h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Like it says on the tin

manda

A wrestling thread get in.

Heres a topic, list, in order, your three favourite wrestling PPVs

mine are

3: XPW My Bloody Valenine
2: WWE Wrestlemania X7
1. ECW Heatwave 98

hi everyone...

got a few h2g2 entries on/about wrestling...

The following results were found in h2g2
ID Subject Status Score
A1909 Pro-Wrestling Edited 72%
A821701 History of the Hard Core Wrestling Match Edited 71%
A302969 Extreme Championship Wrestling (ECW) Edited 70%
A252721 World Wrestling Federation Edited 64%
A704639 Pro-Wrestling - 46%
A571871 History of the Hard Core Wrestling Match - 45%
A254107 TV Wrestling Fans - 42%
A907436 Scott Levy: Pro-Wrestling Veteran - 42%
A433739 The Definitive Hitchhiker's Guide to Wrestling - 41%
A496587 WCW Wrestling - 41%
A504028 The World of E-Wrestling - 40%
A501283 The World of E-Wrestling - 40%
A58907 Professional Wrestling - 39%
A189038 World Wrestling Federation - 38%
A300060 WCW (World Championship Wrestling) - 38%
A823385 WWWF to WWE - the McMahon Family Legacy Edited 37%
A794306 Catchphrases in Professional Wrestling - 36%

haven't had a time to check them tho'... enjoy....

ecw4life: will ask one of my daughters [she is into wrestling]....?!...



talk soon...

loup

I was a great fan of British wrestling in the 70's - names were Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks.

kat

Big Daddy also known as Shirley Crabtree from Halifax was the biggest British wrestling star that has ever been known.

Shirley Crabtree was born on 14th November 1937. Wrestling was in his blood from the day he was born. Crabtree's father had also been a professional wrestler and as Shirley got older both his younger brothers Max and Brian became wrestlers too.

Shirley became an established figure on the UK wrestling circuit in the 60's and for a time he was in the Guinness Book Of Records for having the largest chest measurement in the country.

By the mid 70's Shirley decided on a new image, being 6'2" frame he also had reached the 24 stone mark and then he called himself Big Daddy after the character Burl Ives played in the film Cat On A Hot Tin Roof.

Big Daddy formed a tag partnership with 6'11" 31 stone Giant Haystacks, the duo were unstoppable making a particular beeline for Kendo Nagasaki.

Haystacks bad temper caused friction between the pair and soon Daddy was wrestling solo again, which delighted the fans by giving a thrashing to the top villain wresttlers of the day. Haystacks was the top of the Shirleys List which Daddy would use his celebrated belly butts and body checks and bout finishing splashes to keep Haystacks at bay.

Britain was in a recession in the 70's, 3 day weeks, power cuts and strikes. Big Daddy lifted the spirits during these very depressing times when he would wear his union jack ring costume which glistened in the dark.

Big Daddy had adopted a the music theme tune in the form of "We Shall Not Be Moved" when ever came into the ring. In 1980 Daddy had recorded his own version backed by rock guitarist Legendary Lonnie. Big Daddy would come into the ring with his sequinned top hat and ring gowns which made the audience hysterical during the late 70's and early 80's.

Big Daddy's career was overshadowed with his feud with Mighty John Quinn, the huge Canadian who arrived in Britain. Mighty John Quinn caused uproar when he immediately launched into a tirade on television branding the British wrestlers cowards and then demanded a showdown with Big Daddy. Big Daddy met Mighty John Quinn on for this long awaited confrontation, 27th June 1979 when Joint Promotions hired Wembley Arena. 10,000 people packed the hall to see Mighty John Quinn knocked out as Daddy fell back on top of his head thus rendering Quinn unconscious for 12 minutes. Big Daddy's win over Mighty John Quinn was reported in all he national newspapers.

Big Daddy had also appeared in ITV's This Is Your Life. Big Daddy was to have his own tv show on ITV. This show would have replaced Tiswas on Saturday mornings. The show was cancelled at the last minute as an unexpected illness forced Daddy to pull out.

After Big Daddy recovered from the illeness he returned to wrestling with his tag team with partners Danny Collins, Steve Grey, Greg Valentine, Jackie Turpin, Bobby Ryan and Pat Patten. He also was the starring guest at the first Children's Royal Variety Show in the presence of Princess Margaret.

Big Daddy was a very unrelentless campaigner for children's charities and he raised many thousands of pounds to aid the less fortunate during his period as Britain's top wrestler. By 1988, Shirley Crabtree had become Britain's most powerful wrestler promoter and Brian was also an outstanding referee and master of ceremonies.

Big Daddy's health started to detiorated badly it became apparent when he was in the ring. Shirely coould not hold out for more than two or three minutes of action before tagging his partner. Big Daddy roadshow went into decline as when halls had been packed to capacity, by the early nineties Big Daddy was lucky if he pulled in an audience of a hundred to see his flagging ring skills.

Big Daddy was forced into retirement by a slight stroke. There was another far more serious and paralysing stroke to hit Shirely a few years later and after a period in hospital Big Daddy passed away on 2nd December 1997.

Giant Haystacks

One of the most best known British wrestlers, 6'11" tall and weighed well over 45-stone at his heaviest. He is best remembered for his long-standing feud with Big Daddy. Haystacks had an audience of about 10 million viewers on a Saturday afternoon.

Giant Haystacks took up wrestling in 1967 and he became a household name from the mid-70's when he was one of the biggest wrestlers in Europe. He did 120,000 miles a year in his car which was only average.

Sir Paul McCartney was one of Giant Haystacks best friends. Sir Paul McCartney had asked Haystacks to be in his 1984 film, "Give My Regards To Broad Street" . Sir Paul McCartney would often go to wrestling shows with his son in Sussex when Giant Haystacks was top of the bill.

In 1996, Haystacks undertook his U.S.A wrestling tour under the W.C.W banner as "The Loch Ness Monster", fighting many of the America's top wrestlers.

Giant Haystacks' parents, came from Co. Mayo, Ireland and they wanted him to be a musician. He started to learn the piano, but his large hands and fingers made it a futile task! Giant Haystacks wrestled all over the world, most notably in the German tournaments and East Africa. He was also made an honourary citizen of Zimbabwe.

Frank Sinatra claimed after a concert at the Royal Albert Hall in London, Frank Sinatra claimed that he had seen the Giant on television that afternoon and stated that he thought that British wrestlers were the best in the world.

British wrestling:

http://www.britishwrestling.org
http://www.britishwrestling.cwc.net/
http://www.scotwrestle.co.uk/
http://www.bangor.ac.uk/~iss082/wrestle.htm