Fascinating 1939 FREE TRADE HALL-MANCHESTER Programme here Boys from My 1930's
Archives!!!
An ATHOLL OAKELEY Promotion at the Above Venue-Renowned by the way for its Rock Hard
Ring Floor!!
We're on FEBRUARY 10th!-Now Interestingly KATHLEEN LOOK was STILL Operating at
BELLE VUE at This Time too!!
Within This Programme-We Have The NEXT Show on The 24TH Advised-It's THIS Show
with which We are Concerned here!
Now you will see from My Original Programme Below JACK SHERRY is Defending his WORLD
HEAVYWEIGHT Title against.......GOLIATH!!-and This GOLIATH is Billed at 7' 2" Tall!!
But also on The SAME Bill We see THE GHOUL-ALSO Billed at 7'2" in Height!!
Just HOW MANY 7' 2" Wrestlers were Around at This Time AT ALL???
Now Then Do We have here THE GHOUL Wrestling TWICE on The SAME Night???-Firstly
WITHOUT a MASK as GOLIATH??-Then Later in The Show as The MASKED GHOUL???
First On and Last On!!
Is This GOLIATH the Man in the Photo Below-brought in by OAKELEY??
WHO is GOLIATH??-The Weight Difference of the Two Only Differs by Half a Stone???
To put him in with SHERRY-when he's an 'Unknown' is a Bold Move Indeed?!
Did GOLIATH ALSO Wear a HOOD???
Can RON find ANY Other Trace of him??-I can't at This Point!
More Mysteries!!
The Thick Plottens!!
And Just as a 'Cameo' We find ATHOLL OAKELEY Wrestling in his OWN Promotion at
39 Years of Age!!
I Like The Referee-He's a BOSUN!!
Also-Look Who's Just 'Arrived'??!! -MAN MOUNTAIN DEAN from HOLLYWOOD!!
MAIN MASK
A mystery finally solved , the pre war Ghoul actually lost at least 3 times in 1938 in New Brighton before they came up with the idea that he would unmask if beaten. They ran it for a bit , but as a Christmas Special he is finally unmasked and my hunch that he had been Carver Doone all along was right.
Somehow Oakeley thought it was ok to get a six seven guy up to seven three.
Just a quick note to say that I have found our old mate, Carver Doone, spending a huge chunk of 1936 (June to December), wrestling in Argentina and Brazil, with a troupe of wrestlers, headed up/managed by Stanislaus Zbyszko.
Leon "Ursus" Pinetzki:
Wladislaw Talun:
Oakley was obsessed by real names from History or films.
It's so hard. At one time he had a guy called Jumbo Giles from Oxford and he became Gilo Goliath from Oxford. always 22-25 stones.
You get the impression he was huge , but when matched with Carver Doone they had to put Carver at seven feet to make Giles/Goliath a credible six three
So I don't think Gilo Goliath could have been advertised as so much.
Don't ask me who Dynamite Kid was.....no idea.
Wladyslaw Talun came over in 1951 as Goliath , But he had been born in 1909. Did Oakeley get hold of him very early on. A genuine six eight.
Wrestling heights really are fraudulent. before he wrestled Carver Doone , (Jack Baltus) went to Australia. On the long journey on the boat his height drew great attention. he agreed to be measured for the press and was slightly under six seven. He was six eight in his work boots.
When they get that big you can't really peg them.
Another guy came over who was photo'd with Baltus , think he was called Pedieski. he was big , not much in it. Think they had him as a King Kong.
But the bottom line is this. I will plump for Doone/Baltus as "the Ghoul"
Doone abruptly disappeared in 1938, around the time The Ghoul came on the scene. The Ghoul was said to be a Canadian, and Doone had worked in Canada in the lumber trade.
Just wondering if "Goliath" was Polish wrestler, Wladyslaw Talun., who used the "Goliath" name a lot. Not sure he was in the UK in 1939 though. He is sort of similar, facially, and at 6ft 8, would be very tall for that era. Can't remember if he wrestled over here, but I think he did, because I seem to recall he was talked about on this forum, many years ago.
Edit: Probably not the above, as he didn't use that name until many years later