After 50 years split between pottery and pro wrestling, Keith Myatt is calling time on both.
The 66-year-old from Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire, has wrestled in front of thousands of people and travelled all over the world since first entering the ring professionally in 1982. A fortnight ago, he also retired from his job on the kilns at Emma Bridgewater.
“The mind still wants to do the wrestling but the body just won’t let it happen anymore,” he said.
“I still think I’ve got a couple of bouts in me, but perhaps in a tag match or something like that.”
Myatt previously shared the ring with Big Daddy and Giant Haystacks, while building a ceramics career that began when he was 17 at Spode.
“I don’t miss the 04:00 starts,” he joked, but said the hours had helped him keep up wrestling alongside his day job.
He said he used to watch wrestling at Hanley’s Victoria Hall, trained at a judo school, and eventually made his way into the ring.
There was “no other feeling like it”, he said, with more than 1,600 people watching every Saturday night.
“It’s the pure entertainment side of it. But people say you don’t get hurt in wrestling, you do.
“Three broken noses later, I’ve got bad knees, it takes me about half an hour to get up in a morning. You do get a lot of injuries.”
Myatt said leaving both jobs would leave a massive void to fill, but caring for his grandchildren would likely keep him busy.
“The wife says that she’s got plenty of jobs for me at home,” he quipped.
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