RUTLAND

Keep em coming Graham. What great stories.

Further to my initial posting, I recall Abe Ginsberg doing a show for me a few days after his tag encounter (alongside Jack Cassidy) against Clarke and Jim and his back was playing up. The impressive end to the tag match saw Ginsberg hoisting the massive Klondyke Jim off his feet and pinning him. The secret of course was for the big man to relax so that Abe would find it comparatively easy to lift and pin him. However, Jim was so stiff that it was hard work for Ginsberg and he paid the price afterwards. I recall him saying that the money was better on the independents (though, of course, telling me that I was one of the meanest payers, which I knew to be untrue) but that you were far more likely to be injured by clumsy wrestlers who did not really know what they were doing.

I used Klondyke Jim (I have no idea of his real name) on several occasions as he came with Bill Clarke's carful which would often include a young lad who wrestled as Marcel Carpentier, Rick Wiseman (Ace Ricardo) and his two midgets. Although I never promoted it, he had a good bout with Clarke. I recall a Cassidy show at The Houldsworth Hall, Deansgate, Manchester, in which, before the interval, Klondyke Jim faced a blue-eyed Abe Ginsberg in a wild bout which spilled over into the top of the bill bout after the interval which was "Bronco" Jack Cassidy versus Doctor Death. On the next show, Cassidy and Ginsberg joined forces as a blue-eyed tag team to face Jim and Death (Bill Clarke). I also recall timekeeping for Brian Dixon in a show at The Champness Hall in Rochdale in which blue-eyed Dangermen (Haggetty and Joynson) faced the combination of Klondyke Jim and Klondyke Bill.

I won't go into details as I have mentioned it before in contributions, but when I promoted at The Parr Hall in Warrington I staged an eight team K.O. tournament which was won by The Lincolnshire Poachers (Bill and Rick Clarke (Wiseman)) who returned on the next show to face an unusual blue-eye combination of Klondyke Jim and Lee Sharron.

He had limited mobility and moves but did have quite an imposing presence and was a quietly-spoken, easygoing nice guy.

In the 1970's some of these relatively unknown wrestlers were on here and not just in the two towns but also the village of Market Overton. Maybe someone can confirm for me that Gypsy Smith was the same as Gypsy Joe Roman or Romario who was the many times unmasked White Angel who worked with Nagasaki. Or am I dreaming. Also I have little knowledge of Klondyke Jim , is he even in the A-Z although I appreciate Main Mask has put a photo of him on the Forum in the recent past. Even the Undertakers pop up.

By 1976 Jack Taylor was still about seen here in Uppingham

Klondyke Jim here in 1977 in the Village of Langham.

Seems the Independents had Rutland all to themselves.

T & M I've no idea. I know they also promoted in Retford. Forced to guess I'd say Terry Goodrum. His wife was also a wrestler and her name was Margaret.

By 1971 it was T and M Promotions. Maybe Hack can help me on that one.

Also here this one looks a very local sort of effort.

Who were these guys.

I believe by 1968 wrestling had passed that peak .

Colour TV's , though could have made it more popular to stay at home and watch the small screen rather than go out to a wrestling hall.

Whatever and I am only guessing , but it seems Wrestling went back to Oakham.

I just love Graham's contributions. All the things that can go wrong, fizzle out, human frailties ...and consequences and sulks that can last a lifetime.

Somehow I think I was right about the capacity of the Victoria Hall at Oakham , and the country had gone through a boom through TV Exposure in the early 1960's.

By 1965 a bigger venue was used and Girls were introduced.

Dr Death v Cassidy should have been a great night with the boom of Jack's guns , then the girls and the Tag match keeping the cost's down with a further match from the tag captains. Well balanced and a good strategy.

But a complete move out of Oakham , six miles to Uppingham and the Rutland Cinema proved to be the next stage for this business.

Hard to say what capacity this Cinema had but I know the Wryton held a thousand or so.

I am sure it would more than doubled the Victoria Hall , maybe even trebled.

1967 , interesting that Shirley was still about and still touted as European Champion.

And tucked away there is Naughty Neil kemp.

Another great collection Ron with all the Taylor regulars. Like Paul Lincoln Taylor used the same wrestlers over and over yet still managed to make his bills look fresh.

Messrs. St. John and Svajik on the bill yet again…..

There is an event in Oakham 29 0ctober 2021

Thanks Graham , but here is a big Question. Roughly , what was the minimum attendance you could tolerate before making a loss , on average. I know the rent for Halls and Ring might vary and I also assume wrestlers on fairly cheap wages. Or do you plump for a big star to ensure the gate.

My first promotion was in my home town at The Public Hall, Wilmslow, in January 1976 financed from my first pay packet as a teacher but my first planned promotion which never saw the light of day was at Oakham Town Hall, Rutland, back in 1975. I was studying at Leicester at the time and attending shows all over the area (both De Montfort and Granby in Leicester, Corn Exchange in Melton Mowbray, Jack Taylor's smaller shows in some of the Leicestershire villages , Ice Rink and Victoria Baths in Nottingham etc) and felt sure that, with some of my fellow drama students, that we could mount a wrestling show. My best friend at the time was a lad called Bill Tong who was raised in Oakham and came from a boxing family so it was decided to stage the show there. I felt that I could work out a bout with Bill, two of the lads on the P.E. course were up for putting a bout together and two of the girls on the dance course also felt that they could put together a workable bout.

I approached Jack Mawdesley about hiring two professional wrestlers to top the bill and he managed to obtain the services of Eddie Rose and Ian Wilson. I knew Jack for his work as a second at Belle Vue and M.C. for Jack Atherton.

It came to working out a date to give to Jack and when my fellow students realised that I intended to put this on for a paying public rather than just for fellow students they got cold feet and the whole thing disintegrated. Although students were treated with greater respect than they seem to be now (there were no tuition fees and we got grants), I still didn't have the money to hire a bill consisting totally of professionals so had to give the idea up until I got my first job. I told Jack that I had to cancel the provisional booking of Rose and Wilson and he was furious. From that day on he blanked me whenever we met until his death.

Of course, as mentioned at the beginning of my contribution, I did indeed promote my first show at Wilmslow Public Hall the following year. Abe Ginsberg booked the show for me and, indeed, who should feature on that show but Eddie Rose versus Ian Wilson. It's no wonder Jack was furious. Ginsberg did no favours but, even so, I was paying him a third of the amount for them that Jack was asking. How much of that amount would have actually worked its way down to the two wrestlers I'm not sure!