UK wrestling in 1993

[Statto]

On 9/26/2023 at 6:35 PM, Arthur B. Funky said:

There was also Kerry the Surfboy, who wrestled in a wetsuit & carried a surf-board to the ring.

Later known as Kerry Cabrero?

[David Mantell]

On 9/6/2023 at 2:09 PM, David Mantell said:

Robbie Brookside's Video Diary was filmed.  The Liverpool Lads lost the British Tag Team title to Vic Powers and Steve Prince after Doc Dean and Robbie Brookside banged heads in the ring and knocked each other silly (I believe this was a shoot accident, hence them being urinated off about it at the start of the video diary.) Prince and Powers lost it to the Superflies a few months later.

Eighteen years later, Robbie filmed a sequel for The Guardian:

Keeo an eye out in that for various famous faces past and present including a young Xia Brookside, Laetitia, Dean Allmark, Frankie Sloan, Ketih Myatt, and an elderly mid 1970s Britihs Lightweight champion Bobby Ryan celebrating a round numbered Birthday. 

 

This was supposed to be a series on British Wrestlers on The Guardian's YouTube Channel, but unfortunately AFAIK only one other was made - the late lamented Carl Davies aka Karl Kramer (aka the bigger one out of The Barbarians who wore orange judo ghis and lost to Big Daddy and Marty Jones on ITV in 1988.)

 

Edited October 2, 2023 by David Mantell

[Arthur B. Funky]

On 10/1/2023 at 9:33 PM, Statto said:

Later known as Kerry Cabrero?

The very same.

 

[Statto]

Just a guess - only became aware of Kerry at the tail end of his career but assumed he'd been around that long and could imagine him doing a surf gimmick!

[Arthur B. Funky]

On 10/5/2023 at 10:46 PM, Statto said:

Just a guess - only became aware of Kerry at the tail end of his career but assumed he'd been around that long and could imagine him doing a surf gimmick!

The WOW gig was around the time he started training at Hammerlock, but wanted the extra cash & was single ... could bog off to Blackpool or wherever on a "tour" to improve.  Had a chat with 90% of the workers on that night I watched ... only Karl Kramer was reluctant to discuss ANYTHING, & was bubbled by my then GF for not being a viking or even Scandinavian.  He told her to fuck off & skulked back to the dressing room.

Took me ages to tell her to fuck off though ... she was a costly mistake.

 

[David Mantell]

On 10/10/2023 at 10:37 PM, Arthur B. Funky said:

The WOW gig was around the time he started training at Hammerlock, but wanted the extra cash & was single ... could bog off to Blackpool or wherever on a "tour" to improve.  Had a chat with 90% of the workers on that night I watched ... only Karl Kramer was reluctant to discuss ANYTHING, & was bubbled by my then GF for not being a viking or even Scandinavian.  He told her to fuck off & skulked back to the dressing room.

Took me ages to tell her to fuck off though ... she was a costly mistake.

 

Well done Karl RIP. I met him a good few times and he was a lovely bloke. Plus he was the first in a series of people to give the Dirtbike Kid exactly what he deserved.

If I hadn't already posted it above, I'd post Karl's 2011 video for the Guardian.  So here instead is a young Karl in his one and only ITV appearance from 1988

 

Edited November 1, 2023 by David Mantell

[David Mantell]

Edited November 1, 2023 by David Mantell

[David Mantell]

Good title match from 1993 - World Heavy Middleweight Championship Chic Cullen (defending World champion) Vs Danny Collins (challenger, reigning British champion and World champion in the weight division below, Middleweight, since beating Owen Hart for the vacant title two years earlier at the same venue.)

Spoiler

Cullen would go on to hold his title until retiring in 2002; the following year he and Rollerball Rocco held a tournament for a new champion, won by Bryan Danielson. Collins would hold onto both his titles until 1996 when- by then Dirty Dan Collins- he vacated the World Middleweight title (Rumble Promotions held a tournament won by a young James Mason) and then gave up the British H-Mid title after beating Alan Kilby for the British Light Heavyweight title - Kilby got it back in 1997.

 

[David Mantell]

Another 1993 poster.  Featuring Kamala for no reason than he had posed for a photo with Mongolian Mauler (American-born Peter Flowers) although Kamala did of course wrestle over here a decade earlier as the Mongolian Mauler.

Edited November 6, 2023 by David Mantell

[davertfnewman]

3 hours ago, David Mantell said:

Another 1993 poster.  Featuring Kamala for no reason than he had posed for a photo with Mongolian Mauler (American-born Peter Flowers) although Kamala did of course wrestle over here a decade earlier as the Mongolian Mauler.

I'm pretty sure I had a Cannock version of that for the Prince of Wales Theatre show. Certainly remember it for Linda Lusardi. Isn't the Kamala there Ben Peacock?

[David Mantell]

16 hours ago, davertfnewman said:

I'm pretty sure I had a Cannock version of that for the Prince of Wales Theatre show. Certainly remember it for Linda Lusardi. Isn't the Kamala there Ben Peacock?

I'll take your word for it, clearly he's a better Kamala impersonator than Stan Frazier!

Peter Flowers worked A LOT of promotions in the 90s around the world including WCW and WWE. It would have been quite easy for him to have crossed paths with the real Jim Harris somewhere on his travels - possibly prior to Kamala's 1992-1993 WWF run.

Moondog Rex may well have been the real Randy Colley - he worked for the CWA n Germany in the mid 80s ...

... As indeed did Moondog King a few years earlier:

 

Edited November 7, 2023 by David Mantell

[davertfnewman]

I remember seeing Moondog Rex in the programmes, but instead of the torn-up jeans he was just wearing black trunks and knee pads alongside the heavy boots, still had the bone, though. More of a wrestler look for him, but still with the gimmick.

[David Mantell]

4 hours ago, davertfnewman said:

I remember seeing Moondog Rex in the programmes, but instead of the torn-up jeans he was just wearing black trunks and knee pads alongside the heavy boots, still had the bone, though. More of a wrestler look for him, but still with the gimmick.

You'd be surprised who wrestled on the Old School German/Austrian Wrestling circuit - pre-patriotic, heel phase one Sgt Slaughter (yes the real one not the early  '00s tribute act) juggled not only on the one hand being managed in the WWF by the Grand Wizard to World title bouts with Backlund and the alley fight with Pat Patterson and on the other hand  being JCP NWA World Tag Team Champion with Don Kernodle, but also with his third hand travelling to Germany in 1982 and 1983 to challenge Big Otto for his CWA belt:

 

 

 

Edited November 7, 2023 by David Mantell

[TibBo]

Not sure where the best place to post this is, but I have just found that they are replaying highlights of World of Sport on itv4

[JNLister]

3 minutes ago, TibBo said:

Not sure where the best place to post this is, but I have just found that they are replaying highlights of World of Sport on itv4

It's a series they did of 10-minute clip shows of different elements of World of Sport, including this episode on wrestling. It gets shown fairly frequently as it's designed as a filler whenever they have a 50-minute show in a one-hour slot, or similar.