Peter Sep 11, 2008
Anybody have information on the Rev. Michael Brooks
The 1978 Kid Sep 12, 2008
Sadly, Mike Brooks, Methodist Minister and wrestler, died suddenly on 7th March 2000, aged 64.He had taken early retirement from the ministry because of arthritis. He had been a professional wrestler during his time as a missionary in South West Africa (Namibia), where he had been Middleweight Champion. He wrestled in Britain as a way of paying his fare home when he came home on visits. When he returned to the UK he combined his ministry with part time wrestling. He wrote abook "Wrestling for God" in which he recounted his experiences as a minister and a wrestler. Hope this helps.
Peter Sep 12, 2008
Yes I knew we lost our Great Friend but it would be nice to keep his Wrestling memory alive I like Many saw a lot of him more so when he was at Throckly on the Out skirts of Newcastle I had many chats as we met at a lot of shows I forgot about the book and it is things like that our friends on the Heritage site like to know about
Many thanks for your reply and if you think of anything else that may be of interest to our Heritage Friends
all the best Peter
Hack Sep 12, 2008
Hi 1978 Kid, nice to have you here and thanks for your input. i didn't know about the book. I didn't know about the book, is there much about the wrestling in it? I remember Michael Brooks coming to speak at the Leyland Lane Methodist Church in Leyland. There was an article on him in the Leyland Guardian in which he said wrestling was a useful way of making contact with people.
The 1978 Kid Sep 13, 2008
Thanks, Hack.
The book is mainly an autobiography/evangelistic book about Mike's Christian experience and Ministry, but there is quite a bit about wrestling. As you say, he saw wrestling as a way of being in contact with people he wouldn't have met otherwise. There are some amusing tales about matches against some of the famous names in British wrestling, but he never suggests that its less than 100% genuine. On a personal note, I was fascinated, on re reading it after many years, to learn that Mike had worked on a youth camp in Vermont, USA, a state where I spent a summer on a Ministerial Exchange in 1996 (many years after Mike had been there). Its funny how we discover all sorts of connections!
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