0:00:15 > 0:00:17'Hello again, grapple fans. Good afternoon,
0:00:17 > 0:00:20'and welcome to another freestyle wrestling session.'
0:00:20 > 0:00:22'And a splash!'
0:00:23 > 0:00:27Britain was once a place where villains wore silver capes,
0:00:27 > 0:00:28the good guys were faking it
0:00:28 > 0:00:32and the most masculine man in the country was called Shirley.
0:00:34 > 0:00:38At 4pm every Saturday, the UK was in thrall to the wrestling.
0:00:40 > 0:00:45When four o'clock came, for a lot of people, we were their heroes.
0:00:45 > 0:00:49Professional wrestling started out as a violent sport
0:00:49 > 0:00:51before cleaning up its act.
0:00:51 > 0:00:54Hitting its heyday in the '60s,
0:00:54 > 0:00:57wresting regularly drew TV audiences of 16 million.
0:01:00 > 0:01:02It played out like a soap opera,
0:01:02 > 0:01:05the quintessential good guys, like Big Daddy,
0:01:05 > 0:01:08would engage in epic battles with the baddies...
0:01:08 > 0:01:13People loved Big Daddy. He was one of the big figures of the 1980s.
0:01:13 > 0:01:16He wasn't a brilliant wrestler because he was more fuelled
0:01:16 > 0:01:20by Best Bitter and pies than he was by exercise and gym.
0:01:20 > 0:01:24The baddies were Mick McManus, or the masked men, like Kendo Nagasaki,
0:01:24 > 0:01:28who would never reveal their true identities until they lost.
0:01:28 > 0:01:30The mythology was that one of them
0:01:30 > 0:01:33was a very prominent member of the royal family,
0:01:33 > 0:01:37so I used to think, "Who could it be? Is it Prince Philip?"
0:01:37 > 0:01:41The fans loved it and bought into it a bit too much.
0:01:41 > 0:01:43If they didn't like someone,
0:01:43 > 0:01:45they would hit them in the back and think nothing
0:01:45 > 0:01:48and we've even had cigarettes stubbed out on our backs.
0:01:48 > 0:01:53Once, some chap come up and stuck a foot-and-mouth injection in the back of my bottom.
0:01:53 > 0:01:58But by the '80s, wrestling seemed out of step with popular culture -
0:01:58 > 0:01:59the bubble burst.
0:01:59 > 0:02:03The sport of wrestling is being counted out on television tomorrow
0:02:03 > 0:02:04after 33 years.
0:02:05 > 0:02:10This is the story of the rise and fall of professional wrestling -
0:02:10 > 0:02:12the champions, the characters
0:02:12 > 0:02:14and, of course, the rabid grannies.
0:02:14 > 0:02:16SHE SHOUTS WILDLY
0:02:18 > 0:02:21Greetings, grapple fans.
0:02:21 > 0:02:22SHE GROWLS
0:02:29 > 0:02:30'Good afternoon, everybody,
0:02:30 > 0:02:33'and welcome to this real humdinger of a professional wrestling session,
0:02:33 > 0:02:36'here from the Wembley Town Hall in London.'
0:02:41 > 0:02:461962, a smoky Wembley filled to the rafters.
0:02:47 > 0:02:49'Jackie Pallo versus Mick McManus -
0:02:49 > 0:02:52'this bout that everybody's been waiting to see.'
0:02:52 > 0:02:56The stage is set for an epic battle between two rivals,
0:02:56 > 0:02:58a grudge match.
0:02:58 > 0:03:00BELL DINGS
0:03:00 > 0:03:03They drew 22 million people to one bout that they had,
0:03:03 > 0:03:06which was almost half of Great Britain.
0:03:06 > 0:03:08The rivalry was talked about by the whole nation
0:03:08 > 0:03:11and this was their first high-profile contest.
0:03:11 > 0:03:12For the following seven days,
0:03:12 > 0:03:15it seemed like the whole country had seen the wrestling.
0:03:15 > 0:03:17You never met anyone who hadn't seen it.
0:03:17 > 0:03:20Everyone knew what was going on, everyone was discussing it.
0:03:20 > 0:03:22'And now, Mick McManus.'
0:03:23 > 0:03:25In the right corner was Mick McManus,
0:03:25 > 0:03:28one of wrestling's most famous villains,
0:03:28 > 0:03:32instantly recognisable because of his Dracula-style black hairdo.
0:03:33 > 0:03:37Mick, superb. Mick were all action, there were no mincing.
0:03:37 > 0:03:41When the bell rang, Mick came out full of it, you know, like,
0:03:41 > 0:03:43and the crowd loved that.
0:03:43 > 0:03:47As soon as he entered the ring, the fans absolutely hated him.
0:03:47 > 0:03:49He was the man that we loved to hate.
0:03:49 > 0:03:51'Mick McManus.'
0:03:51 > 0:03:53AUDIENCE BOOS
0:03:55 > 0:03:57'There's Jackie Pallo.
0:03:57 > 0:04:02'The refusal of McManus to take on this boy from Highbury...'
0:04:02 > 0:04:07On his left, his arch nemesis - Jackie "Mr TV" Pallo -
0:04:07 > 0:04:08a charismatic figure
0:04:08 > 0:04:11who wore striped trunks and a gold lame jacket.
0:04:11 > 0:04:17Pallo, more flamboyant - the pigtailed, bombastic star from Highbury.
0:04:17 > 0:04:18He was considered sensational
0:04:18 > 0:04:22just because he wore a ribbon in his hair and wore striped trunks.
0:04:22 > 0:04:25'..Mr TV, Jackie Pallo from Highbury.'
0:04:25 > 0:04:27AUDIENCE BOOS
0:04:27 > 0:04:31He presented himself a little glamorous,
0:04:31 > 0:04:35he'd a little bit of glitter on and he used to waggle his head.
0:04:37 > 0:04:41When they come, "Go on, Pallo, you're rubbish,"
0:04:41 > 0:04:44"Yes, but you've paid to come and see me." All that stuff, like.
0:04:44 > 0:04:49'..versus Mick McManus in the black trunks with the short widow's peak.
0:04:49 > 0:04:54'Pallo dominates. Now this is the needle match of all needle matches.
0:04:54 > 0:04:58'Pallo has been trying to get this southern area welterweight champion,
0:04:58 > 0:05:02'McManus, to agree to this bout for a long time, without success.'
0:05:02 > 0:05:05Their dislike of one another was notorious.
0:05:05 > 0:05:09This was stoked by promoters eager to maximise their appeal.
0:05:09 > 0:05:11'Pallo chops now with the forearm smash.
0:05:11 > 0:05:13'If he starts that forearm smash...
0:05:13 > 0:05:16'And an attempted leg dive on the bell and McManus won't stop!
0:05:16 > 0:05:18'And Stan Stone really trying to separate these two men.
0:05:18 > 0:05:23'Oh, this is going to be a humdinger!'
0:05:23 > 0:05:25All in all, there were six high-profile grudge matches
0:05:25 > 0:05:27fought over the next 11 years.
0:05:27 > 0:05:29They really didn't like each other.
0:05:29 > 0:05:31They loved each other in the ring,
0:05:31 > 0:05:34because it meant they were top of the bill
0:05:34 > 0:05:36and both of them were earning great money.
0:05:36 > 0:05:39And they brought each other up, if you like.
0:05:39 > 0:05:42But in the end, what had become a kind of showbiz thing
0:05:42 > 0:05:45really developed into a real thing.
0:05:48 > 0:05:50'Both men just going to slug it out from now on.
0:05:50 > 0:05:52'They won't have time to think... '
0:05:52 > 0:05:55This match between McManus and Pallo
0:05:55 > 0:05:59marked the start of professional wrestling's golden age.
0:06:02 > 0:06:05It was the seamless blend of sport and entertainment
0:06:05 > 0:06:08which captured the imagination of the public.
0:06:11 > 0:06:14As a sport, it called for strength and agility.
0:06:14 > 0:06:18But as an entertainment, it called for the skills of an actor.
0:06:18 > 0:06:23Wrestling's origins are appropriately in the music hall.
0:06:27 > 0:06:30It was at the turn of the 20th century
0:06:30 > 0:06:35that wrestling was first added to the bottom of the music hall bill.
0:06:35 > 0:06:39By 1904, it was the most talked about sport in Britain.
0:06:41 > 0:06:43Wrestling's been going a long time, it has.
0:06:43 > 0:06:46It goes right back to the music hall days
0:06:46 > 0:06:50when they used to roll a mat out on the stage.
0:06:50 > 0:06:54They'd have it in the paper, that there's £5 or £20
0:06:54 > 0:06:58for any young man that can pin his shoulders to the mat for three
0:06:58 > 0:07:02and there were always young, strong lads working in t'building trades.
0:07:03 > 0:07:08From this Barnum-style sideshow, it progressed to the ring.
0:07:08 > 0:07:10The first official World Heavyweight
0:07:10 > 0:07:14was George Hackenschmidt, The Russian Lion.
0:07:14 > 0:07:16But there was little drama to his fights,
0:07:16 > 0:07:18because Hackenschmidt was so good.
0:07:18 > 0:07:21The Great George Hackenschmidt decided that
0:07:21 > 0:07:24since he could beat most of the opponents around legitimately
0:07:24 > 0:07:27in about two minutes, this wasn't a great spectacle.
0:07:27 > 0:07:30Hackenschmidt realised he needed help.
0:07:30 > 0:07:32Enter promoter CB Cochran,
0:07:32 > 0:07:37a music hall impresario who began to teach him the art of showmanship.
0:07:38 > 0:07:41The bouts started to last a lot longer, with supporting bouts,
0:07:41 > 0:07:45and that's where modern professional wrestling was born.
0:07:47 > 0:07:50By the 1930s, the sport was everywhere
0:07:50 > 0:07:53but it had mutated into an All-In form of wrestling...
0:07:55 > 0:08:00..a free-for-all of biting, gouging and chair hurling.
0:08:00 > 0:08:02This no holds barred style of wrestling
0:08:02 > 0:08:05wasn't licensed or controlled by anybody.
0:08:07 > 0:08:10It was a very macho man affair,
0:08:10 > 0:08:15you know, like, it'd been labelled "the grunt and groan game."
0:08:15 > 0:08:17Probably, it meant good for that period.
0:08:17 > 0:08:20They used to sweat in the holds
0:08:20 > 0:08:25and hang on, and the crowd responded according to their efforts.
0:08:29 > 0:08:31Weapons were part of the proceedings
0:08:31 > 0:08:34and you could even be kicked in the testicles.
0:08:36 > 0:08:39Most matches ended in brawls inside and outside the ring.
0:08:41 > 0:08:44There was eye gouging and ear biting,
0:08:44 > 0:08:47there was no national structure - the rules weren't clear.
0:08:47 > 0:08:51It was called All-In wrestling or Catch As Catch Can wrestling.
0:08:51 > 0:08:54Nobody was really clear what was going on.
0:08:54 > 0:08:58It was a long series of very successful one-off bouts,
0:08:58 > 0:09:02but it didn't have any future. There was no great brain behind it.
0:09:05 > 0:09:07Due to this excessive violence,
0:09:07 > 0:09:11London County Council banned pro wrestling in the late 1930s,
0:09:11 > 0:09:16leaving the business in rough shape just before the outbreak of World War II.
0:09:23 > 0:09:28But in post-war Britain, Admiral Lord Mountevans would sail to the rescue.
0:09:28 > 0:09:31He was about to bring wrestling some much-needed credibility.
0:09:35 > 0:09:39He chaired a House of Lords committee to clean up the sport.
0:09:39 > 0:09:42It drew up a new set of rules for a good, clean fight
0:09:42 > 0:09:45which still form the backbone of wrestling today.
0:09:45 > 0:09:47BELL DINGS
0:09:51 > 0:09:55This is the main start to a match. This would be the important lock-up,
0:09:55 > 0:09:58where you can push the gentleman this way, or you can push him this way
0:09:58 > 0:10:02and it's just a way of getting the better of each other wrestler.
0:10:03 > 0:10:08In this new era, the referee had much more control over proceedings.
0:10:08 > 0:10:10And then once we get onto the ropes,
0:10:10 > 0:10:12the referee would then make you break the hold.
0:10:12 > 0:10:16These rules reinvented wrestling as a more gentlemanly sport.
0:10:16 > 0:10:19We're back to this hold again, the old start position.
0:10:19 > 0:10:21Go for the body slam...
0:10:21 > 0:10:23HE GROANS
0:10:23 > 0:10:26Lord Mountevans was apparently doing for wrestling
0:10:26 > 0:10:29what Queensberry had done for boxing.
0:10:29 > 0:10:31Again, we start with the link-up, as before.
0:10:31 > 0:10:33Take over, I've got his arm locked then.
0:10:33 > 0:10:35That's my arm, I can take it where I want.
0:10:37 > 0:10:41And then the idea is to twist his arm until either he submits
0:10:41 > 0:10:45or some wrestlers are clever and they can get out of this move.
0:10:45 > 0:10:49But in reality, Lord Mountevans was merely a figurehead.
0:10:49 > 0:10:52The real brains, and the brawn, behind the plan
0:10:52 > 0:10:56was an amateur wrestler called Norman Morrell.
0:10:56 > 0:11:01Norman Morrell was a very skilful promoter.
0:11:01 > 0:11:06Norman had been a former British amateur wrestling champion
0:11:06 > 0:11:09and gone to the 1936 Olympics in Berlin.
0:11:09 > 0:11:12I don't know that he met Adolf Hitler, but he were there.
0:11:12 > 0:11:17Morrell used the influence of Lord Mountevans to rebrand wrestling,
0:11:17 > 0:11:21transporting it from the gutter back to the mainstream.
0:11:21 > 0:11:23It was very much in their interests
0:11:23 > 0:11:26to show that theirs was a new product,
0:11:26 > 0:11:28a new product and an improved product.
0:11:28 > 0:11:32Next, Morrell joined forces with other regional promoters
0:11:32 > 0:11:34to form a cartel.
0:11:34 > 0:11:37They were about to build a wrestling empire
0:11:37 > 0:11:40under the name Joint Promotions.
0:11:40 > 0:11:46Their success we kind of see as the beginning of 25 golden years,
0:11:46 > 0:11:521952-53, when wrestling, professional wrestling,
0:11:52 > 0:11:54absolutely peaked in this country.
0:11:58 > 0:12:01'Can I introduce to you, in the blue corner, from London,
0:12:01 > 0:12:06'we have Steven Logan.'
0:12:06 > 0:12:08'Masambula.'
0:12:14 > 0:12:16Wrestling now moved from a period
0:12:16 > 0:12:19when it was deemed too unruly and too violent
0:12:19 > 0:12:22to an era when it was socially acceptable.
0:12:22 > 0:12:25And Joint Promotions were in total control.
0:12:27 > 0:12:29And once they had this control,
0:12:29 > 0:12:33they began to manufacture the outcome of matches.
0:12:33 > 0:12:37The main promoters realised that we can't just have a bout
0:12:37 > 0:12:40where one person wins and that was the end of it.
0:12:40 > 0:12:44You had to keep it going, you had to develop the narrative,
0:12:44 > 0:12:48both of the characters and also of who they fought, who they won
0:12:48 > 0:12:51and then someone would come back and beat them
0:12:51 > 0:12:53and so that would carry on.
0:12:53 > 0:12:57'That's a flying chop and a cross press by Wall.
0:12:57 > 0:13:00'Surely it holds him? Yes, there it is.'
0:13:00 > 0:13:03Because of this behind-the-scenes manipulation,
0:13:03 > 0:13:07people have always suspected that wrestling is fake.
0:13:07 > 0:13:13This has always been a critics' question mark.
0:13:13 > 0:13:17I condense it down to this.
0:13:18 > 0:13:22Those people who like professional wrestling,
0:13:22 > 0:13:25no explanation's needed.
0:13:25 > 0:13:33For those who don't like it, any explanation would not be acceptable.
0:13:33 > 0:13:39Amongst the old pros, you're still fairly quiet about it, you know?
0:13:42 > 0:13:46- Why is that?- I don't know. It's like a closed shop.
0:13:46 > 0:13:49Someone who is happy to talk about it
0:13:49 > 0:13:52is professional comedian Will Hodgson.
0:13:52 > 0:13:54He was a wrestler for two years.
0:13:54 > 0:13:57If I learnt one thing from getting in the wrestling rings,
0:13:57 > 0:13:59wrestling is not fake.
0:13:59 > 0:14:02Wrestling, ladies and gentlemen, is fixed...
0:14:02 > 0:14:05LAUGHTER
0:14:05 > 0:14:08There's a big difference. A gulf. A gulf of difference.
0:14:08 > 0:14:11If I put you in the ring with Floyd Mayweather, mate,
0:14:11 > 0:14:14and said "Don't worry about it, I've fixed the fight,
0:14:14 > 0:14:16"lay down in the 12th round,"
0:14:16 > 0:14:21you'd be rightly concerned about the preceding 11 rounds and the damage...
0:14:26 > 0:14:30Despite the fixed result, nothing was rehearsed.
0:14:30 > 0:14:33Wrestlers were still very competitive,
0:14:33 > 0:14:35taking real knocks and real risks.
0:14:37 > 0:14:41Wrestling in Britain was never, ever choreographed.
0:14:41 > 0:14:44In actual fact, if you wanted to get a smash in the face from a wrestler,
0:14:44 > 0:14:47just say to him, "Do you have to rehearse this?"
0:14:47 > 0:14:50We heard that a few times, and I tell you what,
0:14:50 > 0:14:54there's one or two wrestling fans who got to learn the hard way.
0:14:54 > 0:14:59They were absolutely ad-libbed in the ring and that was the key thing
0:14:59 > 0:15:02and that's, in fact, what made them a great wrestler -
0:15:02 > 0:15:06if they could ad-lib well enough to convince you that it was real.
0:15:06 > 0:15:10No matter how spectacular a wrestler was,
0:15:10 > 0:15:12it was up to Joint Promotions who won.
0:15:12 > 0:15:17They were busy creating a soap opera with a simple morality.
0:15:17 > 0:15:21The first thing was to easily identify who you should cheer for
0:15:21 > 0:15:23and who you should boo.
0:15:23 > 0:15:27There were the good guys, or the "blue-eyes", as they were known.
0:15:27 > 0:15:32Frank Rimer was an archetypal blue-eye, blond and good-looking.
0:15:32 > 0:15:36I would be, I suppose, what you would call a blue-eye.
0:15:36 > 0:15:39The villains would tend to knock me around a little bit.
0:15:39 > 0:15:42I would keep to the rule books as much as I could.
0:15:43 > 0:15:47People should know within seconds of clapping eyes on you which one you are.
0:15:47 > 0:15:50A good-looking male would be a blue-eye,
0:15:50 > 0:15:52a nice pretty boy would be a blue-eye.
0:15:52 > 0:15:55I was a goody-goody.
0:15:55 > 0:15:59I wasn't the best-looking guy around.
0:15:59 > 0:16:02Nearly! But I wasn't quite the best-looking guy around.
0:16:02 > 0:16:05And then there were the villains, or the "heels",
0:16:05 > 0:16:09who tended to look a lot harder and flaunt the rules.
0:16:11 > 0:16:14I said to an old, old wrestler one time, Steve Logan,
0:16:14 > 0:16:16I saw him training in the gym
0:16:16 > 0:16:18and he was coming out with some beautiful holds
0:16:18 > 0:16:21and I said, "Steve, why don't you use those holds in the ring?"
0:16:21 > 0:16:23He said, "Look at me, I'm bloody ugly."
0:16:23 > 0:16:27He said, "Doesn't matter what I do in the ring, they still boo me!"
0:16:27 > 0:16:30The evil foreigner heel used to be a classic one,
0:16:30 > 0:16:32or the masked men are usually heels,
0:16:32 > 0:16:34cos you don't trust men with masks on,
0:16:34 > 0:16:37even though masks look really cool.
0:16:37 > 0:16:40They're hiding something and they're up to some dastardly plot.
0:16:40 > 0:16:43The story in the ring would play out
0:16:43 > 0:16:46with the hero initially taking a pounding.
0:16:46 > 0:16:48'They're slowly getting
0:16:48 > 0:16:52'the very life and consciousness suffocated out of them.'
0:16:52 > 0:16:54The referee would then lift the arm
0:16:54 > 0:16:57and it would come down like a rag doll, and on the old days,
0:16:57 > 0:17:00they used to have an old woman from the St John's Ambulance
0:17:00 > 0:17:02would sometimes come on
0:17:02 > 0:17:05and try and revive the wrestler with smelling salts or brandy
0:17:05 > 0:17:08to try and get him out of it,
0:17:08 > 0:17:12but it looked like they were...they might be experiencing brain death.
0:17:12 > 0:17:18'Is the St John's anywhere to be found? St John's...'
0:17:18 > 0:17:23Those old ladies with their handbags completely believed
0:17:23 > 0:17:28he was a very nice man that was being beaten up by a very nasty man
0:17:28 > 0:17:30and they were on the side of the nice man
0:17:30 > 0:17:35and they didn't want him to be hurt. It was incredible theatre.
0:17:35 > 0:17:39In the end, the hero would usually triumph with a last-minute victory.
0:17:39 > 0:17:41Aagh! That's me arm! No, no...
0:17:41 > 0:17:42Any movie you go to,
0:17:42 > 0:17:46you wait for the villain to get his comeuppance at the end.
0:17:46 > 0:17:47I mean, that's what you do!
0:17:50 > 0:17:53The fans didn't care in the end that it was fixed.
0:17:53 > 0:17:55It was like seeing a good play.
0:17:55 > 0:17:58You know they're actors, but you suspend your disbelief.
0:17:58 > 0:18:01It's tough working-class guys
0:18:01 > 0:18:04doing this sort of science fiction comic book pantomime
0:18:04 > 0:18:07and if you're like me, someone who's not good at sport,
0:18:07 > 0:18:09then it's a sport that appeals to you,
0:18:09 > 0:18:12cos it is a sport but it's not really a sport.
0:18:12 > 0:18:16But what did it take to become a champion?
0:18:16 > 0:18:18In a drama scripted by Joint Promotions,
0:18:18 > 0:18:20how did you get to the top?
0:18:28 > 0:18:34One wrestler who climbed the ladder under Joint Promotions was Mick McManus.
0:18:34 > 0:18:36Emerging from the RAF after the war,
0:18:36 > 0:18:41he entered the professional ring for the first time in 1948.
0:18:41 > 0:18:43It was this man who was to become
0:18:43 > 0:18:47the most influential villain, or heel, of all time.
0:18:47 > 0:18:50He looked hard, like sort of pub fighting hard,
0:18:50 > 0:18:52like he could take someone outside
0:18:52 > 0:18:56and put them over the bonnet of a car or something,
0:18:56 > 0:18:59that sort of hardness. Not body- building hardness, street toughness.
0:18:59 > 0:19:02I think the best heels had that street toughness,
0:19:02 > 0:19:06looked like the sort of guy your dad would play skittles with.
0:19:06 > 0:19:11There's no doubt that Mick McManus knew how to work a crowd.
0:19:11 > 0:19:15He was so skilled at arousing the audience.
0:19:15 > 0:19:17They absolutely hated every gesture.
0:19:17 > 0:19:19The way he could spit, not quite accurately,
0:19:19 > 0:19:21the water into the bucket,
0:19:21 > 0:19:25the way he would just sneer and engage the ringside seaters
0:19:25 > 0:19:29in nasty backchat, really quite insulting.
0:19:29 > 0:19:31And the way he would win his bouts -
0:19:31 > 0:19:34usually by some lucky twist of fate towards the end,
0:19:34 > 0:19:38overcoming a heavier, younger, more attractive, more skilful opponent.
0:19:38 > 0:19:42He perfected the persona of an objectionable character
0:19:42 > 0:19:44without a redeeming feature.
0:19:44 > 0:19:48But this man was the absolute very essence of a professional wrestler.
0:19:56 > 0:20:00Mick was carving his own niche as the man we loved to hate.
0:20:00 > 0:20:02He also acquired his own catchphrase.
0:20:02 > 0:20:05In the '60s, it seemed that this was all you needed
0:20:05 > 0:20:06to propel you to stardom.
0:20:06 > 0:20:08- I'm free!- Seems like a nice boy.
0:20:08 > 0:20:11I didn't get where I am today without champagne. Not too much, just enough.
0:20:11 > 0:20:15Ooh, you are awful. But I like you.
0:20:15 > 0:20:17Nice to see you, to see you...
0:20:17 > 0:20:19WRESTLER GROANS
0:20:19 > 0:20:22He had these enormous cauliflower ears
0:20:22 > 0:20:24and, of course, they hurt when you do get them hit,
0:20:24 > 0:20:28so he was for ever saying, "Don't touch the ears, leave the ears,"
0:20:28 > 0:20:31and it became like a catchphrase for him.
0:20:31 > 0:20:33'The one thing that drives McManus more crazy than anything else -
0:20:33 > 0:20:37'treatment to the head, especially the ears.'
0:20:38 > 0:20:42He'd put his hands over the ears and warn the wrestler
0:20:42 > 0:20:43not to touch his ears.
0:20:43 > 0:20:46There was probably nothing at all wrong with his ears
0:20:46 > 0:20:49but it created huge reaction amongst the fans,
0:20:49 > 0:20:53because all we wanted to do was see a wrestler get hold of those ears.
0:20:57 > 0:21:00The promoters capitalised on Mick's box-office appeal
0:21:00 > 0:21:05by setting up the infamous grudge matches with Jackie "Mr TV" Pallo,
0:21:05 > 0:21:08a wrestler Mick was known to dislike.
0:21:08 > 0:21:10'The one and only "TV" Jackie Pallo!'
0:21:13 > 0:21:16These bouts were a massive draw.
0:21:16 > 0:21:17Their hatred was genuine
0:21:17 > 0:21:20and those who witnessed McManus and Pallo fight live
0:21:20 > 0:21:22believe it wasn't fixed.
0:21:25 > 0:21:29'Mick McManus in the black trunks...'
0:21:31 > 0:21:34Every so often, there's a fight called a shoe,
0:21:34 > 0:21:40where they still have to work within the rules, but it's a real fight.
0:21:40 > 0:21:45Pop Artist Peter Blake was among the 8,000 capacity audience
0:21:45 > 0:21:48for their 1967 match.
0:21:48 > 0:21:53They came in, they kind of shook hands, I suppose, the fight started
0:21:53 > 0:21:57and Mick McManus butted Jackie Pallo.
0:21:57 > 0:21:59He gave him a head butt.
0:22:01 > 0:22:04And then they came together and he nutted him again,
0:22:04 > 0:22:10and he probably did it 30 times, with no holds going on,
0:22:10 > 0:22:13you know, just grabbing each other.
0:22:13 > 0:22:18And then, Jackie Pallo realised that his head was totally split open,
0:22:18 > 0:22:20there's blood pouring anywhere
0:22:20 > 0:22:22and the fight couldn't go on,
0:22:22 > 0:22:26so it was absolutely a genuine street fight.
0:22:26 > 0:22:30'He's telegraphed that so obviously, Pallo.'
0:22:30 > 0:22:34Whether these fights were real or fixed is still hotly debated today.
0:22:36 > 0:22:38But the public loved them
0:22:38 > 0:22:41and audiences flocked to their local halls to see the wrestling.
0:22:45 > 0:22:49I'm in the Victoria Hall at Halifax in Yorkshire.
0:22:49 > 0:22:53It's owned by the council and it's used for all kinds of entertainments,
0:22:53 > 0:22:56but they don't all bring a full house like tonight's.
0:22:56 > 0:23:00This crowd has come to see what's always a big attraction,
0:23:00 > 0:23:01All-In wrestling!
0:23:04 > 0:23:07For the mainly working-class audience,
0:23:07 > 0:23:11wrestling was accessible and cheap entertainment in their back yard.
0:23:12 > 0:23:14I'd always think of the wrestling,
0:23:14 > 0:23:18think of Big Daddy, McManus and rabid old grannies.
0:23:21 > 0:23:23The unique thing about wrestling
0:23:23 > 0:23:26is that it pulled in a large female audience -
0:23:26 > 0:23:30genteel grannies who would suddenly start baying for blood.
0:23:30 > 0:23:32Oh, I love it.
0:23:32 > 0:23:35We used to have quite an interaction with the old ladies,
0:23:35 > 0:23:36the granny brigade.
0:23:36 > 0:23:39They would bring their umbrellas and their high-heel shoes
0:23:39 > 0:23:41and if they didn't like someone,
0:23:41 > 0:23:43they would hit them in the back and think nothing.
0:23:43 > 0:23:47And we've even had cigarettes stubbed out on our backs.
0:23:47 > 0:23:51Klondyke Kate was one of the few female wrestlers who played the villain.
0:23:51 > 0:23:54No-one knew how to wind an audience up like her,
0:23:54 > 0:23:58and she regularly felt the full force of an angry crowd.
0:23:58 > 0:24:03AUDIENCE SHOUT ANGRILY
0:24:03 > 0:24:06I used to get called all sorts of different names,
0:24:06 > 0:24:07really derogatory names.
0:24:07 > 0:24:10I think if I was in the street and got said that to,
0:24:10 > 0:24:14I'd be really upset, but being part and parcel of what it was all about,
0:24:14 > 0:24:16the name calling didn't really matter.
0:24:16 > 0:24:19'All I knew was I was doing my job right by winding these people up.
0:24:19 > 0:24:21'And I did REALLY wind them up.'
0:24:21 > 0:24:25Shut up. Shut up!
0:24:25 > 0:24:28'When you go out, the crowd were just the same,
0:24:28 > 0:24:32'and they'd be grabbing for you and trying to hurt you.'
0:24:39 > 0:24:42No, she wants shooting. She definitely wants shooting, her,
0:24:42 > 0:24:45because she's dirty. Definitely dirty.
0:24:45 > 0:24:47She's not fit to be called a wrestler.
0:24:47 > 0:24:50How she's the nerve to walk in the ring looking like that,
0:24:50 > 0:24:52I don't know - in front of all these people!
0:24:52 > 0:24:57- She's got no shame at all. - No, she hasn't.- No.- None at all.
0:24:57 > 0:25:00She's just a dirty big fat lump of lard.
0:25:00 > 0:25:02I've been in the ring
0:25:02 > 0:25:05and sort of stuck my backside out to the crowd,
0:25:05 > 0:25:07and once, some chap came up
0:25:07 > 0:25:11and stuck a foot-and-mouth injection in the back of my bottom,
0:25:11 > 0:25:13where it hit my nerve, all down my sciatic nerve
0:25:13 > 0:25:16and I ended up in hospital a couple of days.
0:25:16 > 0:25:20'The new British reigning champion, Klondyke Kate!'
0:25:22 > 0:25:24So much of the success of wrestling
0:25:24 > 0:25:28was based on the interaction between the wrestlers and the crowd.
0:25:30 > 0:25:32And in the local halls around the country,
0:25:32 > 0:25:35Joint Promotions were making good money.
0:25:35 > 0:25:38But they were cultivating a deal behind the scenes
0:25:38 > 0:25:42that would take wrestling into the living rooms of the entire nation.
0:25:43 > 0:25:47When ITV launched World Of Sport in 1965,
0:25:47 > 0:25:50wrestling became a weekly primetime fixture.
0:25:52 > 0:25:54'Welcome, grapple fans.'
0:25:58 > 0:26:03Television is a thing you've got to have in any form of -
0:26:03 > 0:26:07call us a sport or entertainment, I don't care. Call us entertainers -
0:26:07 > 0:26:10but you've got to have a shop window.
0:26:10 > 0:26:13'Now, this afternoon, we're really going to see two, at least,
0:26:13 > 0:26:16'of the most tremendous bouts we've probably ever seen on television.'
0:26:16 > 0:26:21A regular spot on World Of Sport legitimised wrestling as a sport,
0:26:21 > 0:26:24as it sat alongside football and horse racing.
0:26:24 > 0:26:27But it also injected the razzamatazz.
0:26:28 > 0:26:30The big characters emerged.
0:26:30 > 0:26:35That's not to say you had to have the mask or you had to weigh 45 stone
0:26:35 > 0:26:39but it helped if you had a persona, a shtick,
0:26:39 > 0:26:45because the guys who would just run rings around an opponent
0:26:45 > 0:26:48and be really very good technical wrestlers
0:26:48 > 0:26:50were actually quite boring on TV.
0:26:50 > 0:26:53To maintain audience interest,
0:26:53 > 0:26:57personality and image came more and more to the fore.
0:26:57 > 0:27:01We all are actors on a stage - you know I didn't make that up,
0:27:01 > 0:27:05it was the whole William Shakespeare thing, and it's true.
0:27:05 > 0:27:10Life can be very low keyed and miserable
0:27:10 > 0:27:16without a little bit of panache - I'll use that word -
0:27:16 > 0:27:22and wrestling, of course, in this country, needed that.
0:27:23 > 0:27:26'Ricky Starr, who in fact IS a ballet dancer,
0:27:26 > 0:27:29'is wearing ballet shoes.'
0:27:29 > 0:27:34'They wanted personalities, there were no doubt about that!'
0:27:39 > 0:27:42The fact that it was now being put into people's homes
0:27:42 > 0:27:45and became a big family entertainment
0:27:45 > 0:27:47added the entertainment side to it.
0:27:47 > 0:27:51And then the wrestlers themselves needed to do more
0:27:51 > 0:27:52in order to keep that attention.
0:27:52 > 0:27:58'The Lancashire Stallion, Tally Ho Kaye.'
0:27:58 > 0:28:01Wrestlers who didn't have a strong image
0:28:01 > 0:28:03found their days were numbered.
0:28:05 > 0:28:07A lot of the really good guys just got left behind by TV,
0:28:07 > 0:28:12because they didn't have their particular act.
0:28:12 > 0:28:16A good gimmick could take a wrestler from the middle of the pack
0:28:16 > 0:28:17to the top of the bill.
0:28:17 > 0:28:21But it wasn't always the wrestler's choice what that gimmick was.
0:28:21 > 0:28:24'..the coloured heavyweight star from the West Indies,
0:28:24 > 0:28:26'part of the Caribbean Sunshine Boys,
0:28:26 > 0:28:27'Johnny Kincaid.'
0:28:29 > 0:28:33Never mind about the Barbados, they just couldn't spell Battersea.
0:28:33 > 0:28:35I was born and brought up in Battersea,
0:28:35 > 0:28:38and when I first went to Joint Promotions,
0:28:38 > 0:28:43I said, "Would it be OK if I'm billed as a coloured cockney?"
0:28:43 > 0:28:47And Jack Dow, the governor, looked me up and down and went
0:28:47 > 0:28:51"Well, you are of Caribbean origin,
0:28:51 > 0:28:53"so let's keep it to the Caribbean, shall we? Barbados."
0:28:53 > 0:28:59I went, "Thank you." So I became Barbadian, never leaving Battersea.
0:29:00 > 0:29:05Even then, he realised he didn't stand out entirely from the crowd.
0:29:05 > 0:29:10There was a lot of black wrestlers around - Honey Boy Zimba,
0:29:10 > 0:29:13Johnny Kwango,
0:29:13 > 0:29:17Masambula, the most famous one.
0:29:17 > 0:29:21So I thought I had to stick out, I was just becoming a nonentity...
0:29:24 > 0:29:26He did something drastic.
0:29:28 > 0:29:31I bleached my hair blond.
0:29:31 > 0:29:34The following week after I did my hair,
0:29:34 > 0:29:36I had a live TV match
0:29:36 > 0:29:42and it didn't matter where I walked or drove,
0:29:42 > 0:29:45people were honking me in their cars and putting their thumbs up, "Aye, aye!"
0:29:45 > 0:29:48They were either saying, "Look at that idiot over there," or,
0:29:48 > 0:29:51"That's that guy, the wrestler with the blond hair."
0:29:51 > 0:29:55Johnny Kincaid wasn't the only wrestler who had issues.
0:29:55 > 0:29:58Oh, Jesus! God!
0:29:58 > 0:30:03Tony Francis called me Big Bertha,
0:30:03 > 0:30:06and I was horrified and I said, "No way."
0:30:06 > 0:30:10He said, "You'll do as you're told, you're called Big Bertha."
0:30:10 > 0:30:12I went to Bob and said, "Bob, I can't stand this.
0:30:12 > 0:30:14"Please, don't make me be called Big Bertha."
0:30:14 > 0:30:17And what he did was, he said, "Right, we'll change your name.
0:30:17 > 0:30:18"We'll call you Klondyke Kate.
0:30:18 > 0:30:21"Your dad's a Mountie in the Canadian police."
0:30:21 > 0:30:23Actually, my dad was a steelworker, five foot two,
0:30:23 > 0:30:26and worked in a steelworks in Stoke-on-Trent.
0:30:28 > 0:30:33As I understand, Klondyke Kate is actually the owner of a brothel
0:30:33 > 0:30:36in the Klondyke, from the gold rush.
0:30:38 > 0:30:41The personas developed for the television audience
0:30:41 > 0:30:44ranged from the sublime to the ridiculous.
0:30:44 > 0:30:47Catweazle!
0:30:47 > 0:30:50It needed that sparkle in it. People wanted to be able,
0:30:50 > 0:30:53when they sat at home, they wanted something where they said,
0:30:53 > 0:30:56"Hey, Mother, have you seen him coming out?"
0:30:56 > 0:31:01MUSIC: Venus In Furs by The Velvet Underground
0:31:04 > 0:31:07And they didn't come with much more sparkle
0:31:07 > 0:31:09than the "Exotic" Adrian Street.
0:31:09 > 0:31:12Adrian Street!
0:31:23 > 0:31:27The thing about Adrian Street was his dad worked down the mine
0:31:27 > 0:31:31and that was the last thing he was ever going to do.
0:31:31 > 0:31:34They were... The classic story is true -
0:31:34 > 0:31:38you could either become a pop star or you could become a sports star,
0:31:38 > 0:31:44and he saw wrestling as his way out of Wales and the pit life.
0:31:46 > 0:31:48I sort of suffered a lot of ridicule
0:31:48 > 0:31:51from my father and from the other coal miners.
0:31:51 > 0:31:56"Little guys like you, you can't be a professional wrestler,
0:31:56 > 0:31:58"they'd rip you in half!"
0:31:58 > 0:32:01I was determined that I was going to make it.
0:32:01 > 0:32:04I remember standing on the bottom of the pit for the last time
0:32:04 > 0:32:07and I'd already got myself a job in London, I was leaving,
0:32:07 > 0:32:09I was never going to come back.
0:32:09 > 0:32:12I was going to be a professional wrestler or die trying.
0:32:13 > 0:32:17In his teenage years, Adrian began body-building.
0:32:17 > 0:32:22He stepped into the ring for the first time in 1957 as Kid Tarzan,
0:32:22 > 0:32:26but soon realised that he needed a better gimmick.
0:32:26 > 0:32:29I knew by that time I was a great wrestler, but I thought to myself,
0:32:29 > 0:32:32a great wrestler tied up in a pretty package would be better.
0:32:32 > 0:32:36I'd stand out a lot more from the more conservative style
0:32:36 > 0:32:40and the more conservative appearance that professional wrestlers had.
0:32:40 > 0:32:44Imagine, I had a 27-inch waist, a 48-inch chest, at the same time.
0:32:44 > 0:32:48I had a great suntan, I knew I looked fantastic.
0:32:48 > 0:32:50Now, I'd already been told by the wrestlers,
0:32:50 > 0:32:52"You're not going in the ring looking like that,
0:32:52 > 0:32:55"you look bloody ridiculous!"
0:32:55 > 0:32:58Naturally, I put it down to jealousy.
0:32:59 > 0:33:04Adrian thought he was going out dressed as a hot boy for the ladies,
0:33:04 > 0:33:06but it didn't quite work out that way.
0:33:06 > 0:33:10Instead of, like, the positive reaction I thought I would get,
0:33:10 > 0:33:14it was, "Oh, Mary, give us a kiss! Doesn't she look cute!"
0:33:17 > 0:33:21And to say I was mortified, I was horrified,
0:33:21 > 0:33:23would be an understatement.
0:33:24 > 0:33:28Adrian's cross-dressing, highly sexualised character
0:33:28 > 0:33:32was really pushing the boundaries of society, never mind sport.
0:33:38 > 0:33:42But Adrian took the view that no publicity was bad publicity
0:33:42 > 0:33:45and began to milk it.
0:33:45 > 0:33:48Because he was big and tattooed, people couldn't work him out.
0:33:48 > 0:33:50Is he straight, is he gay?
0:33:50 > 0:33:54And he was never upfront about it and he'd never answer that.
0:33:54 > 0:33:57I think that wound people up even more, but I liked the way
0:33:57 > 0:34:00there's this combination of toughness and glam with him.
0:34:00 > 0:34:04He looked like a combination between Emma Bunton and a Welsh coalminer.
0:34:04 > 0:34:05Seconds away, round three!
0:34:05 > 0:34:13Round three and Adrian Street, there he is on the left.
0:34:13 > 0:34:16MUSIC: The Thieving Magpie by Gioachino Rossini
0:34:21 > 0:34:26He ignited the fans' fears and prejudices,
0:34:26 > 0:34:28and perhaps homophobia,
0:34:28 > 0:34:32with the very minimum of pirouetting and prancing around the ring.
0:34:32 > 0:34:35He was a great wrestler, a great athlete,
0:34:35 > 0:34:38and fans really couldn't understand why a man like this
0:34:38 > 0:34:41was parading around the ring in the way which he did.
0:34:41 > 0:34:44..At the end of six rounds, it may not be.
0:34:46 > 0:34:49This is a catch-weight contest, he's giving away a lot of weight.
0:34:49 > 0:34:53Every time I appeared on TV, I'd wear a different gown.
0:34:53 > 0:34:57Every time I wrestled, I'd push the envelope just a little further,
0:34:57 > 0:35:00a little further and a little further.
0:35:02 > 0:35:05Adrian's image worked wonders at the box office
0:35:05 > 0:35:07and lo and behold, he had success in the ring.
0:35:08 > 0:35:13I won the Middleweight European title
0:35:13 > 0:35:15and the newspapers got hold of it.
0:35:15 > 0:35:20They wanted to take a photograph of me wearing the championship belt
0:35:20 > 0:35:24and they said, "Where would you like to have this taken?"
0:35:24 > 0:35:28I said, "At the coalmine where I worked when I was 15,
0:35:28 > 0:35:31"with the miners coming up the pit,"
0:35:31 > 0:35:33the same miners, including my father,
0:35:33 > 0:35:36that predicted that I would never make a professional wrestler.
0:35:39 > 0:35:43His dad is looking totally perplexed by what his son has become,
0:35:43 > 0:35:46and there's a great cage of miners behind him,
0:35:46 > 0:35:49one of whom has his mouth open and his eyes wide
0:35:49 > 0:35:52and he really can't believe what he's seeing.
0:35:52 > 0:35:55There's a real kind of FU kind of moment,
0:35:55 > 0:35:58where Adrian, who never liked his dad,
0:35:58 > 0:36:01said, "I've made it, I've got out of here.
0:36:01 > 0:36:05"I'm here down the shaft for two minutes and that's it!"
0:36:10 > 0:36:12The winner, Adrian Street!
0:36:12 > 0:36:16APPLAUSE AND JEERING
0:36:16 > 0:36:20It wasn't just sexual ambiguity that provoked wrestling crowds.
0:36:20 > 0:36:24Prejudice reared its head again when Johnny Kincaid
0:36:24 > 0:36:28teamed up with Dave "Soulman" Bond for Tag Team wrestling.
0:36:28 > 0:36:32This is an international tag team contest of 20 minutes' duration.
0:36:34 > 0:36:37Fighting in pairs was an innovation Joint Promotions had introduced
0:36:37 > 0:36:40to the UK, where wrestling stars were put together
0:36:40 > 0:36:43and given their own team name.
0:36:45 > 0:36:48The Caribbean Sunshine Boys!
0:36:50 > 0:36:52The Caribbean Sunshine Boys.
0:36:52 > 0:36:56At that time, neither of us had seen the Caribbean.
0:36:57 > 0:37:01Flaunting the rules and defying the referee was standard practice
0:37:01 > 0:37:03for a wrestling villain.
0:37:07 > 0:37:09But this was the '70s,
0:37:09 > 0:37:13when potentially racist reactions were more likely.
0:37:13 > 0:37:15We didn't try that hard.
0:37:15 > 0:37:19We were only doing exactly what the other so-called villains were doing,
0:37:19 > 0:37:20but it took off.
0:37:23 > 0:37:27Oh, no! Five minutes gone.
0:37:31 > 0:37:33The fact that Johnny Kincaid was mixed race
0:37:33 > 0:37:37and Dave Bond was black, and playing villains to perfection,
0:37:37 > 0:37:40would prove a red rag for some.
0:37:43 > 0:37:45And Kincaid having a ball the other side
0:37:45 > 0:37:48while the referee's back is turned.
0:37:48 > 0:37:50There was a lot of heat, believe you me.
0:37:50 > 0:37:53We had a few fights out the ring.
0:37:55 > 0:37:58We had 25 National Front one time in the hall.
0:37:58 > 0:38:01BELL RINGS
0:38:01 > 0:38:03And the referee has had enough.
0:38:03 > 0:38:06The referee has disqualified the Caribbean Sunshine Boys!
0:38:06 > 0:38:09APPLAUSE AND JEERING
0:38:10 > 0:38:12So that's it, an exciting finish,
0:38:12 > 0:38:15and somebody trying to throw water about
0:38:15 > 0:38:18and he's going to be in trouble if Kincaid catches him.
0:38:18 > 0:38:19He's going to have his leg broken.
0:38:19 > 0:38:24In the interests of safety, after just one televised fight,
0:38:24 > 0:38:29The Caribbean Sunshine Boys were split up by Joint Promotions.
0:38:29 > 0:38:32I don't know if it was racial or if we were getting too big,
0:38:32 > 0:38:37but they had to control you. The promotions have to control you.
0:38:37 > 0:38:41If your face fits, fine.
0:38:41 > 0:38:47If it doesn't, doesn't matter what you do, you don't get very far.
0:38:47 > 0:38:50Whatever the reasons,
0:38:50 > 0:38:54Joint Promotions knew TV was a cash cow and didn't want anything
0:38:54 > 0:38:58to jeopardise their precious TV contract.
0:38:58 > 0:39:01The television contract was the prized possession,
0:39:01 > 0:39:06very carefully won over a number of years by Joint Promotions
0:39:06 > 0:39:08and not to be sacrificed at all,
0:39:08 > 0:39:12thanks to rigorous promotion and high discipline.
0:39:14 > 0:39:18Someone who was initially considered too much of a maverick for TV
0:39:18 > 0:39:22was the most notorious masked wrestler of them all.
0:39:22 > 0:39:27Samurai Warrior, Kendo Nagasaki!
0:39:30 > 0:39:32There are wrestlers who adopt a persona
0:39:32 > 0:39:36and there are wrestlers who live it.
0:39:36 > 0:39:40Kendo Nagasaki is a self-styled enigma.
0:39:40 > 0:39:45This man appeared from nowhere in November 1964,
0:39:45 > 0:39:50with this incredible costume, Kendo outfit,
0:39:50 > 0:39:52and, to back all of this up,
0:39:52 > 0:39:56outstanding wrestling skills and strength.
0:39:56 > 0:40:00Oh, yes, suplex. Beauty.
0:40:00 > 0:40:02And over the top, beautiful back drop.
0:40:02 > 0:40:07A highlight for fans is his very, very dangerous kamikaze roll,
0:40:07 > 0:40:11in which he turned a somersault with a wrestler on top of his head,
0:40:11 > 0:40:13and landed head down on that wrestler's stomach
0:40:13 > 0:40:15in the centre of the ring.
0:40:15 > 0:40:18Worth the entrance fee alone just to witness that.
0:40:18 > 0:40:22And Kincaid in trouble, now the kamikaze crash, there it is.
0:40:22 > 0:40:25Kendo was wrestling in halls all over the UK,
0:40:25 > 0:40:28but Joint Promotions kept him off our TV screens
0:40:28 > 0:40:31for the next seven years.
0:40:31 > 0:40:34From his 1964 debut through to 1971,
0:40:34 > 0:40:38Kendo Nagasaki didn't appear on television wrestling.
0:40:38 > 0:40:42And the reasons for this, we can deduce,
0:40:42 > 0:40:44would be that his persona
0:40:44 > 0:40:48and his outrageous and very fierce ring antics
0:40:48 > 0:40:53were just a little bit too much for genteel teatime television
0:40:53 > 0:40:54around the country.
0:40:54 > 0:40:58But by 1971, the promoters could no longer ignore the allure
0:40:58 > 0:41:03of Kendo Nagasaki, and he was finally allowed on World Of Sport.
0:41:03 > 0:41:09This was when the obsession began. Who was that masked man?
0:41:09 > 0:41:13My ambition was to be Kendo Nagasaki.
0:41:13 > 0:41:16Right from the beginning, he was an intriguing figure.
0:41:16 > 0:41:20He always won, the myth was that he never spoke
0:41:20 > 0:41:25and he was Japanese and he was a mystery man.
0:41:25 > 0:41:30The myth was that he had some sort of big Japanese samurai connection
0:41:30 > 0:41:33and he would come in with this great sword
0:41:33 > 0:41:36and throw salt over his shoulders.
0:41:36 > 0:41:39His first manager, "Gorgeous" George Gillette,
0:41:39 > 0:41:42who would do all the verbals because masked men, you know,
0:41:42 > 0:41:45don't talk in case it gave away their identities.
0:41:45 > 0:41:48The greatest wrestler in the world today,
0:41:48 > 0:41:53the mighty masked and mysterious King Kendo Nagasaki!
0:41:55 > 0:41:58Most masked wrestlers are in the game for a few years,
0:41:58 > 0:42:01defeated and then ritually unmasked.
0:42:01 > 0:42:04Count Bartelli, the Zebra Kid, The Outlaw.
0:42:10 > 0:42:14And the mask is on its way. It's up to his top lip already.
0:42:16 > 0:42:20Everybody wanted to see what was underneath that mask.
0:42:20 > 0:42:24This was the whole idea of it, he wore a mask to hide his identity
0:42:24 > 0:42:28because he was a businessman, right?
0:42:28 > 0:42:33If people saw his face, they would rather talk about
0:42:33 > 0:42:35the wrestling than the business,
0:42:35 > 0:42:38so that was the idea of wearing a mask,
0:42:38 > 0:42:42but he was good enough to keep it on. He was a good wrestler.
0:42:42 > 0:42:45After resisting the efforts of others to unmask him,
0:42:45 > 0:42:51he voluntarily revealed himself to the public in 1977.
0:42:58 > 0:43:00APPLAUSE
0:43:05 > 0:43:08He was unmasked and his features were seen for the first time
0:43:08 > 0:43:11and his features were quite sensational,
0:43:11 > 0:43:16with a largely shaven head and a mysterious tattoo on his forehead.
0:43:16 > 0:43:18But once he had exposed his face,
0:43:18 > 0:43:21Nagasaki realised the mystique had been lost
0:43:21 > 0:43:24and put his mask back on six months later.
0:43:33 > 0:43:37Today, Kendo Nagasaki still refuses to remove his mask
0:43:37 > 0:43:39or speak on camera.
0:43:39 > 0:43:43His answers are spoken through his spiritual advocate.
0:43:43 > 0:43:48The man behind the mask was guided by the spiritual being, Kendo Nagasaki,
0:43:48 > 0:43:52to become a professional wrestler and to wear a mask.
0:43:54 > 0:43:58Kendo Nagasaki himself has had lives on the earthly plane
0:43:58 > 0:44:02as a samurai warrior. He was Shin Wemon Nagasaki,
0:44:02 > 0:44:05who perished in the siege of Kamakura in 1333,
0:44:05 > 0:44:08and he lived in the great city of Nagasaki
0:44:08 > 0:44:14at the dawn of the Tokugawa shogunate in the early 1600s.
0:44:14 > 0:44:16And the man behind the mask himself
0:44:16 > 0:44:19has gone through past life regression,
0:44:19 > 0:44:22in which he has seen himself sharing lives
0:44:22 > 0:44:25and fighting alongside Kendo Nagasaki during these times.
0:44:31 > 0:44:35Kendo. I'll call him Kendo. Although, of course, that's not his real name.
0:44:35 > 0:44:40And... Peter, we'll call him, cos that was his first name.
0:44:40 > 0:44:44Within the world of wrestling, the identity of Kendo Nagasaki
0:44:44 > 0:44:48is an open secret, but on the outside, the name Peter Thornley
0:44:48 > 0:44:52is the extent of what we know. Well, almost.
0:44:52 > 0:44:53He had half a finger on one hand
0:44:53 > 0:44:58and there was all this mystique about how that came about,
0:44:58 > 0:45:02it had been cut off in some Japanese ritual - and in the end, of course,
0:45:02 > 0:45:06we find out he lost it in some industrial accident
0:45:06 > 0:45:09in a factory near his house in Wolverhampton.
0:45:09 > 0:45:13MUSIC: That's Entertainment by The Jam
0:45:13 > 0:45:17Kendo Nagasaki's actions were front-page news.
0:45:17 > 0:45:19Professional wrestling had become so successful
0:45:19 > 0:45:23that it had penetrated every aspect of popular culture.
0:45:26 > 0:45:28Prince Philip and Her Majesty the Queen used to come to
0:45:28 > 0:45:31the Albert Hall every month and see the wrestling,
0:45:31 > 0:45:33regular as clockwork, great fans.
0:45:33 > 0:45:37The Beatles and Mick McManus were great buddies.
0:45:37 > 0:45:39The wrestlers were everywhere.
0:45:39 > 0:45:43Many were regulars on The Generation Game.
0:45:43 > 0:45:47One, two... It is Mick McManus. There we are, Mick!
0:45:47 > 0:45:48APPLAUSE
0:45:48 > 0:45:53You want to get a nose like that. Doesn't half suit you!
0:45:55 > 0:45:59But behind the scenes, a shift was about to take place.
0:45:59 > 0:46:00By the mid-'70s,
0:46:00 > 0:46:04the old guard of Joint Promotions were keen to retire,
0:46:04 > 0:46:06but they had a successor in mind.
0:46:06 > 0:46:10I don't give a damn what the doctor says, he must be there.
0:46:10 > 0:46:13For all its success, wrestling needed a shot in the arm.
0:46:13 > 0:46:16Fans were tiring of the familiar names.
0:46:18 > 0:46:21Max Crabtree knew it was time to innovate or die.
0:46:21 > 0:46:25We had to just try and bring it in a little bit
0:46:25 > 0:46:30with a bit of flair. It was the only way.
0:46:30 > 0:46:33It needed a kick up the backside.
0:46:33 > 0:46:36It was at this point that from the dole queue
0:46:36 > 0:46:40came Max's middle-aged brother, Shirley Crabtree.
0:46:40 > 0:46:41He had been a wrestler
0:46:41 > 0:46:44but none of his previous gimmicks had broken through.
0:46:44 > 0:46:48He came to see me. He said...
0:46:48 > 0:46:51He said, "I seem to have run into a brick wall now, me.
0:46:51 > 0:46:55"Whole career's gone all to pot."
0:46:55 > 0:46:59I said, "Listen, I want you to be Big Daddy."
0:46:59 > 0:47:03# I shall not, I shall not be moved. #
0:47:03 > 0:47:07Big Daddy would change the face of wrestling,
0:47:07 > 0:47:10and become one of the most revered and reviled names
0:47:10 > 0:47:13on the British scene.
0:47:18 > 0:47:22Weighing in at 23 stone, with a massive 64-inch chest,
0:47:22 > 0:47:25he was the first of the super heavyweights.
0:47:25 > 0:47:28Big Daddy was an immediate hit with the audience,
0:47:28 > 0:47:30revitalising the flagging sport.
0:47:33 > 0:47:35Big Daddy's body was there.
0:47:35 > 0:47:39It's like a brick wall, and he bounces off.
0:47:41 > 0:47:46There, larger than life, would be Big Daddy stood there,
0:47:46 > 0:47:48making his way to the ring.
0:47:48 > 0:47:50Occasionally, there'd be one or two little children
0:47:50 > 0:47:54and Shirley would be quick to pick up the thing and hold their hand
0:47:54 > 0:47:57and march down to the ring with them.
0:47:57 > 0:47:59He became a people's champion.
0:48:02 > 0:48:04People loved Big Daddy.
0:48:04 > 0:48:08Can't overstate enough how popular Big Daddy was.
0:48:08 > 0:48:12He was one of the big figures of the 1980s. He was everywhere.
0:48:12 > 0:48:14He was on kids' telly, he was in Buster comic.
0:48:14 > 0:48:16You bought Buster comic
0:48:16 > 0:48:19and Big Daddy had a cartoon strip in there. He had an annual,
0:48:19 > 0:48:23same as Spider-Man and Superman and Dennis the Menace had their annuals.
0:48:23 > 0:48:25Big Daddy had an annual as well.
0:48:25 > 0:48:30He wasn't so much a bloke - he was a real-life superhero,
0:48:30 > 0:48:33or a living cartoon character, and no matter
0:48:33 > 0:48:37what the reality is of what Shirley Crabtree was
0:48:37 > 0:48:40as a bloke or what he thought of kids, kids loved him.
0:48:42 > 0:48:46Big Daddy was so big that today, if you ask anyone about wrestling,
0:48:46 > 0:48:50his is the first name likely to be mentioned.
0:48:50 > 0:48:53A fringe play has even been written about this hugely popular
0:48:53 > 0:48:56but very un-athletic sportsman.
0:49:00 > 0:49:04You've probably noticed by now I'm not exactly, what's the word...
0:49:04 > 0:49:05Fit.
0:49:05 > 0:49:08I wouldn't put it like that exactly, but I'm a big man, 23 stone,
0:49:08 > 0:49:12and...how can I put this? I'm past the first flush of youth.
0:49:12 > 0:49:16Therefore, there's a few of the traditional wrestling moves
0:49:16 > 0:49:20- it's probably best I avoid, like... - All of them.
0:49:20 > 0:49:23So I had to limit myself to the range of moves I could do.
0:49:23 > 0:49:30First up, we have the forearm smash, then the so-called belly butt,
0:49:30 > 0:49:37and my signature move, the belly splash!
0:49:37 > 0:49:41For God's sake, no! Submit, submit!
0:49:41 > 0:49:45Perhaps not here, and, well, that was about it, really!
0:49:48 > 0:49:50But fame didn't just arrive.
0:49:50 > 0:49:53Big Daddy's brother Max had to work at it.
0:49:53 > 0:49:57He decided to recreate the drama of the McManus-Pallo feud
0:49:57 > 0:50:00with Big Daddy and another super heavyweight, Giant Haystacks,
0:50:00 > 0:50:05who weighed in at an incredible 40 stone.
0:50:05 > 0:50:11You and me, you and me, let's fight to the finish!
0:50:11 > 0:50:14Him and me! Come on, Haystacks, let's see what you can do!
0:50:14 > 0:50:17Come on, what's the matter with you?
0:50:17 > 0:50:20There's a magic off certain people.
0:50:20 > 0:50:26When I put Giant Haystacks on, because of his enormous size,
0:50:26 > 0:50:29he was very recognisable.
0:50:29 > 0:50:33He's six foot 11, 40 stone, the Giant Haystacks!
0:50:33 > 0:50:36JEERING
0:50:39 > 0:50:42In the build-up to their big grudge match at Wembley,
0:50:42 > 0:50:44Giant Haystacks, with his Irish background,
0:50:44 > 0:50:47was portrayed as the Celtic wild-man villain,
0:50:47 > 0:50:50versus Big Daddy, who, with his very British image,
0:50:50 > 0:50:53was clearly meant to be the good guy.
0:50:56 > 0:51:01They become emblematic of traits of British character.
0:51:03 > 0:51:07Big Daddy sells himself as a modern John Bull, really.
0:51:07 > 0:51:09- He comes in and he's got a Union Jack waistcoat.- Top hat.
0:51:09 > 0:51:12He wears a tin helmet during the Falklands.
0:51:12 > 0:51:15He's very deliberately making himself into the blitz spirit,
0:51:15 > 0:51:19John Bull, and Giant Haystacks, Martin Ruane,
0:51:19 > 0:51:23he was Irish by birth, and he's very deliberately summoning up
0:51:23 > 0:51:28something Celtic and rural and pagan and untamed.
0:51:28 > 0:51:33He's great. He was wearing sort of bib overalls.
0:51:33 > 0:51:34He was a wild man.
0:51:34 > 0:51:37In the one corner, we have John Bull, civilisation,
0:51:37 > 0:51:39the town, the city, empire,
0:51:39 > 0:51:44versus, in the other, wild, dark, untamed, pagan, rugged heath.
0:51:44 > 0:51:46- We got any of them custard creams?- Top drawer.
0:51:46 > 0:51:50It's light versus dark, Shirley. The most primal struggle of all!
0:51:50 > 0:51:53Good versus evil. You'll be making £100 a night.
0:51:53 > 0:51:56- But I can't stand him! - No-one can, that's the bloody point.
0:51:56 > 0:52:00You're about to go stratospheric.
0:52:00 > 0:52:03- Got any bourbons? - Kitchen table.
0:52:04 > 0:52:06The referee inside the ring.
0:52:06 > 0:52:09The referee inside the ring, Craig Green of London.
0:52:09 > 0:52:12Dave Rhys from Shrewsbury, the referee outside the ring.
0:52:12 > 0:52:15This bout will continue...
0:52:15 > 0:52:19Big Daddy versus Giant Haystacks at Wembley Arena in 1981
0:52:19 > 0:52:22was the biggest wrestling event of the '80s,
0:52:22 > 0:52:25but the cracks were beginning to show.
0:52:27 > 0:52:29I was one of those kids that were cheering for Big Daddy and
0:52:29 > 0:52:33liked the big Yorkshireman squishing people with his big belly.
0:52:33 > 0:52:34We loved all of that!
0:52:34 > 0:52:36But I can see how that wouldn't sit well
0:52:36 > 0:52:39if you'd spent years mastering ringcraft.
0:52:49 > 0:52:54It became too much of a kind of circus act
0:52:54 > 0:52:55and not enough sport,
0:52:55 > 0:53:00and I think you could say the balance there was wrong.
0:53:02 > 0:53:04You won't see many wrestling holds in this one.
0:53:04 > 0:53:08Haystacks goes clean over the top rope
0:53:08 > 0:53:13and it's a question whether he beats the count or not.
0:53:13 > 0:53:15He won't make it, he won't make it!
0:53:15 > 0:53:17BELL RINGS
0:53:18 > 0:53:22The bout lasted for just two minutes 50 seconds.
0:53:22 > 0:53:24The pre-match build-up was longer.
0:53:24 > 0:53:29It was a far cry from the 25 minutes McManus and Pallo fought.
0:53:29 > 0:53:33The huge face-off at Wembley Arena in 1981,
0:53:33 > 0:53:38it's really quite lame!
0:53:38 > 0:53:42The audience aren't getting their money's worth.
0:53:46 > 0:53:51Big Daddy has always been a point of controversy amongst the boys,
0:53:51 > 0:53:55but I don't wish to be detrimental about anybody,
0:53:55 > 0:53:56because wherever that man appeared,
0:53:56 > 0:53:59he put bums on seats, excuse my language.
0:53:59 > 0:54:01He filled any hall that he was in
0:54:01 > 0:54:04and that's what the business is about.
0:54:04 > 0:54:09No-one's ever claimed it's the most sophisticated form of entertainment.
0:54:09 > 0:54:11Despite Big Daddy's popularity,
0:54:11 > 0:54:15wrestling suffered a steady decline throughout the 1980s.
0:54:15 > 0:54:19The sport had tipped over into pure spectacle and the fans knew it.
0:54:22 > 0:54:25It almost killed itself by refining itself to the point
0:54:25 > 0:54:29where the sporting element drifted away, and that was fine,
0:54:29 > 0:54:33until you realised that actually it had only become showbiz
0:54:33 > 0:54:36and people had cottoned on that, actually, what they were watching
0:54:36 > 0:54:38was the same thing over and over.
0:54:38 > 0:54:42Eventually, it becomes irrelevant because they just get canned.
0:54:42 > 0:54:44It's a tragedy in leotards.
0:54:45 > 0:54:49The final nail in wrestling's coffin came in 1988.
0:54:49 > 0:54:53Greg Dyke, the director of programmes at LWT,
0:54:53 > 0:54:56pulled wrestling off the air.
0:54:56 > 0:54:58Finally, the sport of wrestling is being counted out
0:54:58 > 0:55:03on television tomorrow after 33 years of regular televised bouts.
0:55:03 > 0:55:06Television throws out the grunt-and-groaners.
0:55:06 > 0:55:10As wrestling's audience has been halved over the years, it has to go.
0:55:10 > 0:55:12I think it was cancelled prematurely.
0:55:12 > 0:55:15I think it was done a massive disservice.
0:55:15 > 0:55:18I think it was cancelled when it was still popular.
0:55:18 > 0:55:21I think that Greg Dyke cancelled it because it was one of these
0:55:21 > 0:55:25for your own good things, that it's not good for people,
0:55:25 > 0:55:27that it's low-brow entertainment
0:55:27 > 0:55:30and people should be watching something else.
0:55:30 > 0:55:33I'm going to end up playing the class card here,
0:55:33 > 0:55:36but I think people... The main audience of wrestling
0:55:36 > 0:55:39was working class and I think it was a victim of a sneery attitude
0:55:39 > 0:55:42by some of the media towards the people that were watching it.
0:55:42 > 0:55:45The idea was that it was being watched by people
0:55:45 > 0:55:47that were ignorant in some way
0:55:47 > 0:55:50because of their class, because of their background.
0:55:50 > 0:55:52One of the main problems is that the audience it attracts
0:55:52 > 0:55:56is not the sort of yuppie market so cherished by advertisers
0:55:56 > 0:55:58and television companies.
0:55:58 > 0:56:00The country had changed.
0:56:00 > 0:56:04Thatcher created this far more aspirational society,
0:56:04 > 0:56:09and wrestling, if it was anything, was not an aspirational sport.
0:56:09 > 0:56:13It looked faded and it was still basically lost in the '60s
0:56:13 > 0:56:19and wasn't going to pull in the big ITV advertisers that were needed.
0:56:22 > 0:56:26But TV didn't kill off wrestling completely.
0:56:26 > 0:56:28It's still staged in live venues today.
0:56:28 > 0:56:34Tonight, celebrating 50 years of wrestling here
0:56:34 > 0:56:37- at Fairfield Halls! - APPLAUSE
0:56:37 > 0:56:39But without the shop window of television,
0:56:39 > 0:56:43it struggles to fill places like Croydon's Fairfield Hall.
0:56:49 > 0:56:53The granny brigade still love it. The wrestlers work hard
0:56:53 > 0:56:57but the world of wrestling is a shadow of its former self.
0:57:01 > 0:57:04MUSIC: Baba O'Riley by The Who
0:57:04 > 0:57:07The old names of Rimer, Kincaid and Street
0:57:07 > 0:57:11have a reunion every year and are still a hit with fans.
0:57:11 > 0:57:14But it seems that wrestling is now a niche sport.
0:57:14 > 0:57:17It no longer has its once universal appeal.
0:57:17 > 0:57:20Mick McManus!
0:57:23 > 0:57:27Wrestling's heyday will live on long in the popular memory,
0:57:27 > 0:57:31the great characters, the great feuds and the wrestlers
0:57:31 > 0:57:34who put their bodies on the line for our entertainment.
0:57:36 > 0:57:39Those men gave their bodies night after night,
0:57:39 > 0:57:43smashing and banging round the ring for 40 years of their lives.
0:57:43 > 0:57:46Their hips and their knees have been replaced,
0:57:46 > 0:57:49but it was worth it to them, because in that heyday,
0:57:49 > 0:57:51they were superstars.
0:57:51 > 0:57:56So let's give the wrestlers themselves the final word.
0:57:56 > 0:58:00I've been a wrestler many a year. The game's been good to me.
0:58:00 > 0:58:03It's not as easy as people think. Take a look at me and see.
0:58:03 > 0:58:05My arm's been broken, some teeth are gone,
0:58:05 > 0:58:08I find it hard to chew, but this is what most wrestlers get,
0:58:08 > 0:58:10trying to entertain people like you.
0:58:10 > 0:58:12They say it's bent and you say it's fixed
0:58:12 > 0:58:14and other names you call,
0:58:14 > 0:58:16but it ain't no joke on the other bloke
0:58:16 > 0:58:17who just lost the last fall.
0:58:17 > 0:58:19So to you people who have your doubts,
0:58:19 > 0:58:21this game's a rough employment.
0:58:21 > 0:58:23Bones have been broken and men have died
0:58:23 > 0:58:25for you to have your enjoyment.