In the U.S.-Wrestling Promoters didn't seem to have a problem with a MASKED MAN
fighting for a high profile Recognised Title-even a World Title-for example THE PATRIOT
in the '90's!! BUT in the U.K. Promoters seemed to be against HOODED Fighters having
a tilt at a Title!-Why?-The classic example was JOINT and KENDO NAGASAKI! The reason
wheeled out was ONLY a British Wrestler could contest the Brirtish Heavyweight Championship. KENDO MAY have been Japanese etc.etc.! It is pretty much accepted now
that JOINT PROMOTIONS were WELL AWARE all along that he was British!! So why?
Shouldn't the BEST Heavyweight be Champion??
It didn't bother Promoters with REAL VISION though!-As far back as the early '60's
DOCTOR DEATH was challenging MARINO for his WORLD Title and Belt!! 'Twas a Draw!
Why do YOU think JOINT didn't want MASKED Champions?
MAIN MASK
In those days the wrestling was presented as a credible sport, and for the most part we were happy to go along with it and happily believe. British titles were of value. We recognised those champions as worthwhile title holders. Into that context it made sense that a masked man could not possibly fight for a title unless he could prove his eligibility. Remember promoters too promoter Paul Lincoln claimed he didn't know who the White Angel was. Mind you, he didn't know who Dr Death was either!
I wonder if another reason was that Joint Promotions tried, for many years, to portray Wrestling as a real sport, complete with rounds, and seconds and illegal holds?
You don't get masked snooker players or tennis players or rugby players or football players or swimmers, or.....well, you get my drift, the masked wrestler has a mystique and a theatricality that is very much a part of wrestling, just like in films, the masked villain.
We can all look back and smile when we think of Kent Walton saying "...and even I don't know who he is or where he comes from...".
Explaining that a masked wrestler could hold a title, but the promoters and "board of control" didn't know who he was, or even if it was the same man, under the mask, defending a title, would be hard for even pro wrestling audiences to swallow.
I think you have hit the nail on the head: Dr Death challenged for a World title.
Challenging for a British title was far more complex (unless you were Hungarian ...)
But essentially, maks, and comics and villains didn't need titles. The baby faces needed titles.
Of course, McManus brokes the rules because he was very acquisitive (Logan's short stint as champion in 1975 is the most intriguing of all).
And, with Kent Walton's collaboration, the controversy about Nagasaki not being allowed to wrestle for the British title was meticulously drawn out over years, just like the Black Diamonds skull caps. The promoters fed us controversies to become opinionated and even indignant about. It worked!