Blast's From The Past

Here are a few more notable wrestlers from a few years ago. First we have "Iron Fist" Clive Myers. As well as being an above average middleweight wrestler Clive Myers was also at one time the world arm wrestling champion! In fact he acted as the technical adviser when Hollywood make the Stallone film, "Over The Top" which was about an arm wrestling champion. Clive also has a cameo part in the film and following the success of that film Clive staged many arm wrestling events around the UK. Clive's ring career lasted a generation and after he retired in the early 90's he returned home to the West Indies where he now lives with his family. Ever the gent Clive has always been missed by his fellow wrestlers.....Next comes Lancastrian Jimmy Munroe. Jimmy was one half of the Road Warriors tag team with Dave Duran, and what a formidable pairing they were! Both the guys were as strong as ox's and had decent amateur backgrounds. Jimmy retired from wrestling in the 90's and is, as far as we are aware, happily retired in Manchester.....Rasputin (Johnny Howard) is next up. Rasputin is a native or Ireland and had a long ring career both here in the UK and also on mainland Europe. He was a fierce adversary and was often seen battling in tag action with Giant Haystacks or against Big daddy. Rasputin retired in the early 90's and after a spell as a security guard he's now living a live of retirement in his beloved Ireland.....Rocky Moran was another immensely fierce competitor who graced the UK rings throughout the 80's and into the 90's. Often seen in tag team action with fellow Ulsterman Fit Finlay or alongside Rollerball Rocco. Rocky Moran retired toward the end of the 80's and went into the world of construction. In the 1990's after a short illness he passed away. Yet another fuller than life wrestler who's sadly missed.....Last man on today's list is the one and only Mike Marino. Mike ran the "book" in Dale's office for a few years in the 1970's and was also one of the top names at that time. He frequently topped the bill at all the major venues throughout the UK and that included the Royal Albert Hall. Remember too, that in the 1970's it was usual for Dale Martin's (or Joint Promotions) to run 7 or 8 shows a night somewhere in the UK. Brian Dixon would also have 1 or 2 events on, and Orig Williams 1 or 2 events. That's upward of 10 shows a night. And we don't mean small events in working men's clubs which seems to be the norm these days. We mean large events in venues that held 500 - 3,000 people. That's how popular professional wrestling was in what we might call the golden era....Miuke Marino retired from the ring in the early 80's and sadly passed away not long afterward....