The Royal Visit....

One more royal visit to the Royal Albert Hall took place for the last ever Wednesday evening slot broadcast 6 December 1977 when the Duke of Kent was present

y dull offering compared to the 1963 bill. Julian Morice or Michel Saulier would have been better.

Yes they are Peter. Sid Cooper too. I guess what Anglo Italian was getting at was that they weren't in the team match. My friend can be very pedantic like that.

Surely Bert Royal,Zoltan Bostick,Al Miquet and Bob Kirkwood are still alive?

Yes, nepotism sadly at work. Dale Martin stalwarts rewarded above all other considerations. McManus and Logan too samey on the same bill in singles.

18 wrestlers but not a single proper heavyweight.

Why limit the tournament to the four bouts? They could easily have added from that vintage:

Cortez Bros v French Teddy Boys.

Harry Kendall v Quasimodo

Mr Big v L'Ange Blanc

or many others.

Ok, HRH would have had to have been accommodated if he didn't want to sit through seven bouts, but all manageable. One fall bouts would have done the trick.

It was an odd bill to put three of our biggest villains in the home team against the continentals. Then add in one of our golden boys. If the Duke of Ted had any interest at all in wrestling he must have been pretty miffed that night.

Hello Everyone, I am here, like Jim Hawkins I still am hunting gold and silver, nope not in coins like he did, but in cups and belts. brilliant find and thanks for sharing, much appreciated, its Dale Martin, and it does mention a physical trophy, no I don't know anything about that trophy, never seen it. My knowledge of the trophies of the Great South is very limited. I am more of a Great North trophies man. But would love to see this one and learn more about it. This post brought some great memories from the 1920s, when pro wrestling basically 'ceased to exist' and the only wrestling there was...was amateur wrestling, or catch-as-catch-can under the rules of NAWAssn of GB. They had a famous team match England v France in front of Royal Family members, if I remember it right. I have a print from archives somewhere, will try to find it, and post here.

Time for a lie down, Hack. Unfortunately the entire British team are long since gone.

But I know what you mean - as if I would split hairs ... (BTW where has David Mantell gone? Hope he's ok.)

Remember, Hack, we grilled Bob Kirkwood about this match: he couldn't remember a thing!

I'm just amazed that no Member has ever recalled seeing this on tv. I don't even recall it being on.

I remember when we researched this bill in detail years ago for the Heritage site, Hack, that we worked out Bert once again didn't wrestle in front of HRH so he for sure won't have any or happy memories. He may have been slightly shafted.

So I guess that leaves Zollie and Camerashy Al to your way of thinking? My impression is that only the 4 main bouts were televised,

What about the French wrestlers?

Where's David? Where's Ruslan?

Only four of the British team are alive. Two are Heritage members. Come on fellas, share your memories of a night that must have been at least a bit special.

Intriguing point, Main Mask: Charles did indeed triumph via pin fall.

But for now I'm calling Ruslan because here is indeed a trophy of meaning and value.

We all know the 1963 photo of HRH presenting a trophy, but what about 1968? This had the potential to be The Ashes of wrestling - but of course as I mentioned the quality was questionable, surely they needed Notre Dame's Quasimodo - and I imagine HRH was seen presenting the trophy on live tv? None of us seems to remember it.

So Ruslan, is this hi-profile trophy on your radar?

A rare loss for Clayton Thomson.

Kellett and Kirkwood put on first, probably with earpieces to wind up right on cue so the first international bout could start on time.

A big night, eight bouts, eighteen wrestlers - not a proper heavyweight in sight!

Pallo not allowed the glory of a victory that McManus, quelle surprise, accorded himself.

Alfie probably booked 'em all, so he stayed on late with the glory of a 2-0 win.

Exciting then; obvious with hindsight.

Exciting, did I say? It seemed so but this was actually the death knoll of live prime time pro wrestling. They admittedly did their best and tried a spectacle, but it wasn't good enough. McManus v Pallo IV would have done the trick and the whole future could have been different ....

You can't go putting 4 French wrestlers on willy-nilly like this. I don't recall the transmission but bet it was dull and repetitive. The RAH spectaculars a year before in '67 and later in '69 could each have clicked on live tv and transformed the future.