First there was the original Canadian Guy Mitchell. Then there was the Bradford version we have in the A-Z.
Australian wrestler Big John Marshall* l said he had wrestled the English Guy Mitchell in the Sydney Clubs. Could this be our Bradford Guy?
We had our doubts, but it wasn't beyond the realms of possibility.
Well, last week the Riot Squad had an email from a man in Sydney. He told us that a relative of his was the man wrestling in the Sydney Clubs in the 1960s and 1970s, died in 2014
His name was Brian Guy Mitchell, born in Essex in 1935. He emigrated to Australia in 1966.
That last piece of information ruled out our Bradford Guy Mitchell as he worked consistently in the UK until 1981.
So we have a Brit wrestling in Sydney from 1967 onwards.
Now this really is a long shot. We don't know that Brian Guy Mitchell wrestled in Britain before going to Australia. The name doesn't correspond with any name we know. Is there anyone out there that knew Brian Guy Mitchell and his wrestling name (if any) in Britain?
Edited. Mistakenly wrote Mitchell instead of Marshall.
The Guy Mitchell that Big John Marshall worked with was probably the “original Canadian Guy Mitchell” as initially quoted. This is a story I have posted before. For several weeks, commentator Sammy Menacker had informed the wrestling fans that Guy Mitchell would be arriving soon. Looking at the magazines at the time I was underwhelmed, as he seemed to be a mid-card worker. However one Friday evening at the Sydney Stadium, a sensational headliner from the States, turned up unannounced. The Destroyer was in town! Wow!
Well, not wow. I was pretty certain after a few minutes, that this wasn’t Dick Beyer, aka The Destroyer. Different body shape, the nose through the mask different, it all just seemed off kilter. The clincher for me was that Guy Mitchell’s name was never mentioned again, they didn’t even bother making up a story as to why he wouldn’t be coming, it was ‘if we don’t mention him, they’ll forget all about it’.
Despite his ordinary work, he was pushed to the hilt, made the World Champ and beat guys he shouldn’t have logically been put over, even superstar Bruno Sammartino left Australia without the belt (contrived finishes). In Sydney, Spiros Arion finally defeated ‘Guy’ in front of a packed stadium, sending every male Greek in the City, rushing ringside. The Destroyer certainly appeared to make a hasty exit (I reckon he was trying for another match, before unmasking) but the Greeks were not about to let him out of the ring. He may have given his name as John Hill (his real name) when he unmasked on another night, but not that one, furiously tearing off the hood and departing through the delirious, cheering, jeering throng.
I imagine John/Guy met John Marshall in a match at one of the many working men’s clubs or sports clubs. The American imports did have spot shows here and there. I was at one, held ten minutes away from where I lived at a Civic centre, which had a cracking main event of Dominic DeNucci v Buddy Austin. (Those were the days my friend, we’d thought they’d never end, etc).