This classic match from the old British wrestling show, “World of Sport,” features Vic Faulkner, the tan lad in light purple speedo, against Alan “Tiger” Woods in the checkered boy-shorts with red socks.
British Pro Wrestling presented the viewers with a parade of fit, eager lads competing in colorful, revealing gear each week. The Brits, meanwhile, fell madly in love with these Lads Next Door and their provocative costumes and suggestive holds.
Shop keepers in Britain used to complain that their stores would empty at 4:00 P.M. on Saturdays because the people rushed home to watch World of Sport on the telly. It was a national obsession.
I recently saw a message board where someone posted the question: “When did your interest in wrestling first start?” What surprised me was the number of responders who tied their love of wrestling to early exposure to, you guessed it, the World of Sport broadcasts on British T.V. Check out these quotes:
“My interest in wrestling started when I was about 5 or 6 years old. I remember watching pro wrestling on television on Saturday afternoons (World of Sport) and being fascinated by it. I enjoyed watching the physical contact as the men grappled, and threw each other around the ring, and then applied holds to demonstrate physical supremacy (not that my 5-year old brain was capable of using such words at the time). I liked the gear a lot.”
“In particular, I remember thinking how nice the laced boots looked on the wrestlers’ legs. I also recall really enjoying the apparent physical cruelty of professional wrestling. I enjoyed matches where one wrestler was clearly gaining advantage and dominating his suffering opponent in the ring. Probably by the age of 7, I was a dedicated fan, and knew all the pro wrestlers on TV. I loved the way wrestlers looked in their gear, and really wanted to see the losing wrestler suffer humiliation. My lifelong passion for pro wrestling had taken shape.”
“In my teens watching World of Sport on Saturday afternoon-common story for Brits of a certain age.”
“Started when I was about 15 while watching World of Sport on a sat afternoons with my best mate in his bedroom. We would watch the wrestling then strip down to out Y front underwear and wrestle while copying the holds and listening to the action on screen!…..1 ahh…. 2ahh…. 3ahh… Ask him ref!! we would say to each other copying the verbal counting from the ref as we got each other in a boston crab or camel clutch… plenty of roll around grappling and giving each other tight wedgies……still turns me on today hearing that!!”
So World of Sport seemed to have developed a winning formula for attracting and arousing the young Brits of a certain age. Judging from the above comments, the appeal is quite powerful and will last for a lifetime.
My question today is: Was this just a coincidence (that many young men happened to find the matches provocative and titillating to watch), or did the wrestlers deliberately wear this gear and act out these scenes specifically to arouse the viewers? Were the wrestlers even aware that they were turning on a generation with their antics, or did they believe they were simply performing in an innocent sports exhibition? Were they deliberately pushing the sexy aspects of the sport to create addicts?
Who picked out their sexy outfits, for example, and did this person say: “By the way, these little lavender briefs are going to be huge for our ratings. I bet you’ll create a few thousand life-long wrestling lovers by rolling around in this outfit!” ?
You can view Part 1 and Part 2 of this match on YouTube.
I used to watch World of Sport’s wrestling section as a nipper during the 70’s & 80’s. One of the funniest things was a Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks appearance on the classic 1970’s ITV kids show TISWAS (health and safety and PC-ness out the window). On a giant see- saw on one end was BD with a load of kids- and on ‘t other GH again with kids. It had to be seen to be believed. I can’t recall whether the Phantom Flan Flinger was brave enough to get either BD or GH right in the face with a custard pie!