FILM makers Ian Bennett and Mike Todd are hoping to get a stranglehold on the business with their first movie all about the history of wrestling in the area.

Mike and Ian, who have formed Todd Bennett Productions, had a world premiere of their film "Catch: the hold not taken" at Manchester's Cornerhouse on Tuesday night.

From there the pair will take it to film festivals throughout Britain.

It is an evocative film telling the story of how the sport which had its roots in the working class mining community in this area, became a world influence.

Known as Catch As Catch Can, Mike and Ian felt the significance of it was close to being lost in Britain.

Showmen wrestlers Big Daddy and Mick McManus, who made the sport famous on the television on Saturday afternoons, all had their start with amateur wrestling.

Mike and Ian spent two years researching the film and it started after Ian discovered his grandfather used to be a wrestler.

The success of the Commonwealth Games where wrestling was an event, linked the past with the present as the film makers charted the progress of Paul Stridgeon on his quest for glory.

"There were three types of wrestling, Lancashire, which people did in this area, Cumbrian and the discipline from Devon and Cornwall.

"Wrestling used to take place all over the place and was watched by thousands. It happened in fields, the backs of pubs and at fairs," said Mike who with Ian operates from Lostock.

Their 90 minute film which has funding from the Film Council, also shows the influence on the Japanese.

A famous wrestling club in the area is Billy Riley's in Wigan. Mike tells how a Belgian wrestler who studied there and was amazed at the style, ended up in Japan, via America, where it is now a multi million pound sport.

"Japanese wrestlers including the President of the Japanese

sport, actually make pilgrimages to Bill Rileys," said Mike who secured an interview with Tatsumi Fujinami, the biggest name in Japanese professional wrestling and US Olympic Gold Medalist Dan Gable.

And the Bolton Club which was formed in 1908 -- the year wrestling was first introduced into the Olympics -- has also played its part in the success of the sport.

Mike and Ian spent hours talking to old wrestlers, including John Rigby, MBE from Bolton who is now in his 80s.

They also used archive footage from the North West Film Archives and the British Film Institute.

"It is our first major project and we have invited local people involved in the film to the premiere. We are very pleased with the way it has turned out," said Mike who studied film at University and who has worked in Kosovo for the United Nations.