Wrestling is a dangerous sport, something nobody knows more than King Kong Kirk.
Mal Kirk was a big name in wrestling during the 1970s and 1980s, with his size and strength making him a sight to behold. After working in a coal mine and playing in rugby league for a time, he turned his hand to the squared circle to embark on a career in wrestling.
At six foot one and 24 stone, he was of similar build and stature to the legendary Big Daddy. Both grew up near Halifax, both played rugby league before later becoming professional wrestlers. The parallels were uncanny, although Mal Kirk never expected his last match to be against Big Daddy.
King Kong Kirk had had a good career up until that point and was winding down while wrestling and Big Daddy hit the peak of their popularity. 1986 saw Big Daddy wheeled out for the FA Cup Final day wrestling match, where he teamed with Danny Boy Collins against Fit Finlay & Scrubber Daly. He may have been 56 in that match but the fans loved him.
Meanwhile, Kirk was 51. He never achieved the admiration of success that Big Daddy had, although he wrestled all over the world against some of the best wrestlers alive. He was a good worker, with Bret Hart being very complimentary of him in his book after their matches together in Stampede Wrestling in Canada.
“Kirk turned out to be a great worker and bump-taker, and when he collapsed on top of me, he was as light as if he’d covered me with a blanket.” Bret Hart wrote about Mal Kirk in Stampede. He also wrestled huge stars like Andre the Giant, Giant Haystacks, William Regal and, fatally, Big Daddy.
King Kong Kirk is unfortunately one of the wrestlers who died in the ring, joining a very unwanted club indeed.
King King Kong Died During A Match With Big Daddy
His death occurred during a match with Big Daddy on Sunday, August 24th 1987 in the Hippodrome Circus in Great Yarmouth. With Daddy on the card tickets were bound to go quickly, and hundreds packed the hall to see the star of ITV’s wrestling, although Greg Dyke would take it off the air the following year.
Big Daddy teamed with Greg Valentine for the tag team match. This was not the Greg Valentine from WWE fame, but the name that Shirley’s nephew Steve Crabtree wrestled under in the UK. Mal Kirk’s partner would also be involved in a case of mistaken identity, as he teamed with King Kendo to round out the teams.
King Kendo was, to put it bluntly, a rip-off of Kendo Nagasaki. It was so blatant that the real Kendo Nagasaki even took him to court over the infraction, although he later forgave Bill Clarke (the man under the King Kendo mask) and worked with him in All-Star Promotions. He was just one of many Kendo Nagasaki’s impersonators.
King Kong Kirk and King Kendo thematically teamed together in the match against the big star and his nephew. The bout was the main event, which in those days meant it went on just before the interval, rather than the final match as we call it today. While it was meant to be a standard Big Daddy match, it was one nobody would ever forget.
The match went on as normal. The smaller, younger men did the bulk of the work in the match. Both Big Daddy and King Kong Kirk were in their 50s, with their nearly 25-stone frames unable to move the way they used to. Daddy matches had a formula to them, where his tag team partner would wrestle most of the match before tagging him in and letting him Shirley hit the Daddy Splash and get the pinfall win.
It was this monotonous, formulaic wrestling style that convinced a young William Regal to quit Joint Promotions to ply his trade under Brian Dixon.
He Died After Taking The Big Daddy Splash
The end of the match came with Big Daddy and King Kong Kirk in the ring. The usual comeback commenced, with a body check on Kirk followed by the move everybody came to see – the Big Daddy Splash. He bellyflopped onto his prone opponent and the referee counted the pin before awarding the victory to Big Daddy and Greg Valentine.
The winners celebrated as the fans cheered, and children ran towards the railings to try and get a handshake and a signature from their hero. However, there was no sign of movement from the ring as Kirk lay there, motionless. A doctor ran in from the crowd to try and revive Kirk, who was turning purple according to Max Crabtree. However, nothing could be done.
King Kong Kirk died during the match of what was later determined to be a massive heart attack. When Big Daddy’s immense weight came down on him, it caused a huge shock that jolted his heart and caused a cardiac event. Kirk was so large that they couldn’t get him out of the ring and they had to remove the ring ropes to get him stretchered out. He was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital at the age of 51.
Shockingly, the show went on. After intermission, the rest of the matches continued as normal, with no update given about Kirk’s wellbeing. They finally informed the crowd at the end of the night that Mal Kirk had died, holding a minute’s silence in the wrestler’s memory.
Of course, with wrestling being a work, Big Daddy did not intend to kill the man. However, despite a report later absolving him of all responsibility due to a long-stand heart condition Kirk had, Shirley Crabtree blamed himself for King Kong Kirk’s death for the rest of his life.
Big Daddy was interviewed by the news following the accident. He showed great remorse for his part of the death, claiming he’d “never forget” seeing him lying dead in the ring. The ring was a place where Daddy sought solace from a tough life, and seeing it filled with death was a tragedy.
Speaking on the news in 1987, Shirley Crabtree said:
“I had wrestled him. I mean it was as strong as three men. He was 25 stone. He was known as the Pittman’s Hercules and as long as I’ll live I’ll never forget seeing him laid down there on the canvas instead of on his feet, raging and and, you know, and flying about and that will stay with me.”
Even on his deathbed, Big Daddy thought about that night and his part in King Kong Kirk’s death. He wondered if God would blame him for killing the man. Kirk’s wife Ilona was bitter about her husband’s death, noting how he died for the £30 payoff he got for wrestling Big Daddy, as opposed to £25 if he was on with somebody else.
She told Simon Garfield that King Kong Kirk’s last words he spoke to her were “I don’t want to go. I hate this job” before heading off for the match that would end up being the last thing he ever did.
Big Daddy wrestled the next night. Great Yarmouth police released a statement absolving him of all responsibility. However, nobody, especially Big Daddy, ever forgot about how King Kong Kirk died in the ring that night.
