A BRADFORD legend who once wrestled Andre The Giant has been posthumously entered into the sport’s prestigious British Hall of Fame.

Dennis ‘Golden Boy’ Mitchell took his place in the British Wrestlers Reunion Hall of Fame, an accolade which was voted for by former stars of the sport including Adrian Street.

Mitchell made a name for himself as a wrestler in Britain and Europe after joining the Royal Marines 45 Commando and Bevan Boys down the mines in Dudley Hill when he returned to his native city.

He was a well known and much-loved personality around Bradford, and the wider wrestling world during its hey days from the 1940s through to the 1970s.

He won a number of top title belts during his illustrious career, which peaked in the 1960s, including the British Heavyweight championship, the Royal Albert Hall trophy and was multiple-time Viennese tournament champion.

Dennis even wrestled WWF legend Andre The Giant, then aged 21, when the French superstar was training as a grappler in England on his way to fame in the USA. Dennis also took on Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson’s grandfather, Peter Maivia, in the ring.

Before finding fame in the ring, Dennis also worked in the open-air market off Leeds Road where, to keep fit, he would load and unload wagons of vegetables, especially potatoes, by himself, for bets against the clock.

Dennis retired in 1976 as he “threw his boots in the dustbin in disgust at the state of British wrestling under the new regime after (promoter) Norman Morrell threw in the towel.”

After retiring from the ring, Dennis worked as a film extra, a publican, an area security manager for Asda and an SDP councillor at City Hall, representing Odsal. He died at the Manorlands Hospice in Oxenhope in October 1997, aged 68.

Dennis’s son, John Mitchell, 70, who also wrestled for 10 years, says last Sunday’s Hall of Fame honour for his father is well deserved.

John said: “He would have been embarrassed, but he would have loved it really. He loved all that stuff.

“He was a fantastic wrestler. So many wrestlers who have bestowed this honour on my dad got into the business because of watching people like my dad.

“It fills my chest up with pride that a lot of people like Adrian Street are talking about my dad like this.

“He was a big, strapping man. Wherever he went he was known. They used to shout ‘Dennis, how are you doing?’ It was a wonderful time.

“He was Bradford’s golden boy. He wore white trunks and white boots and had blonde hair. He would be a good guy in modern parlance. He even wrestled in Beirut and 18 times on television.

“He had a tough upbringing but he found out he had an ability. He won the Royal Albert Hall trophy and it was so large we put it on display in our front window in Lidget Green. He was a wonderful fella.”