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Dazzler
Dunlop: Chapter 12 - The Sydney Wrestling Scene
Website
Shawline
Publishing Group
Shawline
Publishing Group: DAZZLER DUNLOPBy Ken Dunlop
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Ken
Dunlop
"Like
any other sport, wrestling’s popularity was heavily
dependent on fan support, and thankfully, we had some
of the best around. The Sydney scene was full of loyal
fans who would travel not just around Sydney but all
over New South Wales to attend shows, and we always
chatted to them before and after shows. We got to
know a lot of them by their first names and there
were some great characters like Clary, Gaetano, ‘One-ball’
Ken, Shirley, Les Kent, Skull, Rocky, Happy Humphrey,
James Stanios, Paul Robinson, Sandy and Rebecca, Mark
Harvey, and John Shelvey. I even attended the wedding
of one fan: Steven Ditz whom I had met through another
fan (Sue Chuter from Melbourne). I developed personal
friendships with a number of Sydney fans over the
years and I’m lucky to be still friends with
them today, even long after my retirement. Friends
like Ed Lock, Martin Heppell, Dave Reck , and Dann
Leonard were huge fans and were instrumental in helping
me get this book going. Others like Graham ‘Fozzy’
Young ended up in the business, wrestling for a year
or two before finding his niche as a well-respected
referee and going on to have a great twenty-year career.
Then there were fans like Jolene Taylor and her mum
and grandmother, Alan Griffiths, Kirk and Colleen
Beattie, Stephen Chard , The Gleeson family, Greg
Tingle, and Andy Raymond. Greg is a journalist
with several websites dedicated to sports and Andy
is a famous sports broadcaster who had a 25-year career
with Foxtel and now runs his own sports podcasts.
Obviously, each state has their own loyal fanbase,
which the wrestlers really appreciate, but I think
Sydney’s fans are the best."
Greg
Tingle
Great
stuff Ken...I think I may have just sped-read my favourite
chapter of the book. It's about fans and supporters,
and well of course those prepared to risk their neck,
back and life to entertain the masses for an honest
carney living. I will always respect every wrestler
for just being prepared to get in the wrestling ring
and give it a go. In a world of critics where everyone
is an expert, there's only so many who will actually
become a professional wrestler and be able to enjoy
a sustainable career. Much respect, and thanks for
the memories.
News
Australian
pro wrestling great Ken 'Dazzler' Dunlop releases
long awaited tell-all book -
October 2021
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, the life and
times of an out-and-proud wrestling legend and a member
of the Australian professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
are candidly laid out in this wonderful new memoir.
Ken
“Dazzler” Dunlop is a man who dedicated
24 years to the sport of professional wrestling. Despite
his small stature, Ken proved his toughness and resilience
by bodyslamming and clotheslining his way to a memorable
24-year Hall of Fame career in Australia and abroad
with superstars the likes of Andre the Giant and Mario
Milano. Always striving to be the best that he could
be, no matter what…Every decision centred around
his wrestling career and those who supported him...During
his career he also taught many young men to wrestle
and became a mentor in their lives as they excelled
beyond even their own expectations.
From
his humble beginnings as a mummy’s boy in rural
Victoria to his crazy life as an out-and-proud gay
man in Australia’s Sin City, there were moments
of triumph, laughter, mayhem, and plenty of tears.
These are the no-holds-barred stories of a bona fide
wrestling pioneer who did it all with passion, loyalty,
and a no-nonsense honesty.
This
is the autobiography of Australian Wrestling Legend
and Hall of Fame Inductee, Ken “Dazzler”
Dunlop.
“A
true character and legend of the most entertaining
and demanding sport in the world…Ken has dreamed
it, lived and loved it with everything he is as a
champion and as a person…this is a wonderfully
honest and humbled sharing of his own story…Marvellous
and inspiring…” Brian, Indiebook reviewer
References:
Shawline
Publishing Group
AUTHOR
BIO
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 wrestler 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.
Media
Man
Interview:
Ken Dunlop - Retired professional wrestler and businessman
(Part 1) - July 2017
Interview:
Ken Dunlop - Retired professional wrestler and businessman
(Part 2) - August 2017
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