DAZZLER DUNLOP

By Ken Dunlop

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BE OPENLY GAY IN THE HYPER-MACHO WORLD OF PROFESSIONAL WRESTLING?

Just ask Ken "Dazzler" Dunlop, whose Australian professional wrestling career coincided with the AIDS crisis and when homosexuality was not only still taboo but also a criminal act. In the first ever autobiography by an Australian professional wrestler,

• Language: English
• Publisher: Shawline Publishing Group
• Release date: Nov 18, 2021
• ISBN: 9781922444820

Ken Dunlop

Ken grew up in Moe, near the Gippsland area of Victoria, before moving to Melbourne and discovering the addiction that would change his life forever - professional wrestling. Ken started training to be a wrester in 1977, at 16 years old, and had his first match in 1978. His professional career spanned 23 years, wrestling all around the continent, and a successful tour of the UK in 1992. He retired one month shy of his 40th birthday in October of 2000. Ken is now happy and retired, living a simple life in Sydney with his husband of 18 years.

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Copyright 2021

By Ken ‘Dazzler’ Dunlop

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording without permission in writing from the publisher.

Written by Ken ‘Dazzler’ Dunlop with assistance from Joey Kwan and Ed Lock.

Edited and proofread by Joey Kwan and Ken ‘Dazzler’ Dunlop with assistance from Ed Lock.

A big thanks to Martin Heppell, Dann Lennard, Dave Reck, Bruce Tattam, and Matt Place for their contributions, and a heartfelt thanks to the following people for helping get this book published: Brian and Kate Jones, Edwina Grundy, Lazarus Dobelsky, Liane Breen, Elvis Murks and Chad Belicena, Sean Barrand, Sharlene Denk-Kafetzis and Con Kafetzis, Katrina Denk, Bob Blaskic, Lisa and Dean Oxford, Dianne and Barry Dent, Jon Rolfe, Sydney Eckstein, Stephen Chard, Troy Tempest, Bruce Moller, Kyle the G Man, and Kev Wiles.

Most photos used are from Ken Dunlop’s private collection.

Other photos taken by and used with permission from Kirk Beattie, Martin Heppell, Craig Napper, Allan Dunlop, Dave Reck, Rhys Heppell, Garry Cooper, Sarah Newman, The Heffernan Family, and Peter Farry.

A huge thank you to Dave Reck for all his help with my photos.

Articles used from Piledriver magazine (with permission from Lazarus Dobelsky).

Articles used from Wrestling Down Under magazine (with permission from Craig Reedy).

Articles used from The Daily Telegraph.

This book is dedicated to my loving parents Robert and Thirza, who always gave me 100% support in both my professional and personal life. I love both so very much and miss them dearly.

I would also like to dedicate this book to my loving husband, Joey Kwan and the rest of my family and friends for their continued support, love, and patience.

Lastly, I want to thank my employers over the years from Charing Cross Hardware and Bondi Junction Timber & Hardware for never stepping in the way of my love and passion for the wrestling business, allowing me to leave work early, and giving me time off to go to shows.

My loving parents Robert and Thirza

INTRODUCTION

by Ed Lock

I’M HONOURED THAT Ken ‘Dazzler’ Dunlop asked me to write the foreword to this book.

More than 30 years ago a mutual friend, Sue Chuter, asked if she could pass my phone number onto Ken. Being a devoted wrestling fan, and a big admirer of his wrestling ability, I didn’t hesitate in agreeing. Truth be told, I really didn’t expect Ken to contact me. Why would a leading pro wrestler want to talk to an ordinary fan?

However, a day or so later, Ken rang and we had a great, lengthy conversation. We arranged to meet in person at his next show at South Sydney Junior Rugby League Club.

My wife and I travelled to Kingsford and I must admit I was quite nervous to meet Ken face-to-face for the first time. During our phone conversation, we’d established a good rapport, but I was in awe of Ken’s talent in the ring and somewhat apprehensive about encountering a person who was a celebrity in my eyes.

Before the matches, I approached Ken and introduced my wife and myself. All of my anxieties were alleviated when he shook my hand and spoke to us as if we were longstanding friends. Ken was charming but sincere and his down-to-earth and amiable nature immediately put me at ease.

From that day Ken always made a point of meeting with me before and after his matches. Away from the ring we would socialise as mates do—visiting each other’s homes, going out for a meal, catching up for a drink, attending concerts, watching a movie, and so on. I’ll never forget that soon after arriving back in Australia, following his wrestling tour of the UK, Ken visited my wife and me in hospital after the birth of our first child. We’ll always cherish Ken’s thoughtfulness.

I’ve introduced my close friends to Ken over the years and everyone has always been impressed by his great personality, his friendly disposition and his approachable nature. I’m pleased to say I have met many of Ken’s peers in the wrestling business. I’d like to acknowledge two in particular, Wayne ‘Lofty’ Pickford and Shane ‘Ace’ Fenton, who are exceptionally great blokes and remain close friends of mine to this day.

In all the years I have known Ken, he has always treated me with respect and has never talked down to me. Professional wrestling is a unique athletic art form and, as such, is very subjective to perceptive observers. Ken and I don’t always share the same opinions regarding wrestling, sport in general, politics, comedy or any other important aspects of life but we’ve never had a heated disagreement in more than 30 years of friendship.

I’ve had the pleasure of watching Ken engage in great wrestling matches, win esteemed championships, and receive extremely important awards and accolades in Australian wrestling. I’ve also seen Ken suffer many injuries in his pursuit of excellence in this most demanding category of physical performance art.

Ken has excelled in wrestling in the diverse roles of a babyface wrestler (good guy), a heel wrestler (rule breaker), a tag team specialist, a referee, a trainer, a booker (of matches) and a promoter. He’s knowledgeable about all facets of professional wrestling and has always had a great mind for this extraordinary business.

One of the coolest gifts that Ken gave me was the confidence to become actively involved in Australian wrestling. I was always content to be a fan, but he encouraged me to become a wrestling commentator. Ken rationalised that as a keen follower of the sport I already knew the names of all the holds and manoeuvres, so what was there to stop me from entering the business? His faith in me inspired me to begin a 20-year journey as a commentator, ring announcer, promoter, and booker that continues to this day.

Australian wrestlers too young to have watched Ken in his heyday have sought out DVDs of his matches and have told me they rate ‘The Dazzler’ as a terrific wrestler. I have seen the greatest Australian wrestlers in action from the 1960s to now and I firmly believe Ken ranks alongside the very best of them.

In my humble opinion, Ken Dunlop was indeed born to be a professional wrestler.

Contents

Introduction By Ed Lock

Chapter 1 - The Beginning

Chapter 2 - Mb’s Gym

Chapter 3 - My First Match

Chapter 4 - My Early Matches

Chapter 5 - Big Move To Sydney

Chapter 6 - The Dazzler

Chapter 7 - World Championship Wrestling

Chapter 8 - Wrestling On The High Seas

Chapter 9 - World Class Wrestling – Australia

Chapter 10 - England Bound – Dale Martin Promotions

Chapter 11 - The Melbourne Wrestling Scene

Chapter 12 - The Sydney Wrestling Scene

Chapter 13 - Promoting

Chapter 14 - My Best Match

Chapter 15 - Inspirational People In My Life

Chapter 16 - ‘Red Hot’ Ricky Diamond

Chapter 17 - My Star Pupils

Chapter 18 - The Red Baron

Chapter 19 - Crazed Fans

Chapter 20 - Being Openly Gay In This Business

Chapter 21 - Sex = Groupies = Ring Rats

Chapter 22 - Drugs In The Biz

Chapter 23 - Career Highlights And Memorable Matches

Chapter 24 - Funny But True

Chapter 25 - Lowlights and a ‘Hart-Break’

Chapter 26 - My Health History

Chapter 27 - CTE

Chapter 28 - Business In Great Hands

Chapter 29 - Taboo

Chapter 30 - My Perfect Wrestler

Chapter 31 - The Final Curtain

Chapter 32 - Life After Wrestling

Chapter 33 - My Title History And Accolades

Chapter 34 - The Dazzlers

Chapter 35 - The Media

Chapter 36 - Pics From My Private Collection

Appendix - Promoters I’ve Worked For

CHAPTER 1

THE BEGINNING

I’VE ALWAYS KNOWN I WAS DESTINED TO BE A PROFESSIONAL WRESTLER.

BORN IN 1960 in a beautiful little town called Moe in the Latrobe Valley to Robert and Thirza, I joined a growing family comprising my siblings, Patricia, Ron, and Colin. I was born exactly nine months after Mum’s birthday in 1960, so it’s not hard to work out what Dad gave her for a present that year! My parents were keen wrestling fans—especially Mum—and one of my fondest childhood memories was gathering in front of the TV as a family every Saturday and Sunday at midday to watch World Championship Wrestling hosted by Jack Little on Channel Nine. During the one-hour show we would all cheer, boo, laugh, and yell at the television set as the wrestlers went about their business. It was always fantastic family time and we all looked forward to it every single week.

Dad was born and raised in South Melbourne. As a youngster he was a great all-round sportsman who dabbled in Australian Rules football, gymnastics, horse-riding, and ice-skating. After he married the love of his life, he abandoned his dreams of playing professional sports to provide for his growing family and worked extremely hard. During the week, he had three jobs, working at the open-cut mine in Yallourn and the Hazelwood Power Station by day and as a barman at the local pub by night, while on the weekends he delivered soft drinks. On top of that, he would go hay carting for three weeks every January (which in those days was very hard work). The money he earned from that paid our family’s school fees for the year. Other relatives used to unfairly criticise him for not being there for us, and this really hurt him and me as I knew how bloody hard he toiled; not many people today would work four jobs to make ends meet like Dad did.

Mum was born in Falmouth in England but emigrated to Australia with her family after World War 2 as one of the ‘Ten Pound Poms’. She was a beautiful soul, always smiling and laughing, and had the most vivacious and amazing personality. As a youngster, she had complications from a severe case of rheumatic fever, which forced her to have to learn to walk again. As a result, she couldn’t play sports, but she got into dancing to strengthen her body and eventually became a Tiller Girl (chorus girl). She loved to dance all around the house and still dazzled us with a few steps in her later years, despite becoming a larger person. She was a stay-at-home mum who got us up in the morning, made sure our tummies were full, and walked us to and from school five days a week. Even though she had her hands full with five children, she was our rock and always there for us. Mum and I were extremely close and she was my best friend.

Ten years after I was born, Mum was shocked to find that she was pregnant again. She blamed poor old Dr McCulloch as he had her taken off birth control medication for a month to treat her for a gall bladder infection, but he was not particularly impressed with her accusation! The birth of my youngest brother Allan (who subsequently followed in my wrestling footsteps to become ‘Red Hot’ Ricky Diamond) was great for our family as we loved having a baby to throw around, and Dad in particular was tickled pink. Around four years after Allan’s birth, Mum and Dad unofficially adopted a close friend Lynn, whose father had suddenly passed away. She became part of our extended family and stayed with us almost every weekend.

As a young boy, I tried my hand at many sports including soccer, basketball, and roller-skating, but being in Victoria I mainly played Aussie Rules football like most kids. I started with the Moe Colts Under-8s and played until the Under-14s at the Hawthorn Citizens Youth Group. But even though I loved footy, I wasn’t very good at it. Outside of sports, I greatly enjoyed singing in the school choirs and performing in the theatre groups, so perhaps that’s where part of my love for the theatre of professional wrestling came from.

My family and me (circled)

When World Championship Wrestling came to the Latrobe Valley for shows, we always went along as a family and loved it. I don’t remember a lot from those days, but one memorable moment from that period was a local wrestler, Murphy the Magnificent, calling my sister Patricia into the ring to gift her a flower before spraying her with perfume. Everyone laughed, but she was really embarrassed by the attention.

Once a month, the family drove two hours down to Melbourne from Moe to visit my grandparents in Glen Iris, and occasionally we would go watch World Championship Wrestling at Festival Hall. When I was seven years-old we attended a show and the main event involved two superstars: King Curtis versus Mark Lewin. They ended up fighting through the crowd and onto the main street, throwing each other into parked cars and even, at one stage, into a moving car! The crowd went berserk and everyone rushed outside to follow them. Unfortunately, I got separated from Mum and Dad and I was scared and screamed my head off, but that was also the moment that had me hooked on wrestling for the rest of my life. From then on, when anyone asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up, my answer was always a policeman or a wrestler.

In 1973, after I had finished Form One at Moe High School, we moved to Melbourne because dad had better work opportunities. We were sad to leave Moe and struggled at first in the big smoke, but soon settled in. I kept myself very busy, delivering newspapers before school and working part-time at Tijou’s Hardware after school and on Saturday mornings. My school at Swinburne Technical College in Hawthorn was great. I did really well for the next two years, so much so that I thought about becoming a teacher, until a major incident during Form Four changed my mind and nudged me closer to professional wrestling. My teacher that year had a bad habit of twisting students’ ears as punishment, and on this particular day she did it to me while I was helping my friend who had learning difficulties. I snapped, pushing her hand away and telling her in no uncertain terms to fuck off. Of course, she took me immediately to the principal’s office, where she proceeded to lie in front of his face about what had happened (she basically denied ever twisting my ear or any other students’ ears). He demanded I apologise to her but I refused, calling her a liar. I asked to be transferred to a different class, but he denied my request, so I threatened to quit school on the spot. He called my parents on the phone and after they arrived, I explained the situation to them and they backed me up a hundred per cent. Sadly, that day was the last time I ever went to school. Luckily for me though, I asked Mr Walker—the boss at Tijou’s—for full-time work, and after he found out about my situation and got my parents’ permission, he agreed to take me on. I am grateful to this day he promised to teach me all he could about the hardware business, because I learned a lot from him.

After that unsavoury incident at school which totally shook my world, it took me a while to get my life back on track. I was fifteen, forced out of a good education by a bitch of a teacher, working in retail, and had my plans at a teaching career derailed. The one thing that made it all worthwhile was the World Championship Wrestling which was on every Saturday night at Festival Hall. Instead of being able to go to shows just three or four times a year while we lived in Moe, Mum and I could go every week here in Melbourne, and we definitely made sure we did. We booked permanent seats four rows from ringside on the aisle where the babyfaces came down, and we were in heaven. It wasn’t long before we met and became friends with some great fans like Dot Slattery, Sue Chuter, and Suzie Hole, as well as some of the local wrestlers and their families including John Schneider and his wife Claire, and Sam Rossi and his son Charles.

After watching the wrestling up close every week at Festival Hall and becoming friends with fans and wrestlers, I began wising up to the business. John was a heel in the ring, but in person he was the nicest guy and an abso lutely sensational bloke. In those days the heels never socialised with the babyfaces and never travelled to the shows together, but a couple of times I saw them hanging out together after the shows and thought, ‘Why are they being so friendly? They’re supposed to be enemies!’.

One Sunday at a live TV taping for World Championship Wrestling, they did an angle where Waldo Von Erich had babyface Ron Miller in a wrestling hold called the Boston crab. Cyclone Negro came off the top rope with a kneedrop to the back of Ron’s neck, and Ron had to wear a neck brace after the match. Later that afternoon, Mum was flying to Sydney to see her mother. When she got to the airport and she saw Ron without the neck brace talking to Waldo, she thought, ‘what the heck?’ and began wising up to the business as well. But even though she figured out the truth about wrestling like I did, her love for the amazing sport never dulled, and we continued going to the shows every week, as passionate and crazy as always.

Not long after I turned sixteen, we were at Festival Hall on a Saturday night as usual. Mum and I were speaking to John and Sam after the show, and out of the blue, they asked me if I wanted to learn. They knew I was a huge fan and I had told them my dream was to be a professional wrestler. I was surprised but so happy they even asked, and naturally, without a moment’s hesitation or even asking Mum, I jumped at the opportunity. Mum, being a huge fan, was just as thrilled as me. This was my chance to become a professional wrestler and I was going to take it with both hands!

By the time I was eighteen, I was already a professional wrestler with a few matches under my belt, but in the back of my mind I still desired to be a policeman, so I applied to join the Victorian Police. Fortunately for wrestling, I fell short by one lousy inch; their height requirement at the time was five-foot eight-inches and I was only five-foot seven-inches tall. I don’t know whether I grew any taller after that, but it didn’t matter anymore; that rejection was the universe telling me then and there that professional wrestling was my one true calling.

CHAPTER 2

MB’s GYM

MY FIRST WRESTLING training session was with John Schneider and Sam Rossi at a gym in North Melbourne called MB’s Gym. It was on Victoria Street, located above a panel beater’s workshop opposite the Queen Victoria Markets. The gym was owned by John, Sam, and three other local wrestlers: Casey Miller, Fred Burger, and Jim Dimeros, and it had a full-sized ring, free weights, and a sauna.

I was extremely scared and nervous that first night heading to the gym because I was still only a teenager; I had plenty of doubts as to whether I was going to be any good at wrestling. What would happen if I weren’t? It would be such a devastating setback after having to quit school. As I walked up the stairs to the gym with butterflies in my stomach, the first three people I saw were John, Casey, and Fred, which made me even more anxious because all three were local heel wrestlers who I always gave a hard time to at Festival Hall! I prayed they wouldn’t recognise me as that annoying kid in the crowd who regularly heckled them, but as luck would have it, they didn’t! Fortunately—unlike their personas in the ring—they were all extremely nice, especially John (who later became one of my dearest friends). I was pinching myself; I went from watching these guys every Saturday night to being trained by them, and it felt like heaven. I was also greeted that very first day by the gym’s manager, Ted Clarke, a fantastic friendly guy who made me feel so welcome. He had a massive job controlling those five wrestlers with their different egos and ideas, but he managed to pull it off.

After settling my nerves, we got straight into it. My first training drill was breakfalls, arguably the most important skill a wrestler should know. Breakfalls help prevent serious injuries, so it is the first thing a wrestler is taught. If you don’t perfect the art of breakfalling then you shouldn’t learn anything else. Luckily, I was a natural and I picked it up fairly easily, but after an hour of constant breakfalling, I was sore and exhausted! The guys were happy with how I was going though, so they then taught me bridging (an exercise which builds up the strength in the neck), and we did that for a full thirty minutes. By the end of the 90-minute session, I was absolutely knackered and had skin off both my elbows and knees; they stung like crazy when I had a shower, but I was beaming. After training, Sam drove me home and he had a good chat with Mum and Dad, telling them I had good potential and promising to look after me and teach me all that he could. They were encouraged by his words and, seeing the joy on my face, allowed me to continue learning the craft with the guys. From that moment on, I trained at MB’s Gym every Tuesday and Thursday night, and once a month on a Saturday.

Training on weekdays was quite specific. On Tuesdays, Sam and Casey were the trainers and would teach me all the wrestling breakfalls, holds, and counterholds, after which I would wrestle with both for five minutes each. I really appreciated the one-on-one time I spent with them.

On Thursdays, John and Jim were the trainers. They called it ‘bump night’, where they would throw us around like rag dolls for a solid hour. After that we would learn how to lock up, and then do five minutes with each trainer, then each other. That was great as you got to learn off each trainer who had their own different ways of working. At first it was very hard to get used to their individual styles, and if you ever stuffed up, you would get a smack to the back of the head or a boot up the arse; it was certainly a different era back then! One night, Casey told me