ohtani's jacket

Terry Rudge vs. Sunny War Cloud (Hamburg 9/20/87) If Terry can't beat Sunny War Cloud then the situation is bloody hopeless. C'mon, Terry! He's not a Native American warrior, he's a bum from Quebec! Terry is great at backpedaling and telling his opponent to settle down. He's also great at beating the snot out of them during the middle part of the match. What is with this ref? He's had it in for Terry the entire tournament. My whole world crumbles as Terry gets a yellow card and then a red. That's bullshit, ref!

Michel Saulnier vs. Jo Marconville (aired 12/11/59) This was a good, solid bout. It was one of those bouts that threatened to get out of hand at times, but since neither guy was a heel they settled back down. Saulnier had only been a pro for a few years at this point after he missed out on '56 Olympics. He wasn't the maestro he would become ten years in, but he was a good worker. The only problem I had with this was the length. That's a funny thing to complain about given how long most of the non-JIP stuff runs, but this needed a few more minutes to really leave an impression. Jean Rabut vs. Vento Castella (aired 1/22/60) This was already available, but I wanted to nail down who Castella was. Turns out he was a Spanish wrestler who went on to have success in England and Mexico. He actually held the NWA World Welterweight title for a brief time, which is more impressive than it sounds considering he ended Karloff Lagarde's 590 day run as champion. The commentator refers to him as a 19 year-old rookie from a famous Valencia wrestling school. This was JIP, so all of this is just a footnote, but at least we have our man. Jacky Corn vs. Ted Lamar (aired 8/23/58) This was a long bout, but both wrestlers were committed to what they were doing. I kept expecting it to get nasty since Corn was involved, but the uppercuts weren't flash triggers here. Instead of beating the shit out of his opponent, Corn was more interested in flashy looking pin attempts. Not a bad match, but nothing that furthered my opinion of Jacky Corn. Vassilios Mantopolous vs. Roberto Ricetti (aired 6/26/59) This was an early Mantopolous match. I'm not sure if it was a title match, but it was definitely set up as some sort of challenge. The interesting thing about the bout was that it was completely devoid of the lightweight stylings that we've come to know from Mantopolous in the 60s footage. That makes me wonder if the tricks Mantopolous picked up were things he learned while wrestling in the UK. It also makes me wonder how prevalent that style was in the 50s. Wherever he learned his art from, this was definitely the most straight up wrestling match I've seen Mantopolous work. Ricetti was an Italian who followed a similar path as Mantopolous, touring the UK in the late 50s and early 60s as a middleweight. Le Bourreau de Bethune vs. Gilbert Leduc (aired 2/5/59) This was already in circulation, but I hadn't seen it in years and back then I didn't have a good grasp of who Leduc was. I thought the opening of this was brilliant. Le Bourreau de Bethune was a hell of a lot better than most guys who done a mask. It was like watching Villano III compared to most of the masked wrestlers I've seen so far. Leduc was fantastic as well. Naturally, it couldn't last. I was kind of hoping that Le Bourreau de Bethune would bloody Leduc, but they did some sort of injury angle where Leduc either had an abdominal issue or some broken ribs. The match screamed to a grinding halt, but it was surreal to see Leduc laid out like that, and a testament to how big a player Le Bourreau de Bethune was during the height of catch's popularity.

I liked Royal vs. Oliver. I just had some reservations about it as a title match, but then again, I'm not sure what title matches were meant to look like at the time. I would still recommend it. My focus has really been on the workers, so I would recommend the best Leduc, Drapp, Sanniez, and Saulnier matches at this stage. And all of the stuff with Le Petit Prince vs. Noced. Maybe Delaporte at his best. I can't think of too many great matches without going through my posts, but the overall quality has been incredibly high. Especially the stuff from '57. The week-to-week quality of the '57 matches is higher than anything I can remember seeing prior to the early 90s. It helps that they're setting up a camera and taping a house show, but the quality of those 50s Paris shows is something I don't think you see again until Tokyo in the late 80s/early 90s. I will start keeping track of the matches I liked. Matt says there's a good Rene Ben Chemoul match coming up, which is something I have been waiting to see.

Georges Kasbarian vs. Bruno Rocco (aired 9/5/65) Georges Kasbarian was a big man. He was a Frenchman. I don't know much about Rocco except that the commentator says he's Italian and he has a sour looking face. There's two ways of looking at a match like this. You either think it's slow with little action, or you appreciate that they did better than most heavyweights. The thing I appreciate about it is that at least the matchmaker gave them an honest 20 minutes. Rene Asselin vs. Moise Besch (aired 8/16/58) I like these gritty midcard matches. They may not feature the best wrestlers or the best wrestling, but they set the tone for the main event to follow. Besch looks like a French yokel when he flails about. He goes from kissing babies at the start to biting his opponent and striking him in the groin. Asselin looks like a good worker, and I'm sure he had a few barn burners in his career, but we won't be seeing him again. Nikolai Zigulinoff vs. Robert Gastel (aired 10/30/58) Nikolai Zigulinoff was a wild man whose gimmick was that he was a Bulgarian shepherd. I found this cool tidbit about him from the New Zealand Sports Digest (June 1963): More interesting than the match, I can tell you that much. You do get to see footage of him dining at a restaurant with one of those women, though. And appreciating the musicians playing for him at his table. Paul Villars vs. Juan Botana (aired 1/1/59) I quite like Paul Villars. I feel he's the most underrated of the heel sect we've seen thus far. Once he starts cheating, the crowd is molten. He's not over the top with his theatrics but he knows how to piss off a crowd. Botana is a tough Spaniard whom we don't see again. Actually, I think Bob ALPRA shared a clip of him wrestling Jo Marconville, but that's it.

Terry Rudge vs. Billy Samson (Hamburg 9/18/87) Can my boy get a win over Billy Samson? Samson embarrasses Rudge with a show of strength to start, and Terry starts taking apart Samson's leg like the wrestling god that he is. Ooh, a flick of sweat at the bell. The song between rounds is "I Wanna Dance With Somebody." Not the song I'd choose for Terry, but he does an awesome job of taunting Samson and the ref in the intervals. Rudge is in control for most of the bout and looks the goods. Then the editor does one of his beloved fades and Rudge is getting his ass handed to him. Not content with fades and dissolves, the editing dude does a fancy spiral edit. I wonder if he watched that infamous Brazos vs. Villanos match. If so, he learned from the best. Rudge keeps getting knocked down. He can barely beat the count. Damn it, he's selling this beautifully. My boy is a jobber in this tournament, but this was a nice fight.

I'm pretty sure there was a Slaughter/Wanz match already out there. Not sure if this is a different match.

This week's Segunda Caida batch: Cheri Bibi vs. Andre Chauveau (aired 8/2/57) Andre Chauveau was an older wrestler from the Lino Ventura era (I call it that, but in reality Ventura only wrestled for a few years before a broken leg ended his career.) He reminded me a bit of Ken Joyce, and other British wrestlers who liked to use comedy in their matches. Bibi is the type of wrestler who's only good when he's moving forward and striking people. Even though Bibi was aggressive here, the best thing about the bout was Chauveau's reaction to losing. Later on, he became a referee, or an "arbitre" as the French like to call them. Which, I believe, is the only time we'll see him again. The real question is, does Bibi have a good match in the footage? Michel Chaisne vs. Jo Labat (aired 8/2/57) I swear they must have been giving Chaisne a push in '57. He was on TV a lot. He actually looked the goods here. I don't know who was promoting this match, but letting him work a clean bout did wonders for his rep (in my eyes at least.) This followed the typical pattern of a stalemate that leads to frustration. It wasn't the hottest version that I can remember, but Chaisne came across strong in the finish. Next up, he fights Leduc, but it's the clipped match. It would be nice to think he was on TV a few times in the lead up to the feature match with Leduc, but I guess catch doesn't work like that. Moise Besch vs. Jo Benardo (aired 8/8/57) I'm pretty sure I've watched this already, but I might as well watch it in context. Both of these guys have huge heads. I thought it was the camera playing tricks, but everyone else's head is normal-sized. There's a fair amount of niggle in this bout and it whets the appetite for the match that follows. Jacques Couderc vs. Ami Sola (aired 8/8/57) Fabulous match. Couderc was amazing. I've watched a few Ami Sola matches now, and I swear I couldn't recognize him before this bout. I won't forget his face again. Couderc was just brilliant. It felt like you were watching some kind of eccentric catch genius. I haven't felt this way about a worker since the first time I saw Mocho Cota. In many ways, this bout reminded me of Mocho Cota vs. Americo Rocca with Sola making a pretty good Rocca. I loved how they blended all of the elements of catch together. I especially loved the comedy spot where Sola performed his move on the ref by mistake. That was one of the best comedy spots I've seen in catch. Naturally, we don't see Couderc again, but this is a match that I'll go back to again and again when shitty catch gets me down.

Jetlag is the guy who finds all this stuff. I just obsessively compulsively watch it. Rolo Brasil vs. Terry Rudge (Hamburg 9/10/87) C'mon, Terry, you got this! I'm not sure if this is part of the tournament or not since the date seems off, but Rolo Brasil is a much trickier prospect than Goulet so I'm worried about this. If you've never watched one of these German VHS tapes from the 80s, they're pretty amateur. The guy doing the editing loves to fade in and out at the end of each round. The closest equivalent I can think of is the VHS tapes from the original JWP. One game I like to play is "guess the song between rounds." You only catch a snippet of it so it can be difficult at times. I remember spending hours trying to figure out a song in a Caswell Martin match. Rudge sure likes running his mouth. This was a better fight than the Goulet match, but Terry is playing chickenshit heel, which is beneath him in my opinion. He's Terry Rudge, so he's good at it, but he gets DQ'ed in the end after telling the ref: "Don't you start your fucking shit." Can Rudge get a win in Hamburg? Stay tuned.

There's so much to sift through that I'm gonna dump it here instead of dredging up individual wrestlers' threads. Dennis Goulet vs. Terry Rudge (Hamburg 10/11/87) German tournaments aren't like Champion Carnivals. That's the first thing you need to get out of your head. They're a string of houseshow matches, so try to have fun with them. Imagine you're there -- drinking beer, cheering on your favorite, listening to Europop between rounds. Hamburg '87 may be the last great German tournament to make tape since someone filmed a shitload of it. Grab a beer, put on some Scorpions, whatever it takes to get in the mood. Terry Rudge is a wrestling God. For most of this bout, he beats up Dennis Goulet because he deserves to get beaten up. Rudge has a whiny accent for one of the toughest men to lace up a pair, but it's awesome hearing him swear. For some reason, Goulet ends up winning. My hero lost. I'm pissed! But we'll piece Hamburg together one match at a time.

Andre Drapp & Bernard Vignal vs. Rocco Lamban & Dr. Adolf Kaiser (aired 4/21/61) Well, this was interesting. Felix Lamban tagging with Dr. Adolf Kaiser. You wonder if they sat in the hotel lobby, drinking cognac while discussing the finer points of how to strangle a man. They formed quite the pair, actually. You had the wimpy, effeminate Kaiser, who cowered with every blow, and the tough guy Lamban. The match wasn't as fun as I was hoping -- their mutual stranglehold wasn't as big a focus as you'd expect -- but I've seen worse. Henri Le Mao vs. Thadee Kojielski (aired 4/17/66) Henri Le Mao is a joy to watch. With his moustache and receding hairline, he almost reminds me of a French Fujiwara. As with a lot of these new finds, we don't have enough footage of him, since surprisingly there is more complete footage from '57-59 than the 60s. But we get this gem. Kojielski was a young Polish wrestler, as best as I can tell. He was a nice dance partner, but this was the Le Mao show. Roger Guettier vs. Cowboy Jack Bence (aired 9/15/60) Bence came back to France every year or so in the early 60s. It would be nice if we had more footage of him. He could be catch's very own version of a Stan Hansen. This match had a terrible crowd. The ring was littered with trash before the wrestlers came out. The wrestlers, and the ref, had to spend time clearing it of garbage before they could start. They spent the entire match being pelted with trash. At first, I thought it was some kind of drunk, unruly crowd. Then I realized there was a bunch of snot nosed kids at ringside throwing things at the wrestlers. God knows why no one did anything about it. Eventually, someone must have complained because a police officer came to ringside (looking remarkably like Officer Crabtree from 'Allo 'Allo.) He was pretty useless, and in the end we got a slow match that was difficult to follow because of the kids. There were some exciting tumbles to the outside, but I was kind of hoping that the wrestlers would scare the living shit out of the kids. A wide shot at the end showed the ring in a sea of trash. This match will henceforth be known as the "trash match."

Japan has a few cable and satellite providers, but most people are turning to streaming services. Around 20% of the population subscribe to a streaming service with Netflix being the most popular due to its original Japanese content. Pay TV penetration remains low, however, with only around 25% of households subscribing to a platform.

My argument for Michaels vs. Ramon is that there really hadn't been a match like that in the WWF since '84. It's not a particularly violent match compared to the matches that came later but I think it paved the way for the gimmick matches the WWF did in the Attitude Era. The territories had gimmick matches, WCW had gimmick matches, and hardcore wrestling was growing in the States at the time (someone more familiar with the style could point to the influence on that -- King of the Death Matches, perhaps?), but I'm specifically referring to the WWF. I wonder if you see some of the edgier moments of '95-96 without the ladder match (even with the ECW influence), and given it was the first time Michaels stopped the show, it seemed to have an impact on the Kliq running amok for a couple of years. Perhaps Michaels would have been pushed anyway, but the star turn at Wrestlemania didn't hurt.

I'm not sure if there was one match that stood out from the others. Perhaps the 2/3 falls one because of the high rating from Meltzer. I think it's highly possible that people saw some, but not all of the matches, and that they were influenced by the pairing without even realizing it, e.g. they were influenced by Benoit vs. Sasuke from Super J Cup.

Georges Cohen vs. Daniel Boucard (aired 12/26/68) Cohen was a true stylist. I don't know what his reputation will be like coming out of his project, but to me he's a guy I can rely on to deliver proper catch. This covered all the bases of a catch contest. It started off as an exhibition of the type of wrestling I signed on for in the first place. Then it disintegrated and became the kind of contest that drew people into the late 50s stuff. They may have overdone the forearm smash, but then again, can you really overdo the forearm smash? This had "draw" written all over it, but they tried to make it as a dramatic as possible. Right until the end, they were pushing for a result. This was a nice piece of catch. I dunno if people will appreciate it as much if they don't watch a bunch of crap before it, but to me this was the real deal. Gilbert Leduc vs. Rocco Lamban (aired 10/30/58) Rocco Lamban was Felix Lamban, the Spanish heavyweight. He was nicknamed "El Estrangulador" (the Strangler) because he used the same variation of the headlock that Dr. Adolf Kaiser employed. In Spanish, it was called "la corbata" (the tie.) This was a great contest. If it taught me anything it's that you don't fuck with Gilbert Leduc. Up until now, the image we've had of Leduc has been one of a wrestler and supreme technician. The guy who can do the toupie headspin better than anyone else. This match had footage of Leduc playing bridge (which Couderc would not stop talking about), but it also proved that Leduc could fight. And he did the best counter to Kaiser's move that you could possibly imagine, proving once again that Leduc is a badass. Vassilios Mantopolous & Francis Louis vs. Billy Catanzaro & Gilbert Lemagouroux (aired 8/19/66) This was much better than the last Catanzaro/Lemagouroux tag I watched. Instead of going straight for the comic heel spots, they gave young Francis Louis a working over, which made it all the more rewarding when Mantopolous made fools out of them. Not only that, but it had some comic heel spots I hadn't seen before like Catanzaro and Lemagouroux being tangled in the ropes at the same time and Mantopolous rolling both of them into balls. We all want serious, greatest wrestler ever candidate, Billy Catanzaro in every match, but this was his best stooge routine so far. Rene Ben Chemoul & Walter Bordes vs. Anton Tejero & Antonio Montoro (aired 9/20/71) Rene Ben Chemoul has been a disappointment so far, but this was a spirited performance from him. It's possible that his best stuff was tagging with Bordes. He worked a bunch of cool spots and was lively throughout. I didn't expect Tejero to be as mobile as he was, and Montoro's performance was much better than in his singles match. He was a stooge for the locals, so I don't want to draw too many conclusions, but at least he played the role with gusto. Angelito vs. Albert Sanniez (aired 2/19/77) This was joined in progress. Angelito isn't the greatest wrestler you'll ever discover, but at least we got to see the brilliance of Albert Sanniez in one more match. Iska Israel vs. Jean Corne (aired 1/15/65) These guys were really great. It was like watching the French version of Steve Grey vs. Jon Cortez. Another match you should watch when you feel like you've exhausted the supply of great catch wrestling. I was surprised by how aggressive Corne was in this match. At first I thought it was to put over Israel, but it paid dividends in the end.

The mystery is solved. Thank you, Phil Lions.

Tiger Mask vs. Dynamite Kid didn't create the juniors style, but it's hard to imagine it being as popular without the Tiger Mask phenomenon.

I don't know about changing wrestling as a whole, but I think there are certain matches that changed promotions. The Funks vs. The Sheik, Choshu/Yatsu vs. Jumbo/Tenryu, Jumbo vs. Tenyu, and Misawa vs. Jumbo had a huge impact on All Japan Pro-Wrestling, for example. Antonio Inoki vs. Strong Kobayashi paved the way for native vs. native. Inoki vs. Ruska was arguably as important as Inoki vs. Ali. Choshu getting hot completely changed the wrestling landscape in the early 80s. The first ladder match between Michaels and Ramon always felt influential to me. The Foley vs. Austin match from '98 provided the template for Attitude Era brawls. I am sure there is a match after that which swung the promotion towards more workrate oriented matches (Angle vs. Benoit?) There was a point where All Japan Women completely broke away from the formula set by Beauty Pair vs. Black Pair and Crush Girls vs. Dump's Army. It happened around the time that they couldn't find new idols to replace the Crush Girls and pushed the Bull vs. Aja feud instead. But the change really happened when the women started having singles matches against each other that were treated as seriously as men's matches. The UWF having clean finishes was a game changer. I don't know which match you'd point to. Perhaps the Maeda vs. Takada match from the end of 1988. I think Pancrase was influential on RINGS and Kingdom, which in term was influential on PRIDE. Most people would argue that PRIDE affected the business in a bad way, though. Lucha is an interesting one. I am sure there is some Pena booked stuff that changed the business in the early 90s. There is a lot of evidence in lucha of workers being influenced by Japanese and American wrestling over time.

Jose Tarres vs. Dr. Adolf Kaiser (aired 1/1/59) Unfortunately, we don't have as many Tarres matches on tape as we thought, but I've been watching newsreel footage of him from Spain and I think we have a fair idea of how he worked. This match was almost identical to the von Chenok fight except that Kaiser was a more interesting opponent. It was a bit slow at times, but if you liked the von Chenok match then you'll enjoy this. Frank Valois & Andre Bollet vs. Eddy Wiecz & "Monsieur Universe" Earl Maynard (aired 6/6/65) When I saw "Monsieur Universe," I thought it might be the British wrestler, John Lee, who won the Mr. Universe amateur title in 1957, but it was actually Barbados bodybuilder, Earl Maynard. Maynard was a skinny, sickly kid who turned to bodybuilding as a way to improve his health. He was called up to service in the Royal Air Force and began wrestling while stationed in Cyprus. A British promoter, who was on holiday there, discovered Maynard. Maynard became popular in Europe during the 60s and eventually made his way to the States. He remained an active bodybuilding competitor during his wrestling career and was crowned Mr. Universe in 1964. Later, he got into films, starring in such classics as Black Belt Jones and Truck Turner. He was also in the Nick Nolte film, The Deep. The match? It stank. Roger Delaporte vs. "Oddjob" Togo (aired 5/23/65) Togo came to the ring dressed as Oddjob. That was cool. He attacked Delaporte before the bell. I wasn't sure how Delaporte would react since Togo had no intention other than to play the heel. Delaporte rolled with it and played defacto face. The match was rubbish, but after the bout Togo threatened to throw his hat at Delaporte which was amusing. Le Petit Prince vs. Michael Falempin (aired 5/27/66) Andre was introduced to the crowd before this match. Le Petit Prince was easily the best thing to come out of French catch in the 1960s. He was still a rookie here, still trying to put on some extra pounds. But what a breath of fresh air after those rubbish matches. The thing I love about the Prince is that he doesn't make superhero comebacks. He sells a beating and fights his way back. The more I watch of him, the more I'm convinced that he should be in the conversation for best light weight ever.

Al Araujo vs. Jimenez (aired 7/26/57) Man, the commentator had no idea who these guys were. He didn't even know if they were French or Spanish. I can tell you for a fact that Al Araujo was French. I thought he might have been doing a South American gimmick since he was using the same towel the Peruvians always did, but the Wrestling Heritage side lists him as Frenchman from Perpignan, and Bob ALPRA has a cool photo of his wrestler's license. I have no idea who "Jimenez" was. If he ever appeared on television again it was under a different name. It may not have even been his ring name. You heard how confused the commentator was. I was hoping he'd win the bout so I could hear the ring announcer say his name, but Araujio was the winner. For a couple of days I was like a dog with a bone over this name, but there are a million random guys on French cards and we don't have a lot of match records from this era. I'm letting it go. I swear. King Kong Taverne vs. Roger Delaporte (aired 7/26/57) So, French catch had its own version of Mal Kirk. I thought this was a bit of a mess, to be honest. Delaporte was arguably the top heel in the country, which made Taverne the defacto baby face. But a guy like Taverne is hardly your typical baby face. The comedy at the beginning was all right , but the longer the match went, the clearer it was that while Taverne could move pretty well for a big guy, he was lost on offence. He looked like the kind of wrestler who grinds a guy down, but you can't exactly do that to a heel. So Delaporte started to attack Taverne instead. That got the desired reaction from the crowd, but it made the big guy look weak. The same problem happened in the Bence match. Bence thought he'd come to Paris and do the same heel act he did in every territory, but he didn't quite figure that the local star was a heel. I have no idea if Taverne played a heel in other matches. I'm assuming he did because of his look. If I'd been the matchmaker, I would have put him up against a different guy (maybe one of the young "beaus"), but it seems that they liked to match Delaporte with big guys. Jose Tarres vs. Karl von Chenok (aired 4/2/59) I want to know if "Cabeza de Hierro", Jose Tarres, really had iron plates in his forehead. I'm guessing it was a scar from whatever accident he was in. There are so many stories about this guy. People say he once knocked a bull unconscious and that he could break a marble table with his head. Karl von Chenok was a German wrestler who was completely dedicated to the science behind the nerve hold. This was a completely minimalist bout. Tarres threw headbutts and von Chenok applied his nerve hold. They both rendered each other unconscious in back-to-back falls. The stage was set for Tarres to knock von Chenok out in the final fall, but the promoter had other ideas. This was completely unlike anything else we've seen in catch. I thought it was interesting that von Chenok bled on the same card that Debusne did. I don't know if this was booked to help set the tone for Humez' fight or if it was just a coincidence, but it wasn't your run-of-the-mill catch bout, that's for sure. It was different. That's cool. The second two falls weren't as good as the first, but hell, it was memorable.