By Andrew Joyce, PWTorch Specialist

Welcome back to our second insight.

I have tried to play to your American sensitivities by finding someone you have actually heard of for this weeks retro.

Wednesday August 10, 1983, Southend:

Marty Jones defeated Honey Boy Zimba
Johnny Kidd defeated Blondie Barrett
Clive Myers defeated Steve Grey
Mal Sanders defeated Tally Ho Kaye
Fit Finlay defeated Lennie Hurst

Marty Jones was a mid-heavyweight superstar in British terms. Generally clean (though he had a heel phase) he was a classy technician, who also copied one of the great finishers with the "Power Lock." Honey Boy Zimba was a classy jobber, who actually got quite a lot of wins. That said he conformed to the "black man" image of the time. Which means he used the headbutt.

Johnny Kidd, still running, though retiring in November. A very classy technician who made it all look so easy. Blondie Barrett was a generic heel. These two feuded for the best part of five years...

Clive Myers vs. Steve Grey. See my comments from last week. Just goes to show that jobbers get wins.

Mal Sanders vs. Tally Ho Kaye. Sanders as before. Peter "Tally Ho" Kaye had a fox hunting gimmick, hence the "Tally Ho." That all started when he feuded with Harvey Smith, a showjumper who decided to play in wrestling for a while. Kaye was a generic heel, but crowds loved him.

And so to the main event. Lennie Hurst was a decent Mid-Heavyweight, although his weight tended to fluctuate week by week. He was a face, but second string and doomed to losses.

Fit Finlay. At this time a mega main event player. He is one of the best we ever produced. Twelve years later he .will debut for WCW. Finlay brought an intensity that was missing to so many others. Roundly hated, he just kept on winning, and winding people up.

I highly recommend finding old footage of Finlay from his Brit days. It is class.

I also feel it would be appropriate to give something of an understanding of the industry in UK at this time. The business (Joint Promotions, the monopoly promoter) has been through a mega shakeup, that has seen all of the old promoters retire, and the business being bought by corporate backers who had no idea what they had. Eventually they signed Max Crabtree as the booker as he was old school, and everyone knew him. The business itself changed hands several times before settling down, and leaving Crabtree as the ultimate head honcho.

But, from the late-'70s an independent promoter named Brian Dixon was growing and beginning to challenge Joint. In the early-'80s a number of wrestlers walked away from Joint and joined Dixon, giving him name power, and the ability to run cards every bit as good as Joint.

Crabtree had his brother, Big Daddy.

Dixon gained Finlay, Rocco. Tony St Clair and, after a short retirement, Kendo Nagasaki.

The crowds wavered, and, gradually, switched. Dixon's cards were original, and he had the people to actually run storylines.

Crabtree had Daddy.

Now, in the early-'80s Daddy was big business. Kids loved him, and he had glamour and glitz. But the matches were dire. Ten minutes tops, and that was only because the lightweight used up seven of those ten. And his single matches, although they pulled mega crowds, lasted no longer than three minutes. And Crabtree forgot that his audiences weren't that thick. They knew a one trick pony when they saw one.

More difficulties were to come, but that's for another time.

A look-see at the current scene.

With the demise of FWA, and the diminution of IPW, 3CW and 1PW the market place is very open. LDN have seized the ball and are running well with it.

There are a lot of alphabet soup promotions opening up, doing a couple of shows and disappearing.

All Star have discovered the German scene and are importing wrestlers from there.

A hard time at present. Perhaps the autumn season will perk up.

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