Under The Mat: Inside Wrestling's Greatest Family by Diana Hart

Author:Diana Hart
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, pdf
Published: 2012-01-27T08:08:16+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

DAVEY

Davey was born in Golborne, a rough neighborhood near Manchester, England. Kids there were always up to no good—breaking windows, writing on walls, kind of like Harlem in New York.

Davey's dad Sid was a natural gas line fitter. Unlike the other dads who'd spend their paychecks in the pub, Sid would head straight home after work and drink his beer there. He was a big man, six foot, one inch, 240 pounds and strict, though he never hit Davey. There was no need. Davey was inattentive at school, but otherwise he kept his nose clean.

Sid was proud of his only son's athletic ability. Davey wasn't big, but he was acrobatic and fearless. When Davey was 12, Sid approached Ted Betley. Ted ran a mobile grocery store and trained wrestlers. He had trained Davey's cousin, Tom ‘Dynamite Kid’ Billington.

Ted was building a new house and Sid offered to trade the pipe fitting work for a few lessons for Davey. In addition, Davey would deliver groceries for Ted. So Davey spent his days bicycling all over Manchester with huge loads of groceries hanging from the handlebars. He'd do 30 to 40 deliveries a day.

Sometimes, the bags were so heavy his bike would almost bend.

By 15 years of age, Davey was ready to turn pro, even though promoters didn't usually start their people until they were 19 or 20. Thanks to diet, exercise and training, Davey had increased in size and strength dramatically. At five foot nine, he was now a good grappling weight, 145 pounds. He won his first match against a 20 year old named Bernie Wright. When Bruce scouted Tom, he also saw potential in Davey, but considered him too young. Four years later, they called him over. Davey didn't hesita te.

Dynamite was his hero.

When he arrived, Bruce and Dynamite picked him up in Bruce's big Buick Riviera. Davey was so awestruck he barely noticed the look of surprise and slight envy his cousin gave him. Davey had grown to almost six feet and weighed about 180.

"Wow this is a neat car!" Davey exclaimed, patting the soft leather seats. He'd never seen a Riviera up close. As they made their way from the airport to Dynamite's house, Davey was impressed by the size of the city. Everything was so spacious compared to Manchester. Life would be grand in Calgary.

He woke up the next morning and made himself a huge breakfast of bacon and eggs. Dynamite stumbled into the kitchen, his head throbbing from a big night out. He brought a glass of orange juice to the table and plunked it down.

“Drink this," he ordered.

“Thanks!" said Davey grabbing the glass and downing it in a single gulp. A few minutes later, as he scraped the last of the egg of his plate, Davey started to feel woozy. He'd never taken a pill, not even aspirin in his life and had never been drunk, yet he could barely stand and he was slurring his words. As he stumbled over to the couch, he could hear Dynamite laughing.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.