WHO DID NOT GO ON TOO LONG ?

He went to Australia but reached a high point as a teenager defeating a Spaniard Castella for the TV trophy in January 1965 whilst still a teenager in an excellent match

Marvellous Mike Bennett just vanished off the wrestling scene, when his career seemed to be in full flow. Marvellous Mike was one of my favourite heels, and could really dish out the punishment especially to a young Danny Boy Collins.

As mentioned before lots of potential stars of the future John Casanova to name but one just vanished without trace

Let's face it, it was hard work being a wrestler, having to maintain the pretence throughout your life that it was legit. The Big Daddy theatrics, all so unbelievable, would have made many wrestlers just not bother keeping up the appearance.

Bert and Vic probably faded away at the right time.

From what I saw of them , they always operated at the same level.

Bobby Barnes another and Ginsburg springs to mind.

Hello Powerlock

Very surprised to see the Masambula plot passed you by.

Judo Pete was asked to post and slam him centre-ring. He stayed there for the countout, and was quickly suing the promoters. Made the national press.

It was all a bit strange and of course no further mention was made of him in the business, at least to us fans.

However, while he was on crutches and wheelchair-bound, he was still also doing some wrestling. Those were the pre-internet days when you could go under the radar. I guess clothed and without leopardskin, he could have got on quietly with life, relatively unnoticed.

This was 1975. I remember seeing it on tv - very very odd - and Hack was there.

It all adds up to Masambula's planned exit route while the Big Daddy show was taking centre stage. We unearthed this during the life of this site, and we didn't change "The King of Charisma" where Masambula was one of the original six Shining Stars, written in 2007.

Another of the many many reasons why wrestlers remain tight-lipped.

Steve Veidor. His career seem to hit a wall because Max Crabtree didn't fancy him. King Ben and Kid McCoy by all accounts burnt their bridges with Brian Dixon and wound down their careers prematurely.

Johnny Stead. Whatever happened to him?

Top lightweight at one time ,never heard of him since.

Francis Sullivan and Ernie Riley in favour of a couple of successful business ventures.

John Naylor and Mike Bennett were still both very good

Johnny England wasn't around for too long.

Wild Ian Campbell departed rather abruptly. Must have donne something naughty 'cause he never got another mention.

Masambula also made a clear decision when to stop. But his subsequent activity is intriguing...

The decision was made easy in around 1978 for lots of them, like Czeslaw and Zimba and Kirkwood, to just stop as they approached 50 and not get involved with the developing charade.

Zollie and Tibby never aged.

Casanova got in and got out!

Rocco and Dynamite Kid (due to medical reasons for both).

Mike Eagers comes to immediate mind. We were all pretty shocked when he cleared off. Bobby Ryan retired at a young age too.

Mike Eager