A well known Hall but not the first venue in Warrington.
That title probably goes to the Baths Hall which for sure was doing wrestling in 1939.
However , there to be beaten , I believe I have a set of the first bills for the Parr Hall and during the war at that.
Promoter Jack Cullen and he did some pretty good shows. Many future promoters actually wrestled on his shows.
I can only show you some sample.
Some very local names above , yet again as discovered my Main Mask recently , Tom Rigby fighting as Wild Tarzan. Billy Riley and Jack Atherton on there , trainer of Dynamite Kid Ted Beckley. To put the record straight Ted Betley was born Warrington 24th Jan 1922 and was a Butcher's Errand Boy at the start of the war. Betley being the correct spelling.
Golden ace and Golden Boy , Norman Morrell on Cullens shows , wonder how many went to both shows on July 7th 1942 in the middle of the war. Big names like Bill Benny and Bert Assirati.
And talking of Bert.
Bert unmasks The Green Asp , OK , it went in the local press , but Van Wuden would have done his Green Asp again and again. I think we have 2 or 3 unmaskings of him now. As for wrestling under his own name , well next year 1943 he's back in with bert again.
END OF PART 1
Keep the conversation going in this topic, which now has a permanent Wrestling Heritage home
RWR Warrington
I see reduced prices for boys, ladies and members of the forces. Were girls excluded or just forgotten about?
The Warrington fans were lucky to get weekly events at the height of the war.Presumably did not get air raids too often
I promoted a handful of shows at The Parr Hall in the mid-seventies and have fond memories of them. My first ever promotion was in my home town of Wilmslow at The Public Hall there but it was booked for me by Abe Ginsberg. My second show, in April 1976, was at The Parr Hall which was booked by me. I offered Ginsberg a place but he took the hump accusing me of using him to buy my way in to the sport and expected once again that I would give him the money and allow him to do the booking. My top of the bill was The Borg Twins versus Les Diables Rouges with Eddie Rose and Ian Wilson wrestling each other lower down the bill. My main supporting bout saw local boy Mike Dallas facing Lord Bertie Topham (accompanied by valet Ponsonby) and Harry Palin featured in the fourth bout of the night against a lad named Keith (I forget his surname) whom I billed as "Beergut" Brannigan.
Two other shows followed, one topped by John Lees which I have reason to believe was his final contest and one where I ambitiously staged an eight team K.O. tournament in which Al Miquet not only provided the ring but also wrestled as Kung Fu and as Kamikaze and as himself. The winners, Bill Clarke and Rick Wiseman (wrestling as Lincolnshire Poachers Bill and Rick Clarke) came back on the next show to face the team of Klondyke Jim and Lee Sharron. Because Bill and Rick had built up such a hatred on the previous show, Jim and Lee were the unlikely blue eyes.
The earliest I can find wrestling in Warrington, at the Baths Hall, is October 1938. No matches or promoter, just an advert of "Wrestling every Friday."
Ron has made many useful comments about these Warrington bills.
Ted Betley was such a big name in Warrington for many years, wrestling here in the war and still promoting in the 1970s, bringing into the business some greats: Dynamite Kid and Bulldog amongst them. I was told by a pro only last week that Ted was very fussy about who attended his Warrington gym, even professionals only allowed in by invite.
The first two opponentsof Jeff Conda (Count Bartelli) in 1939 wrestling here in 1941 - Johnny Summers and Ken Wooderson. Brian Aherne is there, went on to become Jim Mellor.
Alex Alexinis was in the American Air Force stationed in Warrington and worked here in 1944 and 1945, often billed as The Unknown Star. He returned here in 1965 for the independents (maybe he was just making a few bob on holiday).
It's a small roster of local wrestlers, which is hardly surprising during the war years; impressive that they kept up near weekly bills.
Ron, just going through this again as I update my bills & results. I noticed Doncaster was often run the day prior with a similar crew.
Great stuff Ron, thanks again.
PART 2
In 1944 Wryton took over from Jack Cullen. Cullen who was born 1905 was already a sports promoter when he turned to wrestling. Son of an Irish Police Constable but brought up by his mother in Atherton. Looks to me like he died in 1953 age only 47. Why Wryton took over I cannot explain.
So lets look at early Wryton. And this is very early , possibly only Wryton's second venue to open after Hanley.
Many Manchester , Bolton and Wigan area wrestlers. Riley and Atherton there at the start with Wryton and Ted Beresford who went big away from Wryton with his own territory. Young Hussey and Billy Joyce , the reliable Bob Silcock, Alf Cadman.
Jack Pye and Beckley in there and not too many internationals.
So Wryton here looks to be a close knit Roster and the Parr Hall missing a few weeks here and there but often providing weekly war time wrestling.
More to say about Wryton on another thread soon.