First time I saw Bill Clarke was at Dudley Town Hall when I thought i was going to see my hero Kendo Nagasaki......he was a poor imitation and I later saw him in The Saracens Head with his opponent Ron Clarke, next time I saw him was the same venue v Billy Jordan (later to become Lucky Gordon).
Eventually George Gillett and Kendo with the help of legal representation chased Bill Clarke around the Lincolnshire area until he was given a writ at ringside at Downham Market as he was appearing as Kendo Nagasaki on Terry Goodrums show. The poster for the show was used in court and I still have a copy of it.
Kendo was also helped by a well known heavyweight wrestler on the night they served the writ.
Both Clarke and Goodrum went to prison for a while and deservedly so after simply grabbing a name that had taken a while to build...they protested that they did not know that Peter Thornley had legally resistered this name.
1987___S4C________King Kendo____with Barcud Du __________________Lost
________________________________vs Kung Fu & El Bandito
1987___ITV_________King Kendo____with The Spoiler__________________Lost
________________________________ vs Big Daddy & Andy Blair
1988___ITV_________King Kendo____Battle Royal won by Giant Haystacks_Eliminated
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Unknown member
Dec 27, 2018
Something unusual I've noticed about this bout - KK actually stays mostly clean all the way through and actually gets a smattering of applause from the crowd.
Yes, looks like Romany was waiting for some dirty doings in order to retaliate. On the whole I found it rather flat, neither seeming keen on leading. Commentary was flat, too: rather than creating excitement about the masked man, Kent had merely "seen plenty of them."
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Unknown member
Nov 07, 2023
Replying to
I wouldn't say "flat" - It's a solid and smooth rather than spectacular bout. King Kendo takes throws very nicely, rolling with them back up to a standing start, he also resists bouncing off the ropes in order to start the sequence leading to his pinfall, leaving Riley bent over and vulnerable to a thrust kick - interesting pin too with KK dropping into a double knee then grabbing the distant leg so as to curl up Riley's entire length. Quite a bit of Riley powering out of KK's reverse Japanese strangleholds and both of them breaking each others' standing full nelsons.
I'm still wondering does Howard know what name Brian Frost wrestled under when he wasn't King Kendo in place of Bill when when Bill was working away as a H.G.V. driver. Regards Les 💪
I was trained by Dick Harrison. He told me he was Ron Clarke in the Lincolnshire Poachers and also worked as Marcel Carpentier for a number of years. Sapper James.
I wonder if anyone can help me here . If Marcel Carpentier who Graham Brook mentions , was Bill Clarke's cousin Mr Brian Frost. Who sometimes wrestled with the bonnet as King Kendo!!! Also If Dick Harrison one of Bills cousins who sometimes wrestled as King Kendo? Or am I completely wrong. It would be nice to know or am I completely full of SH one T !!!. 💪 regards Les..
Update - said prat deleted his comments after I made a similar call for help on the Have A Good Week FB group
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Unknown member
Oct 14, 2018
Has any kind soul got any cuttings about the court case? I only ask because some complete prat on a youtube video comments board is calling me all sorts for mentioning how Clarke and Goodrum ended up in the pokey for contempt of court and I can't really be bothered to go trawling through archives for the sake of some troll.
As Big Bill Clarke he never really did it for me. But really found a niche as King Kendo. I expect it was a gimmick that was imposed on him. Another who would do anything to help the game.
Sad news . 10th October was not a good day. I remember Bill on the opposition in the late 1960s at the time he was a Lincolnshire Poacher. Also a promoter in the east of England.
I'm sorry to hear of Bill Clarke's passing. I first started watching him on Martin Conroy's Wryton promotions as one half of The Lincolnshire Poachers and recall particularly matches they had at The King's Hall, Belle Vue, against fellow East Midlanders Vince Apollo and Brian Abbott as The Undertakers and a wild tag match at The Pavilion Gardens, Buxton, where they faced the wild pairing of Arizonans Chief Thundercloud and Bill White Cloud.
I wanted to put them on myself when I started promoting and planned for them to win an eight team tournament which I staged at The Parr Hall in Warrington in1976. Unfortunately Bill turned up without his usual partner but with a young lightweight who usually wrestled as Young Ricardo. I had The Lincolnshire Poachers billed and was determined to put them on so Ricardo became "Poacher" Rick Clarke and they won the eight team tournament beating the combination of Pat Curry and Harry Palin in the final then returning on the next show to face The Klondyke Brothers (who actually turned out to be Klondyke Jim and Lee Sharron).
Over the years Bill often drove a carload over from Lincolnshire for me. The usual contents of the car were himself, two midgets and either Young Ricardo or Marcel Carpentier (I recall one of the midgets being quite upset when he arrived at the hall to find himself billed as Wee Wee Willie). Initially Bill wrestled either as Bill Clarke or in the bonnet (initially as Doctor Blood or The Boston Strangler but later, of course, as King Kendo).
My last show as a promoter was in 1987 at The Saddlers Football Club in Walsall. American football (and particularly "The Refrigerator" Perry) was big at the time so I hired an American football outfit from Jackie Carlton's fancy dress shop in Manchester and Clarke's final appearance for me was as American footballer "Meat Cleaver" Kowalski.
First time I saw Bill Clarke was at Dudley Town Hall when I thought i was going to see my hero Kendo Nagasaki......he was a poor imitation and I later saw him in The Saracens Head with his opponent Ron Clarke, next time I saw him was the same venue v Billy Jordan (later to become Lucky Gordon).
Eventually George Gillett and Kendo with the help of legal representation chased Bill Clarke around the Lincolnshire area until he was given a writ at ringside at Downham Market as he was appearing as Kendo Nagasaki on Terry Goodrums show. The poster for the show was used in court and I still have a copy of it.
Kendo was also helped by a well known heavyweight wrestler on the night they served the writ.
Both Clarke and Goodrum went to prison for a while and deservedly so after simply grabbing a name that had taken a while to build...they protested that they did not know that Peter Thornley had legally resistered this name.
Here's a complete history of Clarke on TV by the way:
YEAR__TV CHANNEL_BILLED AS____OPPONENT/TAG PARTNERS_____OUTCOME
1982___ITV_________King Kendo____Battle Royal won by Big Daddy_____Eliminated
1982___ITV_________Red Devil_____with Ripper Raven _______________Lost
________________________________vs Big Daddy & Steve Logan
1984___ITV_________King Kendo____Marty Jones____________________Lost
1986___Screensport__King Kendo____Tony St Clair___________________ Lost
1986___ITV_________Bill Clarke_____with Lee McConnon______________Lost
________________________________ vs Scrubber Daly & Mal Kirk
1986___ITV_________King Kendo____Romany Riley___________________Draw
1987___ITV_________King Kendo____Battle Royal won by Giant Haystacks_Eliminated
1987___S4C________King Kendo____Kung Fu________________________Won
1987___S4C________King Kendo____with Barcud Du __________________Lost
________________________________vs Kung Fu & El Bandito
1987___ITV_________King Kendo____with The Spoiler__________________Lost
________________________________ vs Big Daddy & Andy Blair
1988___ITV_________King Kendo____Battle Royal won by Giant Haystacks_Eliminated
Something unusual I've noticed about this bout - KK actually stays mostly clean all the way through and actually gets a smattering of applause from the crowd.
I'm still wondering does Howard know what name Brian Frost wrestled under when he wasn't King Kendo in place of Bill when when Bill was working away as a H.G.V. driver. Regards Les 💪
Thanks for that Howard.
I was trained by Dick Harrison. He told me he was Ron Clarke in the Lincolnshire Poachers and also worked as Marcel Carpentier for a number of years. Sapper James.
RIP Bill.
The Boston Standard has an article Remembering Boston Wrestler Big Bill Clark
I wonder if anyone can help me here . If Marcel Carpentier who Graham Brook mentions , was Bill Clarke's cousin Mr Brian Frost. Who sometimes wrestled with the bonnet as King Kendo!!! Also If Dick Harrison one of Bills cousins who sometimes wrestled as King Kendo? Or am I completely wrong. It would be nice to know or am I completely full of SH one T !!!. 💪 regards Les..
Update - said prat deleted his comments after I made a similar call for help on the Have A Good Week FB group
Has any kind soul got any cuttings about the court case? I only ask because some complete prat on a youtube video comments board is calling me all sorts for mentioning how Clarke and Goodrum ended up in the pokey for contempt of court and I can't really be bothered to go trawling through archives for the sake of some troll.
As Big Bill Clarke he never really did it for me. But really found a niche as King Kendo. I expect it was a gimmick that was imposed on him. Another who would do anything to help the game.
A bad week R.I.P. Bill
Sad news . 10th October was not a good day. I remember Bill on the opposition in the late 1960s at the time he was a Lincolnshire Poacher. Also a promoter in the east of England.