In the 1960s Bill Clarke emerged onto the wrestling rings of East Anglia as one half of the Boston Poachers tag team. From the start of his career he proudly proclaimed himself as Eastern Counties Heavyweight Champion, often on shows he promoted himself under the Star Promotions banner.

 

Bill's activities were to become known to a much wider audience under a very different guise..

 

In the late 1970s, wrestler Bill Clarke appeared on shows by UK independent promoter Sandor Kovaks as a version of Kendo Nagasaki modelled directly on Peter Thornley's character.

Following considerable legal action by Thornley, Clarke was later renamed as King Kendo but retained the Kendo helmet, sword, cape and striped mask. In this guise, Clarke would later wrestle Thornley in a series of loser-lose-mask battles of the Kendos for Wrestling Enterprises of Birkenhead circa 1981.

 

Much maligned by fans of the original Kendo Nagasaki King Kendo was an allegedly poor imitation of the real thing. But then who wouldn't have been? His costume was a cut-price version of Nagasaki's, with a shortened sword, mis shapen visor and a simple red cape. Behind the mask on most occasions was Lincolnshire heavyweight Bill Clarke, famously unmasked by the real Kendo on All Star Promotion bills in a series of loser to unmask contests in 1981. King Kendo only came to the fore in Joint Promotion rings when Nagasaki moved across to work for the independents in the mid 1980s. This brought King Kendo television exposure between 1986 and 1988, incuding the inevitable loss for partner Masked Spoiler and himself against Big Daddy and Andy Blair.

 

Still as King Kendo, Clarke would later join Joint Promotions as a journeyman heel, teaming with Giant Haystacks in the main event at the Royal Albert Hall, making several appearances on television and frequently wrestling in tag matches against Big Daddy, including teaming with King Kong Kirk on the night Kirk died in the ring in 1987.

 

Much maligned by fans of the original Kendo Nagasaki King Kendo was an allegedly poor imitation of the real thing. But then who wouldn't have been? His costume was a cut-price version of Nagasaki's, with a shortened sword, mis shapen visor and a simple red cape. Behind the mask on most occasions was Lincolnshire heavyweight Bill Clarke, famously unmasked by the real Kendo on All Star Promotion bills in a series of loser to unmask contests in 1981. King Kendo only came to the fore in Joint Promotion rings when Nagasaki moved across to work for the independents in the mid 1980s. This brought King Kendo television exposure between 1986 and 1988, incuding the inevitable loss for partner Masked Spoiler and himself against Big Daddy and Andy Blair.

 

David Mantell told us that in 1982 Bill Clarke wrestled as the Red Devil and was, said David, "Victim of perhaps the most humiliating unmasking ever - after the match Big Daddy grabbed him from behind in a headlock and practically ravished him out of the mask!"

 

Clarke and Thornley were scheduled to have a fresh feud in All Star Wrestling in 1993 with the authentic Nagasaki's manager Lloyd Ryan defecting to King Kendo's side, but this was abandoned when Thornley retired for the second time, with Clarke also retiring soon after. Kendo and Lloyd then re-enacted most of Nagasaki's feuds from 1994 to 1996, but by then Dale Preston was believed to be the man behind the mask.

 

Clarke died on 10 October 2018.

 

Thanks, in part, to wrestlingheritage.co.uk for the above.