In 1961 I went to Ilford Baths to watch wrestling, it was independent changing to joint promotions a year later. I also began going to the Dale Martin promotions at the Barking Assembly Hall wrestling wrestling was also held at the nearby Dagenham Roundhouse, I believe Paul Lincoln was the promoter.
before the 1960s were over wrestling had ceased to take place at all of these venues.
I have often wondered if England winning the World Cup took people away from wrestling and took them away from the TV on a Saturday afternoon to go to watch football.
Anyone with no pre knowledge viewing this page would have accepted that the main sporting event of the day was Terry Jowett fighting Adrian Street
But these wre not the bouts that were broadcast.
Tibor wrestled Billy Robinson on the day.
It is Professional Wrestling that dominates this page with a picture of Terry Jowett and the Wrestler of the Month Coupon!
As for the original question I don't think that football would have had a greater impact on wrestling audiences in the late 1960s compared to, say, the early 1960s.
There were less visitors because more people decided to emigrate instead?
Or was it a cost cutting measure from the holding corporation i.e. "can we get our talent fees down a bit?"
Yes there was a decline in Europe as well with France and Spain stopping regular broadcasts long before the UK.The big annual tournaments in Germany and Austria continued until the end of the twentieth century but most of the wrestlers were from here and the States!
Hi Peter I remember the threads about the decline in wrestling with a lot of blame going to the Crabtrees but this was much later. But why did the overseas wrestlers, particularly European, stop coming I wondered was it the decline in British wrestling or was there a decline in Europe as well.
The two are not mutually exclusive. Many football fans in the 1960s would have also regularly watched either the Wednesday evening broadcasts or Saturday broadcasts when there were no home games. The reasons for the decline are fully discussed on in other threads on this forum
I doubt the World Cup played much role in that. It was more likely a combination of not developing enough new stars and instead relying on overly-familiar faces, and the effects of the Hurst Park takeover of Dale Martin and later the other groups, which meant the original promoters (who had the wrestling knowledge) played a lesser role and had less incentive to keep business strong.
What I meant in my post was World Cup responsible or part responsible for the drop in wrestling popularity. Between September 1970 and June 1971 Dale Martin put on 7 promotions, 5 bouts each promotion. There were no overseas visitors on the bills. There were wrestlers born overseas. but now resident in the UK . Kalmen Gaston, Johnny Czeslaw and Zoltan Boscik for example.
Throughout the first half of the 1960,s there were numerous overseas visitors appearing on Dale Martin bills and on TV.
And of course the Cup Final bill was changed totally from the one billed. I wonder what was going on.
Back in 1966, the whole tournament only took 19 days, so it wasn't disruptive. There were two Saturdays when the wrestling was cancelled. Wrestling did air on the day of the final from 2-2.45 pm, which was a hell of a slot given the match started at 3! It was scheduled to come back for another 20 minutes at 4.45 but of course the Germans had other ideas.
There were 32 million watching the final in the UK, but only 4 million of those were on ITV. So given the usual ITV audiences for wrestling at the time, I'm surprised we've never heard a variant on the slightly strained "more people watched the wrestling than stuck around for the cup final" story!
I wonder how much the Saturday helping of wrestling was disrupted by the World Cup tournament? As both channels covered the final any wrestling would have had to be broadcast earlier in the day if at all,but what about the rest of the tournament, how much did it affect the wrestling, it would be interesting to know. As for the Roundhouse it was a fairly prominent music venue in the 1960s/70s I wonder if the music gigs got priority so it could be a barrier to a regular wrestling show and having intermittent dates would affect attendance as it certainly did around the country especially in the 1970s
I can't speak to football, but wanted to add some info/questions.
Ilford Baths Hall was promoted by Frank Price. As you mentioned it moved to being under the DM group. They continued to promote wrestling in Ilford all through the 60's, 70's and into the 80's. Did it move from the Baths Hall to another location nearby?
The Roundhouse switched from DeMarto to Dale Martin to Paul Lincoln promotions. Three different groups within a few years. I wonder if the venue itself was problematic to run?