Location helped. But I stood by and will continue to stand by Santo being better than either of those guys regardless of location.
That's your prerogative but fact is that Santo got decimated once he lost his home field advantage.
It was big, but Big Daddy took mainstream British wrestling to new heights. That can't be denied. Name one domestic British wrestler bigger than Daddy. It can't be done. Bert Assirati was a big star and so was Mick McManus, but neither can boast the sheer drawing power or charisma that Daddy had.
McManus can easily be compared in influence - 20million people tuned in to (hopefully) see him lose in 1963.
The show was never dropped. It was forced to share it's air time. Daddy himself still remained popular until his retirement.
It was dropped. ITV tried mixing it up when ratings started to drop and, in the end, had to give up - especially when the WWF was taken to hearts on Sky TV. Yes, fanatics would still go to see him live but people wouldn't watch him live on TV and the Summer Holiday Camp circuit didn't compare to the 70s heyday.
But he was never over to the extent Daddy was. Just because he was regulated to one area doesn't mean much. He was far more popular in the UK than Sid ever has in the States. To a non comparable level. Sammartino was pretty much big only in one area for most of his career. Should we vote him out early too, and to someone that was never a top era star in the WWE?
Sammartino was a champion who defended his belt one on one in long hard fought matches so pretty much the epitome of chalk and cheese.
How so? Haystacks himself was a big draw in Britain. His death made front page news. He was a household name. Sid's popularity waned as soon as he left WWE.
Britain had three television stations when Daddy and Haystacks were at their pomp. Saturday was a day when the vast majority of the country was off, the top face and heel being major celebrities was a cert. Once there was competition, Joint Promotions was in trouble.
Jack Swagger, Khali, Christian and R-Truth are all world champions. Are they better than Daddy? Daddy was a headliner in the UK for longer than Sid was in the WWE. He drew far more money and had greater marketability and mainstream appeal.
As big as Daddy was, not once was it suggested that he could fill Wembley Stadium yet the WWF did and every other venue they hit in the UK. WCW did the same. Sid was one of wrestling's biggest names during this period. With the above names, SmackDown also sold out major British venues despite it only being the B show, house shows.
And? I don't see how that matters. Fans of Daddy didn't think it mattered. Clearly. Or else they would have stopped coming or would have started cheering the Ricky Mortons. Plus that move extended Daddy's career and appeal.
This wasn't to prolong his career; Daddy was lazy - pure and simple. Fans stopped watching or switched to watching guys like Sid in the WWF.
He was never the US's biggest star either. Daddy was the UK's biggest star so it makes sense for internet in a domestic product to wan once the biggest star retires. It's happened in the past several times. It's not a detriment to Daddy at all.
Interest waned long before Daddy retired. He went from headlining the Wembley Arena in front of a TV audience of millions and millions to performing at Butlins while many of the guys who had to suffer under his watch made names for themselves in the Orient and the US.
