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Count Bartelli
by Alan Bamber
It was in 1974 that I interviewed Count Bartelli, one of the great masked men of the post-war era. One of the donkeys at Count Bartelli's luxury bungalow leaned through the fence and made an attempt to eat the grass in the adjacent field. "Look at that," said the wrestler, "there's all that grass inside their own field and yet they want to eat that on the other side. I suppose the fact that they are donkeys removes the guilt, but I find it distressing, though, that people, behave just the same. Nobody seems satisfied anymore, the other man's grass always seems greener, but it rarely is."
As a young boy, long before the days of Count Bartelli, Geoffrey Condliffe believed that the other man's grass was greener. He was one of the lucky ones, because it really was. Geoffrey's grass was not proverbial, it was very real. He lived in Crewe and longed to escape to the countryside, away from the noise and dirt. By 1974 Geoff's wish had long been fulfilled and he lived in a large bungalow surrounded with the animals and fields that were once only a dream.
Whilst in his teens, Geoff joined the Crewe Wheelers and won a gold medal in the North Staffordshire Centre N.C.U.championships. After joining the Crewe Wheelers, Geoffrey started visiting a gymnasium to strengthen his legs. At the gymnasium he met a number of wrestlers and became increasingly interested in the sport. He began to practice holds with the wrestlers and eventually became a serious competitor. Geoffrey made his professional debut at Chester where he met the World flyweight champion, Johnny Summers. Not surprisingly, Geoffrey lost the bout.
"That was one of the two big shocks I've received during my career," Geoff told me, "I left the ring a much wiser man, having discovered that there is a world of difference between a good amateur and a good professional. The second shock came when I was established as a professional. I went to Billy Riley's gymnasium at Wigan. Riley was in his forties by then, and to my mind an old man. Therefore, when I was given the chance to take him on I jumped at it. What a shock I got, and a beating. Nothing surprises me now. That is one of the reasons I respect all wrestlers; there is nothing more dangerous than to underestimate an opponent."
Whilst wrestling in the Far East Geoff notched up sixty-four successive victories. On returning to Britain he found himself billed as Count Bartelli and was given a
mask to wear. Few expected Count Bartelli to survive for more than a matter of months, but he was to become the longest reigning masked wrestler in the history of
British wrestling. During this time only a handful of people knew the identity of Count Bartelli, and as he arived at the hall already wearing his mask even many
fellow wrestlers had never seen his face.
The start of the Count Bartelli success story was not a happy one, however, because in his second bout after returning from the Far East the Count broke his shoulder.
During the six months he was out of wrestling the Count scraped a living by chopping trees, which made him stronger than ever before.
It was at that time, shortly after the war, that Bartelli resolved never to be in the same situation again, the desperate situation of being out of wrestling with no income whatsoever.
He bought a small piece of land in Crewe and built a garage. The garage was intended as a subsidiary income to his wrestling because:"You never know when
your last fight is going to be. Because of its very nature wrestling can never be considered anything more than a temporary occupation, and any wrestler who fails
to secure another income to fall back on is a fool."
Whatever his intentions Count Bartelli's wrestling skills were in later years surpassed only by his business skills, and the small garage bought purely as a sideline eventually became the biggest garage in Crewe, and the start of a large garage empire.
When he was fit to return to the ring Count Bartelli weighed slightly under 13 stones. He remained at this weight until the mid 1950's when training with weights enabled him to increase his poundage to 17 stones. However, the Count found this restricted his speed, and trained back down to15 stones 4 pounds.
Count Bartelli wrestled undefeated from 1946 to 1966, but a bout in the mid 1950's made even his most ardent fans a little apprehensive. The bout was against the tank-like Bert Assiratti, British heavyweight champion and weighing 19 stones. It is worth remembering that the Count weighed only 13 stones at the time. Nevertheless, Bartelli held on for a draw, and even in 1974 still thought this result to be the highlight of his career. Bert Assiratti and Jack Beaumont were the two toughest opponents he met: "Beaumont was a very hard wrestler and never let up."
For twenty years the identity of Count Bartelli had remained concealed, and the name of Geoffrey Condliffe was unknown in wrestling circles. The hardest men in wrestling:?Bert Assiratti, Jack Pye, Jack Beaumont, Billy Joyce and Billy Robinson all tried to beat the masked star, but all failed.
In the mid sixties a new masked man emerged onto the wrestling scene. He was big, strong and vicious. His name was Kendo Nagasaki. He challenged Bartelli and the established masked man had no hesitation in accepting.
Fans flocked to the Stoke-on-Trent arena where tickets were exchanged at black market prices. It was the perfect match: two strong heavyweights who were masters of their trade, two supposedly unbeatable men. The crowd were guaranteed the satisfaction of witnessing the beating of the unbeatable, the downfall of a King.
The contest fulfilled all expectations, the two wrestlers waded into each other, first one gained the advantage and then the other. Almost thirty minutes had passed when there was a sudden gasp from the crowd, Bartelli lay across the ringside chairs, tossed there by Nagasaki. The crowd were stunned, 'seven, eight, nine" the referee counted, "Get back," the crowd roared, but it was all over. Count Bartelli, unbeaten for twenty years, had failed to re-enter the ring in time. Nagasaki was the winner. The unbelievable had happened, the unbeatable had been beaten. Count Bartelli was helped back into the ring for the ceremonial unmasking. Ringsiders shouted at the officials, "leave him alone, let him keep his mask on."
"But when you have promised to do something for twenty years you must stick to the agreement," Bartelli told me. The vanquished gladiator was slowly unmasked, and the face of Geoffrey Condliffe, a Cheshire businessman, was revealed to the wrestling world. During the following months, Count Bartelli toured Britain unmasking at each hall. Millions of television viewers watched with interest as he unmasked prior to his bout with Bill Howes.
One year later, Bartelli departed on a tour of Australia where he won the British Commonwealth heavyweight title by beating Laurie Boyd. On returning home the
Count successfully defended his title to Gwyn Davies at Hanley. Other wrestlers to unsuccessfully challenge for the title were Bruno Elrington (April, 1969, Derby);
Maruti Vardar (1968, India;1969, Birmingham) and Syed Saif Shah (June, 1970, Pakistan).
Towards the end of 1968 Count Bartelli left the Joint Promotion rings and wrestled for two years with the Independents. As Commonwealth champion he believed
it only fair to give all wrestlers a tilt at the title and not merely those wrestling for Joint Promotions. Whilst with the Independents he met wrestlers such as Ray Glendenning, Jack Martin, The Outlaw, Klondyke Bill and Lord Bertie Topham in non-title bouts.
The most important of the Count's bouts with 32-stone Klonyke Bill was in the final of an open heavyweight tournament where the winner was presented with a silver cup. Bartelli had won through to the final of the competition by beating men such as The Destroyer, Jim Moza, Alf Cadman, Bill Cover dale and Gordon Corbett. In the open-air final Klondyke took the opening fall after landing his 32 stone frame on the prostrate Bartelli. Bartelli came back to win by a knock-out and and he showed me the silver cup which took pride of place amongst his vast collection of trophies.
His toughest opponent following his unmasking was the Indian heavyweight, Maruti Vadar. Maruti was one of only a handful of wrestlers who could boast of holding Count Bartelli to a 15 round draw. The two met twice, once in England and once in India and each time Bartelli's Commonwealth heavyweight title was at stake. On 6th May, 1969, Vadar held on for a draw at the Digbeth Civic Hall, Birmingham. Three months earlier Bartelli had visited India when the result had also been a draw.
On 8th January, 1972 Albert Wall snatched the Commonwealth heavyweight title at Hanley. Bartelli was leading by the only submission when he was thrown from the ring and landed awkwardly. Returning to the ring Wall took full advantage of the
situation and gained two quick pinfalls. Wall had received a public warning prior to each fall and was apparently on the verge disqualification.
Count Bartelli continued to wrestle for many more years, too many some would say. His last contest was in 1986 at the age of sixty-three.
1 Stop Wrestling: British Wrestling Forum
Kendo Nagasaki
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