Why do you think that many Northern based wrestlers moved south later in their careers?
Many ex Joint and Independent boys seemed to end up on southern bills.
We all know about the Crabtree era, but some of the people that I used to watch seemed to move earlier than this.
Kellett, Portz, Marino and Murray, come immediately to mind and no doubt we could come up with many more.
And there Anglo, you have the main culprit.
have we not got enough bumps, especially with media keep going on about duchess of sussex having one
This interesting thread moved south like its title. Needs bumping back up.
i did here a rumour that there was a cardboard city set up near watford gap which catered for northern wrestlers traveling south. there were kennels for them to keep their whippets and ferrets. this was about 1962. dale martin used to send the luxury coach to pick those who were working that week and arranged for them to stay at YMCA
Penzecoff moved from Bolton to London but the St Clairs reversed the trend moving north to Manchester
Nice try Anglo.
Ronnie (Ivan Penzecoff
Clayton Thomson, Goldbelt Maxine .... lots of them were attracted to the safety and professionalism of Dale Martin Promotions.
But Hack, the northerners were so impressed by London talent that when someone like Tommy Mann moved up to Manchester, they made him World Champion. ☺
Steve Viedor is another who fits your category Bernard. Even made it to southern champion. And Bruno Elrington. Another southern champion. Hey these southerners couldn't even create their own champions. Peter Rann from Doncaster. Another!
Let's not also forget that the Joint Promotions office was in Leeds, and if you lived there (or close by, in the Yorkshire region) you were closer to the "seat of power", Norman Morrell.
I can understand Scottish and Northern boys moving to Bradford/Leeds because of easier and more central travel.
Perhaps I worded the original thread incorrectly, I was thinking more of changing promoters ,perhaps to D M. I think now that the answer that Anglo gave earlier about more work nights, easier travel etc. was the right one.
Adrian Street moved from Wales to London.
Well, Bernard, Mike Marino's accent left no doubt that he was a southerner.
His stint living up north would be interesting to unravel. We have often mentioned that he worked in a greasy spoon on the A1.
Ian Campbell moved down to Leeds.
Max Ward moved down to London at some point.
Masambula was very active, I always imagined he lived in London, but he was also a regular in northen rings - maybe he had a twin? Anyway, he'd be like Kellett: from Yorkshire with long periods in the south.
Ron / Ray Parkes from Darlington moved to London, and vice versa Paul Lincoln (our original Dr Death moved from London to Redcar & Scarborough. Regards Les 💪
Black Jack Mulligan moved from Newcastle to Leeds & Wakefield 'Ian Gilmore moved from Middlesbrough to Leeds Jeff Kay moved from Hull to Leeds,because it was more central for the joint wrestlers. Regards Les 💪
I remember a lot of the wrestlers settling in Leeds due to its centrality.
Hi Hack, Yes I'm not disputing the fact that some wrestlers moved about.
It just seemed to me that there was a preponderence of the boys moving from the north of the country to the south, possibly in the Crabtree era.
I'm sure there are quite a few if we put our minds to it, but it was a two way process - some of the southerners had aspirations and bettered themselves - Rajendra Singh, Roger Green, Steve Logan coming to mind.
As for north to south. Lindsey Caulder started out in South Shields, and there's a long way south of South Shields. Sid Cooper went south, your old friend Dicky Swales lived in London for a time, as did George Kidd.
Mike Agusta moved to Switzerland.
Thanks Anglo. I think that you will find that Marino was with Morrell before going to DM.
I also thought that Geoff Portz did move south in his later career before going to USA.
I'm surprised to see Streatham's Mike Marino on your list, Bernard? Never mind.
Well, on the one hand, there is the obvious allure of the bright lights of the capital, but that's not restricted to wrestling.
More specifically here: how much work could wrestlers get on the northern JP circuit? Each promoters wasn't quite big enough to guarantee full-time work. So the wrestlers were there with their books, working out where they were going when; how they'd travel or scrounge a lift from; and plugging gaps moonlighting for the independants.
Dale Martin had the quantity of bills to offer five or six nights a week work, all-year round. Travel laid on, lodgings easily available, just pop in once a week to get your bookings. Bernard Murray enjoyed this as a referee. And we can see the likes of Torontos and Czeslaw and Logan and Kirkwood and Tibor and more living safely like this for a decade or two, with just the occasional trip outside DM-Land.
Might this be the reason?
Kellett was a big draw from 1968 and could probably command good money then.
Personally, I never noticed Portz relocating south, just making occasional visiting appearances. But I could be wrong.