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......