These are our shorter Biographical portraits which we would like to extend if you can provide information or memories.
Al Brown (Also known as John Brown, Frank Sparks)
Some people said that the popular Manchester welterweight Al Brown often had a puzzled look on his face. We don’t know why he should because when he was inside the wrestling ring he certainly knew what he was doing. Universal agreement in the early sixties was that eleven stone Brown was one of the most under-rated of wrestlers, with The Wrestler magazine even declaring him the equal of champion Jack Dempsey. His geographical restrictions to the rings of the midlands, north and Scotland may well have limited his national acclaim, but Southern fans did get to share his considerable talent in around a dozen televised contests. Most notable of all was his televised odd fall victory over John Foley, hastily followed in the memory stakes when he was KO’d by Cliff Belshaw whilst leading by a fall. Other television opponents included the skilful Spaniard Vincente Castella, Abe Ginsberg and Ken Cadman.
Away from television he is remembered for narrowly losing to Jim Breaks in a title clash and a series of tough contests against the Wigan champion Jack Dempsey. Al turned to wrestling following a successful amateur boxing career. He joined the army aged eighteen, largely to have the chance to pursure his love of boxing, but whilst serving met up with the wrestler Johnny Eagles. When he left the army Al joined Manchester YMCA where he learned to wrestle in the evenings whilst working as a railway engineer. He turned professional two years later, losing to Martin Conroy at Hanley. Over the next ten years he met all the top welterweights and showed himself to be the equal of anyone.
Al and the family moved to South Africa in 1970 where he continued to wrestle for another year before taking up refereeing and finally retiring from the ring in 1974.
“Harlem” Jimmy Brown
America’s Jimmy Brown was born in New York in 1934 and came to Europe when he was in the American Armed Forces, based in Frankfurt. He was a master of many sports with a physique to match. Jimmy later moved to Paris and consequently worked on the continent before making his first visit to Britain in 1958 for Joint Promotions. His muscular physique made him a popular figure amongst fans. High calibre opponents included Ernest Baldwin, Ernie Riley, Alan Garfield, Eric Taylor, and Gordon Nelson. He was back in Britain in 1962 on Paul Lincoln shows against the likes of Don Mendoza, Doctor Death and Don Stedman Jimmy Brown’s highlight was probably a 1962 victory over Johnny Yearsley at the Royal Albert Hall. Heritage member Tom H remembers him, “He was billed as, the coloured junior heavyweight champion of the world, I’ve never seen anyone do the flying head scissors as good as this man.” Tragedy struck on 11th June, 1966, when Jimmy Brown was killed in a car crash in France.
Judo John Brown
Dudley’s Judo John Brown was trained by Alan “Tarantula” Turner. Worked for the independent promoters in the 1970s and 1980s, and continued involvement in the sport following his retirement as a referee and trainer of young hopefuls.
The Brown Masked Marvel
A myriad of Masked Marvels have appeared in British wrestling rings, none of them career masked men. Yet we find only one Brown Masked Marvel, of whom the American magazine, The Ring, reported in March, 1938, ” … a supporting bout saw the “Brown Masked Marvel,” a hooded light heavy, take two straight from Jack Atherton of Lancashire . . .”
We came across him in Preston in November, 1937, wrestling Vic Hessle and said to be “The Unknown! The Unbeaten.” We then uncovered another dozen or so matches, up to September, 1939. All of them were in Lancashire, all unbeaten, which makes us suspect that a tough Lancashire wrestler was beneath the mask.
The hyperbole increased with each appearance: “The Unknown! The Unbeaten. The fastest wrestler in the world. Challenges any wrestler at his weight. His speed and anticipation is astonishing. Has appeared at all the principal halls in England and on the Continent. Clean, clever and good.”
George Bryan
A name not often remembered, but George Bryan of Leeds was a true pioneer. On the day usually acknowledged as the launch day of British all-in wrestling, 15th December, 1930, George Bryan was in action. Not at the London or Manchester shows celebrated so often, but in a Doncaster show promoted by Harold Angus. Bryan defeated another Leeds wrestler, Tom McDermot, by two falls to nil in five minutes thirty seconds. He was to remain a stalwart, low key player in British wrestling until the early 1940s.
Dave Bryson
Trained by veteran Norman Carter Lincoln’s Dave Bryson came to our attention in 1967. The boy was popular and he was everywhere. Well, everywhere around the Midlands with the odd jaunt northwards.
Opponents included Kendo Nagasaki, Barry Douglas, Mal Kirk, Les Kellett; most of the mid heavies and heavyweights in the north.
Two of wrestling’s mysteries surround Dave Bryson. What was it with the gloves he wore? Was there some medical reason or just one of wrestling’s most subtle gimmicks? Secondly, after three years why did he disappear as quickly as he arrived?
Blue Buchanan
Bad boy of the late 1980s, sometimes tag partner of Fit Finlay, who we have been told was his step father, being the son of Princess Paula. Made one television appearance, an August 1988 match with Danny Collins. A good, hard wrestler according to colleague Keith Myatt.
Ray Bukovac
French heavyweight made regular visits to Britain between 1946 and 1950. Brother of Rene Bukovac.
Rene Bukovac
The French mid heavyweight, and one time European champion, visited Britain in the 1950s with a 1950 victory over Ernest Baldwin at Belle Vue, Manchester. Brother of Ray Bukovac.
The Bulk (Also known as The Incredible Bulk)
We will just settle for Bulk, being of an age the Incredible tag just didn’t see authentic; not that we would wish to disrespect a most likely decent man earning a bit of money within the context of the time. With the novelty of perhaps weighing in even heavier than Giant Haystacks at his peak, 42-stones The Bulk represented one of many eighties lows in professional wrestling. He made a ring appearance at a Wembley Extravaganza and then challenged Big Daddy in Gloucester.
By the time of his sole tv appearance this poor young chap had still not mastered the role he had hastily been engaged to fill, that of a villainous foil to Big Daddy. Now maskless, he moved slowly around the ring, forgetful of what to do. Then he stomped up and down but faced the wrong direction and it looked ridiculous.
Even his opponent was guiding him as to what to do, and an improvised early finish was sensibly arranged, and the completely bewildered Bulk was ushered away to the dressing rooms. Even the programmes said he had limitations and weak spots, even the promoters said he was grotesque. Wrestling Heritage does not blame the wrestler. Who can blame someone for seeking a moment of glory and earning a honest crust? Yet we ask, how could the administrators have brought the sport into such pitiful disrepute?
George Bullock
George looked like his name: five foot eight and seventeen stone of fast moving aggressive bad temper in the ring. Worked for both Joint Promotions and Independent promoters in the 50s & 60s. Featured in bouts with Dennis and Jack Keegan, Jack Beaumont, Bill Coverdale, Jack Cassidy and was one of Billy Two Rivers first opponents in the UK. He had a series of bouts with another Red Indian, Chief Thunderbird who was based in Levenshulme Manchester that used to draw good crowds at local shows.
George ran into health problems in his early middle age and died suddenly in the early 70s. Unheralded but a good, solid heavyweight who could give and take with the best of them.
George Burgess (Also known as Jamaica kid, Jamaica George, Coolcat Jackson, Samson Negro, Coolcat Virgil, Zulu Warrior, Black Salem)
A man of many names who we first came across in the late 1960s on the Blackpool summer shows staged by Dominic Pye. His career was to last a quarter of a century.
George Burgess was a popular Jamaican born heavyweight, based in Leeds, coming to national attention in the 1970s , later to gain greater fame as the Jamaica Kid. Although a muscular heavyweight George was a very nimble mover, and his speciality drop kick always impressed. George travelled the world and was popular in Indian rings.
Surely a contender in any competition for the wrestler who used most names?
Ginger Burke
Ginger Burke from Tyldesley near Wigan has been a forgotten man. At the start of modern wrestling in 1930 the first lightweight champion was Harold Angus who through the decade moved up the weights. Ginger had reputedly been a pro footballer and so may not have started wrestling until 1934. He should not be confused with 12 year old Boy Burke from Tyldesley who wrestled as a schoolboy at Preston in 1935 By 1935 Ginger Burke was being billed as the lightweight champion of Britain, a trail blazed ready for George Kidd and Johnny Saint later. During the war he still wrestled but was also a Sergeant in the Royal Engineers , if advertisements can be believed. Last sighted in 1949.
Jock Burke
Dave Sutherland brought up the subject of Jock Burke: “At St James, Newcastle, back in April 1964; The main bout was Arthur Ricardo against Jock Burke who either wrestled in his kilt or certainly arrived in the ring wearing one. I don’t remember him ever appearing at Newcastle again.”
That got everyone thinking, but with little success. All we came up with were matches for the independent promoters between 1959 and 1963, then a flurry of activity for Joint Promotions in 1964 before returning to the independents the following year.
Jim Burnett
Vancouver’s Klondike Jim Burnett was the Canadian Heavyweight, and one time gold miner in South Africa, who made his way across the Atlantic in 1934. His earlier professional contests seem to have been in Britain between 1934 and 1938, wrestling top British heavyweights such as Bert Mansfield and Bulldog Bill Garnon. He disappeared from our rings in 1938, presumably pursuing his career back home as the prospect pf war began to loom on the horizon. Jim was back in Britain for a short time following the end of hostilities, and spent much of the following seven or eight years here in clashes with top men Jack Pye and Dave Armstrong. Post war, though, we shared him with the rest of the world, with Jim wrestling in South Africa, the United States and his native Canada.
Rocky Burnett
We would like more information on Rocky Burnett, for whom we have recorded matches in the early 1960s for the independent promoters against quality opposition Doctor Death, Randy Turpin, Bobo Matu, Terry O’Neill and The Mighty Chang.
Bobby Burns
The name Bobby Burns, usually billed from Wellingborough, was seen on independent posters between 1964 and 1966, opponents included other rising stars Bob Anthony, Ray Leslie, Ray McGuire and Alan Serjeant. Johnny Williams. In tag matches he was often partnered with Gypsy Joe Smith. Whilst all the above went on to become familiar to television fans Bobby Burns simply disappeared. The mystery remained unsolved for over fifty years until John Shelvey told us Burns had emigrated to Australia in the mid 1960s around the time his own family had also emigrated. Heritage member, Graeme Cameron, solved another mystery with the help of his friend, wrestler Big John Marshall. Reports of Bill Rawlings wrestling in Australia had been dismissed by Bill’s son. Big John. John Marshall knew the Australian Rawlings well, confirmed he was a British wrestler, but it transpired it was Bobby Burns using the name.
Graeme managed to secure confirmation of records of matches in Melbourne, in May, 1968, all using the name Bill Rawlings. It appears that he spent the first year of his Australian career in Melbourne and moved to Sydney in 1969, where there was work in the clubs as well as for the World Championship Wrestling promotion. In Sydney during 1969 he mostly worked as Bill Rawlings but sometimes in the clubs as Bobby Burns.
Another turn of events came in 1969. Heritage member Al Hibbert witnessed the unmasking of the White Phantoms at Wimbledon Palais. Beneath the masks were Bobby Burns and Gypsy Joe Smith. Now the Phantoms had been around since April of the previous year, meaning that Bobby Burns was not one of the original team. Or it could be we now have someone impersonating Burns in Britain, but surely that would be too absurd wven for pro wrestling.
Bpbby returned to Australia and could be found as a support wrestler using the name Bobby Burns. He’s listed in 1976 as working for WCW and appeared in an 8-man tag team match on their final card for the year on December 10th. There’s a record of him appearing on one of two WCW cards on February 14, 1978 held simultaneously at venues on opposite sides of Sydney. Mike Dallas also appeared on one of these cards but whether they wrestled each other or were even on the same card is unknown.
With or without a mask Bobby Burns remains an intriguing mystery. Do get in touch if you can add more.
Graeme Cameron has provided the following Bobby Burns matches:
20/4/68 Melbourne Festival Hall Billy Dundee beat Bill Rawlings (opening prelim)
13//7/68 Melbourne Festival Hall Bill Rawlings beat Paul Aspiotis (opening prelim)
2/11/68 Melbourne Festival Hall Harold Kalivouris beat Bill Rawlings (opening prelim)
18/4/69 Sydney Stadium Billy Dundee beat Bill Rawlings (2nd match)
25/4/69 Sydney Stadium Billy Dundee drew Bill Rawlings (opening prelim)
3/5/69 Sydney Stadium Ken Medlin beat Bill Rawlings (opening prelim)
17/5/69 Sydney TV Murphie the Magnificent beat Bill Rawlings
Joe Burns
Killer Joe Burns was an Irish born middleweight, and one time British middleweight champion, for the independent promoters in the 1960s and 1970s. One time tag partner of Sabu the Indian, collectively known as The Karate Killers.
Alec Burton
Middleweight wrestler from Miles Platting in Manchester. Another graduate of the Black Panther Gym in Manchester via Judo. Alec started as one of Lord Bertie Topham’s valets before embarking upon a solo career in his own right. He was a solid craftsman in the ring and, occasionally, resorted to Martial Arts skills when the situation warranted it.
Wrestled almost exclusively for Independent promoters in the North and Midlands and appeared in Scotland periodically. Memorable bouts included those against Alf Marquette, Jim Moser, Peter Lindberg, Ian St John, Brendan Moriarty and Ian ‘Mad Dog’ Wilson.
Formed a tag team in the late 60s with Eddie Rose, appearing as the Masked Barons and, for several months had the services of a masked valet (shades of Lord Bertie) who was none other than Jack Mawdesley, the referee and secretary of the A-Z Fan Club.
Alec’s ring career finished after sustaining a badly broken fibula and tibia at Orrell Rugby Club versus Jimmy Rice. (This was the occasion when the referee looked at the injury and then asked “Are you sure you can’t do another round?” as the bones stuck out of the wrestling boot).
He then purchased a couple of rings and became a regular provider of good, reliable rings at both boxing and wrestling shows. It was always a treat to travel to shows with Alec as every journey began at his house where his mum, Edie, always provided bacon sandwiches for the lads. He was a man with a good sense of fun and always with a laugh and a ‘story’ to entertain.
Tragically, Alec was killed by his own ring van when the jack collapsed on him at the M62 Birch Services near Rochdale. His funeral at Southern Cemetery was attended by hundreds of boxers, wrestlers and fans who paid their respects in the pouring rain to a good professional.
Bill Burton
Quite a few servicemen popped up to wrestle during the Second World War and disappeared following the end of hostilities. One of them was Bill Burton, a sergeant in the Army. We presume he was based in or around Newcastle as we have over a dozen records of him appearing at the New St James Hall, Newcastle, between January 1942 and December 1945. Opponents included Cyril Knowles, Jim Lewis, Jack Harris and James Blears.
Ted Burton
Like Bill Burton (above) we suspect a wartime activities connection for Staff Sergeant Ted Burton, a low key wrestler who worked frequently at Belle Vue, Manchester, between 1942 and 1945. Opponents included Carlton Smith, Jack Harris, Hec Trudeau and Jack Beaumont.
Henri Bury
The muscular and powerful Belgian heavyweight champion from Liege visited Britain on numerous occasions in the 1950s. Our earliest recording is a 1952 match against Dominic Pye, and the last against Tony Zale in 1959. Between times opponents included Bert Assirati, Alan Garfield, Gordon Nelson and Jack Pye.
Tom Bury
Billed from Choppington in Northumberland Tom Bury appeared in Joint Promotion rings in 1956, with opponents that included Alan Colbeck, Ted Hannon, Chic Purvey and Brian Trevors, working mostly in the North East of England. He left Joint Promotions in 1958 to work for the independent promoters until disappearing in the mid 1960s.
Mohammed Butt
Mohammed Butt was one of the strongest 1980s heavyweight wrestlers. He would often give a demonstration of power lifting prior to his contests. Appeared on television against Len Hurst, John Elijah and Barry Douglas.
Alan Butts
We head back to the summer of 1960, Rome and the Olympic Games. Britain deployed a contingent of six wrestling representatives. Veteran Ken Richmond was making his fourth Olympic Games outing whilst amongst the other five, all making their Olympic debut, was a young Birmingham lad called Alan Butts.
Born on 11th April, 1940, Butts had already won the British middleweight championship in 1960 before travelling to Rome. Having just turned twenty he was the youngest member of the British team. Alan lost both his Olympic matches, against Madho Singh of India and Viljo Punkari of Finland. Disappointing, maybe, but quite an achievement, especially for someone who reckoned he weighed a far from athletic 15 stones when he was sixteen years old. That’s when he joined the Birmingham Athletic Institute and took up amateur wrestling.
Four years of dedication, training three nights a week led to Saturday 30th April, 1960, when he travelled to London to beat Scotland’s George Farquhar to win the British middleweight championship. By the summer of 1961 Alan had made his professional debut and was working for Joint Promotions against the likes of Bob Anthony, Jackie Pallo, Arthur Fisher and Cliff Beaumont. Maybe the professional style just didn’t appeal to the twenty-one year old amateur champion as he disappeared from our sights in February, 1962. We believe Alan still lives in Birmingham, so if he’d like to get in touch and tell us more we’d be pleased to hear from him.
Mike Byrnes
We know precious little about heavyweight Mike Byrnes, other than he was a busy worker over a short period and was featured in the wrestling holds book “Wrestling – The Admiral Lord Mount Evans Style,” photographed demonstrating holds with Dave Armstrong. Mike appeared in British rings between 1940 and 1943, mostly in northern England, though we have one recorded match at Harringay against Tiger Joe Robinson. He reappeared in 1949, and was around for a couple of years, again mostly in Northern England and Scotland.
Maurice Byron (Also known as Mad Maurice and The Lynx)
Maurice Byron was no champion wrestler, we have found only a handful of matches, but he was a champion at courting publicity. He was an unconventional character who wrestled from the end of 1931 until 1934. Not just wrestling mind, Maurice proclaimed himself the All-Round Athlete of the World. Wrestling, boxing, swimming, running, roller skating … Maurice invited challenges from anyone in more than forty sporting events. Then it came to wrestling he played it for laughs, even turning up in his pyjamas on occasions. Maurice made outdoor public appearances of his strength by forming a bridge and inviting adult men to stand on his stomach. It was claimed he had learned to wrestle whilst serving in the army in Egypt in 1925. Although his identity was never concealed Maurice was widely known as Mad Maurice and The Lynx.
Page reviewed 05/01/2023
Wrestling Heritage 