[Disclaimer: This is my first ever TEW diary, and I confess I'm not the best at the game. I hope my storytelling will help you stick with me through 1970 and beyond, and hopefully we'll make something of it. Can you let me know if you enjoy this first post?]
January 1st 1970
Camberwell, South London
It was a modest house, all things considered. Especially in this area of London. A nice little nest amongst the hubub of the city. So thought its occupant, Mick McManus. 48 years of age, jesus christ, he thought. Yet still the punters would pay through the nose to see him against Jim Breaks hell, when he felt like it, even Mr TV, Jackie Pallo. Mick picked up some old newspaper clippings, hastily cut by his family but not yet stuck to the corkboard in the kitchen. "McManus title victory", "Mick gets the jupe". It all seemed a bit far-fetched now, like a circus man putting a suit on.
No, even now, Mick knew he could wrestle knots around them, fill out arenas in the Midlands, Wales and Scotland, and he could be anyone he wanted, beloved hero, or wicked villain. His hands pressed on the antique dressing table and his eyes met his own in the mirror, his mind racing as usual, the vague smell of London smog still in his nostrils. He had conquered the British Isles. His body was catching up, but there perhaps was another ocean in which to fish - America.
Mick began to list the icons of the professional wrestling scene in America, Bruno Sammartino, George Steele, Freddie Blassie, Ivan Koloff, perhaps he could spend the twilight of his career among them, showing how British catch-as-catch-can wrestling still can draw a crowd?
The only way in, would be to approach a promoter who may need some new ideas, and in the land of opportunity, his contacts may be vast indeed.