Lord Layton's wrestling show on CKLW Television

**9606 Prest** · November-07-10, 08:43 PM

Lord Layton hosted a wrestling show from Windsor's CKLW studios many years ago. Did you attend any of the shows in person? What do you remember about watching the show on television, ; which wrestlers were your favorites?

**Gistok** · November-07-10, 08:49 PM

Larry Shane.... Bobo Brazil... Haystack Calhoun... the Sheik... Dick the Bruiser... besides Larry [[whom I liked)... those are the only names I remember when I was a kid and my dad/older brother hogged the TV to watch wrestling...

**Bong-Man** · November-07-10, 08:50 PM

The Stomper & Ben Justice against the Kangaroo Bros. The sleeper hold rocked. Pamparo Firpo looked like Jerry Garcia on a meth rage.

**mikefmich** · November-07-10, 08:58 PM

Me and a couple of my buddies did the show in HS. Wanna say it was filmed on Sat or Sun and they recorded 3-4 shows.

We had a blast, just kept on trying to egg on whatever bad guy was out on the set.

Leaping Larry Shane was a cool dude.

OMG Bong.....don't think I've thought of Firpo in decades. lol

**lpg** · November-07-10, 09:07 PM

It was called Big Time Wrestling, if I remember right. Bobo Brazil and his Coconut Head Butt. Lord Athol Layton was his full name. He used his Judo chop to break up matches.

**EastsideAl** · November-07-10, 09:55 PM

Ahhh, good ol' Lord Alcohol Weigh-ton and Big Time Wrestling. Bobo Brazil was my favorite, just like he was of everyone else I knew. And the Sheik was deliciously evil. Others I liked back then were Tex McKenzie, Wild Bull Curry, and his kid, Flying Fred Curry, Haystacks Calhoun, Big Cat Ernie Ladd, the Kangaroos and Crybaby George Cannon. Pampero Firpo was a serious favorite of all old Detroit/Windsor wrasslin' fans. What a trip that act was.

**szla** · November-07-10, 10:53 PM

Argentina Rocca, Tom the killer Kowalski.

**Hermod** · November-08-10, 05:34 AM

Then every so often they would have a "midget wrestling" match. Are they still allowed to do that?

**rid0617** · November-08-10, 06:03 AM

Oh yea, leaping Larry Shane. Favorite

**dtrrman** · November-08-10, 07:34 AM

Originally Posted by lpg

It was called Big Time Wrestling, if I remember right. Bobo Brazil and his Coconut Head Butt. Lord Athol Layton was his full name. He used his Judo chop to break up matches.

Yes it was indeed Big Time Wrestling on Saturdays. George Cannon later had his own show out of Windsor and promoted local shows. Ivan Putsky, George Steele, Sailor White and many other. Floyd Creachman, Eddie Creachmann, Dr. Jerry Graham were some of the many promoters.

**dtrrman** · November-08-10, 07:45 AM

Heres a couple websites dedicated to past wrestlers and their deceased dates.

http://www.deadwrestlers.net/completelist.html

http://www.garywill.com/wrestling/decwres.htm

**Lowell** · November-08-10, 07:58 AM

Those fake wrestlers were great showmen and it amazed me how they could pull off the illusions and draw the audience into thinking it was real.

To my eyes, being a high school and university wrestler, their 'wrestling' was so transparently staged that my only reaction was laughter. People actually thought there were sleeper holds, body slams and the like. The only sleeper hold is the carotid strangle [legal in judo] where a thumb knuckle or forearm presses on the carotid artery to deprive the brain of blood. Nonetheless I always appreciated their acting skills.

This made for great fun with newbies who decided to take up real wrestling after being inspired the fakery. We would show them how they could throw someone the length of the mat by a mere hand-shake flick, then have them try the move on us and find out how easy and quick to learn it was. Of course we supplied the summer-sault when they flicked our wrists.

Then we would stand aside amused as they went about trying it on others to no avail getting only what-the-****-do-you-think-you-are-doing looks. They would come back asking what they did wrong. We would show them an 'adjustment' and then get more giggles as they again futilely tried it on others. It was like telling a kid there is no Santa Claus.

To me nothing in Detroit show wrestling history topped the Alex Karras - Dick the Bruiser dust up. This was discussed in the old forum archive thread http://atdetroit.net/forum/messages/...tml?1187517875 Contrary to what may be believed I have little doubt that this was staged starting at the Lindell AC all the way through to a couple of washed-up athletes having a nice payday to delight of all.

**softailrider** · November-08-10, 08:06 AM

Originally Posted by Hermod

Then every so often they would have a "midget wrestling" match. Are they still allowed to do that?

No, I don't think so. It's evolved, now it's become "midget tossing" at certain bars.

**Downriviera** · November-08-10, 08:07 AM

We used to go down to the WGPR TV studios on East Jefferson on Saturday mornings to watch the tapings. It was free to get in but I don't think too many people knew about it. They had some small metal bleachers set up and they bussed in some people from a half way house. Needless to say it was a crazy scene. Saw the Sheik, a very small Randy Savage pre steroid use, Austin Idol, Baron Von Roshke, Pancho Villa, the mad dog guy that always barked, and many others. It was fun to watch them tape the hyped up promo interviews that sometimes took a few takes. This was the same studio they filmed the dance show The Scene in, we could see some of the props for that show along the walls. We'd go home and watch the show later in the afternoon on TV. Years later while living in Hawaii I came home drunk one night about 3am and turned on my TV. One of the old tapes was on and I could see myself and my buddies sitting in the stands. It was surreal.

**daddeeo** · November-08-10, 08:42 AM

Hey, you guys forgot Crusher Cortez!.
I recall the rants between, before or after matches too.
Saliva would be spraying and Dick the Bruiser [[for example)
would tell everyone how he was gonna kick Lord Athol [[pronounced
and slurred "AssH-le" Layton's butt the next weekend.
Amazing how pencils, folding chairs and a roll of quarters could
produce daily mayhem on family TV.
Channel 7 and Channel 9 had the wrestling fans back in those days.
Didn't Fred Wolf do some stuff way back in the day too?
We also had the original Sheik as well. He was a much more out of control
guy too.

**Wingnatic** · November-08-10, 08:43 AM

The guy who always '' barked ''was George '' The Animal '' Steele I believe . Which one always grabbed the opponents and started biting their foreheads ? lol ! I think it was either Abdullah The Butcher or The Sheik . One of my favorites was Leapin' Larry Shane . I always watched the shows on TV , but had a friend that went to alot of the shows . Anyone remember the old black lady with the cane walking around the ring sometimes ? I remember her , she was always yelling at one of the wrestlers that she didn't like . My friend tells me that she was telling them that she was going to shove this cane up their a** LOL ! Yep they didn't sell the moves like the wrestlers do today , but we didn't care lol
a slideshow of wrestlers
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7DhryircdIM

Firpo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1yXuT1d79c

**Hermod** · November-08-10, 09:38 AM

Originally Posted by daddeeo

Channel 7 and Channel 9 had the wrestling fans back in those days.
Didn't Fred Wolf do some stuff way back in the day too?

Fred Wolf did a lot of "sports announcing" back in the day. He was the announcer for the Monday night racing from Motor City Speedway and he also did wrestling announcing. He understood that the main part of his schtick was to promote attendance for the non-broadcast, live spectator races and bouts. I think the TV stations got the stuff for nothing in exchange for promoting the paid admission stuff.

**Steve** · November-08-10, 10:16 AM

I think Larry Shane and Crusher Cortez were on Fred Wolf's show, not on Lord Layton's.

You guys are only mentioning the guys who used to win matches. There were other wrestlers who were fed to the likes of the Bruiser et al who never won a match. I can think of Jim Grabmeyer, Tony Simon, Prince Pullens, and "Dynamite" Johnny Gates. Are there any others who come to mind?

**jefferson78** · November-08-10, 10:26 AM

I remember a "Flying Freddy Martinez" who was always a sacrificial lamb for the bigger names.
I loved watching Big Time Wrestling on the weekends but they only showed one-sided matches. If you wanted to see the big names fight each other you had to go to Cobo Arena, which Lord Layton promoted heavily between matches.
Oh how I hated The Shiek and Firpo was fun to watch. Haystacks Calhoun and Bobo Brazil were also entertaining.
There seemed to be a solid difference between the "bad guys" and the "good guys".
Today that line is blurred, for obvious reasons.

**SMRJim** · November-08-10, 10:58 AM

Watched it quite a bit in my pre-teen and early teen years in the early 70s. All the ones I remember have already been named. Firpo was my favorite, the '8th wonder of the world'! I seem to remember he was advertised as a savage who'd been found in the jungle or something along those lines. I HATED the Sheik, he was always pulling out his razor and cutting em up [[or so they said). Also used to watch roller derby, I remember going to see 'The Kansas City Bomber' with Raquel Welch at the Norwest theatre around 1972 or so, man was I in love with her back then!!

**Steve** · November-08-10, 02:44 PM

"Promoter Johnny Doyle has a great card lined up for us at Cobo Arena this Saturday night."

**RYANGUARD** · November-08-10, 08:03 PM

Flying Fred Curry,did the flying drop kick and Bobo Brazil had the Coco Butt,The Sheik had the Camel Clutch where he would sit on the guys back and pull up on his chin.Pampero Firpo had Chimu,a shrunken head he would talk to "OH YEAH!"He used that phrase long before Randy"macho man"Savage was around.George"man mountain"or "Cry Baby"Cannon.

**mrfinewine** · November-08-10, 09:18 PM

I almost broke a young friend's neck with the camel clutch!

What about Dandy Dan Miller, Chief Jay Strongbow, Sweet Daddy Siki, Von Hess and Von Schotz...and...and...damn, I know I'm forgetting tons more! My best buddy and I used to studiously watch the matches and keep track of the results in a looseleaf binder!!!

**caspermi** · November-08-10, 09:41 PM

How about the Stomper and his sleeper hold, Ariba Luis Martinez from Monterrey Mexico,Big Tex McKenzie and the Bulldog hold, the tag team Kangaroos from Australia, the Eighth Wonder of the World Pampero Firpo with the Algorpio hold, the Shiek and his Camel Clutch hold and throwing fire, Big Ernie Ladd and his taped thumb, Wild Bull Curry pulling a foreign object from his trunks, Flying Fred Curry and his flying drop kicks, Baron Von Rickoff,

**smogboy** · November-09-10, 02:10 AM

I'll still remember Pampero Firpo taking on the Sheik in one match. Firpo was smart in the sense that he feared the Sheik throwing his fire so he doused him with buckets and buckets of water. He had managed to have buckets of water all around the ring somehow and continually soaked him [[and anyone within reach of the apron). It was an amazing match and yet somehow, the Sheik still managed to set off that fireball of his and "blind" Firpo! Oh the tragedy of it all!