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From the Author
Born in Cairo, Egypt in 1919 of English parentage, he served with the Canadian Air Force during the war and afterwards continued his acting career both on stage and in many TV appearances. He also compered many light entertainment shows including Answers Please and Cool for Cats.
It had been a telephone call from the Head of Sport for Associated Rediffusion, Ken Johnstone, which would change his life forever. He rang Kent and asked him what he knew about wrestling.
"Nothing," he replied.
"Then find out," said Johnstone, "You need to be an expert by next Wednesday - you’re commentating at the West Ham Baths."
Kent contacted Johnny Dale of Dale-Martins Promotions in London, who whisked him around the country to watch as many wrestlers in action as could be squeezed in. Johnny also introduced Kent to Mike Marino, one of the top heavyweights, who took him into the ring and gave him a practical demonstration of the various holds and throws.
The bouts were always filmed on Wednesday evenings, the first two being transmitted at 11pm the same evening, but because of the lateness of the hour they did not seem to attract a significant audience.
The reaction to wrestling on the Saturday afternoon programme by the viewing public, however, was nothing short of sensational. From 4pm to 5pm every weekend, grandmothers and grandfathers, mums and dads - and children - would be glued to their television sets, ‘cheering’ their heroes and ‘booing’ the villains.
Mick McManus, Jackie Pallo, Steve Logan, George Kidd, Les Kellett, and of course the great tag teams such as The Royal Brothers, Colin Joynson and Steve Haggerty, Roy and Tony St Clair and many others, would become household names along with perhaps the most famous of all, Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks.
The cauliflower ears, broken noses and bruises were occupational hazards by these very skilful and entertaining athletes - affectionately known as the ‘grunt and groaners’.
Kent received thousands of letters during the 25 years he was commentating, mostly enquiring about the cuts and bruises he had sustained when men weighing 15 stone or more were hurled over the top rope, often deliberately, literally landing in the erstwhile commentator’s lap! There were also questions asking him how Jackie Pallo, Steve Logan, Mick McManus and all the other hard cases reacted to some of his comments on the liberties they took with their opponents and referees.
Such was his brilliance as a commentator, he could influence the viewing audience to fanatically like or dislike individual wrestlers. It was a great era that I feel certain will never be repeated. There were good times as well as funny and sad times, all of which evoke the most wonderful memories.
These are the wrestling legends of which this book is about and I feel privileged to have walked amongst giants - and often taken them on - for much of my life. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
Those readers who are looking for a 'warts & all' expose of the genre will be in for a disappointing time. Neither will they be treated to a seriously detailed historical review of British professional wrestling. However, what readers will get is a story told with the love of the game very much in evidence and, as such, it deserves a place on the bookshelf of any serious fan of British professional wrestling.
The problem is that this book was written 30 years too late - fans now know the intricate details of professional wrestling and how matches are choreographed with pre-determined outcomes. Marquette writes as if each match was a true contest which is not only disrespectful to anyone who knows anything about wrestling but would seem unrealistic to even the most casual of fans.
The saving grace is the detail on long-gone professional wrestlers whose stories were in danger of being lost but Marquette appears to know little about the wrestling world, commenting on wrestling with "Jean Ferre" but not seemingly knowing that he went onto become the worldwide star that was Andre The Giant.
Also, Al Marquette was not a household name but certainly writes as one, name-dropping former Coronation Street stars and prominent charity events, even mentioning the names & even surnames of 20 golfing buddies who have no part in the book whatsoever!
Overall, it's a self-indulgent book that has no part in modern wrestling literature. I have absolutely no idea of the target market of this book because someone with absolutely no knowledge of professional wrestling wouldn't buy it and someone who had would find it condescending and insulting to their intelligence.
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