Adrian Street

Street was born on 5 December 1940 in Brynmawr in South Wales. He came from a coal-mining family; Street began bodybuilding as a teenager, and in 1957 – at age 16 – he left home to begin his career in professional wrestling. His early inspirations were American wrestlers Lou Thesz, Buddy Rogers, and Don Leo Jonathan, from whom he adopted his first moniker: Kid Tarzan Jonathan. ==Professional wrestling career==

Street was trained as a professional wrestler by Chic Osmond and Mike Demitre. Using the name Kid Tarzan Jonathan, Street defeated Geoff Moran. Street has explained that this gimmick was born by accident as a result of him playing up to taunting from an audience one evening. In 1971, he was booked in a match with the TV presenter Jimmy Savile. Due to disagreements with booking as well as disliking Savile due to his openly bragging about sleeping with underage girls, Street legitimately attacked Savile during the match and tore out Savile's hair. When the true nature of Savile’s sexual abuse towards underage girls became more apparent after his death, Street stated in an interview; “Had I known then what I know about him now, I’d have given him an even bigger hiding.” Working primarily as a heel, Street travelled all over the world; locations where he wrestled included Germany, Canada, and Mexico. In the UK, he formed a tag partnership with fellow heel Bobby Barnes, naming themselves the Hells Angels. The two appeared in various areas in the territories in North America, and finally settled in Ron Fuller's Continental Championship Wrestling (CCW) in Birmingham, Alabama in 1985. Early on, Street worked as a heel against Austin Idol, Wendell Cooley, and Norvell Austin before turning face in 1986. Street was so convincing as a heel that fans stood in shock as Street saved Bob Armstrong, under a mask as the Bullet, from an attack by Robert Fuller, Jimmy Golden and Tom Prichard. Street and Linda also went into business designing and selling professional wrestling gear and other sundries via their website. Street estimated that he had wrestled between 12,000 and 15,000 matches during his career, which ended with a final match held in Birmingham, Alabama, in June 2014. ==Personal life==

In 2005, Street proposed to long-time manager Miss Linda at a reunion of the Cauliflower Alley Club. Don Leo Jonathan was his best man at the wedding. Street died at Grange University Hospital in Cwmbran, on 24 July 2023, ==Other media==

Street appeared in the 1981 film Quest for Fire. He also appeared in Grunt: The Wrestling Movie (1985), as well as Pasolini's 1972 film The Canterbury Tales. A photo of Street in full regalia posing at the mine his father worked at features as the front cover of Black Box Recorder's debut album England Made Me. Street is the subject of a documentary by visual artist Jeremy Deller, entitled The Life and Times of Adrian Street. ==Championships and accomplishments==

• All Star Wrestling • World Middleweight Championship (2 times) • Cauliflower Alley Club • Gulf Coast/GAC Honoree Award (2005) • NWA Hollywood Wrestling • NWA Americas Heavyweight Championship (1 time) • NWA Americas Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Timothy Flowers • Pro Wrestling Illustrated • Ranked No. 171 of the 500 best singles wrestlers in the PWI 500 in 1992 • Mid-South Wrestling Association • Mid-South Television Championship (1 time) • Southwest Championship Wrestling • SCW Southwest Junior Heavyweight Championship (1 time) • Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards • Best Gimmick (1986) ==References==