Johnny Gilday (born 1929) is a retired weightlifter and

professional wrestler Professional wrestling is a form of theater that revolves around staged wrestling matches. The mock combat is performed in a ring similar to the kind used in boxing, and the dramatic aspects of pro wrestling may be performed both in the ring or ...

and later on referee, best known under the

ring name A ring name is a type of stage name used by an athlete such as a professional wrestler, mixed martial artist, or boxer whose real name is considered unattractive, dull, difficult to pronounce or spell, amusing for the wrong reasons, or projecting ...

Allan Pinfold, sometimes spelled Alan Pinfold. He was an active wrestler from 1945 until 1975 when he retired and became a referee until 1985. During his 30-year career Pinfold won the

Australian Light Heavyweight Championship The Australian Light Heavyweight Wrestling Championship was one of the first light heavyweight professional wrestling championship A championship or title in professional wrestling is a recognition promoted by professional wrestling organizatio ...

three times in total and also won the Australian Tag Team Championship while teaming with Allan Sherry.

Personal life

Johnny Gilday was born in 1929 in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, Australia where he also grew up. Growing up during the

Great Depression in Australia Australia suffered badly during the period of the Great Depression of the 1930s. The Depression began with the Wall Street Crash of 1929 and rapidly spread worldwide. As in other nations, Australia suffered years of high unemployment, povert ...

the effects of poverty and bullying propelled him to join a gym and get physically fit as a bodybuilder. Later on he turned to wrestling instead to make money. All throughout his career Gilday held down a day job as well, working as an engineer. Being a fitter and turner by trade he supplemented his income over the years with his wrestling earnings. Gilday retired in 1975, suffering long term effects of his thirty-year career as all the injuries he sustained resulted in him developing severe

arthritis Arthritis is a term often used to mean any disorder that affects joints. Symptoms generally include joint pain and stiffness. Other symptoms may include redness, warmth, swelling, and decreased range of motion of the affected joints. In som ...

in his later years.

Professional wrestling career

After being trained by a wrestler he met in the gym Gilday took the

Allan Pinfold (also spelled "Alan Pinfold" at times) in 1943 making his debut against a wrestler called Chesty Bond. He became a regular of the recently established Australian Wrestling Federation that held most of their shows in the Leichhardt Stadium and covered large parts of the

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

state. In early 1953 Pinfold defeated Alf Greer to win the vacant

as the AWF bookers decided to give him the championship. The following month he was forced to give up the championship as he decided to take an offer for an extended tour of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

to wrestle. When he returned later that same year Pinfold was teamed up with Bud Cody to compete in a tournament to determine the first ever holders of the Australian Tag Team Championship. The duo lost to John Morrow and Sowy Dowton in the finals on 13 February 1954. In subsequent years Pinfold became the regular tag team partner of British wrestler Allan Sherry, starting a long running program against Morrow and Dowton. The tag team title pursuit was put on hold for several months as Sherry injured his knee. On 18 February 1956 Pinfold and Sherry defeated Morrow an Dowton to win the tag team championship. Their reign lasted all of one week before Bob George and Alf Greer won the championship. In 1960 the promoters decided to have Allan Pinfold win the Australian Light Heavyweight Championship for a second time, defeating Col Peters to win the title. The second reign lasted well over a year, until 13 January 1962 where wrestler El Greco defeated him for the championship. Late in his career, only one year before his retirement Allan Pinfold won the Australian Light Heavyweight Championship for a third time on 4 October 1974 as he defeated Ken Medlin for the championship more than 20 years after he won it for the first time. Medlin would defeat Pinfold a month later to end the third and final reign of Pinfold's career. In 1975 Pinfold retired from in ring competition and became a referee instead, working for various Sydney based wrestling promotions for approximately 10 years.

Championships and accomplishments

( 3 time) * Australian Tag Team Championship ( 1 time) - with Allan Sherry

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pinfold, Allan 1929 births 20th-century professional wrestlers Australian male professional wrestlers Australian male weightlifters Living people Professional wrestling referees Sportsmen from New South Wales Sportspeople from Sydney

Personal life

Professional wrestling career

Championships and accomplishments

See also

References