WRESTLING HERITAGE

When we met up with Steve Walton he described himself as part of the Don Robinson family. Don Robinson was one of the major independent promoters of the 1960s and 1970s. Other members of the “Robinson family” included Klondyke Bill and  Toma Hansom. Steve trained the dolphins at Don Robinson's Marineland in Scarborough  and in his spare time wrestled on the independent bills of the north of England. Steve went on to become head trainer of dolphins at Windsor Safari Park and yet this was only the start of an incredible story. With forty years experience of marine life Steve is now the world's foremost authority on dolphin training, travelling the world and sharing his internationally acclaimed knowledge of marine wildlife as an adviser on animal care, wildlife and training.

The 6'5” heavyweight French based Congolese was a sensation when he was brought to Britain by promoter Atholl Oakeley.He would bound over the top rope and mesmerise opponents with his bulging eyes. An immensely colourful attraction but it was all to end in tragedy. We will tell no more of the Wango story here, but direct you to our extended tribute “Wrestling's First Martyr.”

Read our extended tribute  on www.wrestlingheritage.com in 1930-1945 Pioneers  - The First Martyr of Wrestling?

The giant Austrian Otto Wanz  weighed in around the 25 stones mark, Born in 1943 his first sporting love was boxing, and he had a nationally successful amateur boxing career. 

He turned professional around 1970, establishing himself in European rings. He is mostly remembered by British fans for his epic clash with Ray Steele in the 1984 Royal Albert Hall Spectacular, when he successfully defended his CWA championship against the Yorkshireman.   Otto subsequently gained international acclaim in North America, the Far East and Europe, winning the AWA World heavyweight championship. He later returned to Britain to work for promoter Orig Williams. Following retirement Otto settled back in his native country, Austria, promoting, acting and  organising strong men competitions. 

The first time we saw Buddy Ward in action he struck us as a bit of a hard nut. We weren't wrong. An unsurprising assessment to those who saw the shaven headed whirlwind in action, but a little more surprising when we tell you he was facing Bob Sherry, one of the hardest men in the game. Liverpool born Buddy turned professional in 1959, and never went out of his way to make friends in the ring. Not the most scientific of wrestlers he was, nonetheless, a man with some skill who could hold his own with anyone in the ring. Some early bouts saw him billed as Woody Ward (reference to his family name of Woodward) and in the early sixties a frequent opponent was a young "German" who went on to become Steve Viedor, also from Ellesmere Port, the town that Buddy adopted. During the 1960s  Buddy worked  mainly in the opposition halls, but also made some appearances for Joint Promotions, and was a frequent traveller to the continent and Australia. In recent years he worked with Bob and Jean Bell, organising the Ellesmere Port Wrestlers Reunion. In April, 2010, Buddy surprised the wrestling fans when he came out of retirement, aged 75, to wrestle Johnny Saint in his local hall. A swift ending failed to subdue Buddy, phoning us the next day to tell us he was satisfied to have made the fans happy. No doubt just another of life's experiences that will add to Buddy's latest career change, that of after dinner speaker.

Buddy Ward died in June 2015, he was 81. One Heritage member was at the funeral and reported: “Buddy's big day was as good as he would have wanted it to be, great stories, loads of old Ellesmere Port Wrestlers that some I have not seen in 20 odd years.. A lot of the guys were saying how much they liked what you did for him on the site and contact info to your website on the huge photo board of his life starting when he was very young and definitely better looking, through his army days, early wrestling, heydays and some just 3 days before he left us. I was amazed at the numerous messages from wrestlers old and new thanking him for the help and encouragement he had shown right up to his passing. All in all as nice as those things can be and I am sure he will remain firmly in the folklore of British Wrestling for a long time to come.”

The dark, wavy haired heavyweight was a post war protege of Athol Oakeley. He wrestled Ed Bright in 1952 for Oakeley's version of the British Heavyweight Title  at the Royal Albert Hall and faced  Tiger Joe Robinson at Harringay in another high profile match.   Other memorable opponents included Bert Mansfield, Al Hayes and Gerry Hoggarth.  It was against Hoggarth, at the Royal Albert Hall in April 1953, that Jock finally dropped his British heavyweight championship. Many of Jock's contests were for promoter Atholl Oakeley who, following the end of the second world war, strived to revive the all-in style of wrestling he had introduced to Britain in 1930, which included a twenty count for a knock-out.

The iconic Max Ward brought a touch of American style razamatazz as the referee wearing his trademark striped shirt. In 2012 Wrestling Heritage named him the Number 1 Wrestling Official of the Heritage for refereeing duties in which he remained unobtrusive, allowed the wrestlers retain centre stage whilst also enhancing the overall performance.

Yet Max Ward ‘s contribution to wrestling went back much further. Before his unmistakable refereeing style was unleashed on the unsuspecting public by promoter Paul Lincoln Max Ward was a heavyweight wrestler working throughout Britain and travelling to Sweden, Germany and France. We can trace him back to wrestling in 1943 whilst he was serving in the R.A.F. and reported in November by the Hull Daily Mail to have beaten Manuel Trudeau by two faills to one at Madeley Street Baths. By then he was in his early twenties, having been born in Bristol on 23rd July, 1920

A 1950s resident of Halesowen, seven miles from Birmingham on the edge of the industrial heartland Max had the geographical legitimacy for his billing as Midlands Heavyweight Champion, but we have yet to find any reference to any championship matches.

Max continued wrestling until the early 1960s, mainly for Paul Lincoln, one of the main independent promoters. In the early 1960s the bumps were beginning to take their toll on Max's body and he turned referee for Paul Lincoln Management, a role at which he excelled. From time to time Max would be called back to wrestling duties to settle a score with a wrestling villain. In 1963, by which time he was a regular Lincoln referee he said, in Birmingham’s Sports Argus, that he was challenging Dr Death, “I have stood enough of foreign wrestlers coming to Birmingham and taking liberties with me …. I will show how an old-timer deals with masked Americans.” Fans still enjoyed Max back in the ring in the 1970s for a series of referee versus wrestler matches, in which he faced Cyanide Sid Cooper.

Wrestling enthusiast Ballymoss told us: “When Max worked for Paul Lincoln I believe it was part of the show for him to become fully involved and he filled this role brilliantly, particularly when involved with some one like Docker Don Stedman. If he had disqualifed Don or some other top notch heel he often wrote down their name on a notepad and informed them in grave tones that they would be reported to the British Wrestling Federation - hilarious stuff; action which could see the disqalified wrestler demand a re-match, a much needed ingredient with the paucity of wrestlers in the Paul Lincoln stable.”

With the 1966 merger of Paul Lincoln Management and Dale Martin Promotions Max became a popular tv referee and, around 1967 or 1968, became one of the regular referees at the Royal Albert Hall.

Max Ward died in 2002, aged 83, and just two weeks after receiving a Lifetime Achievement Award from the British Wrestlers Reunion.

The big, bruising Australian Sharky Ward made his way into British rings during the winter of 1980 - 81. He faced an odd assortment of opponents ranging from Jeff Kaye to Wayne Bridges, losing to the kent wrestler in a World Heavyweight Title eliminator at the Royal Albert Hall in October, 1980.  Sharky was Australian Phil Ward who used a variety of names in Australia, USA, New Zealand and  Japan. In New Zealand he was appointed coach of the national sumo wrestling team.