Before Big Daddy became the superstar of British wrestling that he is remembered for, Bert Assirati drove him into an early retirement in the 1960s.
Bert Assirati was known as one of wrestling’s hard men, although he started life in the business as a tumbler and acrobat working in the music halls. He eventually used his freakish strength to become a champion in wrestling.
While he was not a tall man (standing at just five foot six), Bert Assirati was stocky. At his peak he held sixteen stone of pure muscle and was almost immovable when his feet were planted firmly on the mat.
This helped him to become a world champion many times over, although his title reigns were controversial. He was stripped of the British Heavyweight Championship in 1950 after choosing to move to India to wrestle.
He went on to win the belt again but was never pinned or submitted for it. In 1958 his three-year long reign ended again when he was forced to give up the title. However, Assirati continued to claim he was the champion for another two years, until in 1960 an injury meant the belt had to be vacated.
Following the injury, a tournament was held to crown a new British Heavyweight Champion. Shirley Crabtree, before he was known as Big Daddy, was crowned the victor and the new top name in British Wrestling.
However, this was only according to the British Wrestling Federation (not to be confused with Orig Williams’ BWF promotion). Joint Promotions, who held the physical belt and were the biggest syndicate in the UK, appointed Billy Joyce as champion after beating Gordon Nelson (The Outlaw) in London.
If the BWF weren’t happy with Shirley Crabtree as champion, then Bert Assirati was completely irate!
Bert Assirati Harrassed Big Daddy Into Retirement
After Big Daddy, as Shirley Crabtree, became the British Heavyweight Champion in 1960 everything should have been going perfectly.
He was in his physical prime and wrestling his best matches which were a far cry from the absolute dross that wowed fans in the 1980s, as he bumped bellies with Giant Haystacks.
Big Daddy was on his way to becoming a massive star, which irked Bert Assirati. The London-born grappler always felt that he was still the champion, despite being forced to vacate the belt.
Assirati was known as a “shooter” or a “hooker”. He was a “real” wrestler, trained in catch-as-catch-can and was more than capable at handling himself in the ring.
In fact, this got him into a lot of trouble. He remained the British Heavyeight Champion because he simply refused to lose the title in a fixed encounter. Assirati would happily make a fight real if he didn’t like the outcome, using his freakish strength to incapasite his opponents and pick up the brutal and bloody victories night after night.
These violent outbursts and refuse to follow the script gave promoters cold feet. They didn’t want the unpredictable Assirati deciding the result of his match with his superior skills – its professional wrestling, after all!
This was not something Big Daddy wanted to get involved with either, although Bert Assirati did his best to make his presence known.
The now-blackballed wrestler would turn up at shows, heckling the new British Heavyweight Champion, proclaiming himself to be the real champion and demanding a match. Assirati was struggling for work in Britain and, despite being a huge draw in India, nobody wanted anything to do with him.
So he kept on hurling abuse, turning up at wrestling shows and even the Crabtree house to challenge Big Daddy to a showdown. Scared, Shirley Crabtree would also turn him down and refuse to fight the smaller, scrappier former champion.
This led to him finally deciding enough was enough and packing the wrestling business in. His brother, Max Crabtree, was a promoter up in Scotland and Shirley Crabtree was busy running discos and nightclubs in his hometown. Bert Assirati had run him out of the business and Big Daddy’s career was over.
Shirley Crabtree left the business in 1966, not returning until his brother Max Crabtree took control of Dale Martin’s Promotions and rechristened him as Big Daddy.
But…did he? Did that really happen?
These Events Are Heavily Disputed By Many, Including Big Daddy
While the story of Big Daddy being chased out of the wrestling by Bert Assirati have been told for the past six decades, there doesn’t seem to be much to them.
The part about Bert Assirati being a tough guy with a hot head who refused to lose is true. He fell out with every promoter he came into contact with and went on to become a doorman once his wrestling career was done.
However, the rest is an apocryphal tale that time has seemingly made true.
Many dispute to this story, mainly from the Big Daddy camp. Ryan Danes, the author of Who’s The Daddy?, wrote that Big Daddy was not at all bothered about the taunts from Bert Assirati.
He claims that he tried to call out Shirley Crabtree during one of his matches, but the British Heavyweight Champion simply ignored the former champ and walked out. This put an end to it and Assirati let it be.
Nobody wanted to wrestle Bert Assirati at that point and he was totally desperate to get back in the big time. Sure, smaller opposition promoters would use him to sell tickets, but as soon as a wrestler saw they were up against him they’d simply walk out the building and head home.
This wasn’t even the first time he’d called out a fellow wrestler from the crowd. Assirati did the same to Lou Thesz in the Royal Albert Hall, which the American declined. However, in his own book, Thesz claims he challenged Assirati to a series of matches, with the Briton refused.
All in all, it seems like a tale woven by Bert Assirti to prove his status as a tough guy was taken at face value and believed. Given how crazy some of the backstage tales are, like Les Kellett’s various fights with other wrestlers, it wasn’t unbelievable.
However, basic research would show that Crabtree didn’t retire in 1966. He definitely slowed down his schedule and worked more independently, but he was still active throughout the 1960s and into the 1970s.
The Bert Assirati and Big Daddy tale is a fascinating tale, just not much of it is true.
