Another great contribution, Graham. You mentioned about Tug Holton: " ... Tug always appeared fresher and more tenacious " Certainly a revelation to me. I only ever saw DM Tug.
Ill echo Grahams thoughts on Jack andvhis belief on the integriity of the game,you had to be to a certain standard to wrestle for him.He was a lively old school guy who obviusly unlike Max was a value for money guy
Emile looked out for him in his later years and had great affection for him.A true gent and another who dispaired the way the game went.How ironic we lost him on the aniversary of the Pretoria Pit disaster which claimed the lives of 344 men and boys including a large number of catch wrestlers
In the early seventies I used to hitch from my student base in Leicester to Derby to attend the shows which he promoted with a local greengrocer called Frank Woodhouse at The Queen's Baths. Jack Mawdesley was his M.C. and Emile Poilve his referee. His shows were always interesting as they featured mainly Joint Promotions stars but also a few on the independent circuit who crept into the bills. The first time I saw The Dynamite Kid was at a Derby show. His opponent was Kenny Hogan and I was completely blown away by Dynamite's innovation and speed. For some reason, Jeff Kaye was always a villain at Derby and I recall a riotous tag match between Tony and Ignatious Borg and Peter and Jeff Kaye. Although they weren't billed as brothers, that was certainly the impression given to the punters that night. I also recall, amongst many other bouts, a wild affair between Kendo Nagasaki and Bruno Elrington as they tore through the hall. He also used to bring Tug Holton up to the venue quite regularly and Tug always appeared fresher and more tenacious than he seemed to on Dale Martin shows of the period.
Abe Ginsberg used to talk a great deal about Jack Atherton and obviously held him in high regard. He usually used Jack Atherton as the example of a "proper" wrestling promoter as opposed to a bit of a kid like myself who was just playing at being a promoter. I also recall Eddie Rose talking highly of Jack although I do recall him sharing his frustration with me one night. He was doing a show for me in Bollington and had been working for Jack in Derby just a few nights earlier. He and Ian Wilson were bonneted up as Les Diables Rouges and billed against Leicester's Lapaque Brothers Jon and Pete. The four of them had worked out what they thought would be a cracking bout in the dressing-room with the Lapaques as blue eyes. Then, just before they were due to go on, Jack sidled up to the four of them and all their preparations were for nought as he instructed Rose and Wilson to be the blue eyes instead.
He used to telephone me, usually on Saturday mornings, just to chat about wrestling and impart good advice. He was totally on the other end of the spectrum to someone like Max Crabtree who would put anyone on a show if they looked the part without worrying whether or not they could wrestle. Not all the wrestlers Jack used were box office draws, but they certainly knew what they were doing in the ring. He always had a bit of a chip on his shoulder that, only being an arm's length member of Joint Promotions, he didn't get to promote any of the TV shows. He regarded TV wrestling as a "shop window" for the profession and could not understand it when Wryton, Dale Martin, Relwyskow and Green or Morrell/Beresford would slip someone onto the card who really was not ready for TV exposure.
Another great contribution, Graham. You mentioned about Tug Holton: " ... Tug always appeared fresher and more tenacious " Certainly a revelation to me. I only ever saw DM Tug.
Ill echo Grahams thoughts on Jack andvhis belief on the integriity of the game,you had to be to a certain standard to wrestle for him.He was a lively old school guy who obviusly unlike Max was a value for money guy
Emile looked out for him in his later years and had great affection for him.A true gent and another who dispaired the way the game went.How ironic we lost him on the aniversary of the Pretoria Pit disaster which claimed the lives of 344 men and boys including a large number of catch wrestlers
In the early seventies I used to hitch from my student base in Leicester to Derby to attend the shows which he promoted with a local greengrocer called Frank Woodhouse at The Queen's Baths. Jack Mawdesley was his M.C. and Emile Poilve his referee. His shows were always interesting as they featured mainly Joint Promotions stars but also a few on the independent circuit who crept into the bills. The first time I saw The Dynamite Kid was at a Derby show. His opponent was Kenny Hogan and I was completely blown away by Dynamite's innovation and speed. For some reason, Jeff Kaye was always a villain at Derby and I recall a riotous tag match between Tony and Ignatious Borg and Peter and Jeff Kaye. Although they weren't billed as brothers, that was certainly the impression given to the punters that night. I also recall, amongst many other bouts, a wild affair between Kendo Nagasaki and Bruno Elrington as they tore through the hall. He also used to bring Tug Holton up to the venue quite regularly and Tug always appeared fresher and more tenacious than he seemed to on Dale Martin shows of the period.
Abe Ginsberg used to talk a great deal about Jack Atherton and obviously held him in high regard. He usually used Jack Atherton as the example of a "proper" wrestling promoter as opposed to a bit of a kid like myself who was just playing at being a promoter. I also recall Eddie Rose talking highly of Jack although I do recall him sharing his frustration with me one night. He was doing a show for me in Bollington and had been working for Jack in Derby just a few nights earlier. He and Ian Wilson were bonneted up as Les Diables Rouges and billed against Leicester's Lapaque Brothers Jon and Pete. The four of them had worked out what they thought would be a cracking bout in the dressing-room with the Lapaques as blue eyes. Then, just before they were due to go on, Jack sidled up to the four of them and all their preparations were for nought as he instructed Rose and Wilson to be the blue eyes instead.
He used to telephone me, usually on Saturday mornings, just to chat about wrestling and impart good advice. He was totally on the other end of the spectrum to someone like Max Crabtree who would put anyone on a show if they looked the part without worrying whether or not they could wrestle. Not all the wrestlers Jack used were box office draws, but they certainly knew what they were doing in the ring. He always had a bit of a chip on his shoulder that, only being an arm's length member of Joint Promotions, he didn't get to promote any of the TV shows. He regarded TV wrestling as a "shop window" for the profession and could not understand it when Wryton, Dale Martin, Relwyskow and Green or Morrell/Beresford would slip someone onto the card who really was not ready for TV exposure.