I remember his amazing physique, staring at him and thinking it was like looking in a mirror......................if only 😂😂

Hi all (I realise the 1960 Royal Albert Hall bill was posted a couple of years ago, but I had not seen it before). I was interested to see Mick McManus appearing in the opening bout. Pardon my ignorance but when did he start to become THE big wrestling attraction (and therefore not in the first bout on the bill) - obviously there were lots of star names, but he is perhaps the most recognisable name from the past? Did it just evolve during the 1960's as when I started watching wrestling at Croydon and the Albert Hall itself in the late 60's, he was the top attraction? I guess I have largely answered my own question but would be most interested in any comments from you experts about how and when he became a top-of-the-bill attraction. Many thanks as always and with kind regards. Peter

Circa 1970/1 watching Mick McManus fight Jackie Pallo at the Royal Albert Hall with blood pouring from a 'cut' on Jackie's head, Trixie screaming to stop the fight..................and being a naive late teens age, thinking it was real blood!!

Further to my posting a moment ago - 1 October 1974 was a Tuesday (the Fairfield Halls regular weekly night) so wonder if it was prepared by someone after Tuesday 24 September who had forgotten there are only 30 days in that month. I rarely missed a Tuesday at the Fairfield Halls in those days, but although I remember seeing nearly, if not all, all the wrestlers on the poster there, I don't remember a match between McManus and Saint at that venue. But it was nearly 50 years ago I stopped going (marriage and a ready-made family intervening) so I may have forgotten!

It's the Fairfield Halls box office number from back in the day, I think, and the last part of Dale Martin's address, the regular promoter there. A bizarre mistake!

Thank you for all the very interesting replies to my original posting. Pardon my ignorance, but would something like the bust up between Rann and Salvo, mentioned by Ballymoss, have been scripted or a genuine falling out. Sorry if that is a stupid question! Kind regards. Peter

Hi all, I may well be wrong as my knowledge is way below the fantastic experts on here (who I love reading so much).............in one of the posters it describes Johnny Kwango v Danny Lynch as a "Mid-Heavyweight" contest. I saw both of them many times back in the 60's and 70's (not against each other) surely Kwango was not a heavyweight as I saw him against Mick M, Jackie P and others of that weight several times - whereas Dangerous Danny was a big man who would fight other heavyweights - Tibor, Big Bruno etc. It seems a strange pairing to me and certainly not "Mid-Heavyweight" but I would be pleased for the experts views! Best regards to all. Peter

It was great to see the poster from the Fairfield Halls where I held a weekly season ticket for the Tuesday night wrestling for many years. Believe it or not I actually remember the Les K v Johnny Y main event that night which Les won after his famous trick in the ropes. When he appeared to be disappearing through the ropes Yearsley turned his back on him and raised his arms in triumph - bad mistake as Les bounced back into the ring (of course) and got the winning fall. Being a naïve 18 year old at the time I thought that was very silly of Yearsley, until I realised a few years later that it was in the script. I know forum members will have seen the same trick from Les hundreds (thousands?) of times but that night stuck in my mind. 54 years ago, oh dear! Happy days!

Thank you again for all the really interesting replies and references to the Gallery etc. As far as the MM/JP Royal Albert Hall bout was concerned (Anglo-Italian's reply) I guess it was the 1968 one if that is when JP was cut. My recollections of it are inevitably vague after 54 years but I do remember JP's wife at ringside screaming to stop the bout, due to the severity of the cut. I have seen references on here to "fake" blood being used in bouts so I don't know if this was a genuine cut and therefore against the script - or if it was planned. Any views? The other thought about seeing the bout is that the significance of being there grew over the years as my wrestling knowledge increased, and I am pleased to be able to say I saw one of their fights. I certainly did not appreciate in 1968 what a huge bout it was - this being due to my young age at the time and being new to the wrestling scene then. As I said, the replies were so interesting to read and I totally agree that even knowing the "truth" now does not take away from the entertainment value of the wrestling and I loved every minute of it. I also note the comment about the injuries not being faked and clearly many wrestlers ended up with badly affected bodies in later life. I recall reading a lot about how the late great Wayne Bridges (a regular at the Fairfield Halls) suffered as he got older. As a complete aside, one of the memories I have from Fairfield Hall days is being one of several fans there having a very heated (but entirely friendly!) "discussion" ringside with referee Joe D'Orazio after he failed to disqualify a villainous wrestler who had just beaten one of our favourites, thanks to some underhand tactics. We all explained to Joe that we could have done a better job of refereeing the contest! I'm sure he had a good laugh about it with the villain concerned and his victim, back in the dressing room. Happy days!!

Thank you very much for those bills, hugely interesting. I would not actually have seen them as we did not move to West Wickham (from where I got the bus every Tuesday to the Fairfield Halls) until 1967. I would be massively interested in any bills from them for the following few years (obviously not all of them as there were 40-50 shows a year). I did wonder whether you might have the the bills for the matches between Clayton Thomson and Mick McManus which I referred to in detail earlier today on the "The Wrestler you missed....." post. Thank you again very much.

Despite all the things I have read and am aware about with the "Big Daddy circus", as it has been described on here, I would love to have seen him, just because.... Slightly digressing but based on the posts above...... I saw the Pat Barratt v Joe Cornelius fight at Watford in 1967 (I lived with my parents then in nearby Borehamwood, before moving to West Wickham when I became a regular at the Fairfield Halls, Croydon). In view of the comments about him I do feel privileged to have seen Joe right at the end of his career. The mention of Clayton Thomson also reminded me of two bouts he had at the Fairfield Halls against Mick McManus. In the first one Mick was at his evil best (or worst??) and took advantage of a knee injury (I think) to win with two submissions. That led to a staged in ring challenge for the title Clayton held at the time (not sure what it was) and a return match which sold out every seat at the Halls, even the rear stalls which were rarely opened for wrestling nights. About 1300 there to see the return when MM was disqualified, thus not taking the title, but having guaranteed a sell out crowd! I also had the privilege of seeing George Kidd at the Royal Albert Hall on a couple of occasions but I cannot now remember the opponents. Kind regards. Peter