Wrestling Heritage

Imagine a heavyweight toughie whose hair looked like there was a constant electric current passing through his body and your image of Venezuelan baddie won’t be far wrong.

The occasional, and often more frequent scratch, bite and punch were all part of the artillery used by the 1960s heavyweight as he hurtled towards frequent disqualification.

He was known as “The Wrestling Gypsy,” partly because of his appearance and partly because each year he returned to Venezuela from his travels to help his brother in law on the family farm. Zabo began his wrestling career in the USA, known as The Elephant Boy, a creation of wrestling promoter Jack Pfefer.

At other times he was known as The Wildman of Borneo, but should not be confused with the more widely known Wildman featured in letter W. Following his wrestling career Zabo, real name Bill Oliva, was ordained a Catholic Priest.  

Friends called him “Fluff,” mum called him Ken, but to the wrestling fans of the 1950s  and 1960s Tony Zale was “The Bearded Marvel.”  

The Wigan light heavyweight abandoned his real name of Ken Baldwin and adopted that of the more glamorous sounding former world boxing champion. In a career that spanned two decades  Zale was a regular worker for Paul Lincoln Management, sometime tag partner of Max Crabtree and made a couple of television appearances against Jean Morandi and Frank O’Donnell.

Start a discussion in the Forum

Related articles:   

Visiting Portugese heavyweight, often billed from Cuba, who hit British shores on a regular basis between 1958 and 1962.

Start a discussion in the Forum

Related articles:  

A moustache, a shaven head and a poncho. Oh, and a tendency to get disqualified. This was the man known as the Mexican Thunderbolt, who made three undistinguished, and yet entertaining, visits to Britain between 1965 and 1968.

Start a discussion in the Forum

Related articles:   

The Russian strongman appeared on the Dale Martin scene in the early fifties and stayed around until 1970, going about his wrestling business in a very serious way. His skill attracted the admiration of many, but he lacked the charisma to gain the popularity acquired by others of his generation.

A sixten-stone plus heavyweight who could hold his own against the best that Britain and the world had to offer, as exemplified in a 1965 televised classic from Wallasey in which he only went down narrowly in the eighth round to Billy Robinson.  His 1963 victory over Tibor Szakacs in the final of the 1963 Fairfield Hall knock-out tournament is illustrative of the Russian’s standing; as was his selection as one of only two opponents of American Luther Lindsay on the latter’s visit to Britain (th other was Mike Marino).

In 1964 he had feuded on the small screen with European champion Billy Howes, the honours shared, and that same year at the Royal Albert Hall he defeated the French Heavyweight Champion, André Bollet. On the final night’s wrestling before the closedown for refurbishment of the Wimbledon Palais, it was Zaranoff who emerged victorious in an 8-man ko tournament defeating Bruno Elrington in the grand final. Later he would tag occasionally alongside Johnny Czeslaw.

His final ring action was in Lew Philips' 1971 independent promotions. 

Born in Russia, Josef had left his homeland shortly after the Second World War; he  travelled throughout the world but always returned to his UK home, where he was a stalwart of the 1950s and 1960s wrestling scene. In retirement, he became Landlord of The Captain’s Locker in Solihull. 

Start a discussion in the Forum

Related articles:

See Armanda Zarpanalian below.

 “Our man Zorba” proclaimed the Adverts for Greek Armando Zarpanalian, though he was sometimes billed as French and he may well have been based in that land off Britain’s shore!  A skilful middleweight he unsuccessfully challenged Bert Royal for the World Middleweight title at Belle Vue. His solitary British television appearance was in 1969 when he partnered Vassilios Mantopolous in a Cup Final day loss to McManus and Logan.

Start a discussion in the Forum

Related articles:  

The variously spelt 6'2" Pole visited UK mid-sixties at a time when wrestlers from his country were in short supply and seemed rather exotic.  He had actualy escaped the Iron Curtain and was based in Paris.

When Dale Martin Promotions selected the best that they could offer to appear before the HRH Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh in May 1963 (still considered by many to be wrestling’s greatest night) the Polish mid-heavyweight was right there on the bill.

Zarzecki opened the second half of the tournament with an unsuccessful challenge of Billy Howes for the latter’s European mid-heavyweight title.

Zarzecki, as suggested here, was a skilful mid-heavyweight who wrestled within the rules but was not afraid to use some hard, offensive power moves should the occasion demand.

Sign in or sign up now to read Members Only articles: Royalty at the Royal

The original Zebra Kid was the mountainous twenty-four stones George Bollas, a fearsome sight in his striped mask.

For a man of his girth he was remarkably agile and skilful, even having a hand in training British Olympic wrestler Dennis McNamara.  Born in the United States with Greek parents Bollas came to Britain in November 1959 and immediately combated the best on offer.

Unlike most masked men his record was never perfect, and our first recorded loss was against Mike Marino in May, 1960. On returning to the USA in the spring of 1961 there followed a long sequence of defeats against both distinguished, and not so distinguished, opponents. Bollas returned and set up home in  Britain in 1963. By 1967 defeats, and unmaskings were coming fast and furious, and he retired in March 1968.

The name Zebra Kid  was later adopted by Ireland’s Sean Regan around 1976, working for both Joint promotions and the independents.

Sign in or sign up now to read Members Only articles: Wryton's FILO (First in, Last Out)

The original Gargantua  allegedly stood 8 feet 4 inches tall and weighed fifty stones, or at least that’s what the wrestling promoters would have us believe. He was certainly big and we would confidently say stood well over seven feet tall. He easily and quickly beat the ex boxer Jack Doyle when he wrestled him at Haringey, but found more capable heavyweights, like Bert Assirati, and tall ones like Primo Carnera a tougher proposition. Zehe went on to work regularly in the film world.

Start a discussion in the Forum

Related articles:   

We have just a couple of records for this wrestler on Manchester bills in 1959. We would welcome further information.

The bushy haired Bulgarian globe-trotting heavyweight came to Britain in 1958 with cracking contests against big names such as Norman Walsh, Count Bartelli, The Mask and Jack Pye. He returned in the early sixties working for Paul Lincoln Management.

Start a discussion in the Forum

Related articles:  

The Ebony Hercules from Freetown, Sierra Leone, started out wrestling as Nigel the Warrior in the early sixties before taking on his more mellifluous monicker. The distinctive features, the muscles on top of muscles, the colourful persona, the red and white beads around his neck, combined to make Honey Boy Zimba  one of the most popular heavyweights of the sixties and seventies. 

At 15 stone 7 pounds but only 5'7", Manchester-based Honey Boy was ideally placed to take on middleweights and up, and regularly faced Giant Haystacks.  Many anecdotes related to other wrestlers seem to end up "... and so we all went off late night drinking with Honey Boy Zimba."  Went in for the tiniest of war dances but could deliver a whole array of aerial moves, including all manner of head butts, the tail drop and the plank. 

One of the most animated of heavy breathers in the Czeslaw mould, and frequently seen in tag action: as a founder of the Black Knights with Ezzard Hart;  then alongside Masambula, Lenny Hurst as well as a memorable World of Sport bout with Butcher Bond against Haystacks and John Quinn; and even in action with Charlie Fisher. Honey Boy was a colourful and popular addition to the British wrestling scene, who sadly passed away at too early an age in 1999.

Sign in or sign up now to read Members Only articles: Speciality Manoeuvres

We have on record a handful of appearances in 1950 and 1951 by this heavyweight, all of them in the midlands. Opponents included Count Bartelli, Jim Hussey, Larry Laycock, and Hassan Ali Bey, all top of the bill bouts. We would welcome further information.

 Start a discussion in the Forum

Related articles:  

This fast and skilful Hungarian lightweight worked for Paul Lincoln Promotions in the early sixties and then transformed himself into Zoltan Boscik. Maybe the autographs just took too long.

Start a discussion in the Forum

Related articles:  

We have just one record of this wrestler, an independent bout against John Paul in 1964. More information welcomed.

Start a discussion in the Forum

Related articles:  

He made a handful of appearances mainly, but not exclusively for the independents in 1963 and 1964. We know that Armando Zarpanalian was also Josef Zarba, but don't know if Zorba the Greek was the same man. We would welcome information.

Start a discussion in the Forum

Related articles:  

The North American heavyweight bad boy made a couple of visits to Britain in 1954 and again in the early sixties, and engaged in a series of bouts with the popular Georges Gordienko. An unenviable matching against Josef Zaranoff at the Royal Albert Hall ended in an almost inevitable disqualification.

Start a discussion in the Forum

Related articles:  

The grass skirt, spear and facial paint meant that The Zulu was on the bill. This middlewight was a popular, colourful and regular performer on the independent circuit throughout the 1960s.

Whilst not reaching the popularity of Masambula (who did have the advantage of tv exposure) The Zulu was no insubstantial copy of the African.

When the lights were down and The Zulu entered the hall the excitement amongst the crowd was very real. A slow walk into the ring, followed by a bit of voodoo nonsense directed at an opponent and then the Zulu got down to the serious business of wrestling, at which he was very good.

The man normally associated with the name is the popular Mancunian Ezzra "Sugar Ray" Francis. A second Zulu, Harry Bison of the Isle of Man, was heavier and taller than the original.

The poster on the left, a Cyril Knowles promotion, advertises the Zulu giving aay a couple of stones against the fine Leeds heavyweight, Jim Armstrong. Not matchmaking at its best we would have thought.

Start a discussion in the Forum

Related articles: 

This Lancashire based Hungarian was fast and a skilful wrestling technician, often an opponent for his friend, Ian St John. He also used a number of equally unpronounceable and various misspelt names such as Andreas Svajik and  Andreas Swajics.

Start a discussion in the Forum

Related articles: