Shirley Crabtree (14 November 1930 – 2 December 1997) was an English professional wrestler, best known as Big Daddy. A fan favourite, he is the best-remembered competitor from British wrestling's 1970s-1980s heyday, a time when it was regularly shown on World of Sport.
- The Big Guy: So very much; 6'6" tall, weighing in at 26 stone 9 lbs (375 lbs) and with a 64"-chest. The latter actually got him in the Guinness Book of Records for being the biggest chest in Britain.
- Clothes Make the Legend: When he renamed himself "Big Daddy", his leotard was decorated with a large letter "D" which his wife had cut from chintz sofa fabric and stitched onto it. He also made his way to the stage wearing a cape and a top hat with a Union Jack on it.
- Crowd Chant: "EA-SY! EA-SY! EA-SY!"
- Face–Heel Turn: In the 1950s and 1960s, he was a Face wrestling as "The Blond Adonis". When he returned to the sport in 1972, he was a Heel.
- Gender-Blender Name: Shirley was traditionally a boys' name - although by the time Crabtree was born it was more widely regarded as a girls' name. Named after his father, he was mercilessly teased as a child, and quickly toughened up as a result.
- Heel–Face Turn: After his 1972 comeback, Crabtree wrestled as a Heel under the name "The Battling Guardsman" (a reference to his National Service in the Coldstream Guards) but within two years he was known as "Big Daddy". His tag-team with Giant Haystacks became well-known for beating Face opponents, and crowds started to cheer him when he entered into a feud with masked villain Kendo Nagasaki, especially after he pulled Nagasaki's mask off during a televised bout in December 1975. By 1977, Big Daddy had completed his transformation into a Face, a change cemented by the breakdown of his tag-team with Haystacks (with whom he subsequently entered into a long-running feud).
- Signature Move: "The Splash", by which he used his enormous bulk to flatten an opponent. Went horribly wrong in a 1987 bout against Malcolm "King Kong" Kirk when the latter did not get up after being flattened, was taken to hospital and pronounced dead on arrival. It later transpired that Kirk had a serious heart condition and could have collapsed at any time.
- 10-Minute Retirement: He quit wrestling between 1966 and 1972.
- Wrestling Family: His brothers were also wrestlers - one went on to become a referee and an MC, the other a promoter - as were two of his nephews (both of whom worked in tag-teams with him in his later years).
