A sport which once made millions of housewives’ hearts beat faster every Saturday afternoon is set to return.

Bradford will be fighting to regain its title as the pro-wrestling capital of the UK – with one of the first professional bouts of its type in the district since the early 1980s.

Now Bradford-based 21st Century Wrestling is hoping to bring back the sport.

A bout between Lewy “Ripper” Paradise and Bruce Sheila is on the cards at the Hitting The Headlines event at Victoria Hall, Saltaire, in May.

Promoter Adam Beard, of Keighley, said: “We aim to restore the Bradford reputation that it used to have for putting on the best wrestling in the UK.

“There is a lot of British heritage around it and a certain way of doing it. We don’t want to follow the American style, we want to do it in our own way.”

In its heyday, hundreds of people packed into St George’s Hall, Bradford, to watch their favourite wrestlers such as Giant Haystacks and Big Daddy.

Bouts were held regularly in the city and across West Yorkshire, and were televised to audiences of millions.