Simon Cowell is the man to bring wrestling back to British TV, ‘World of Sport’ legend Johnny Kidd has claimed.
Last year, it was reported the ‘Britain’s Got Talent’ boss is interested in resurrecting the sport on terrestrial TV as he was a huge fan of it when it aired on ITV’s ‘World of Sport’ anthology show in the 70s, which featured household names such as Johnny, Big Daddy, Rollerball Rocco and Giant Haystacks.
The 60-year-old grappler would love to see ‘World of Sport’ make a comeback and he is excited by Simon’s apparent interest in making British wrestling must-see television again.
In an exclusive interview with BANG Showbiz, Johnny said: "I think he could it and bring it (‘World of Sport’) back – he can do most things on TV! But he’d have to go about it the right way. It’s alright saying bring it back on ITV, but to get it back on ITV he’ll need the people who want to do it and can do it."
If Simon, 56, does resurrect ‘World of Sport’, Johnny would like the show to feature the British grappling style he and his peers made famous as opposed to the American style of wrestling made popular by WWE.
He added: "If Simon Cowell decided to go in and bring it back it he’d have to decide what style he would want to do. They’d most like be doing American style wrestling on TV – it would be on British TV but it would be American style. I know the boys of today watch what the American guys do and it’s very spectacular and you can’t knock it. But I like the British style of wrestling, we’re in Britain. Some people might say, ‘Oh it’s too old school.’ But that’s what it was, that’s what British wrestling is all about. I don’t think audiences would want to sit through an entire show of that now, but you could have a show where the wrestlers do both."
Johnny – who is considered to be one of the last of the original practitioners of British wrestling – is signing off his career with a singles retirement match against Mike Quackenbush, the founder of US independent wrestling promotion CHIKARA.
The bout is going to be contested under traditional British wrestling rules, eight rounds of three minutes apiece with two falls, two submissions or a knockout to decide the winner, and will take place on Saturday May 28 at The Union in Manchester.
CHIKARA’s ANIVERSARIO UK tour 2016 with Fight Club: PRO begins in Newport, Wales, on Friday (20.05.16) before moving on to Wolverhampton, London, Birmingham, Manchester, North Shields and Glasgow.
Go to Chikarauktour.bigcartel.com for more details and tickets.
CHIKARA’s ANIVERSARIO UK tour dates:
Friday May 20 at NEON, NEWPORT, WALES
Saturday May 21 at FIXXION WAREHOUSE, WOLVERHAMPTON, ENGLAND
Sunday May 22 at BUSH HALL, LONDON, ENGLAND
Friday May 27 at ASTON UNI STUDENT UNION, BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND
Saturday May 28 at THE UNION, MANCHESTER, ENGLAND
Sunday May 29 at LINSKILL CENTRE, NORTH SHIELDS, ENGLAND
Monday May 30 at ST. LUKES, GLASGOW, SCOTLAND