Has the debate ever raged on who was the best British MC ? In my day, late 70s to early 90s, some would say smooth as silk John Harris was the man. A had one to argue. Brian Crabtree ? No, not for me, he fluffed words, expressions and was too cocky as if the whole show revolved around him...my opinion, others may beg to differ. For me the best of the lot was Fred Downes. A fellow Norfolk man, lived in Attleborough where he had an antique shop apparently. Worked East Anglia for Dale Martins and was occasionally seen on TV. His finest TV moment again in my opinion was when Mighty John Quinn took on Caswell Martin, only for Wayne Bridges to jump the ring before the bout began and set up the heat for an imminent World title match. The bout was great, one of Martin's best bouts with a villain, but the verbal exchange between Quinn and Bridges was both exceptional and rather unprecedented for the time. Big American influence there. What followed was Quinn ripping up Bridges shirt followed by Bridges ripping up Quinn's gown. It was all egged on by a very serious looking Fred Downes, who had the last word in the exchange -- 'If he did that to your cape Quinn, God only knows what he'll do to your body'....terrific stuff. So what of Fred, was he an ex wrestler, an ex referee did he have connections to Dale Martins promoters ? Any one know anything about him ?

Did any of us ever see a wrestler only once (live or on TV) and were left so impressed that they thought they'd witnessed the next start of the future....only for them to disappear and never be seen again ? I'll start by recalling a visiting South American in the early/mid 1980s called Enrique Marques wrestling for Brian Dixon at King's Lynn. Can't remember the opponent but he has smooth as silk in escapes and counters, effortless in his perfection of holds and throws and administrator of the finest swinging backbreaker since Frenchman Julien Morice. I never saw or heard of him again (apart from a Ringsport picture of him tangling with John Quinn), so anything known about him or did anyone see him, with the same opinions ? Next.....

Writing a post like this 20 years ago would have caused a witch hunt and burning at the stake...but its a different age so here goes...Who would all our good readers, be they punters or wrestlers, consider the best at the seemingly lost art of 'selling' ? It seems like these days even the most elaborate routine of holds, throws and kicks results in instant comebacks with little thought of believability and showing the pain. Kind of devalues the best finishes or sets up modern wrestlers as even more superhuman than before ? The believability goes. In days of old I would say Tony St Clair was the king. Everything he did had purpose and every bit of punishment he took the crowd were gasping in total belief. His facial expressions, his cries of pain, his holding onto limbs were all done to perfection and caused even more hatred to the likes of John Quinn who was dealing it out. Marty Jones would also be a close second.Opinions ?

Bob Roop is a name spoken highly of a lot in US wrestling podcasts, media etc. A former Olympic wrestler and one that toured the UK in his early career (early 1970s). Anyone with any memories of him when he was here ? How good was he ? Who did he wrestle and was he ever on the telly ?

A lot of stick gets given to Big Daddy and his latter day career and his limited ability in the ring. But here's a question - what do we all think to his reverse double elbow lift/back drop/splash ? Look at how it works. To me it looks potentially devastating and as good a finisher as anyone would want. I think I can recall it being said that Bert Assirati used it too ? When I was training I can recall a Norfolk heavyweight Dave Daring telling me if I ever got in any bother for real to use it as it would invariably finish proceedings. For me I was a lightweight so to do it to a bigger bloke I needed more strength than I had. But it certainly always looked like it could have been dangerous. I also recall it being said that John Quinn suffered a real injury from Big Daddy in their famous televised encounter due to the drop. It is quite noticeable that at a given point Daddy stopped using it and reverted to a more simple splash after a body slam. Could it have been he was aware of the damage it could do if not performed correctly ? No one has seemed to use this move since ?

Sad news on various social media platforms today that Barry Douglas has passed away. Another great gone. A very versatile wrestler, blue eye or villain he always gave his all.

I'm rather surprised there has been no mention (or have I missed it ?) to the new book on the 'Explosive lives of the British Bulldogs' Dynamite and Davey by Steven Bell. Pitch Publishing just over £15 on Amazon. Well worth a read. I guess there's quite a lot of repetition and quotes from the books by Dynamite Kid and Brett Hart but there's also a lot of stuff that has nt been previously covered and here it is all in one book. Lots of pics too. Its a shame there there was nt more from UK wrestlers who are still about as it would have been good to read more about their early days here, but I suppose it was Japan and Canada/The States where they truly made it and gained their fan huge base. Its a great yet dark read in places with the author not shying away from some of the more unsavoury elements of their later lives. If you have nt read it already, give it a go ! Would be nice if someone could get Marty Jones, Tony St Clair or Fit Finlay to do a book. We need more honest down to earth stories....with the likes of Rocco, Bridges etc gone, the list of candidates for autobiographies is getting shorter !

If anyone is not aware there is a Rollerball Rocco Facebook tribute page and today a short piece of film footage emerged of Rocco hitting Finlay over the head with a chair, camcorder footage but reasonable quality. The question is who has or where is the whole of the bout...does this Holy Grail of latter day wrestling exist ? and if so I'm sure there are many who'd like to see it !

Anyone got any thoughts on Irish heavy weight, teacher, writer Sean Regan ? Sounds like he had an interesting career and life. International wrestler that settled in South Africa, big matches in Europe, Canada, the States, including world title matches. Memories from here and abroad anyone ?

I just rewatched the World title match between Rocco and the Frenchman Joel de Fremery. So what do we know about de Fremery ? Had he been here before ? Did he stay and wrestle others ? What was his reputation in Europe ? To me he seems no where near in the class of opponent who should have been taking on Rocco for the vacant title. Compared to Sammy Lee who should have been there, he seems laboured and very pedestrian in his style. No where near a classic bout and I think one of Rocco's worst opponents in any of his televised bouts. Was it a case of Max having to find an opponent from abroad to make the match at short notice ?

As a huge fan of the recently departed Rollerball Rocco, I wondered if anyone has recollections of him fighting Mighty John Quinn ? There are photos out there of the bout(S) with blood involved from both parties alongside lumps of wood....it must have been some confrontation. How many times did this happen ? What was the result ? Was is it as compelling as we'd all like to think it was ? Might have been a long while ago, but someone must have some memories ?

So one match I always hoped I would see live or on TV was Rollerball Rocco v Alan Kilby. Did it happen and why never on TV ? Both were stars and champions in the same weight bracket and arguably at their peak at the same time. Kilby v Murphy, Kilby v Finlay all regular, but not Rocco ?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZ5FCjYvq5k If you have nt already, check out this WOS programme of England v Pakistan. Not the greatest of latter day TV shows but intriguing never the less. Little Prince's brother Mohammed Afzel was apparently having his first ever pro bout, surely a fictitious Waltonism if ever ? Did he have many other matches thereafter ? Looks like he had a good physique and could have developed into a good middleweight. How about Ali Shan and Mohammed Butt ? Had they done much before (or after). Ali Shan came wearing a World Heavyweight title belt, where did that come from, was he ever a bigger and better star elsewhere around the World or was he someone that Max Crabtree brought in to give us some international flavour ? Neither really had the flair of other good heavyweights of that era such as Ray Steele, Pete Roberts, Dalibar Singh etc

I recently watched this interesting clip of Steve/William Regal on Youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBhDJfaIgEA showing him lining up at Blackpool to take on legitimate punters who wanted to earn a tenner a round....Watch closely and you will also see Mighty John Quinn lining up with him for the same routine. Seriously, with Quinn's reputation would anyone have dared get in the ring with him ? World Heavyweight Champion and his reputation for beating punters up outside the ring, if they got too excited ? So did this really happen, or was he a Quinn look alike ? (difficult to see for sure on the film, but it looks like him). Gordon Prior is egging the punters on to have a go. Anyone care to shed any light on whats seems like a very strange place for the 'Mighty' to be plying his trade ? Has anyone any film footage of that ? A bit of a come down from Bruno Sammartino at the Madison Square Gardens......