A bit of help needed....

From the A-Z

Jim Armstrong 

Leeds heavyweight who seems to have wrestled mainly in the North and Midlands during the 1950s and 1960s. Despite meeting some of the big names of the time, such as Jack Pye, Ian Campbell and Albert Wall,  Jim Armstrong never reached the heights of his more famous namesake.  He was recognised in the mid 1960’s as British Heavyweight Champion by the independent promoters. Possibly his main claim to fame was appearing in the main event of BBC 1s first televised wrestling tournament. It was in May, 1965, that he wrestled Edouard Carpentier in front of the BBC cameras in Brighton. On occasions Jim would pull on a mask, take on a limp, place a glove over his allegedly disfigured hand and (according to the posters) assume the strength of four men as the masked Rasputin.

Ian St John

Speed merchant Ian St John was a favourite on the independent circuit in the 1960s and one time tag partner of Johnny Saint. Billed from Scotland Ian's birth name was Harry Walsh and he  lived in Accrington  where he worked as a joiner and ran a security business  training guard dogs.  He was most definitely Accrington ‘arry.

When younger Ian was a military policeman in the army.  Trained by Bob Bannister at his gymnasium in Accrington. In the ring Ian was a wiry lightweight, very fast and acrobatic, often in action with another speedy lightweight, Andreas Svajik.  Those who didn’t see Ian St John in action will probably not imagine just how fast he could move.

Very popular amongst fans Ian was also highly respected amongst colleagues. Eddie Rose told us, "A great wrestler and a very good friend with a dry sense of humour. I wrestled him on quite a few occasions and for quite a few promoters, too, and it was always a pleasure. That is, if you could keep up with him!"

Ayr's Dale Storm also recalled Ian with fondness, "He was quick, he was skilful, and he was above all, very, very generous! And he was always very safe to work with. I really liked the man and I respected his ability immensely. I learned a lot from my time in the ring with him."

Ian moved across to Joint Promotions in 1969, working mainly for Wryton Promotions in the north and midlands. Ian died  on 7th December, 2012, aged 83.

Ezzra "Sugar Ray" Francis (Sugar Ray Dodo, The Zulu, The Witchdoctor)

Should a book of wrestling's greatest characters be written Ezra Francis is sure to be in there, whatever the criteria. Stories of the man abound whenever the wrestling fraternity gathers together. Eddie Rose told Wrestling Heritage:

"Ezzie was a favourite to work with and to socialise with, too. Top man and what a sense of humour, mind you, we needed it because we were both Manchester City fans! I had some of my most memorable bouts with him. He was fun to be with and had a wide variety of moves to suit every occasion. He took on all shapes and sizes from Jackie Pallo to Klondykes and always gave full value to the audiences."

The fans loved Ezra, whether he was billed that night as The Zulu, Sugar Ray Francis, Sugar Ray Dodo or The Witchdoctor. 

The grass skirt, spear and facial paint meant that Ezra was on the bill. This welterweight was a hugely popular and regular performer on the independent circuit throughout the 1960s. Whilst not reaching the popularity of Masambula (who did have the advantage of tv exposure) Ezra was no insubstantial copy of the African. When the lights were down and he entered the hall the excitement amongst the crowd was very real. A slow walk into the ring, followed by a bit of voodoo nonsense directed at an opponent and then he would get down to the serious business of wrestling, at which he was very good. 

Not to be confused with another Zulu, Harry Bison of the Isle of Man, who was heavier and taller than the original.

Buddy Ward

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.”

Never heard of Il Tomasinos and don't know who Boston Blackie would have been.

Promoter Tom Charles has been mentioned previously but he's not someone I know.

Indeed Ian St. John wrestled out of Accrington and was well known all over the North and Midlands.

Buddy Ward was the older brother of Brian Maxine, sometimes wrestled as "Doctor Death".

The Zulu could have been Ezra Francis.

Ian St. John was another North West based wrestler.