Ross Hart - after the TV era but still under the Max Crabtree era

Spinner McKenzie talks about the Kendo/Ben fall out in one of the episodes of the podcast interview he did with Carl Conroy/Stewart. Basically he says that Kendo said something Ben didn't like so Ben roughed him up in the ring. Kendo then went to Brian Dixon and demanded Ben be sacked from All Star. Brian Dixon complied with Kendo's wishes and as a result Kid Mc Coy (Ben's son, Mark) also resigned from All Star in support of his Dad. Apparently that is why Kid McCoy retired from wrestling at a time when he was still a relatively young, up and coming star. I'm not claiming the above to be true, just repeating what was said on the podcast

Yes, according to the information I have from Ray and from the ITV Wrestling website, the TV shows from Prestatyn were in August 1965, May 1966, September 1966, June 1967 and June 1968

Graham is correct; there was a taping at Plas Madoc Leisure Centre, Ruabon (between Wrexham and Llangollen) on 6th May 1976. Matches were shown on ITV on Wednesday evening broadcasts over the following few weeks and included Kendo Nagasaki vs Gwynn Davies and Johnny Saint vs Bobby Ryan. The book which Saxonwolf refers to is a book about ITV wrestling in the 1980s and so may well be correct in reference to that decade. I pass Plas Madoc each summer on my journey to my holiday in Aberystwyth and always remember that it was an ITV wrestling venue. Also on the journey I pass the Bro Dyfi Leisure Centre in Machynlleth which was a venue used by Orig Williams for his Reslo TV series on S4C

Yes, I saw Pete Curry capture the European Heavyweight Championship from Hans Streiger at Liverpool Stadium on 24th February 1978 - the first live show I ever attended. I think he lost it to Wild Angus a couple of months later

I think that for one very short period of time Max Crabtree had Davey Boy Smith touring at the same time as Orig Williams and Brian Dixon were using Dynamite Kid so rival Promoters had rival British Bulldogs - who actually were feuding in real life! There was a famous occasion when Dynamite Kid turned up to pick a fight at a venue near Wigan where Davey Boy was wrestling

He was on a couple of Reslo shows

It is an excellent book. Many thanks to Tony for all his hard work.

Definitely worth a try, maybe they will come up trumps

The problem is, in my view, that if Talking Pictures approached ITV over this they would very likely be offered the material which has already aired on the Wrestling Channel and which mots of us have seen and possibly recorded. That is the "low hanging fruit". It is highly unlikely that Talking Pictures have the money to pay ITV to delve deeper into their archive, and to convert the material into a format suitable for broadcast. Things have moved on from Mad Mac's comment that "They're not in any way "indexed", it's very much a "pot luck" what, if anything, is on a particular tape." Thanks to the help of a friend of mine, ITV Sport are now much more aware of what they have on their reels and tapes.

The above is his obituary from the Minutes of the Methodist Conference. I feel proud to be a Methodist Minister serving the same Church that Mike did, even though we never met

1978 - Mal Sanders - for beating Mick McManus to become European Middleweight Champion

Good question! I haven't been up there to measure it - maybe a job for a sunny autumn day?

Anglo Italian has further whetted my appetite for the big day with his comments! Kendo was a character who combined the showmanship aspect of wrestling with the reality of someone who had been well trained and then put through his paces at Wigan. He even imbued the showmanship aspect with a level of seriousness and thoroughness that others couldn't be bothered to do. Some of his contemporaries undoubtedly saw aspects of this (eg. arriving at and leaving venues in a mask) as pushing it too far but this helped the mystique to be fascinating to a level that other wrestling personas never were. I think that the way Kendo has opened up in recent years (including attending the Leeds re union unmasked and as Peter) shows that there was no lack of respect for his colleagues in his carrying out of the Kendo persona to the extent that he did. It is interesting to reflect that in our conversations many years ago in another place we searched in vain for the explanation of how a newcomer to professional wrestling had an unblemished record from Day One. We now understand that it was because he was so well respected from his work in Wigan. He was allowed to win because he deserved to, having proved his skills in a place where showmanship counted for nothing. Anglo is correct that there remain omissions, unanswered questions. One which I am interested in is the role of Arthur Wright in all this. Having persuaded another wrestler to become Count Bartelli back in the 1940's he had realised the value of masked stars and played host to an even greater phenomenon in 1964. It was in Wryton rings that Kendo first appeared; I wonder what role Mr Wright had in developing Kendo and launching him onto the scene. The conversations between Count Bartelli, Kendo and Arthur Wright must have been interesting. Whilst Peter will be celebrating his 80th Birthday in his own way, we will be celebrating Kendo Nagasaki day by enjoying our memories and ongoing fascination with a true wrestling legend.

I am sure we all wish Kendo/Peter well for the future. Let's hope he stays healthy through his 80's and even beyond. Thanks to bkendo for clarifying his comments, I was concerned that maybe Kendo wasn't well. I had booked to go to one of Kendo's events at his home just before the first lockdown and was very disappointed when it was (unavoidably) cancelled. I think it has been fascinating the way that he has opened up over the last few years.

That's an intriguing and worrying comment bkendo. Would you care to elaborate? I am all in favour of Kendo Nagasaki day and wish him well.

Surely it was in Max's interests to have two different types of heavyweight interest - Big Daddy as the popular winner of tag matches that didn't need to be technical or last long and that appealed to the children and casual fans. Daddy didn't need a World Title to make and keep him popular. - John Quinn/Wayne Bridges as the Heavyweight Champion who could contest longer matches with more traditional heavyweight action. If Max had wanted Big Daddy as World Heavyweight Champion he could have had him winning that world series that culminated at the Wembley Arena show in 1981. Instead, he had Big Daddy vs Haystacks as one bill topper and the World Heavyweight Championship between Bridges and Harris as the other. Back to Arion, I think that the idea of one last tour of the UK before retiring, along with a World Title to tour with, would have been a very nice way to end your long career. If what happened with Bridges was against the plan, surely the referee could have called for the bell and DQ'd Bridges.

The same question has been asked about certain other giants of wrestling!

Thank you Ruslan for that unique insight into St Cuthbert's Church, Halsall. I would never have expected that it had a wrestling connection. I live in south Liverpool and not far away is the village of Hale - on the banks of the Mersey. There is a wrestling connection in Hale. The "Childe of Hale" (John Middleton) is buried in St Mary's Churchyard. He was apparently 9 feet 3 inches tall and in around 1620 he beat the King's champion in a wrestling match.