OLD WEST BROMWICH PHOTOS

Who can remember the Wrestling at the Gala ?

I am sure they run it about once a month, but it used to be great and you really got worked up against the 'baddies'

I know it was mostly all gaming about but when I was a kid it sucked you in

Giant Haystcaks, Big daddy, that bloke in the japanese gear, nagasaki or something like that and that blond bloke who was a bit feminine and wore pink trunks who used to jump up and dance around like a ballerina when he was thrown, Davy boy or something, Mick McManus and that really ugly bloke who used to have a terrible temper and pulled his face and stamp his feet in anger, what was his name ?

I shall never forget the first time I saw Haystacks, he was HUGE and I mean HUGE. The place used to be heaving and all of the kids and old women used to be really agressive !

There you go, something else gone, flattened to become a car park, I couldn't believe it when I went back and it was gone, that fantastic Art Decco building just smashed to bits instead of investing in it to keep it going or perhaps turning THAT into the Arts Centre, keeping the building as it was

i don't know how far back we are talking, but i remember my friends grandad telling me about the wrestling matches at some place, but that must have been years before the haystacks or anybody like that. so just goes to prove agreat piece of history dating back years is now flattened into a carpark. it does upset you in ways that you can't quite put your finger on.

Never went to West Bromwich for wrestling but attended regularly at Wolverhampton Civic. The Japanese guy was Kendo Nagasaki who incidentally is still wrestling. The one in pink trunks could have been either Bobby Barnes or Adrian Street who also wrestled together as the Hell's Angels tag team. The Davy Boy would have been Davy Boy Smith who went on to become very big in America with WWF/WWE. The really ugly bloke would have been Jimmy Breaks who also known as Cry Baby Jimmy Breaks. Hope this is interesting to you.

I cant remember at the gala baths but  all the ones named were at Willenhall town hall in the  late fifties along with jackie palo, chopper conroy, tibor zacash  and his brother george? , and massambula,  but I cant for the life of me remember the name of the  one who used to  "rope a dope" { before ALI ]  and would bounce in the ropes and fly back into the ring.He was like a rubber man. As  for the Gala baths the councils motto seems to be  "if its worth keeoing its worth pulling down" Cheers J.E.M.

Tibor's brother was Peter and the rope a dope you refer to would have been the clown prince of the ring Les Kellett - said to be one of the hardest men in professional wrestling for all the comedy. As well as Masambula there was also Johnny Kwango the two kings of the head butt and Billy Two Rivers who was as Good with the chop as Martin Chopper Conroy. Great times and great fun

Spot on Ian . Wasnt Les Kellet some sort of champioship belt holder in a lightweight division or is it age playing tricks on my memory again.? J.E.M.

The wrestling at the Gala Baths was the late 70s early 80s and this was one of the last times wrestling was ever featured on World of Sport on a Saturday afternoon with Kent Walton.