BILLY TWO RIVERS
Billy Two Rivers was the biggest sensation ever to enter a British wrestling ring. At 4 o'clock on a Saturday afternoon, towns all over the country would be deserted whenever Two Rivers was scheduled to appear - I know - because I was one of those deserters.
When I was a kid growing up in the late 50's (the 1850's), I and all my pals played 'cowboys and Indians'. Westerns were very popular in the cinema at that time and what was known as 'Children's Hour' on television at tea time always featured a western. Some of the most popular were The Lone Ranger, Rin Tin Tin, Cheyenne, Bronco Laine, Laramie and Wagon Train. They were all very similar.
The cowboys with their white hats were the good guys and the Indians with their bows and arrows and spears were the bad guys. It was many years later that I discovered that the Indians had actually been the good guys all along. In our games I always wanted to be one of the Indians.
I don't know why, maybe it was because they looked like real men, whereas the cowboys could sometimes look a bit effeminate. When Two Rivers came along we couldn't believe that we were seeing a real live 'red' Indian.
Billy looked sensational as he entered the ring in full feathered headdress and Mohawk haircut (When he first arrived in the country he had a full head of hair but the promoters persuaded him to shave the sides off). More often than not he'd be matched with the villains of the day. Men like Roy 'Bull' Davies (Skull Murphy's dad) or Jimmy Hussey (Mark Rocco's dad).
Billy tried his best to stick to the rules, but with the villains trying every dirty trick in the book, we knew it wouldn't be long before we'd see the 'War Dance'. This was the beginning of the end for the bad boys. The 'Tomahawk Chops' followed. These were lethal and the match usually ended in a knockout win for Two Rivers.
Two Rivers made many trips to the UK during the 60's and also returned briefly in 1974. He appeared at all the big halls including the Royal Albert Hall and the Kings Hall in Belfast. He was a bit nervous wrestling in Northern Ireland and was expecting a bomb to go off at any time. (I don't know what gave him that idea?). As well as wrestling all over the UK he also managed to fit in trips to France, Germany, Austria, Spain, Greece, Zambia, Japan, Korea and Singapore.
In the UK he wrestled primarily for Joint Promotions but he also fitted in some bouts for Orig Williams. Some years ago when Orig Williams was honoured with a 'This Is Your Life' type programme on the Welsh S4C television channel, who do you think walked on as the big surprise guest at the end of the programme only the man himself - Billy Two Rivers. He held Orig in such high regard that he flew over from Canada to share in the celebrations.
When Billy retired from the ring in 1976 he entered politics. He ran for council where he sat for the next 20 years. He was elected to the Mohawk Council of Kahnawake and later became a political adviser to former Grand Chief of First Nations, Phil Fontaine. He was essentially the 'External Affairs Minister' for the council and over the years did a tremendous amount of work on behalf of his people.
But he has no regrets about entering the world of wrestling and says it gave him a tremendous opportunity to travel the World and learn the way other people live, and most importantly, the way they think. Despite rumours of his demise a few years ago, Billy is alive and well and recently celebrated his 73rd birthday.
Heeyoo Hiine.
|
