Just reading through Ron's Margate bills reminded me how very very often McManus and Colbeck wrestled out a drawn main event. Ok, the occasional surprise, but essentially a lazy and repetitive bout over 4x10s.
So which other bouts were heavily over-repeated.
Catweazle v Dave Shade may take the title, but McManus v Colbeck must also score over a period exceeding 20 years. This was business, not sport. Pat Patton and Ian St Jon were also in some regular "rivalries". The Margate bills also show signs of Clive Myers wrestling his instructor, John Hall, seemingly nightly through 1971.
Logan v Kellett managed somehow to retain some gloss, even though seen far too many times in some venues.
Relating to Ron's Margate again, Maxine v Street must have happened scores of times, but only in 1971 and 1972.
Bruno v Marino is there.
Did Nicol face anyone other than Baron in the south?
Clayton Thomson v Tug Holton was a strange but recurrent pairing.
Taking this to the next step of analysis, matchmaker McManus seemed never to give Pallo the luxury of a repeated opponent, he made him, quite literally, fight for his supper every night. I believe this is a new finding.
Which other significant recurrent bouts can Members think of?
Just viewed three Ivan Penzecoff/Johnny Kwango matches on You Tube and it reminded me what an impressive wrestler Penzecoff was
I suppose the positive side is that those of us near enough to attend live events were able to view matches with some of the best Professional Wrestlers in the world
Well, I wasn't aware what was going on. I wondered about other venues and I used to pore over the Evening News and Evening Standard which carried the cards, in very small insertions, for several London venues. But I was in near complete isolation, I have come to realise.
And when I did find out about bills it was always historical, they were done and dusted and I was just reading programmes friends had sent me or reading write-ups in magazines.
I didn't feel too bad because I had no idea of the scope of what I was missing.
Now I feel I was such a sucker.
Of course promoters would be hoping no one would travel from Preston to Bradford but when wrestlers knew each other so well it became difficult to make matches seem fresh and original
I remember in the 1960s a show in Preston and one a few days apart in Bradford. Seven of the eight wrestlers and three of the four matches were the same.
Seem to remember the News of the World making the point that boxers would train for months for one match wrestlers repeated the same tired routine night after night
Bert Royal & Vic Faulkner versus Alf and Ken Cadman did the rounds quite a bit in the mid sixties; I believe that it was also cited by the News of the World (or similar) in an expose of the validity of professional wrestling.
I bet not many bouts exceeded Mitzi Mueller v Loritta Loren or Nancy Barton.
The number of lady wrestlers dictated the repeat possibilities
As so often in wrestling, I would have bet against all that!
Many thanks for clarifying, Mike.
Hi Phil
That's what I meant.
I'm guessing they were brothers-in-law or something, because this is the most exaggerated relationship we have spotted.
And I guess they lived very near to each other.
But hey, you clearly know about them - what light can you throw on why they performed together with such regularity over so many years?
The point you make Anglo reminds me of a very similar scenario int he 1930's.
Again at lightweight Jack Alker fought Scotty Ambrose dozens of times. I may be wrong but I think Scotty was genuinely from Scotland and Jack Wiagan , were great friends and used to put each other up on their travels.
I believe they were lifelong friends and can't remember the exact details but I think they died the same day/week/month/year , maybe Hack can put me right on this.
Not even sure if one was the other's best man.
Whatever it was , I believe Jacks family today are aware of this.
Makes you wonder if they had an intimate private relationship as they undoubtedly travelled together...?
Earliest I can see for them is 1964, latest is 1976. They certainly kept it going for a long time.
Could not agree more , I can't remember the thread ,(maybe the Independents) but I demonstrated they fought each other every night of the week spread over all of Ireland.
Amazing what you could do with a small roster back in the pre internet days.
And into the second half of the 1960s William.
Maybe Phil Kenyon can shed some light on this. We all now understand that wrestling needed a certain amount of co-operation and wrestlers got to know each others style which could lead to a good match, as in this case.
But St John and Svajick wrestled each other a ridiculous amount of times. I don't think I ever saw it billed as a return match or a rivalry, just an endless repetition. I'm sure they were both capable of wrestling others, and did. I saw a good St John v Saint match once. The two trained together at Bob Bannister's gym, along with Phil. Were there any insider comments about their frequent pairing.
Andreas Swajic v Ian St John was the most repeated in the north during the early to mid 1960s.
This hits the nail on the head regarding falling crowds as the 1970s progressed.Too many stale matches with wrestlers long past their sell by date
Pallo v Royal seemed around quite a bit. The most recurring match for me was Svajic v St John, but they were always good matches. Royals v Jet Set seemed to get a few outings too.
On the other hand, let's not forget that the Pallos lived out on a limb on the Isle of Thanet. Overnighting away was always going to be inevitable in a way it wasn't for the Londoners.
Yes Powerlock, Pallo v Street and probably Pallo v Starr, but both on Pallo Promotions around 1974 where the pool of wrestlers was very limited. Not quite the same as having several hundred Joint Promotions wrestlers at your fingertips and still persisting with McManus v Colbeck. But just think, McManus and Kwango wrestling the same bout probably about once a week over thirty years ...!! And Colbeck & McManus maybe twice a week over the same period.
Thanks Ron: glad all those years of watching the same bouts over and over again are finally starting to be of some worth!
Wrestling new opponents really must be a bit tricky at the beginning. "Work" for McManus & Colbeck and Logan & Kellett really must have been very very easy, totally safe. No nasty surpises. Let's face it - if McManus billed himself like that, fleeing before the interval was over - well, it must have been THE cushiest method.
So in denying Pallo this luxury, are we really seeing some emnity?
There really is some conspiracy here.
But I do agree with Saxonwolf, Pallo v Kwango was perhaps his most frequent bout.