1979 BIG DADDY VS MIGHTY JOHN QUINN (BRITISH WRESTLING) HQ

1979 BIG DADDY VS MIGHTY JOHN QUINN (BRITISH WRESTLING)

[@stevedavis6879]

Who is here june 2024 😂, brings back memories of being at my grandma's on a Saturday dinner time.

[@penman1289]

Hahahahahaha I remember this ,I was 19 years old at the time ,I am 64 years old now.

[@TheBlueOwl21]

Every time I hear the Mighty Quinn record, I always think back to wrestling, happy times.

[@penman1289]

@@TheBlueOwl21 absolutely ( you ain't see nothing like the mighty Quinn) hahahahahaha I am 64 now and can still remember

[@glenjarnold]

Same! Followed by the football results - my grandad sat with his pools coupon on a clipboard, and woe betide anyone who dared speak while the scores were read out 😂

[@williamfolks5494]

They need to make a movie about the Mighty John Quinn. He wrestled with all the legends, Bret hart, Davie Boy smith, Andrey the giant, you name it. He was North American Champion for 6 years in the 70's. I was lucky enough to be in his daughters grad class, so for the one year we had a wrestling team in a small town in BC he volunteered as asst. coach for my wrestling team. It was a pleasure to learn from him and hear his stories....Thanks John...

[@jasonbarnes957]

Used to have fish 'n' chips in newspaper on a Saturday watching this, great memories, proper entertainment 💓

[@MelancoliaI]

your comment makes me wish I was British.

[@tiggerums]

The memories. I grew up with all this. It's great to see it all again.

[@SuperNeildavies]

How I remember this long awaited showdown. It's short but dramatic. A real highlight from the good old days of World of Sport.

[@jamesbradley7227]

True British nostalgia. Sad in 2024 this is only a memory of how great this country used to be. 😢

[@anthonymcken6050]

oh here we go.

[@garethparr9482]

Proper wrestling. My goodness brings back so many great childhood memories ❤

[@MrHmg55]

About 10 years before this, John Quinn was headlining at Madison Square Garden and other big US arenas against Bruno Sammartino as Virgil "Kentucky" Butcher.

[@user-mt1jl9pk1g]

I loved watching big daddy on a Saturday afternoon. Big fan of his

[@kers80bhp]

a british wrestling legend, before we had satellite tv

[@techmoney8637]

They need to make a movie about this man

[@misterprickly]

I know there's a stage play about him.

[@paulwalsh8459]

They really do. It's an amazing story

[@colinremmer2417]

Yes, a movie about Mighty Mouth Quinn would be brill!

[@markfoley5595]

I loved it in the 70's and i still love it - Acting at its best - Come on Big Daddy. haha

[@jojokabo78]

Ive study and watch and learn about wrestling as much as I can...Gotch, Rikidozan,hogan, Flair, El Santo, Austin, etc...finally diving into British wrestling. Big Daddy. Cant wait to see this!!!

[@tigerboy1966]

I remember in the build-up to this Quinn taking a teddy bear from a kid at ringside and ripping it to pieces. Now that's evil for you!

[@paulgardner1313]

Oh yes, I remember that!. He said that this was what he was going to do to Big Daddy. I've got to hand it to the Crabtree family, their promotion of John Quinn as a wrestling 'heel' was outstanding.

[@colinremmer2417]

And they say that only the Americans can create hype

[@georgecoventry8441]

LOL!!! Mega-Evil! That must have really got the crowd in a frenzy. 😆

[@stevewalsh-balshaw1727]

Back in the day watching wrestling at gran and grandads brilliant

[@geoffdillon4637]

It’s hard to believe now, but this fight was front page news in the tabloids for the full week before it happened! But I guess reality shows do the same thing these days. As a 7 year old, saw it as a massive event.

[@fatwhitebloke9851]

Top showmanship.seemed to so real when we were kids .Note the people kissing shirley Crabtree as he makes his way to the ring such was he loved by the crowd

[@jamiebanner3000]

To put into context. Mighty John Quinn is around as big as Goldberg and Brock Lesnar in their Prime. The third body slam from Big Daddy launched mighty John across the ring. That's what Big Daddy could do to them. Big Daddy was a true powerhouse. What are specimen Big Daddy was. He doesn't get enough respect in my opinion. Strength and power and what he was able to do. You don't see many wrestlers launching someone over 300 pounds with a body slam across the ring these days...

[@tonyclifton2230]

Big daddy was an awful wrestler. The match was short because daddy was too out of shape to go any longer. Similar size to bam bam Bigelow. The difference in ability is staggering between the two.

[@jamiebanner3000]

@@tonyclifton2230 you gotta remember though Big Daddy was made by the people. His gimmicks was popular. And if they wasn't or he wasn't popular then he probably would've become an heel and might have had seen more. But Big Daddy was an out and out Strong Man. He had a 64 inch chest. And he easily used to power slam wrestling that was similar size or even bigger than him. Is having physical strength not a skill?

[@jamiebanner3000]

@@tonyclifton2230 you gotta remember though Big Daddy was made by the people. His gimmicks was popular. And if they wasn't or he wasn't popular then he probably would've become an heel and might have had seen more. But Big Daddy was an out and out Strong Man. He had a 64 inch chest, that's same as Eddie Hall. And he easily used to power slam wrestling that was similar size or even bigger than him. And his back body drops was real it had to be real because wrestlers, the likes of Kamala and others wasn't athletic enough to give him a hand, so he pretty much had to lift them up on his back. Is having physical strength not a skill?

[@glenmorgan4597]

It's all an act, he was just a hopeless lump, power my a*se

[@kurtvanderbogarde8402]

It was short because promoter Max Crabtree wanted it to be short. Daddy could wrestle longer and better than this- see his late 77 match with John Elijah-; but Max wanted him to either have quick wins like this or tag in at the end to save the day in tag matches and never be seen as vulnerable, just 100% strong all the time.

[@BarryCFCOK]

I went on holiday to Barry Island in 1979 and in those days there was not a TV in your your chalet, and had to go to the TV lounge and for this fight it was jammed packed. Proper wrestling good old days

[@Littlelambism]

Those were the days of British Wrestling!

[@13thcentury]

Actually... any pre Daddy was peak era.

[@kimgrant3879]

I remember when he came to stroud in Gloucestershire in my local leisure centre in the 70s.

[@dokkenratt]

If i remember correctly this was shown on cup final day 1979. As an 11 year old boy Big Daddy warmed my heart that day (and then Alan Sunderland went and broke it in the last minute of the cup final lol)

[@mikeMCSG]

I think you are correct; in fact I came here looking for corroboration. Thanks

[@Isleofskye]

Ironic as 10 years later I am watching Chelsea break Arsenal's hearts again :)

[@fl3162]

Born in 1930, Daddy was 49 years old here. Look how he moves! Not many can do that at his age.

[@HAM-sb2ns]

Or size

[@beniteztheconman]

Keanu reeves is 55 brad pitt is 56 tom cruise is 57

[@chrisruth7057]

He moves good for a middle aged overweight man

[@chrisruth7057]

@@beniteztheconman Tom Cruise is a Jerk I don't like him at all

[@opinionday0079]

hes 49 not 89

[@MrManfly]

ah, "Big John Quinn" was a wrestling giant in Western Canada for Stu Hart's Stampede Wrestling in the early to mid 70's. he was our North American Champion a few times.

[@paulhughes9435]

don't mess with big daddy

[@davidstolarczyk2597]

Big daddy was very enterteing i mean he wasn't young he was fat but damn that strenght was impressive and that charisma his match with haystack was like andre the giant vs hulk hogan both match weren't good if we are talking about sport side but they both had great vibe

[@brianmorley7165]

I expect when it was over they sat down and had a few beers together 😂😂

[@MyEnemy]

Few dozen! XD

[@andrewh5457]

Remember good to watch Jackie Pallow v Les Kellet in Torquay in the 70s, they were indeed having a drink together afterwards in the bar.

[@raypsychodad]

@@andrewh5457 pallo and mcmannus did genuinely dislike each other though. They'd wrestle to a predetermined finish, but slip in some real stuff on the way there

[@pablotorresalvarado5205]

Genial lucha libre clásica de los años 70 tas. Y igual fue la mejor época de el mítico andré. El gigante y muchos más geniales todos como los de este video fueron y son geniales y una gran historia de la lucha libre todos ellos por siempre andré el gigante amigo. Saludos desde chile un fans de la lucha libre mundial.

[@Chris1553]

USA had Hulk Hogan, we had Big Daddy 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@augustseptember3503]

I loved watch the Saturday afternoon wrestling on TV. It was all scripted, as it is now over here & in America but it was great fun. The characters; Billy Two Rivers, Crybaby Jim Brakes etc. My favourite was Les Kellett.

[@glenmorgan4597]

Should been main event at Wrestlemania

[@penman1289]

Hahahahahaha i was 19 at the time 64 years old now, and sill going strong, fun times

[@paulkerr7320]

That was an unusual finisher for Daddy, it seemed almost to be a backdrop driver, I only remember him using that a few times. Usually against the "smaller" big men like Quinn, Scrubber Daley and a few others

[@rondriver6028]

Yes back in those days there were more people who thought it was real, but now days everyone knows it's choreographed before hand, the Americans took it a step further and introduced far more drama into it, some of it was quite amusing, check out US wrestler the king Jerry Lawler on you tube. Probably the most impressive heavyweight wrestler I saw was in the 60's he was a Canadian wrestler called George's Gordienko, he was surprisingly quick for a man of his size.

[@johneastwood3039]

I've never seen the move since. Someone should resurrect it.

[@JackgarPrime]

Basically, the guys who were fit enough to actually do the flip and take the bump but still big enough to be the "giant of the week" for a Big Daddy match.

[@13thcentury]

​@johneastwood3039 It's the old "I'm to old and fat to pull off the move... oh, who cares"

[@eddieingalls534]

People ask why it finished so early, my guess is Big Daddy did not have the conditioning to go much further. Quinn was brilliant at promoting this fight but the truth is he was one helluva wrestler and the longer this went on, the more difficult it becomes to make the agreed moves look tidy and natural for BD. Simply put, by the time BD had lifted the very compliant and helpful Quinn 3 times, he was getting exhausted. They agreed it had to end there or it would be too difficult to act on convincingly.

[@kurtvanderbogarde8402]

It finished quick because Max Crabtree wanted Big Daddy to be an invincible juggernaut who just ran over all opponents. Big Daddy could wrestle longer and better than this if he was allowed to- check out his match with John Elijah in late 1977. It was Max who insisted he only wrestle squashes or tag in at the end of tag matches and stay 100% strong.

[@tigerboy1966]

This match had a huge build-up with Quinn getting a huge heel push and squashing mid-carders. His best moment was wen he took a teddy bear from a kid in the crowd and ripped it to pieces. It was probably a plant but my god it got heat. And Crabtree was a much better wrestler than he is generally given credit for. There was more to him than a belly splash.

[@theboogieknight8279]

Oh yes it was massive at the time. Big Daddy's win even made front page news in the papers it was that big!

[@richardsharpe2966]

+The Boogie Knight It was in the Financial Times on the Monday which was a bit different for the FT

[@johnsmith-mj5ye]

Yes, but I would be disappointed if I'd paid good money for such a short match

[@michaelholmes4374]

I saw this at the time wonderful memories 😊😊😊

[@Didda3]

I was lucky enough to see all the stars of British wrestling live and WWE stars live and also met lots after the events. British wrestling though was the diamond as far as I'm concerned. Great characters. Shirley crabtrees brother being plonked by GH too.

[@lawrieflowers8314]

The Mighty John Quinn - now he was a REAL strongman...

[@coolsomeXD]

Talk shit about Big Daddy all you want but he was mega over with not just the crowds but mainstream public as well. So much so he is still fondly remembered today by English people. You can know all the wrestling moves in the book but that alone won't get you a legacy.

[@gorgeousgeorge3947]

That's right. Still remembered with fondness in 2022. Easy! Easy!

[@sean_day]

Big Daddy at his finest!

[@13thcentury]

Exactly. 😅

[@Confidence-Academy-MA-Schools]

EEEasy EEEasy EEEsay Big DADDy was the bestthanks for posting.

[@SK93A]

Wow, happy days from a bygone era. Mighty John Quinn lays out Big Daddy's cornerman with a big haymaker and Big Daddy backflips Mighty John Quinn onto his head and flops onto the top of his head just to make sure he is out for the count ... What would health & safety say about this in 2024!!!

[@benshotter8899]

Who else saw Alan Partridge in big daddy's corner!

[@Rtd22375]

Knowing me knowing you

[@davidjeffreys9063]

Back in the days when the crowd thought it was all real. Real or not, it's still better to see this than three judges modern crap on the tv nowadays

[@tallthinkev]

They knew it wasn't real in 1958, at least. Listen to Hancock's Half Hour episode, The Grappling Game

[@micklogg5377]

Love it

[@billybrah4904]

this is a legendary fupa that big father has

[@mycroftsanchez901]

What was Alan Partridge doing in the background at 2:40?

[@orangemaniabrother2232]

It looks like Vladimir Putin

[@chrisruth7057]

Wow what a entertainer an extremely popular colorful wrestle🌈

[@currypot1965]

Probably the best Wrestler the World has seen,never lost a bout...RIP

[@BB49.]

Unfortunately I always believed that until yesterday when a fight popped on my recommended list and Big Daddy actually lost it literally destroyed my memories of being a kid I used to think he was unbeatable.

[@rowds]

the best wrestler that could do nothing but smash people with his giant gut. ok

[@13thcentury]

So would you be if your brother was the promoter

[@michaelholmes4374]

Fantastic times

[@kers80bhp]

thanks

[@hudson7354]

Giant haystacks was a gentleman out of the ring. Lovely man

[@canaries1987]

im flicking through these world of sport wrestling days trying to find my grandad Peter Jay the referee, most of them have Peter Szackas in, if you know any that he is in a link would be very greatful, thanks

[@biddylisduff]

Saw Big Daddy, Giant Haystacks, Mighty John Quinn, Pat Roach, Jackie Pallo and more twice at Royal Albert Hall late 70's..People complaining here just don't get it, it was hilarious, yes it was staged but you saw all ages enjoying it because it was mainly slapstick violence. Like British Pantomime, some people just don't get it! Glued to it Saturday afternoons at my Nan's.. WWE is just as staged, fake tan and bottle blonds.. Leave our Shirley alone! Lol thanks for the memories! After this, my next favourite was SUMO!!!

[@Isleofskye]

I remember an old Wrestling World cover with Shirley Crabtree on it from around 1962 :)

[@grahambrown5013]

Such great fun, all stage managed but wonderful entertainment

[@akielyx997]

They put today's wrestlers to shame great tv

[@darren696969]

People can call this crap all they want, but back in the day this was all we had. Just look at the crowd reaction. Whatever happened to wrestling in the future, Big Daddy was the biggest star in the country bar none.

[@13thcentury]

Far from it. British wrestling was brilliant. Very well skilled. Big daddy and his brother killed british wrestling.

[@control5835]

I would have liked to have seen a genuine mma contest between ving tsun grandmaster Victor Khan and Big Daddy, apparently in real life Big Daddy knew all the moves, this would have been better than Mohammed Ali vs Bruce Lee as suggested on some other web listing!

[@Djarra]

Before he was blacklisted Crabtree was a fast and agile middleweight heel and yes he did know his stuff, but also was arrogant and no one wanted to work with him so he couldn't get booked for most of the 60s and in the interim got huge and slow but was able to turn face (or blue eye)

[@control5835]

Interesting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@llll_The_Onion_llll]

The finisher was a very low quality backdrop?

[@matelot95]

They built this up for weeks and it lasted less than two minutes. As much as the grannies and the kids loved him, Big Daddy and the Crabtrees killed the Golden Goose that was a massive TV crowd puller.

[@thewomble1509]

Big daddy WAS a Crabtree, Shirley , yes, Shirley Crabtree.

[@actionsub]

@@thewomble1509 We will not be, we will not be jobbed We will not be, we will not be jobbed Just because my brother is the booker I won't do the job.

[@tylerlittleton6583]

When was the last time you saw a back body drop finish a match? Also, I think it was Big Daddy landing on his face that knocked him out cold!

[@Yumenga]

Big Daddy has a lot of intestinal fortitude.

[@mr.254mutsach7]

emphasis on intestinal , Man he had a gut!🤣

[@mda1218]

massive burp tank under fat / muscle : 100% male !

[@WELLBRAN]

It takes many hours of rehearsal to get this right hats off to all this team

[@michaelstevens630]

Lovely to see Max Crabtree thumped.

[@richardsharpe2966]

Brian Crabtree not Max

[@richardsharpe2966]

Someone told me when Big Daddy aka Shirley Crabtree ko The Mighty John Quinn that Quinn was out for the count for about 20 mins is that correct would like to know please

[@paulgardner1313]

I don't know about 20 minutes, but he was on the floor for quite a while. You do know it wasn't real, though? Note that when Big Daddy did his trademark belly crashes on top of an opponent, he always dropped on to his knees, so his opponents didn't get the full force of the impact.

[@peterwelch1199]

I saw big daddy a few months after the big daddy v John quinn match asked big daddy how long John quinn was knocked out for he said about 3 minutes

[@vordman]

Lol. You can see Quinn cooperating with Crabtree in the crotch holds. You can just imagine these two working out the "fight" moves in a gym somewhere. What I like about it most though is Charterhouse educated Kent Walton taking it all dead seriously. Wonderful nonsense.

[@alexciocca4451]

Watching this makes me think the world is coming to the end

[@shaunsinclair6649]

Memorys with my parents on Saturday afternoon

[@rowds]

plural of memory is memories not memorys.

[@davegahan8233]

Big Daddy and Haystacks were the final nail in the coffin of British Wrestling on TV.

[@misterprickly]

The biggest problem I had with big daddy was that he was the promoters brother and thus he would always be the main event and would always go over. If you think Hogan was bad at not wanting to job; big daddy was worse. BUT he did give us Steve Regal, so he's ok.

[@HumanoidCableDreads]

He was so over the promoter would have been beyond stupid to have him lose.

[@MrFatCock]

There’s a reason why you don’t make your most over talent lose lmao

[@matthewseller3711]

Big Daddy was a bad guy originally. He used to Tag with Haystacks

[@AndyPVale]

@kanenkitten Agree with the Hulk comparison. Again, the Hulk could wrestle some great matches but too many others were just gimmick exhibitions. It sells a load of shirts to kids and I understand the value of having 'stars' instead of wrestlers, but I'm just not interested in them if they can't do the business in the ring.

[@stevenhumphries110]

Great stuff...but weren't we easily pleased...

[@MUNCHNPUSS]

Is that little town in B.C Hope? My Dad lives there and was telling me about him. We are gonna meet him next week. Flying in from Ontario.

[@cloudfactory2000]

You'd have thought the match would have lasted longer than that. The crowd ain't exactly getting their moneys worth.

[@Isleofskye]

I feared the worst when I saw the length of the video and that included the introductions:)

[@davidphillips2259]

Everyone love him

[@NuttyBusDriver]

When World of Sport died it took the wrestling with it.

[@kurtvanderbogarde8402]

Wrestling carried on, AllStar had a real boom period 1989-1993 with Kendo as top villain. The wrestling carried on to this day, there have been great British wrestlers in Britain since then like James Mason, Dean Allmark and Tony Spitfire and there are young upcoming stars like Jordan Breaks and Nino Bryant.

[@djgaryowens]

Obviously matches are fixed but sometimes its more obvious than others the build up was hyped to death cos of Quinn bad mouthing the UK Daddy ALWAYS comes along and does his splash then its lights out for his opponent. No wonder wrestling got taken off the TV by the mid 80s it had turned into a joke. Mostly cos of Big Daddy.

[@robertfenoglio8928]

Gary Owens

[@evensout]

how on earth this guy ever got over is beyond me...

[@Isleofskye]

got over what?

[@13thcentury]

His brother was the promoter

[@13thcentury]

​@@IsleofskyeSeriously? I guess you are not familiar with wrestling terms.

[@Isleofskye]

@@13thcentury Yes,Max Crabtree and Brian Crabtree. To be fair I only first went in London to a Wrestling Bill over 60 years ago , so,obviously,still learning. I used to see The Rock's Grandfather:Peter Maivia fight at Bermondsey Baths,South East London.

[@plejady]

big daddy belongs to the world of darts

[@georgecoventry8441]

Cor Blimey! Wot a frilling display of manly Bri'ish prowess!

[@tgzvt]

Please teach someone Big Daddy entrance music

[@paulgardner1313]

It was a cover version of "We Shall Not Be Moved" by The Titanic Survivors.

[@bluesea2023]

How can you not love Big Daddy!

[@davey3884]

Very easily..he was awful

[@evertonporter7887]

The great Shirley Crabtree😃

[@kazallroberts]

Now that's a wrestling audience.

[@BottomlessJackDaniel]

What was that theme Big Daddy used here? lol

[@peterwelch1199]

We shall not be moved big daddy's theme

[@ajskills1965]

Pride of West Yorkshire best county in uk

[@richallenxbox1976]

It would be if Leeds Utd fans weren't a gang of cunts, every time they come down to Sheffield to face Wednesday there's bother between them and local fans.

[@thewomble1509]

@@richallenxbox1976 Never mind mate, it looks like those days are over.

[@iqbalkhalid5029]

We were very proud of him in Halifax he was born In girlington Bradford but family moved to Halifax when he was a young boy according to his cousin Betty who is in her 80s she has family resemblance

[@themagman1]

Sadly Mighty John Quinn just passed away.

[@paulgardner1313]

Sorry to hear that. He is best known in the UK as a baddie (and was brilliantly promoted as such) but he was a great guy in private.

[@Mike-m4c]

That must have been the easiest pay packet Quinn ever "earned"

[@saiasi25007]

Esto si que era un SHOW!!! Más arreglado no puede estar ni siquiera 10 minutos de lucha para verlos disque darse porrazos a los 2 minutos ya había terminado. Si ese gordo dura más de 10 le da un infarto.

[@michaelorick2065]

Big Daddy is my favorite my Nick name is also Big Daddy from my Boxing 🥊

[@debowiec3]

Who is charterhouse?

[@thewomble1509]

It's a British public fee paying School. I didn't know Kent the Canadian was an alumni.

[@thedisabledwelshman9266]

now that is what u call wrestling

[@synthonaplinth5980]

Yank wrestling fan, here. Can someone recommend a match from this era that would be somewhat more 'catch-as-catch-can?

[@HAM-sb2ns]

Look for some Johnny Saint matches

[@darrensmith2982]

Any matches involving Mark Rocco, Fit Finlay, Marty Jones and Dynamite Kid. Also Jones Vs a young Owen Hart

[@TheUltimateEbil]

@ChadTheWrestleManiac The Hulk Hogan of Britain basically

[@jacksugden8190]

DID DADDY HAVE A SPLIT PERSONALITY?.

[@titchmoynihan4722]

Even by the standards of wrestling - this was a disgrace. The Mighty John Quinn, young, fit and a great wrestler. And Big Daddy, a big fat useless lump who couldnt wrestle his way out of a paper bag. What a fit up. A mate of mine went to see this and still moans about what a waste of money it was.

[@steveogden5774]

It was business and they got your mate to part with his cash to see it :)

[@timviper8649]

Big Daddy makes Andre look like Rey Mysterio Jr. 😅 But hey, he was on TV when there was like 4 channels and people didn't know any better, so they remember him with affection, despite being probably the worst top wrestler in any country of all time. *awaits irrational hate replies from Brits* 😉

[@rc2869]

3 channels in 1979 @@timviper8649

[@kers80bhp]

your welcome

[@jrbr549]

How in the hell did this guy ever get over?

[@bullyinspace]

When the only moves were clothes line and belly splash

[@cassiustaylor9265]

This shit is hilarious

[@MichaelHenderson-kq8tt]

Biggest put up job ever if crabtree went to usa he wouldnt have lasted 5 minutes barrel of crap

[@kazallroberts]

Despite him not being a good wrestler, he was still over.