This was the first time Akala had
ever gone against a man in a
single match, though, of course
as part of the tag team The
Corsairs she was not unfamiliar
with mixed wrestling, where at
least unofficially she could come
up against a male opponent.by Ron Farrar (Ace Sports promotions)
Note: These articles were reprinted with the author's kind permission from an unnamed magazine, now defunct.
1. Cleethorpes, Sunday 18 July 1976: The Red Baron vs Akala Jan
This was the first time Akala had
ever gone against a man in a
single match, though, of course
as part of the tag team The
Corsairs she was not unfamiliar
with mixed wrestling, where at
least unofficially she could come
up against a male opponent.
The bout went well with plenty of orthodox wrestling in the first and second rounds. In the middle of the third round, the red-masked Baron opened the scoring with a good folding body press. This seemed to upset Akala who then abandoned straight wrestling, and soon received two public warnings for foul moves.
In the sixth round she did a perfect flying body slam pinning the Baron in the corner, slammed him again and threw him out of the ring. Falling heavily, he was unable to regain the ring before the count was up, and Miss Jan was declared the winner by a knock out.
2. Mixed Tag: The Hellions vs The Champions
This was the first time The Hellions (Conrad and Starr) had teamed up in tag wrestling, and they
went in at the deep end when they met The Champions - DeMain and Brittain.
The bout opened with both teams in the ring for the announcements. Then to their corners, and the men were to open the first session. The rules of mixed tag require the men to fight only each other and the women to fight only each other. Once a tag is made then both opponents withdraw so that the other two take the ring.
After a while Conrad tagged
Starr, and to a big cheer she
entered the ring against Brittain.
The girls fought fiercely, and
after some while Sue Brittain
opened the score with a leg
submission on Belle Starr.
The second session continued with the girls in the ring, but Belle soon tagged to get out. From then on it was all against all! DeMain nearly got away with a Boston Crab applied on Conrad, but as the pressure on this was aided by Sue Brittain from outside the ring the ref rightly would not allow this.
The bout ended with both teams disqualified when Belle Starr hit Sue Brittain in the bust and Sue retaliated by nearly knocking Belle out with the ring post cap.
3. Hornsforth, Yorkshire, December 1975: BWA Northern Area Mixed Tag Title defence: The Champions vs Suzy Parkins and Billy Lyons.
After that both teams were really fighting with all they had - The Campions to avoid going down two-nil, Suzy and Billy for a quick win for that elusive title.
The equaliser came with Sue Brittain getting an instant submission when she caught Suzy Parkins in a perfect Bow and Arrow.
Soon after that, Brittain and DeMain began to get on top, but the end came suddenly and unexpectedly when Billy Lyons was disqualified for a deliberate low kick on DeMain.
The Campions, of course, held their title.
4. The Champions vs The Avengers
It is not for nothing the mixed tag team of Sue Brittain and Mike DeMain are known as The Champions, and they looked like living up to their reputation in a recent bout against Vicky Montrose partnered by John Stevens, known as The Avengers. However, it was not to be, for after a good start what was a hard fight developed into a bitter battle and both sides received public warnings.
Brittain and DeMain, disregarding the consequences, persisted in tactics which indicated they were rapidly getting out of hand when they received a second and final public warning. This came about when Sue brittain climbed through the ropes intent only on attacking Vicky Montrose about the head and face.
This final warning had the opposite effect to calming the ferocious female of The Champions team, and an enraged Sue quickly overwhelmed Vicky and gained the first fall with a savage looking Boston Crab submission. Readers will see from the photo of this submission just how complete this hold was attained to get the submission. Even so, the "writing was on the wall" for The Champions if they did not check they over-zealous tactics. Attack is the best form of defence, or so we are lead to believe. But illegal attack in the ring can lead not to victory but to disqualification. When Brittain and DeMain draped Stevens in the ropes with both of them aiming kicks at him they were disqualified and the bout was awarded to The Avengers.
