{"id":39353,"date":"2019-02-27T11:52:48","date_gmt":"2019-02-27T16:52:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lwosonprowrestling.ms.lastwordonsports.com\/?p=39353"},"modified":"2021-01-08T17:42:12","modified_gmt":"2021-01-08T22:42:12","slug":"land-of-my-fathers-a-brief-history-of-welsh-professional-wrestling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/prowrestling\/2019\/02\/27\/land-of-my-fathers-a-brief-history-of-welsh-professional-wrestling\/","title":{"rendered":"Land of My Fathers: A Brief History of Welsh Professional Wrestling"},"content":{"rendered":"

Cymru am byth! Or as they say in that other<\/em>\u00a0(perhaps more famous) British language: Wales forever! Welsh wrestling is rich with history.\u00a0 It can be traced back to the early half of the 20th century, when performers such as Atholl Oakeley<\/strong> and former professional Rugby League player Sandy Orford<\/strong> were in their primes during the 1940s and 50s.\u00a0 It is a history which continued to grow, when the likes of Orig Williams<\/strong> took Welsh wrestling to the next level during the 1960s and 70s – showcasing it to new audiences and himself working worldwide to display his brand of Welsh in-ring work.\u00a0 So join us, ffrindiau (friends), as we take a brief stroll through Welsh wrestling history.<\/p>\n

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Atholl Oakeley<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Whereas Welsh wrestling had been taking place as early as the 19th century (perhaps earlier), the first two men to modernise Welsh professional wrestling were Atholl Oakeley (1900 – 1987) and Sandy Orford (1911 – 1986).\u00a0 Both men were true pioneers; paving the way for future generations of Welsh wrestlers and helping turn Britain into a hotbed of professional wrestling – something it remains to this day.\u00a0 Oakeley, for example, was Britain’s first British Heavyweight Champion<\/em> (the British equivalent of the NWA Championship<\/em>), winning the title in 1930 – successfully defending it for five years before retiring in 1935, causing the title to be vacated.\u00a0 Sandy Orford was Wales’ big star of the 1940s, famously facing off with the legendary Lou Thesz<\/strong> three times – scoring a draw and two losses.\u00a0 In 1952, he would pin the man known as Shirley Crabtree<\/strong> in Crabtree’s debut match – the same Shirley Crabtree who would go on to become arguably Britain’s most famous wrestler, Big Daddy<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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During the 1960s and 70s – when British wrestling was running wild, with promotions such as World of Sport <\/strong>staking their claim to the mantle of being one of British households’ most beloved weekly shows – Wales played its part in producing some of the finest performers wrestling has ever seen.\u00a0 Perhaps most notably of all was Orig Williams (born 1931) – known in the United States as “El Bandito<\/strong>“, because of his epic handlebar moustache – a North Walian who played perhaps the biggest role in putting Welsh wrestling on the map.\u00a0 He worked shows in Britain; in the United States; in India, Pakistan, South East Asia… he performed everywhere.\u00a0 At one time, he was arguably the most in-demand worker on the entire wrestling circuit.\u00a0 He advocated a strong, hard-hitting style of wrestling, in-line with the old-school mentality that maneuvers had to look<\/em> real – “if you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen” was a catchphrase of his, because of his approach to wrestling.<\/p>\n

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More than just a performer, El Bandito was an equally successful promoter – presenting the Welsh wrestling show “Reslo<\/strong>” (“wrestling”) on Welsh speaking TV channel S4C in the 1980s.\u00a0 Reslo featured matches from Orig’s British Wrestling Federation<\/strong>, as well as Windy City Wrestling<\/strong> (USA) and a handful of matches from Germany.\u00a0 Reslo played an important part in introducing gimmick matches – cage matches, chain matches etc – to Welsh television and, famously, brought back women’s wrestling.\u00a0 In the 1980s, women’s wrestling was banned in Britain, with Wales being the only country allowed to showcase it.\u00a0 Therefore, Reslo was highly influential in women’s wrestling once again being displayed in Britain and playing a part the ban being lifted.\u00a0 The first thing you would notice about Orig Williams was his notoriously strong Welsh accent – normal for someone born in the predominantly Welsh speaking village of Ysbyty Ifan.\u00a0 He was a lifelong advocate of preserving the Welsh language and spoke it whenever he could, which is why Reslo was a 100 percent Welsh speaking television programme.\u00a0 El Bandito sadly passed away in 2009, but left behind an unmatched legacy in Welsh wrestling.<\/p>\n