LES KELLETT: Britain's Most Feared Jester!! - Wrestle Me Review

[@philipwhelan14]

Les Kellett: the honey badger of wrestling.

[@indianastones6032]

That makes more sense the more ya think about it

[@VelvetMetrolink]

The Honey Badger the audience thought was a Capybara.

[@bigscorchio]

😂😂😂

[@Isleofskye]

I have absolutely no idea what that means but it sounds awfully saucy:)

[@mikesanborn4541]

These forays into vintage British wrestling are fascinating, there's a kind of bare bones traveling minstrel show quality to it... Also "like a bag of cement left out in the weather." Mark is an excellent writer.

[@hjdoom3485]

I got completely fascinated with Les Kellet's work after reading The Wrestling and sought out footage of him. He's one of those enduring mysteries like Peter Sellers who brought joy to millions who didn't know him and complete despair to those who did. He's a perfect emblem for wrestling itself and how, as William Regal has regularly reminded us, the most important thing to remember is that it's a bent business.

[@Isleofskye]

Really well said. Les was as hard as nails but, what sums it up, was that one of those "hams" was "Leon Arras" aka Brian Glover,a well-known Northern Actor who was in Minder and plenty of other stuff...

[@moominpic]

​@@IsleofskyeI think Brian (a wrestler before he was an actor) said Les once dragged his face along the ropes, causing friction burns.

[@Isleofskye]

@@moominpic I bet that wasn't in the script:)

[@patience.grasshopper]

Came off a bit spooky in that book to me tbh

[@set1237]

I never knew how much I needed classic British wrestling in my life.

[@CoreyT127]

Right? Im obsessed with this stuff! As a American i had no idea about this!

[@borderlands6606]

Wrestling haunted the time between Hillman Imp racing, and the quiet rage of not getting 8 score draws on the pools coupon. Les embodied 4 o'clock on Saturday, the sociopath of the public bath house, an animated cadaver, Jack Ketch to weekend's hope.

[@VelvetMetrolink]

Poetry.

[@pendafen7405]

1:34 as a Welsh person, can I just say the Adrian Street revenge glamour shot is eiconig and a cultural touchstone. Would love to see more Wrestle Me content about him & Miss Linda.

[@WrestleMe]

I love Adrian so much - if you get the chance, pick up the six volumes of his autobiography, they're a cracking read!

[@WrestleMe]

@markjackson2395 Yep, no joke Mark. The latter volumes are the best ones if you want to hear about the wrestling!

[@tonypine3434]

that is an amazing spelling of the word iconic - unless eiconig is the name of the mine...

[@Greg-rn4xi]

@2:31 the referee is my grandfather, former British heavyweight wrestling champion Tony Mancelli

[@raystewart6524]

I was in his cafe one day..he had a couple of fruit machines in there..a guy was playing on one of them..and a winning line came up and the machine didn't pay out..he shouted Les over ..he looked at picked it up by the handle one handed banged it on the table..out spilled the money..about 2 quid in tanners..(yea remember them)..he looked at the guy said happy then lad...Les Kellet...legend

[@RayleneSteves]

It’s cool that your most-viewed videos are about wrestlers that are considered obscure in the US- it shows that people are sick of the same old shit but still hungry for the old wrestling. You guys do a good job

[@swfcocs1]

First catweastle, now Les Kellett. Comedy wrestling from that era is just the best. The fact Kellett was a known hard case and an all round odd type just adds to the whole surreal scenario

[@dieselfan7406]

Billy Torontos was another funny man - won the odd match.

[@scottmcginn2169]

I'm convinced that Les Kellett was the inspiration for Anthony Hopkins in The Silence of the Lambs

[@jennybates]

Jackie Pallo once said, "you dont want to get in the ring with Kellett when he was in a foul mood!"

[@pendafen7405]

So odd to think these entertainment legends and household names were either dead, very old or lapsed into obscurity by the time most of us current fans were starting school. Sobering.

[@willbee6785]

My granny loved Mick McManus. She had a smile on her face when he got his ears held and was in pain. Loved Les when viewing on my grannies tv.

[@Moodymongul]

as a kid in the 70's, on holiday with my grandparents (at the beach). Somehow, got to meet Les in a 'civilian' enviroment. Maybe, because he was a similar age to my granddad. And i, didn't watch british wrestling yet. He was 'relaxed'. I had started kids judo lessons (parents took me at 5). It somehow came up. And Les showed me a little hand grabbing 'idea'. Using it in the judo class, got me in trouble lol

[@TopHatGamingManChannel]

I've been binging your British wrestling videos all day, you two are very entertaining. Thank you for bringing this overlooked history to an international audience.

[@jamesupton5601]

Les is what Mark Henry would call 'country'-strong'. It sounds similar to country, that's for sure.

[@steveamis4177]

I was his stool boy at the Leeds town hall and he gave me 10p, I think he invented this job for me. He is a good man.

[@danielcraig4974]

Love this. More World of sport wrestling please, loads of legends and stories to tell.

[@pendafen7405]

Would pop for Wrestle Me watchalongs of WOS (if episodes can be found in the archives)

[@tusker2510]

I loved Lez Kellett as a kid, he made me laugh so much. Then I saw an interview with him when I was an adult, and he said "I'm a horrible man, and everyone in that dressing room fears me. I've knocked out many men with a slap"

[@pauldrummond225]

I used to watch the wrestling on ITV every saturday on world of sport with my grandfather and we used to love it, he liked Les a lot.

[@pepeshadilay]

What a mark

[@craigpimlott204]

My favourite bouts with les kellet was when he came together with Leon Arras ,(Brian Glover ).

[@lorenzbroll101]

Watching the antics of these characters such as Les was a massive event every Saturday afternoon in the 60s&70's. I think even the queen mother would watch the stuff given a chance.

[@fuzzfrancis435]

How about Jackie Pallo next? Les and Jackie are my 2 favorite British Wrestlers!

[@johnmichaelford3615]

I knew most of the British wrestlers. I use to travel to the majority of the matches and eventually i started working with joint promotions which was owned by Max and Brian Crabtree who is the brothers of Shirley (Big Daddy) Crabtree. The cafe that they are referring to was in Thornton Village which was only a short walk from where i lived at the time. His son became a wrestler and he used the name of Dave Berry

[@rogueriderhood1862]

I remember watching Les Kellett on Saturday afternoons, along with Jackie Pallo, Mick McManus and Leon Arras (Brian Glover in reality!), Kent Walton commentating. Happy memories.

[@CoreyT127]

England was a different world back then!

[@rogueriderhood1862]

@@CoreyT127 A much better world.

[@keegan773]

Loved it when Les did the old wobbly legs pretending he was hurt, then he would launch an attack.

[@laksivrak2203]

LES is my absolute favorite British Wrestler!!!

[@jeff1962-y]

Spoke to an ex Wrestler a good few years ago . He said Les could hurt you in so many ways , If he did not like you . The ex wrestler was Bobby Bell . Had a wrestling school in the Wirral i think . Ellesmere Port.

[@secularbeast1751]

Really appreciate the UK wrestling history guys, so many little known gems deserving recognition.

[@gavinreid8937]

as a kid, always feared for Les as he looked like a drunken uncle picking a fight with a real wrestler, knowing now he was a hardnut, you fear for the other guy! You did Les & Catweazle, how about Vic Faulkner?

[@deemdoubleu]

I think the only thing tougher than these guys were the old ladies on the front row who used to lose it half way through a match.

[@yorkiegilly4355]

I knew when my Ma & her gang of Guillotine knitters were on their way out to Rotherham baths to watch wrestling especially if Les was on the bill . The old ladies that were mainly local landladies or Barmaids put themselves out if they could see the magical Les in action and double the trouble with Brian Glover [Leon Arras ] .I met a lot of the old wrestlers ,but Les tended to put his appearance in and then disappear ,so I never talked to him or met him . My next door neighbours brother was Giant Haystacks friend & trainer for a while so we once took him on a night out in Blackpool - what a night that was and what a surprise to find out what a nice bloke he was . How Les managed to fight Adrian Street at his late age was amazing as Adrian and his wife were the most frightening people you were ever likely to meet ?. Great site .

[@Matt-uj6jm]

Seen him in Hamilton town hall Scotland as a boy also Honey boy Simba 👍🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@KomradeKrusher]

Man, this is such a great channel. I guess I heard every single story that's coming up in your WWF- and territory-episodes a million times before, but I really love getting these entertaining throwbacks to British wrestling from the 80s, a world almost completely alien to me as of yet. We knew Finlay here on the continent, and you had heard of Big Daddy or Giant Haystacks, but Rollerball Rocco for example was such a treat to learn about. Really entertaining and educational content, lads, and the video format adds another layer by giving us a glimpse at the work of these guys.

[@WrestleMe]

Thanks Komrade!

[@billbird6494]

@@WrestleMe This one was good for the people who think Dynamite was the biggest scumbag in wrestling, he wasn't even the worst in British wrestling, Kellett was worse , and Bert Assirati even more so.

[@HAVOCJKD]

Les Kellet is an absolute legend with good reason!! Love this channel!!

[@jennybates]

His feud with Johnny South is one of the best feuds on tv.

[@HAVOCJKD]

@@jennybates indeed it was...and the unforgettable matches with Leon Arras (Brian Glover)

[@philipjones9458]

I met Buddy Ward in the late 80's he worked as a taxi driver in Chester for a firm called Abbey Taxi's. I believe he's in the Guinness Book Of Records as the oldest professional wrestler in the world. RIP Kent Walton.

[@WallKenshiro]

He was definitely some kind of throw back primal semi immortal thing.

[@seltaeb3302]

My father in law actually thought it was real, not choreographed in its 70s heyday. I couldn't stand it. Now I can see its bloody hard artisticating skill. The commentator also made the not the brightest people believe it was proper black pudding real.

[@jacksugden8190]

I used to watch the late Les, think he was a showman with all the usual gimmicks, such as not hearing the bell, all that clowning around was a front to his calculated brutality to his opponents, of course Les had back problems, been in hospital, then back in the ring, to me Les was a hard man, and others should watch their step.

[@geraldoshaughnessy2918]

A VERY INTERESTING MAN GOOD FRIEND OF MY UNCLE ALBERT WHO ALSO GREW UP IN BRADFORD .LES WOULD MEET UP WITH WHEN HE WAS WRESTLING IN DERBY, A GREAT MAN AND A GREAT WRESTLER THANKS LES,,

[@michaelgibson4705]

Great video,fond memories of wrestling in the 60s/70s Les was a great entertainer. Names from the past Steve Logan,Bert Royal and Vic Faulkner,Dale MARTIN promotion’s Kent Walton 😂

[@Eurobunneh]

He was in his early 60s on his tv debut? That’s means I’ve got a chance in Aew! 😃

[@edwardmclaughlin7935]

The Terminus Cafe was in Thornton, some four miles west of Bradford centre. Also the birthplace of the Bronte sisters and their brother. Les's son Chris used to hang around with us back in the seventies.

[@anthonyjarvis2886]

Remember watching the Great man with my dad on a Saturday afternoon world off sport r.i.p

[@boywonder6659]

As a kid I was in stitches watching Les wrestle on a Saturday afternoon.

[@Saxondog]

Classic footage of Les grappling with Brian Glover, ol' Mr Allison's bread, wi' now't taken out.😅

[@bremnersghost948]

Imagine the Chaos he caused in Foreign Ports when he got Shore Leave during his time in the Merchant Navy lol

[@aaronwarrior]

Swain house road is literally round the corner from where I spent most of my childhood and teenage years in the 80s and 90s that being moser crescent. Been to the terminus many times.

[@HkFinn83]

The British wrestling scene produced some full blown psychopaths. Kellet is an extreme example, but all the way up to Dynamite Kid these characters were around. The northern towns and villages of the early to mid twentieth century must have been a truly awful time and place to grow up and be formed by...it’s better now I suppose, a little

[@davidpreston9909]

As someone who grew up in a northern town in the mid 20th century and spent the evening of my 21st birthday in a pub run by Vic Faulkner, I can confirm that you are absolutely wrong. That was a wonderful time and they were and still are wonderful places. What you need to bear in mind is that many of the men who became wrestlers (and also rugby players) were from hard manual jobs IRL - farmers, coal miners, slaughtermen, scrap metal merchants and the like, who had immense physical strength and durability built up over years of hard work. They were actual hard men, not gym bunnies and steroid abusers.

[@lorenzbroll101]

You talk utter rubbish. There were bleak locations in every major city in the UK. That media studies degree you have is obviously a waste of time & money.

[@CoreyT127]

@@davidpreston9909Yeah those men were a different bread!

[@kurtvanderbogarde8402]

5:40 That referee is Bernard Murray who was a wrestler in the 1950s. Apparently (IIRC it's Adrian who said this) most of Kellet's comedy routines were actually borrowed from Murray.

[@michaelspilman5220]

les was especially funny when the referee was max ward . From Michael from Yorkshire and proud of it .

[@johngraham5996]

les was born in 1915, so in the mid 70's he was 60 and still throwing himself about 😲

[@francesthompson593]

Every Saturday Afternoon on ITV Kent Walton was a must!

[@Robyamdam]

Fun fact: orange Cassidy has said one of his inspirations for getting to wrestling was Les Kellet

[@JustinRichards]

Wonderfully presented. Very respectful. Thank you.

[@pokerphil1st]

Am I wrong in remembering a Les Kellet bout on World of Sport where he bled profusely from his forehead. His opponent rubbing the open wound along the top rope?!

[@boum62]

I remember my dad calling me into watching him and say he was a tough guy ... hands like a bunch of bananas

[@farleysmoke5130]

Les was one of my favourite wrestlers as a kid. I just loved the running head but to the gut 😂👍🏼

[@robgesualdi206]

That revenge photo is the greatest thing I've ever seen. I need it on a t shirt

[@happilyeggs4627]

I remember when wrestling was on tv, on a Saturday afternoon. Les Kellett was in a tag team with Romeo Joe Critchley. It was the funniest wrestling match I've ever seen. I was howling with laughter.

[@stephenholmes1036]

Les was a genuinely hard man. Feared by all wrestlers

[@raspymorten]

Been loving everything I've watched since I first found the channel, but these bits on British stuff are some of my favorite stuff you guys upload. It's one of the few things I know little to nothing about when it comes to wrestling. Once I'm done going through the DEADLOCK patreon backlog, I might have to shift that little bit of monthly spending money I got around to you guys' patreon so I can get a peak at the full stuff.

[@vordman]

When I read Simon Garfield's book I was upset to read Les was a nasty piece of work who the other wrestlers didn't like. I had expected lots of fun anecdotes about him and that he was generous and good-natured, a more earthy version of his ring persona. However, learning about his dark side has somehow made him even more fascinating to me. The man was clearly an enigma. I wish there was more about him. Great video, lads.

[@nigellee9824]

Your right my friend, he was, I knew him well in old age, he was always pissed, and bus drivers wouldn't let him on the bus because he used to mess himself...his wife left him years before he died. ..I was onec talking to him at his door on Thornton road , and the smell from his house was making me gag...we new each other through my father, who was a childhood friend of his...

[@petrus666love]

Les Kellett , the “ Hannibal Lector “ of Wrestling 😂

[@michaelkitchin9665]

If someone finds a tape of Peter Sutcliffe wrestling, let Marc be the first to know.

[@paulwalsh8459]

All the videos on this channel are fantastic but there's magic in the world of sport videos

[@AldershotDave]

I’d love to see more of Les Kellett’s bouts in addition to the 4 or 5 that are on KZbin. I’m sure that Kendo Nagasaki said they wrestled each other? I’d love to see that one!!

[@johndeacetis4707]

Aye bye gum...Kellet would have said I'll go ..against naggers ..he's a glorified collecter of medical swords ..who uses eye wash

[@Airhead348]

Keep them coming. This is my favorite channel!

[@davidshattock9522]

I do remember being told that norman wisdom was an army boxing champion of some sort.

[@SPUGGY-t1x]

He was deadly, he had me rolling on the floor, 'n' I was just watching him on telly, Saturday afternoon.

[@vagabondrepertorytheaterco8431]

Excited to see this video! I've always wanted to learn more about Les Kellett!

[@leskellett4337]

As his namesake, as a kid in the late sixties early seventies, I would always cheer for Les in his fights, but I didn’t realise he was such a nasty b**tard. He was a great entertainer though. Thanks for the memories lads👍.

[@thethairishsun]

10k subs by the weekend - "Easy! Easy! Easy!"

[@potdog1000]

i met Les a couple of times in the 60s & he was a gentleman to do business with he did have mental problems who began to believe his stage persona, Brian Glover agreed with my assessment , BTW i was told i went to school whith Sonia Sutcliff though i don't remember her lol

[@liverpix]

Wht business did you do with him ?

[@potdog1000]

@@liverpix pigeons & chickens

[@liverpix]

@@potdog1000 Thanks, how did his mental health problems show itself ? The pigeons and chickens were for his business ?

[@andrewbarbarash3116]

I've binged all your videos! Upload them quicker. Especially WoS stuff!

[@miggyd9542]

One of my favourite podcasts so these videos are only a big plus

[@Toooldforthis78]

Great content, having watched a few of these I’m amazed how small a lot of British wrestlers of that period were, such a contrast to the giants of American wrestling

[@HkFinn83]

Yeh for sure, and British wrestling still had weight classes like boxing in this era. Before the big Daddy/Haystacks era, the heavyweights were never an attraction for some reason

[@greva2904]

@@HkFinn83Wild guess, but I assume the heavyweights were probably viewed as big, lumbering and not very exciting to watch. Whereas the lower weights were far more agile, faster paced, and exciting.

[@TheChadTI]

Right behind Cornete as my favorite wrestling progrim. Progrim...

[@pendafen7405]

Marc's Ripper-Kellett conspiracy shares much with my own tinhattery about Barry Gibb squibbing off his own brothers.

[@jack_timber]

Kent Walton and Les Kellet

[@herbert9241]

Before my time for televised wrestling but the Les Kellett travelling repertory company was my first live wrestling event, aged 13, 1980. Do the geography: Les was 65. It was the exact same routine as any Les Kellett archive video you care to pull up.

[@boydovens4180]

The one and only , Les Kellett .

[@johndeacetis4707]

Robin Howard ..wasn't there a young ish ..wrestjer in 70 s / 80 s ..but if comedy antics wrestler ...maybe based in Norwich or Leicester promoted halls ..?

[@kurtvanderbogarde8402]

In the sixties documentary The Wrestlers you see Kellet training with his real life mate Alan Dennison (at the time a sadistic heel who teamed with Syd Cooper as The Dennisons.)

[@craigpimlott204]

Strongman Alan Dennison another great character.and cyanide Sid Cooper. Great days .world of sport Saturday afternoons ..

[@kurtvanderbogarde8402]

@@craigpimlott204 The Dennisons. Villainous tag team of the 60s/70s. Sometimes Cooper was replaced by Ted Heath (not the prime minister, just as young 1980s clean wrestler Ian McGregor was not the NCB chairman).

[@kurtvanderbogarde8402]

come to that there was a wrestler called Ian Gilmour and a Tory cabinet minister also called Ian Gilmour.

[@ifgwelf]

Right in time for arm day 💪

[@raymondbruce7175]

Les Kellet ! What an entertainer.

[@CactusJackIV]

Great channel. Keep up the great work!

[@ozzythecats]

I've been waiting for this one "Kellet lad!". The wrestling is a great read.

[@lawn9652]

The Wrestling is a fantastic book highly recommend it

[@juliereid6427]

My granma would have hit him with her hand bag x

[@nchess1044]

The good old days.

[@asbonescemetery]

Fantastic video more please

[@djs7734]

These videos are so brilliant, I could listen to you guys all day.

[@steveamis4177]

Not true I new les, from his cafe on Thornton rd Bradford, we rescued his rottweiler more times Than I can remember. He was a great man.

[@pendafen7405]

9:45 the pure shithousery of that move

[@johnytwotimes4072]

The Wrestling is a heck of a title 😂

[@sonanderson6351]

Wrestlings Mark E Smith

[@kenniththomas2167]

Loved watching Less , when I was a kid,he was very entertaining,he would act as if he was druñk when wrestling ,but he was clever and funny.

[@g8ymw]

One of the greatest entertainers on the box in the 60s

[@clairecoultan4371]

Les Kellett was an amazing wrestler n comedian also x

[@Channelnem]

Please do Cry Baby Jim Breaks 🙏🙏🙏🙏