ADRIAN STREET VS LES KELLETT-RARE ACTION PHOTOS!!

Thanks

No. I'm not sure of his actual age but Kellett was quite old in wrestling terms on the two occasions he worked for me; and particularly on the West Bromwich show which was in the early eighties. Although a big man, Jake had a reputation for being a light worker. Kellett trusted him and they had a bout together which they almost managed to do on automatic pilot.

Incidentally, when Kellett retired I saw Jake doing a Butlin's show with a lad who I think was billed as Tarzan Darren (or something like that) and the whole thing was reversed with Jake performing Kellett's role and doing all the comedy.

Great Stories Graham but what do you mean Jake was the only man Kellett trusted - trusted not to work him over? Was he so unpopular by then?

It was Stuart's idea. I was just under instructions. My instructions were to announce that they were involved in a crash and died instantly. The bit about hitting a tree on the motorway was mine and so was the minute's silence. Incidentally, one of the wrestlers who discovered that he had died on the motorway that night was Abe Ginsberg and I believe that when he telephoned Stuart he was not very pleased.

Stuart was so concerned that Adrian would come after him that he kept a metal bar by his front door for a month afterwards. Goodness knows what he would have actually done if the doorbell had sounded one night and Adrian had been standing there on the doorstep.

One good outcome was that Adrian began looking for his own halls after this and had relative success with Cassidy's old stomping ground of The Houldsworth Hall on Deansgate, Manchester. He was a canny promoter and would top the bill as Adrian Street after the interval but limp to the ring as a hunchback just before the interval to wrestle as Quasimodo in full mask. Mind you, once the bell sounded and the masked hunchback began skipping around the ring, punters began to smell a rat.

Enthralling stuff, Graham. You couldn't invent it! Having to announce 4 deaths!!!! Surely a write-off would have been enough.

The problem with Adrian Street was that when he came over to the independents he came after the small band of halls in Cheshire where Stuart Miller and myself were promoting. He came after the Civic Hall in Bollington where I was promoting semi-regularly. I had a show booked with Pallo at the end of September and found that Street had slipped one in at the start of September. It was actually quite a good show. I forget the two supporting bouts but Adrian bill-topped versus Woody Waldo and his wife , Blackfoot Sioux, wrestled Susan Sexton. I remember sitting with Ezra (Sugar Ray Do Do) to watch the girls' bout so he was obviously on the show as well. Although I was annoyed at the time, in reality the fact that his show was good only helped my show a few weeks later and I got an almost full house (mind you, it was only a small hall) for Pallo.

Stuart Miller's clash with Adrian was slightly more eventful. Stuart was running a show at the Town Hall, Congleton, and Street booked his show in the very next week. Not only that, he fly-posted his posters over Stuart's which meant that, on the night, Stuart had quite a poor turn out. He sensed this would happen so cancelled four of the eight wrestlers he had booked and promoted A versus B, C versus D, A versus C and B versus D.

As M.C. I had to come out and announce that four of the wrestlers had struck a tree on the motorway and had died. We held a minute's silence then I announced that the show must go on and announced the revised format. The four wrestlers were Bill Clarke, Rick Wiseman, Al Miquet and Ian Wilson. I also announced (on Stuart's instructions) that, because we had not presented a full show, if the punters held on to their tickets, they would get in for half price next week.

The next week Stuart and myself were nowhere to be seen and Adrian's sister, who was running the box for him, was confronted, so I believe, with all these angry people waving their tickets from the week before demanding to get in for half price just as the nice man had promised.

Although I was only following orders (as they said in the Nuremberg Trials) I did not think it advisable to contact Adrian to ask him to work for me following this episode. I booked Bobby Barron to do the ring for me and work on the Halton show and he told me that Adrian was doing a week for him and was able to stay on an extra night and do my show if I so wished. I agreed and, on the night, no mention was made of the Congleton brouhaha and Adrian was absolutely charming but that is the background to why I only used him the once. It was shortly after my Halton show that he and Linda (the support bout at Runcorn was Blackfoot Sioux versus Gypsy Sarah or Mrs.Street versus Mrs.Barron) went over to America.

I only saw Kellett versus Street on two occasions. The more famous (because it was televised) was at Wryton Stadium in Bolton and was a tag match; Adrian partnered as usual by Bobby Barnes and Les in a rare tag appearance with his son Dave Barrie although no mention was made by Walton of the blood relationship. Father and son won. The show was broadcast on the Saturday afternoon show and was the third bout of the broadcast following Marty Jones' TV debut which he won against a considerably lighter Bobby Ryan.

The only other time I saw Kellett versus Street was again on a Martin Conroy promoted Wryton card but this time at The Pavilion Gardens in Buxton which Kellett won by knockout. The memory plays tricks but I'm pretty sure that this was the main event staged after the interval and that the show concluded with a rather good tag encounter between The Dennisons and the Dangermen.

Although both men came over to the independents around the time I was dabbling in promotion, I did not match them together. Both worked for me at Halton British Legion in Runcorn on separate shows. I matched Kellett with Abe Ginsberg and promoted Street in tag with Bobby Barron against The Romanies (Pedro the Gypsy and Max Raeger). Kellett also worked for me at The Gala Baths, West Bromwich, where I matched him with Klondyke Jake at the tail end of his career when Jake was the only opponent he trusted.

Looks like ADRIAN has Really Clobbered KELLETT here!!

MAIN MASK