Lord Alfred Hayes
Lord Alfred Hayes | |
---|---|
Birth name | Alfred George James Hayes |
Born | [1] London, England[1] | 8 August 1928
Died | 21 July 2005[1] Dallas, Texas, U.S.[1] | (aged 76)
Professional wrestling career | |
Ring name(s) | Judo Al Hayes Al Hayes Lord Alfred Hayes The White Angel[1] |
Billed height | 5 ft 9 in (175 cm)[2] |
Billed weight | 238 lb (108 kg)[2] |
Billed from | Windermere, England[3] |
Trained by | Sir Atholl Oakeley, Bt[1] |
Debut | 1950s[3] |
Retired | 1996 |
Alfred George James Hayes (8 August 1928 – 21 July 2005) was an English professional wrestler, manager and commentator, best known for his appearances in the United States with the World Wrestling Federation between 1982 and 1995 where he was known as Lord Alfred Hayes. Hayes was distinguished by his "Masterpiece Theatre diction" and "Oxford accent".[1][3]
Professional wrestling career
British and French Wrestling
Born in London, Hayes attended the North-Western Polytechnic, which was evacuated to Luton Modern School during World War II. He attained a black belt in judo before training as a wrestler under Sir Atholl Oakeley, Bt.[1] Wrestling as "Judo" Al Hayes, he appeared on the British circuit from the late 1950s to the late 1960s, when he left the United Kingdom and traveled to the United States.[3] He also wrestled in France for the FFCP and appeared on televised wrestling matches on RTF, on which commentator Roger Couderc claimed that Hayes and regular tag team partner "Rebel" Ray Hunter were Australians.[4] He was a blue-eye who battled all of the heavyweight heels of his time, and held the Southern Area Heavyweight Championship for a number of years. He traded heavily on his judo background, and specialised with judo chops and nerve holds. His most famous period was when he fought for Paul Lincoln Promotions as The White Angel, with a massive feud against black-masked heel Dr Death. Death eventually won, and unmasked Hayes.[1] The feud was inspired by a similar feud in France pitting L'Ange Blanc against Le Bourreau de Bethune. Hayes would later make a homecoming tour of the United Kingdom, including televised matches. During these bouts, he remained a heel and fought his way through most of his former tag partners. It was explained that Hayes had inherited the dreaded "American style" in his adopted country.
Various North American promotions (1970s–1980s)
Hayes later went to wrestle in America. In 1972, he defeated
While wrestling for Sam Muchnick in St. Louis during the mid-1970s, Hayes turned heel and adopted the gimmick of the aristocratic "Lord Alfred" Hayes.[7] Hayes adopted the role as a manager after he had decided wrestling was taking a toll on his knees.[7] As this character, Hayes later became a manager in the AWA, Florida and later Montreal, managing fellow Brit Billy Robinson, Baron von Raschke, Jimmy Valiant (whom he rebranded as "King James" Valiant) and the Super Destroyers. He became notorious for delivering TV interviews in a sneering aristocratic English accent, often sipping cups of tea and wearing a bow tie and frilly shirt.
Hayes reverted to babyface and began a feud with fellow manager Bobby Heenan after an incident in November 1979 where Super Destroyer II fired Hayes and replaced him with Heenan. He also had his first stint as a commentator - taking a fairly benign neutral position not dissimilar to his later WWF work - in Jim Crockett Promotions in the Mid Atlantic around 1981. In other territories however, Hayes remained a heel. In Florida in 1980, Hayes began managing Bobby Jaggers while his regular manager Oliver Humperdink was busy acting as Dusty Rhodes' servant for thirty days (after another protege of his, Ivan Koloff lost a match to Rhodes with that stipulation.) When "Rooster" Humperdink, who had become a figure of sympathy during his thirty days' servitude, returned to management and attempted to claim back Jaggers, Hayes and another protege Nikolai Volkoff brutally beat on Humperdink, thus starting a feud with Humperdink and Rhodes.[8][6]
Hayes later worked again as a heel manager for Robinson in Lutte Internationale in the early 1980s during Robinson's reign with the Canadian International Heavyweight Championship.[9][10] Hayes also managed Masked Superstar, around this time.[11]
World Wrestling Federation (1982–1995)
Hayes joined the
Hayes appeared at
As the
Hayes was the color commentator for
Hayes is known for having spoken the phrase "Promotional consideration paid for by the following", which was heard at the end of Superstars of Wrestling and Wrestling Challenge syndicated shows.[7] At WrestleMania fan access, fans would ask him to repeat his line.[citation needed]
As a commentator, Hayes maintained his reserved mannerisms; though not specifically a heel, he would be quicker to give praise to heelish characters, though disapproving of underhanded methods (in one match, after being told by Gorilla Monsoon that
Hayes' various roles for the WWF included co-hosting
Hayes also spoke fluent French (he had cut promos in French back in his time in the Montreal territory) and in 1994, he did French commentary a few times alongside
American Wrestling Federation (1996)
After leaving the WWF, Hayes would later appear as a full-on heel commentator alongside Mick Karch, calling the action in 1996 for the short-lived American Wrestling Federation.
Retirement, death, and legacy
Hayes retired from the WWF in 1995 after enduring a series of pay cuts.[12] McMahon and the rest of the office were reportedly very upset at the news as Hayes was someone that they didn't want to lose.[12] Around this time he was also involved in a serious car accident. As a result of the accident he suffered gangrene and part of a leg had to be amputated. Hayes was a wheelchair user for the remainder of his life. He spent the last few years of his life in a retirement home, only venturing out of the home to make appearances at wrestling conventions sporadically.[7] He later had a series of strokes and died on 21 July 2005 at his home in Texas.[7] He was 76 years old. On the first episode of Monday Night RAW to air after his death, WWE paid tribute to Hayes with a ten-bell salute and a video memorial.[3] On 15 November 2010 "Old School" edition of Raw, his voice-over was a part of the broadcast. Hayes was named to the WWE Hall of Fame as part of the Legacy Wing in 2018.[13]
Championships and accomplishments
- Big Time Wrestling
- Central States Wrestling
- Bob Brown (1) and Roger Kirby (1)[16]
- Eastern Sports Association
- NWA Western States Sports
- NWA Western States Heavyweight Championship (5 times)
- NWA Western States Tag Team Championship (3 times) – with Ricky Romero (1), Ricki Starr (1) and Nick Kozak (1)
- Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame
- Pro Wrestling Illustrated
- WWE
- Other accomplishments
- Southern Area Heavyweight Championship (1 time)
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "Alfred Hayes". The Daily Telegraph. 16 August 2005. Archived from the original on 6 July 2016. Retrieved 10 February 2008.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-7566-4190-0.
- ^ a b c d e f Oliver, Greg (21 July 2005). "Lord Al Hayes dead at 76". Slam Wrestling. Retrieved 10 February 2008.
- ^ Al Hayes & Ray Hunter vs Roger Delaporte & Andre Bollet, Le Catch February 1, 1960 RTF
- ^ Morton, James (13 August 2005). "Obituary: 'Judo' Al Hayes". the Guardian. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
- ^ a b "CAC - Finishes (RIP) - Tony Lanza". Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 29 February 2016.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Figure Four Weekly #528: Lord Alfred Hayes Passes Away - August 8, 2005
- ^ CWF75 (10 January 2016), CWF - 30 Days in the Hole - The Beatdown, archived from the original on 21 December 2021, retrieved 21 October 2018
{{citation}}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Gleason, Daren (2004). "Int'l Wrestling – Montreal #14 Page #2". KayfabeMemories.com.
- ^ Magee, Bob (3 March 2014). "BREAKING NEWS: Legendary UK shooter Billy Robinson Dies At Age 75". Oklafan.com. Archived from the original on 8 December 2015.
- ^ Gleason, Daren (2004). "Int'l Wrestling – Montreal #18 Page #2". KayfabeMemories.com.
- ^ a b "Wrestlers Are Like Seagulls: From McMahon To McMahon" by James J. Dillon
- ^ "2018 WWE HALL OF FAME LEGACY WING INDUCTEES ARE.... | PWInsider.com". www.pwinsider.com. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
- ISBN 0-9698161-5-4.
- ^ "NWA Texas Tag Team Title [E. Texas]". wrestling-titles.com. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
- ^ Hoops, Brian (17 January 2019). "Pro wrestling history (01/17): Vader wins IWGP heavyweight title". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved 18 January 2019.
- ^ Hoops, Brian (13 May 2015). "On this day in pro wrestling history (May 13): Rick Martel wins AWA gold, Kurt Angle wins TNA title, Nash & Hall beat one man to win tag titles". Wrestling Observer Figure Four Online. Retrieved 11 February 2017.
- ^ Caldwell, James (26 November 2013). "News: Pro Wrestling Hall of Fame announces 2014 HOF class". Pro Wrestling Torch. Retrieved 26 November 2013.
- ^ "PWI Awards". Pro Wrestling Illustrated. Kappa Publishing Group. Archived from the original on 21 January 2016. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
- ^ "2018 WWE HALL OF FAME LEGACY WING INDUCTEES ARE..." pwinsider.com. Retrieved 21 October 2018.
External links
- Alfred Hayes at IMDb
- Lord Alfred Hayes's profile at Cagematch.net , Internet Wrestling Database
- Lord Alfred Hayes on WWE.com