By 1951 BERT ROYAL was getting quite Established as a 'Rising Star'!!
But what was he like at the very Beginning of his Wrestling Career!?-Have you heard that
Expression-'Still Wet Behind the Ears'!
Well here he is!!....
Is BERNARD among these Autograph Hunters then??
Did BERNARD 'Burst his Hat'??
MAIN MASK
Great wrestler and a fine man, a good friend too. Eddie Rose(Manchester),
Here is Bert slipping back to very late in 1949 and as often in their early days , he and Billy Howes were learning the game together.
Did a short story of Bert here.
https://wrestlingheritage.co.uk/on-the-trail-of-bert-royal/
These forties appearances do of course generate a new Waltonism.
Kent always told us that Bert chose Royal as a ring name because he turned pro in Coronation year. Clearly this was just another example of him compliantly shaving five or ten years off the ages of the middle-aged bill-toppers of the late sixties and seventies.
I remember one World of Sport. Incredibly we saw the dressing room and McManus lacing up his boots. This was to celebrate that Mick had "unblievably" reached his fiftieth birthday. But this was not in 1972! Many years later.
Seems like Bert Royal & Billy Howes were matched together early on in their careers. I've found at least five bouts together during late 1949 & early 1950:
Bert Royal was wrestling (and winning!) in Spain in 1954, along with Johnny Kwango and Judo Al Hayes. He would only have been 23 years old by my reckoning, must have been a great life for a young lad in the post-war 1950's!
Great picture of a young Bert Royal.
Does anybody know what championship Bert Royal held in 1957? It looks like more of a sash than a championship belt. The commentator mentions it's a European title.
He's not there. I never collected autographs, just photos.
And they all went a long while ago.
Now that one is a gem Adrian. Bert looks ready for his Saturday night out.