David Mantell

This was 80. I have one more match left for 80 - see this coming weekend - then I am moving on to clear off the last we've got AFAIK of '81. I've got about 50 bouts in a private YT list from the 1980s to work from, drawn from @sergeiSem and Marco's Catch Sammlung channels.

It's been a while but at least - Old Catch En Couleur!!! Catch Á Six from 1977. Guy Mercier and Bruno Asquini we all know, top Bons of the 70s, here with fellow Bon Gerard Tayse to face three Méchants that pushed every Xenophobic button 8n a 70s French audience. A Spaniard, a Latin American and a Gypsy All dressed in stripey gear like wasps. While Les Bons have their own yellow jackets. As if that wasn't enough, Monsieur L'Arbitre is that former technical marvel turned Horrid Little Man. Michel Saulnier. And at ringside Roger Couderc looking totally the French Kent Walton. Premiére Manche: Tayse and Gonzales the Gypsy start off. Gonz looks like a beardy prog rocker crossed with Larry "UK Black Jack Mulligan" Coulter. He can do great cartwheels out of throws though like any lightweight. He spits angrily at Tayse and tags Trujillo who has a great long distance throw and Sunset flip into double leg Nelson for 2. Asquini and then Mercier end up in against Gonzalez. Guy resists a hiptoss and does one himself. Jones manages one at last buy Guy rolls through with one of his own, but Runs Out Of Mat. Viracocha the Peruvian tags in. Guy soon has him in an Indian Deathlock.It takes loads of Manchettes and the odd hairpull to break. Inca gets a kneedrop and tags Thomas who gets a leg but is cross scissored then kicked off. Bruno next, gets legdived, twice kicks his man off the twice spins him off. He does it to Gonzales too but the gypsy has a good cartwheel and comes right back with a rear snapmare. Gonzales rolls right through one legdive and ends up in fighting posture but facing the wrong way. "Il est souple, Gonzales" says Couderc, a compliment last bestowed on Le Samourai two years earlier. Inca Viracocha and Gerard take turns getting cross buttock throws. Les Méchants are reluctant to tag in but managed to in the end. Mercier forces a whip and bump on Inca. While Saulnier orders his two fellow Bons away. The heels get a pretty straightforward heat, cutting the ring in half and triple teaming Mercier. Asquini tags but after a couple of good stiff Manchettes is soon getting the same treatment. Mercier and Saulnie have one of their near fights as Bruno gets the treatment. Finally Bruno crawls through a heel's legs and tags Mercier who goes wild on Les Méchants until they smash Guy throat first on the top rope and carry on as before. Asquini does get a 1 count on Viracocha but his team mates break i5 up. He comes closer with a 2 on Gonzalez. Gonzales several times snapmares and dropkicks Tayse who comes back with Manchettes. For the most part, the triple teaming just carries on. Hot tags cut quickly short An efficient triple team machine in the heel corner. Eventually Gonzales gets Un Tombée on Bald Bruno after jumping off the ropes feet first. Deuxieme Manche: Gonzales gives Asquini a big long side Chancery throw into the Méchant corner and it's back to work. Once Mercier's tag is missed by Saulnier who drags him back to the Bon corner by the hair. Finally Guy gets a genuine hot tag and eliminates all three villains with Manchettes and Saus Chasées., before giving Saulnier a hefty Manchette of his own, flooring L'Arbitre. He gives both Gonzales and Saulnier repeated postings before cross buttock throwing and pressing Jo for the equaliser. Saulnier makes the count before passing out. He recovers enough to try to raise the good guys' hands but they refuse him They shove him away and shake hands. La Belle: Gonzales gets a full nelson on Mercier who breaks open one side and goes behind to reverse it. Mercier seems to make Gonzales pass out but when he drops to bodyscissors and threatens to do the "Ah Ouais" repeated atomic drop. Gonzales forces a standing break and tags Viracocha . The heels try their double teaming tactics but end up ejected from the ring. They try again but Mercier drags Trujillo outside and Manchettes him all around the ring. Saulnier is ENRAGED, climbing ring posts to order Les Bons back to their corner. Things resume with Guy and Gonzales. Viracocha comes in and full Nelsons Guy then gets a front facelock on him. He goes back to the full nelson as Gonzales gets s shot in. The faces all come in, slingshot heels into each other and play a very different kind of "Catch!" with Saulnier. There's briefly a comedy false finish involving Saulnier supposedly getting the pin on Trujillo which sends Saulnier mad trying to get the timekeeper's attention to resume the match. Eventually he gets is point to Couderc All six catcheurs end up doing the String Of Headlocks gag before separating into three Bons each headlock a méchant and they try to bulldog them together but it ends in Les Bons colliding. After a couple more attempts, Asquini gets the winning fall on Trujillo and again the good guys refuse to let Saulnier raise their hand. It was Catch Á Six but really it was a typical Catch Á Quatre of the period. Not too scientific but fast and full of action. And relations between Saulnier and the Mercier family just getting worse.

Haha I was going to write back and angrily insist that that WAS Kauroff - even the ring announcer says so. Apart from him and the two French "Russians" I posted, the only other one in wrestling in Europe at that time I can think of was the vastly lighter (and previously hairier on top) Larry "Black Jack Mulligan (No Relation to Bob Windham" Coulter. Also about how how Stone Cold and Goldberg have popularised that whole Nikita Koloff look among toxic macho male type like that scumbag Andrew Tate. Which is a reason why I don't like the Stone Cold character. But that's all vastly OT. Tried reviewing the Kauroff-Saturski bout but the bad picture quality and the brawly content defeated me. Maybe OJ would like it if not for the picture. Quite the other end of the spectrum from Wright Vs St Clair in 1986 Bremen. Amusing to see Kauroff cheekily offer a handshake at the end and Saturski refuse it after such dirty wrestling. He's a loveable rogue, old Klaus. No wonder he became a babyface in the 90s. And it was nice to hear the DJ play a favourite of mine. Funkytown by Lipps Inc, which had only come out four months earlier Okay. I'm going to have another go. I can't see it going blow by blow but IIRC I was half asleep last time. I'm planning to do a mop-up of 1980s clips Ivenot covered properly. Starting with this: Colour signal is awful. It improves later. Nice to see Mick McMichael of Doncaster in Doncaster in his kilt. Funkytown really put a an age on this clip. The arguments between Mick and Klaus go on and on and the crowd give Kauroff the bird. Th3 tape is old and stretched so The Bird starts to sound like some tape experiment by Brian Eno on the first two Roxy Music albums. Wolf goes to sit down on a corner post. Finally he pounds Kauroff (getting in one nice snapmare). The two do a bit of slug punch and kneelift. Die Runde Ein ends after not much action. Mick orders them apart. Cut to Runde 2, I assume. Wolf is pounding Klaus in the other corner. Two girls in nice sundresses run past the corner, Klaus hulks up (insofar as a German heel legend can be said to Hulk up) and legdives Saturski but he hammers him off with a heel to the head. Saturski gets an arm., makes a semi Japanese Stranglehold. Eventually Kauroff slugs his way out crudely. He takes down Saturski with a top wristlock but Wolf gets headscissors. Kauroff actually does a decent force jaws open and kip out escape. Wolfgang also does something good, a flying headscissors takedown (until you remember that a scissors was what he had one just before.). Cut to Wolf with a chinlock. Cut to Kauroff with an armlock. No idea how they exchanged/reversed/transitioned - if they did. Some slug and punch then the bell goes. Round 3? Wolf gets an Indian Deathlock and front facing chinlock. He switches to a Gotch toehold in the guard. He drops his weight on Kauroff but only gets 6. Kauroff high whips and bumps Wolf who catches him with a ground dropkick. Wolf gradually gets Klaus down from a collar and elbow which goes on for ages but he is soon up and it carries thon for ages again. Wold gets a scissor chop which Klaus eventually sells by going down on one knee. Camera points at fans for ages before we see Wolf with a side chancery but no throw. Kauroff gets up and gets a side chancery throw of his own and so stomps.. The colour has Improved somewhat. The bell goes and Mick has a job getting Klaus off. Runde 4 I guess Kauroff pounds Wolf in his corner and on the mat and appears to have the KO win but he narrowly survived and drops for another 6. They trade blows. Kauroff posts Wolf and chokes him on the mat. No yellow card but no count either. Kauroff gets a posting on Wolf for 8, slugs him in the corner, They slug and p7 ch on till the end of the round. Runde 5. Some ACTION! Wolf gets 3 dropkicks putting Klaus to ringside with the third. He is back at 8. Both get a 2 count pin attempt. Wolf gets another one with a snapmare. Apparently the time limit runs out. Wolf refusesKauroff's handshake. Slow like Rollerball Rocco Vs Sammy Lee was fast. The odd good hold or move, lots of slug and punch, even more stalling. And Kent Walton later claimed Wolf was European Welterweight Champion around this time? Saturski apparently was on World Of Sport November 1970, going down 1-0 to Judo Al Hayes. Which explains where Kent saw him.

Okay I've lookup the match, it's only a minute longer than what I originally planned (a 1980 Giant Haystacks tag) which I'll save for next week when I've got less time). and our friends the radio DJs praise it to the skies. Pity @ohtani's jacket doesn't feel the same way: Okay, let's make our own minds up. The crowd evidently have, singing "WHATSALOADOFRUBBISH" at Rocco. . Apparently, says Kent, Sammy has a considerable female following. Round 1: Lee mostly focuses on his spinning kick to start, cornering Rocco th3n letting him have a blast. Rocco gets a hammerlock but Lee straighten a the arm, rolls forward twice -th3n seconds time going over on his head like the young Dynamite Kid against Alan Dennisson in 1976. He finishes off with a high whip causing Rocco to bump heavily to the delight of all his haters. Sammy isn't laughing, he glares maliciously at Rocco who responds with a top wristlock. Sammy does the French style back flip to a better angl3 then a cross buttock throw for another hard Rocco bump. Rollerball gets a high finger into side chancery, transitioning to full nelson. Sammy butts out backwards and comes back off the ropes with a flying tackle and cross press but Rocco bench presses Lee out of the ring.Le3 flips in offer the top rope and straight to another spinning kick. Rocco gets a grovit and transitions to double rear arms, perhaps looking afo. Lee flips forward, catching Rocco in a reverse ground dropkick as he does so. Rocco kips up and cross buttock presses Lee who keeps the momentum going into a cross buttock throw of his own. Rocco gets a quick armlock into rear standing hammerlock, driving Lee down to the mat but just short of turning him into th3e guard for a pin. Eventualy Rocco, frustrated , kicks and pounds on the shoulder joint, getting himself some heat by choking Sammy on the top rope. He is warned off by referee Dave Reece . but the dirties have done their job, Sammy is selling his at, rubbing tenderly at the bicep. Rocco tries to get a posting to land on the shoulder/bicep but Sammy reverse leapfrogs him. Rocco, unlike other heels, can keep up with Sammy for speed, he is getting his kicks in. Rocco tries the same precision posting, this time Sammy rolls over the top. He is also ready for the kick this time, grabbing Rocco's ankle as it comes up and flooring him. The cdrowd are delighted to see Rocco on the mat rolling around but personally I would have preferred to see Lee keep hold and develop it into a leglock of some sort! (Advert break on the digital repeat.). Rocco gets even with a concealed punch, kick, snapmares and guillotine elbowsmash. Lee is up at 8 but whipped into a stomach but. Rocco gets anothe4 snapmare but this time misses the elbowsmash. Lee fights back with his trademark spinning kick. whip and shoulderblock. Rocco nervously gets a half interlock into standing full nelson. Lee tries to slip in an arm for a cross buttock throw but the bell goes. Round 2 Lee has an odd, contorted fighting stance with one hand bent a pointing forward. Rocco gets in with a front facing armbars, getting behind and kneelifting the joint, the same one as before. He switches to a concealed punch and kick (Reece is highly suspicious of the former.). He gets in a blow to the back of the neck then a Randy Savage axehandle, carefully timing it just as Lee gets his knee off the mat so it is -just barely - legal. Lee is down for 8, slapped down for 2 and reverse pikdriven. He climbs the ropes for a followup but Lee gets up and throws him down. Rocco leaves th3cring to recover and the crowd sing "nice one Sammy.". They lock up and Rocco forces Sammy in to an over the knee backbreaker held with a grovit, then a headbutt held with the hair (Reece is most unhappy with this.). Lee makes a feet first landing from a Rocco monkey climb and gets his spinning kick in fast as does the fallen Rocco with a chop to the thigh. He whips and boots Lee in the stomach but misses a guillotine elbowsmash off the top rope. Lee, up first, gets a whip and shoulderblock. This time Rocco is up with with a magnificent long suplex. It keeps his man down for eight. Rocco tries again and this tim3 gourdbusts Lee on the top rope, earning himself a public warning. Lee sells it for a long while and as he's allowed up for free without a count (as refs can permit when one man is felled by a foul) he is entitled to that. Rocco tries a third suplex but Lee lands feet first behind, atomic drops Rocco on one knee , posts him and inverted waistlock slams him on to o e knee. He switches to crosspress and gets the opening fall. Round 3. Angry, Rocco goes for chops - and more chops - all the way down to the mat. Reece gives him his Second And Final Public Warning. (If you've seen the Wrestle Me vlog, you'll already know where things are heading. If not - Spoilers and I don't mean Drew McDonald or Don Jardine.). Rocco gets a side chancery throw and, now knowing he has to be careful, delivers a series of guillotine elbowsmashes just fast enough that they can get passed by Reece as continuous motion. He does get away with a hairpull but Lee gets on the attack first before Reece can step in, Lee makes a feet first landing from a backdrop and is back in with a spinning kick. Rocco successfully conceals a punch and posts Lee but when Lee comes back off the top rope, Rocco tries to flyswat him with a punch and Reece catches him! DISQUALIFIED!!! THE crowd don't share OJ's view of disqualification finishes, they are DELIGHTED to see hated heel Rocco gets his comeuppance. Neither wrestler is happy, Rocco shouts threats, Lee mouths curses. I thought that was pretty decent myself. The fouls, like with Jones Vs Bond, were kept in their place - even with a DQ finish - and Rocco was actually able to keep up with Lee unlike Cooper, Mulligan, England and even Breaks who ended up as his humiliated stooges for slowness. And when Saya a returned home for his Tiger Mask push. he brough5va little souvenir with him. See the two different matchups side by side below in a Japanese YouTube channel video. Okay, for all you Haystacks fans, unless something really exciting gets posted to Rumble's YouTube channel, that 1980 tag match will be rescheduled for next weekend.

@William BolognaYet another Wrestle Me vlog piece on British Wrestling, this time focusing on a feud that spanned both Britain and Japan: Sammy Lee Vs Rollerball Rocco and their Puroresu alter egos Tiger Mask mk1 Vs Black Tiger mk1. 5:28 note the comments about the audience being like a tennis audience, well educated in appreciation of skillful play. Credit Kent Walton for educating them this. Most of my own style of reading and analysing a match comes from Kent too. It's how we Brit TV babies were brought up.

Agreed that was a silly overblown statement by this Scott Keith bloke but I would suggest the lasting moral of the Savage/Elizabeth story was that actually SHE was the strong one in the relationship all along and that only by swallowing his pride and not just admitting but embracing that fact could Savage find salvation and inner peace.

For the second time, Kilby is in a final for a British title after its previous holder won a World Championship. Last time it was the Heavy Middleweight title after Rollerball Rocco beat Joel de Fremery to become World Champion . This time it was after the complex feud for both titles between Marty Jones and Fit Finlay ended with Jones regaining the World Mid Heavyweight title on a confusing DQ win (confusing inasmuch as as it was not clear why Finlay was disqualified.) Last time Kilby disposed of King Ben (who eventually did briefly take this here Light Heavyweight title off Kilby in early 1988) this time young Logan is the other finalist for a belt that his Iron Man Of London namesake once was also a finalist for in 1955 before losing out to Ernie Riley, son of Wigan Snakepit boss Billy Riley. Round 1 after an initial lock up hits the corner. Logan gets a side headlock, Kilby throws him to the ropes and bodychecks him then takes him down via a hiptoss into a side headlock on the.mat. Logan turns him into a side folding press and gets a 1 count but then powers up right to near standing position. Kilby snapmares Logan who rolls up nicely and then gets a lunge, then a snapmare of his own, absorbs a Kilby bodycheck and whips his man into the ropes. Kilby comes back with a sunset flip into double leg nelson for 2.before Logan hits him with the double ankle smash and whips him in the ropes Kilby catches him in a cross buttock throw and press for 2 until Logan kicks off. Kilby gets a legdive and begins weakening Logan's knee before scissoring the ankle. Logan gets a crossface and puts his free leg around Kilby in half a bodyscissors. Kilby releases the leg to counter the crossface so Logan completes the bodyscissors. Kilby tries undressing the hold but Logan bumps him in an atomic drop in the bodyscissors (the move that gets French fans chanting "Ah Ouais!". The impact does break the crossface and Alan looks to undo the scissors to Logan tries various arm holds to stop him. They turn over sideways before agreeing to a stalemate. Once up, Kilby gets an arm at. weakener and snapmare and front chancery, but Logan drives him into the ropes and referee Jeff Kaye pulls them apart. Logan gets a full nelson but then the bell goes. Round 2. and Kilby gets a side chancery to rear snapmare. He tries another side chancery but Logan gets a leg. Kilby shrugs it off and gets a snapmare into rear chinlock. Logan snaps it open into an armbar into hammerlock with Kilby down in the mount, twice kneedrops the arm and tightens the hold. As in the last bou, he lets his knees take over the hold, secure the other arm and turns his man over in the guard with a cross press for 2 and another 2 with the arm straight. Kilby bridges up so Logan loads his weight on top. Kent predicts the bridge will hold but it collapses. They start over and Kilby gets the back of the neck but Logan goes for the leg again and takes his man down, making s double legspread. He has it for a good while before Kilby pulls up a knee and jumps forwards into a side headlock on the mat. Logan starts to get up so Kilby cross buttocks him down. Logan gets a 2 count with a side folding press for 2. Logan gets up then slips out the headlock with a side folding press from behind. Alan rolls out into a mash ash they call a stalemate. Kilby gets behind for a standing chinlock but the bell goes. Round 3: Logan gets a headlock into side chancery throw into further nelson - a nice sequence but only for a 2. He gets a few 1s but Kilby keeps getting a shoulder up. So Logan releases and Kilby gets a side chancery throw and bodycheck buck Logan ducks, leapfrogs and hiptosses Kilby into a crosspress for 2. Kilby gets a legdive into an Indian Deathlock, Logan twice knocks off the pinioning leg. so Alan transitions to an improved hold. This leaves him vulnerable to sit-up attacks from Logan as in the last bout. Logan rolls Kilby into a folding press but Runs Out Of Mat as their legs hit the ropes. Kaye calls for a break. Logan gets a half nelson into snapmare down into double kneepress for 1 then a crosspress for 1 before Kilby bridges to throw him off. Kilby gets a powerful cross buttock throw for four before Logan springs into a button to stomach for three , a forearm smash, a side chancery throw into crosspress for 1. Kilby tried for a waistlock from the mat but Logan shrugs him off and they start over. Logan gets a rear waistlock into front folding press for 2. Kilby gets a shoulder in, Logan gets a front chancery into forearm smash using the hold to position his man for the blow. He gives Alan a knee to the stomach and a smash tomthe shoulder blades Kilby collars him just in time for the bell. During the interval we see Marty Jones at ringside in big glasses and a rugby shirt, not exactly the most flattering image of him ever. Round 4. Kilby twice collars and forearm smashes Logan then snapmares and Legdrop Of Dooms him. Logan is up after 6 but side chancery thrown down a long way and splashes him for 2 for a pin count then another 4 for a KO count. Again Alan collars and this time double kneelifts Steve who wandes into the corner but catches Kilby with a superkick for 4 as he follows in. Now it's Logan's turn to do the collar and smash. Followed by a slam and crosspress. Kilby gets an arm up then the other arm up to cut two counts short at 2. Logan offers a reset and Kilby gets his butt to stomach and smash to shoulders pair in again followed by a snapmare down into crossface with the elbows and entire lower arms meeting. Logan tries to grab the fists at the top to undress the hold (and if he could get the power that would be one big gappy "chinlock" to remove his head from!) so realising this flaw in his hold, Kilby switches to a further nelson press, twice for two before Logan regains his balance, a third time for 1 before Steve shakes the hold off! They shake hands and the crowd claps. Kilby gets a full nelson, Logan tries rearing out, then sliding out downwards then gripping his own lifted leg for extra leverage then another rearing. None work, the full nelson stays on. Finally uses a repeated series of rears to hammer Kilby backwards into the ropes for a break. Kilby again gets the front and back pair of blows, then a slam for 5, uppercut for 6 and side chancery throw into crosspress for 1 with Logan getting his arm up before the bell. Round 5 Logan gets a Headlock. (A Q dot in the top right corner signifying an advert break in the next 60 seconds manages to Spoiler what is coming.). Kilby breaks it open into an armbar, passing it overhead to tighten it. Before Logan can roll out, Kilby switches to side headlock and cross buttocks his man for 4. Logan shoves him down, gets a side chancery throw and comes off the ropes in a bodycheck. Alan doesn't sell it much but ducks down under the next charge and gets his man in the rebound with a superkick then a backslide ("double arm shoulderpress") for the opening fall. We get the Wrestling advert break music that went with Jeff Lynne's new 1983 theme for World of Sport, so this was clearly a well kept domestic recording of the original 1985 broadcast. Round 6. Kilby goes from collar to side headlock to side chancery but can't get the throw. He turns his man 90' into a grovit position but Logan beats his way free with inside forearm blows the gets a knee in to force Kilby down on his. Logan whips Kilby into the ropes and gets another knee to the stomach, felling him. Kilby no gets a snapmare and kneedrop for 4 and gets in an elbow but takes another knee for 4. Logan collars him again and gets a single shoulder charge in the corner -andy more and the bout would no longer be clean - then more elbows and knees into a snapmare and crosspress for 2. Logan gets behind for a takedown into side folding press for 2, then a forearm, posting and forearm again Kilby gets a posting of his own, a long side chancery throw for 4 but then falls for the same takedown into folder as a minute before, this time Running Out Of Mat as Kilby's feet touch the ropes Kilby gets two knees, Logan a head. then a side chancery into chinlock then into a further nelson press which Kilby bridges up from enough to keep his shoulders off the mat. Kilby gets a whip into boot as the bell goes. This round was a bit of a brawl, not dirty but a bit of a fight, hope OJ likes it but I hope things get more technical again Round 7 Kilby gets double knees for 5:and a slam for 5 and a hiptoss for 5 also then a posting but Logan takes it on the knee, dives through the legs, comes up and like Johnny Saint's "Lady Of The Lake sequence briefly grabs a headlock then releases and goes behind Kilby for another leapfrog and superkick and posting attempt. Kilby reverses the last one but Logan leaps up on the top turnbuckle and comes off with a flying bodypress for the equalising pin. Better than than last round which was more hard hitting than technical. Bout returns to form here. Round 8. Logan tries his side folding press yet again- and yet again Runs Out Of Mat. The ropes also put paid to a forearm smash battle. Logan gets a legdive into single toehold, brushes off Alan's kick off attempts, replying with a knee weakener. Kilby is persistent with the kicks and Logan lets him go, even graciously helping him up by the hand! They shake hands and start over as Steve gets an armlock and twists. Alan rolls out - Aah THIS is more like it - and gets an arm of his own and a high Irish whip which Logan fails to go for, trading a bump avoided for a serious arm weakener! He stays down for 7 and Kaye checks the joint but Logan - perhaps thinking of what @ohtani's jacket would say about it (nearly 41 years later) - decides to wrestle on. Kilby goes for a rear waistlock, Logan drops to the floor to shrug him off but Kilby lands in just the right position to get a hammerlock on. Logan resists the submission (now how would a title win with a HAMMERLOCK have been, eh?) so Kilby uses Logan's trick of getting the other arm in, using both his legs rather than his arms à la Logan to get the turn of the shoulders into the mat. He does get a couple of one counts but no more. They get up and Logan is clearly protecting his shoulder. He gets a legdive, Alan gets an armbar on the injured arm but the bell rings at just the wrong moment for Alan. He now has to worry about how good a pitstop job Logan's seconds can do on his arm. Round 9 and it's all about that shoulder. Kilby goes right to work hiptossing Logan on the painful joint. He gets another Whip and AGAIN Logan fails to take the bump but suffers bicep pain instead. He throws Kilby -using his other arm! - leapfrogs and dropkicks him and posts him. A second posting is reversed by Kilby, twisting that arm as he goes, but Logan leaps up tomthe top turnbuckle for another flying bodypress like his equaliser in round 7 but misses and lands right on the shoulder. Kilby gets a superkick,long suplex. crosspress uthe pinfall for the winner and the title. Unfortunately the YouTube clip cuts out before Marty can present the belt to Kilby. Thus was the start of a 20 year association on and off between Kilby and the British Light Heavyweight Championship. He would lose and regain it with King Ben in 1988 (fresh off Ben's Golden Grappler trophy win over son Kid McCoy) then by the mid 90s move to All Star and lose it to Skull Murphy in 1995 and Dirty Dan (ex Danny Boy) Collins in 1996-1997 - the highest up the weights Collins would win a title before his first retirement in 2002 - "Mad Dog" Ian Wilson for the Knight family's WAW in late 1998 before seeing out his final years in Adam Mumford's RBW in 2003-2004, still wearing the belt to the ring until he retired in 2004 aged 60. As for the bout, well it's got the definitive finish this time unlike the other so that should keep some folk happy (see also the recent two Rumble bouts I posted between Charley Marley and Craig Callahan for a refused TKO no contest finish versus a pinfall win.). I think this bout was let down by Round 6 which was hard hitting but, as Kent would say, Not Enough Wrestling. The rest of the match was a fine companion piece to the November 1986 bout.

Okay, this an the next match are to make it up to those of you dissatisfied by the camcorder footage on the French thread. From November 1986, the Birmingham Steve Logan, having lost out to Alan Kilby for the vacant British Light Heavyweight Championship a couple of years earlier (see next post!) faces up to him again two years later. These two bouts should be real palette cleansers of technical clean matches. Astonishingly neither one has been reviewed on here before. Round 1. After a false start hitting the ropes, Alan gets a side headlock flicking between that and front chancery. He moves to side chancery and Steve gets a leg in retaliation. Eventualy Logan's legdive gets the better of the situation. Kilby goes down and Steve switches legs to work on the other knee, getting a toe and ankle. He shrugs off Kilby's attempts to boot him off and to grab a wristlock. Eventually Logan backs off. Kilby in turn gets a legdive and weakeners. Logan counters with a crossface. He tries to turn out but Kilby secures a Gotch toehold. He looks to be trying for a surfboard (and Logan does bait him with the odd arm) but instead switches to a side headlock, forsaking the legs. Kilby side chancery throws Steve who rolls through elegantly. They get a half Interlock and Steve offers the other half but Kilby declined and goes for a wristlever instead. He gives the arm a weakening shake then a high whip, forcing a bump and a 4 count. Logan is up and goes from collar and elbow to side headlock to front chancery. He walks his man back to near the ropes to give himself the maximum amount of mat forwards and gets a good long side chancery throw on Kilby. Logan goes for a charge but aborts because Kilby is not fully up. The bell rings and they shake hands. Round 2 and Kilby gets a top wristlock. Logan tries to throw him and eventually manages to hoist him in a fireman's carry. He adjusts his grip but ends up placing him on the corner - Kent reckons Logan was looking for a slam but I think a fisherman's suplex would have done just as well. Either way, Logan gives up and they start over. Kilby gets an Indian Deathlock (Walton calls it a "figure four leglock with bar" - I only use the figure four name on here to refer to the American Figure Four Leglock most of you would automatically think of). He shoves off Logan's attempts to sit up and disentangle the hold. Logan gets a grip on a foot in the end forcing Kilby to reach down to counter - so Logan gets the arm and puts on an armlock into back hammerlock, forcing Kilby to relinquish to get the mobility he needs to combat this new hold. Having secured the hammerlock, Logan uses his knees to keep his grasp while securing the other arm in an armbar. With both arms this secured, Logan turns his man into the guard and gets a couple of crosspresses for one each but Kilby's strength is too much for a pin at this point. Logan gives up and gets the double interlock he wanted earlier. He tries and fails to break each side with a knee so instead fires a lean-back dropkick. Kilby is up at 5 and gets a front chancery and kneelift, a side chancery throw into Legdrop of Doom. Logan shoves Kilby away from down on the mat. Kilby retaliates with a shoulderblock and elbowsmash to the back of the shoulders. Kilby gets two wrist levers, as before jerking the limb each time. The bell goes but being deaf. Kilby can't hear it so goes for a posting but stops when the referee intervenes. Logan accepts the situation (a common problem for Kilby). they shake hands and Kilby goes back to his corner for a sign language chat with his second Jimmy Lapper who was also deaf. Round 3. Alan gets an arm and a hiptoss into crosspress but Logan keeps getting a shoulder up. He gets another armlock but a sharp Logan knee to the chest puts paid to that. Logan looks to go for a whip but changes to a front chancery but it is against the ropes so referee Max Ward calls for a break. Logan gets a posting and a 4 count. Kilby gets a single finger Interlock into high whip but not much of a bump and his follow-up crosspress is easily thrown off. Logan gets a wristlever, drives an elbow into the bicep and converts to a hammerlock on the already weakened arm with Kilby down in the guard. As earlier, he lets his knees take control of the hammerlock and goes to work on the other arm turning his man into the crosspress and this time getting as much as 2 before giving up. Kilby gets a shove, elbowsmash, posting, but falls for a Logan keeps and his attempt at a legdive is preempted by Logan getting an armbar. Kilby half rolls but only into the guard and Logan who still has the wrist, can drop a knee on the bicep and work further on the wristlock until the bell goes. Round 4 Logan gets a leg but switches to the arm from before to go back to work, kneeling the bicep and maintaining a guard armlock. Kilby kips up and deftly reverses the wristlever. He adds a couple of twists then switches to double legs, gets a forward folding press but Logan crawls out. Kilby declined running the ropes and instead gets a beautiful transfer from side chancery throw to headscissors. Logan turns upright with Kilby maintaining the hold in the mount. Kilby bashes Logan's head, in the hold, into the mae and gets back to the sit-up position. Logan tries uncorking the hold with his knees but can't get them in so pulls the legs taut , turns over and goes into a handstand to get the pull to free his head. He gets a wristlever but Kilby rolls through and spreads Logan's legs with his own then boots him backward for a 5 count. Kilby gets a hiptoss into side headlock plus armscissor on the mat. He shrugs off a pair of Logan headscissors with two side folding press attempts in between , maintaining the side headlock all the way through until he transitions to a standing front chancery. He keeps holding of that until the bell goes. Round 5 and still no score. Kilby uses a side chancery to position Logan for a forearm smash. He gets a rear snapmare into crossface Logan keeps forcing it up so Kilby switches to a double underarm Logan tries throwing Kilby forwards then rears his way out ("Nice butt" says Walton with incredible innocence, especially considering his other career!!!!) and gets a forearm smash and rear snapmare. He gets some flying elbows and a posting but Kilby reverses a second one and gets an over the knee backbreaker and crosspress for 2. Kilby gets a bodycheck then runs the ropes but Logan ducks under and catches him in motion with a long cross buttock throw into crosspress for the opening fall. One up to Logan. Round 6. Logan gets a full nelson After falling to twist out, Kilby rears out and gets a front chancery. He gets a forearm and Logan gets a knee but it goes in the corner and Ward demands a break. Logan gets a posting, snapmare and kneedrop for 4, a snapmare and bodycheck but Kilby gets a leg chop and underhook into long suplex and crosspress for 2. They hit the ropes again and Kilby gets a side folding press for the equalising fall. Round 7 and Kilby off to a good start with a slam, then a side chancery throw into chinlock into three further nelson press, the first two for 1 and the last not even for that. Logan gets behind then leapfrogs and superkicks him in one move. He follows with a posting, slam and crosspress but can't get the shoulders down. Kilby gets a whip into backdrop for 6. Logan gets a single leg takedown and waekeners into a toe and ankle hold, briefly putting his head in to shield from Kilby's attempts to boot him off. He gets one more weakener before releasing Kilby who is up at 4. They full Interlock and Logan gets a knee in but as they drop Kilby gets a headlock in and tries a crosspress but gets the same trouble he himself gave Logan earlier. Both men are very cautious in the late stages with a couple of Interlocks going nowhere because, as Kent observes, they are being so careful they don't produce any moves at all! Logan breaks off the last Interlock with his knees and Kilby does get a side headlock, resisting a Logan atomic drop, before the bell goes. Round 8. Final round and off they go, crossing the ring. Kilby drops to the mat and comes up with a butt to the stomach. He gets a posting and a good long side Chancery throw. Logan takes another posting well on his knee and comes back with an elbowsmash. Kilby no sells a bodycheck, goes for a cross buttock press near the ropes but both men catch their shoulders on the top rope. Curiously it is Kilby who is offered a TKO but since he asks for a No Contest it makes no difference anyway. A fine scientific match but of course @ohtani's jacket won't like that result. So to make up for that, I rewind back to Logan and Kilby's previous encounter, back in early 1984 when Logan first won the belt ...

Five years earlier in Hamburg, French born. Germany based promising youngster Dennis Goulet has a good sporting go at carrying Billy Samson to a decent scientific match. The DJ plays something Latin American sounding. Goulet looks like a member of the Midnight Express or the RPMs in his purple and silver jacket plus headband. The two shake hands .. Runde 1: Samson gets a front chancery. Goulet uses a spinning motion to not only uncurl it I to an armbar but also get a high whip and bump- Samson seems shocked by the impact! Goulet this time gets the front chancery and an underhook. Samson lifts him for a backdrop but instead places him in the ring apron and graciously holds the ropes open for him- Goulet accepts and bows in response. Samson gets a rather nice snapmare into front chinlock. Goulet powes his way up but Samson forces him all the way down. Get lifts Samson on his shoulders and deposits him on the corner post. Samson gets an arm and makes an armhank on the mat of it., catching Goulet 's head to make a headscissors. Goulet gets into an upright kneel but Samson drags him back down. The bell goes, Samson releases and they shake hands. Runde 2. Samson throws Goulet who comes back with a flying tackle for 1. Samson whips .Goulet and goes for a backdrop bt5 Goulet gets a sunset flip into double leg nelson for 2. Goulet gets an armlock sideways on. Samson cross buttock throws him but Goulet uses the momentum to armdrag the bigger man! He ends up with a guard armbar. Samson forces his way up and tries another throw but Goulet ends up armdragging him again, right back into th3 guard armlock. (Some annoying guy in the crowd is blowing on a birdie whistle.). Samson pulls himself up and this time twists the arm backwards before hiptossing him and finally gets the desired bump for his man. Goulet goes from collar and elbow to legdive but Samson spins him off, bumping Goulet again. Samson this time gets the leg and put on an Indian Deathlock at 90'. It ends in stalemate and the referee has to untwine the legs. The bell goes, more handshakes. Runde 3 and Goulet gets a slam and bodychecks Samson down. He charges but Samson ducks under and then gives Goulet a BIG backdrop like he tried in round 1. He splashes Dennis for the one pinfall required. Quite a pleasing match, Samson's strength being used intelligently and he has a surprising array of skillful moves.

Off to the Heumarkt in August 1992 for a Battle Royale. Pretty much a who's who of the CWA 1992 including Steve Regal and Paul Neu, gets in and has a fairly generic battle royal. The images freezes up a few times. Didier Gapp and Mick McMichael in his kilt can be seen wandering past the camera. It comes down to Rambo Vs two heels double teaming him who screw up, collide and end up being eliminated for a big babyface win. Talking of the Heumarkt, Getty Images has a whole load of good pic of Vienna tournaments from the 50s/60s https://duckduckgo.com/?q=vienna+wrestling+heumarket&iar=images&t=euandroid&iai=https%3A%2F%2Fc8.alamy.com%2Fcomp%2F2X136HR%2Fvienna-on-july-17th-1990-big-otto-wanz-l-and-his-wrestler-troup-battle-royal-presented-their-new-single-dynamite-in-viennas-heumarkt-arena-19900717-pd0002-rechteinfo-rights-managed-rm-2X136HR.jpg

A couple more bits from the same show. First clip - Catch Á Six featuring that man Flesh again, Natalie and White Storm against Scott Rider (in the kilt) Greg Master and Emilio Stocci. Les Méchants are triple teaming a Bon, presumably nate since the third Bon wears white therefore must be White Thunderand get an Avertisement for it. Big Scott Fireman's Carries the Bon and gets a 2. Scott and another heel double team Nate. The heels in black faces White Storm, both have pretty decent dropkicks. Flesh still does a good dropkick too for his age - this is the guy who was tagging with Walter Bordes on national TV two decades earlier. (I think we may have seen White Thunder on some clips on here in the past.). Flesh hiptosses Scott to set him up for White Storm's Superfly Splash for a winner. This time Jacky doesn't weasel out of the result. Scott tumbles out of the ring like an elderly Superstar Graham in drag. Apparently Scott's two partners face each other in thesecond clip. Greg must be the guy in the pink tights who gets an Avertisement early on so Stocci must be the heel in black from the last bout. Emilio fends off a Superplex attempts d delivers a somersault splash follow-up. Some other good moves including a huracanrana. I think whoever was the heel wins.

Wrestling Stars outdoor show from about 2006. I'm guessing the age from the fact they were still using full length corner bags and a ring that looks like New Catch Season 1 from 1988 except for the www.catch.fr URL on the ring aprons. The other dating factor being that it's the final round bald moustachioed version of Flesh Gordon, in against Cybernic Machine the wrestling computer virus. Referee is Monsieur Jacky Richard, equally tubby, equally bald. Actually Flesh has a Q tip pony tail like Kendo Nagasaki under the mask or Jesse Ventura circa 1992. I must admit I have a soft spot for footage filmed outdoors with the backs of houses in shot, like the Vienna Heumarkt or that pub beer garden in smalltown rural Germany. Nice balconies on those flats. Cyber IC Machine looks like a country cousin of Demolition circa the gimp masks (October 1990) He is choking Flesh on the ropes while Jacky does not a fat lot about it. So Gordon pitches him over the ropes and gets an Avertisement for his efforts. From what we can see round some bloke's head, there are some clotheslines, more Machine choking Flesh in the corner. Flesh does Ken Joyce's old trick of sitting down to avoid a posting. CM misses a Stinger splash in the corner. Flesh gets another Avertisement after an argument with Jacky. Flesh backdrops Cyber IC outside, goes out to finish him off, makes it back in time and is declared the winner. Jacky however changed it to a DQ win for the Machine. The MC is outraged. The crowd break into a good old fashioned chant of Aux Chiottes L'Arbitre. Cybernic throws a chair in the ring. The old Bons Wuz Robbed finish Probably a fun afternoon.

January 1968. Scarface is a visiting American who has been given one of the toughest assignments in Catch, the early twentysomething Jean Ferré (André Rousimoff). Andre is in slim athletic shape although somewhat bony with a bad habit of poking his head forward. He wears a tassel jacket with a scarf tied l8keca necktie. It gives him a slightly hunched frail look. The picture is very sharp, I almost thought it had an interlaced VT look until I spotted some film damage. The two men tower over referee Roger Mollet. They take turns to throw each other around then Scarface gets a top wristlock. He takes his man down but Ferré kips up (itself a sight to behold) Scarface pushes Ferré back down but Ferré pushes up only for L'Arbitre to run him back down. Scarface gets a front facelock They two wrestlers Interlock and Mollet becomes tangled up in their tie-up. Bollet leaps to get a grovit of his own. Managing in the second attempt ibut Jean managed to convert it into a ¾ nelson. Scar goes for the ropes then gets his grovit back, shoving L'Arbitre out of the way Mollet again gets dangerously entangled in the lockup. He pounds on Jean's back. Eventually all three fall out of the ring and the two giants battle at ringside. The bell rings, seemingly to stop the contest but once Mollet has everyone back inside he restarts the match rather than an early double KO. Jean cross buttock throws Scar twice across the ring. Scarface gets a legdive and leglock. Ferré has to struggle to keep his shoulders up. Eventually he boots Scar in the head to escape. Back up, Scarface gets a standing side headlock on Jean who throws him off and bodychecks him down, Scarface gets the headlock against Ferré again. Jean throws him in the ropes but Scar rope-a-dopes his way out of rebounding. Scar gets a standing armlock on and makes it into a front facing hammerlock, slipping in an illegal concealed kidney punch that has fans gasping and Mollet racing round to see what happened only for there to be just a legal double wristlock left. Scar eventually has Jean down almost in the guard in his hammerlock. Ferré gets the ropes forcing a break. Mollet tries to pull Scarface off, but gets thrown across the ring. Ferré gets up as Scar and Roger argue. Scar gets another headlock but Jean throws it off. Ferré gets three haymakers that flatten the American. He gets up and attacks Jean, getting an armlock. Ferré counters with a standing full nelson. He keeps it for a very long while. Scarface eventually manages to slide out downwards. Jean drops down in a lengthwise press cover but the two men roll over and over until Scar falls outside the ring. He spends quite a while out there either getting counted or arguing with Mollet. Eventually he comes back and gets a bearhug on Ferré who forces Scarfaces head back then Bionic Elbowsmashes him off. He tries another but Scarface leaps to get the headlock back on. He corners and pounds Ferré who floors him and gets another armbar which he folds into a punishing top wristlock. Scarface low blows Ferré who threatens to punch Scarface but instead elbowsmashes, headbutts and corners him. Mollet tells Ferré to release, the giant looks incredulous but before he can do anything , Scarface takes over and pounds him. Mollet finds himself twice trapped between the two wrestlers. Soon it is Ferré battering Scarface. Scar gets a front chancery in this corner and a rope choke. Jean in turn is choking Scarface on the ropes and Mollet's arm is trapped in it. Scarface gets a Deuxieme et Dernier Avertisement. He nonetheless dives back in on a grovit even if Jean is holding the rope. Jean carries on pounding Scar until warned off. He gets more blows and a headbutt which fells Scarface only for him to legdive Ferré, trap one leg in the ropes Mollet unties the roped leg while Scarface attacked the other leg. An angry Jean corners and Hulks up on Scarface. Finally, Scarface collapses on the mat in the guard for a 10 count - KNOCKOUT!!! Jean Ferré wins again. Scarface is carried out and Ferré does a quick postmatch promo. Very similar to Duranton Vs Lamare.A slow power match turned brawl. Hard work to review.

A vintage bout that's not had any reviews previously. It's blue eye Vs heel but don't hold that against it. From November 1980 (I may well have caught it - I would have been six years old) , rufty-tutfy Soul Man Bond takes on a lighter British Light Heavyweight Champion Marty Jones. A bi5 of a snafu at the start with incorrect captions for Rollerball Rocco and Pete Roberts. Round 1: after a false start hits the ropes, Jones gets an arm at but the bigger Bond rolls through and unhooks the wristlock and takes one of his own. Jones rolls forward and back and takes thecarm with an underarm. He switches to front facelock, Bond breaks it open and whips but Jones rolls away nicely. Jones gets a legdive into Toe And Ankle and develop it into a leglock. Bond tries for a crossface but Jones shrugs it off. He switches to anklescissor. This time Bond gets the crossface but Jones prises it open. He shrugs off another crossface attempt and gets a sort of inverted Indian Deathlock. From there he goes back to the toe and ankle and thence back to the wristlock. He makes a hammerlock of it but this time it's Bond who smartly rolls away. Bond takes an arm and gives it some weakening shakes, Jones rolls it straight but falls back into the armlock in guard from the stronger man who proceeds to make a top wristlock of it, leaning his weight on. Jones bridges and turns to take Bond's arm then switch to side chancery then changes arms for a grovit. He switches to side chancery into rear snapmare throw into chinlock but Bond comes back to get an arm. It hits the ropes, forcing a break. Jones gets round the back with a standing full nelson. Bond twice breaks for a reverse but Jones both times doubles on him to regain the hold. Bond rears, forearm smashes and gets just 2. Jones gets a drop toehold into anklescissor and adds a crossface, then switches to quarter nelson then armbar. Jones overheads the arm and makes it into a backhammer. He secures the other arm and switches to further nelson, getting a 1 count but Bond is getting his shoulder up so Jones releases. They start over with a Bond full nelson into snapmare but Jones again rolls up nicely - a good rollout by both men in this bout. Jones does another one off a Bond throw. He steps over an interlock side and high whips Bond but he also rolls through splendidly and gets a wristlock. headbutting the hand. He works on bending the weakened wrist. The bell goes and he releases it. He won't be so quick for the bell later on. Round 2. They lock up and hit the ropes. This time Bond is not so quick to release and referee and fellow Dave, Reece, has to pull him off. They lock up again and Bond gets a slap, the first needle of the bout. Another lockup and Jones nearly has Bond over the ropes but decides not to risk a public warning. Bond isn't happy. He armbars Jones who rolls through, Fireman's Carries Bond, dumps him on the corner and returns a slap for Bond's earlier one. Bond's response is a hefty headbutt, flooring Jones. He gets a kick before Jones is up and gets privately warned by the referee. Bond gets an armlock and forces Jones down, shaking off a Jones grapevine. Jones vaults over him French style and levers him down in a ground top wristlock. Bond tries a headscissors - Jones avoids but has to sacrifice the top wristlock to do so. He tries getting another slap in at Bond who ducks out the way. Kent is worried that the science may go out the window and a Bond chop shows why. Bond does get a front facelock but before Jones is up and Reece calls him off. Jones lifts Reece out of the way but thinks better and apologises- this isn't France! Jones double interlocks, kicks one hand out and armdrags Bond. He works on the wristlever in the guard. Bond gets up but Jones side headlocks him and bodychecks the heavier man down. Bond gets a butt to the stomach and smash to rear of neck, flooring Jones and gets a front facing armbars just as his man is up - quick but just about legal. Jones gets in behind and tries for the chin so Bond armdrags him down into a guard armlock. Jones kips up, leapfrogs Bond while still in the wristlock and snapmares his man! Bond is going for rougher stuff now with two forearm smashes and a headbutt flooring Jones. A smash to the back of shoulders and and another front facing armlock of Bond, but Reece rules this too early and orders a break. Jones, clearly annoyed, gets an armlock and shakes it. The bell goes but he doesn't release until Bond forearm smashes him. Reece orders them apart. It's been a good mostly scientific two rounds but as Kent says, needle is creeping in. Curiously Kent gives Jan 73 as Marty's pro debut - after the Hornets Vs Dangermen tag. I guess even Kent Walton can make mistakes. Round 3. They lock up and go to the corner but Bond gets the better of it. He just gets a close headbutt in before the release and Reece is unhappy, giving him another private warning. Jones gets an arm and then a kick to the legs, flooring Bond. He gets another kick as Bond gets up then on the next rise a legdive and single leg Boston Crab but Bond can easily resist. Jones releases but kicks his man in the back. While down, Bond gets a single leg , floors Jones, applies weakeners and has Jones down for 4. Jones comes back with a kick and a headlock but Bond gets a backdrop on a rope running Jones. He tries for another but Jones gets a sharp kneelift. Jones charges again but Bond gets a slam. double kneepress and opening pinfall. Round 4. Bond gets a semi Japanese Stranglehold, yo-yos his man out and pulls him into a forearm smash (legal) and kneelift as he goes down (questionable.). Bond catches Jones on his way up with a grovit to match Jones's earlier one but Marty somehow spins out. He charges and floors Bond, whips and stomach buts him. flooring him. Bond gets a bit back and lifts his man for a slam but Jones gets off behinds, backs him in the ropes and rolls him into a front folding press for 2. Bond goes too early for a headlock, Jones reverses it into a back hammerlock but the referee still breaks it up. Bond gets a wristlever into standing back hammerlock, Jones drops down but Bond keeps the hold and gets the other arm for a further nelson, again like Jones did earlier. He gets a couple of 1 counts but Jones can keep his shoulders up as well as Bond could earlier. Jones gets a good stiff posting which Bond really sells. After a 6 count he gets a leg but Jones pounds him off for another 6 count. Up, Bond gets Jones on the ropes but this time will not break. Jones turns the tables and has Bond in the corner but with Reece sandwiched between them and he feels it when Jones butts Bond! Reece has some serious words with both men! Bond gets a wristlever but Jones will not roll with the whip. He tries to bash his way out with three forearms but Bond yanks him to the mat in a guard armlock. Jones kicks him off and lashes at his knee from the mat. He collars and smashes his man on the back of the neck, flooring him for 6. Bond gets a wrist and the two end up on the ropes but Reece pulls it apart. Jones gets a legdive and weight dropping weakeners. Bond is up at 7 but needs another 3 count in the corner to be ready. Jones tries for the leg again but Bond is in first with a grovit into a chinlock. Again he won't release but Jones is equally too keen to fight his way out. This will have consequences ... Round 5 ... and Bond has finally been given a public warning but as the bell goes, Marty Jones gets one too! His temper leaves him equal to his heel opponent for PWs plus he needs an equaliser this round for a 2F/S win. Eager to score, Jones floors and snapmares Bond for a crosspress and 2 count. Bond gets a leg on the mat but Jones kicks him off. They are both up at 4. Bond forearms and posts Jones. A second one and Jones scuttles through backwards (like James Mason did to Robbie Brookside in the 1999 tag I posted to the German thread this morning) dropkicks his man twice and gets a double legs into front folding press for that equaliser. Round 6. Bond has lost his lead and is still selling the dropkicks like they hit him hard in the mouth. Reece tries to get them to shake hands but Jones gets cold feet on the idea. Jones gets a cross buttock throw for 7, Bond gets an armlever and kick to the stomach. He goes for an armhank but Jones slides out- he tries for a front facelock but Reece calls for a break. He gets a slam but Jones catches him with a ground placed dropkick, posting. slam of his own and crosspress for 2. Bond tries for something on the mat but Reece orders him off. Jones es floors his man with two knees. Bond comes back with two headbutts. He whips Jones to the ropes but he comes back with a sunset flip and double leg nelson for 2. Again Bond goes for a leglock on the mat, Reece with have none of it and Jones shoves him off. (Perhaps it's only Jones's retaliation in these situations that prevents Reece giving Bond a second public warning.). Back up and standing, Bond gets a side headlock. He gets a body check out the second time Jones hiptosses him down and makes a crosspress for 2. Reece disallows a Bond headlock on the mat. They both stand and exchange forearm smashes. Bond puts Jones's arm in a hammerlock position and turns away from Reece to try get a concealed punch but Reece follows him round. forcing Bond to settle for another forearm smash. They exchange these then Jones gets a dropkick Bond gets behind and a nice trip into sideways folding press but only gets a 1 out of it. He gets another semi Japanese Stranglehold and headbutt. Jones gets a similar nice side folding press from behind but rolls through too far for any count. Bond gets a forearm smash that sends Jones out to ringside. Bond tries to block Jones' return but he comes in with a missile dropkick. Bond is up at 9 but down into a snapmare into cross press for 2 The seconds tick down Jones gets a headlock with Bond breaking it open into an armbar into back hammerlock as the bell goes. This time Bond releases instantly. It's a 1-1 draw and he won't risk that being changed to a DQ loss for him. They jaw at each other and uneasily shake hands - then Reece makes one final breakup to leave things on a sweet note. The MC raises the bout for being a hard competitive contest, rare for a blue eye Vs heel match. Normally only clean matches get the "Wrestling at its best" accolades. There was enough needle and roughness to keep most of You Lot happy and it stayed just about technical for me. Call that a draw also.

My last two posts to the British were a pair of tag matches from 2012 and 1982, both resting a visiting American trying to fit in. Now here's another one from September 1999. Four brilliant European tradition technical wrestlers (including referee Jeff Kaye) and, er. Black Navy Seal *shrug*... Seal's real name was Lenny Howard, he was trained in Florida by Jim Backlund , he served time as a jobber in the WWF and WCW, he really had been a US Navy Seal and that- as Kent Walton would say if masked wrestlers - is all I know about him. Karsten you'll have seen have a couple of great matches on this thread and you'll also have heard me sing James Mason's praises on the British thread. This is back in the days when he had hair. As for the Wildcat, he was on fire at the time as the biggest heel in Germany. Seal and KK kick things off, Seal shoving Karsten around. Karsten ducking all Seal's moves then going to work with dropkicks before getting In Ames in to double dropkick Seal out of the ring. Robbie is at ringside, griping and cussing. He steps up to face James - about 12 years later I saw these two have a fairly decent clean match in Dudley circa 2011. Here Robbie gets the dirties in first before whipping James who backwards scoots through Brookside's legs and dazzles him with various blows and a flying bodypress for 2. Karsten tags in, Robbie gets a side headlock into wristlock. Karsten, one of the post Steve Wright generation, rolls out and takes a wrist of his own, advancing to a full armbar. Robbie direties his way out and drags KK over to the heel corner and tags Seal who goes to work with the illegal punches. Jeff Kaye gives him a first yellow card and the MC growls at him like a judge pronouncing death sentence but Seal just glowers back like a big American psycho heel who cares not for European rules and the more civilised wrestling here. He has a rather good spinning kick and a Big Boot to give all you Hulkamaniacs a warm feeling. Eventually Karsten catches one of Seal's kicks and atomic drops him. He mostly sticks to clotheslines because Seal knows how to sell these. Seal has a surprisingly good leapfrog himself and a somewhat over-energetic flying forearm smash that sends both himself and KK tumbling to ringside. Seal does a suplex at ringside - if not for that last detail the best scientific move so far in the bout - and gets back in the ring. The ref and MC are angry at seal some more and James goes to help his partner back into the ring - and straight into another Seal onslaught. KK is kicked back out the ring and kept out with a frankly rather good sliding dropkick. Karsten takes better care coming back this time, dropkicking Seal as he vaults the ropes. James tags and goes to work but Seal shuts him off, slams him into Brookside's boots and himself makes the tag. Brookside gets a side chancery throw and both heels kick James on the mat. Robbie and referee Jeff have a lengthy argument then Robbie gets a full nelson on James. Seal comes in but James backdrops him over both himself and Robbie! James then does the flying Headlock/flying headscissors on both opponents. He and KK grab Robbie and drive him into Seal's chest in the corner. Both heels drop to ringside as the faces celebrate. KK and Robbie gets set to resume, but not before Robbie has a gob of abuse at the crowd and moans about something. Robbie fouls both men and gets into a row with James and Jeff while Seal works on KK in ht he corner. Seal, astonishingly has another good more. a powerful grovit. KK tries to force back to his and James's corner. He does well but James decides to jump start the hot tag and is correctly reprimanded by Kaye - which allows Seal and Brookside to corner and double team KK. Robbie and James are both in exchaning forearms. James tries to flying headscissor Brookside off the corner post but Robbie sort of powerbombs him and finally shows his scientific skill with a neat front folding press for the one required fall. Robbie comes up to camera and smirks. Doctor Frankenstein has found a new pet. Not the technical classic you might expect from James, Robbie and KK. Mostly it's a vehicle for building Seal as a Euro version of Zeus with Robbie as his Macho King Randy Savage and the two youngsters as jobbers.

Okay here's the piece de resistance. Two bout on all three threads on one Xmas Day. This one goes out to anyone who laughed at either myself or the commentator when Lamare got out heeled in the end by Duranton. Here is Lamarre and another Vieux Pontoufle Jo Marsalo being total crumbs in the ring against Papa Mercier and a Corn brother. Back in 1970, I'm that mysterious year the ?th of ? says @Matt D. 1er Manche. Ted and Jo are pretty grizzly old guys, Jonas a comb over, Ted with his French thug badass moustache as seen on many a guillotined head in the mid C20th. Ted and Jacky start off, Jacky's half interlock becomes a high whip forcing a somersault and bump from Ted who gets a legdive but Jacky boots him off. Ted gets a hiptoss into guard armlock. Jacky gets up, turns to reverse the torque and tries for a hammerlock so Ted hiptosses him back down but it goes into the ropes. From a double interlock Ted gets a top wristlock He takes Jacky down but Corne kips up gets another high whip into somersault and bump then tags Guy who tries the same but Ted rolls off. He gets a better whip from a standing position forcing a higher bump. Ted comes up still forcing a top wristlock. Guy turns the torque and the whip backwards but Ted gets a headscissors on him. Guy forces the jaws open and kips up. Jo tags in an takes a whip and bump himself. He rolls up nicely from three hiptosses as Corne tags back in, snapmares and legdives Jo, drops into a leglock. Jo turns round, gets a crossface and pulls Jacky off his legs. He moves from chinlock to side chancery but Jacky resists the throw and when finally thrown. bridges up and throws Jo into the ropes. Mercier is in and taken down by a top wristlock. He tries to kip up and once upright gets the traditional French Scisseaux Volees counter. Marsalo emerges with an odd hold, a Gotch toehold on a handstanding opponent. He gets several one counts then gets him down in the traditional Gotch mount but Jackie rolls off. Marsalo gets a side chancery throw but is thrown off sideways on his second attempt. Jackie gets a rear snapmare but Marsalo upturns it. Jacky bridges up. And rear snapmares Jo who goes for the tag but Les Bons do it first. Guy hiptosses Jo, throws and dropkicks him. Ted is soon tagged back in. gets a double Interlock, kicks one side off and backrolls on the other, getting a top wristlock on the mat. He frustrates Jacky's attempt to get up and reverse s his full nelson, throwing him this way and that and getting a headscissors on. Jacky turns the hold upright, bends them open to release and forces a knee down in an Indian Deathlock. A side chancery counter doesn't work but an armdrag does. Guy tags in, legdives Ted, gets a toehold and legspread, drops into a leglock but is caught in a crossface. It becomes a chinlock, a front chancery countering a legdive. an armbar, a forced whip,and bump.. Ted loads on to a bridge. Eventualy H3 gets an Indian Deathlock. Jo tags in a bit Guy is now energised darting around the ring. Jo throws him but is legdoved and leg weakened. Jo gets a bearhug. Guy gets a leglock into sid3 Indian Deathlock of his own. and uses neck cranks and chops to defend his Deathlock. Guy gets a double undrhook suplex for 2. Ted gets back in with a Manchette to Guy. Guy gets a double interlock to headscissor take down into double leg nelson. They Bascule back and forth ending in a Ted front folding press. Ted gets a kneepress on but it doesn't hold. Nor does a cross press. Jacky is tagged back in. This time it Jacky who has the leglock and Ted who crossface counters. Soon the position is reverse again. Eventualy Ted has a chinlock on Jacky. Ted throws Jacky and gets a Planchette Japonaise. He tries another but is backdropped. It goes on like this for some time . In the end, Jacky rear legdives him,turns him over into a double leg nelson and score the opening pin. 2eme Manche. Ted and Jacky resume. Ted gets a side chancery throw into chinlock. Jacky curls into a George Kidd ball to escape. Guy tags in and is caught in a side chancery throw by Ted, into that chinlock. Guy bridges out, snapmares Ted and tags Jacky back. Again Ted's trusty snapmare into chinlock has his man down. For some reason Guy drags things close to the heel corner to try his bridge out escape. Guy gets a Manchette and tags Marsalo who does the same move. Guy eventually has a standing top wristlock on Marsalo but the big balding heel takes him right the way down again. Guy gets a back hammerlock and tags Jacky who gets a full interlock, bridges backwards and throws Jo. He loads himself on a Jo bridge then high whips him causing a somersault bump. Jacky tags back in and scores snapmare. He throws Jo who rolls to take it well, rolling up to tag Ted again. Ted gets double legs into a full Boston Crab, dragging his man back to his corner. Jacky tries to roll out under. Eventualy Jacky flips out and tags Guy again who fires off a mighty dropkick then a spinning legdive. Into toehold then drops into Legdrop. He takes a wrist for good measure.. He whip it hard, an angry Ted slaps him back and starts throttling him. Marsalo comes in and L'Arbitre misses Guy tag in but let's it go. The two exchange Manchettes. Marsalo pitches Corner to ringside as Guy joins him. Jacky returns, gets Manchettes and a kneelift and tags Guy who floors Marsalo with a Manchette and three dropkicks. Ted tags back in and kicks off Guy's legdive attempt. Jacky back, gets Manchettes and a headbutt for his pains. Ted slams him but the Manchette war continues with legdives and dropkicks thrown. Ted gets an advantage with an Indian Deathlock. Jacky gets a "human glove" eventually on Ted. I've seen /midget wrestler Mark Little Legs" Seely do this trick to heels like Mikey Whiplash and Robbie Dynamite but NEVER a full sized wrestler do it. Ted even tries for an equalising pin but Jacky curls his shoulders. Jacky eventually has an armscissors from it on Ted. Eventually Ted lifts Jacky up high and Marsalo knocks him down, earning himself the first Avertisement of the bout. Marcello tags in, bearhugs Jacky Ted comes back, slams Jacky, hiptosses him and scores the equalising fall. La Belle - Jacky has long Manchette wars with both heels, tags Guy who does the same. He gets a series of dropkicks and aeroplane spin and double kneepress for the winning fall. Good action packed match to round off my Xmas. A bit repetitive 20min in building towards the opening fall. Alright, merry Xmas one and all. I hope to do more reviews before I get back to work a week on Friday.

Although before that, I am reminded that we have seen a more recent Perez- Benseba bout on here.

Okay, maybe enough water has flowed under the bridge to give this a go: From Hugo's own channel, against Adam Benseba. Quite crowd working at the start with lots of Miss spots but a nice monkey climb from Benseba. Adam throws Perez out and Perez le Méchant won't stay back in back in. Perez does get back in and takes his man down with a hiptoss into armlock in the guard. More armdrags follow. Quite a slow pausing bout. Perez gets arm weakeners and a headlock and bodycheck. Benseba fights back with a dropkick, bodychecks of his own and a slam. Hugo pleads for mercy then slams Benseba's head in the top turnbuckle, chokes him on the ropes, agues with L'Arbitre. Generally more heel dominance. Adam kicks out at 2. Perez gets an armbar, some sort of chinlock (it's hard to see from the angle and distance) goes for a Barry Windham Superplex off a top corner but Benseba fights back headbutts him down, leapfrogs and dropkicks Hugo, twice Stinger splashes and DDTs him, covers but still only gets 2. Hugo catches a crowd working Adam by surprise with a side folding press but still only 2. Curiously Bensaba ,le Bon, gets the win over bigger star and tutor Perez with an overhead slam. La Publique est content. Perez complains.Clip ends. Better than I remembered, still very 80s WWF. I'M going to recharge my tablet then go back to the Good Old Days for my final Xmas day review.

From the long and boisterous to the short and scientific. Staying in Bremen but hopping forwards 12 years, Tony StClair takes on a young kid called Wolf Trenker. Again Mick McMichael is referee in his kilt. Runde 1: they shake hands, always a good start. An Initial lock-up hits the ropes. Tony gets a wristlever, Wolf rotates 90' horizontally on his back on the roll through before completing the kip up. He gets a wristlever of his own but Tony reverses it so Wolf uses the same two stage counter with the horizontal turn using his behind as axis. Tony switches to a single leg takedown into another wrist lever. Wolf is trying a third time for the escape so Tony startsto fold the arm into a hammerlock. Wolf flips overc and takes a bump to straighten out the arm. An interesting idea but Tony gets a headscissors on. Wolf turns it upright and uncorks his head, but Tony deliberately stays down til 9, perhaps a tip of the cap to his and Mick's mutual friend and opponent Vic Faulkner. It amused the audience, even those who don't know Vic. Trenker gets a side headlock switching to wristlever then back to side headlock, taking his man down and down. Tony turns him into a side folding press and only gets 1, then 2 on a second attempt. Tony gets up, throws his man off but a bodycheck attempt floors them both. Tony gets a side headlock and cross buttocks Wolf down to the guard in the hold. Now it's Wolf's turn to try the turnover into side folding press. He gets 1 twice then a headscissors. Tony easily kips out and lands with a mild bump. Tony gets a single leg into mat leglock, Wolf reaches forward for a crossface but the MC gets Mick to call a pause on things, so they break. The crowd clap whatever it was. the wrestlers shake hands and resume. They lock up the Tony switches to a legdive into toe and ankle. Wolf turns out laterally so Tony releases, retakes the hold, gets a leglock on but th3 bell rings for an end of round (so that earlier holdup was not one, whatever else it was. Something in German, late 80s power-ballad . I guess a French fan is in the audience as so done offers to pay a tip to both men. Round 2. Tony gets an arm, briefly tries a front facelock, goes back to th3csrm, whips is man off the ropes and backdrops him but Trenker gets a sunset flip into double leg nelson for 1. They get up. Tony gets a side headlock, comes off the ropes in a flying tackle but Wolf catches and plants him. only gets the 1. They reset but Tony shoves Wolf down. forearm smashes him into the corner, long suplexes him and rolls over into a cross press for the one fall required. Handshakes all round again. Short but sweet. Probably the best technical wrestling I'll review today.

Christmas in Bremen 1982 with a triple tag match putting Caswell Martin, Bobby Gaetano and Wolfgang Saturski to face Judd/Gunboat Harris, Indio Guajaro and Rasputin (Johnny Howard/Shawn Doyle - this is just months after one very different Raspoutine popped up on FR3 although the "II" billing is more in reference to Frank "Wild Angus" having used the Rasputin name in a lot of Europe. Referee is Mick McMichael in his kilt - probably thesecond best technical wrestler in the ring after Martin! Harris and Doyle were well known Daddy fodder when not popping up on the recently launched Reslo). while Gaetano had been Marty Jones's opponent in his initial World Mid Heavyweight Championship win as seen on the British thread. The source tape has been through the wars - seemingly all colour signal has been scrubbed off through decades of heavy duty playback and generations of copying. First session Gaetano and Guajaro start, Bobby offers a handshake, Indio will have none of it. He throws and stomps Bobby who cartwheels out of trouble and hits repeated dropkicks. Cas and Judd tag in. Harris gets a grovit, snapmare and bodychecks Martin who comes back with a leapfrog and legflip. Rasputin tags in and gets a legdive and trip into standing single toehold and spread but Cas spins him off with a bump. Cas cartwheels off a single finger Interlock and gets a crosspress for 1. Rusputin gets a suplex but Martin's fett his the ropes and he forms a bridge. Rasputin chops it down but only gets 1, twice. He perseveres and ends up with a double anklesmash to the head. Martin, a frequent tag partner of Georg "Schurli" Blemenschutz in these parts (against all three of the heel team) , lands spinning kicks and forearm to Judd and Indio, clearing the ring. Judd tries his luck but Cas dropkicks him then tags Saturski. Wolfgang gets posted by Indi9 headlocks him but the Judd runs in with a forearm. Satursk8 hangs on, withstands an Indio bodycheck and armdrags his man three times. Cut to Wolfgang double legdiving and slingshotting him first to the top turnbuckle then to ringside. For some reason there is "Ein Pause" in the bout. everyone gets in the ring and the DJ plays a record even though nothing is scored and rounds are only in singles match. Perhaps @Jetlag or any other German speakers can explain. One and a half ??? Session. Rasputin resumes with Saturski and Fireman Carries him down into a front chinlock. Bobby tags in. and chinlocks Rasputin. Caz tags but Rasputin works him over, illegally hair drops him, Cas retaliates with a grab of the Irishman's beard which McMichael breaks up physically. Martin gets his own chinlock on and works Rasputin's ears with his fett. Harris tags in but Martin avoids a legdive, gets a leapfrog and superkicks. Harris gets back with a battering of blows. Indio and Wolfgang tag in. Indio gets an arm, drags Saturski to his corner and all three men work on the limb. Bob y and Caz come to the rescue and Bobby tags in, works on Rasputin's arm and superkicks him. Rasputin steps out in protest. In the end Wolf tags back in and gets a Headlock then tags Bobby and hands the hold to him! No escape by complaining. He throws Rasputin down and gets him in a full nelson, drops to a rear legdive, hits the ropes, comes off with a dropkick then tags Martin. Another of these round breaks. DJ plays Scotland the Brave for Mick who wasn't real Scottish (Doncaster being in South Yorkshire.). Just as curiously it all springs back into action with a triple bulldog head slam and six man rowboating then three posting and beatdowns. It ends with Rasputin Fireman's Carrying Martin, dropping him on the ropes and choking him. Wolf to the rescue drops Rasputin on the ropes. He tags in, Rasputin tags Harris who batters Wolf and fishhooks his nose until Mick pulls him off. Guajaro tags in headlocks Wolf, Wolf tries a Fireman's carry lift but Harris punçhes Wolf in the stomach and Indio beats him down. drags him by the hair, smashes him into Rasputin's knee and finally gets a standing full nelson. Harris takes over the treatment Wolf again tries the Fireman's Carry, this time it's Rasputin who makes the save. Wolf tries again and this time pitches Harris to ringside. Martin comes in on the hot tag, go8 going on a dropkick rampage on all the heels. Rasputin gets a toe hold and Indio a slam but Cas gets a ground dropkick. Harris is soon back beating on and chinlocking Cas but he ties up Jadd and Guajaro in the ropes to get them. Guajaro is soon free and has pressure points onBobbhho gets free and ties Harris up, cartwheels over to Rasputin's side and ties him also. Bobby dive bombs them both and all three faces drive Indio into Rasputin then tie him also and bomb him. McMichael frees Harris and Rasputin but leaves Indio - Wolfgang, pretending to be Indio's seconds, fans him with a towel, Bobb6 pours a water bottle, the DJ plays something childish and sarcastic in German. It looks like another of these odd round breaks. The bell goes and Rasputin pounds on Ca and throws him. Cas tries a flying tackle, Rasputin gets a slam. Cas gets a ground dropkick. Caz tries another flying tackle, takes Rasputin down but he bridges out and flings Caz to ringside. But Caz comes back with a sunset flip and double leg nelson for 2. Indio tags in and Caz tags Bobby who ducks under, leapfrogs. dropkicks , climbs the corner and gets one missile dropkick, climbs another corner. gets a flying bodypress and what appears to be the first actual fall . Babyfaces one up. Cut to the finish of the seconds straight fall - Saturski has the bigger Harris beaten from pillar to post. He gets him in an aeroplane spin, lets him fly and splashes him for a second straight. Babyfaces win. A lot more action packed than I expected. Round breaks in a tag were confusing

... Here comes another one! Thirty years earlier, Crusher Brannigan in 1982, fresh from facing Big Daddy and Akira "Kwick Kick Lee" Maeda at the 1982 FA cup final, teams with Daddy's nemesis Stax himself. The blue eye opponents' are themselves big guys and Steve's dad Frank, aka Wild Angus, himself teamed with the Giant against Big Daddy at the previous year's cup final match, the bout that set up the Daddy/Haystacks Wembley Arena clash. "Mc" Hoy and Stax also have transatlantic experience, mainly in Stampede. First session: Brannigan gets a headlock and hiptoss on McHoy The future Steve Casey (not the 30s one nor Steve Dane the American) tries for a further nelson so Crusher goes for a long press but Steve turns him over. Crusher turns him back but Steve escapes via the underarm, stays ahead of Brannigan's attempts to ride him and finally forces a rope break. Steve gets a standing side headlock and Crusher backdrops him, slapping his fallen opponent to get early heat. Not for th3clast time this match, Kent Walton harps on about how that sort of thing is Allowed In American All In Rules But Not Over Here, Dearie- Me, No! Brannigan corners McHoy with heelishness aforethought but the young Scot gets th3 better of it and has the big American collared. He strides off to the c3ntre ring, daring the Real American to face him cleanly. Steve brushes off attempts to cuff him but the American gets an armbar. Steve doesn't go with a whip, unusually Stax tags in and goes to work elbowsmashing his sometime partner Angus's kid a couple of times, complying for now with the no followdowns rule as Steve tags Ray. (Two British blue eyes both named after American World champions from the 1930s/1940s. How about that?) Steele is ready fo4 a fight, even getting a private warning from the referee for closed fists. Stax gets the better and blasts him down in th3 back. He gets pressure points but Ray elbows out Steele gets a Headlock but Stax illegally concealed punches the good guy and tags Brannigan back. He gets a chop and a front facing double wristlock into bearhug with backhammer, chops and elbows his man in the corner but is caught in a standing full nelson, snapmare and foot drop. McHoy tags in and gets a snapmare and Legdrop Of Doom (Hogan was in his AWA run at this time) a forearm, a knee, a forearm from Steele whom he mistakenly tried to tag, a rear snapmare from McHoy and a dropkick. Steele tags in and elbows Crusher to stop him tagging. He locks up and forearm smashes and posts the American. Crusher picks up Steele off 5h3 mat triggering another rent from Kent about American rules. Steve tags in and posts Brannigan who takes an upside down corner bump. He posts and monkey climbs Brannigan. The good guys take turns tagging in and dropkicking Brannigan, first Steele then Steve then Steele again who collars. forearms, snapmares his man and dropkicks and tags McHoy who whips, flying tackles and gets the opening pin on Brannigan. Second session. Haystacks tries to start but the referee will not have it. Brannigan takes a posting and endures a forearm smash battle with the young Scot but comes off the ropes with a kick, a legdive and an American Figure Four Leglock - best known in this country at the time for being used by Clayton Thompson in the 60s and 70s. He gets the equalising submission. Third Session: McCoy gets up and protects the leg from Crusher but Haystacks blasts him from the apron. That earns him a first Public Warning but also a much needed tag, only the third one of the heel side all match. Haystacks chops and stomps down in the kid he will face solo next year in Oldham. He throws him to Steele who tags in - a battle of former and future British Heavyweight Champions. Stax gets a headbutt, Steele gets three flying forearm smashes. Stax gets Steele up in a Fireman's Carry ready for a backdrop. Steele appears to get a, crucifix, trying to get a Further Nelson takedown and manages it but the Giant lands on top of him, injuring his ribs badly, resulting in a TKO. Sorry for ruining your Xmas, OJ. Ruins the audience's summer too as they boo. Less of a family friendly ending than thirty years earlier. Haystacks used sparingly and Brannigan keeps to the better bits of what he knows. The blue eyes put up a good performance and often look like pulling the upset but Stax is thecstart being kept strong here, even if he does very nearly fall for a very daring move at the finish.

Six months before his retirement and Fit Finlay is on a final British/European run. Six months after this he teams with son Fit Finlay Jr (actually Fit Finlay III) to beat former squeaky clean TBWs Robbie Brookside and Danny Collins 8n Germany after the former sabotaged his EWP World title shot at Cannonball Grizzly (Paul "PN News"Neu. In the meanwhile here his is one a final run at good old Butlins holiday camp chain. He's tagging with Robbie "the Body" Dynamite (Rob Berzins) who had mellowed out here and turned blue eye but spent much of the Noughties as heel nemesis of fellow 2001 Staffordshire Contingent member Dean Allmark after turning on him in 2002 and subsequently spending the decade feuding with him over Mike Marino's old British Mid Heavyweight title. (Dyno and Deano would continue to wrestle each other even after.the Body changed his ways, surprising audiences by coming out and having a clean match. As for the opponents, Rampage "Bad News" Brown (a name steal,not an outright tribute) was a long running heel (and occasionally blue eye) for All Star who was twice British Heavyweight Champion for All Star, as well as working for every Americanised promotion in the country including the 2018 WOSW TV show, a shot at TNA British Bootcamp and even a couple of unremarkable WWE stints. Perhaps you all already know him. He's partnering a visiting American, Sizzling Steve Walters, doing an Arrogant Yank gimmick. There's a link between this and the old time ITV bout I'm posting next. This being Butlins, the MC is one of their dreaded Redcoats. No he doesn't bloody shut up, does he? Referee is wrestler Frankie Sloan. Redcoat shows his age by saying Finlay is from WWE although there are surely plenty of parents and grandparents among the Happy Campers who recall seeing him on ITV with Princess Paula. He comes to the ring to his German theme tune "Belfast" by Boney M. Steve and Robbie start off, Steve gets a rear waistlock but Rob breaks it open to get an armbar. Steve raises it up to turn it into a top wristlock, swivel round and turn back into an armbar of his own. Robbie rolls forward, resting in the guard before completing the kip up. He th3 backwards cartwheels, underhooks Walters and backdrops him. The heels tag and Brown and former heel compadre Dynamite lock up. Brown corners and batters Robbi3 who posts him and bodychecks him in the corner. Brown gets an elbo2 in and comes back with a slam and guillotine elbowsmash. Robbie armdrags him, gets an armlever, twice passes it overhead, tags Finlay who takes i5 over and forces a high whip and bump on Brown. Both heels flee to ringside. Finlay threatens to do a sliding dropkick! The Redcoat leads the family audience in a chant of Chicken - so that's camp dinner sorted for that night!🍗. Walters comes in but is reluctant to lock up. Finlay gets pressure points and a trip to get the Californian in a kneeling position, finishing him with one last chop. Unlike his younger self, Finlay obeys the no follow down rule (enforced or not) lets the man back up. He floors him with a forearm smash and and cleanly lets him get up, He gets a wristlever bu5 Walters being an American doesn't really know how to roll out so F8nlay deveps the hold into a front facing hammerlock then takes him down with a chinlock. Again Finlay, going against a career of heeling, lets his man up - and pays for it when Walters drives him into the corner. The heels try to double team but Robbie comes in pushing Waters over Brown. Finlay tries smashing Walters' head in the corner but Walters gets the advantage and does it to Finlay who rolls out Walters tries the sliding dropkick. There is an out of shot ringside brawl an d Waters is rolled in the worse for it. Dynamite comes in to apparently rescue Finlay from an attack by Brown but referee Sloan stops him. The heels roll Finlay in, Walters gets a 2 count (being an American he just covers) and a pretty decent side chancery throw and another 2 count. Walters whips Finlay but puts his head down and gets it kicked then gets thrown to ringside as the blue eyes tag. Robbie gets a dropkick to ringside on Walters . From her3 it gets more brawly, Walters using an illegal knee to tag Brown who likes in the forearms and stomps in the corner. Dynamite leapfrogs Brown but is forearm smashed and stomped. Waters tags in, gets a chinlock, smashes away, gets a 2 count. Walters is back and the heels double team Dynamite for another 2 count. Brown posts Dynamite but Robbie headbutts him, climbs to the top rope and gets a magnificent sunset flip into double leg nelson for 2. The heels double team Dynamite and Finlay who must have pulled this trick a thousand times himself gets lured in and led back to his corner by referee Sloan. And so the heel double team continues - Brown eventually getting a first Public Warning for an upward slingshot of Dynamite throat first into the middle rope. Brown tries a quick cover for two, toehold Dynamite to stop him tagging, himself tags Walters who gets a guillotine elbowsmash. Walters also gets a public warning - these care being issued individually despite this being a one fall contest. Brown posts Robbie but misses a charge leaving both legal men on the mat. Finlay makes the hot tag, beats down both heels, does his old 1980s Fireman's Carry And Backdrop on Walters but Brown rescues him and the Redcoat leads the crowd in chants of Cheater. The blue eyes gets the better of it - Dynamite topés Brown at ringside while Finlay bouts Walters off, climbs the post but Walters pulls him off but then misses his own flying heat but and Finlay finies him with a reverse piledriver - another old 1980s favourite of his long before anyone called it a tombstone. Rob returns and the good guys who spent most their respective careers as bad guys celebrate. So do the crowd including a couple of typically Butlins pom pom girls. Finlay spends a night playing Big Daddy. Better in terms of pure than it should have been especially with a visiting American in the mix. Faultless as family entertainment. Anyway, speaking of an American in a British tag match ...

Speaking of Rumble, I'm pleased to report that they have decided to eradicate the American concept of Champion's Privilege from their shows and will be changing titles on a disqualification like in the old days.

This one, I presume