# Mike Marino Memorial Shield

The Mike Marino Memorial Shield was a British professional wrestling single-elimination tournament produced by Dale Martin Promotions, which took place on 29 September 1981 at Fairfield Halls in Croydon, England. The event aired on ITV's World of Sport two months later. One of the first, if not the first, memorial shows in British professional wrestling, it was held in memory of longtime British Mid-Heavyweight Champion Mike Marino, arguably the most popular pro wrestler in the country during the 1960s and 1970s, who died on the M20 motorway in Folkestone, Kent on 24 August 1981. Ten professional wrestling matches were featured on the event's card, with three non-tournament matches.
The tournament was contested using Admiral-Lord Mountevans rules, greatly differing from professional wrestling in the United States, which included five-minute rounds, a points system, "knockouts" (countouts) and disqualifications counting as automatic two falls in best of three falls matches (which were predominant), and no follow-up moves allowed on a grounded opponent. Two of the first heat matches (Match #3: Mal Sanders versus John Naylor; Match #4: Pat Patton versus Johnny England) were decided on points rather than traditional pinfall or submission; the tournament final was decided in a best "two out of three falls" match.
Mal Sanders won the "knockout" tournament by winning three matches at the event. Over the course of the evening, he defeated "Golden Ace" John Naylor in the first heat, "Judo" Pat Patton in the semi-finals and "Cyanide" Syd Cooper in the final match. Sanders was traveling with Marino at the time of his death. In addition to the tournament, there were three standard wrestling matches which saw "Rollerball" Mark Rocco defeat "Gentleman" Chris Adams, Giant Haystacks defeat "Tarzan" Johnny Wilson, and Jackie Turpin beat Steve Logan. In the months following the tournament, Mal Sanders defended the trophy against former tournament entrants Jackie Turpin and Steve Logan in addition to opponents such as Johnny Saint, Steve Grey, Johnny England, Bobby Barnes, Ed Wensor, and Mick McManus.

## Show results

29 September 1981 at Fairfield Halls, Croydon :
| No. | Results | Stipulations |
| 1 | Mark Rocco defeated Chris Adams | Singles match |
| 2 | Giant Haystacks defeated Johnny Wilson | Singles match |
| 3 | Jackie Turpin defeated Steve Logan | Singles match |
| 4 | Kid Chocolate defeated Black Jack Mulligan | First Heat Tournament match |
| 5 | Mal Sanders defeated John Naylor via points decision | First Heat Tournament match |
| 6 | Syd Cooper defeated Jan Curtis via submission | First Heat Tournament match |
| 7 | Pat Patton defeated Johnny England via points decision | First Heat Tournament match |
| 8 | Syd Cooper defeated Kid Chocolate via referee decision | Semi Final Tournament match |
| 9 | Mal Sanders defeated Pat Patton | Semi Final Tournament match |
| 10 | Mal Sanders defeated Syd Cooper | Tournament Finals match |

### Tournament brackets

This was a one-night tournament which took place on 29 September 1981. The tournament brackets were:
Pin-Pinfall; Sub-Submission; CO-Countout; DCO-Double countout; DQ-Disqualification; Ref-Referee's decision; Pts-Points decision
| Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Semifinals | Finals | Finals | Finals |
| Kid Chocolate | Kid Chocolate | Pin | | | | | | |
| Black Jack Mulligan | Black Jack Mulligan | | | | | | | |
| Black Jack Mulligan | Black Jack Mulligan | | Kid Chocolate | Kid Chocolate | Ref | | | |
| | | | Syd Cooper | Syd Cooper | | | | |
| Syd Cooper | Syd Cooper | Sub | Syd Cooper | Syd Cooper | | | | |
| Jan Curtis | Jan Curtis | | | | | | | |
| Jan Curtis | Jan Curtis | | | | | Syd Cooper | Syd Cooper | |
| | | | | | | Mal Sanders | Mal Sanders | Pin |
| Mal Sanders | Mal Sanders | Pts | | | | | | | Mal Sanders | Mal Sanders | Pin |
| John Naylor | John Naylor | | | | | | | |
| John Naylor | John Naylor | | Mal Sanders | Mal Sanders | | | | |
| | | | Pat Patton | Pat Patton | Pin | | | |
| Pat Patton | Pat Patton | Pts | Pat Patton | Pat Patton | Pin | | | |
| Johnny England | Johnny England | | | | | | | |
1. ^ Mal Sanders scored two pinfalls during the match.