BBC 4 show on Wrestling tomorrow

Losty Dublin

Tomorrow night at 9PM sees a documentary on the old Uk wrestling scene. It will delve behind the scenes and features interviews and footage of the many people who made the shows work, both in the ring and behind the scene. For the older fan it will be nostalgia; for the younger it will give an insight on a world of wrestling not seen on TV in almost 25 years.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01p96ly

Mr.Nice Guy

I watched this and enjoyed it. Some of the comments from the old ladies on the heels were hilarious.

rovert

Watch this ASAP as it will likely get taken down FAST:

Enjoyed that. The McManus and Pallo match was until a few months a holy grail of British Wrestling. No one there was a film of it in existence.

Stereomaniac

Well that was quite enjoyable. I was able to watch most of that because I left it playing in this tab and watched it during the ads of Raw. Adrian Street (is that his name?) seems interesting.

Losty Dublin

Stereomaniac wrote: »

Well that was quite enjoyable. I was able to watch most of that because I left it playing in this tab and watched it during the ads of Raw. Adrian Street (is that his name?) seems interesting.

Adrian Street was doing the gay/straight/bi allusion gimmick for years. He had a school and mail order shop going for a while as well. I gather that he still works the odd indie booking even though he is into his 70s!

rovert

Feel the need to highlight this match as clips of it are shown in the documentary and it is one of the more interesting matches I have ever seen. This before the cool heel, unlikable babyfaces, moral ambiguity and terrible commentary etc were a fixture in Wrestling:

"The Caribbean Sunshine Boys" Dave Bond/Johnny Kincaid v. Pete Roberts/Kung Fu WOS 10/8/1977

Discovered this gem on the Segunda Caida blog a few years ago. Formed during a time of great civil unrest and racial tension the Caribbean Sunshine Boys were one of the most controversial tag teams seen in British wrestling they first appeared together in the Autumn of 1977. After one ringside riot too many and controversy in the national press they were forced to split up in the Spring of 1978. One thing I really enjoy about the team here is their fearless and unabashed heel work here in the gentlemanly context of World of Sport where cheating is BLOODY CHEATING. The following match is their only appearance on Television:

Genuine real world heat in this match.

ATMatm

You don't get good old race heat like you used to. Awesome match. Also, the story of how Johhny Kincaid got his gimmick/hometown is GOLD.

Losty Dublin

ATMatm wrote: »

You don't get good old race heat like you used to. Awesome match..

Heat full stop. Most of today's guys need to watch and learn the older guys and how they vexed up crowds with a fist or a dirty look and no run ins or anything.

rovert

Recommended this on the podcast thread before. The latest (timely) episode:

Episode 33 of the Wrestling Culture podcast! Dave and Dylan are joined by wrestling historian and author John Lister to discuss all things British wrestling. Tons of things covered including the new BBC wrestling documentary, the Mick McManus/Jackie Pallo feud, the greatness of Jim Breaks, the unique British wrestling business model, Joint Promotions as a quasi-NWA, the Observer HoF candidacy of Big Daddy, quality modern British wrestlers and tons of other stuff. I can't do this show justice with a write up, so accept this show as our holiday gift to you and give it a listen.

http://www.talkshoe.com/tc/112658

To me at least John Lister is the foremost authority on British Wrestling and one of the best Wrestling writers around.