Category: History

‘Rumble’ aired on Britain’s biggest network station, BBC 1, in an early evening slot on Saturday evenings. However, Rumble was not a wrestling show, but a comedy drama.   As a comedy it was as poor as expected from a mainstream show in the era: virtually all the humour came in the form of weak…

While several US territories thrived on recruiting NCAA wrestling champions, a surprisingly low number of amateur titleholders went on to have professional careers in the UK. This is partly because the pro style stemmed more from submission-based Lancashire/catch wrestling, though it’s also possible that with amateur wrestling much lower profile on these shores (it’s virtually…

While several 1980s exposes of British wrestling are well known, including Jackie Pallo’s autobiography and Tony Walsh’s spilling of secrets to The Sun newspaper, there was in fact a much earlier and more in-depth public look at how the business operated. It takes place in a documentary which is floating around the British tape trading…

This week marks the 10th anniversary of the third and final show put on by Jason ‘Dirt Bike Kid’ Harrison in Walthamstow, arguably the first events specifically aimed at the UK’s ‘smark’ generation. Though they were far from spectacular business successes, many of today’s internet-based promotions and stars have their roots in the three ‘European…

Tony Earnshaw’s wonderful British Wrestling Archive site (relaunching at https://www.britishwrestlingresults.com/ in 2024) has compiled a near-complete career record of Britain’s most famous wrestler, Big Daddy. It throws up some intriguing statistics about his career.   The first thing that leaps out is his extremely heavy workload. Covering July 1975 (when he returned to action after a…

To understand the roots of the British style of wrestling, you must first be familiar with the different rules and customs which created that style. Aside from Mexico’s Lucha Libre, British wrestling was once the most distinctive style of grappling in the world. While some of the in-ring routines would seem outlandishly unrealistic to those…

In the age of YouTube and Twitter, it only takes a moment to share or search for even the most obscure wrestling clip. But before the Internet age, there was a time when some truly amazing or notable events took place yet few fans ever saw them. Those who did would often be left with…

The best of WWF American Wrestling. WrestleMania, SummerSlam, Survivor Series, Royal Rumble, UK Rampage and many more specialist releases. Available only through Silver Vision, the only distributor of World Wrestling Federation videos. So if it’s bodyslams, side suplexes, clotheslines, dropkicks and powerslams that you’re after, increase your library of WWF videos with some of these…

WWE’s move to BT Sports ends a three decade relationship with Sky. John Lister explores the rise and fall of the broadcaster’s longest running programming.   Sky’s WWF coverage was not actually the first time American wrestling appeared on British screens. In the early 1960s, several areas of the country including Westminster, Southwark and parts…

While both are performances of a kind, it might seem as if the storytelling and gags of stand-up comedy are a world apart from the simulated combat sport of pro wrestling. But three men who’ve worked in both worlds tell FSM the two professions have more in common than you think. Danny Garnell is a…