BEYOND THE REALMS OF CREDIBILITY??

Finlay won the above match by KO.

As the 1970s progressed big name wrestlers well over fifty at the top of the bill "never loosing" did much damage to the credibility of the sport

Just to be slightly pedantic, as I've always read it the Mountevans rules only lay down a maximum for each weight division, not a minimum (unlike today's mixed martial arts for example.) So within the fantasy world of wrestling it was perfectly legal for Faulkner to challenge for the mid-heavyweight title. Of course, whether it was credible that he had earned a shot or had any chance of winning is a totally different matter.

Saxonwolf: " I thought you always defended Dale Martin "

Not at all. TBH I'm not considering those behind the pen, just what ended up on the posters and in the ring. There was a certain DM style that was professional over 20+ years but the whole changed noticeably in about 1976.

Do we even know if Faulkner ended up wrestling Finlay? Another aspect of the Crabtree years was that bills were switched around seemingly willy-nilly.

I can't answer that. I never got that far into the ins and outs of pay etc.

Too young at that time to appreciate how it all worked.

O K Main mask, sounds reasonable.

From my own point of view at Newcastle, if a wrestler had not turned up for any reason, Les Kellett would come on the mic and say "So and so has not been able to come today, one of the wrestlers will fight twice or I could fill in if you want" Result?

See my previous post.

Hi Main mask. Where did you get this information from please ?

Also you forget that even in the '80's Promoters would have at least one Wrestler in 'reserve'

in case of 'unforeseen' circumstances to protect the Show!

So for FAULKNER there was plenty of 'going back' if h e'd wanted it!!

I can't see too many promoters willing to do this. That is why Les Kellett got so many fights at Necastle in the days that he was refereeing there.

Is this a southern thing? less mileage between venues ?

Mid heavy weight ??? He must have gone on the Big Daddy double cream diet for a couple of months!

For reasons I'll never get my head around it seems Victoria and Bertrum were treated like some kind of wrestling royalty and for them just about anything was made possible. Each to their own but what anyone saw in their tired old predictable squeeky clean farce is well beyond me.

I take it he didnt actually win and no doubt Dave kept his belt because of some very dodgy refereeing decision.

"... Just typical sloppy 1980s matchmaking. I'm still trying to fathom out why the wrestlers thought this was such a great promoter (allegedly)..."

Anglo, I thought you always defended Dale Martin, or do you mean because by then it was all Max Crabtree?

You ask whether Vic should agree to this, Main Mask. But it's all down to the promoter. The wrestlers turned up at the venue with no idea who they were opposing. By the time Vic arrived, the audience was gathering and the match was set. He could protest, but there was no going back.

Silly distribution with Kilby and a Logan on the bill; it could easily have been switched around: or even defending against his tag partner.

Just typical sloppy 1980s matchmaking. I'm still trying to fathom out why the wrestlers thought this was such a great promoter (allegedly).

It certainly seems to stretch beyond the limits of imagination. But after hearing of the chain matches anything seems possible. It seems that in some ways the 1980s were even worse than I remember. I say "some ways" because there were many good wrestlers around. Management was the problem and we all know who was to blame. No need to wait for Anglo Italian. This would not have happened in the proper Dale Martin days.