The "Tough Man" Always Won

Haunted Church of Stoneleigh

Adam Windsor visits the Haunted Church of Stoneleigh

The Royal Stud is visiting his family in England. I asked that he send some photos and stories from
the most interesting of places from the staunchest ally of the United States of America.
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In the words of Adam Windsor.

The name of the church that you can see in the picture is Stoneleigh Village Church. It is situated in a
small village outside of my hometown of Coventry England. The church is still a very active church,
holding a variety of services throughout a month, however it is mostly visited by people because of
its long history of being one of the most haunted sites in England.

I used to in fact sometimes go to this church when I was younger and lived in England, however we
would not go very often because of the creepy feeling you get from being around it. While I was
there in fact I spoke to the head Priest and he actually told me that there had been 6 ghosts siting
alone since January of this year.

The church itself dates back to the 1600's and was built in the very small village of Stoneleigh to
accommodate its 130 population. In fact they say that every single one of those 130 members are
apparently buried under a part of the church that was constructed a hundred years after the original
church was built. From what I understand, there was apparently a huge fire in the village which nearly
wiped out the whole of its very small population.

So what does this have to do with wrestling? Well, right next to the church, there is a big piece of
land where the circuses and carnivals come through and according to my Mum, Lady Paddy. it was
one of the first places where they had "Tough Man" challenges in England. The "Tough Man" would invite
people from the crowd into the ring and he would basically beat them up. It even got to the point
where people started betting money on who was going to win. This is where the first "Ad Show" came
to England.

Can you imagine when someone from out of the crowd jumped into the ring challenging the "Tough
Man" and knocked him on his "Tough Man" ass. The bets were on.

When the chips were down and the money on the line, the "Tough Man" always won.

Famous English "Tough Men" from the past are Lord (Judo) Al Hayes, Billy Robinson and the
toughest of them all, Billy Joyce. The famous American "Tough Man," from the carnival "Ad Show"
is Sputnik Monroe.
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