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| Russell Brodie on U.K. wrestlers in Hall of Fame |
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I read with interest the comments by Darren Wadsworth about the eligibility of the various British wrestlers being considered for the HoF, and I thought I'd chip in with some opinions. I grew up with the British wrestling of the late 70's and early to mid 80's and I've long thought that at least a few British stars deserved a place in the Hall of Fame. I was pleasantly suprised to see UK stars finally being considered in the latest Observer. The thing is, the British wrestling circuit such as it was, never conformed to many of the standards that are essential in deciding a true Hall of Fame level performer. The events were, with a few exceptions, mainly in small sized town halls and concert halls. I beleive this allowed the main promotions to put on many more shows across the country at any given time. The US booking plan of leading feuds up to an annual stadium/arena supershow was never really employed either. Big feuds did get their blow off, but either on TV or while travelling around the country at the same town halls. The TV show was different too. There was rarely the continuity of episodic booking of feuds. Instead we were given a rotating showcase of stars. Each week of the show would have different wrestlers and you would only see your favourite every couple of months. There were a lot of great workers but practising a style that was unique to our culture and which has all but died out (notwithstading revivial by current day fans like Colt Cabana). The style was technical and not spot based. Gimmicks, both in performers, matches and booking were definately the exception, not the rule. So, as far as the Hall of Fame goes, British wrestlers are excluded from ever having the chance to set attendance records, be remembered for spectacular highlight reel moments or be considered good workers in the current sense. Not to say these sort of thing didn't happpen but generally the presentation was rather sober. I always thought that, rather like the WWE of today, the show itself was the draw, though it was created off the backs of the stars of the late 60's / early 70's 'Golden era' when the show set incredible TV ratings and the annual show on the day of the FA Cup final (soccer) saw the streets empty and people went home to watch the wrestling . British wrestling in this era is almost like Japan in the Rikidozan era - a country discovering the novelty of wrestling on TV and where the first stars became household names and set the table for everything that followed, until no new stars could be made, the TV stopped and only the hardcore fans remained. Still, British wrestling had a solid 30 year streak as a Saturday afternoon fixture and this is why several wrestlers deserve to be in the Hall of Fame. I don't think I can underestimate how big the top stars became in popular British culture. For my generation we had Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks, and for the previous one it was Mick McManus and Jackie Pallo. As Darren rightly says, McManus represented the 'real' side to wrestling. When Pallo wrote his book exposing the business, Mick McManus appeared on all the chat shows and news bulletins to say that it wss the work of a bitter man and that wrestling was indeed, real. And most people believed him. As a worker, from what I've seen he was solid but in his prime it was his psychology and facial expressions that could send heat off the charts. He had that 'real' sort of heel heat. You know, the Gary Hart 'you do not want to mess with me' sort of aura. As time went on he became 'The Man you Love to Hate' and he became a mainstream sports star, appearing at pro- celebrity golf tounamnents, prime time chat shows, and even 'This is Your Life'. Pallo was the same to a degree and for a short time was probably the bigger star but fell out of favour politically and thus the national spotlight. But the point is, ask anyone who is over 40 in Britian who Mick McManus and Jackie Pallo are and they will instantly know. They were mainstream stars in their day to compare with few others. They also moved ratings (though that sortof thing wasn't as important back then I'd guess) and people all over the country paid to see them in their town. For my generation the only star was Big Daddy. I'm not entirely convinced he should be in but I think there is an argument for it. Again, Big Daddy was a genuine cultural institution. Everyone in their 30's in Britian knows who he was. Sadly, unlike McManus and Pallo, memories aren't kind to him. For the simple reason that he is a byword for the ridiculousness of wrestling then I probably think he shouldn't be in. But think about this. When I was a kid, he was a superhero and I looked forward to his occasional appearances on tv with relish. To me, the showdown with Giant Haystacks for the the ultimate match. I believed everything he did in the ring and so did all my friends at school who also watched the tv show (I literally don't remember anyone who didn't watch the show at least casually). Now given that he was a grey haired, balding, middle aged, fat guy with two or three moves (and let's not even start with Haystacks) to have that effect on the nation's youth was pretty amazing. I don't know about you but I call that a good worker. He also had a weekly comic strip, released a record and was a staple of the morning kids tv shows. I know that it's easy to look down at him and sneer, and ultimately he did cause more bad than good, but for us kids at the time he was our Hulk Hogan or John Cena. And that's a very difficult thing to achieve, especially without a massive promotional machine behind him. As for Rollerball Rocco, he was an awesome worker in his day but as Darren points out, if Fit Finlay isn't in, neither should he. Nagasaki...not sure. Culturally, yes but let's walk before we can run! Personally, I do believe that it's difficult to compare the British stars with the American, Japanese or Mexican ones because our wrestling was quite unique and had it's own set of rules, just as our wrestlers practiced their own unique style or working. However, all the top stars became genuine fixtures in British culture throughout the 60's, 70's and early 80's and the consistent ratings draw of the tv show is an incredibly impressive feat. I don't think Daddy killed it on it's own. Like WCW it was a decision made by TV executives that killed Britiah wrestling, but that's another email altogether! I feel that the Hall of Fame does need to seriously consider British wrestlers on a par with many of the Hall of Fame candidates. However, I can't see much support for them as voters are likely to vote for the wrestling they've been exposed to and I doubt that you have a large enough block of voters from Britain for anything to count. But looking at the big picture and historically, there needs to be a British presence. Russell Brodie |
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