I just thought that I'd let you know that a wrestler by the name of Orig Williams passed away today, at the age of 78, from a suspected heart attack. He was probably the most famous wrestler to ever come from the country of Wales, but he was a very unique figure. Known in the ring as 'El Bandito', he later became an important promoter in British wrestling, training wrestlers, and booking the last remaining British-promoted wrestling tv show on British tv, that lasted until 1995, a Welsh-language show called 'Reslo' (that I used to cover for a short period for the Observer site, when it re-aired a few years ago in 2003 - see below). Many wrestlers who would later find greater fame wrestled for Williams in the late 1980s, including William Regal and Fit Finlay. Regal, in fact, wrote about Williams in his autobiography, talking fondly of the two to three week-long wrestling tours to Scotland and Ireland that Williams promoted. It was through Williams' links with German promoter Otto Wanz that actually got Regal into touring Germany in the first place.
In the late 1990s, Williams took advantage of the wrestling boom period, and promoted WWF tribute shows, featuring wrestlers that completed ripped off WWF gimmicks and trademarks.
But he wasn't just your typical wrestler/promoter/trainer. Prior to getting into wrestling, he did national service, serving his country in the Royal Air Force. He then became a professional soccer player, a bruising defender, playing for teams Oldham Athletic and Shrewsbury Town in the mid to late 1950s. After his soccer career ended, he tried boxing before moving into wrestling, and up to his death, he wrote a column for the local Welsh newspaper, the Daily Post. His daughter, Tara Bethan, found mainstream fame in the U.K. last year as a singer and actress on a BBC1 musical-theatre- based entertainment show, 'I'd Do Anything'.
His death was covered by BBC News here: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/8357344.stm
and there is more on him in this article here: http://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/2009/11/13/tributes-to-el-bandito-orig-williams-55578-25157159/
In light of the passing of Orig Williams, I thought it might be interesting to dig out one of the old tv reports I did on his 'Reslo' wrestling tv show. This tv report was first posted on the old Wrestling Observer website six years ago, and the episode in question featured one of Williams' final in-ring matches, at the age of 60, and two matches fought under classic European wrestling rounds.
'Reslo' - 'Classic' Wrestling Report
By Stephen Lyon
Aired: Saturday, July 5th, 2003
Shown on S4C Digital (Sky Digital Channel 184)
Original Air-Date: 1991.
From: Machynlleth Leisure Centre, Cardiff, U.K..
Analysis/Highlights: Show opened with various shots of classic British wrestling action. The host Bryn Fon welcomed everyone to the show.
This show's two matches were fought under the European wrestling 'rounds' system, with the winners decided by the means of best two-out-of-three-falls. Each round was two and a half minutes in length, with a thirty second break between rounds. Each wrestler had their own corner man (just like in Boxing) who provided them with water and a towel in between rounds. If a wrestler scored a decision, the round immediately ended, and both wrestlers had a thirty second break, before the next round began.....
1) Orig Williams (face) defeated Shane 'Psycho' Stevens (heel) by two falls to one, in Round 4. Orig Williams was a big hometown babyface here, and looked to be in his mid forties (despite being 60). Appearance-wise, he looked like Ivan Koloff, only with closely cropped black hair. Shane Stevens looked like a jobber. If ever a guy looked unmarketable, Shane was that guy.... Both guys wore amateur wrestling singlets. Williams took control during Round 1, and the key spot in this portion of the match was Stevens being crotched on the ring post...... Round 2 began in surprising fashion. The break had transformed Stevens, and he quickly scored a pinfall on Williams, by means of a small package...... Round 3 was a different story, as Williams went to work on Stevens, peppering him with some European upper-cuts in quick succession. This led to the rather unusual sight of Williams irish-whipping Stevens into the ropes, and dropkicking him for a successful pinfall.....
Round 4 was the most controversial round of all. Williams (perhaps thinking this was a battle royal, who knows) clotheslined Stevens out of the ring. In an unintentionally funny incident, Stevens knocked down one of the ringside barriers as he fell out of the ring. To show how cheap this promotion was, they were using roadside barriers that are usual found on roadwork sites as their crowd-control barriers. With no barrier up, this led to an irate ringside fan attempting to put his boots to Stevens’ head. Security quickly stepped in before the situation could have worsened. And then to top it all, this was the finish of the match, as Stevens was counted out..... So Williams won by two falls to one, in around 10:00. Pretty unique match.
2) Tarawen (w/ Julie Starr in her corner) defeated Naughty Nicky Monroe (heel) in a ladies match. Neither Taranwen or Starr (both faces) were much to look at (think WWF's 'Glamour Girls' tag team from the late 1980's), but Monroe was moderately attractive with a ‘Sherri Martel’ look..... Taranwen was in full control during Round 1, and was able to gain a pinfall on Monroe, by virtue of the most telegraphed sunset flip in history. The crowd were chanting 'Easy, easy' at Monroe, after that quick pinfall. I'm assuming they were referring to the ease at which Tarawen was able to score the fall, and not something more seedy (well, Monroe was billed as being from Soho, London; a place that's regarded as the strip club capital of the U.K., so maybe the crowd knew something I didn't)...... Round 2 began with Monroe being so disgusted with the reaction she was getting that she said she was leaving. Naturally she returned to the ring at the count of nine. They did a comedy spot, with Monroe put Tarawen in a 'row the boat' position, putting pressure on her legs. Tarawen no sold this, as it became evident that she was flexible enough to do the splits. Naturally, when Tarawen reversed the move, Monroe sold like crazy......
Round 3 ended quickly, when an angry Monroe emerged from her corner and small packaged Tarawen for the pinfall..... In Round 4, the story was that both ladies were going 'all out' for the win. The finish came when Tarawen broke free from Monroe's bearhug, and school-girled her for the pinfall.... Post match, Monroe went nuts and it ended up in a three way catfight between Tarawen, Starr and Monroe.... This match was of a GLOW-calibre. Not good.... The host Bryn Fon was at ringside, and he said something in Welsh to close the show. For some reason, a kid clad in a white polyester 'Hulk Hogan' WWF jacket was frantically gesticulating behind the host as he was speaking to the camera.
Final thoughts: It was interesting to see a wrestling show featuring a different rules system, and the crowd appeared to be very much into the show.
Orig Williams was a very popular wrestler and performer, and definitely knew how to work a crowd. He contributed in many different fields throughout his life, as a wrestling performer, promoter, trainer, professional athlete, serviceman, and writer.
He will be very sadly missed. My thoughts and condolences go out to his family at this time.
Match Results:
1) Orig Williams d. Shane 'Psycho' Stevens
2) Tarawen d. 'Naughty' Nicky Monroe
Thanks,
Stephen Lyon,
St. Helens, England, U.K.
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