naptu2: Power Mike was a legend both inside and outside the ring. Not only was he a champion, but he went into promotions when he retired and he was responsible for most of the big wrestling promotions in Nigeria from the late 1970s to the mid 1980s.
Power Uti took over from Power Mike and became the biggest domestic wrestling star of the 1980s and early 1990s. He was also quite popular in the United States where he was the Continental Wrestling Alliance (CWA) champion.
Mike Bamidele was mainly based in Britain and he was a star over there in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Ben Lionheart was a star in Nigeria and in Europe in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Chief Mike Okpalla, fondly called Power Mike gave Nigeria a big name when he became the World Heavyweight Wrestling Champion after defeating Ali Baba in 1975. He had beaten the likes of Johny Kwango, known for his head-butts then, Musonga and a host of big wrestlers. One week after his feat, Enugu Rangers were on the verge of winning more honours for Nigeria in the African Club of Champions Cup final against Hafia of Guinea. Rangers lost and Nigerians took consolation in the great feat that Power Mike had achieved.
Power Mike never quit sports after retiring from its active participation. He went into wrestling promotion and gave Nigerians the opportunity to watch live, their wrestling idols like Mill Mascaras, Mighty Igor, Ray Apollon etc.
The late Chief Michael Okpala (Power Mike) was not only the greatest wrestler that Nigeria produced, he was also the greatest wrestling promoter that Nigeria ever produced. He promoted epic wrestling events from the late 1970s till the late 1990s. He had the skills to do what he did because he had been a businessman in Onitsha and Kano in the 1950s and he had been a strongman and wrestler across Africa, Europe and indeed the world in the 1960s and 1970s, so he knew how to organise the business side of things and he also knew what was needed in the wrestling side of things.
Power Mike moved from Lagos to Abuja in the year 2000 and ran real estate and other businesses. He basically retired from the wrestling business (he had already began diversifying and exiting the wrestling business in the mid-1990s). The wrestling business in Nigeria basically collapsed when Power Mike moved to Abuja.
It's not that there were no wrestling promotions anymore, no, there were, but the quality was far below the high standards that Power Mike had set. You don't just gather some muscle-bound Nigerians, put them on a ring and think that you have a wrestling event. There are a lot of other things that you need to do. I remember that DAAR Communications and a few other people tried to put on wrestling events, but they were below standard.
You see, wrestlers need to be trained. People like Stu Hart (Bret Hart's father), Fritz Von Erich (father of the Von Erichs), etc. owned wrestling schools and most of the successful wrestlers that we see on TV were trained at such wrestling schools or by very experienced wrestlers. Terrible things happen when a wrestler is not trained.
Kind of like what happened in Lagos in the early 2000s. There was a wrestler that took on the Undertaker gimmick and he gave another wrestler a tombstone piledriver at the National Stadium in Lagos and the other wrestler died.
They interviewed Bash Ali, the famous boxer, about this incident and he said that the problem was that the ring at the National Stadium was a boxing ring. He said that wrestling rings are well padded, but boxing rings are not and that such tragedy would occur because they were using a boxing ring for a wrestling match.
Bash Ali might be right, but I don't think that tells the full story.
Wrestling is carefully choreographed and in the training schools, potential wrestlers are taught how to practice their craft without injuring their opponent.
We never had any problem during the Power Mike era, even though there were many events and wrestlers from all over the world came to Lagos to fight and I believe that this was because the wrestlers, both Nigerian and foreign, were well trained.
Here is a perfect illustration of my point. The Undertaker made the tombstone piledriver famous. He knew how to execute it very well, to make it look realistic without injuring his opponent. This is a video of the match between the Undertaker and the Ultimate Warrior. Watch carefully from the 1:53 minute mark. You'll see that the Undertaker gave the Warrior a tombstone, but the Warrior's head did not hit the mat. The Undertaker actually came down on his own knees and his knees took the force of the fall, rather than the Warrior's head.
Basically, the Undertaker made sure that the Warrior's head was above his knees, so that the head would not take the force of the fall. There is no way that a person will die if the tombstone is executed in this way. The wrestler in Lagos must have allowed his opponent's head to hit the mat and that's what caused the tragedy.
I'll tell you another trick. Notice that anytime that the Warrior throws the Undertaker to the steel stairs or the turnbuckle, the Undertaker absorbs the force with his hands. His head never actually hits these objects.
naptu2: American superstar strongman (billed as being from Poland), The Mighty Igor Mexican luchador, Mil Mascaras Trinidadian superstar, Ray Apollon English legend, Johnny Kwango British legend, Gentleman Chris Adams American legend, Ox Baker Guyanese superstar (billed as being from Zaire) The Great Malumba American legend, Kamala The Ugandan Giant Mexican superstar Luis Martinez 'and Nigerian legends Power Mike, Power Uti, Elephando Bassey, Ben Lionheart and Mike Bamidele
all fought at the National Stadium in Lagos and their matches were shown on TV, yet there isn't a single video of their matches on YouTube.
I think my main post about the British wrestling that was shown on Nigerian TV in the 1970s must have been washed away by the 2014 data loss tsunami. The post was mainly about the differences in rules between British wrestling and American wrestling. I wrote all the rules then, but I can no longer remember them. I remember that the referee issued public warnings and a number of public warnings could lead to disqualification (just like yellow card in football). My sister and I used to laugh at the rules. It had so many rules that made it kind of like boxing.
I also remember that one of those British wrestlers fought in Nigeria back then, but I can no longer remember which.
This is Kendo Nagasaki & Gorgeous George vs Mick McManus & Steve Logan
John Eke Uti was born in Delta State, but he came to Lagos to further his education. In an old interview that I saw, he said that he became interested in bodybuilding while in Lagos. This was because of the bodybuilding magazines and TV shows that he saw.
Wrestling He tried to feature on a show on the NTA, but he wasn't successful. He saw the famous actor, Enebeli Elebuwa (of Andrew fame) while he was at the NTA premises and Mr Elebuwa advised him to go into professional wrestling because he had the physique for it.
Power Mike Promotions
Power Uti then tried to get the attention of famous wrestling promoter and retired wrestler, Power Mike. Power Mike set up a match between Power Uti and Timesman Udo and although Power Uti lost that match, the crowd at the Indoor Sports Hall of the National Stadium loved him and that's how he got involved with Power Mike Promotions.
Power Uti's first major match on the Power Mike platform was against the Mexican legend, "Ariba" Luis Martinez. Back then, in the early 1980s, the NTA showed 3 main American wrestling promotions on TV and they were the IWA (which was the most popular), the NWA and the WWF. Luis Martinez was on the IWA platform and Nigerians knew him very well back then because they saw him on television every weekend. Power Uti was relatively unknown at that time and the crowd at the National Stadium supported Luis Martinez.
Power Uti fought against many famous foreign stars at the National Stadium in the 1980s and 1990s. These include Kamala The Ugandan Giant, Mr Fuji, Ox Baker, Playboy Buddy Rose, etc. Most of these fights were promoted by Power Mike Promotions.
Problems with Power Mike
I read a newspaper interview sometime in the late 2000s or early 2010s in which Power Uti talked about the problems that he had with Power Mike. He praised Power Mike in that interview and talked about his contributions to wrestling, but he also talked about some problems that they had in their relationship.
Power Uti told Power Mike that he would like to go to the United States in order to wrestle there. Power Mike convinced Power Uti to go to the West Indies instead. He said that Power Uti would do well in Trinidad and so he got legendary Trinidadian wrestler, Ray Apollon to take Power Uti to Trinidad.
However, there was something that Power Uti did not know. Power Mike was owing Ray Apollon and the promoters that helped him to bring some American wrestlers to Nigeria and he used Power Uti as part payment of the debt. This meant that Power Uti was paid less than he was due in Trinidad, because the promoters used to balance to offset the debt that Power Mike was owing. He had 63 fights in Trinidad, but he came back with much less money than he thought that he would make.
When they eventually returned to Nigeria, Ray Apollon told Power Mike that he couldn't get a particular American wrestler who they wanted to fight Power Uti in Lagos. He suggested that Power Uti should fight Mil Mascaras instead (Mascaras was due to be in Lagos for one of Power Mike's shows). He said that he believed that a match between Mascaras and Uti would be a huge draw. Power Mike agreed.
However, when he was in a car with some other people, Power Uti said that Power Mike did not tell him that he was going to use the Trinidad trip to settle his debts. Power Uti told the journalist that was interviewing him that he believed that someone in the car told Power Mike what he said because Power Mike later cancelled the match between Power Uti and Mil Mascaras. Instead he decided that Mascaras would fight Ben Lionheart. Ben Lionheart was a Nigerian wrestler who had been abroad for a long time and only returned to Nigeria shortly before the promotion (I remember that this was one of the reasons that I was looking forward to that show). He was also the Commonwealth champion.
Power Uti later made up with Power Mike and Power Mike scheduled him to fight against Mr Fuji at the same show.
Ben Lionheart lost to Mascaras and the crowd (at the National Stadium in Lagos) was not happy with the result, but Power Uti defeated Mr Fuji and this energised the crowd.
United States and the CWA
Power Uti's match against Mr Fuji made waves and this gave him an opportunity to wrestle in the United States.
He wrestled in the Continental Wrestling Alliance (CWA) and soon became their junior champion. Some of his matches were shown in Nigeria (just a few).
He eventually got a title shot and defeated Dino Rosetti (the champion) to become the CWA Heavy Weight Champion. He is the first person to hold both the junior and heavyweight championship belts at the same time.
He occasionally returned to fight in Nigeria and I remember that he defended his title against Dino Rosetti in Lagos.
Most popular wrestler
Power Uti was the most famous Nigerian wrestler in the 1980s and 1990s. He was one of the famous people that were regularly interviewed at half time during Super Eagles matches (they were interviewed either in the stands or at the side of the pitch). He also often appeared on Morning Ride to promote his matches (Morning Ride was on Saturday mornings and most of the wrestling shows were on Saturday evenings).
Born Again
Power Uti became born again in the mid-2000s and he appeared at one of David Oyedepo's events to give testimony about his transformation.
He modified his ring walk after he became born again. Now he plays gospel songs on his saxophone as he walks to the ring. If I remember correctly, he actually became a reverend.
Bizarre matches
Power Mike moved to Abuja in the year 2000 and left the wrestling business. He died in 2004.
Power Uti tried to promote some matches by himself in the late 2000s and 2010s. They were the strangest, weirdest and most bizarre matches that I have ever seen.
I remember that he was publicising a match against someone and there were adverts and so on, but the match never actually held (I can't remember who his opponent was supposed to be). (Modified: I think it was Cliff Compton).
Then, in 2011, he had a series of matches against Super Festus (Doc Gallows). This was shortly after Festus left the WWE.
The first match was held on the football field of the main bowl of the National Stadium in Lagos and it was shocking. This was back when the stadium had electricity problems. The match was held at night and a man held up a rechargeable lamp to illuminate the ring. I mean that a man held up one of those cheap red Sunca rechargeable lamps to illuminate the ring. The rest of the stadium was in complete darkness. Fans who were used to the great promotions of the 1980s and 1990s were very disappointed. The booed and asked for a refund. I was in shock.
The second match was held at the Velodrome of the National Stadium in Abuja and it was equally shocking. It seems like the fans had heard about what happened in Lagos because there were no spectators. The hall was empty!
Jide Alabi brought Power Uti to Silverbird Sports Cafe so that he could defend himself. Power Uti tried to pretend that nothing wrong happened, but Jide Alabi told him exactly what the fans thought. People were expecting to see the kind of shows that we had in the 1980s. Thousands of fans in the Main Bowl of the National Stadium, working floodlights (otherwise the match should have been held during the day), proper ring announcers, multi-camera coverage, etc. but there was none of that. I felt sad all over again while watching him on Sports Cafe.
These matches have become a source of discussion on American wrestling blogs and YouTube channels. Some people in wrestling circles have mocked Power Uti because of those matches, while some of his American fans have defended him.
Wife's death
In 2017 there was a headline on Nairaland's front page which stated that Power Uti had been arrested for killing his wife. The story went viral and was on blogs and social media sites all over the place. It was also discussed on American wrestling sites.
There are 4 versions of the story and I'm going to give you all of them.
1) The first story was that Power Uti beat his wife to death. This is the story that went viral on the Internet.
2) The second story was that Power Uti didn't kill his wife, but he kept her corpse in his house until the body decomposed and began smelling and that it was his neighbours that called the police when they couldn't bear the smell.
3) The third story was told by his in-laws. They said that Power Uti refused to take his wife to the hospital, rather he kept her at home and was praying for her when she was sick and they also claimed that, after she died, Power Uti took her corpse to a church where people prayed for her revival. They said that they called the police on Power Uti because he desecrated the corpse of his wife by taking it to church for people to pray for her revival.
4) The fourth story was told by Power Uti. He said that he was very conscious of his strength and that he never laid hands on his wife and that he loved her very much.
He said that he never went to the hospital and that even when he had injuries from wrestling, he usually just went home and his wife would massage him and he would better. He said that it was probably this practice that his wife copied.
He said that his wife complained of a severe headache and he offered to take her to the hospital, but she refused. His wife's cousin came to visit them and also advised his wife to go to the hospital, but she refused again.
He said that he took his kids to school one morning and when he got back he discovered that his wife's situation had deteriorated, so he rushed her to the hospital. She was at the hospital when she died. He said that it's not true that he refused to take her to the hospital or that he kept the corpse at home, rather her body was still at the hospital. He said that he prayed for her at the hospital before she died. He also said that there was a secret that his in-laws were hiding and that's why they were persecuting him.
Twitter
Power Uti is on Twitter and this is his Twitter account. He was released from detention sometime in 2018 and it was through his tweets that I knew that he was free. https://mobile.twitter.com/PowerUti
The story of NZE BENNETH AFULUEKE OKOYE (A.K.A BEN LION HEART) began on the 24th december (before the lords days) 1942, when he was born as the first child in a family of five children to NZE & LOLO OKOYE IGWEBUIKE of udo village, Akpo in Aguata Local Govt. Area of Anambra state.
Benneth attended St. paul's catholic school (Now Akpo Central School) from 1953 to 1960 where he obtained his first school leaving certificate. While in school he was one of the most brilliant student of his time, and was also noted for his very active involvement in sports such as football and athletics.
Even though benneth lost his mother at a very tender of eleven, he was uncharacteristically of a boy at such age to take care of his younger ones. He made sure that his immediate younger brother, now a medical practitioner, who was a toddler when he was in junior class accompanied him to school. He also took care of his other siblings, thereby filling the lucuna creating by the death of his mother. This early hardship impose upon him by fate was to be of immense value to him in later part of his life as it imbued with an unimaginable survival instincts that saw him through the fratricidal biafram war and even beyond his chosen professional career in wrestling.
At the end of his Primary education Benneth opted for business and served late FIDELIS UMEOPRINNAKA (Alias :Kwa-aji Kwa) a rich trader as at that time, before setting up his own business in Lagos. This was before the commencement of the civil war and by this time he was already a well established timber merchant. When the war eventually broke out In 1967, he like every true igbo Youth returned home to defend his fathers land, He Joined BIAFRAN ORGANIZATION OF FREEDOM FIGHTERS (BOFF) and as a result of his intimidating personality and fearlessness he was revered and respected by both commissioned and non-commissioned officers where eve he went.
At the end of the war Benneth married former Miss Jane Ezeaka (Now Mrs. Jane Okoye) before returning to Lagos to re-establish his timber business. While there, he made it a priority to identify with his towns people. In recognition of his efforts at assembling Akpo people residing in Lagos under one umbrella, he was elected the first executive chairman of Akpo Development Association (A.D.A) Lagos branch, about two years after the civil war and under his leadership a solid foundation of his branch was laid in Lagos.
But when Benneth was struggling for the welfare of his people, his business was dwindling due to lack of funds all the Capital required to run it had gone with the war and there was no one to offer assistance. As time went by, life become very unbearable for him and members of his family.
On realizing that he had a lot of Physical strength he decided to try his hands on weight lifting, and it was at this stage that he met Chief Mike Okpala A.K.A. "Power Mike" from whom he drew inspiration to become a wrestler. As luck would have it a good Samaritan in the person of Chief J.S. Abajue assisted him to procure travelling documents with which he traveled to Greece (ITALY) to learn the art of wrestling and from there he traveled to other countries, including Great Britain and Germany.
After his training he returned to his country as a professional wrestler. On arrival he introduced himself to the nation as one of the best wrestlers in the world and adopted the name "BEN LION HEART OF AFRICA" His first fight caused a big sensation because people were so thrilled by his wonderfully performance and display of raw strength that he pulled large fellowship of supporters in his subsequent fights. He was specialized in what was described as the "Greek-Roman" style with this he was able to defeat many famous wrestlers, such as john kwango, Silva man etc. His achievement in his new found love "wrestling" bore eloquent testimony to his charisma, perseverance determination and fearlessness even in the face of all odds.
On the 22nd of January 1978 he won the national heavy weight title, and on 30th march 1978 he beat Honey boy zimba of sierra leone to win the African heavy weight title. His effort were crowned on the 16th day of December 1978 when he defeated Count Bertilli of Great Britain to become the "Common Wealth Heavy Weight Wrestling Champion"
His selfless nature and desire to see to the Welfare Growth and Development of others were manifested in 1985 when he single handedly and with the unalloyed support of the then Military Governor of the Old Anambra State "Navy Captain Alison Madueke (as he then was) organised the championship match in defense of his common wealth title, the proceeds of which were specifically meant for the coffers of "Anambra State Stadium Appeal Fund" for which there was a strongly worded letter of commendation from the Governor. He was also a source of inspiration as well as the Patron of "Akpo Lion babes football Club of Lagos" which purpose was to develop and bring to limelight the latent football artistry among indigenous youths. Being a man that was filled with the zeal to serve in whatever capacity towards ensuring a functional society, he was not found wanting even in his professional association. He was at various times Chairman, Treasurer and Secretary General of Nigerian Professional Wrestlers Association (N.P.W.A.) and a member of Nigerian Wrestling Board of control.
Following professional controversy, he retired from active wrestling in the late 1985, But as result of his insatiable love for sports, he engaged in the importation and sales of sports equipment till the time his ill health began to manifest in the year 1992.
In the month of march 1997 he was rushed to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) by his wife & daughter who did every thing humanly possible to help him regain his health. The doctors after diagnosing his heath problem as "DIABETICS" discharged him after one month of intensive treatment , But Ben never regained his old self.
On the 15th August 1998 he was yet again admitted in the same hospital where he gave up the ghost ten days later. It is pertinent to mention that despite his busy schedule and engagement. Ben Lion Heart still found time for development of his home town Akpo. In 1988 he was appointed Chairman Akpo Rural Electrification Project (A.R.E.P.) and through his influence the project was commissioned by the Anambra State Government. He was also an active foundation member of Njikoka Age Grade, Akpo Development Association (A.D.A) and Udo Charity Movement. He was always participating in Community Development and Social Activities. He also donated various sums of money to support individuals and groups.
BENNETH AFULUEKE OKOYE A.K.A. BEN LION HEART will be remembered for a long time to come, for the glory and honour he brought to Aguata Anambra state in particular and the nation Nigeria in general through his exploits as a wrestler. May his soul rest in perfect peace. Amen
naptu2: I have written about him very many times on this thread and other threads since 2012 (search for Ben Lionheart and you'll see the posts). I have also posted his pictures many times. Unfortunately I still don't have videos of his exploits (which I watched when I was a kid), but here is a video of his community paying tribute to him.
Ben Lionheart
FORMER COMMON WEALTH HEAVY WEIGHT WRESTLING CHAMPION: AKPO COMMUNITY IN AGUATA LGA IMMORTALIZES HIM
Statue of an Undefeated World Light Heavyweight Champion
Mike Bamidele, was a London-based Wrestler and a former World Light Heavyweight Champion who died undefeated.
A lover of his country, he came to introduce Amateur Wrestling in Nigeria. As reported, In 1979 he took some selected Nigerians round the States to introduce the game.
As part of the10th year remembrance celebration of the late wrestler, on January 29, 2000, this statue was unveiled in his hometown, Ipetu-Ijesa in Osun State, where little or nothing is known about him or the exploits he made in his days.
I remember seeing the representatives of the Nigerian Wrestling Federation and the family of the Champion during the unveiling ceremony while heading to school that early morning of January 29th, 2000. I also remember seeing the surroundings unkempt and the statue in bad shape. This definitely is a renovated one.
Unfortunately, this statue is the only form of immortalization for Mike. Mike was one of the many Nigeria's Unsung Heroes.
REMEMBERING MIKE BAMIDELE, FORGOTTEN NIGERIAN UNDEFEATED WORLD CHAMPION
Mar 17, 2021. Written By Olusesan Olukoya
Born in 1945 at Ipetu Ijesha, Osun State, he attended St. Mary’s Primary School, Ipetu Ijesha. He was forced to leave the school in standard four owing to financial problems and the sudden death of his father.
As a young boy, he took delightful interest in street wrestling and to keep the banner of his family flying, he wrestled with many of his contemporaries round the town clearly distinguishing himself as a terror in the localities before he moved down to Lagos at the age of 19.
Bamidele never started in Lagos as a wrestler; rather he was selling electrical parts at Lewis Street. He had interest in boxing and left his shop several times to watch boxers. In 1962, he signed up as a boxer when he enrolled at the Broadway Boxing Club at Lewis Street, Lagos under the guardianship of Howard Jones, trainer Speedy Twitch, Lawson Moon, a former middleweight champion of Nigeria boxer who turned promoter Bonny Ade. He finally sealed up his shop in to enable him have full attention to purse his sporting career.
He followed the sport steadily until 1964 when he decided to change to wrestling – a game he loved very well because of all the gymnastics and acrobatic displays involved. For instance he watched the first world light heavyweight wrestling title fight staged in Nigeria between the former champion Khalil Abu Khalil – the Seven Up man from Lebanon and contender Apinosse of Greece.
Inspired by the performance of the Abu Khalil, Bamidele followed the great wrestler to Beirut on July 10, 1964 and started active amateur wrestling training in the same year. He showed remarkable talent in mastering all the technicalities of the sport of his choice and within four years of his sojourn in Beirut where he fought many amateur and international contests, Bamidele has become a force to be reckoned with in the world of Professional Wrestling.
In a career ranging from Spain, France, Belgium, Cardiff, Valencia, Pakistan, Australia etc, Mike courageously sought and fought his way to stardom successfully.
Some of Michael Bamidele’s victims in his over 500 professional wrestling fights were Ray McGuine who was kayoed in 1967 the same year Jon Contex of Mexico fell by the knock out route. Steve Grey was knocked out in 1968 in France. His record further shows that he fought more than 300 times in the middleweight class before switching to the light heavyweight category where he became a world champion.
Mike Bamidele died on the 27th December, 1989 in his residence in London of heart attack, The history of the pro wrestling stars in Nigeria and Africa will be an uncompleted story without putting into considerations and its proper place the immense contributions and the exploits of Mike Bamidele as the first indigenous Amateur coach in Nigeria as well as the first pro wrestling coach who took some selected Nigerian wrestlers round the nation to introduce the game in 1979.
In commemoration of his the 10th year remembrance anniversary, on January 29, 2000, a statue was unveiled in his hometown, Ipetu-Ijesa on his behalf where little or nothing is known about him on the sincere exploits he made in his active days as an undefeated world champion.
Unfortunately, this statue is the only form of immortalization for Mike. He was one of the many Nigeria’s Unsung Heroes.
