Still in busines in 2023 - when all the old regional American wrestling cultures are dead and buried except New York/Capitol/W(W)WF obviously. Third oldest living wrestling promotion in the world.

He wanted to be one originally in 1964 but the crowd were so disturbed by him they cheered his first opponent notorious sadistic villain Jumping Jim Hussey (Rocco's dad). So on it went.

He did have later babyface runs - he was cheered in his third and final match with Billy Howes in 1971. He had a couple of tag matches as a good guy in 1976 - one alongside clean cut Steve Viedor, a team George Gillete dubbed the "strange and unholy allaince" to beat two villains, the other alongside his old mentor Count Bartelli to beat Wild Angus and Killer Kowalski. He was cheered at his umasking ceremony at Xmas 1977 and afterwards as an non-masked wrestler against heels Bronco Wells and Rex Strong (both regular Daddy fodder) and was going to form a tag team with fellow ex masked wrestler Kung Fu (Eddie Hamill) to feud with Mick McManus after Kendo rescued Kung Fu from a McManus postmatch attack. He was good guy in 1981 for the Battle of the Kendos with notorious ripoff artist King Kendo (Bill Clarke). Finally just recently in his old age he was ringside enforcer last year in a British Heavyweight Championship match pitting champion Oliver Grey (Joel Redman) against former champ Niwa The Maori Warrior in New Brighton and he used his powers to stop Niwa nicking the belt and whacking Grey with it.

Flair wasn't champion at the time - he'd lost it to Ronnie Garvin. Flair got it back at Starrcade 87 a few days after this waqs transmitted on ITV. Kendo and Flair would have been able to do business unlike Kendo and Hogan - they would have gone to a 1-1 draw most likely - but in 1987 the only people in the UK who knew about Ric Flair was a tiny coterie who read the month old Pro Wrestling Illustrated from the cornershop and swapped badly converted tapes and who tended to despise the old British wrestling (the young Fin Martin of Powerslam was one of these people.) Whereas ITV viewers had already seen Hulk Hogan beat Randy Savage and Bob Orton. So it made more sense for George to say Hulk Hogan there.

You're way too young to understand.

And the only scouser to have a job back then too ;-)

@@EnidAgnusDei the promoter Brian Dixon was and still is a proud scouser. The referee is a Scot like Kent W said in part 1 of this.

You spelt "ridiculous" wrong

@@andrewwilliams7501 Bridges should have looked where he was swinging Kendo's legs around. Anyway Kendo knew he wasn't being counted so didn't bother to kick out.

You mean it's not real?! 🙄

Done all the time in the States. They did it at Wrestlemania 6 when the Warrior beat Hogan for the belt.