Atholl Oakeley

Sir Edward Atholl Oakeley, 7th Baronet, of Shrewsbury (31 May 1900 – January 1987), known under the ring name Atholl Oakeley, was a British professional wrestler and wrestling promoter who was one of the pioneers of professional wrestling in the United Kingdom. He was Britain's first heavyweight all-in wrestling champion, and held the title from 1930 to 1935. He became the European heavyweight champion in 1932. Personal life Oakeley, born Edward Atholl Oakeley, in Rhoscolyn, Anglesey, Wales, was the eldest of four children of Major Edward Francis Oakeley and Lady Everilde Anne Beaumont, and a cousin of Sir Charles Richard Andrew Oakeley, 6th Bt. He was educated at Clifton College and later went on to Royal Military Academy Sandhurst after which he was commissioned in the Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire Light Infantry. In his younger days Sir Edward was beaten up by a gang of bullies, which in turn inspired him to take up self-defense, specifically amateur wrestling as well as developing his strength and body. Supposedly he drank 11 gallons of milk on a daily basis to increase his muscle mass on the advice of pro wrestler and strongman George Hackenschmidt, although Hackenschmidt later stated that the volume was due to a misunderstanding. Following his retirement from professional wrestling Sir Edward wrote a book about the author R.D. Blackmore and his book Lorna Doone titled The Facts on which R.D. Blackmore based Lorna Doone. He also wrote an autobiography focusing on his wrestling career titled Blue Blood on the Mat. Sir Edward died in January 1987. Professional wrestling career Sir Edward was one of the idea men behind the reintroduction of professional wrestling to the British isles as he, together with Henri Irslinger began promoting All-in professional wrestling in late 1930. Under the ring name Atholl Oakeley he made his debut on 15 December 1930 with a victory over Bert Assirati, a wrestler that Oakeley had a hand in training. Initially Irslinger and Oakeley claimed that their wrestling matches were legitimate sporting competition, trying to keep the illusion that professional wrestling was still an unscripted sport. Given the date, this may have been true for at least some matches, especially since Oakeley attributes the decline of his wrestling promoting to the ability of 'worked' matches to be more sensational.