Good morning, I love reading the weekly newsletters and was fascinated by one a couple of weeks ago referring to a title fight between Mike Marino (who I saw many times in my wrestling-watching days of mid '60s to mid '70s) and Bill Howes who I did not see, to the best of my recollection. Does anyone know the outcome of that fight in January 1972, please? I also thought the side stake of £2,000 seemed a lot of money for then - or was that kind of thing just a publicity stunt as we were all a bit more naive about wrestling back then! Many thanks and with kind regards to all. Peter

Hi all, I wonder if you experts on here who know a million times more than me can answer these fairly trivial questions, please? Firstly, I have read a lot on here about some of the famous feuds that were stage-managed over the years - to our great enjoyment at the time, of course. Were there any long-running feuds where the guys involved really DID hate each other, or was it a case of having the fight and then a drink together afterwards? My second question is whether some wrestlers disliked turning up for their fight to be told "you lose 2-1", or was it just a job to them? I know there are instances of people going "off script" (Peter Preston as an example) but I presume the vast majority obediently did what they were told. Would they ever have queried being told to lose (or indeed to win) or did they just get on with it to ensure being offered further fights by the promoters? I think I read on here a while ago that Steve Logan often did not know who he was fighting and simply turned up at the venue. I guess that might perhaps might answer my second question in that it was "just" a job? Any responses would be read with great interest. Many thanks and kind regards to all. Peter

Hi, I did see recently on a thread about tag partners fighting each other in solo contests. I can't now find it, so apologise in advance if my question has been dealt with before. I was wondering if Mick McManus and Steve Logan ever fought each other in a solo contest that anyone on here is aware of? Many thanks in advance for any answers. Kind regards. Peter

Hello, I love looking at the posters shown on the "On this day....." feature on this site and they bring back so many memories of when I was a wrestling regular in the 1960's and 1970's. I have seen a few postings on here talking about fights that were repeated regularly - Les Kellett v Steve Logan was one (I saw them both many times, but sadly not against each other). It got me thinking about whether the experts on here would come up with the pairings that were repeated most often around the country. I did see a posting about Banger Walsh being in tag contests against Big Daddy several hundred times (and losing them all, surprise surprise.....) but was thinking more about two man fights. I would be most interested to hear any views and thank you for your time. Kind regards. Peter

Hello everyone, this is my first post on the forum but I have spent many happy hours reading old messages and hugely enjoyed looking at the posters and anecdotes from the past. My background is that as a teenager in the 1960's, and then into the 1970's, I went to wrestling many times and had a season ticket at the Fairfield Halls, Croydon, where there were weekly Tuesday night shows. I saw many of the stars of the day including Kendo Nagasaki, Wayne Bridges, Mick McManus, Jackie Pallo etc - sadly, I never saw Big Daddy or Giant Haystacks. I also saw several shows at the Royal Albert Hall, including one of the MM/JP bouts - if I remember rightly it was where JP got a very bad cut and had to retire from the contest. Marriage and a ready made family then intervened but I have always kept an interest in wrestling since I stopped going. Being rather naïve back in the day, I had no idea that the results of the matches were pre-ordained! I did wonder at the time how the regular MC, Francis P Blake, knew when to appear, ready to announce a fall or submission which always happened shortly after he came back into the auditorium!! Years later I found out why!! My genuine question is this....... was professional wrestling always staged with results agreed in advance from when it first started (not sure when that was - early 1900's? I know you experts will tell me) or was a decision made at some point after it became popular that this would happen. Just asking out of curiosity. It is great that this site helps keep our happy memories of yesteryear alive, even though sadly so many of those who entertained us are no longer with us. I look forward to any responses. Kind regards. Peter