Phil Lions

Three: - March 20, 1976: Kader Hassouni & Claude Roca vs. Bernard Caclard & Albert Sanniez + Mr. Montreal vs. Inca Wiracocha - April 30, 1976: no specific matches advertised - August 7, 1976: Bob Plantin vs. Fred Magnier + Antonio Pereira vs. Jean-Claude Bordeaux + Michel Chaisne vs. Michel Di Santo

The ones in bold - TF1. The rest - A2. The last TF1 broadcast that I have a record of is from October 15, 1977 (Zarak vs. Jean-Pierre Le Comte + Le Petit Prince vs. Albert Sanniez). INA has two additional shows from 1978 (April 4 and May 17) in their TF1 archive, and the footage is out there already, but INA's actually got those two listed as "taped" as opposed to "broadcast" so it looks like those two were taped for TF1 but not aired on TF1.

Now that the new footage well has dried up, it's a good moment to post this. Here's a list of French catch matches that most likely aired on TV, but we don't have the footage. Some of these I have mentioned previously. I say "most likely" because these were advertised in the TV listings, but there's always a possibility a different match may have aired instead or there might have been no catch broadcast at all that night. It didn't happen often, from what I can tell, but last minute changes definitely happened on occasion. I'm also including a few matches that I've seen mentioned on live event posters as being TV rematches, and a few that were in the TV listings but I don't think they aired. - March 22, 1954: Primo Carnera vs. Hermann Reiss + Francois Miquet vs. The Great Zorro [first ever live broadcast] - March 20, 1959: L'Ange Blanc vs. Roger Guettier [advertised, but likely didn't air because the masked wrestler TV ban came into effect right before this] - April 26, 1959: Pierre Boss vs. Ami Sola [as part of "Télé-dimanche"] - June 27, 1959: Gaby Calderon vs. Karl von Chenok [I'm guessing it didn't air] - July 23, 1959: Jacky Corn & Roger Laroche vs. Pierre Bernaert & Eric Husberg - February 26, 1960: Roger Delaporte vs. Jose Arroyo + Robert Duranton vs. Lino Di Santo - November 4, 1960: L'Homme Masque vs. Ray Hunter + [potentially part of] Dr. Adolf Kaiser vs. Al Hayes - March 11, 1963: Roger Delaporte vs. Rene Ben Chemoul + Andre Bollet vs. Jimmy Dula - October 3, 1963: Vega Dingo vs. Cheri Bibi + L’Ange Blanc & Gilbert Leduc vs. Robert Gastel & Jack de Lasartesse - November 25, 1963: Roger Delaporte & Andre Bollet vs. Pat O’Conor [Murius Servais] & Mr. Montreal - January 23, 1964: Ricki Starr vs. Robert Gastel - January 30, 1964: Hercules Cortez vs. Le Grand Vladimir + Andre Drapp & Mr. Montreal vs. Roger Delaporte & Pierre Bernaert - April 10, 1964: Ricki Starr vs. Ski Hi Lee - before July 12, 1964: Roger Delaporte & Pierre Bernaert vs. Mr. Montreal & Lino Di Santo [listed as a TV rematch on a poster] - October 9, 1964: L'Ange Blanc & Gilbert Leduc vs. Hercules Cortez & Robert Gastel - December 4, 1966: Guy Mercier vs. Roger Molar - February 26, 1967: Rene Ben Chemoul & Walter Bordes vs. Daniel Boucard & Jose Gonzales - March 26, 1967: Kamikaze vs. Gilbert Cesca - 1968 or 1974: Le Petit Prince vs. Kamikaze [listed as a TV rematch on a poster, year not clear] - April 26, 1969: Jean Corne & Jean Mahieu vs. Michel Falempin & Serge Reggiori - January 11, 1971: Gilbert Leduc, Jacky Corn & Guy Mercier vs. Les Kamikazes & Jo Marsallon [also listed for January 25] - June 13, 1974: Robert Duranton & Firmin vs. Jean Corne & Michel Falempin - August 29, 1974: Rene Ben Chemoul & Walter Bordes vs. Les Green Squal’s - November 30, 1974: Bobby Genele vs. El Kaci - 1975: Zarak vs. Mr. Montreal [exact date unknown] - March 8, 1975: Zarak vs. Jamaican Jo + Michel Debyser vs. Paco Ramirez - May 24, 1975: Le Petit Prince & Angelito vs. Jacky Richard & Zoltan Boscik - June 28, 1975: Johnny Saint vs. Michel Falempin + Zarak vs. Michel Debyser - January 19, 1976: Walter Bordes vs. Daniel Boucard - March 28, 1976: Inca Wiracocha vs. Batistou - February 19, 1977: Michel Di Santo vs. Rudy Croser [likely didn't air] - February 27, 1977: Jose Gonzales vs. Gerard Taysse - June 12, 1978: Jacky Corn vs. Jacky Richard + Gilbert Leduc vs. Zorba - October 22, 1978: Zorba vs. Jean Menard - before April 21, 1979: L’Ange Blanc & Eddy Mores vs. Robert Duranton & Firmin [listed as a TV rematch on a poster] - December 7, 1981: Walter Bordes & Claude Roca vs. Anton Tejero & Albert Sanniez - August 7, 1982: Guy Mercier & Jean Corne vs. Jacky Richard & Guy Renault [only footage of the finish is available] All in all, there seem to be over 150 French catch broadcasts (from 1954 to 1985) that we don't have footage of. Most of them, unfortunately, are only listed as "Catch" in the TV listings and there's no mention of the matches that were to air. In the list above I didn't include some matches that I think were likely repeats. For example, the TV listings mention a Duranton/Lamar match airing in 1972 and 1974. INA has a Duranton/Lamar match from 1973. I highly doubt three different Duranton/Lamar matches aired on TV in consecutive years. I think most likely it was one match that was re-broadcast a couple of years later, and INA's date is wrong (the TV listings have Leduc & Corn vs. Fryziuk & Schmid airing on that night in 1973). I'll also say that in comparing the TV listings with the INA dates it becomes apparent that some of the INA dates are the taping dates, not the air dates. I'm too lazy to make a list of the discrepancies though.

While on the topic of Souglakos VHS tapes, this one was knocking around online on a couple of occasions. Had a chance to buy it and thought about it, but passed. Not sure if it's the same tape as the one above as this one seems to feature Souglakos' match from the NWF show in 1991 (versus the blonde guy in the red singlet) and that match is not featured in the video above.

Link updated.

Ah, good catch! Thanks. I had read this incorrectly in my notes. I'll correct it now. New Catch in 1991 on TF1 was its own standalone show, for those four weeks. "3ème mi-temps" was the magazine show that aired the Parmentier brothers tag on local Reims TV.

While on the topic of Spanish lucha libre, here's a fun stat that I just randomly came across. According to this Barcelonian article from early 1957, in 1956 there were a total of 243 shows in the Catalonia province. The most out of any Spanish province, according to the article. And keep in mind, either 36 or 37 of those shows were held at the two Barcelona bullrings (a 14,893-seater and a 19,582-seater).

Yep, like David said, Sky (who already had a deal with WWF in the UK) co-owned Eurosport until May 1991 when TF1 replaced them as co-owners of the network. Back in that 1989-1991 period Eurosport was airing the syndicated WWF TV shows like Superstars of Wrestling and Prime Time Wrestling, but also showing some of the PPVs too. For example, I came across WrestleMania VI and VII airings (90-minute broadcasts, about a month and half to two months after the PPVs had taken place). Doesn't look like it was a preview - it looks like in 1991 it was already airing on Eurosport, before it aired on TF1.* The history of New Catch on TV goes like this: - October through December 1988 (part of "Minuit sport” on TF1, New Catch actually replaced AWA and was then replaced by WCCW) - September or October 1991 through May 1992 (New Catch on Eurosport) - November 1991 (on TF1, only four episodes) * I say it looks like, because I can't 100% confirm what was airing on Eurosport in September and October 1991. The September listings say "Wrestling". In October it's "Wrestling from Europe". First mention of "New Catch" on Eurosport is December 3, which coincidentally is the last TF1 date too. I guess it's possible some CWA stuff may have aired in September and October, but I think most likely it was New Catch and they just hadn't started listing it like that in the listings. ----------- Another thing that struck me while researching this is how many upstart European TV networks used wrestling as featured programming to establish themselves on the market. Sky Channel launches in the UK in 1984 - they immediately start airing WWF. Canal Plus launches in France in 1984 - within 9 months they start airing WWF. Eurosport launches in 1989 - within a few months they start airing WWF. DSF launches in Germany in 1993 - they start airing WCW and GLOW right away. Etc.

Speaking of the midget wrestlers, I just randomly stumbled upon this information while looking for something else. Hassan, apparently, used to be the mascot for the AS Saint-Etienne football club. Saw this mentioned in a 1988 article for a FEC show. Then I googled it and the second photo below popped up. It's said to be from 1976 and lists him as Hassam Handami (it's probably Hassan and they misspelled it).

This book is from 1947. I have a scanned copy of it.

TF1 wasn't co-owner of Eurosport until mid 1991. It doesn't make sense for their New Catch show to be airing on Eurosport before that. The TV listings back that too - the last mention of WWF on Eurosport is exactly May 1991 when the co-ownership was about to switch to TF1, and then later in the year TF1 brings on New Catch. I'd guess some of the 1988 New Catch stuff was re-aired in 1991/1992. Yes, some CWA matches were for sure aired on Eurosport as part of New Catch.

New Catch/EWF on Eurosport. I had always had a rough idea, but I had never really looked into the exact timeline of when New Catch/EWF was airing on Eurosport. So today I dug through the TV listings and pieced together the history of pro wrestling on Eurosport until the mid 1990s*. It goes like this: - WWF: November 1989 through May 1991 - New Catch/EWF: September or October 1991 through May 1992** - WWF: September 1994 through early November 1994 - NJPW: November 1994 through December 1996*** * This is based on TV listings from Continental Europe. ** The September listings just say "Wrestling", but don't specify what wrestling (I'm guessing it was New Catch/EWF but can't confirm). The ones from October specifically say "Wrestling from Europe" and then from December onward it's "New Catch". *** The New Japan shows were originally branded as "World Superstars of Wrestling" and then rebranded to "Ring Warriors" in May 1995. So yeah, that was the New Catch/EWF run on Eurosport TV in Europe. Not even a year. The show aired at various times: 1 pm, 6 pm, 10 pm, 11:00 pm, etc.

Javier Ochoa was no amateur - he was the most popular Spanish pro wrestler in the Greco-Roman style and was a big star in Spain. Spain was one of the top European territories for that style for a while, in the 1920s especially.

I know. That's why I said during the peak years of Spanish pro wrestling, i.e. before WWF came to Spanish TV. Notice in the Rico/Acapulco match they call it "lucha libre profesional" too. There's no promoter per se. The match aired as part of the "Estudio abierto" talk show and most likely it was just a one-off novelty thing. All the introductory pre-match talk by the president of the local Castellón federation (i.e. governing body) certainly points to wrestling airing on the show for the first time. Bobby Deglané is on commentary (and he's excellent at it). That said, Victor Castilla is right there too and I know Rico was working for his "Los Colosos del Ring" promotion so most likely that promotion was involved.

I don't know if "Spanish catch" is the most accurate term here. It was definitely called that too, but lucha libre or just lucha was the more common term during the peak years of Spanish pro wrestling. If we're talking Spanish footage, we also have to mention the "Los Héroes del X'ondo" show. It was Spain's attempt at a "Titanes en el Ring" type of show. It aired on Spanish national TV from December 1978 until April 1979. This channel has some matches from the show: https://www.youtube.com/@misterfiera/videos After the show got cancelled, they did some live events throughout Spain and then by the end of 1979 "Los Héroes del X'ondo" went away completely.

Cowboy Lang and Tiny Tom were in France only in 1982 for Roger Delaporte. They were visiting stars. These 1986 midgets were most likely locals or at least lived locally. They were part of Flesh Gordon's crew and I have them working Flesh shows in 1986, 1987 and 1988. This 1986 midgets match aired only on local TV in the Picardy region. There was no catch on French national TV in 1986. Well, no proper catch anyway. There was a women's mud wrestling match that aired on A2 in April 1986, but the less said about that, the better. Alright, I've heard you say this before many times and I've always let it slide, but it's starting to annoy me so let's set the record straight. Your perception of CIC is completely wrong. CIC (Corporación Internacional de Catch) was something that existed briefly in the 1930s. That's it. Full stop. I've researched Barcelona and other Spanish towns post-WWII and I've seen exactly zero mentions of CIC. It simply did not exist in that era. I'd like to also point out that contrary to what one might read online elsewhere, Spanish wrestling did not die in the 1970s. Victor Castilla and Jacobo Rossi were still running their "Los Colosos del Ring" promotion in the mid 1980s, and they even set up their own governing body in 1984 because they did not like how the amateur wrestling federation Federación Española de Lucha was handling pro wrestling (in post-WWII Spain the amateur federation was the governing body for both amateur and pro wrestling). Yes, most Spanish promoters were done by the end of the 1970s but the idea that wrestling in Spain died altogether in the 1970s is wrong. Bonus: here's a World Welterweight Championship match that aired on Spanish national TV in 1983 .

New Caledonia was a French territory, and the channel in question was created and owned by ORTF.

This wasn't in mainland France. This was a show in Noumea, New Caledonia, and it aired on the local RFO Nouvelle Calédonie channel.

I've updated the original post with my findings on Luxembourg. The key points: - Catch aired on TV in Luxembourg from 1956 to 1972. - For the majority of that period it was airing on TV twice a week so overall Luxembourg had way more catch on TV than France did. - Catch had fixed time slots in Luxembourg, which is something it never really had in France. - This is true for both Switzerland and Luxembourg (and probably for Monaco too): sometimes the matches that were airing in these countries were filmed two or even three years prior. It wasn't always current footage.

Thanks for reaching out and looking into it! Meanwhile, I've been researching the Luxembourg TV listings and have become convinced all of the footage in Luxembourg/Switzerland/Monaco was indeed coming from France. The Swiss archive's response further confirms it. And man, Luxembourg had a lot of catch on TV. Two times per week for a decade plus. I'm up to 1970 in the research. I'll share the findings once I'm done.

In the days of Londos it was called just wrestling (palaistikos / palis). The switch to catch (kats) started in the mid 1950s and it took a few years.

Just checked my notes and that KMG story is definitely not true either. Even Hervé himself is on record that he started using the name Flesh Gordon in 1982. And indeed, I have him on posters as late as February 1982 still using his real name. So the KMG, with G for Gordon, was definitely not founded in 1979. In 1979 Gordon was still working for Delaporte. He went off on his own in 1982 or so when he either quit or was fired by Delaporte (depending on which version you want to believe). That's when "Flesh Gordon" was born. And besides, the source of the KMG story is the official WS website and that's not a source one should trust anyway. Just like one should've trust the BS FFCP stuff by Mercier that's plastered all over Wikipedia. No, but here's a screenshot of Hervé and Corne from said segment (which is about 6 minutes long). That's Hervé's first TV appearance that I have a record of (January 31, 1977). I think it aired only locally in Rennes, however.

Not really. Like OJ mentioned, Hervé was brought into the business by Jean Corne and by all accounts began his career in France. INA has a January 1977 FR3 segment featuring Corne, Angelito and Hervé, which spotlights Hervé as an upcoming star and at that point he was already claiming a World Championship (INA has footage of him defending said title the following month in Rennes). Technically, this FR3 segment is the earliest mention I've seen of him, but he probably started working a year or two prior. In 1977 he also began working for Delaporte, who had just resumed promoting after being away from the business for a while. I'm not sure if I buy the idea that Hervé ever worked in Mexico either. I mean he very well could've, but just like with Mercier and his complete BS of a story of FFCP's origins (among other wacky claims), I've learned not to trust anything these guys say, so until I see proof of it I'm not buying the story of Hervé working in Mexico. And I've come across zero proof. Also, keep in mind, Hervé became Flesh Gordon in late 1982 or early 1983 so a few years after his supposed Mexican run.

Switzerland used to have a pretty solid pro wrestling scene going - first in the mid 1930s when a bunch of tournaments were taking place there and then especially in the post-WWII years when catch became popular and the French booking offices were sending in talent. The Raoul Paoli office even did a World Heavyweight Title switch there in 1951 when they had Frank Sexton drop the title to Felix Miquet in Zurich. The big arena for wrestling in Switzerland was Hallenstadion in Zurich, which was for about 11,000 people. There were many shows in that arena from the late 1940s all the way to the mid 1980s. Check out Ronald Großpietsch's Switzerland archive. It doesn't have everything, but it covers a lot.

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