David Mantell

Jacques Ducrez, Le Borreau de Bethune - the Guillotine Operator of Bethune, heel nemesis of l'Ange Blanc in the Masked good guy Vs Masked bad guy feud the was French TV Catch's first major hit. Dressed in red rather than black to oppose l'Ange in white. Unlike Britain where hangmen like Albert Pierre point were celebrities who even owned their own pubs, in France -where the last public guillotining was just 20 years before this match- being part of the chop squad was seen as a lowly disreputable profession, barely one up above garbage collection. Just the sort of job for a nasty slimy Méchant who needs to hide his face. Here he faces WON HOF nominee and inventor of the Toupie (and yes, that's him doing one in the video thumbnail) Gilbert LeDuc. This is a much younger LeDuc than we e watched on here in the past, right back in his prime. Ducrez has a red cape to match his mask (and hide the blood stains from the day job, I guess.). He gets some good sharp amdrags but can't keep Gilbert down in the guard fire more than a split second. He seems to be winning a double interlock test of strength until LeDuc scissors on one arm by the bicep and pulls it away. Borreau gets a top wristlock but Gilbert uses the distinctive French Scisseaux Volees takedown that in Britain just got you thrown off to the floor. Borrreau kips out and gets another double interlock. This time Gilbert picks off one side with a foot, rolls backwards to twist and arm like Steve Grey on the British thread. He soon has BDB down in the guard armlock. Jacques bridges up and throws Gilbert off but he rolls through. A third full Interlock sees Gilbert get upside down to to Ducrez in a handstand with his feet up in the crossed headscissors ready for the Toupie. The first one comes off but Follow up attempts are shrugged off. Borreaux gets a half interlock, twists so LeDuc has to roll through, gets an armhank on Gilbert and maintain,s it some time from Gilbert on the mat to standing. Eventually Gilbert goes up in his toupie and rolls up his arm to get free. Borreaux gets a couple of good long throws and Gilbert gets a spinning single legdive that commentator Maurice Durand calls "very pretty". Gilbert still has the leg, making a leglock of it. He switches to what looks like a botched Indian Death lock with only one leg trapped. Ducrez tries to sit up but Gilbert chops him down like Flair. Eventually Borrreau takes a leaf out of Him Breaks' book 22 years later and hairpulls out of the hold (the same first foul by the heels in both this weekend's bouts). He's not as good at hiding it as Jimmy Breaks and gets a ticking off from Monsieur L'Arbitre. Durand points out that as a masked man, Le Borreaux doesn't have to worry about HIS hair getting pulled! Unfazed, Ducrez gets a quick interlock into cross armed grovit. He soon has LeDuc on his back from the hold. LeDuc focuses on onecstm and, kipping up, gets an armbar on it. He tries to make it into a back hammerlock but Ducrez is too powerful and sauntes away. Now it's the masked man's turn to get a legdive - into a toe and ankle in the guard switching to a different toe/ankle hold. The crowd are on an emotional down - one calls for la Cagoule to be ripped off, another for un Manchette. Instead LeDuc spiked-boots Ducrez off by his hooded head. The fan gets their Manchettes - c/o Le Borreau! Gilbert returns fire and it looks like the science is over for now. But a top wristlock battle is decisively won by Bethune's finest beheader. Then Gilbert gets a half interlock into forced backwards roll into guard armlock and kneedrops the arm, twisting on the bicep. Le Borreau curls up and gets a headscissors on Gilbert, turning him. Into the guard and breaking the armlock. Gilbert turns the hold upright and tries for the escape Toupie so le B de B capsizes it sideways. Gilbert gets the scissor upright again and tries again but overbalances. Take 3 and it's definitely Ducrez's doing, he turns over and afterwards cranks on Gilbert's neck. After that, Gilbert changes tack and more or less pulls his head out the scissors, kneels on the cross legs and gives le Borreau a good solid Manchette, with an extra one any time the hooded man sits up. LeDuc rolls off and comes back with Manchettes. Eventually LeDuc hiptosses out and gets a figure four top wristlock.But Le Borreau gets the advantage and soon he has Le Dec down in the same hold, a figure four top armlock. Le Duc gets upright.twists the arms round and ends with an armbar with which he gives a high whip and somersault bump. After some more Manchettes, Bethune's top chopper tries crushing LeDuc on the ropes but L'Arbitre will have none of it and pulls him off. Manchettes have LeDuc down for 5,,even 8 one time. One blow clocks LeDuc straight over the skull. Another time Borreaux headbutts with the head he (unlike his customers) still has. Gilbert fights back with Manchettes and a rear snapmare. A dropkick and a double legs slingshot into the top rope. Le Borreau regains his heat by pitching LeDuc over the top rope. Battle Royals didn't exist on this side of the Atlantic in 1959 (did America have them yet?) so that wins the masked man nothing. Seconds scoop up LeDuc and dump him back in the ring but he's lost his momentum from his comeback. Le Borreau gets a gorilla press to make Hellwig green with envy, then drop him stomach first on one knee. The count reaches 10 and it's a KNOCKOUT. Oddly enough this only counts as one fall unlike Britain. Seconds tend to LeDuc as Le Borreau marches around the ring like a brutal warrior robot. Astonishingly with only a few minutes of clip left a second fall starts. Borreaux gets to work on LeDuc again, soon flooring him. It's a straight up brawl if not a straight-up one sided punishment beating. LeDuc is a fall behind and going down for counts of 5 or 6. Finally Le Borreaux repeats his gorilla press and over knee stomachbreaker - TWICE. This time L'Arbitre ends the count early. Ducrez puts his red cloak back on, the winner Two Knockouts to nil. Police pile into ringside to stop a riot as Le Borreau struts about. Some good technical work for 10 to 15 minutes, then a brawl and finally - appropriately for un Borrreau - an execution. Two KOs to nil in a singles bout.

Same year, same match up but instead of Hanover, it's from the same Saafelden tournament as Bull Vs Wallas last week, Leon again comes to ringside looking less than it's Vader time and more like he's on a fishing holiday. Cut to Bull Power using Old Glory to beat and choke Mister Dogfood Pie Eater. He then uses his fists to do the same and poses for the crowd. Cut to taking turns choking each other on the mat. Cut to Axel's comeback, snapmaring White and throwing him out of the ring. They brawl at ringside s the ref and Leon regains his heat stomping and ragdolling Axel and getting a yellow card. Leon gets thecwin with a Powerslam. The same comments I made about the Hanover bout apply.

Do you mean this? That's a heat getting finish. Yes it's fluky but that's the whole point. Breaks accepts the win which most of Grey's fellow good guys would have rejected and would have then been recorded as a no contest (we saw how in 2023 one of Nino Bryant's challengers Joe Lando refused the British Lightweight Championship over a similarly fluky win.) . Breaks treats it as a great triumph. The crowd sees this and RIOTS over Breaks' attitude, so smug over his cheap win - and getting the title out of it. See also Breaks coming up to champion Vic Faulkner in 1977 and spooking him in his corner so that he punches Jim, gets DQd and so loses his title. Kent Walton claimed at the time that hate mail and protest mail had come in by the sackload. Actually I didn't do a full review of the 1979 bout, I just examined it as a response to a point @PeteF3 made against Knockout finishes.

Well it is now and I've got a busy weekend but a quiet evening so I'll get it done now. I couldn't find an old OJ review search on "Breaks and looking through pages of posts about Jim Breaks. round breaks. advert breaks, breaks open one side of a hold etc etc but I did come across a previous review I did of their 1979 bout. Easter Monday is another Bank Holiday Monday in Britain and where I were a nipper that meant Bank Holiday Sport Special - with wrestling. Breaks and Grey had a match win by Breaks on that show (a tournament final with, as I recall, a chocolate Easter Egg prize!)and this is a return match with Grey looking to get even. Breaks gets heat by wearing a silver cape labelled CHAMP even though he did not have a title at the time. Round 1. Grey eventually escapes a Jim Breaks headlock by firstly turning his head to unplug his chin from Breaks' forearm, then going up I to a handstand and backing out hand walking. He gets an armbar but Breaks rolls out 8nto the guard then kips up. Grey tries to force a high whip bump but Breaks rolls through and up. The crowd oohs to indicate begrudging credit to the heel for a good move. Breaks tries for a standing headlock but Grey easily slips out and gets another armbar. Breaks uses his horizontal spin on his bottom to reverse the hold and then give an extra twist to bring down Grey with a bump - but while down, Grey gets in a ground position dropkick. It staggers but does not fell Jim and he gets another headlock into a high on the skull crossface. Grey lifts him up in the hold- he cannot sustain the lift but does once again reverse it into an arm around. Breaks gets a snapmare but Grey rolls through and drags Breaks down to the guard. Breaks gets his first foul in, using a well concealed (from the ref) hairpull to ground Grey. Grey is up and complaining and so is the crowd but there is little referee Joe D'Orazio (cousin of Mike Marino) can do breaks gets an armbar and forces Grey to the mat in the mount. Grey swivels on his head into the guard, bridges up and slides along the mat, aiming for the ropes. Breaks halts tha, kneeling in closet and sticking his knee into the bicep to soften it for a Breaks Special. Grey tries something with his feet on Breaks' head but it doesn't work. Breaks converts the armbarvtoma back hammerlock but Grey bends forward and backdrops him. but Breaks gets a sunset flip into double leg nelson for 1. Breaks gets another armbar out of a collar and elbow. Again he drives the knee "against the joint" into the bicep, clearly showing his gameplan. Breaks has a first go at his special but Grey keeps his arm mostly straight. He eventually pushes Breaks' hand off his shoulder and snapmares him. Breaks' other hand still has Grey's hand and he pulls him down in the mount but their fingers are dangerously intertwined so they break. Grey warily accept a Breaks handshake. Breaks gets a headlock but the bell goes. Round 2 Breaks retakes the headlock but is backed into the ropes so Jim has to break. Grey seems to be attempting a Breaks Special himself, getting his hands in position like Jim did last round, but then switches to an over shoulder arm lever. Breaks tries a half chinlock and uses it to get control of the battle of other arm, forcing grey to go with the rolls- but H3 goes further and spins out and takes Breaks down to a guard arlock. Grey gets up and repeatedly rolls to twist and yank upon Grey's wrist. Breaks tries a whip off the ropes and a snapmare but Grey makes it an armdrag of his own.Breaks gets a headlock into the same high crossface as before, a "double handed face bar" Kent calls it. Grey forced the facebar up and away but Breaks has a knee in Greys' back Grey is not discouraged and makes his own Breaks pecial. Jim counters with a snapmare but Grey still keeps that wristlock wrislokk . Jim takes Steve down with another crossface, this one conventionally low, into a side headlock into full Japanese Stranglehold but Grey frees one side and spins on the other, the one he's been weakening for some time. He continues spinning on the arm until Breaks uses another illegal hairpull to yank Grey down and off. They argue and Grey slaps Breaks' face. Breaks tries a Breaks Special of his own, getting th3 hands in position and starting to get a bend on the arm. Grey twists his body to go with the bend, Breaks tries to make a semi Japanese Stranglehold of it but Grey grabs Breaks' shoulder. pulls his own head free and reapplies his own Breaks Special which once again Breaks uses an illegal hairpull to escape. An angry Breaks pushes Grey into the ropes- he rebounds with a Sunset flip and Breaks out Aloha Arns Arn himself but managed to avoid going down by grabbing a rope. Breaks gets another armbar, driving an elbow into the shoulder against the joint as well as the customary knee into bicep. He switches to guard armlock then to top wristlock on the mat. With the arm folded and balanced on the hand he stomps the upper arm- a trademark Breaks weakener. Grey stays down for 6. Breaks gets an armbar, Grey gets the wrist and reverses it. Breaks twic3 resorts to his usual hairpull down but Grey twists through and nearly gets a straight arm lift before whipping the heel into the ropes and booting him on the rebound. Breaks charges but is caught by a Grey forearm smash. He goes down for an 8 count. He stalls Tom the end of the round, earning hima massive blast of heat. Round 3 Breaks is still stalling. complaining about his knee. D'Orazio inspects but finds no injury as the crowd sarcastically slow clap Jim. Grey gets a legdive into waistlock which Jim counters with a front chancery until it hits the ropes. Grey tries for a throw, Breaks blocks i5 with a side headlock so Grey bends Breaks' knee and drops it on his own. Grey throws Breaks again, he almost rolls through but gets tangled on the mat. D'Orazio has to restrain Grey from going after Breaks on the mat. They repeat the Grey throw blocked by Breaks headlock countered by Grey knee weakener but while up in the air on the last, Breaks gets a sunset flip into double leg nelson but Grey flips over, tips Breaks back and makes it a front folding press for the opening fall. To add to Breaks' woes, he succumbs to temptation and low blows Grey between round but D'Orazio spots it and gives him a First Public Warning. Round 4 They half interlock but Breaks gets a wristlock after vaguely groping for another Breaks Special attempt. Grey counters by taking an ankle and fells Breaks, freeing his own arm. Steve now has a toe and ankle and yanks on it to make a weakener. Breaks and Grey go for wristband and ankle respectively. Both men clash heads but are up in time. Grey tries for a second straight fall with a backslide on one shoulder but Jim breaks free and rolls off. Breaks gets a neck crank and Grey has to lean back to resist the pressure. Jim switches to arm bar but Grey puts his feet to Breaks' heard. Jim tries for a folding press but Steve throws the heel bouncing him off on the soles of his upturned feet. Breaks throws Grey who rolls through and up on the mat and gets a 2 with a side folding press - nearly a winner! Grey tries another hairpull - Joe D doesn't see it but does notice it was an attack on the ropes and reprimands Breaks, letting Grey up without a count, much to Jim's disgust! Jim gets a side Headlock, converts to a semi Japanese Stranglehold and rams Grey's shoulder into the mat. We seem to be back to working towards the Breaks special. Jim repeats the SJS into shoulder ram sequence. He goes for the arm, gets the bar, looking for his special but Grey pulls him off (using a foul himself, fish hooking the nostrils.). So Breaks turns and gets the armbar from above/behind He takes Grey down, turns him into the guard - and stomps his bicep again. He gets a throw with the arm in a hammerlock position (and snags the arm in the rope like Adrian Street did to Jim in 1972. They interlock and this time Steve gets the SJS into shoulder ram to the mat. The bell goes and between rounds there is a scuffle between both men which Joe breaks up. Round 5 Breaks gets another armbar and tries to convert to a Breaks special - Grey counters with one of his own. The two battle their respective Specials with Breaks nearly converting to a front chancery. Breaks gets his front chancery but Grey gets a legdive, takedown and legweakener. He throws Breaks to the ropes and gets a knee to the stomach. He gets a legdive into single leg Boston Crab into the feet positions of a surfboard but Breaks makes it to the ropes. Breaks whips the left arm so Grey can't somersault out and it hurts Steve badly. Breaks finally gets his Special and an equaliser submission. Round 6. Breaks gets an underhook but Grey crotch holds and slams him. He applies a toe and ankle wearing down the leg. Breaks gets a not very concealed head punch which Joe D'Orazio spots and gives him the Second And Final Public Warning. Undettered, Breaks repeats the SJS into shoulder ram for a 9 countand gets his special for the deciding submission. Breaks is the 2-1 winner and challenges him for the British Lightweight title that Nino Bryant now holds. Tempestuous and heated but mostly scientific except for a few fouls from Breaks. It's odd that Breaks beats Grey twice since three years later Danny Collins would absolutely have Breaks' number not to mention his British Welterweight title (regained in the interim from Alan Dennibut would need two attempts to beat Grey, briefly and tearfully dropping the title to him.

Just noticed this. Not really how I read it. It starts either with Les Méchants using fouls from the start or else introducing the fouls gradually about 10 minutes in after Les Bons are shown to have the upper hand at clean scientific wrestling. At this point les Méchants get their heat and have a good long run of dominance until Les Bons score the hot tag. So far, so American. The rope tieing etc generally occurs during the hot tag as retaliation for long persistent fouling by the heels earlier in the bout. In Britain the ropes spot was frowned on on ITV although subtler retaliation was, according to Kent Walton, allowed for by referees up to a point. In S4C in Wales on Reslo, especially during tag matches with promoter Orig Williams as senior blue eye, it was allowed and commonly took place as a more extreme form of said retaliation. Referees would allow a certain amount then go "OK boys (or girls) that's enough)" and the duly chastened heel would be released. In France or to some extent in Germany/Austria (especially Schurli Blemenschutz tag matches at the Vienna Heumarkt), the same referee who had failed to notice Les Méchants employing all sorts of dreadful Lutte Irregulière would suddenly put their Petty Officialdom hat on and read Les Bons the Riot Act for their rope related retaliation. This on top of everything else (and starting with Michel Saulnier 8n the late 70s there would be quite a bit of Everything Else) would firmly establish Monsieur L'Arbitre as a Danny Davis style Arbitre Méchant in the minds of both Les Bons and La Publique, resulting in Bons such as Guy Mercier applying Stone Cold-esque retribution to the wretched referee, using them as a battering ram on the hogtied heels. Sometimes this would and still does get Les Bons disqualified, a finish which seems to play into a certain French cynicism of the lack of justice in life and The System. Some tougher referees like Roger Delaporte, Martial in the 60s and even early 70s lady referee Babette Carol would actually administer the retribution themselves to the heels and be hugely popular amongst fans for doing so.. Other clearly honest referees like the fussy but principled Charley Bollet were generally left unmolested. But obviously bent refs like Saulnier, Otto Weiss and the supremely heelish Louis Deblameque (on regional FR3 wrestling 1982-1987) got regular comeuppances. One such heel referee Didier Gapp later moved to the CWA and established himself as more of a "jobsworth" referee. Hilariously, German/Austrian fans saw him as a comic icon, often cheering "Didi" At least that's how the logic of it all seems to me. We really need a native French fan who grew up with all this to explain it properly. Incidentally Andre The Giant was a BIG FAN of the tied up heels spot and often during his Bobby Heenan phase got himself tangled in the ropes, most memorably at Wrestlemanias 4:and 6.

I can appreciate other stuff besides technical wrestling (although I put a technical bout at the top of my list and clearly had another good one on my mind when I mentioned Angelito and Sanniez together - viz 1977) as they tended not to televise so many of these as Britain, focusing instead on the half hour long tag matches. Most clean bouts seem to have been relegated to dark matches earlier in the night -;It's a pity we didn't get more screenings of bouts like Antonio Pereira Vs Jean Claude Bordeaux 1976. About the only vaguely kitsch thing on that list was Siki and I left him til last as a guilty pleasure. The bit of Gordon's career I highlighted you yourself have praised and hell even El-P circa 2014 spoke well (on the Worst Wrestler thread) of Prince Zéfy (and faux cowboy Jessy Texas). No, I didn't mention any catch á l'eau matches as it happens (if I had to pick one I'd go for the Mercier brothers. Vs Albert Sanniez & Mario Petrolini on 1984 La Dernière Manchette). They were just another place to do shows and the water had little impact either way on match quality. Full swimming pools with a floating ring were as normal to the French as a ring standing atop a swimming pool boarded up for the winter was in Britain.

You'll find pretty much all of it on this thread.

My favourite bout is Le Petit Prince Vs Michel Saulnier from 1969 (even though the TV station spliced images of old paintings over bits of it.) Some other favourites of mine include the masked Zarak (Dave Larsen) late period catcheur Prince Zéfy, sneaky heels Josef El Ars and Black Shadow, mid 70s masked wrestler Le Samourai, 60s Greek lightweight star Vasilios Montopolous early 90s young heel champion Eric Lacroix and Robert Gastel whom I just posted. Spanish high flyer Angelito, Albert Sanniez particularly later on as a Jim Breaks style "horrid little man" heel. The best bit of Flesh Gordon's career is his tag team with the older Walter Bordes circa 1983-1985. Oh yes and I've got a soft spot for Mammouth Siki, a sort of 70s French version of Junkyard Dog.

Great YouTube documentary on Jushin Liger's days as Fuji Yamada for Brian Dixon and Orig Williams. Containing 11 bouts - Two from Screensport, Four from ITV and Five from Reslo on S4C. Plus footage of Liger/Yamada's 2014 return to All Star Wrestling at the Fairfield Hall Croydon (with Laetitia as MC). Also a nice background piece on Sayama as Sammy Lee, Magda as Kwick Kick Lee and other foreign visitors to these shores. Only real omission is the Thames News item on Mitzi Mueller's 1987 retirement show at the Royal Albert Hall featuring Mitzi and Yamada sparring backstage plus the famous press conference/photoshoot (from which the cover pic of @JNLister's book Have A Good Week is taken) which I've posted here in the past.

Okay you can breathe easy, we're back on safe Les Trentes Glorieuses territory after weeks of New Catch, Eurostars, Catch Au village '85 etc. Gastel, le Taurean de Batignol, France's answer to the you g Cowboy Bill Watts. He's not so burly here in 1966. Facing wrestler/film star Lino DinSanto. Lots of simple heavyweight throws to start. Could almost be judo. . Gastel throws off Lino's flying headscissors like a Brit. Lino uses a knee to h9old down a guard armlock. Apparently this crowd are very purist minded says the commentator. Gastel has a good side chancery 8nto chinlock. Eventually we get Manchettes and Combat Dans Le Salle. As well as hairpulling and other dirties. Not much in the way of clever escapes. These guys don't Move Like Lightweights, the sell holds like Americans. Nearly halfway through, this feels like a German match pre Steve Wright. They somersault bump out of armbars but can't roll through, they have to take the bump. Di Santo tries a classic French reverse snapmare but can't get up - is Gastel stiffing him? It was too near the ropes anyway, he would have Run Out Of Mat. Michon, Monsieur L'Arbitre is quite tough and aggressive with Gastel Le Méchant even though he's not as big a tough ref as Martial or later period Delaporte. He gives Gastel an Avertisement. Nice leglock from DiSanto, could have become an American Figure Four Leglock or Spinning Toehold. But it just stays a leglock. Gastel spike boots his way out in the end. Gastel chokes Lino while applying a front hammerlock as a distraction. Gastel pounds Lino on the ropes and gets a Deuxième Et Dernière Avertisement for it. The public want a DQ. OJ could have fun arguing with them against it. This is mostly getting Gastel over as a Sale Mechant. Michon allows Lino, making his Bon Comeback, some retaliation - a bunch of Manchettes in the corner. A kneeling press gets Lino 2. Gastel traps Lino in the ropes and gets a DQ. La publique are delighted, OJ is not. Lino gets in a shot at ringside and Gastel is in no fit state to do a promo. Like I said. A vehicle for Gastel as a dirty villain who ends up DQd and disgraced. , not yet the monster he became in the 70s. These purists in the audience we were told about probably didn't get their fill from this mix of leverage and brawling, but a simple cheer the Bons, boo the Méchants type would find this fun.

More 1986. Bull Power Leon White is a nice kid from Colorado who doesn't really know his own strength. Klaus Wallas is a former martial artist turned (mostly) good guy wrestler. A pre-match fight breaks out 8nvolving both mens' flags but the ref regains control, sends them back to their corners and starts the match. Cut to the match. The two men in collar and elbow repeatedly on the ropes . They knock each other about. Wallas gets a standing dropkick to the back of the neck and a front facelock on the mat. VhiteWallas does get a legdive teedoeasily kicks out of pins. Mostly it's fairy slug and punch and crush on the ropes. Things carry on like that in the second clip. Wallas does get a single leg takedown and crosspress.They have a couple of similar good moves. Wallas gets the one fall required with - A FLYING BODYPRES S !!! Mostly its @ohtani's jacket' s sort of match than mine. They are both good sportsmen afterwards which is nice.

I'll review that one myself some time this month. But it's not June yet, so for now: From the October 1990 Aberdeen TV Taping that was the British equivalent of that Feb '91 tag bout on FR3 or the tour episodes of New Catch that made it on to TF1 in 1991. Scotland Vs Ireland clean match. Tony Stewart is the promising (ex?) TBW getting a push. Frank Chic Cullen is the former British and World Heavy Middleweight champion. Both destined for bigger things. Kent Walton back in the commentary position - Aberdeen 90 was his last ever gig. Stewart doesn't yet have a mullet hairstyle and probably hasn't yet taken up digging up the sand with a plank of wood for training. (See interview on the Wrestling Madness videotape) Round 1. After a few false starts Tony gets the wristlever Cullen briefly tries a fireman's carry counter before changing his mind and trying a rollout. It's not quite successful - Tony keeps the arm and gets a guard armlock. He lifts the arm up and bends the straight arm back against he shoulder joint (this is what Kent means with his whole "against the joint" thing.) Cullen kips up and gets a not very impactful cross buttock throw to free his arm. Tony gets a side headlock into other side headlock into his arm lever again, continuing the good work on the shoulder. Cullen refuses to roll out and into the guard so Tony applies weakeners to the shoulder. Cullen is at two but straight into a Tony rear waistlock into back hammerlock, pulling over the other arm to get the shoulders ready for a crosspress. Cullen tries bridging out.At that point the bell goes. They shake hands, the crowd claps appreciatively. Round 2 Cullen wins a double interlock test of strength with Tony resorting to a bridge. He powers back up but Cullen twists the arms into a Japanese Stranglehold getting a full surfboard out of it before having to release the feet. He still has the strangle and Tony tries a couple of reversals but Chic rolls with the hold back to having the advantage with it, . Until Tony wriggles downwards and takes the. Interlock through Chic's legs, forcing him to somersault bump out or be tried in a knot. He still has the interlock and extends Cullen's arms , pushing down on the shoulders. Cullen bridges up taking Tony's legs with him. Tony goes into the ropes so has to give Chic his break, which is a pity as that was a most interesting escape and Cullen was nearly completely escaped anyway. Cullen gets an "inside grapevine" (abdominal stretch held with a waistlock instead of an arm.) He releases and they start over. Tony gets an armbar into posting but Chic comes back with an elbowsmash and a side chancery into Headlock And Strangle. Into neck crank. Tony can bridge back to go with the crank so Chic switches to the wrists, bending both arms back and briefly adding a foot to the back of the shoulders. Tony somersault bumps out and Cullen goes for the crosspress but gets two 2 counts. Tony gets a posting into side chancery into kneedrop in one move. Chic is up at 9 into another side chancery into a Legdrop Of Doom. Cullen is up at 6 for a posting. He resists two side chancery throws so Tony jumps up on Cullen's shoulders and tries for a victory roll, but Cullen stops the roll dead with Stewart in a front folding press for the opening fall. Round 3 Tony actually tries the victory roll again! This time Chic bucks him off like a rodeo bronco. Tony gets a single leg takedown and applies weakeners on the limb.n. He gets the leg again and despite Cullen briefly blocking him with a reversed waistlock, gets a seated leglock. Cullen tries for a further nelson side folding press but only gets 2. Tony gets a full nelson into side chancery throw and takes the seat on Cullen's shoulders for seemingly another victory roll. Or at least a folding press, but he falls backwards and tries for a folding press held with the legs. Cullen gets his head free and crawls out to start over. He gets a wristlever into drop toehold then takes a leg and drops his weight on the knee. He gets another leg into a folding leglock over his hands and held by the crotch, switching to an over the shoulder leglock like the one we saw Johnny Saint win with last week. Chic releases but at the 5 count Tony strikes with a drop toehold into Gotch toehold, briefly getting the rest double wrists to make a surfboard. He can't keep the wrists but he keeps the Gotch toehold all the way to the bell! Round 4. Cullen gets a shove and kneelift, a whip and big backdrop. He gets a posting and a powerbomb! Next and over the shoulder backbreaker and a slam. But Tony does his version of Kid McCoy's Yorkshire Rope Trick into a cross buttock throw and press for a quick equalising fall. 1-1. Round 5. Tony whip his man and tries a backdrop on the rebound but it is nearly a disaster for him when Cullen counters with a sunset flip into double leg nelson but Runs Out Of Mat as Stewart's legs reach the ropes. To y gets a posting but Cullen absorbs it on his knee and comes back with a forearm smash. He misses a couple more and in the confusion gets a standing full nelson but Cullen breaks one side and goes behind for a full nelson of his own. Tony sharply rears out and rebounds from the ropes into a dropkick. Tony gets a kick and side chancery plus another Legdrop Of Doom but when he repeats this the Legdrop misses and Cullen takes a leg, kicks it a bit and gets a toe and ankle into toehold. He drives the knee in and gets all four limbs for a surfboard only for Stewart to arrest the momentum just short of being hauled up into the hold. Chic loses his grip and Tony falls free! He is selling his back however. Cullen gets a forearm smash and scissor chop but Tony gets in a ground dropkick. Tony goes from almost full nelson to forearm but Chic gets him with a better smash. Stewart is up at 8 and gets his man with an inner arm (clothesline) after Cullen missed one of his own. Cullen gets two back elbowsmashes and a long suplex and crosspress but Stewart easily gets a shoulder up. Cullen hooks a leg but Stewart kicks off at 2. Stewart gets a crucifix into further nelson and Cullen tries to bridge out. The bell saves him anyway. Round 6. Stewart gets elbowsmashes to the base of Cullen's spine and his shoulder blades. He gets a slam and crosspress but Cullen is easily out. Tony gets a posting but. following, is met with two kicks and a forward flying guillotine elbowsmash from Cullen. Chic gets a posting, slam and revrse splash from the top rope. He gets the double legs from behind and drops Stewart face first on the mat. He finishes Tony with a belly to belly suplexand small package pin. Cullen the winner 2-1 but Tony puts up a good battle to Justyna his push Ah. That was a beautiful start to the weekend. In a year from this Stewart would best Jimmy Ocean for the British Lightweight title and then in 1992 Cullen would beat Robbie Brookside to recapture the World Heavy Middleweight title and hold it until his 2002 retirement .

Which to be fair is in the scanned text in the opening post. And indeed a few other places like The Death Of WCW book.

"You don't even really lose, brother!" No disagreements with the rest of your post.

Well anyway I'd love to hear from native French Catch fans who grew up with it as their territory, especially from that later era, tell their stories and explain all the small details from the territory properly..