I sense that I am in the minority here but I found Brian Crabtree's style as a referee to be an entertaining addition to a normally already enjoyable bout. I preferred a bit of life and action from the referees. I also enjoyed watching Max Ward, who often seemed to be as much a star of the bout as the two wrestlers.

I saw an interview with Max Crabtree once where he said that the thing a wrestler needed to reach the top was 'charisma' and Hulk Hogan certainly had that. The first time I saw him was in the Rocky 3 film and watching it I was thinking 'wow, who is this?' My favourite bout of his was versus Randy Savage in a lumberjack match in the first ever showing of WWF wrestling on ITV in January 1987 and I still enjoy watching that bout. When he was at his peak he probably took the popularity of wrestling up to a level it had never reached before or since. RIP Hulkster

I saw Eddie (Kung Fu) wrestle live once, at my local hall in Crewe in April 1978, against Mark Rocco. It was a great bout, possibly the best bout that I saw live, they were both so fast. It is very sad to realise that they have both passed away now. Eddie set up his own Kung Fu website about 20 years ago and it was a very interesting website to look at. He had one section where he wrote a few amusing stories from his days as a wrestler and I remember that they were genuinely funny stories. RIP Eddie.

In John Lister's book 'Have a Good Week...Till Next Week' it says that Mike Marino debuted on 22nd April 1948 vs Sonny Wallis. Also, I read somewhere that during World War 2 he served in the Commandos between 1943 to 1945. I don't know for sure if either of these are correct but maybe somebody could confirm them or not?

In Adrian Street's book So Many Ways To Hurt You it says, on page 191, that several wrestlers, including Mike Marino and Judo Al Hayes were planning to break away from Joint Promotions and form their own independent promotion. It says that 'McManus was also invited to join their exodus but instead he walked into Les Martin's office and blew the whistle on the renegades plot before it was fully hatched'. It later says 'it also resulted in Mick McManus being rewarded by Les Martin with an office job including matchmaking for Dale Martin and from that time Mick McManus didn't lose a match and was on TV even more regularly than Mr TV Jackie Pallo'. I think that this breakaway by Marino, Hayes and others took place in 1961 which would match up with when Mick McManus stated appearing on TV much more often, so would seem to ring true. Whether Mick McManus was being disloyal to the renegades or loyal to his employers is up for others to decide. However, his promotion to matchmaker coincided with the start of a very successful spell for British wrestling with high viewing figures on TV, so it seems that he was very good at his job.

I had not thought about that before bur perhaps Mick McManus retiring did have quite an effect on how much loyalty some wrestlers had towards Joint Promotions. As quite a few wrestlers left in 1982, around the time that McManus retired, including Mark Rocco, Kung Fu, Johnny Saint, Jackie Robinson and Mike Jordan. I think that Wayne Bridges and Brian Maxine left in 1983 and Mal Sanders left in 1984. Maybe McManus retiring was the end of an era in more ways than one.

Yes Anglo Italian, Dynamite Kid did wrestle Mick McManus quite a few times early in 1978. I saw that they had quite a few bouts in a list of old results that I do not have in full anymore but two bouts that I kept a note of were a 2-1 victory for Dynamite Kid over Mick McManus in Wolverhampton on 31st January 1978 and then a bout between them in Wolverhampton for the European Middleweight title on 11th April 1978 (only 2 weeks before Dynamite left for Canada) which ended in a stoppage win for McManus. It was these bouts that made me think that Dynamite was maybe being lined up to take the title from McManus later in 1978. I think that McManus and Max Crabtree were trying to liven up the championship scene with all the new champions they made in the 1976-1978 period. However, within a few years only Marty Jones and Steve Grey were left at Joint Promotions. Dynamite had gone to Canada, Tony St Clair, Mark Rocco, Johnny Saint and even Mal Sanders had moved to All Star Promotions.

Hello Anglo Italian and Hack, sorry to butt in your discussion about cheap red wine, delusions and trolling lol but going back to Anglo Italian's earlier point about Mick McManus (or Mick McMagnanimous) or Max Crabtree letting some wrestlers leapfrog others to a title belt and Hack's point about Mal Sanders maybe not 'paying his dues', they had allowed Dynamite Kid to perhaps do this when he won the British Lightweight Title when he was just 18 years old and just 8 months after his TV debut. I think that Dynamite Kid had fully justified being given a title and they maybe thought that they would try it again with Mal Sanders. McMagnanimous and Max Crabtree had also recently given Tony St. Clair, Marty Jones, Mark Rocco and Steve Grey their first ever titles and they had all also fully justified being given their titles.

Hello Hack, Mal Sanders was a good young wrestler but it was a surprise to me when he beat Mick McManus to win the European title. Looking back, I guess that Mick McManus was thinking that, as he was 58 years old, it was time for him to give up the title. I think that The Dynamite Kid was maybe being lined up to take his title. He had already won the British Lightweight, Welterweight and European Welterweight titles and early in 1978 was wrestling McManus a few times including beating him 2-1 on 31st January in Wolverhampton. However, the Dynamite Kid left to go to Canada in April 1978 to wrestle for a few months and did not come back. McManus was then left looking for someone else to beat him and Mal Sanders must have been the best choice left. I obviously do not know this a fact but it seems to make sense to me. I don't know what anyone else thinks? Later in his career, I think that Mal Sanders was a superb heel as 'the Mouth of the South' and I love watching his bouts.

Does anybody know the actual result of this match between Assirati and Baldwin. I think that I have read somewhere that Assirati won but was it 2 falls to one fall, a knock-out or something else?

I am very sad to hear the news that Peter 'Tally-Ho' Kaye seems to have passed away. I love watching his old bouts. As mentioned below a few days ago by Peter, his daughter-in-law Dana K posted on this forum in April 2024, during a conversation we were having about him, that she was 'just reading your comments which has put a lovely smile on his face'. If Peter was in his last days, it is very nice that this website has enabled us to let him know how much we enjoyed watching him in his wrestling days. RIP Peter Kaye.

Two of my favourite matches to watch on YouTube are George Kidd (in his last singles match on TV) vs Black Jack Mulligan and Sammy Lee (later The Tiger Mask) vs Black Jack Mulligan, where Black Jack sells all their moves brilliantly. I once read a topic on an old website where someone asked if Black Jack Mulligan had ever won a match. After much searching one win was found, when Black Jack won in a semi-final of a four man tournament but he lost in the final. That was the only win anybody could find! He made a career out of making other wrestlers look good. RIP Black Jack.

I heard somewhere that the Double Elbow Drop did go wrong when Big Daddy used it on John Quinn. Quinn was a couple of stone heavier than the opponents that Big Daddy normally used this move on and Big Daddy's grip on him slipped a bit and they did not land correctly. I heard that Quinn did have to go to hospital for a check-up. I also heard that after having been genuinely injured and having to go to hospital and having been top of the bill on a show that had one of the biggest audiences ever in British wrestling history, Quinn was not pleased when he later received his payment for the show from Max Crabtree and it was only for his normal amount. I did think that the Double Elbow Drop was normally a great finishing move and I was stunned when I first saw Big Daddy use it.

When I was very young wrestling fan I did not like Peter 'Tally-Ho' Kaye because he wrestled as a villain and I always cheered for the 'good guys'. But then I saw him on the 1980 BBC TV show The Big Time, with Esther Rantzen, when he trained Rip Rawlinson for his Royal Albert Hall debut bout and he came across as a really likeable person. When I watch old World of Sport bouts now I can see what a great act Peter Kaye put on as a villain and he is one of my favourite wrestlers to watch. His bouts are always entertaining and I love watching him to see how he wound up the crowd. I am really pleased to hear that he is still with us and I hope that my best wishes could be passed on to him by Dana.

One name possibly missing from this list is Judd Harris?

I think that he was one of Britain's greatest ever wrestlers. I always enjoy watching his old bouts as he really knew how to wind up the crowd and his bouts were always entertaining. His weakening of his opponents wrist and his follow-up submission hold was so convincing to me as a young fan and it still looks realistic to me when I watch it now! R.I.P Jim.

I read once in a wrestling fanzine, that had some results from Ray Plunkett, that Tony St Clair won this title bout at Wolverhampton by a stoppage. I don't know what happened, maybe Mal Kirk was cut?

Hello Anglo Italian, I do not know who first came up with the idea of Brian Maxine's cocky, arrogant act (wearing a crown, throwing photos of himself to the crowd and being billed as Goldbelt), Brian Maxine himself or the promoters, but the idea worked. I think that this act did really wind up the crowd and they all wanted to see Brian Maxine get beaten (just like they wanted to see Mick McManus get beaten) but they rarely did. The promoters were clever enough to see that Brian Maxine's act worked and the crowds reacted to him and if he was on the bill crowds would probably be higher. As soon as the promoters realised they were making extra money because of Brian Maxine's image as Goldbelt Maxine they kept it going. Maybe Clayton Thompson was a more skilled technical wrestler but it was Maxine who made more money for the promoters so it was Maxine who the promototers wanted as champion.

I think that it was Brian Maxine's act of being really cocky and arrogant (wearing a crown and throwing pictures of himself to the crowd etc) that wound up the crowds and made them hate him so much that they even cheered Mick McManus when they wrestled each other, that kept him at the top. The promotors would have loved this sort of reaction from a crowd. I loved watching Brian Maxine and his cocky act always makes me laugh when I see it, even now after seeing it so many times. Steve Regal mentioned Maxine in his autobiography and praised him but did say that he was known as a genuinely tough guy in the dressing room.

Hi alanapaily, thank you for letting us know about this. I have just watched both the Tony St.Clair and Marty Jones podcasts and they were very interesting.