Where Are They Now?

Here are a few more guys from Wrestling's past. Firstly we have Johnny Saint, who was one of the greatest lightweights there has ever been. John only hung up his boots a little over a year ago at the age of 68. But even then he was capable (and did) over 100 press up's and 100 sit up's before he went into the ring....How many of today's so called stars can do that I wonder. Johnny Saint now assists in training those who actually want to learn how to "wrestle", which is something different to how many guys are trained these days with a diet of kicks and punches.......Then we see John Kenny with Johnny Saint. Kenny was a great middleweight and could slug it out with the best of them. having had many encounters with the likes of Rollerball Rocco, Fit Finlay and Skull Murphy. Kenny is now happily retired and spends his time on the golf course.....Where we are told he has a very low handicap. Jamaica George then comes next. George was one of the fittest guys in the ring and could mix it with both the lightweights and the real heavyweights. having had many matches against the biggest of them all, Giant Haystacks. George was also one of the really nice guys in wrestling who always had time for those younger guys trying to learn the job. It's a little known fact, but George once took on the world kick boxing champion in a televised match AND WON! George was certainly someone who could look after himself and is sadly missed from the ring. He's now happily retired and living in Yorkshire with his family. Count Bartelli is next. What can we say about this man, who in his has was one of the strongest men in the UK. The Count, who wrestled in a mask for much of his career was a real gentleman when you got to know him, polite, kind, helpful....Well, that's outside of the ring. inside it he was a lethal fighting machine, with those legendary chops coming at you from all angles. Sadly The Count passed away some years ago and is still sadly missed.....Talking of chops, we have Little Price next (Mohammed Alam). Prince was an amateur wrestling champion back in Pakistan and he used his amateur skills to great effect here in the UK pro rings. He was a mean middleweight to asked for and took no quarter. As all of his opponents are aware, his chops matched those of Count Bartelli in their ferocity...Many a time he has drawn blood through an opponents skin, such was the force with which they were delivered.....And to bring this list to a close we have none other than Max Crabtree. Max was the power behind Joint Promotions for many years. He ran the company for the then owners, William Hill Ltd. Max was God, and I mean that most sincerely. If you crossed Max you did so at your peril. He could make and break anyone, no matter who they were. Many a star name have wished they'd not crossed Max as they could soon be put out to pasture. But, Max was the finest promoter in the industry bar none. He could take a raw wrestler and turn them into a star, he could take a limited wrestler and mane them the UK's star name.....But he knew how to promote. I doubt many of today's so called star names would have lasted long under Max's regime. In his day wrestlers actually had to look like wrestlers, their wrestling gear had to be neat and tidy, clean and boots polished! And you had to be able to wrestle! remember, even his own brother Big Daddy could actually wrestle...Although the Daddy gimmick is derided today, Shirley Crabtree could wrestle, and that's not something you can actually say about many of today's star names...In fact I'd say the ability to be able to wrestle is a long way down the list of what guys are expected to be able to do in the modern era...But in the max Crabtree era you all had to be able to wrestle and he made certain you could do that by putting guys who were perhaps not that great with the likes of Ray Steel, Barry Douglas, Little Prince, etc, etc, to give them a wake up call....The old boys know what I mean...lol. Like him or loath him (and I liked Max's work ethic) he was the best promoter the UK has ever had, or for that matter will ever have.....Max now lives the quiet life on his Yorkshire farm.....I for one wish him a long and happy retirement....

Where Are They Now 3

Big Daddy sadly passed away in 1997 after a short illness. Like him or hate him, he was one of the biggest wrestling draws we have ever had here in the UK, and was capable of filling 12,000 seat arenas long before the then WWF ever came to the UK......Blondie Barratt is still wrestling (occasionally) and runs a wrestling school in Yorkshire. This long time tag partner of Kendo Nagasaki had prior to that also enjoyed tag success as part of the Wild Boys with yours truly...Dave Taylor now lives in the States, but still comes back to the UK to run coaching sessions. Dave and his brother Steve were both great exponents of pure wrestling and were worthy followers of their father, heavyweight number one, Eric Taylor.....Dave "Fit" Finlay is still wrestling, and is still beating many an opponent. Dave is one of the best there has ever been and long may he continue to show the younger generation just how wrestling should be..........Max Crabtree used to call him "Big Fella", most wrestlers referred to him as "Stacks" of "Louie", but however he was thought of, one thing is for certain. He was BIG.......standing at 6'11" and at one time topping the scales at 52 stones! Giant Haystacks was the biggest we've ever had in this country. Sadly he passed away after losing a battle against cancer in 1998, missed my many, but still remembered......

Johnny Angel

British Grappler Johnny Angel, seen here in the early 1990's when he was a regular tag team partner to Big daddy. Angel came from a wrestling family and his father was Yorkshire Heavyweight "Crazy" Dave Adams...

More Guys Who Can and Could Really Wrestle!

Here are a few more guys who could and can really "Wrestle". It probably goes without saying that Dave Taylor, Dave "Fit" Finlay, Danny Collins & Rob Brookside can all wrestle to a very high standard. Jim Breaks was also a very highly rated amateur before turning professional. But what is probably less well known is that Gary Cooper AKA: Catweazle) was also a very good amateur and before turning to the Catweazle gimmick he was a highly rated and skillful wrestler in his own right. Also, it has to be said that Shirley Crabtree (like his brothers Max & Brian) was also a better than average amateur in his younger days...