A very talented wrestler who was very easy to work with and a nice man by all accounts. Enjoyed his work as The Mississippi Mauler here in the UK and as Kamala the Ugandan Giant in the WWF. Shame about his health and financial problems in recent years, but his various shoot interviews show that he was grateful for his time in the ring and adored the fans, whether they loved him or loathed him. RIP - yet another sad loss.

I certainly wasn't expecting to go from Marty Jones/Rollerball to Mae Young and Moolah circa late 90s - but I like the range of tastes

For all her flaws, Moolah was a highly influential figure for wrestling.

Outside of wrestling, he was a councillor for Canonbury, Islington

Yeah, even Ole Anderson (a notoriously grouchy man with little good to say about anybody) had nothing but praise for his lordship. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70uRpGj2lrc

When he had his short stint in the territories (I believe it was California), 'Peerless' Pat Roach wrestled as "Lord Patrick Roach" **P.S. the Greg Valentine listed here is obviously Greg "The Hammer" Valentine - son of Johnny Valentine - and not the Crabtree alias**

Yeah, Londos is a perfect example actually. Good shout.

Yeah, that's kind of what I figured was the case. Thanks for your response.

Yep - you're right. Thanks very much!

It's pure fantasy I know, but whenever I watch a bout with, say, Alan Dennison a part of me always thinks "I wonder what it'd be like if he wrestled Cesaro?" I think most wrestlers today are better athletes than those of yesteryear, but I do question how tough they are when compared to the likes of Dempsey, Robinson or, as you mention, Streiger. It's quite amusing to imagine someone like Streiger just flat-out refusing to sell to someone like Ospreay or Zack Sabre Jr, though - probably would've ended up being a two-minute squash, a la Ultimate Warrior vs HHH at WM XII (1996).

Yeah, can't say I'm surprised - I knew it was a matter of time before somebody mentioned Shirley's name.

Some great points, very interesting. By the time British wrestling started to officially decline (1988-93), my attention turned to the American scene and I was immediately captivated by it - it was like Dorothy when she first entered the land of Oz. I was just enamoured by the colourful real-life cartoon characters, the pomp and circumstance and the orgy of gimmick matches. It wasn't until I saw the BBC's Arena documentary about Kendo Nagasaki and Peter Blake (which conveniently coincided with WM IX, the point where I started to lose interest in mainstream American wrestling) that I rekindled my love of European wrestling. Thanks for your response.

To answer my own question - for me, it's happened twice: once British wrestling went off the air, I turned my attention across the Atlantic but that came to an abrupt and ignominious end after Hulk Hogan won the belt for the umpteenth time at WrestleMania IX (1993) - I couldn't suspend my disbelief that much. But I came back a few years later thanks to the NWO and the stuff with Austin in the WWF. The second time I dropped out was in 2007 out of protest because I despised Cena as champion - though I continued to sporadically keep an eye on players on the indie circuit (including a certain Bryan Danielson) - and came back in 2011 when CM Punk cut the pipebomb promo and had that great match with Cena at MITB, and I've stayed a fan ever since.

Hey everyone. As the new newbie here, I figured it's best to share a little about me and (more importantly) my love of pro-wrestling: About me: "Just Another Wrestling Fan" isn't my real name (obviously) - my real name's Denholm. I'm a film studies teacher in the post-16 sector. And yeah, that's pretty much it. About me (the wrestling fan): Despite being a lifelong grapple fan, I honestly don't recall the precise moment when I became a wrestling fan, nor indeed do I have any crystal clear recollection of what the first match I ever saw was - I suspect it had something to do with Kendo Nagasaki because he was my grandfather's favourite, but I wouldn't want to bet money on it. Since then, though, my infatuation with wrestling seems to have only grown. I pride myself on my diverse tastes in wrestling - I've watched and enjoyed stuff from WOS; the old NWA territory days (always particularly liked Gagne's AWA from Minnesota and the Von Erichs in WCCW); the golden years of the WWF; WCW; ECW; TNA; AEW; Calgary's Stampede; Colon's WWC from Puerto Rico; All-Japan and New Japan; and, more recently, I've discovered the delights of wrestling from New Zealand thanks to an old show called On the Mat (1975-84) which featured some great moments with Mark Lewin, the Great Malumba (better known here as Prince Kumali) and the Sheepherders (A.K.A. The Bushwackers). My Favourite Wrestlers (in no real order): • George Kidd - a technical Houdini like no other. • Terry Funk - Dory Jr may be the better scientific wrestler, but you can't help but love the crazy old bastard. • Harley Race - the epitome of a world heavyweight champion. • Ricky "The Dragon" Steamboat - probably the best "blue eye" I've ever seen in action. • 'The Dynamite Kid' Tom Billington - a true innovator. • Kendo Nagasaki - the best masked man in wrestling (which is saying a lot). • Bret "Hitman" Hart - added a sense of integrity when the business really, really needed it. • Andre the Giant (no doubt some will remember here as Jean Ferré) - a real giant and a legit attraction in wrestling.

Thanks, Hack!

Very good. Pac would've been a big star during the WOS days.

That's a damn good shout.

Thanks for the welcome. Good match-ups, too - especially Angel v Klondyke