FABULOUS MEMORIES/ MATCH

Thank you for the nostalgia and my appreciation for the iconic wrestling program, "Big Time Wrestling," which aired on NZBC in the early 1970s. As a child, I was captivated by the excitement and drama of professional wrestling, and "Big Time Wrestling" quickly became a staple of my viewing routine. My childhood hero was the incomparable Mark Lewin, whose charisma and athleticism left an indelible mark on my youthful imagination. Those were simpler times, with only one television channel available, yet the memories of those thrilling matches remain vivid to this day. Thank you for rekindling these fond memories. I estimate that I watched "Big Time Wrestling" around 1972-1973 and am grateful for the opportunity to revisit this cherished part of my childhood.

Zombie Sailor, please, make a fugure of Mark Lewin.

work of art

Does anyone know location wise where this was filmed? Im assuming Melbourne, but it be cool to know where abouts.

She's gonna let you win this now mama and Yoko yoghurt ogle

Great to see Ron Miller some time after the Australian TV finished in 1978. Looks in his 40s here, still in shape. JJ Dillon talks him up pretty good throughout and then at the finish says "if anything he's an improved wrestler, a very improved wrestler" which maybe kayfabe but sounds genuine. JJ's enthusiasm seems to be for how he built up to and applied the submission finisher, the reverse figure 4. Certainly got a pop, new finisher for this crowd, they were into it. Good info too from JJ about Miller's world tour, Germany, Japan, Singapore, USA, taking his Australian belt with him and defending it on the way Miller deserves some consideration as a legit shooter. Real name Ron Parker he played Rugby League in Sydney in a lower grade of the main Sydney comp where guaranteed he would have been in toe to toe brawls with big, tough guys, inc. Maoris, Islanders and various heavyweights. He would have learnt to control big guys with tackling. He would have taken big hits from big blokes, got up and kept going. Like Les Thornton, a super tough undersized Rugby League player who got a very thorough grounding in catch wrestling and had that great combination of reflexes, overall conditioning, great moves and complete resilience. There seem to be no stories of Ron Miller backstage or bar fights. I am raising the idea of him being seen as a legit shooter based on knowing how tough and violent that Rugby League background must have been, with how he wrestles, and also because I think he had the attitude that if you tried to shoot on him for that belt he would knock you out or tap you out EDIT: Found this info about Hal Morgan who trained Ron Miller. From Frank Earl (Earl Black) - "Hal Morgan, the promoter I worked for in Sydney, was very tough and sadistic. He was an excellent submission wrestler, specializing in tearing people's heads off. Wrestler Lenny Holt found this to his cost, lying still in hospital with sandbags either side of his head after falling foul of Hal." I wonder how many submissions Ron learnt from Hal Morgan, who seemed to know some neck cranks

Saw T.G. Stone in Central States

I first went to watch WCW at the old Sydney stadium at. Rushcutters Bay. When the stadium closed down the Wrestling was moved to the Hordern Pavilion at Sydney Showgrounds. I never missed going once until the wrestling came to an end. Sadly many years ago Spiros Arion was stabbed on the chest by a spectator in America and died

Ron Miller (Ron Parker) was the champ, co-owner (with Larry O'Dea) and booker in Australia at this time, late 1970s. Him and O'Dea had taken over after Jim Barnett pretty much fled the territory (taxman was onto him) and torched it with every gimmick he could use on the way out. (There was another owner in between for a year.) Barnett had been backed by some characters who made their money from the sinful side of Sin City (Sydney), but that source of funding wasn't available to Miller and O'Dea, they couldn't afford to import all the top names that Barnett could so went for the strategy of importing a couple of really top stars like Brody, Andre, Ernie Ladd, King Curtis, plus some old fogies who could talk up an angle (Brute Bernard, Ox Baker), and some guys who weren't hugely over in the US like Brannigan who were good versatile workers and could complement the skills of the locals The TV shows of the Miller/O'Dea era from my memory and from catching up on clips like this is that they had a few gimmicks like the Ox Baker 'illegal' heart punch (which they got a lot of mileage from despite Ox not being in great shape) but also had a lot of good catch style wrestling, especially with light heavyweights like Ken Medlin and Mike Dallas. Miller was the obvious guy to have the belt, he was over as a no nonsense babyface, he had some good catch moves and counters, could take and deliver hard bumps safely, he was genuinely tough and it showed in how he worked and how he spoke (he spoke well, very much on point), and his reverse figure four was a great finisher, it didn't take a lot of stuffing around to apply so it fitted the realistic style he used but it also looked like a dramatic and decisive submission Miller and Brannigan had wrestled before, it's a good exhibition of skills and solid bumps, with nothing implausible in terms of a wrestling contest, right down to the finish. They sell the story of the good guy champ with his title on the line against a much bigger opponent with legit skills who could well beat him. There is no overselling, the finish is set up well and with a strong suplex and a swiftly applied reverse figure 4 we get a big pop from the studio crowd and at a time when kayfabe was very important it presented as real, even close up on camera and even after all these years and knowing how things work. I think that was how Miller and O'Dea wanted the promotion to go, don't stretch the plausibility of the kayfabe alternate reality too far, keep some good talkers around to get angles going but mainly old school catch with solid hard style workers to keep it realistic, give good action and don't insult the credulity of the audience. I have long remembered Les Thornton from his time on Australian TV wrestling, that was the sort of guy who made kayfabe grappling seem quite real Part of the strategy seemed to be to use this legit looking wrestling style to shore up the credibility of the local title. Rather than the cheap heat of constant title changes, they built up Miller's aura with 'champ defends against all comers' bouts like this with Brannigan plus his legendary (in Australia) run of world title challenges against NWA champ Harley Race. Three tours, one match each in Sydney and Melbourne, all 60 minute draws. At the end of the second tour, no doubt to whet the interest for the next, Miller pinned Race on TV in a non-title match which is available elsewhere on KZbin and is quite a historical wrestling treasure. Being presented to the locals as a champion on the level of Race (with that NWA World Champ aura he exuded) gave the credentials of Miller's title a massive boost Alas, due to the Australian Cricket Board's failure to pay realistic wages to it's representative cricketers, Channel 9 owner Kerry Packer bought up the contracts of most of the best cricketers in Australia, paid them well, brought in the best from overseas and televised it all on his station on weekends, giving wrestling the flick and effectively ending the promotion. Oh well, great memories and good to see some footage survive, this is the sort of wrestling I grew up on EDIT: Found this info about Hal Morgan, who trained Ron Miller. From Frank Earl (Earl Black) - "Hal Morgan, the promoter I worked for in Sydney, was very tough and sadistic. He was an excellent submission wrestler, specializing in tearing peoples heads off. Wrestler Lenny Holt found this to his cost, lying still with sandbags either side of his head in hospital after falling foul of Hal". I wonder how many submissions Ron learnt from Hal Morgan, sounds like Hal knew some neck cranks

Davis Larry Williams Michelle Lopez Nancy

Wallaby Bob McMasters is my new hero.

Jackson Carol Clark Mary Garcia Elizabeth

Curtis was my brother-in-law until he passed away. He was married to my sister for over 40 years. Cheers, guys.

Over faster than Mal Meninga's political career!

wow...never knew how much of a beast Mal was....

Am 62 now but wrote a letter to Manny as a 9yo .I received the most beautiful letter in reply and a siged studio shot that were my most treasured possessions. Still got them today. Favourite fighter from a golden era .Hec great fighter too

Kamala imitated him.

Good actors 😊

Western Sydney boys TUFF

Sucked in afl, you can't fight with the league boys for shit

How the fuck did carrol lose ill never know....

。 確かに70年代のブッチャーですね。その頃は小太りですが、この団体にレスラー大きい選手が多いのかブッチャー小さく見えますね。このころからマークルーインとキングカーティスは、仲良かったのですね。もっと前にコンビでらいにちすればよかったのに。いいもの見せてくれてありがとうございます！

Haha afl players can't fight for sh1t

rugby? you mean aussie rules

Mark Jackson should have been diagnosed for autism, either that or he got brain damage in footy.

The Aussie color commentary IS INSANE!! They selling the match like the Tojos

I saw Abdullah at this time in Newcastle NSW, I was 9 years old. He put on an absolute bloodbath and almost caused a riot. No one thought wrestling was staged that night..

Too many disqualification matches back in the day. Ruined it.

The original hardcore

I aye eye NO karate. Genius.

ロビーの、「ロン・ミラースペシャル」のヒト？

Why is Dermie in the ring, they'd have endless contenders.

For many of us, this era was our introduction to pro wrestling. Lord Layton was a great announcer.

Can no one tell me Brower and Otis don't mimic each other and arnt built the same

What is this? I thought Carroll was supposed to be some kind of hard man. He’s puncing around the here like some big poofter. The way he’s holding his gloves up, he seriously looks like he’s gay. Hard man yeah right hahahaha more like a knob jockey

Great to see Harley Race in his prime. I can see why he was so successful. Very good worker, and excellent at selling.

suprised geyer didn't put in the boot. he always was just a cheap thug.

AFL😫

Too much the axe,cuts another down❤

How dare mal be in the BLUE corner.

The shorts are ridiculous. One size fits all

Mark Geyer......what a fucken maniac on the field.........not just a belter, his draw and pass and offload game up the centre against the big boys was unreal too.......tough bastard..good heart

Enough material in Mal's shorts for a whole football team

Outhouse Jack!!!

Jacko : " im a individual!"

Jacko is Wacko but Mal is a beast.

Well done Mal, Jacko the flog got smashed LOL

Hilarious!!! Australians and Italians alike loved Mario Milano.

King Curtis!!! 😂 One of my favourites as a kid! In Australia, during this era we all loved the theatre of WCW!