News received tonight from the British Wrestlers Reunion of the death of Jackie Robinson.
The spring of 1969 saw the emergence of another of the family Robinson with young Jack following in the footsteps of his father, Alf, and cousin Billy. Coming from such a famous wrestling family expectations of the youngster were invariably high, but the new addition to the Robinson clan certainly did not disappoint. What he lacked in the power of his heavyweight predecessors he more than made up for with speed, agility and the wrestling knowledge that had been passed down to him. Trained by Alf and Billy, along with Ken Cadman, Martin Conroy and Jack Atherton, Jack's first few bouts saw him matched with youngsters like Dave Barrie and Paul Mitchell as well as experienced and highly rated Alan Wood, Mel Riss and Terry Downs. So he certainly wasn't given an easy start. In fact Jack had only been in the professional ranks a few weeks when he faced another youngster, Tony St Clair, at Belle Vue. In the 1970s, as the general standard of pro wrestling declined Jack Robinson was one of those who demonstrated that all was not lost, finding fans across the country with more than a dozen television appearances against quality opponents whilst bigger men were bringing the business into disrepute. For more than twenty years Jack Robinson was to remain at the top of one of the country's most competitive weight divisions, lightweight, three times holding the European lightweight championship
Thanks bazthomas for your memories. It's always good to hear from those with personal memories of the wrestlers.