Just been reading on this site about the Pallo McManus feud.
https://www.wrestlingheritage.co.uk/thefirstcelebrity.htm
Those great bouts on T.V and more behind the scenes in the 1960's going into the 1970's with at least three more bouts.
One statistic stood out for me. 17 bouts in the years 1967-1969 and in these years the Feud came to Northern Rings. I had no idea also that they met 4 times at the Royal Albert Hall.
We knew they had met in the 1950's and I had found a few of them.
But now I have took a real good look and it is my opinion with only sources that are available to me that the true number would be double what I have found.
So how many times did I find these two in the 1950's.........It was 30 times
Enjoy the glimpse I offer and some particularly rich periods. Amazing Stats.
I still can't get over six match-ups in Coventry. And four in Cambridge. What on earth was going on? Of course, the match wasn't special in the fifties. You could find stats like these for countless other pairings. This was probably just the way thinks worked.
No further north than Birmingham and just Torquay once in the west
A lot of deep sea diving to come up with that pearl. Brilliant, Ron!
Think I have just found the earliest ever McManus v Pallo match known so far,
Think it was a very common undercard match, especially in the 50's
Found another one in 1958, 24th May, Victoria Hall, Hanley, Stoke-on-Trent, unsure how it ended, as it says "ended without a winner", so a draw or a double disqualification maybe?
I believe the opener of the Quadrilogy at Cambridge was a K.O. win for Mick.
The next bout was 1-1 but unfortunately I don't know how the series played out.
Great to have your newspaper cuttings Ron... but they leave me wanting more!
They just must have built up an ongoing feud in Coventry and then as here, Cambridge. And then possibly elsewhere too, Bill mentioned Northampton.
They had it spot on by the time they were ready to launch it on tv, but even they cannot have predicted just how much they would have entranced the viewers.
When we read a consecutive topic about Big Daddy, it just goes to show how the quality of the product and respect for the audience slumped over the next 18 years.
The excitement of Pallo & McManus in the early sixties ignited my interest, even then, unknowing, in wrestling as a whole. It fitted perfectly into the Sixties of The Beatles, Krays, Cassius Clay, and the Great Train Robbery.
We have an update in the works for our McManus v Pallo feud article and it will develop the story even further. Coming soon (-ish)
Managed to capture the four Cambridge bills that were indexed yesterday.
Here they are
They had several matches at Northampton in the 50's.
Yes and with a few donations we have the number up now to 37 matches in the 1950's.
I am starting to feel sure that over time they met 100 times.
Looking at it again: 4 matches in Cambridge over nine months. I reckon they must have been doing a Coventry. I bet they had a series of rematches, challenges, inconclusiveness, re-return, maybe with a title at stake. Though Pallo always seemed to outweigh Mick by more than a stone making title bouts more of a problem.
They had a run of three RAH bouts 1972/1973, so they knew how to sustain the tension over months.
As you say, Ron, practised to perfection by 1962.
With this being repeated at various venues, it is easy to understand why none of it seems to have been covered in the wrestling press.
The Feud as described on this site started with Pallo challenging McManus for his title from the ring apron in April 1962. This would have been credible for those thousands of fans who had seen the pair in action, sometimes several times, at their local halls.
Amazing isn't it Anglo , one of the Coventry ones was a re-arranged bill as was that 1952 match when Pallo was Green.
Other than a few I don't have the sixties and seventies bouts in their entirety.If someone can throw any in , I can make a master list as this really is history. I am sure we have more than 50 and as I say you could double that , there were so many small venues and others where we do not yet have the newspapers.
By the time the grudge hit TV in 1962 they must have practiced to perfection.
What on earth was going on in Coventry? 5 meetings in 13 months at the same venue?
I can't believe this was sloppy match-making, there must have been more to it. Looks like we have a pre-Feud!
What I find very difficult to gauge is the importance of McManus and Pallo in this late fifties period. Heavyweights topped the bills. But Pallo had showbiz tv prominence and McManus was working hard on his work. Plus from recent research we know that, at some point, blue-eye speed wizard McManus had to make a decisive heel turn. I wonder when?
I certainly agree with you, Ron, that you are barely scraping the surface. You have hardly any venues south of London, and I know they hooked up in Hastings.
Yes Powerlock , it was to be June and September 1969 before they ever did it at Belle Vue.
Incredible that I found 9 in 1958 and 10 bouts in 1959.
I think the real number would be double. We are nowhere near having all results.
Whatever wrestler you follow , I can only find them in patches.
it's a pity they didn't face each other at one of the great northern venues such as St James, Belle Vue or Liverpool Stadium.