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Edited: Jan 26, 2023

ADAM KING and Pioneer Ladies Wrestling

Paul Mitchell wrote.

the elusive Adam king ,Adam King had a stable of women wrestlers trained above a pub near the Bijou cinema,Adam was a barber and according to my uncle they were no Hollywood blondes, try he old Trafford barber tried in vain to generate interest but the ladies lacked how shall I say ,visual appeal.

It was great that paul spotted Adam at the Ardwick "Blood Tub" Stadium

AS far back as 1907 I can find King wrestling such people as Irslinger , and Jack Carroll in the Music Halls and here he is again with Carroll and at that time he is 54/55 years of age. Also he wrestles Peter Gotz and presents him in the Music Halls , and yet one press report suggests that Gotz and King are the same man.

I find it hard to buy that so maybe I will just leave it open for now.

here are Gotz v King wrestling in 1907 and in 1931 King with the Hairdresser link bankrupt in Manchester.

. Click for Larger view.

King actually wrestled at the 1908 Alhambra Show with the best there was. That year Jack Carroll was the Lightweight catch Champion effectively of the World. same year uncle Joe Carroll beat Peter Gotz for the middleweight crown.

But was Adam King....Gotz. How could he be.

I think Adam King died in Salford in 1944 age 65.

Despite the Bankruptcy King went on to show his Lady troupe of wrestlers round the country in Music Halls.

He must of thought The Blood Tub was worth a punt as well. (Click for larger view)

Well connected in wrestling circles with Gotz , Reginski and Assirati in the Music halls.

And the troupe

Click for larger view.

8 comments

8 Comments

RON HISTORYO....Time Cop,

Jan 26, 2023

Including his match with Gotz above , Adam King was often billed as lightweight champion of Russia.

Born 12th december 1880 I found him lodging in Oldham in 1911 , with an occupation of professional wrestler and a declaration that he was born in Russia.

In 1939 he was living in a Caravan on the Greenfair Ground in Oldham with an occupation of Showman and Driver.

RON HISTORYO....Time Cop,

Jan 26, 2023

Replying to

Yes Adam King Ju -Jitsu Champion here. Miss Hackenschmidt was said to have been the best of all the Ladies in this era. Born Jean Irvine in Glasgow , she challenged the Troupe and did well

SaxonWolf

Jan 26, 2023

Replying to

Interesting stuff, as always, Ron!

So, Gotz and King were business partners, do we think?

RON HISTORYO....Time Cop,

Jan 26, 2023

Replying to

Quite a good chance. Seems to me a few years down the line Gotz has the Troupe. Maybe it had flopped under King as Paul Mitchell suggests. Putting women on in the Blood Tub in 1935 seems a bit desperate.

SaxonWolf

Jan 26, 2023

This is really interesting Ron.

The Bankruptcy part is intriguing; saying that Adam King came to England from Poland, and that he is Peter Gotz?, then next to it, the advert for an Adam King promotion, headlined by Bert Assirati?, didn't Peter Gotz have a hand in training Assirati?, was he actually also some type of manager for him?

Great stuff.

SaxonWolf

Jan 26, 2023

Replying to

I can't access this as I am not a member of the British Newspaper Archive (yet), but this might be the admission that there was a mistake, and Adam King is not Peter Gotz and Peter Gotz has never been declared Bankrupt?

RON HISTORYO....Time Cop,

Jan 26, 2023

Replying to

You are clearly correct SaxonWolf and well spotted. The two men were almost the same age , but Gotz lived a lot longer and died in London. That settles it.

And yes sometimes at some Theatres the Troupe was introduced as belonging to Gotz with King as Manager. Clearly Paul (Bkendo1)has been passed down some very accurate information about a player who does not seem to have cropped up before.

Partly because of his age , that Arwick wrestling bill with him and Joe Carroll is the only one I have of him wrestling post 1930. He is abundant in the first ten years of the century and is one who kept Music hall wrestling alive through the 1920's. His connection to Gotz , Assirati and Reginsky is very interesting.

Can't find a picture of him and although it is easy to find pictures of other artists , a picture of Mello and Nello showing Assirati in the Music Halls is also elusive.