David Mantell

Harmless yeah. Just aggravating.

I don't think Khan himself popularised it, but Excalibur saying it and it catching on with their viewers makes sense.

People got by just gendering it as appropriate.

Ah yes. That silly masked commentator. I might have known.

It was Triple Tag in British Wrestling (so that's the name I grew up with) and Catch A Six in French Catch.

This bout from the November 1996 Catch Cup at the Bremen Stadhalle looked interesting on paper, a meeting of two generations. Michael Kovacs, one of the young nineties generation of wrestlers in Austria/Germany in the wake of Steve Wright including Steve's son Alex as well as Ecki Eckstein, Franz Schumann, Ulf Hermann etc had come of age. On the other hand there was the old school characters like Bobby Gaetano, Axel Dieter Sr, Roland Bock etc. in Britain we knew Gaetano, French born, Germany based, best for being Marty Jones's final opponent in the World Mid Heavyweight title. What I didn't know was that, like Jones, Gaetano had gone heel himself. Here we get to 1996 and he's quite the little villain. Just like Jones himself, Gaetano was now walking down the shady side of the street He gets a hefty boo at the start and struts around while Kovacs is cheered. Round 1: Kovacs easily forces Gaetano onto the ropes. He takes Bobby's arm in a wristlock and Gaetano easily switches arms to reverse the lever. Kovacs rolls out of the lever. Back and forth he rolls - and then high whips Gaetano for a somersault into a hard bump. Kovacs legdrops and scissors the arm, twisting hard. He gets up, passes the arm high over his head and has the hold on the kneeling Gaetano. Gaetano eventually corners and brutally throttles Kovacs until referee Didier Gapp stops him. Gaetano snapmares Kovacs and tries to smother him by leaning forward so his breathing is impeded. He gets Michael in the side chancery, front underhook top wristlock and straight arm over shoulder throw, leaving Kovacs in an armlock in the guard. Kovacs gets kneeling up right ready to roll out of the armbar. Instead Kovacs goes for a fireman's carry takedown into backdrop. Next Kovacs gets a side headlock into wristlever into hammerlock. He tries for a folding press but the bell goes. During the break, the same music the Leeds Boys used for their ring entry is played. I should know the tune but don't. Round 2. Gaetano gets a side chancery hold releases and beats down on Kovacs. He comes off the top rope with a flying stomp, jams a finger in Kovacs' eyes and chokes him on the top rope. He releases and snapmares Kovacs who in return clotheslines Gaetano. Gaetano leapfrogs and brags to the crowd how clever he has been to dodge the charge only for Kovacs to dropkick him out of the ring. Michael then suplexes Bobby in and crosspresses him but gets no count from Didi for reasons unclear. He gets a grovit, shoves his man down and stomps him with help from the top rope. Gaetano kicks his man outside and raises his arms in victory. Kovacs comes back and Gaetano tries to knock him off but gets shoulder blocked down. He gets double legs and slingshots Gaetano out of the ring. The bell goes, the KLF plays. Round 3. Kovacs gets a side headlock into wristlever into drop toehold into Gotch Toehold but Gaetano grabs the ropes so Gapp orders a break. Gaetano gets a wristlever but Kovacs gets another drop toehold. He tries the Scorpion Deathlock and the back bridging STF. He gets no submission so releases. On both their knees, Gaetano headbutts Kovacs, smacks his head in the mat and chokes him on the bottom rope. He snapmares and smothers Kovacs and side Chancery throws him. He chops and chokes Kovacs on the mat. Kovacs chops back, gets a dropkick and powerslam, a low flying dropkick and a small package for 2. Kovacs gets double legs, teases stomping Gaetano's crotch then gets a scorpion Deathlock. The bell goes. Sharp Dressed Man by ZZ Top plays but no sign of Gorgeous Jimmy Garvin or Precious. Kovacs is slow to release angering Gaetano who pounds him in the corner. Round 4. Once the bell is gone, Gaetano resumes beating up Kovacs, getting a wristlock, slipping it overhead and posting him to the opposite corner where he repeats the process. He charges Kovacs in the corner who boots him down.. Kovacs clotheslines Gaetano, missile dropkicks him off the top turnbuckle and fisherman's suplexes him for the onecrequired fall. A slightly disappointing battle of the generations with Gaetano having gone dirty in his old age.

Penny has just dropped. This is the same venue, in 1987, as the new 1982 match posted yesterday.

WTF? How long has this trendy behaviour been going on and who started it?

And here it is: I've got a tattered old copy of The Wrestler (Paul Lincoln Promotions version, NOT the Aptermag) from 1961 with Judo Al .Hayes as the White Angel (Ange Blanc knock-off who fought Paul's Dr Death alter ego just as the original across the English Channel feuded with Le Bourreau De Bethune) on the cover. Inside is a feature on PETER RANN - MAT ARTIST showing a handsome young Blue Eye sports car driving dark haired Rann. Come 1972, the TV was in colour and Rann was on TV (if Granada has a stock of their cinema match films we may yet someday see the younger Rann) but more importantly he was grey haired and a heel. And a heel in real life too - he is alleged to have worked as a rent enforcer for a notorious shark landlord - some accounts say the infamous Michael Rachmann of Notting Hill Gate. His grey hair would have made him a good Vieux Pontoufle heel in France. Here he takes on future Carribbean Sunshine Boy Johnny Kincaid, still a beloved blue eye but sporting bleached hair a la African American heel Sweet Daddy Siki. (Bleached African hair would later become a hip thing in the UK black community especially among girls after David Bowie's girlfriend Ava Cherry sported the look - even Simone Thomas of early punk gang the Bromley Contingent had one.) The man who dyes his hair versus the man who ought to. It's worth remarking how much Blue there is on screen for an early 1970s video production. Blue was usually avoided as it was the colour traditionally used on British TV for Chromakey/ Colour Separation Overlay effects (Greenscreening now, Bluescreening then.). But here were have a blue mat -The same shade as Wanz/Wright Vs Kauroff/Lataserre in Graz 1996- blue rope, both men in blue trunks, Rann in a blue jacket, Kincaid in the blue corner, his second with a blue towel ... Round 1: Rann gets a headlock but Kincaid breaks I open into a top wristlock and levers his man down into the guard. He switches to H&S. Rann gets a double leg takedown and tries for a Boston Crab but can't turn Kincaid. Johnny gets a side headlock into wristlever into back hammer down in the mount. Rann turns into the guard to straighten his arm. He stands up, Johnny gets the hammerlock again in the standing position but Ran slips in his other arm for a hiptoss. Rann shoulderpresses Kincaid with his legs but Kincaid uses a kip up to slide his arms out. Rann again hiptosses Kincaid and gets a straight arm wristlever and Kincaid roles to untwist, goes into a bridge, turns into the guard and eventually forces Rann into a roll to remove the torque on his shoulder, leaving Kincaid on top. He converts the wrist lever into a ground top wristlock. As he tries to press down on it like one of Jim Breaks' variants of the Breaks Special. Rann snatches a headscissors. Kincaid gets a bridge, turns the hold upright and handstands out. Rann gets a chinlock (Walton says it's a too high stranglehold) Kincaid slips out behind and gets a grovit. Ran eventually gets his head out to make a back hammerlock but again Kincaid loosens it by slipping into the guard and then kips up, but Rann twists the wristlever to haul Kincaid down and regain the hammerlock. So Kincaid changes tack, stands up in the hold and uses the once-outlawed back elbow to Rann's head break his from and roll out, arm still in pinion position. Rann scores a dropkick, rear snapmare and double kneepress but Kincaid bench presses him up by the lower legs Rann grabs both wrists and clamps down on both shoulders with both legs. Kincaid bridges - Rann pushes him down but himself gets pushed backwards in his seating position. A few repeats of this and Rann is backed up against the ropes and has to release Kincaid. He gets Kincaid's wristband takes him down to the guard but Kincaid cheekily boots him in the back and gets free. Still on the mat, Rann legdives and leglocks Kincaid who lever himself into the upright position just in time for the bell. Gentle patter of applause . Rann, amusingly, is captioned as being from "CAMPDEN Town" (my emphasis). Round 2. Kincaid gets a standing reverse armhank. Rann pulls him over into a folding press for 1. Kincaid makes it a sitting armscissor, Rann turns it back into the folding press. Kincaid regains the leverage then it goes back to Rann who gets the extra grip from his other arm. He turns a bit too far and ends up back in the armhank, this time in a kneeling position. He secures the other arm and uses the hold to turn into a shoulder press for a pin attempt but for reasons unclear referee Joe D'Orazio rejects it so Kincaid releases and Rann is also up at 2 sharpish. Double finger Interlock and Kincaid unpicks one side with a foot, horizontally twists the remaining arm. Drops to a legdive into legscissor and seals it with a single toehold. Rann tries to get a side folding press but Kincaid regains dominance easily. Ran tries poking a foot in but Kincaid makes it into an Indian Deathlock Rann takes the securing foot, slips it over his head, turns Kincaid into the mount by what remains and clamps down on both Achilles tendons but Kincaid stands up and gets the ropes break with his back to his man, narrowly avoiding tripping over Rann's feet as he walks away. He gets a side chancery throw, a double kneepress for a couple of 1s, a crosspress (clamping a stray Rann arm with his foot) for another 1 before Rann gets another finger Interlock, rolls back and gets a single legdive and leglock. Kincaid tries to probe his way out with his other foot but Rann nicely locks it in with a reverse folding press. Kincaid's shoulders are not down and he upturns the hold but Rann's feet touch the rope and it's a break. Kincaid gets a single legdive and leglock. Rann stands up in the hold, leaps to put his other leg up and scores a fantastic monkey climb. Rann gets an over the knee backbreaker, Kincaid just barely managed to bridge out on his tiptoes before Rann snaps on a bodyscissors. Kincaid sits up in the hold. pushes to the centre of the ring Rann turns into the mount turning Kincaid into a folding double leg nelson. Kincaid turns Rann back into the guard for a straight double leg nelson - Kent Walton is amused that they are both trying the same trick! It ends in a stalemate and break. Kincaid gets two snapmares, a bodycheck and charges but misses and goes over the ropes on the bell. Round 3. Kincaid makes it back in time but Rann throws him sharply on the back on which he hit the outside floor just earlier. He whips and boots Kincaid in the stomach. Kincaid is up at eight but straight into another backbreaker on the knee from Rann who drops a knee a bit early and gets some heat and a quiet word from D'Orazio. He gets a forearm smash, snapmare and double kneepress but the referee breaks it up as he doesn't like the work Rann is doing on Kincaid's knee. Johnny is up at six into a headlock, concealed punch and forearm smash down. He throws Kincaid across the ring, again snapmares and double kneepresses him but again works on the kneecap which upsets Referee Joe. Rann gets a legdive and a leg weakener over his own knee. He shoves off Kincaid's boots to his head and resists a grab at his right elbow before standing and getting his reverse folding press from earlier but Kincaid can easily grab the ropes. Kincaid tries a quick folding press but Rann's foot goes in the ropes. Kincaid floors Rann with a headbutt but Peter is up at 8 and seeks sanctuary in the corner. It may get him jeers but he forces Kincaid to back off. Kincaid gets a side chancery and stomp for 5. Rann springs up with a wristlock He takes Kincaid down again into the guard by the wrist but Johnny swivels round on his head and rolls out, steps over and whips Rann down (to not much of a bump.) He slings him in the ropes, tries for a butt to the stomach but is too slow and Rann comes out better with a running knee for 8. Rann gets double legs and a folding press for the opening fall and a chorus of boos. Not that he's done much dirty wrestling so far but because Kincaid's fall out of the ring at the end of the last round gave Rann the advantage. Round 4: Rann does the first serious dirty of the match, a knee in the legs while Kincaid was backed into the ropes. It earns him a public warning. He gets the same standing chinlock that Walton calls a strangle as earlier, then makes it into the H&S, the sleeper that Americans recognise. It looks like Kincaid might slip out (scrunched up though his face is getting) so Rann reverts to the chinlock, now kneeling. He pulls out, leaving a back hammerlock. Rann steps forward and threads himself through the ropes. Kincaid elbowsmashes him from behind -this gets a cheer from the crowd and is written off by D'Orazio as retaliation and allowed. Kincaid gets the better of a finger Interlock test of strength with Rann on his knees and down into a shoulder press. He bridges up at 1 so Kincaid adds a knee and gets 2, almost a crosspress. Rann gets his other leg in and uses his crossed legs to create space and hook him away by the head. Rann turns him over and gets the crosspress for 2 - nearly a two-straight win there. Kincaid bridges so Rann switches to double kneepress. He headbutts Kincaid's thigh down which pleases neither the crowd nor the referee who orders a break. Rann gets a snapmare and kneedrop for 6, a slingshot and knee on the rebound for 8, a legdive into single leg Boston Crab before Kincaid reaches the ropes. Rann floors Kincaid with two sharp knees for 6. Kincaid threatens fisticuffs before getting a full nelson into headbutt for 8, another for the same, a series of side headlocks changing arm to arm and a concealed closed fist punch just on the bell. Round 5. If Rann can survive this round, then Kincaid cannot get a two falls/submissions win in the final round 6. It's been mostly scientific even with the increased heat in rounds 3 and 4. Rann starts this one off rougher however with a kick to the stomach and forearm smash for 7. He gets a standing full nelson but Kincaid breaks one side and reverses. Rann throws him into an armlock against the joint in the guard. When Kincaid gets up, Rann throws him back down again. Kincaid tries a headscissors but can't maintain it. He turns to a kneeling position, shoves off the armlock and gets a legspread and toehold, turning him into the guard and stomping his heel. Rann is up at 7 and Kincaid goes in too quick for a hold but it backfires on him anyway as Rann gets the single toehold. He switches to double kneepress (a mistake says Kent as he sacrificed a good leglock that was doing damage). Rann gets two before Kincaid slips both legs in for the double leg nelson but it ends in a double grapevine stalemate. Despite their needle they shake hands on the stalemate and there is a clean break. Rann gets a wristlever and gets an armbar against the joint almost down in the guard. Kincaid works his way up to kneeling then gets n over knee backbreaker like Rann earlier, this one for 5. Rann scores a fine dropkick and what looks like a powerbomb 20 years before Vader and Sid but was more likely a botch drop. Rann goes for a folding press but Kincaid sits up and flips him over for the double leg nelson. Rann escapes and it winds up in the same double grapevine stalemate. Again a clean break despite the earlier heat. Rann gets a full nelson into side chancery throw into another full nelson. But Kincaid gets an underhook into what was not then yet called the small package. He gets his equaliser and a shot at a decider that, with another 20 seconds, would have been sealed off for him. Round 6 Rann gets a single leg and almost a Powerlock (upright figure four) but Kincaid topples him with a legspread and gets a single leg of his own. He switches to a front folding press but Kincaid's foot brushes the ropes. Kincaid gets a double legs and a folding press (without inadvertently inventing the Power Bomb two decades early!) Rann spins him out by the legs. He gets a headlock, two concealed illegal punches and a forearm smash. Kincaid gets a headlock and concealed punch of his own - recept paid although D'Orazio isn't happy. Rann gets an arm, pulls Kincaid down and gets a leg up for a possible bodyscissors but it doesn't come off and Walton decries it as "clumsy" (another botch?) Kincaid has a leg and an advantage until Rann curls his other foot around his man's jaw and pulls him down. Kincaid turns him into the guard, tries a folding press but Rann slips out a finally gets the bodyscissors he was presumably after earlier. He goes up on his feet and has Kincaid selling the pain. Kincaid gets into a seated position and leans backwards for a reverse folding press with bridge but Rann's shoulders are up and he turns over on his side and then into the pain inflicting position again but can only briefly maintain it. Kincaid tries a very high folding press in the scissors. He gets a 1, a 2 then goes for a Boston Crab but can't turn Rann into the mount. Kincaid double leg slingshots Rann but he falls narrowly short of the post pad Kincaid intended. He gets a grovit and a headbutt for 8. Rann gets another fantastic dropkick for 6. Kincaid gets a headbutt for 7 before the kneeling Rann first an elbow upwards to Kincaid's stomach. This gets him a second and final public warning but after Rann slings Kincaid to the ropes, the final bell goes. 1-1 Broadway. The MC calls it "one for Rann" (boo from the crowd) "and one for Kincaid" (cheer!) . It's the Wednesday night midweek slot so instead of his famous catchphrase "Have a good week till next week" Kent Walton says "Be happy until Saturday". Nice to see a bout that can stay reasonably technical even once the needle creeps in. Fouls and blows never amounted to a brawling second half, they were static incidents in the generally technical bout. I suppose OJ would say it never quite caught fire but it suited me fine. Even the two Rann botches seemed like credible screwups in the heat of competition. A fine bout that I've been looking forward to writing up since seeing it at the weekend.

Same with ITV until 2002. They could even opt out of hit shows they didn't approve of. Tiswas wasn't shown by LWT until 1980. A few ITV franchises opted out of WCW but on the other hand Central continued an extra six months up to the end of 1995. A few episodes of the standalone 1987-1988 ITV Wrestling show were preempted in one or two regions, including the final regular episode. In France as we have discussed, the localised and staggered FR3 broadcasts were a solution to the problem of TV wrestling negatively impacting live attendances on broadcast night.

Anyway, the tag match. Raspoutine and Firmin Vs JJohnny Goude of Belgium and Rino Peducci of Italy. Monsieur L'Arbitre makes his return with a chip on his shoulder and a purple satin frill fronted shirt, the sort worn by an evening cabaret artist in the bar of a cheap Blackpool hotel singing old 60s songs to pensioners. This may not be the same Rasputin as in the UK and Germany/Austria but apart from FVB, Firmin is the other familiar face on this broadcast. Former manservant to Robert Duranton in the sixties, former Monsieur L'Arbitre in the early 70s, now a lighter weight wrestler in his own right. According to Bob Plantin recently, that's what he started out as . The biggest giveaway that this isn't Johnny Howard/Sean Doyle is the lack of raging temper that made him such a fiery character. This Raspoutine wearsca similar hooded robe.He looks like a Neanderthal version of Billy Jack Haynes. By this point it's been 17 years since major league Catch Italiano died off and the territory has mostly been dark apart from two brothers in Piedmont who ran a training school and ocasional runs of shows, some of which in the early 80s are alleged to have been shown on pirate TV. (Things stayed that way until the WWF showed up in 1988). Rino looks older and balder so he could have got his start in the old Italian scene then moved abroad after the collapse like people like Bruno Asquini presumably did. Rino may be older and balding but he's one hell of a mover, he and Firmin could have a great solo bout. What we get at the start of La Premiere Manche is pretty fast paced, Rino taking Firmin's throws well, darting between his legs, leg-throwing him out of a Boston Crab attempt. Johnny Goude (someone is a Chuck Berry fan!) looks like a cross between Steve Veidor and the young Johnny South in the early 70s. He and Firmin reverse each others full Nelsons, Goude boots Firmin off a through the legs legdive, flips and leapfrogs him and dropkicks him to ringside. He drags him back, leapfrogs and dropkicks him out again. Raspoutine tags in an Goude high whips him for a bump, snapmares him, twice throws him with Scisseaux Volees and dropkicks him to ringside too. Unlike Mr Howard, who would be ROARING with rage, this Raspoutine calmly climbs back into the ring for more. He gets a top wristlock battle with Rino, whips him for a bump when he kips up then has the same done to him. Rino gets a 2 count with a cross buttock throw and press off the ropes. Firmin tags in and into a top wristlock battle Hectakes Rino down with a high whip into bump. Rino kips up, somersaults over and leg flips Firmin to get an armlock in the guard. He rolls over and boots Firmin in the wrist. Firmin snapmares him but he ground dropkicks the ex manservant in the head. Rino do the same in response to a whip and bump. Goude tags in, Firmin gets a front facelock but Goude straightens and whips the arm. He repeats this (dodging Firmin's attempts at a headscissors)then slings him, drops under and throws him on the run. Firmin lands next to three referee who somehow ends up standing on him. Raspoutine tags in, gets caught in a full nelson, manages to break one side and reverse but Good rears out and superkicks him. Raspoutine takes him down twice with cross buttock throw then a big backdrop, Rino tags in and chops his way out of a lockup Firmin is back and caught by a Rino side chancery hold. Rino rear snapmares and shoulder presses Firmin who turns the press over but Firmin bridges out, until he is halted in the reverse front chancery. Undeterred, Rino flips neatly on to the ring apron. The two have a brief slap fight, Rino vaults the ropes for a flying tackle but is caught in bodyscissors. He tries for a pin but Firmin props himself up on his elbows. Firmin adjusts the bodyscissors to a rear seated position and makes some dirty grabs at Rino's face that get him heat. He briefly gets a sleeper in combo with his bodyscissors. The referee is also getting crowd heat. Rino unplugs the scissors, kips up, bounces backwards off the ropes to Firmin's head end, pulls him up a gives him a Manchette, throw, two Scisseaux Volees. Firmin flees the ring and Rino charges after him round the ring and back in again. Rino has both heels by the chin and Goude climbs his corner bombing both chins. He tags in but Raspoutine, also now in, takes his wrist, steps over his arm and into an armhank, resisting Goude's attempt to get a side folding press. Goude gets his own armhank during one folder attempt but it's not as secure as Raspoutine's. The not so mad monk gets one shoulder down and grabs a rope to hold Goude down. And then the referee suddenly kicks Goude. Rino is irate and grabs L'Arbitre A stand up row escalates to L'Arbitre slapping Rino. Rino tries to collar him but the heels shield the ref - he is one of them now. Raspoutine and Goude resume some semblance of a match, the monk knocks Goude down, headlocks and blindside (but why bother?) fouls him. He flings Goude to ringside and Rino comes over to shield him. Les Mechants et L'Arbitre play kings of the castle over Les Bons at ringside. Firmin tags in as Rino nurses Goude. The Belgian is in a bad way and still the legal man in (even if out of) the ring. Rino can only put his man in and offer encouragement before Firmin chops him down, stomps him and shoved him to the corner for some heel double teaming. Raspoutine garrotes him with the tag rope. Some dork of a mark in soecs runs into shot to complain and Firmin aims a near miss kick at him just in case. The heels direct their friend the ref away so he does not have to witness their dirty treatment of Goude including a sharp kick to the crotch. Rino coming in only gives Firmin more to direct the ref towards. Inevitably the referee misses a hot tag (not that it should count as Rino was on the top turnbuckle) but the Italian leaps across the ring landing on Firmin's shoulders in the heel corner. L'Arbitre pulls Rino off by his thinning hair. Goude meanwhile is cooked and Firmin drapes himself across him for a pin. Rino tries to accost the ref but the official spots and counts the pin. Rino kicks the prone Firmin but it's too little too late. Fans riot and bang the ring apron at this. "C'EST UN SCANDALE!!!" shouts the MC, pouring oil on the flames. So then, Deuxieme Manche. Goude is still legal man and fires manchettes and a snapmare at a now tagged Raspoutine. He tries him in the ropes and twices shouldeblocks him (French vocab: "beliere" = shoulderblock. And not Big Daddy's most famous move!). The third time he hits the heel ref who takes it surprisingly calmly, quietly releasing Raspoutine who then traps Goude in the ropes by his arms. L'Arbitre "tries" to pull him out into a powerbomb position that gets Goude even more hogtied. L'Arbitre has some fun of his own karate kicking the helpless Goude. He gives him a final slap before releasing him. Goude finally tags Rino who Manchettes Raspoutine into the ropes. He again twice charges and strikes but again bounces off the ref third time. The ref is standing around pleased with himself so Rino slings him into Raspoutine and he only avoids landing at ringside by scissoring the monk to arrest his own momentum. This gets Goude an Avertisement. He slugs Raspoutine down and easily absorbs two posting before scoring an equaliser with a flying bodypress off the top turnbuckle. The ref surprisingly make a fair count. La Belle. Goude gets to work with about 9 Scisseaux Volees on Raspoutine who collapses. The MC and crowd give him a KO count of 10 but the ref is preoccupied with helping Firmin revive him. He gets up but Goude legdives and leglocks him, leaving him with his legs knotted. Firmin helps him back to his corner and undoes the legs but surprisingly does not tag. Rino does however and drops back from a finger Interlock tons splendid bridge. Raspoutine tries to crush it but Rino boots him off. Finally Firmin tags in Ringers a side headlock into standing armlock on him but it's Firmin who wins the leverage and gets the throw and an armlock in the guard, driving a knee into Rino's ear (but not across the throat.) Rino kips up but he is in enemy territory and one illegal punch from Raspoutine on the apron downs him again. The referee sees it but only gently chides Raspoutine. The second time, the ref apparently doesn't even see. Raspoutine tags in and both Mechants post Rino. Raspoutine takes over the armlock then they tag and again double post Rino. Now Firmin has the hold again. They try the double team again but Rino somersaults backwards and then double monkey climbs the baddies. He alternately Manchettes them then tags Goude who snapmares each man then dropkicks each to ringside. Raspoutine gets a foot trapped in the ropes on his return. Firmin and the ref free him. But Goude pitches him out and scores a Mexican Tope on him at ringside, FIVE YEARS before Sting stunned the Starrcade 87 audience with a tope on Rick Steiner. They brawl at ringside. Goude leaves Firmin for dead but something out of shot blocks him coming back to the ring. It's the ref not letting him in. Goude gets back in and when Firmin gets on the apron, flying tackles him out again (less spectacularly than the tope last time) and joins Raspoutine on the floor for more action Dans La Salle. The monk is left laying in a ringside R's lap when Firmin retrieves him and - ignoring another KO full count from the MC and crowd but not the ref . Firmin is still the legal man so Rino side headlocks him, gets a Scisseaux Volees on Raspoutine and throws them both, maintaining both side headlock and headscissors. He relesses leaving both heels on the mat. Both sides tag. Firmin legdives Goude and kicks his knee. He tags Raspoutine who applies similar treatment to the other leg. Then both heels work both legs but Rino rescues his part and they give the same treatment to Raspoutine then dump Firmin on top. The ref orders Rino out as Goude works on both heels. Rino joins him. The ref smack Rino onn the back and they argue as Goude continues. Rino collars the ref and dumps him on top of the pile like Schurli Blemenschutz at the Heumarkt in the 60s/70s. Goude stands on the whole pile. Another crowd KO count not ratified by the ref who gives the Bons their second and final Advertisement. The heels tag and are big thrown across the ring. Raspoutine is dropkicked out while Firmin is pinned by Rino. Shockingly, Les Bons have apparently won 2-1. "Bon A Gagne" sing the MC and crowd. However the ref saves the day for les Mechants, reversing the decision and DQing the good guys for that final 2 on 2. Yes it's the old We Wuz Robbed finish so later beloved of Flesh Gordon into the 2020s, complete with Aux Chiottes L'Arbitre chant. The peak of French Catch Cynicism. So Les Bons tie him up, he gets free but they tie up both heels and use him as a battering ram on both. In the end Rino releases Les Mechants lest they spend the night tied to thecring. A fan comes in with a bunch of flowers and gives them to Rino who gives some to Goude and together they wallop the heels and the heel ref. At least his satin shirt survived this one. Usually a game of two halves on these threads means a technical first half and a dirty or brawling second half. Here thecsecond was more about pessimistic pantomime with a heel ref. Still, the first 15-20 were good solid tag action before the farce broke out.

Are you saying it was a regional opt out or was there one master FR3 alongside all the local branches? I look forward to the 1986 footage, it plugs that particular gap.

Franz Van Buyten Vs Luc Verhague. The back seat driver of the commentator is one Monsieur Gide, a veteran wrestler. We first see Franz and Luc locking up with a top wristlock. Luc throws Franz in the hold three times, maintaining it all the way through. Franz finally breaks it by somersaulting over and flipping Luc with a foot. Luc gets the hold again and takes Franz down in the guard. Franz uses the traditional French flying headscissors takedown as a counter. Luc uses a kíp up to escape. Luc gets a side headlock into wristlever. And there the science ends. Luc used back smashes and an illegal closed fist. He corners Franz, gets another illegal fist but this time L'Arbitre sees it and warns Luc. Luc gets a snapmare into pressure point. Luc knocks fFranz about with Manchettes etc., getting the odd clubbing. Apart from a few Rear chinlocks and throttgoes from here into full brawl mode with still the odd chinlock or other holds. Luc gets an Avertisement but that is nothing compared to what comes. Franz lifts Luc across his shoulder several times. He tries to throw Luc out but the referee grabs Luc's leg to stop it. Luc goes over on take 3. He then ties Luc up in the ropes looking to bodycheck him but the ref will not stomach it. Relations gradually sour between Le Bon and L'Arbitre ending withe a stand up fight where the ref's shirt gets torn off and Franz gets DQ'd . An angry ref cuts a promo at ringside. He and Franz scrap some more. Good early stages before it always goes haywire. Wild crowd including a scary fat old lady.

I've sent you a private message. I'm not sure of the forum rules on this sort of conversation so .I'll leave it there. Once I've dealt with the latest two French Catch matches to drop, I'll be on here with a great match to review from 1972.

Fuller reviews to follow in due course. A few general thoughts first. Good to see one of these FR3 broadcasts from 1982. It looks different from what was on TF1 and A2. A much smaller venue about the size and capacity of the WTBS Tech wood Drive studio with a slanting wood panel ceiling.The overall vibe is similar to the 1987 Karl Krammer versus Ted Jones bout. Not really you big time Paris venues like the Cirque D'Hiver.or Elysee Montmartre , more smaller time matches in a small town venue, possibly a discotheque or small civic theatre. I'm still not sure about its suitability for TV or live wrestling but I wouldn't mind living there. The commentator is a newbie but he has a wrestler helping him out. To add to it the MC is doing his own commentary, Butlins style, even telling the fans what to chant at the wrestlers. Sadly I don't think Raspoutine is Johnny Howard/Sean Doyle. I thought it might be him minus the hair bleach but the more I watch of this the less it looks like him (mannerisms etc.). A pity as he worked the German tournaments and if it was him it would mean another wrestler who worked all three Stronghold Euro territories. Pity.