Merzbow Posted May 4 Share Posted May 4 You'd almost have to think there are links in Mexico, I do remember hearing of two indie guys being killed a year or two back but my knowledge of that area is seriously limited. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted May 4 Paid Members Share Posted May 4 Oh for sure. I don't know how organised it is, but there have been luchadores caught up and murdered in cartel violence, shows cancelled due to threats by gangsters, and I'm sure there's a lot of protection rackets going on there. There's at least a couple of very high profile luchadores rumoured to have serious connections, and cartel members moonlighting as luchadores, and Vampiro has claimed to have been kidnapped and been caught up in all kinds of gang warfare - take that with all the caveats that "Vampiro has claimed" usually requires, though he was the leader of the Mexico City branch of the Guardian Angels, so I wouldn't be surprised if he has seen some shit. Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NeverYield Posted May 6 Share Posted May 6 (edited) Yes the Mexico scene would definitely be surrounded with skullduggery, I read a little while back a Mexican wrestler busted with drugs in his gym bag in the locker room, drugs to sell not take, i forget the name though, but yeah the cartel stuff over there is embedded in society As for the five families like another poster mentioned the match fixing element is severely diminished with pro wrestling, but I've read of some real liberties being taken by promoters and those involved behind the scenes in the territories era, and of course you've got guys like Johnny K9 who has been on some serious charges in his time and involved in crime at a very heavy level Wrestling is such a character laden industry that at times is quite shocking in many ways that you wouldn't be surprised to learn someone was at it in some way, and you're obviously going to have guys who know people in certain circles through the sale of steroids and or course recreationals. I'll dig out some old books at some stage, there's a few names of wrestlers dotted about who used to be enforcers for certain firms but until then grappling with history has some good reads on some characters from East london, but its further back than the Soho scene and Bert assatari its about the 1880s and 90s Edited May 6 by NeverYield Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Reverend Posted May 7 Author Share Posted May 7 (edited) On 5/3/2024 at 5:08 PM, BomberPat said: I am writing something at the moment about wrestling connections to Soho, and there's a few wrestlers that were involved in protection rackets, and some that claimed closer connections to the Krays, but how much of that is genuine and how much is typical old London bullshitters doing the, "you knew where you stood with their lot, they were proper villains" routine is unclear. Be good to read this when it's done. One chap I personally knew who was linked to both was Mickey Muldoon aka Mike Freeman. He trained at Dale Martin's gym regularly before becoming the most prolific pornographer in Soho in the 60's and 80's - and stabbing one of the Kray's enforcers 89 times in the process! Edited May 7 by The Reverend Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted May 7 Paid Members Share Posted May 7 44 minutes ago, The Reverend said: Be good to read this when it's done. One chap I personally knew who was linked to both was Mickey Muldoon aka Mike Freeman. He trained at Dale Martin's gym regularly before becoming the most prolific pornographer in Soho in the 60's and 80's - and stabbing one of the Kray's enforcers 89 in the process! I actually haven't encountered him yet - do you of any (ideally work-safe!) places I can find out more about him? I'm trying to avoid spending too much time on the Krays and gangland stuff, though it becomes inevitable. I don't want to be the kind of wanker that treats violent criminals as glamorous celebrities, so I'm trying to reduce their part in all this to background colour, but it's a big meandering mess of a story already, so who knows how it'll end up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Your Fight Site Posted May 7 Paid Members Share Posted May 7 1 hour ago, The Reverend said: Be good to read this when it's done. One chap I personally knew who was linked to both was Mickey Muldoon aka Mike Freeman. He trained at Dale Martin's gym regularly before becoming the most prolific pornographer in Soho in the 60's and 80's - and stabbing one of the Kray's enforcers 89 in the process! What happened to him in the ‘70s…? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merzbow Posted May 7 Share Posted May 7 Well bad knob ache? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Reverend Posted May 7 Author Share Posted May 7 46 minutes ago, Your Fight Site said: What happened to him in the ‘70s…? That's when he was doing 10 years for the stabbing charge. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Reverend Posted May 7 Author Share Posted May 7 1 hour ago, BomberPat said: I actually haven't encountered him yet - do you of any (ideally work-safe!) places I can find out more about him? I'm trying to avoid spending too much time on the Krays and gangland stuff, though it becomes inevitable. I don't want to be the kind of wanker that treats violent criminals as glamorous celebrities, so I'm trying to reduce their part in all this to background colour, but it's a big meandering mess of a story already, so who knows how it'll end up. Mike kindly let me write a piece on him for a magazine before he passed, but it doesn't touch on his wrestling. Adrian Street's autobiographies (Volumes 2 and 3) both feature a bit more about Mike and wrestling as the two were friends and trained together (as well as doing some other business activities)Â Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted May 7 Paid Members Share Posted May 7 5 minutes ago, The Reverend said:  Adrian Street's autobiographies (Volumes 2 and 3) both feature a bit more about Mike and wrestling as the two were friends and trained together (as well as doing some other business activities) Oh good, a reliable source! 🤣 I'll have a look what I can find, thanks for pointing me in the right direction Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members Lion_of_the_Midlands Posted May 7 Paid Members Share Posted May 7 8 minutes ago, BomberPat said: good, a reliable source Are there any wrestler autobiographies that are reliable? Most belong in the fiction section and some like Hogan's belong in the fantasy section. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members air_raid Posted May 7 Paid Members Share Posted May 7 1 minute ago, Lion_of_the_Midlands said: Are there any wrestler autobiographies that are reliable? Most belong in the fiction section and some like Hogan's belong in the fantasy section. Mick Foley's first was probably the one that had the least bollocks in. Bret came pretty close to zero bullshit too outside of self-aggrandization (which you surely expect) and little white lies, like his favourite story about flying from Detroit to Indiana for a show in South Bend to wrestle Randy Savage to "save" the show which had "been left without a main event"... when actually the main event was Boss Man vs Rick Rude in a cage match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paid Members BomberPat Posted May 7 Paid Members Share Posted May 7 1 minute ago, Lion_of_the_Midlands said: Are there any wrestler autobiographies that are reliable? Most belong in the fiction section and some like Hogan's belong in the fantasy section. Very few. Adrian's are spectacular, though, far beyond the usual self-aggrandising bollocks, across something like seven volumes, but they're hard not to love, kind of like the man himself. His first book, long before the multi-volume versions you can buy on Amazon now, was printed exclusively on bright pink paper. Great gimmick, but the quality was awful and it just fell apart. I don't know if there are any that I would consider genuinely reliable, but it comes down to taking what you want/need from each one. At one end of the spectrum you have stuff like Mick Foley's first book where he comes across as reasonably honest and not interested in excessive self-promotion, and at the other end you have Hogan's, and Atholl Oakeley's book, in which he claims to have wrestled a nine foot tall man, to have discovered Maurice Tillett on the side of the road, and to have wrestled in front of a live audience of one million people. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Reverend Posted May 7 Author Share Posted May 7 14 minutes ago, Lion_of_the_Midlands said: Are there any wrestler autobiographies that are reliable? Most belong in the fiction section and some like Hogan's belong in the fantasy section. Weirdly I suppose Dynamite's. Everything in it you can take as mainly gospel I suppose as he makes no hiding of the fact that he was a 5* c**t. His appraisal of other wrestlers is fairly spot on, praising the likes of Bret, Terry Funk and calling out Hogan in his lack of ability (but still praising him for his persona) He does praise himself too, but to be fair I guess he was an innovator and great worker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperBacon Posted May 7 Share Posted May 7 Brets is 100% accurate as I can well believe him being that horny every night. Top shagger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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