Stand by, grapple fans
Wrestling to return on Saturdays after success of one-off special
WORLD of Sport wrestling is back on Saturday afternoons – after a 30-year break.
ITV are reviving the “grunt ’n’ groan” action after a one-off special on New Year’s Eve pulled in more than a million viewers.
The channel’s Tom McLennan said: “Britain’s wrestling scene is thriving. There has never been a better time to bring it back to ITV after a gap of so many years.”
Legends such as the late Big Daddy and Mick McManus, and Rollerball Rocco were huge hits with fans and it is hoped today’s star grapplers will light up the new 10-part series.
Fans will be hoping to see the likes of Grado and The Mexican Sensation El Ligero fight it out. Wrestlers will be filmed in front of a live audience at Preston Guild Hall in May and tickets are going on sale next week.
World of Sport previously aired every Saturday in the UK between 1965 and 1985, in competition with BBC’s Grandstand.
Jeff Jarrett, of IMPACT Wrestling, said: “The WoS brand is etched in professional wrestling tradition.
“My family’s lineage in the industry dates back 70-plus years, so I am honoured to revive the legacy of this historic British series.”
It is thought the show will again be given a teatime slot of around 5pm and bosses are hopeful millions of old and new fans will tune in to watch the modern-day equivalents of yesteryear’s stars including Giant Haystacks.
Bearded Martin Ruane worked in the US and UK as Giant Haystacks. He died at 51 in 1998 of lymphoma.
His rival Shirley Crabtree (Big Daddy) wrestled from 1952 until 1993, and died of a stroke in 1997.
Other stars who were household names from the 60s included Count Bartelli, Jackie Pallo, Steve Veidor, Dynamite Kid, and the masked Kendo Nagasaki.