Person Open DS/UK/11221 Hamill; Eddie 'Kung Fu' (1943); British wrestler Hamill Eddie 'Kung Fu' 1943 British wrestler Male

Born in Northern Ireland in 1943, Eddie Hamill started wrestling at Milo's gym in Belfast in 1963, along side Dave Finlay Snr. He had studied judo at The Oldpark YMCA and went onto become a Black Belt and 1st Dan. Eddie's first wrestling contest, under the name of Mike 'Judo' Hamill, took place at the King George VI hall in May St, Belfast, in a tag match against The Kydd Brothers. Although losing the bout, it did not deter the young wrestler, who had already decided this was the career for him. He appeared at the Town Hall in Lurgan in March 1966, this time beating his opponent John 'Buz' Bradley from London. He wrestled regularly around Ireland and was then offered work in North Wales, which he accepted. After this debut bout, he set off the next day on a tour of Turkey with promoter Orig Williams. Whilst on this trip, he met up with a Korean Martial Arts expert who was there to train Turkish soldiers, picking up techniques which he used to great effect in the ring. On his return, Eddie started work as a Lifeguard in Rhyl, as a day job, while making his name as a wrestler at night. He changed his name to Kung Fu in 1971 and became a firm favourite with audiences all over the country. Very soon Kung Fu was in demand and was based in London two weeks of every month, travelling from the South Coast of England to the Northern tip of Scotland. His TV career started on the 23rd October 1974 (shown on 2nd November) in a bout from Worksop, against Clive Myers, which Kung Fu won by 2 - 1. His next appearance on the small screen was from Solihull in January 1975, when he defeated 'Cyanide' Sid Cooper, also by 2 - 1. To follow these, were classic matches against Mick Mc Manus, Bert Royal, Mark Rocco, Frank Cullen and Dave 'Fit' Finlay. On the 24th March 1976, Eddie faced Kendo Nagasaki at the Royal Albert Hall in London, which at the time was the prime wrestling venue in the country. Filled to capacity, this match was witnessed by some 5,000 people. Using his famous 'Kamikazi Crash', Kendo took the winner in Round 4 by a knockout. Being a 'loser to unmask' contest, Eddie had no alternative but to reveal his identity. As part of the Queen's Silver Jubilee Celebrations, Eddie appeared again at the Royal Albert Hall in London on the 30th November 1977 in a televised bout with partner Pete Roberts. They fought Mick Mc Manus and Tally Ho Kaye. Also on this bill were 2 Title contests. Vic Faulkner faced Jim Breaks for the vacant British Welterweight Title and Bert Royal against Mark 'Rollerball ' Rocco for the British Heavy Middleweight Belt. International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families - ISAAR(CPF) 2nd edition - ICA 2004 ISBN 2-9521932-2-3 National Council on Archives, Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997 Yes RAHSkeyte 1/20/2014 Rachael.Fragola 3/1/2022 517c7824-8ac3-4308-ba9a-4f2a9d2b1421