In January 1967, Mick McManus was supposed to beat Peter Preston in a match by two falls to one at the Lime Grove Baths.
This was meant to be a match like any other. McManus was one of the most popular wrestlers in the country and was known for rarely losing. 20 years into his career he was a huge name in the wrestling scene, and his 1962 match with Jackie Pallo is said to be the most watched in British history.
Because of this, most wrestlers wouldn’t have batted an eyelid at being told to lie down for him.
Peter Preston was not like other wrestlers.
He’d already had wins over big stars like Jackie Pallo and Les Kellett and was on his way to becoming one of the top stars in the entire country.
However, in order to be the top man, you had to beat Mick McManus. And Nobody beat British wrestling legend Mick McManus. One day, Peter Preston and Norman Morrell decided that, actually, he was going to beat him and there was nothing Mick McManus could do to stop him.
This is what we’ll call The London Screwjob.
Mick McManus vs Peter Preston Did Not Go As Planned
The match between Mick McManus and Peter Preston didn’t go as originally planned.
In fact, the event promoted by Norman Morrell in January 1967 at the Lime Groves Bath in London wasn’t even meant to pit those two together.
McManus was booked to face Mike Eagers at the show. The insanely dark-haired McManus had big sway in Joint Promotions, with his company making the posters, tickets and programs while he eventually became the booker for the syndicate, and he always chose his own opponents – especially for a televised contest such as this.
However, Eagers had to pull out of the show for whatever reason, so Preston was drafted in as a replacement. He was surprised that McManus agreed to face him at all, but was even more shocked when Norman Morrell heavily implied he “shoot” on the star and take the win for himself.
Beating Mick McManus was something you did not do. It was rare to see The Man You Love To Hate losing on television – partially because he booked the shows, but also because he was the most popular (hated) man in the entire business.
It was said that until his loss to Mel Sanders in the late 1970s, he had never been pinned or submitted on television.
While opinions on him vary (some wrestlers say he was very selfish, others say he was very giving), the entire point of professional wrestling is that you follow the script and do what is best to make an entertaining match.
That wasn’t what Peter Preston was aiming to do. He wanted to win.
Mick McManus Lost In ‘The London Screwjob’ After Peter Preston Began To Shoot On Him
There was no indication that Peter Preston would go against his booker and refuse to lose to Mick McManus – that made it all the more shocking!
It started out as planned. Preston took the first fall in the second round while McManus prepared to win the equalising fall in the third round, before stealing the victory in the fourth.
This was standard booking. It made the face look strong by getting one over on the heel, but in the end the big star (McManus) would come out on top, encouraging fans to come and see the show next in the hopes he would finally lose
However, once the first fall was lost, McManus realised he would not be getting the next two. Despite having a background in amateur wrestling and being a technical wizard in his day, Mick McManus was now in his late 40s. He couldn’t compete with the man 18 years his junior.
He tried to wrestle him as planned but Peter Preston dug his heels in. Irate, Mick McManus tried to get the referee to disqualify Preston and call the match off, but referee Don Branch saw no infraction and kept the bout going.
As such, McManus was forced to take things into his own hands. He wouldn’t be able to outwrestle Peter Preston or force him to lose the match. But he could end it quickly and limit the damage to his character and himself as a professional.
The ending of the match is one that is a mystery to many. It is well reported that McManus decided that, instead of losing the shoot fight by pinfall or submission, to start punching Preston – although it is disputed whether it was in the face or the groin – to take a disqualification loss.
The reason it is a mystery is that not all of the country saw the ending of the match. In the North of England, it was shown in its entirety, as the northern fans got to see Mick McManus lose on TV for the first time.
However, as often happened with regional variances on TV, southern viewers had the match cut off before the end, missing the skirmish between the two pretend wrestlers pretending not to be fighting for real.
However, the result was still in the books.
This was still McManus’s first loss on television, but losing by DQ took some sting out of it. He knew he wasn’t able to out-wrestle Peter Preston, given his age and size compared to his young opponent, so the only way to come out looking good was to do what Mick McManus did best – cheat.
Peter Preston Became A Big Star Following The Win
This double-cross didn’t end how Preston wanted exactly, but the record column still showed a win for him over Britain’s top wrestling star. He became an overnight sensation, being billed as a main event wrestler for Norman Morell and selling out buildings within weeks.
“A few weeks later I arrived at the St George’s Hall and couldn’t believe the length of the queue waiting at the door. I thought ‘there must be something on,’ and then quickly realised there was. Me!” he told WrestlingHeritage.
However, it was only on the Normal Morrell shows that Preston was a star. Dale Martins, who Mick McManus had a hand in booking and producing, outright refused to book him for a number of years due to the unprofessional nature of his actions.
In fact, the entirety of Joint Promotions wasn’t thrilled with his actions. Preston was summoned to the Kirkgate Chambers headquarters of Joint Promotions, where he was reprimanded for his actions.
That didn’t bother him though. Norman Morrell had a new star on his hands and would continue to book Peter Preston in more impressive victories over the top wrestlers of the day.
He also got regular bookings in Scotland, with Joint’s Scottish promotion run by George de Relwyskow offering him a wage bump immediately following the event. Things went very well for Peter Preston in the aftermath of the fight and he was even booked by Dale Martins again in the year following.
Not only that, but the long-awaited rematch between McManus and Preston actually happened in 1970. For years, they kept the duo separated and never booked Preston on a bill that McManus was wrestling on.
Eventually, the pair agreed to a match at DeMontfort Hall in Leicester in March 1970. Their first face-to-face meeting in three years was said to be explosive, with the ridiculously dark-haired McManus aiming some choice words towards his disgraced opponent.
As was expected, Mick McManus got his win back with no shenanigans. There would be no repeat of the London Screwjob, and as the booker of the promotion, he continued to get his way inside the ring.
As we mentioned earlier, McManus wouldn’t always refuse to lose. Once his body deteriorated and his star power waned (although not too much, as he was always popular), he embarked on a plan to put over Mel Sanders.
He lost to the 20-year-old multiple times on TV in the late 1970s in what was one of the most shocking losses in wrestling history.
Although, not quite as shocking as Peter Preston beating Mick McManus – half the wrestlers in the match were shocked by that one!
Normal Morrell Told Peter Preston To Make Himself Known
What we haven’t explored yet is exactly why Peter Preston decided to risk his entire career by shooting on the top star in the business. It would be like wrestling 2000s-era Triple H and expecting to get away with trying to fight him for real.
As it turns out, it wasn’t Preston’s initial idea at all – although he was all too happy to go along with the idea.
Peter Preston spoke to WrestlingHeritage about this infamous match and revealed that Norman Morrell had put him up to it, albeit subtlety and without incriminating himself. He claimed that he told him to “Now’s your chance. Go in there and make yourself known”, but warned him not to injure McManus.
Now, there is some plausible deniability here from Morrell. Making yourself known could be putting on a good show by looking good while he put over the top star in a televised match.
However, adding that he shouldn’t injure McManus adds an extra bit of deviance. The fact that Preston had “a very good bonus in my wage packet that day” tells you all you need to know about Morrell’s intentions that day.
It was clear in the interview that Peter Preston had very little positive to say about Mick McManus.
He admitted that he would have been happy to take out McManus, and detested the idea that he was to lose to him and never get a rematch, wanting to put him in his place for good. He knew the older gentleman couldn’t compete physically, so in a real wrestling match, he had all the advantages.
“I would have been quite happy to put McManus’ knees out. If he was so good why was there never a return? It was just a case of putting the man in his place for once.” Peter Preston said.
In the end, it was rather a good decision by Peter Preston, while being detestable. His career took off better than expected and he began getting top billing all over the country.
However, the loss of trust he had with his fellow wrestlers was hard to recover and there is a reason Mick McManus is more fondly remembered by fans and wrestlers alike than Peter Preston.
