I wonder if any of the members spotted in ring instructions,usually delivered when having a ground breather or in clinch holds.It was far from universal and spots would not be easy to see from the seats.These stage whispers came from workers but occasionally from some refs.Lou Marco did it virtually continuously ok if big loud crowds not so good in quiet prelims,Lew Roseby did it to help novices and was discreet.One of the chattiest workers was Pallo who sulked a bit if you weren't listening,McManus hated the practice as did Dempsey and Marino.A certain Yorkshireman barked out suggestions throughout a seaside bout,I completely ignored all of them,he had delusions of grandeur and I'd never heard off him before that night,but the niggle caused the bout to be a cracker for the crowd.
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I remember Brian Crabtree giving a running commentary while he was acting as referee. I don’t recall Joe D’Orazio ever doing this.
Just love that purist McManus hated the practice. It certainly was risky with so many eyes and angles all around.
I have to admit I hardly ever noticed it. I do thing Logan liked his hair to droop when he was in a pin fall position - in fact he went exaggeratedly low with his head. Behind the curtain of hair he did seem to chat, or even crack a one-liner.
Joe D'Orazio looked shiftiest in the ring and was probably passing messages but he was too slick for me to spot any detail.
It was a naughty practice and Benny Hill exaggerated it in his sketch around 1968. Was his opponent Tommy Mann?
It's good to have your contributions Paul , and why not . It is all out in the open now. Whispering signals and leads is another part of it , but digital newspapers have completely exposed how often wrestlers actually "Worked a bout together"
Still people talk the kayfabe and say some wrestler fought the other.
Thankfully it was a man's game , and like life some , people just did not get on and so some bouts got more heated than you would expect. A shoot attempt did happen from time to time. It was all clever stuff and no matter how much we know , I think you would have needed to have been a worker to truly appreciate the trade modus operandi.
Hence I believe many pro's just will not discuss the game with the fans.
I own up though , throughout the last century I had no idea how it all worked.
One bout it was a clapping hands diversion dropkick from Vic Faulkner to an exaggerated tantrum Jim Breaks to the next bout Don Vines rubbing Gwyn Davies's eyes along the ropes , foreign objects and gouging and Davies coming out the back hall with swollen eyes.
How we fell for it all was very clever and yet the clue was there all along , the show finished in time for certain buses no mater what.
Did I ever see lips moving......No I must have been stupid.
I fell for stuff like Hans Streiger having his purse withheld for extra rough tactics and getting disqualified without any attempt at wrestling. What was the thinking in getting disqualified within two minutes if it was all a work. I felt cheated and for me it did Wryton no favours at all.
I posted a link on another thread, a while ago, to a Youtube bout, where you could spot this happening, if you looked closely enough.
Back then, as a youngster, I never would have guessed, but looking at it now, you can see it happening on the old TV clips.