Isn't it amazing how time flies? You're pottering along with life then one day look up - and realise that you haven't posted in ages. To make matters worse, you have no bloody idea what to write...
After a bit of frantic casting about I found something I'd been meaning to do for a while. Bacon officially saved.
Today I'm going to be sharing my latest scanning efforts - efforts definitely being the right word - with some pics from the May/June 1968 issue of The Ring Wrestling.
I hope you like them. And if your mum or dad happen to be in any of them, drop me a line, or even if you saw these guys in the flesh back in the day, I'd love to hear from you.
If you want a really good demonstration of how much the world of 1968 differs from ours, it would be the article snappily titled "Freaks Opened Up Fresh Mat Vistas!
All I can say to that is "Um. Okay"
If wrestling stopped paying the bills then "Ape Man" Jack Adam could have a good career in professional Gurning.
Ferenc Holuban - The Man without A Neck. Except he clearly has a neck.
Look, it's right there under his chin.
Now that's a bit harsh.
Next is a profile of rising star Dewey Robertson.
Sweet Daddy Siki was still wrestling into the 1990s!
Back to the weirder side of grappling now, with a gimmick that would be sued into oblivion these days.
Note the all-important extra "t" - was that enough to fend off the lawyers in 1968?
I wonder if he got sick of the chants of "Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na-Na - Batman!"
The Battman moves in for the kill.
Here's a quote from the article:
"Maybe it's kind of corny" he says "but I want the kids these days to know right from wrong. I want them to have someone to look up to. Youngsters should be taught that evil is wrong, that it doesn't pay. It doesn't pay in athletics and it doesn't pay in everyday life. If I can keep one child from going down the wrong road, then I'll consider my life a success I'm really serious about that. This Batman image is a good one to follow and I only hope I can do it justice."
Yep. It really was a different world back then. The line between good guys and bad guys was a lot clearer, for starters.
More new talent next.
Babe Buetner - model, secretary and pro wrestler.
Tell me who you think the bloke in this next pinup reminds you of.
It can't be just me that thought "Bloody hell. A young John Lennon!"
I've never heard of Taffy Jenkins but Lady Caroline sounds familiar.
French?
There's a lot of tag-team action in this issue, starting with dastardly Prussians The Von Stiegers
Looking arrogant and Germanic and stuff.
And about to give somebody a serious case of bellyache.
This post is getting a bit long so I'll wrap up for now then post some more tomorrow.
While I'm at it, can anybody recommend a cheap, idiot proof, non-shitty scanner?
That's all folks.
Oh my goodness, these are such funny photos. My sister and I used to watch American pro wrestling back in the 70s. We strip down to T shirts and underwear, give ourselves a good wedgie, and simulate all the wrestling moves Andre the Giant, The Sheik, The Fabulous Freebirds, and Mr. Fuji were doing. Then, in the 90s, my twins went through a wrestling phase and I thought I was going to lose my mind. For them, it was Ric Flair, Randy Savage, Abdullah the Butcher, Edge, Stone Cold Steve Austin, The Rock, and Rashiki. Oh, and occasionally some women.
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked them Helena. I must confess to occasionally stripping down to my kid-sized underpants and a pair of wellies and playing at being a wrestler too. In my case it was "Bomber" Pat Roach and Marty Jones I was pretending to be. Then later on, Kerry Von Erich and Ric Flair once I discovered the US stuff.
DeleteHow me and my brother never put one another in hospital I have no idea.
1968 was about ten years past my wrestling fandom days. Antonio Rocca, Killer Kowalski, The Graham Brothers, Haystack Calhoun, Dory Funk were some of the headliners then. If I'm not mistaken, Happy Humphrey was the heaviest wrestler ever, weighing in at over 700 pounds.
ReplyDeleteI've heard of Happy Humphrey. Was it him where he was wrestling another super-super heavyweight and the entire ring toppled over to one side?
DeleteHow on earth would you have a match with a guy that big? You're never going to get him off his feet and if he gets on top of you, the match is over and you're leaving the arena in an envelope.
Love all old/new wrestling posts. I must be a closet 'big kid'. Don't actually know any of these people. For me, I used to imagine I was Mark Lewin (US wrestler in Oz. in the 60's/70's - sort of a John Cena type hero). I used to practice his sleeper hold. Very dramatic, because the opponent 'went out cold' and only the supposed neck wrench by Lewin could snap them out of it. Great theatre. Also he used to go to my local beach and I used to sit nearby. It was hero worship all right!
ReplyDeleteGlad you liked it Neil. I did get chance to see Mark Lewin on British tv years back. One of the channels was showing ICW at stupid o'clock and i'd stay up to watch it.
DeleteThis is when Mark Lewin was one of Kevin Sullivan's posse and so he was this utter loony in the ring and out.
Don't recognize any of these guys, but we used to go to Tunbridge Wells assembly rooms to watch the likes of Big Daddy, Giant Haystacks, Catweasle, Mick McManus and all sorts of other lumbering "athletes", back in the '80s.
ReplyDeleteI remember seeing Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks back in the day, plus a few other guys & gals you might also remember - Fit Finlay, Johnny Saint, Kendo Nagasaki, Rusty Blair, Nicky Monroe, Amazing Kung Fu, Danny Boy Collins...
DeleteI keep meaning to put up some UK Wrestling pics one of these days.
My grandmother Marylou Roddy was a wrestler in the 60's in Charlotte, NC. Sadly, she passed away a few weeks ago and in my grief (as she was my best friend!) I googled her name to see the obituary that I wrote in the local newspaper and to my absolute delight I found your photo of her! I'd seen one wrestling shot of her that she had an 8X10 black and white physical copy but it was not the same pose. It has brought much joy to me to see her in all her glory in her young years - three years before I was even born! I was able to include your scanned photo in her guestbook! Thank you so much for scanning these photos and bringing happiness to my grief. http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/gastongazette/obituary.aspx?pid=186988374
ReplyDeleteI'm happy that you found something here to make you happy.
DeleteHi, Lady Caroline happens to be my mum. She sadly passed away in 2012 from cancer and im desperately trying to find a copy of this magazine. Do you happen to know where I could purchase one. It gas to have Lady Caroline in though. I'm so proud of my mum and really hope that I can fibd this copy somewhere. Thank you. Jo
ReplyDeleteI found my copy on Ebay years ago, so you may be lucky. I hope so,
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