This site is a celebration of the days when British Professional Wrestling was a highly skilled and athletic sport, supported by thousands of spectators every week in clubs and halls around the country. In its heyday from the 1950s to the 1980s, British Professional Wrestling was enjoyed by millions on television every Saturday afternoon on ITV's "World of Sport".


This is a free-to-view, non-commercial website, put together by one man in my spare time. It is by no means complete - there is still lots of work to be done to include everyone worthy of a mention. My aim is to create a fitting tribute to all those who helped bring about "The Golden Years" of British Professional Wrestling.

The site started (around the turn of the century!) when there were no good quality British wrestling sites on the internet. Emails from around the world confirm there is still a great respect for 'classic' British Professional Wrestling. Over the years, I have been loaned wrestling magazines, been sent scanned pictures and even been entrusted with original photographs by wrestlers and their families. Best of all, I have been welcomed into the "wrestling fraternity" and attended reunions where wrestlers meet to reminisce about escapades both in and out of the ring. It has been my good fortune to meet them, and others behind the scenes, discovering the warm friendship of this very special group of comrades.

As wrestlers' families and friends discover this site, I hope they will be inspired to search attics and thumb through family albums, and send in material to enable their role in the history of wrestling to be acknowledged here. Meanwhile, my aim is to scan many more photographs and articles from "The Wrestler" and other vintage wrestling magazines for you to enjoy.

Ideally, there will be regular site updates, but please bear in mind that I have a full-time job. Gathering information and scanning photographs takes time. My apologies if updates aren't as frequent as on other websites and emails aren't answered promptly. I can't update the site daily with current news of the "wrestling fraternity" but, fortunately, there are now other websites which can. For news, interviews, discussion forums and much more, check out the excellent Wrestling Heritage site. And if you want it "straight from the horse's mouth", the official British Wrestlers' Reunion site must be the place to visit.

Happy browsing!
Chris

Last Update:

Tuesday 1st May 2012

EMAIL ADDRESS: furnacehot@gmail.com

(Join the MAILING LIST to receive update notifications).

What's New?

See UPDATES for full details of changes.

Briefly:

01/05/12
Jan '74 Royal Albert Hall programme added.
Steve Taylor gallery started.
Photo featuring Ray Robinson & Dave Kaye added to both galleries

26/03/12
Leeds Reunion page begun. More to be added in the next few days and weeks.

19/03/12
Jan '67 and Jan '69 Royal Albert Hall programmes added. Galleries index page re-styled.

26&27/02/12
Dec '66 Royal Albert Hall programme added. Fraternity and Formalities sections reformatted. Ray Hunter and Barry Douglas galleries updated.

18/01/12
Nov '69 Royal Albert Hall programme added.

26/11/11
Leeds Reunion page augmented. Nov '66 Royal Albert Hall programme added. "Holding Area" started. 1960s ATV annual added to media section. Photo added to Johnny England gallery.

26/10/11
Vic Coleman biography updated. Press Release for new stage play added. David Kidney gallery updated.

In the Pipeline ...

More galleries and programmes.

Site Appearance

Please report any technical problems with the site layout to Chris at furnacehot@gmail.com.