Episode 121 – Riley in the U.S.

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In this episode, I discuss Billy Riley, founder of Wigan’s Snake Pit, wrestling in the United States during 1922 and 1923. I look at Jack Claybourne’s 1940 five month tour of Massachusetts. I also review WWE Unreal Season 2 on Netflix.

Update

The first two UFC cards on Paramount Plus have been excellent.

WWE Unreal was more compelling than the weekly WWE wrestling shows.

Snake Pit documentary on YouTube. They interview Ernie Riley, Billy Riley’s son.

I answered an email from long-time listener Shannon that Billy Riley did wrestle in the United States during 1922 and 1923. Riley worked World Middleweight Wrestling Championship matches with Riley’s mentor, Waino Kekonen.

Main Content

Promoters in Massachusetts bring Jack Claybourne, an African-American wrestler from Mexico, Missouri, into the area in early 1940 to compete in their junior heavyweight tournament. Claybourne will eventually wrestle Savatore Balbo, the junior heavyweight champion in the area.

Billed as “Gentleman” Jack Claybourne from South Africa, Claybourne makes his promotional debut in Lynn, Massachusetts on Thursday, December 28, 1939. Claybourne wrestled Joe Campbell in a best two-out-of-three-falls match at the Arena in Lynn, Massachusetts.

Claybourne submitted Campbell with a full Nelson after twenty-one minutes. Campbell claimed to be too injured to continue so the referee awarded Claybourne the match on Campbell’s withdrawal. The fans cheered Claybourne’s victory.

Clayboure won three tournament matches on January 1, 1940 to setup his match with Salvatore Balbo at the end of January. In Claybourne’s first three months in Massachusetts, Claybourne lost only one match.

Campbell lost a few matches in April and May 1940 signalling his time in Massachusetts was ending. Campbell traveled to Montreal in the summer for a three-month run there.

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