countyman's blog
old school
Does anyone else have early memories of live pro style wrestling? Aged nine I was at Gunton Hall holiday camp in Suffolk.The first wrestler in the ring was stocky,with dark hair and a goatee.He wore a red singlet.Before the bout started he ripped up a telephone directory with his bare hands,then fully inflated a hot water bottle by breathing into it.His opponent was another well built guy with brown hair and smooth skin. he had striped trunks in the same colours as Jim Breaks used to wear ,only the stripes were vertical. The guy in red won, I can t remember how,just recall the other guy took an awful lot of postings.The second bout featured a guy calling himself Robin Hood. rather strangely he was a heel.He had straight light hair and a goatee.Green trunks.His opponent was more of a pretty boy. Wavy brown hair,slight chest hair and light blue trunks. All I remember about that bout was Mr.Hood leaning over the ropes and shouting at the crowd.I was also lucky enough to see a lot of bouts in Leicester and the surrounding area at working mens clubs etc from my teenage years onwards. Great days,before the American influence took over
mackemsub (119)
29.1.2014 11:40Wish I had been to bouts like that before itv wrestling stopped and the modern american stuff took over! Wrestling was on in venues accessible to most towns on a regular basis then!
Brutalheel (2)
14.7.2014 11:59You should have a look at Wrestling Heritage website.
canarian ex champ (1)
04.10.2016 16:28I suspect the man tearing the phone book would be Ronnie Alcard, who wrestled under the name Al Kard. Never on TV, Ronnie worked the holiday camps in UK before moving to Southen France where he frequently toured throughout southern Europe and even North Africa. His opponent (sounds like his trunks!!!!) Wrestled as Johnny Angle although his real name was John Morton, John is still around, Ronnie died a couple of years ago. I cant place the second two.
countyman (8)
04.10.2016 16:59Thanks for that. I do look at the anglian pages now and again,through them I learned that the robin hood guy went blind unfortunately. In Leicester I saw both the late Tommy Lorne and Bob durran wanting to learn,but I was a beanpole then,so they told me to put on some weight. Bob durran was unusual in that when I saw him he was a heel,but the crowd cheered him. Happy days.