Am I the only person here who hasnt even heard of half the wrestlers mentioned on this forum8? I didnt start following wrestling until the mid seventies. It would seem Ive missed out on some great names in the business.
I guess most of us experienced what you did at one time or another Frank. Your knowledge and memories are as great as anyone else. Don't be envious of us. We are all just envious of Bernard!
I started going in the mid seventies and lost interest about 10 years later. I cut my teeth on wrestlers like Nagasaki, Rocco, Quinn, Jones, Kung Fu, Haystacks, Bridges, Jim Breaks (to name but a few) who were great workers, and then the Big Daddy circus came to town and the Mums n Dads favorite in his giant babygrow held absolutely nothing that appealed to me, the endless tag bouts where his lightweight tag partner would get beaten up for 3 rounds by the bad guys only for Sock it to em Shirley to save the day by bouncing the bad guys off his great ample gut for all of 30 seconds were a total bore. I can clearly remember the night I threw in the towel and stopped going, it was when I saw the bill for the next event and headlining was Roger Wells V Tom Tyrone! Are you f...ing kidding me???? No disrespect to either wrestler but this just isn't top of the bill stuff! That was it for me and I walked away. This site has defiantly reignited the spark and Im currently working my way through a pile of 20 wrestling DVDS (Hi Dave) I just ordered and enjoying every minute. The knowledge on here is incredible, its an absolute total wrestling education and I envy those of you who got to watch wrestling that was way before my time.
Know what you mean Frank. I lived mainly in a Wryton area with Multi promoter Belle Vue a treat whilst in the main I tended to only see Jack Cassidy shows as far as the Indy's went.
In the end what you learn is down to a FASCINATION Factor. How much did it all grab you and on reflection , when offered a second chance to think about it all over again many decades later , is the magic still there.
Knowing now that I did not see it all or where it came from , maybe that Fascination Factor for me has been stronger than ever.
I reckon three quarters of the wrestlers , I had never heard of , maybe even more.
I started watching in the early 1960s and like yourself I also was lost with a lot of the names but bit by bit I have learned a lot, that is through the collective knowledge of the forum, we are know a little bit some a lot more, but collectively the knowledge on this site is a mighty resource.
You're right it is interesting finding out all about these guys before my time. Such a shame there's so little footage (if any) and obviously being such a long time ago any that does exist won't be great quality. The impression I get of those days is that wrestling might have been less flamboyant back then and possibly a bit more brutal (please do correct me if I'm wrong) also a very affordable good night out.
Absolutely Hack, there were many great wrestlers in the seventies and eighties and those were the days that I remember so fondly. Time spent with my Dad, still young and naïve enough to believe it was real, and the hairs on the back of my neck standing up when Kendo entered the ring and wondering if tonight might just be the night he got beaten. Collecting autographs. Great days!
Yet you saw many great wrestlers emerging in the 70s and in to the 80s. By then many of us had lost interest and that's where Heritage needs more input, the late 70s and 1980s.
Regional variations, different eras, independents and non-tv wrestlers. Mere names. They're all here, and the fun is also learning about them.
But I agree, when more than half of the names are unfamiliar, it does get a bit daunting.
I am sure they all had their story and are all of great importance to their fans and families.
But we still seem to know far less about some mainstream wrestlers from right under our noses: I've been trying for years to find out details about Masambula but nobody seems to know anything.
I guess most of us experienced what you did at one time or another Frank. Your knowledge and memories are as great as anyone else. Don't be envious of us. We are all just envious of Bernard!
I started going in the mid seventies and lost interest about 10 years later. I cut my teeth on wrestlers like Nagasaki, Rocco, Quinn, Jones, Kung Fu, Haystacks, Bridges, Jim Breaks (to name but a few) who were great workers, and then the Big Daddy circus came to town and the Mums n Dads favorite in his giant babygrow held absolutely nothing that appealed to me, the endless tag bouts where his lightweight tag partner would get beaten up for 3 rounds by the bad guys only for Sock it to em Shirley to save the day by bouncing the bad guys off his great ample gut for all of 30 seconds were a total bore. I can clearly remember the night I threw in the towel and stopped going, it was when I saw the bill for the next event and headlining was Roger Wells V Tom Tyrone! Are you f...ing kidding me???? No disrespect to either wrestler but this just isn't top of the bill stuff! That was it for me and I walked away. This site has defiantly reignited the spark and Im currently working my way through a pile of 20 wrestling DVDS (Hi Dave) I just ordered and enjoying every minute. The knowledge on here is incredible, its an absolute total wrestling education and I envy those of you who got to watch wrestling that was way before my time.
Know what you mean Frank. I lived mainly in a Wryton area with Multi promoter Belle Vue a treat whilst in the main I tended to only see Jack Cassidy shows as far as the Indy's went.
In the end what you learn is down to a FASCINATION Factor. How much did it all grab you and on reflection , when offered a second chance to think about it all over again many decades later , is the magic still there.
Knowing now that I did not see it all or where it came from , maybe that Fascination Factor for me has been stronger than ever.
I reckon three quarters of the wrestlers , I had never heard of , maybe even more.
I started watching in the late 1940's and some of the lower bill boys are strangers to most on this site.
However I didn't go to many shows during the 1960's and then stopped going, so apart from the stars I didn't know of many of that era.
No idea of many after that except the top of the bill wrestlers.
We all post what times we know about , and so as we read other peoples' posts we learn, little by little.
It's an enjoyable way to learn. That's why this forum is so great.
I started watching in the early 1960s and like yourself I also was lost with a lot of the names but bit by bit I have learned a lot, that is through the collective knowledge of the forum, we are know a little bit some a lot more, but collectively the knowledge on this site is a mighty resource.
You're right it is interesting finding out all about these guys before my time. Such a shame there's so little footage (if any) and obviously being such a long time ago any that does exist won't be great quality. The impression I get of those days is that wrestling might have been less flamboyant back then and possibly a bit more brutal (please do correct me if I'm wrong) also a very affordable good night out.
Absolutely Hack, there were many great wrestlers in the seventies and eighties and those were the days that I remember so fondly. Time spent with my Dad, still young and naïve enough to believe it was real, and the hairs on the back of my neck standing up when Kendo entered the ring and wondering if tonight might just be the night he got beaten. Collecting autographs. Great days!
Yet you saw many great wrestlers emerging in the 70s and in to the 80s. By then many of us had lost interest and that's where Heritage needs more input, the late 70s and 1980s.
You are in no way alone, Frank. Sleep easy.
Regional variations, different eras, independents and non-tv wrestlers. Mere names. They're all here, and the fun is also learning about them.
But I agree, when more than half of the names are unfamiliar, it does get a bit daunting.
I am sure they all had their story and are all of great importance to their fans and families.
But we still seem to know far less about some mainstream wrestlers from right under our noses: I've been trying for years to find out details about Masambula but nobody seems to know anything.