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And who were they? Brainstorm of French/France based wrestlers active during/around 1977: Jean Corne, Khader Hassouni, Petit Prince, Albert Sanniez, Jacky Richard, Remy Bayle, Le Grande Vladimir, Marc Mercier, Michel Falempin, Walter Bordes, Claude Rocas, Bob Plantin, Michel diSanto. Michel Chaisne, Fred Magnier. Zarak, Jean Menard, Pierre Bernaet, Pierre Lagache, Bruno Asquini, Daniel Boucard, Daniel Nocoed, Mammouth Siki, Franz Van Buyten, inca Viracocha, Paco Ramirez, Anton Tejero, Gass Doukhan, Rene Ben Chemoul, Rene Cabellec, Angelito, Tomas Trujillo, Jo Gonzales, Ivan Strogoff, Daniel Schmidt, Jean Pierre Momo, Salah Latif, Gerard Bouvet. Pierre Payen , George Cohen, Bob Remy, Guy Renault, Rene/Jack de Lasartesse, Black Shadow, Marcel Montreal, Josef El Arz, Alan Mitchell, Joel De Fremery, Antonio Pedera, Jean Claude Bordeaux I make that 50, not counting visitors from the UK like Pete Roberts, Dave Bond. Marty Jones, Dave Fit Finlay, Ian Gilmour and Rollerball Rocco, visitors from Germany like Karl Schneider, wider scale globetrotters like Jon Guil Don , the Mansour brothers, Yasu Fuji, or indeed the entire ladies' division or any unidentified masked men such as El Demonic Rojo or Le Samurai who might already be on the list. (Zarak is included as we know who it was- Dave Larsen) Clearly the roster was in a healthier state than Delaporte makes out. Also knockoffs of famous masked men were an issue in Britain too - Eddie Hammill jobbed away his Kung Fu mask because he was tired of imposters, Bill Clarke's infamous "King Kendo" impersonator act eventually became a respectable TV gimmick in its own right.

Something we don't know much about is the content of the earlier home video releases and when/how often they came out. I'm sure the earliest Otto tape must have contained a lot more than just 12 mins of the Otto/DLJ match. Were the professionally shot matches complied together into Otto's Greatest Hits Pt 1, 2, 3 etc or were they tapes of full shows including the undercards? It seems extraordinary that they filmed Otto Vs Strongbow in .July 1979 four a home video market that must have scarcely existed. The promotion having the foresight to film the match ready for a few years later when there was a VHS Aor Betamax machine in nearly every home in the Western World?

Thanks brother, I really appreciate it!

Congrats Gene! I'll definitely be picking a copy up.

It makes sense that commentary doesn't care about the match. I remember hearing somebody (a former wrestler) talk about how Hall told them it was a complement that the announcers can out over other stuff during their match. It means they don't need the commentary to explain a lot, their work speaks for itself. I'm not sure I 100% buy that, but at the same time if you are a reliable worker who can be counted on to put on good matches it does make sense they would schedule this stuff while you are out there. And it seems to happen a lot. Fun TV match. I wish the WWE had kept going with Mero as he is a little sloppy, but there are a ton of good matchups with current guys and folks who come in a little bit later. It also brings a different vibe to the show with matches like these. Say what you will about Bischoff, but he got the variety show element right in WCW. You had the cruiserweights, the hard-hitting midcard guys, the occasional martial arts guy that could work (not looking at you, Glacier), the tag team division and the main event stuff. You may not love one or two of those elements, but the stuff you do is well-represented enough to keep you coming back. WWE very often is a one-trick pony.

I've absolutely loved your build to Mania! Your shows have been very well organized and easy to follow. The TV showcases mixed in with split screen promos is classic WWF. The WrestleMania card is stacked and loaded. Every match means something and has a great story behind it. There's something for everybody on the card. Title matches, grudge matches as well as some mystery and intrigue surrounding certain match ups. Excited for Mania! See you at the Skydome!

"Ravishing" Rick Rude(c) w/Bobby "The Brain" Heenan vs The Ultimate Warrior Texas Bullrope Match. "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes vs Terry Funk WWF Intercontinental Championship Tito Santana(c) vs "World's Strongest Man" Dino Bravo w/"Le Commendant" Frenchy Martin WWF Tag Team Championship Toronto Street Fight. The Powers of Pain (barbarian & Warlord)(c) w/Bobby "The Brain" Heenan vs Demolition (Ax & Smash) Grudge Match "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan vs "Raging Bull" Manny Frnandez King's Court Match King Haku w/Bobby "The Brain" Heenan vs Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka The Killer Bees (B. Brian Blair & Jim Brunzell) w/The Guiding Light" Capt Lou Albano vs Badd Company (Paul Diamond & Pat Tanaka) w/"The Doctor of Style" Slick Intermission Special Attraction Match. "The 8th Wonder of the World" Andre the Giant vs "The Walking Natural Disaster" Earthquake w/"Le Commendant" Frenchy Martin WWF Canadian United States Tag Team Championship The Fabulous Rougeaou Brothers (Jacques & Raymond)(c) w/"Le Commendant" Frenchy Martin Prison Yard Match. Big Boss Man vs Nailz w/"The Doctor of Style" Slick "The Golden Warrior" Kevin Von Erich vs Jake "The Snake" Roberts Billy Jack Haynes vs "The Mastodon" Vader w/"The Devious" Mr Fuji Flag Match The American Eagles (Liberty & Justice) vs The Bolshieviks (Boris Zhukov & Nikolai Volkoff) Plus Robert Goulet sings "Oh, Canada". Free for All exclusive. The Fantastics (Bobby Fulton & Tommy Rodgers) vs The Samoan Headhunters (Alofa & Kokina) w/"The Devious" Mr Fuji DAMN! Killer Card... gonna be awesome... can't wait to see how it goes down man. WWF has got a lot of life right now and this is going to be epic!

The fact WWE is now getting all the AEW malcontents, some of which were previously WWE malcontents, is pretty ironic indeed.

They probably went to AEW thinking they could get a Cody-type boost in their stardom as well, lol. I hope Rusev can a get a good push and he takes full advantage of it before going to shit, as he tends to do

These guys like Andrade/Miro/Black must think they're going to get a Cody situation instead of going back to WWE to the exact same booking and position they had before. But working twice as much and not being able to say no.

He was last seen doing a job for Alberto el Rapist in Quatar. So really, fuck him. (fuck Jeff Jarrett for showing up in AAA and working with the guy too btw)

I figured he'd have already been back in by now, but I suppose he's going to be a day after Mania moment. I just hope whatever he had going on is better now, as it seemed he may have been having some personal issues.

I just wanted to drop in and let everyone know I just finished writing a book along with Doug Gilbert about his brother "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert. A lot of great insight from the brother of a man who was WAY before his time in the pro wrestling business. Anyone who was a fan of "Hot Stuff" or who wants to learn more about this life will really enjoy this. It's available to pre-order now at www.tinyurl.com/EddieGilbertBook The book will ship on May 25th! Here's the release: Thomas Edward Gilbert Jr. (August 14, 1961 - February 18, 1995) better known by his ring name "Hot Stuff" Eddie Gilbert, was an American professional wrestler and booker. Gilbert started his wrestling career for the Continental Wrestling Association in 1977, using the ring name Tommy Gilbert Jr. and winning the AWA Southern Tag Team Championship with his father in 1980. He later moved to the World Wrestling Federation in 1982, working a storyline as the protégé of Bob Backlund until leaving the company in 1984. He found his greatest success in Memphis, teaming with Tommy Rich to form "Fargo's Fabulous Ones" and winning the AWA Southern Tag Team Championship. Gilbert eventually turned heel and feuded with Rich as well as Jerry Lawler. He moved to Mid-South Wrestling (later the Universal Wrestling Federation) in 1985, where he wrestled and worked as a manager, forming the villainous stable "Hot Stuff International, Inc." From the pen of someone who knew the man better than anyone, Doug Gilbert shares his memories of his brother and his legendary career.

Airing on 4/2/90 on HBO. *Unless stated otherwise matches were taped at the Hara Arena in Trotwood Ohio* Monsoon & Heenan welcome us to the "March to WrestleMania" edition of WWF Prime Time. Everyone featured tonight is scheduled for WrestleMania VI which airs live on PPV in just 4 nights! They remind the viewers at home to watch the show til the end as Mean Gene will give the full finalized card for Mania. Match #1 Billy Jack Haynes defeats The Comet Kid with the Full Nelson. Split screen promo has Haynes say Vader is a big, bad man to be sure but his Full Nelson has never failed him before and he's confident that he can use it to tame a Mastodon! *We see a video package for the Intercontinental Championship match between Tito Santana & Dino Bravo. Experts put over the technique & determination of Santana as well as the sheer herculean strength of Bravo* Match #2 The Bolshieviks (Boris Zhukov & Nikolai Volkoff) defeat Alex "The Pug" Pouteau & Vic Steamboat with "From Russia with Hate" on Pourteau. Split screen promo sees the Russians say they expect the decadent westerners of Toronto to show proper respect when they're waving the Hammer & Sickle high after grounding the American Eagles for good. *Heenan & Monsoon discuss the actions of Jake Roberts since arriving in the WWF. Heenan puts over Roberts as a master strategist who understands that keeping those around you guessing is one of the best ways to achieve victory. Monsoon says that may be true but Roberts is going to have a tougher time now that Kevin Von Erich is watching him like a hawk* Match #3 Nailz w/"The Doctor of Style" Slick defeats Ricki Ataki with "The Good, The Bad & The Ugly". Split screen Nailz says Boss Man loves talking about putting people through "hard time" but has no idea what that actually means. At Mania, Nailz says he's gonna show the whole world the true meaning of hard time. *Mooney cues up a pair of promos. Hacksaw says 'Mad Cow Manny" messed with the wrong man and at Mania he's gonna pull his horns off and hang'em over the Duggan family fireplace. Fuji says Jaynes will be the first proper demonstration of what Vader can do in a one on one match and thanks Haynes in advance for his sacrifice* Match #4 "The Walking Natural Disaster" Earthquake w/"Le Commendant" Frenchi Martin defeats Mark Starr with the "Earthquake splash". After he gets his hand raised, Quake drops another splash on Starr and years down the camera "That's for you Andre!" *Mooney kicks us to another pair of promos. Heenan -with his men gathered around him- says at WrestleMania The Heenan Family will rid the WWF of all their enemies in one fell swoop. Von Erich says Roberts may be a crafty man but his father taught him a long time ago the best way to deal with a snake was to cut it's head off* Match #5 Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka defeats Mark Ming with the "Superfly splash". The split screen sees a fired up Snuka vow to knock Haku off his throne and maybe knock his head off his shoulders! Monsoon tells the viewers that highlights of Mania will air on next weeks episode. Heenan says they wouldn't need highlights if the got off their lazy buts and made it too the Skydome. Feature Mach. The Ultimate Warrior & Demolition (Ax & Smash) vs The Heenan Family (Rich Rude & The Powers of Pain) w/Bobby "The Brain" Heenan went to a no contest when Earl Hebner through the match out during a pier six brawl with all six men in the ring. As promised Mean Gene is here to run down the final card for WrestleMania VI... Main Event. WWF Championship. Special Guest referee: James "Buster: Douglas "Ravishing" Rick Rude(c) w/Bobby "The Brain" Heenan vs The Ultimate Warrior Texas Bullrope Match. "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes vs Terry Funk WWF Intercontinental Championship Tito Santana(c) vs "World's Strongest Man" Dino Bravo w/"Le Commendant" Frenchy Martin WWF Tag Team Championship Toronto Street Fight. The Powers of Pain (barbarian & Warlord)(c) w/Bobby "The Brain" Heenan vs Demolition (Ax & Smash) Grudge Match "Hacksaw" Jim Duggan vs "Raging Bull" Manny Frnandez King's Court Match King Haku w/Bobby "The Brain" Heenan vs Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka The Killer Bees (B. Brian Blair & Jim Brunzell) w/The Guiding Light" Capt Lou Albano vs Badd Company (Paul Diamond & Pat Tanaka) w/"The Doctor of Style" Slick Intermission Special Attraction Match. "The 8th Wonder of the World" Andre the Giant vs "The Walking Natural Disaster" Earthquake w/"Le Commendant" Frenchy Martin WWF Canadian United States Tag Team Championship The Fabulous Rougeaou Brothers (Jacques & Raymond)(c) w/"Le Commendant" Frenchy Martin Prison Yard Match. Big Boss Man vs Nailz w/"The Doctor of Style" Slick "The Golden Warrior" Kevin Von Erich vs Jake "The Snake" Roberts Billy Jack Haynes vs "The Mastodon" Vader w/"The Devious" Mr Fuji Flag Match The American Eagles (Liberty & Justice) vs The Bolshieviks (Boris Zhukov & Nikolai Volkoff) Plus Robert Goulet sings "Oh, Canada". Free for All exclusive. The Fantastics (Bobby Fulton & Tommy Rodgers) vs The Samoan Headhunters (Alofa & Kokina) w/"The Devious" Mr Fuji

Would also add 1975 vs Baba for Bruiser. Awesome match Fuck yeah, I'll vote for him

Tony Halme really is an ideal DSOTR subject. His life was unquestionably fascinating and certainly tragic in a sense. At the same time, he was so irredeemable as a human being that it's hard to have any sympathy for him. I was a bit disappointed they didn't touch on his time in RINGS since that was his best work from an in-ring perspective, but that's to be expected from a production aimed at a mass audience.

Syxx was a really good addition. In theory the Giant was. Until the thought occurs that everybody here is meant to be cannon fodder for Hogan at the end of the day. The Giant as cannon fodder seems silly.

Turning his back to the hard camera was a great choice by somebody. Another great addition to the early nWo story.

In other news... https://x.com/WrestleOps/status/1907493851209539784 And on Rusev Day, no less. Not gonna lie, Gunther/Rusev will probably bang hard.

Thanks!

Actually as we can tell from the INA footage, both TF1 and Antenne 2 were screening wrestling -if anything it feels like it's more the latter whose 11pm news bulletin comes on after the match. Wages were a sore point in Britain also - by 1987 the average purse forca Big Daddy main event was £30 with. £25 for a non Daddy match. (Actually, taking about money van lead to trouble- a discussion just last year on a FB group for British wrestling about pay rates led to a screaming row and the group moderators being forced to hand over the reigns to ex wrestlers. The issue being that pay was nobody's business other than the individual concerned.) It was Guy Mercier who lobbied successfully for the social security and pay for Itinerant Workers (see earlier discussion) for wrestlers and it was a sore point with French promoters and remained so into the C21st. It was a big issue in Guy's son Marc Mercier's dispute with Flesh Gordon and Jacky Richard's Wrestling Superstars promotion with each side accusing the other of being evil swindlers. I'm sure people could work out for themselves that Catch was taped in advance - eg when they saw themselves on TV! Actually I think the houses look pretty respectable by English/French standards - well filled out theatre/civic centre type venues. Unlike America which relied on the big monthly Arena show, Britain and France were built on intensity of touring smaller 300-500 seater venueS like theatres. Shows on this scale still happen in both countries but the schedule is a lot thinner. In the 70s Britain was also going through a dip period which ended in 1977 with Big Daddy and the consequent boom. We have no statistics for how much of an impact Flesh Gordon, Jessy Texas Les Maniaks etc had on boosting houses. Delaporte himself remained part of the business in 1977 having recently gone from infamous Heel to tough enforcer referee.

I forgot I wrote this bit a year ago. Still now you have the short review and the long review. The quick summary and the drilling down into the intricacies of a technical match.

The name change (which basically no one gets these days anymore unless you're a scrub like Pillman) may be a sign of this. "Hey, we'll give you a stupid last name. Ok with that Ricky ?"

My assumption would be that Penta, being 5 years older and having a much longer resume than Ricky Starks is one reason. The other reason is because I suspect Penta and Fenix were a package deal and that comes with some added leverage and motivation to push Penta right out of the gate. I'll also make another assumption - Penta and Rey wanted to go to the main roster for main roster money. Unlike Starks, who was kinda "WWE or Bust" at this point, I assume the Lucha Bros could've freelanced around the world and been in relatively high demand in Mexico, Japan, UK, Australia (?)...and then also probably still signed with TNA. If the WWE wanted them, with the exclusivity the WWE demands, they had to make it worth it. I don't think Starks had the same leverage in that sense either. Finally, I also think that because Starks has that reputation - at least online - of being "Cody's guy," I'm guessing there was some discussion about why going to NXT for a little bit would maybe get some of that supposed "heat" off him and allow him to prove he's not a prima donna or whatever the reputation from leaving AEW was. Yes, Cody might be his buddy and Punk might be his buddy, but its still pro-wrestling and there will always be backstage politics where, if the wind blows a certain way, you can find yourself benched. Going to NXT, working for (and getting along with) Shawn, showing that you don't see going to NXT as an insult or "step down," is a smart move.