Repeating a post from way back, I was there on the night of Stevie boys hat-trick of wins. The MC announced they had a very special person, to hand the prize to the victor. Taking an age to reach the ring from behind the curtain, came a face and frail figure I knew so well, however my brain could just not get to grips with the name on my lips. The MC then proclaimed loud and clear “ Lou Marco”! Well that couldn’t be right, because the little fella was DEAD! Well, of course Lou wasn’t brown bread. About six years before that night, a school mate, serving on the cruise ship the Canberra, had dropped anchor at Sydney and my mum and dad put him up for his one night in Sydney. Quizzing him on all things wrestling (he was a regular attendee at the Fairfield Halls), I asked him if Lou, among other geriatric wrestling identities were still working the halls. I don’t recall if he hesitated or not, but he told me ‘no, he died of a heart attack’. So that was nice.

Alan, ‘Tracing Garfield’ was a beautiful piece of detective work, that had me salivating for more. I tried twice to reach out to his restauranter daughter, but to no avail. Did anyone think to ask his nephew, who eventually supplied us with the overview of Alan, if he kept in touch with her and if not, does someone still have an email address for him???????? Anglo. He was a terrific worker the three times I saw him at the Brighton stadium, in the early 60’s. I can only imagine what he must have been like in the 50’s.

A bit of a mystery man. Libnan says he wrestled in Singapore and the States. Kirk Beatty would be the go to man, however I haven’t heard from him since he reported his computer had croaked. I’m only a ten minute car ride away and have recently felt I should pop over, but I don’t want to intrude, if he has decided not to communicate.

Before I’m told to write one hundred lines of “I must try to not write misleading titles” I shall in my defense point out, that over the years, here on Heritage, Mick’s claim has popped up every so often and I was hoping to put a stop to it. However, perhaps I could muddy the waters by asking, was it Mick who first presented the claim? (Poster and and handbill experts from around the country will be frantically perusing their collection to winkle out the dastardly promoter who may have propagated the lie).😎 Apologies to those who may have thought they were to be reading a list of Mick’s Down Under scuffles, based on my errant ‘thread title’

If it was in Glasgow, the Scots crowd went home happy that night!

Terrific research by all! Great stuff, although sometimes like wading through treacle !🤗🤔

The Guy Mitchell that Big John Marshall worked with was probably the “original Canadian Guy Mitchell” as initially quoted. This is a story I have posted before. For several weeks, commentator Sammy Menacker had informed the wrestling fans that Guy Mitchell would be arriving soon. Looking at the magazines at the time I was underwhelmed, as he seemed to be a mid-card worker. However one Friday evening at the Sydney Stadium, a sensational headliner from the States, turned up unannounced. The Destroyer was in town! Wow! Well, not wow. I was pretty certain after a few minutes, that this wasn’t Dick Beyer, aka The Destroyer. Different body shape, the nose through the mask different, it all just seemed off kilter. The clincher for me was that Guy Mitchell’s name was never mentioned again, they didn’t even bother making up a story as to why he wouldn’t be coming, it was ‘if we don’t mention him, they’ll forget all about it’. Despite his ordinary work, he was pushed to the hilt, made the World Champ and beat guys he shouldn’t have logically been put over, even superstar Bruno Sammartino left Australia without the belt (contrived finishes). In Sydney, Spiros Arion finally defeated ‘Guy’ in front of a packed stadium, sending every male Greek in the City, rushing ringside. The Destroyer certainly appeared to make a hasty exit (I reckon he was trying for another match, before unmasking) but the Greeks were not about to let him out of the ring. He may have given his name as John Hill (his real name) when he unmasked on another night, but not that one, furiously tearing off the hood and departing through the delirious, cheering, jeering throng. I imagine John/Guy met John Marshall in a match at one of the many working men’s clubs or sports clubs. The American imports did have spot shows here and there. I was at one, held ten minutes away from where I lived at a Civic centre, which had a cracking main event of Dominic DeNucci v Buddy Austin. (Those were the days my friend, we’d thought they’d never end, etc).

Here’s Rudi’s picture for the A-Z. Like Adrian, who was Caris, also Plumbley , was Jan, Piet? (Also no pic. of Malloy in the A-Z). Does Adrian have one in his ‘magic cabinet’?

Who was Syd McManus, a name we’ve discussed before? And I’m thinking Dave was actually Mike Mahoney?

Courtesy of Wiki. where there is a (huge) amount of information on the Dragons Den. Another unsuccessful pitch, was that for a wrestling academy! I also notice that today, you can purchase, rear view horse mirrors on line. The mirrors can also be used for other activities, such as rowing, cycling, etc.

“Wrestling’s a funny old game”.

I could have watched Norman Walsh, Dave Armstrong and Billy Howes until the cows come home. As I don’t have any bovines, that means forever!

Had I taken up Brian’s daughter’s “come up and see us (the Trevor’s, Norfolk) sometime” I probably wouldn’t have needed to know the answer Hack.

Hi Anglo. I know a couple of the boys who wrote bios, had a moan about how the French wanted to be all action and flying all over the ring while they believed they should control what the crowd wanted to see. Read the Dazzler’s ‘lesson learned’ from Mike Marino, if the crowd gets restless when one particular hold is applied for too long, then make them pay by leaving that hold, or a subsequent one on and on and on, until they’ve learnt their lesson. I’ve watched so much of the French game in the last decade, that I believe their work rate, was well above many of our own guys and most of the matches were very watchable indeed. I expect it all boiled down to the universal (at the time), dislike of the French in general. One Hundred Years’ War and all that. (much longer than that actually). Is it still the same in the U.K. today, anyone? I’m presuming Anglo is still with Gil Azzurri and the Triclore.

Hi Anglo. That’s the Dazzler? False nose apart from very lean face?

His match with Catanzaro, one of the best I’ve ever seen. On YouTube.

Oops! Bob RoopS!?

Hi Peter. I believe it was 1971.

Great stuff as usual and expected, from Ron. Those were the great bills, my friend. We thought they’d never end.😅

You are absolutely correct. Whenever I think of one I think of the other, two of my favourite wrestlers. Checkout the Checkmate anyway and we might even raise a ‘Les Thornton, WAS The Checkmate, argument’. (Could have been, on occasion).