Dr Death Debut

Not mentioned so far is that the common factor in all these Dr Death appearances are the appearance of George Kidd and Doctor Death. It was George Kidd that suggested to Paul Lincoln he should wear a mask and call himself Dr Death.

adrianpollard.shangri-la

And Don't Forget ANGLO That BOB KIRKWOOD Told Me That Pretty Soon

after he got his £1,000,000+ from The 'Merger' with JOINTS- He Resolved

To 'Disappear' back to AUSTRALIA with his Loot leaving RAY HUNTER at

the Helm of PAUL LINCOLN Promotions!

I don't think this was case.

Directors of Paul Lincoln Promotions were the Abbeys, Al Hayes, Ray Hunter, and Paul Lincoln. If Paul Lincoln really had pocketed £1,000.000 ( and I can't see any evidence of this) he certainly wasn't in charge - Dale Martin Promotions were.

Given that he remained masked right up to the 1.1.66 merger, and for some months after that, I would have thought there were endless possibilities to keep the gimmick alive. TV exposure, feuds with wrestlers of any weight, really. He was entering a vast new pool of potential opponents. And hundreds of new venues.

Bartelli had been masked for approx 20 years, so the precedent of long-term masked men was there.

I don't think the gimmick was limited but I do think that "Paul" Lincoln had had enough, for whatever reason. I think his Dr Death was a cornerstone in building up his promotion. I think his loss of Ricky Starr really rocked him and made him give up. And he really did have other business interests and needed to make himself scarce in the late sixties for "other reasons".

He probably also wouldn't have enjoyed no longer being the boss and having McManus determining his opponents!

He remains enigmatic because of his high profile in spite of no tv exposure.

Yes , it looks like Lincoln played the odd Doctor Death bout here and there for other promoters , so maybe not even his own idea. But whatever, he built up a head of steam with him later on his own shows I think by doing series's of bouts with rivals to gain the heat. Probably the White Angel bouts were the peak of it all with the pinacle of the unmasking of the Angel. It makes me wonder , at that point , was there anywhere else to go with the idea. Maybe it stopped at the right time. Too long and it might have spoilt the legend.

Interesting how this all played out well away from London.

I have also found Dr death in Hull in July and August 1959 although don't have the July bill.

We also found this 1959 Dr Death when we last discussed this, it's September 1959, so Ron's July 1959 outing remains the earliest

Yes I don't think the idea took off straight away , but rather that he plugged away at it. Maybe Al hayes was the Catalyst for the later excitement , but 1958/59 bills for Dr Death are Scarce. In fact mine for the summer of 59 stands out because he did wrestle later that year as Paul Lincoln.

Hi Ron

I don't know whether these bits and bobs can help your jigsaw?

23rd January 1958:

And then in March that year he was still wrestling as Paul Lincoln (not even his real name!) Would he have gone back to Paul Lincoln after launching Dr Death? I wouldn't have thought so:

There's a Ron Harrison on the bill - he may be able to help!

At the time I put this thread out early last year , I don't think we really established the earliest Lincoln played Dr Death. We also struggled to show he did it pre 1960 except maybe some Plunkett Index finds. It kind of left the thread getting spread and no real answer. It was clear that at first and even for a few years Dr Death was no big deal , then the momentum struck. Just though I would ask again about earliest bills as I have now found a 1959 one.

Yes Main mask we uncovered lots of early 1960s Joint imposters, but none from Dale Martin. Have you any pre 1966 Dale Martin Doctor Deaths?

Thank you Ian; the bill was actually published higher up at the beginning of the thread although I don't know how I missed it at the time that it was posted (except that there was a lot going on at home at that time including me being two weeks away from retiring!)

Thank you Ron for posting my debut bill; they did more than sneak the prices up, 2/- was a lot of money back in those days. Newcastle did move up to those prices in the autumn of the following year but stated that along with the rise in prices we could expect to see bigger names appearing on ensuing bills.

Hack did some digging for me and we now have January 1960 billings/results:

JANUARY 1960

6th; BEXHILL; Dr Death v K.Joyce;

7th; LEYTON; Kidd/Capelli/Peters/Dr Death/Von Kramer/Craddock

8th; CALEDONIAN ROAD, LONDON ; Dr Death bt Bajko; Dr Death bt Laurent Boranyi;

And after a meandering debate we are still not sure of Dr Deaths first Appearance and earliest Poster anyone has of him. Truly a man of mystery.

Dr Death was a main eventer on Lincoln shows. Morrell puts his imposter on a bill with a genuinely big international star, his own established masked man, and a former British heavyweight champion popular in Newcastle. Dr Death is on with a middleweight, a good one admittedly, but no Ski Hi Lee, Docker Don Stedman or Crusher Verdu. Looks to me like Morrell is using his imposter to downplay the significance of Dr Death. Looks like the Doctor opened the show, being allowed a 2-1 win.

Dave you asked about prices...try these... They did sneak the prices up.

Hi Dave,ithink i can help you your programme regarding DR>DEATH bill on the date of your visit to Newcastle on Sat. 23rd. Nov. 1963 The programme was as followws on WED,20th. NOV 1963

TWO RIVERS V BILL RAWLINGS, THE PROOFESSOR V ALF CADMAN,DR> DEATH V CHIC PURVEY, LEON ARRAS V ERNIE BALDWIN. Hope this helps.

Kind regards. Ian P.

Thanks Dave I'd forgotten about our early 1960s finds. But they were all on Morrell shows in the north far away from the original Doctor. I would be surprised to find a 1960s impostor Doctor on Dale Martin's in the 1960s.

The programme from St James’ Hall actually advertises the only appearance of Doctor Death ever at that venue; with the match being on a Wednesday night it wouldn’t show up on Ray’s list of results there. I am further intrigued that I cannot remember that particular line up as my first ever visit to St James’ was on the following Saturday 23rd November 1963 (the day after JFK’s assassination) yet when I went to the ticket office on the Monday lunchtime I’m sure that I would have studied that particular poster in detail; even if it was nearly 60 years ago!

Another rarity on that bill was two masked men appearing on the same night. Granted that the main bout would have been Billy Two Rivers v Bill Rawlings and it would have been interesting to see the admission charges for that night as midweek matches (possibly twice per year and usually featuring BTR) were slightly more expensive.

After 1975 certainly Main Mask, but not in the 1960s when Dale Martin were still running the show.

I don't remember Terry O'Neill as that big either. Although we've been told Paul Lincoln did go to Australia do we know how long for. I'm not so sure we can rule out Lincoln being on this November Joint Promotions show. Dr Death (presumably Lincoln) worked 1966 regularly until July and then disappeared. Off to Australia I guess. Dr Death then resurfaced in November. That would have allowed 3-4 months in Australia. If it wasn't Lincoln then we have Joint Promotions using an impostor Dr Death.

Paul Lincoln also worked as Dr Death again, for the independents, in the 1970s when he was living in Scarborough.

A fantastic pile of legends in that one DD v Docker Don poster Main Mask. But it was the full-length pic that made these posters come alive, wasn’t it? Interesting to see a future Prime Minister taking on Zoltan Boscik!

I worry about that Dr Blood v Dr Death bout.

Dr Death was a heavy-middleweight or light-heavyweight. And here he was defeating 19 stone Terry O'Neill, 6'4".

He also exiled to Tyneside.

The initial unmasking was in Colchester, and I assume, in those pre-internet days, they could have gone from town to town, unmasking at each venue.

After that, Paul Lincoln lived in Spain for a year or so and wrestled as the masked Doctor Death again.

Wow, That’s pretty comprehensive, Main Mask! I’m sure you’re right - I just looked at Maivia’s record. Would Maivia have come back for that bout In the 70s then?

Tell you what ... I’d love to have been there! I’m fascinatedy by the good doctor - and like an earlier post I saw Russell Plummer’s article about the ‘return’. very confusing - but some fabulous detail from you. Many thanks.

MC

Sorry to come in so late ...

This may be right or wrong ... but one of Peter Maivia’s records states he beat Dr Death 23/11/66 in Bath, Somerset, on a Joint bill ... Was that the “unmasking”?

Certainly Peter packed his bags to cross the pond very soon after that.

MC

Here's a Paul Lincoln promoted show from April 1959:

The above poster picture from Hack, "Curzon Theatre, Old Swan", Old Swan is an area of Liverpool, so I would not be surprised if that was Buddy Ward, wrestling as Doctor Death, which apparently he did, from the 1950's onwards.

On the Flash Edwards thread I mentioned Bert Assirati shows in Walthamstow. I definitely saw Paul Lincoln on one of those shows. 1957, 58 at the latest. I saw Dr Death at the Slough Adelphi in 1960 and, just to hop to another recent thread, saw Mighty Chang at the same venue in the same year. Probably an early Lincoln promotion.

That's great , looks to me as though he picked up momentum in 1961.

Seems he gave up wrestling and came back after a break rather than a straight transition.

At some point in the early 1960's he certainly put together a very good roster and flourished.

Sticking my neck out......The bill above looks to be not his own promotion.

But he was interviewed on Southern TV.

Earliest Doctor Death sighting I have so far is:

March 14th, 1960 – Slough, England

[Adelphi]

Doctor Death vs Ed Capelli

About 14 1/2 Stone ROMEO! Never on T.V.

MAIN MASK

Never saw him live Ron.Was he ever on TV?Pictures of him suggest that he wasn't really a full blown heavyweight.Does anybody know what weight he actually was?

The last post seems to have beaten everyone , so maybe we don't know his debut.

I also ask , Is it possible that he retired from wrestling as Paul Lincoln and started promoting.

And after a gap decided that he could come back wrestling again as Dr Death.

I know I never saw the real deal , only many imitations.

Interesting that in my own bills Paul Lincoln goes missing as a wrestler in 1956 and seems to be dabbling in entertainment. I then don't pick Dr Death up until 1961.

So has anyone got a 1950's Dr Death Bill.

What I am driving at is did Lincoln only portray Dr Death on Paul Lincoln Promotions or did he also work for others.

Especially his debut , was he also the promoter or did someone offer him the opportunity.

It seems we don't actually know his debut like we do with Nagasaki.

I find one match for Joint Promotion later than The Ost's, 18th October, 1957, against Steve Logan at Ipswich. First independent show I find for him is not until 14th March, 1958. But at Newport on 29th March I have a listing with Dr Deth at Newport (no verifiable evidence though).

Now here's a mystery. In 1963 Paul Lincoln was at the height of his campaign against Joint Promotions. Dr Death was topping his bills night after night.

So, who was this 1963 Dr Death working for Norman Morrell?

Interesting, would Paul Lincoln's last appearance under that name have been at RAH on October 9, 1957?

Good ? RON!-I have the first Appearance of DOCTOR DEATH as 1958!

I'm pretty sure PAUL LINCOLN got the Idea for his Ring Moniker from the Title

of an American Cult Horror Comic-same name-which was very popular in the late '50's

2 Images-front pages-of this Comic are to be found on another Thread elsewhere on here

that I sent over to HACK!-Prior to this LINCOLN Wrestled-pretty nondescriptly-under his own

name!

In an Issue of Wrestling World DOCTOR DEATH claims to have Wrestled 2006 Bouts with

only 2 Losses!-According to him the 2 Defeats were down to the 'Referee being biased'!!

MAIN MASK