Akala Jan

Miss Jan first appeared on the wrestling scene in Great Britain in late 1974 when she was seen in the central Scotland area on several independent bills. That was not the start of her career. This began in her native India where she was born in Calcutta. She appeared in several contests in the sub-continent and took part in a tour of the Persian Gulf states organised by one of the biggest promoters in India at that time. Soon after a move to Bombay her whole family decided to move to Great Britain and came to live with relatives in Glasgow. Her interest in wrestling undimmed she attended several shows and eventually was accepted for work by a Scottish promoter who staged tournaments in the central Scotland area. On seeing a British Wrestling Alliance show staged in Glasgow by Ace Sports in January of 1975 she approached the promoter and asked for work inside the B.W.A. he debut in the B.W.A. rings was on 21 May 1975 at Pudsey Civic Centre where she took part in a mixed tag team match, partnered by Billy Donnegan. They took on the team of Sue Brittain and her regular partner Mike Demain. The debut was not a happy occasion for Akala, as the team lost two nil to the team of Brittain/Demain, but it was a start that lead to a good and successful career.

During the following years Miss Jan now contracted by the B.W.A. wrestled in most parts of Great Britain from Perth in Scotland to London. From Liverpool to Suffolk, she appeared in every type of venue. Hugh outdoor events, RAF bases, town halls and civic centres, social clubs, and holiday camps. The peak of her career came when she appeared at the Norfolk Gardens Hotel in Bradford, West Yorks. By this time she had become the leading contender for the championship held by miss Sue Brittain. Sue has held the title since its inception in 1971 with the foundation of the B.W.A. With an all star bill the star bout of the evening was a title defence by Miss Brittain. Sue had no reason to think that this was going to be anything but a normal, get in, get it over and get out sort of night. The pair had met many times before and Sue had always come out on top. The bout opened in the usual manner and Sue was soon leading one nil. This time Akala had a "secret weapon". She had developed a pressure point nerve hold to the neck and combined it with a choke that was to prove a winner in this and many future bouts. Into the fourth round Akala sprung the trap and got Sue into the hold. Though not going totally unconscious, Sue submitted and took a while to regain her feet. After that it was Akala's bout and she soon had the title with a two one win. Akala was now the new B.W.A. ladies champion. The reign however was short lived. Ten days later a rematch was arranged in Huddersfield, West Yorks. This time Sue was aware of what was in the offing and took every precaution to ensure that she did not fall prey again. She took the title back with a two one win and kept it undefeated again till her retirement. Akala remained a leading contender until she too retired. Her many opponents found her to be a wrestler capable of style or rule breaking as the occasion required. Amongst her many favourite holds were of course the choke she perfected, the body scissors, and many of the known standard holds. When required she could turn to rule breaking, use of the fist, eye attacks, and had a mean trick whereby she would remove her opponent's bra if the chance arose.

Besides taking part in many hundreds of single bouts, Akala fought in tag team matches, mixed tag team matches, and a couple of no-rules, no-rounds, all-in contests. In 1981 she took part in a boxing contest but suffering a KO decided that wrestling was her forte.

Without doubt Akala Jan was one of the best the ring has ever seen. After a period of retirement she returned to the ring again for a short period in the later 1980s and fought some memorable battles against the then B.W.A. champion Lady Satan and although not actually being able to wrest the title away from Lady Satan for the short spell of her re-appearance in the ring Akala shows why she must be rated as one of the Greats.