Was he? I think so, just about. He wasn't quite up there with Jones, Finlay, Dynamite, Rocco etc (although I think he may have been a bit lighter) but he was always great to watch. Like any wrestler it always depended on his opponent as some wrestlers could make anyone look good, and no doubt his martial arts training was vastly exaggerated but I was always pleased to see him on the bill. Better masked or unmasked?
Any thoughts?
Frank , you are right , i think Fit Finlay's dad trained him.
I have a bill here that I think is Dave Senior with Hamill on.
I'd forgotten Kung fu had those mask v mask bouts with Kendo, Kendo must have been nearly twice his weight! so that one must have been a bit odd. Also am I right in thinking Eddie had something to do with The Dave Finley camp? or did I just make that up in my muddled old senile head ?
I saw the same unmasking at Adwick Lesure Centre (Doncaster) my mate also saw it in Huddersfield.
Eddie was middleweight at most, the amount of heavier opponents he fought was ridiculous, I know it was almost certainly to give him the role of underdog in a lot of his matches. Prior to his unmasking on TV he did a programme of mask vs mask matches against Kendo Nagasaki which did great business before McManus unmasked him on tv. Losing the mask made no difference to his performance but put a good few imposters out of work.
Kung Fu versus Bert Royal, real exciting bout with both wrestlers giving their all.
I saw him long after I had been going to live wrestling and loved his skills.
I saw him masked and thought that was great but they spoilt it by not giving him invincibility.
He needed to be kept with middle weights and no more.
Would have gone down great.
You did not see Adrian Street having to fight men as heavy as Kung Fu did.
I got the same impression with Iron Fist. If the promoters don't want it , you won't be top dog.