Today, Lord Alfred Hayes is best remembered for his time as the bumbling, ostensibly posh jack of all trades in 1980s WWF.
Yet, as Greg Oliver wrote: “Remembering Lord Alfred Hayes…as just the buffoon second-banana on the WWF Tuesday Night Titans is to do a huge injustice to one of the greatest wrestlers ever to come out of the United Kingdom.”
Whilst endlessly endearing, looking at his immense career’s work off-camera, the fact that only his work for Vince McMahon remains viewable would be a bit like if you woke up tomorrow to find only I Am The Walrus still exits from the Beatles back catalogue!
Indeed, he was a top British performer of the 1960s, during the “Golden Era” in British wrestling. However, in 1972, very briefly held the NWA World Heavyweight title – the top prize in American wrestling at the time.
Lord Alfred Hayes Began Wrestling In Britain In The 1960s
Alfred Hayes took up wrestling in the early 1950s, being trained by Sir Atholl Oakley, a baronet and Britain’s first heavyweight champion. Oakley also developed the All-In wrestling rules which brought in a new boom period in wrestling in the 1930s in Britian.
A former black belt, he would take on the mantle of “Judo” Al Hayes. According to Kent Walton’s Top 50 Guide to Wrestling, he was the youngest judo black belt in the country at the time of his grading.
In the 1960s, he became one of the nation’s biggest babyfaces, wrestling under a mask as White Angel. He would be unmasked after a 1962 marquee match loss at Granada Cinema in Tooting against his main rival Dr Death, a hooded wrestler portrayed by legendary promotor Paul Lincoln.
In 1961, Hayes had made the jump from Joint Promotions to join Lincoln who had started organising his own shows. It was a huge loss for Joint, who Hayes had worked for since 1953 and become a fixture at events at the Royal Albert Hall.
He Was A Crossover Star In The ’60s and ’70s
Outside of the ring, Hayes was also a skilled footballer, reportedly once having a trial for Chelsea Football Club.
In the 1960s and ‘70s, Hayes was a volunteer for the All-Star TV Wrestlers Football XL team, alongside other wrestlers such as Mike Morino and Steve Veidor. The fixtures were organised by Eddie Capelli whilst an already ageing Mick McManus – godfather to Hayes’s daughter – would often appear in a non-playing role.
According to The Wrestler magazine, the “top wrestling stars play almost every Sunday”, raising “big money for charity”.
In this capacity, wrestlers would often face off against performers from different arts, meaning Al Hayes shared a football pitch with comedic legend Sir David Frost and Ray Davies of The Kinks.
His beloved ‘blue eyes’ persona extended beyond sports, with Hayes elected as a Conservative councillor in 1968 for Canonbury in the Labour stronghold of the borough of Islington. He would, however, be criticised for common absences due to wrestling commitments.
He was also featured on the front cover of TV Times magazine in September 1970.
Alfred Hayes Went Stateside In 1971
In 1971, Alfred Hayes embarked on an American run, encouraged by Ricki Starr.
As William Regal has retold, Hayes had managed to gain traction with promotors after circulating a staged photograph in which he was seen shaking hands with Prince William.
Hayes would become one of the first British wrestlers to find great success across the pond. He would quickly rise through the ranks, with one fan of the time noting that “never had someone come into the area with such popularity.”
He competed in the National Wrestling Alliance Western States territory located in Amarillo, Texas, where he would win the promotion’s Heavyweight title five times from 1971-72.
Lord Alfred Hayes Was NWA Champion, Ever So Briefly
Hayes’s unrecognised and brief NWA title reign occurred in April 1972. His phantom reign as champion began after winning the title from the legendary Dory Funk Jr, although details of the match are few and far between.
Looking at match records from the time, April 5th appears to be the most likely date for the bout to have taken place.
The match was tied at one fall apiece when Hayes was able to pin Funk, although the move used to win the match seems to have been lost to history.
The decision was subsequently overturned, although the reason given for the disqualification has been disputed.
The common story is that Dory Funk, Sr. intervened after the bell attacking the referee. However, when recounted in Joe Bosko’s Kings of the Ring, he notes that instead, Dory Funk, Jr. was the one to shove the referee. More vaguely, The Guardian’s obituary for Hayes noted the reversal was down to “arcane rules.”
1972 proved a banner year for Hayes, who became the inaugural winner of Pro Wrestling Illustrated’s Inspirational Wrestler of the Year.
Behind the scenes, Hayes and his family lived at the Dory Funk’s ranch, with the Funks being the only friends they knew upon arrival. Hayes would reside in Texas for the rest of his life.
His Later Career Is All That Survives Of Al Hayes’ Career
Entering the 1980s, Hayes stepped back from the ring but remained managing during his stay in the American Wrestling Association. Here, he would hone a hated, stuck-up aristocratic character, claiming a lordship dating back 600 years.
In 1983, Hayes would join the World Wrestling Federation, where he would be a much beloved – but arguably equally maligned – on-screen pundit.
A commentator, interviewer, and show anchor, he would remain with the WWF until refusing to take a 40% pay cut during the nadir of the American wrestling industry in the mid-1990s.
Hayes was inducted into the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2014 and in 2018 became the first Briton to enter the WWE Hall of Fame. He was inducted as part of the Legacy wing of the Hall of Fame, three years before the British Bulldog’s induction into the main WWE Hall of Fame.
Check out which other British wrestlers could be inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame.
He would pass away in 2005 at age 76, having long suffered from a string of health issues. Despite these, he had remained a presence at wrestling reunion events such as the Cauliflower Alley Club.
While he is mainly remembered as “Lord Alfred Hayes”, ‘Judo’ Al Hayes had a long and storied career before ever setting foot on American soil. His impact has long been forgotten, but he should go down as a legend of British wrestling for years to come.
