In BRITISH Professional Wrestling There were Contests you Very Rarely Saw!! Usually This was
because Such Match-Ups would NOT WORK That Well!!-Either Due to 'Contrasting' Styles or as
Both Wrestlers were 'Bad Guys or a Few Other Reasons Including Two Very 'Popular' Combatants
because The Crowd wouldn't Know Just WHO to Cheer For!!
Other Bouts occurred Now and Again which were Plainly Ludicrous as a Physical Contest!!-
For Example a Huge Weight 'Disparity'!!
But One Top Venue Often 'Dreamed-Up' BOTH On The Same Show!!
This was CIVIC HALL in WOLVERHAMPTON!!
The Below Bill Features No Less Than 3!!! Such Contests!!
A Match Very Rarely Seen was MICK MCMANUS in with JIM BREAKS!!-I Can see how These Two
Ring 'Personas' Probably wouldn't 'Gel' That Well!!
Then We Have an Utterly Ridiculous 'Contest' between The HUGE 22 Stone+ MAL 'KOJAK' KIRK
Literally 'Pitted' against MICK MCMICHAEL!!...WHAT??##!!
To Make The Craziness Even Worse We get 11 Stone BOBBY RYAN up against 17 Stone
RAY 'THUNDER' GLENDENNING!!!-Totally Incredulous!!
With Fayre like this-No Wonder The Integrity of The Sport began to Suffer Badly!
Who Else Saw Bouts Like This and Where??
MAIN MASK
McManus was also supposed to be in Chelmsford on that night.
I was at that show and I didnt see a problem...
McManus v Breaks was a very rare villian v villian which obviously ends in DQ
Kirk v McMichael, yes a little strange but obvious as they regularly travelled together...
Ryan v Ray G - decent catchweight between a very highly rated lighter man and with respect a less rated heavy man
Nevertheless it continued regularly at Wolves Civic Hall for a further twenty years
For me that Wolverhamton bill would be:-
McManus vs Naylor
Breaks vs Ryan
Jeff Kaye vs McMichael
St Clair vs Kirk
Ray Thunder vs Harris
That Wolverhampton bill is ridiculous. Am I right in thinking in February 1973 we couldn't blame Max. There's no excuse. Had they really stopped caring that soon?
Tragically a decent programme could have been put together with these ten.
I suggest
McManus v Breaks
Naylor v Kaye
McMichael v Ryan
St Clair v Thunder
Harris v Kirk
No doubt could be improved on by other budding matchmakers.
What year that Wolverhampton bill?
A thought - a lot of these massive mismatches may have been to get the heavier man heat as a heel so the audience would be itching to see him get DADDIED.
Here's one for you, 1980:
>Few Other Reasons Including Two Very 'Popular' Combatants
because The Crowd wouldn't Know Just WHO to Cheer For!! The Crowd knew exactly how to handle this. They cheered them both and applauded good play on both sides.
To be honest, this sounds much more Marino match making. Stuff in his period was very strange.
On the handicap thread , this ridiculous McManus v Bridges match beats the biscuit.
There was of course the one-sided Mal Kirk v Steve Logan match shown on TV. A bear hug brought this mismatch to a swift end.
Have seen many ridiculous catch weight contests on t.v.Dave Finlay at almost 15 stones vs Danny Collins at 11 stones approximately.Also Baz Riley at 15 .5 stones vs Clive Myers at 11.5 stones. At Belle Vue Kendo at 16.5 stones vs Bert Royal at 12 stones and 10 pounds,and doing the rounds Kendo vs Kung Fu at about 12.5 stones.For me totally ridiculous.
WOLVERHAMPTON;McManus bt Breaks-DISQ;Kirk kod McMichael;Naylor bt J.Kaye;T. St Clair kod Harris;B.Ryan(1f)bt Glendenning
As I have mentioned before, Breaks v McManus at the Albert Hall was one of the most exciting bouts I ever saw.
It's 1979, was Max already getting this desperate or did he really believe this was the future?
McManus and Breaks were both good professionals, both generous and experienced so I can see this working if they were willing. But the other two are dire. Popular Mick wasn't allowed many wins in his own weight class so I wouldn't hand over my money to see him chance it against Mucky Mal. I was no fan of Mick but I'm averse to violence, wish him no harm and would stay away. The one fall start for Bobby Ryan suggests there might, just might be a story to this. But I wouldn't bet on it.
I thank you Main Mask. I moved to Wolverhampton in 1980, having already left my wrestling days behind me. I've often wondered what I missed out on down at the Civic. Now I know. No regrets.