From Hamill to Kung Fu

So lucky to have seen quite a lot of people make their Belle Vue debut. Johnny Saint , Rocco , Jones , Finlay , Dynamite. These were great wrestlers and were the future for the 1980's. By 1974 Nagasaki had gone with Dixon and Albert Wall was departing and I remember seeing even more good wrestlers coming through , Like John Naylor , Iron Fist , and Kung Fu along with a fantastic visitor in Goro Tanaka. . All below heavyweight as well.

Of them all Rocco seemed to hit the ground running , really good right from the start where as others take longer to get to their peak. I think it was because I knew about Rocco being Jim Hussey's son , that I believed a wrestler could just come on the scene and be great from the word go.

I jumped to the wrong conclusion with Kung Fu , Eddie Hamill. My memory of him was he took risks and was so exciting . Who the hell was he and how could he suddenly pop up like this at the level he was at.

I had no idea of Hamills origins , but now I know the Belfast boy born in 1943 had been about since at least 1964 , learning the game as Mike Hamill in Ireland. It's not easy to find Hamill in Belfast either , but recently I have found him in some of the smaller towns of Northern Ireland. Mentored by Darkie Arnott and entwined with the Finlays I thought I would share with you a view of his early days and a very different Roster to what was in the UK.

Joint , had penetrated Belfast's main Halls ,The Ulster Hall and the Kings Hall. George Connell was promoting there as Joint's front man. Get out to Ballymena and Lisburn and Carrickfergus and the picture is different..

Look at this set of wrestlers and Judo Mike Hamill.

There is a fabulous imagination at work here with characters like The Mummy , The Destroyer and The Skull.

The Dave Finlay you see is the father of Fit Finlay who was to come into all this in 1974 as Young Apollo. A previous Young Apollo is on these , tagging with Hamill , who he is I know not.

Hamill I believe started with Whirlwind Munroe at a Gym called Milos.

If anyone knows anything about these guys then shout up. I would love to know more.