If you picture the Free Trade Hall Manchester The Chelsea Palace Theatre was similar in that the capacity was 2500 or so. Seating included pits , stalls and a upper gallery. Built 1902 and eventually converted to an ITV studio.
A promoter Alf Allen had the pub , The Black Prince on Walworth Road and he started a wrestling venture in March 1935 at this venue. 39 shows later he ended up in court. It seems a wrestler Joe Sheppard fronted a consortium , although he was the main provider of wrestlers , and paid Alf Allen £50 cash to run the shows with Allen's name on the advertising.
For London in 1935 it was all a bridge too far. The shows were on a Sunday. I also found two shows with lady wrestlers , not sure if these are the earliest ever since Wrestling's inception in December 1930. But if not I am going to claim its was certainly the first masked lady wrestler I have come across in Britain.
Though Kayfabe , choking out her opponent brutally was just too much for some people as were accusations of some of the bouts looking fixed and not proper sport.
Of course Sheppard was Johanfesson and he heavily featured his son Jack Quesick. But the wrestlers he brought in were good. Even Riley and Atherton came with their bout probably practiced to perfection.
Without the galleries working it's hard to show 39 bills but I have picked a few out and you get the feel of some names that I have only spotted before on Ray's index. A new one on me was the Flying Bullet.
Did not know Eric Fisher was Frankenstein (the Yorkshire Pudding). White Hawk ? (Not White Owl). Madcap Mad Carter ? Scarface . Leo Quarter Nelson .
Hope you enjoy the bills. Two weeks into 1936 the venture stopped.
