GREAT YARMOUTH, England -- Wrestler King Kong Kirk was crushed to death by his 336-pound opponent who dived atop him in his famous 'Big Daddy Splashdown' at a match before 2,000 fans, police said Monday.
A police spokesman said some spectators at the match Sunday at first thought the dead wrestler was faking, but when doctors rushed into the ring 'they realized it wasn't a fix.'
Police said no charges would be filed in the death that stunned the crowd watching the match Sunday night at the Hippodrome arena in Great Yarmouth, 120 miles northwest of London.
Fifteen minutes into the match Big Daddy, one of Britain's most popular wrestlers, ran and dived on King Kong Kirk in a move he has made famous -- the 'Big Daddy Splashdown.'
The 350-pound King Kong Kirk, about 40, whose real name was Malcolm Kirk, lay motionless in the ring. A Hippodrome worker said Big Daddy, 50, whose real name is Shirley Crabtree, stood in the ring shocked when his opponent did not get up.
'The referee went over to the man and then began shouting frantically for a doctor,' he said.
After doctors and paramedics failed to revive him, eight men struggled to lift Kirk into an ambulance where he was given oxygen, artificial respiration and a heart massage, witnesses said.
He was pronounced dead on arrival at hospital. Authorities Monday gave no specific cause of death.
Crabtree was reported 'dazed' by the death, said police spokesman, Inspector Mike Goffin.
'Wrestling is a big fix, they usually fake it,' said Kenneth Hurrell, who was at the match, 'but I could see Kirk wasn't mucking about.'
Hippodrome manager Les Rose said the two wrestlers have met in the ring many times before and 'what happened was terribly unexpected.
'These gentlemen know each other extremely well and tour the country fighting each other all the time,' he said. 'I'm sure that they know exactly how to cope with all the falls and throws and the spills which go on inside the ring.'
