry Goodrum, Orig Williams, Bill Clark and other independent promoters. Other far more well known wrestlers failed to secure enough bookings to wrestle full time but Ricky was willing to travel around the country and gained a reputation amongst promoters as a good worker.

Working for Joint Promotions Rick dropped the name Ace Ricardo and used his birth name of Ricky Wiseman. Contests against the big names of the business quickly followed; Vic Faulkner, Alan Dennison, Jim Breaks, Mick McMichael, Sid Cooper, Mal Sanders, Cliver Myers and others. Ricky found that he could hold his ground with all of them, and he was soon gaining new fans around the country.

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Without question Alan Wood was one of the most under rated wrestlers of the Mountevans era. A product of the Riley gymnasium, and cousin of Snakepit torchbearer Roy Wood, here was one of the best welterweights of the 1960s. Brightly coloured wrestling trunks and a striped dressing gown were the closest the Coppull wrestler came to gimmickry.  A professional debut on the Isle of Man against Dennis Rothwell led to a career in which he outwrestled the best and gained little of the credit. Either the politics of the professional wrestling business, or just a travesty of justice, saw him fail to win the British welterweight championship vacated by Jack Dempsey, or at any other time. Lack of recognition led to Alan leaving Joint Promotions  and setting up his own promotional business (C&A) in the early 1970s, though he did return to Joint Promotions towards the end of his career.

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The sixteen year old really did seem a “Wonderboy Wright,” as he was billed, when he hit the Northern wrestling circuit aged just sixteen years old.

His first professional bout, a sensational win over veteran Romeo Joe Critchley, was a clear sign that here was a youngster with huge potential He was the forerunner of a contingency that included the likes of Dynamite Kid and Davey Boy Smith and took wrestling to new levels of agility, athleticism and speed.

Wright was trained by Ted Betley, the man who was to later bring aforementioned Kid, Smith and Marty Jones into the professional wrestling business. Later in his career Wright adopted the personae of Bull Blitzer, an alleged German villain, who defeated Marty Jones for the World Mid heavyweight title in December, 1984.

His son, Alex Wright, went on to also become a successful wrestler.

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