David Mantell

Here is the talky but from the start of the video with English subtitles. The bloke from the Castilian Federation interestingly gives that year again 1975 as an end date for "La Desaparición" - if not of the Spanish scene entirely, then certainly its rapid loss of visibility which he puts down to socio-economics and the media shutting wrestling out. He also gets asked about wrestling being a work and replies that there is as much percentage showmanship in other pro sports as wrestling. He also namechecks a bunch of legendary names including Hercules Cortez. Modesto Aledo, Felix Lamban etc I think that's Joe Adell in the thumbnail, stomping away.

Some New Catch. The EWF's resident Lucha bad boys Sergeant Mendietta and Carlos Plata take on European Welterweight Champion Danny Collins and Breton Yann Caradec in a cross- Channel linkup of youngsters. Charley Bollet referees. By the way, I propose that we call the original 1988 New Catch episodes Season One and all the brand new non- repeat 1991-1992 Eurosport episodes with the big ring with the shiny canvas and EUROSPORT logo Season Two. To quote Leon Arras, How's About That Then? Plenty of crowd working to start. Yann and Plata in heelish black and red start. Yann gets a good couple of armdrags on the bigger man. The bearded camouflage clad Sarge on the apron calms a hairpull. Orig tells us the heels won a tournament in Mexico. Plata gets his own three armdrags into armlevers on the kid from Breton but he kips up and makes it three apiece. Danny tags in and with the crowd behind him (the French in the late 80s/early 90s LOVED this guy. ) Plata tries a rear waistlock but Danny makes it his own back hammerlock and rides Plata down into the mat. Plata gets an armbar and - ironically given Sarge's complaint- hairpulls Danny down but Collins responds with a headscissors, side headlock and bodycheck on the bigger man. Caradec tries to get a tag in Charley warns him off but it's enough of a distraction to Plata for Danny to get pressure points and a kneelift. Collins gives young Yann his tag but Sarge also tags in. Collins tags back and does a back somersault to rev up the crowd. Sarge is unimpressed and goes to work with chops and a posting which Danny reverses and follows with a kneelift. He gets a snapmare and kneedrop on Sarge and only then lets Yann at him. Sarge is going for the tag but Yann, keen as Scrappy Doo, drags him back by the hair - and pays for it as the big brute gets a back hammerlock on. With a chinlock - almost a chicken wing on the kid. He kneedrops him and roars to the crowd. The Mexicans work Caradec on the top rope and catapult him to the mat. Sarge works on Yann's arm. He bites the kid's hand and the taste is a first Avertisement. Plata tags back in and posts Caradec. The second time he tries it, Yann reverses. Yann gets a headlock. Plata breaks out and sends him to the post but Yann reverse leapfrogs and snapmares the Mexican who gets a single leg trip in response. Both sides tag. Collins and Sarge take turns chopping each other in the corner. Sarge drops to avoid a Danny posting, a bit later than Ken Joyce would. He leads Danny cat and mouse out and in the ring and clotheslines him as he re-enters but Danny gets a boot up to shoot down a Sarge corner flyer. Sarge scurries to his corner, neither Mexican fancies facing Danny and the crowd knows it! Cut via a slo-mo repeat to Danny bearhugging and reverse atomic dropping Plata. Bolet doesn't like it and gives Danny an Avertisement. Sarge tags in again and also gets the reverse atomic drop, he complains about a knee to the groin- perhaps this explains the Avertisement if Bollet thought Danny did that to Plata too. No Deuxieme Et Dernière Avertisement though. Danny responds to blows with a standing full nelson. He tries to trick Plata into hitting his own man, succeeding when Sarge reverses the hold but Danny gets free at the last second. Taking on both men, Danny snapmares and Legdrop Of Dooms Plata and goes toe to toe with Sarge, hitting a double clothesline on both bigger men. Caradec tags back and Plata beatdown with fair and foul blows. He gets a toe and ankle with legspread but Sarge interferes. Soon Yann is similarly getting the big men crashing into each other, administering dropkicks and armdrags. The kid has both big Mexicans at ringside but when we return from another slo-mo they have their heat back. Sarge putting a full Nelson on Yann. Danny comes in and sees of Plata before breaking the hold but this time it's Les Bons who screw up as le Breton dropkicks The Briton. Plata whips Yann into Sarge's elbow a gets a front folding press. A win for Mexico, a loss for the Bristol - Brittany connection. But try telling that to Les Gosses- a crowd of eight year old boys come to ringside and bang on the apron to cheer Les Bons despite the defeat. This is a cut price version of the Dangermen Vs The Hornets from World of Sport 1972 with two kids trying their luck with two bigger heelish monsters and giving them quite some trouble before finally coming unstuck. I wrote a lot more about it than I expected to.

In the early days of Clive Myers' TV career, before Iron Fist, he was a no nonsense clean kid in Union Flag trunks. He he battles another newcomer Mick West (a name, I'll admit, is unfamiliar to me.). Don't let the "Count the years" prison tattoos and Yorkshire Ripper beard (and surname of another serial killer) put you off, he's a good technical wrestler. This bout has no past reviews on it, so now is a good time to start. This bout is at the Wood ville in Gravesend, not just a regular TV venue back in the day but one which Rumble Wrestling have revived and featured on their videos including on this thread. Round 1 and Myers is quick off the mark with a pair of collar and elbow throws. West offers a handshake, Myers tries to get crafty with a side chancery but regrets it as West gets a high whip, forcing a powerful bump on Clive. West moves in too close to follow up early and Myers surprises him with a spinning ground position dropkick. Mick gets a legdive and a single leg from it. Myers has to hop but is able to get the spinning kick to catch West in the back of the head. He ,locks up and switches to fill Nelson then rear snapmare. Mick gets the legdive again and this time trips down Myers' other leg to ensure no spinning kick this time. Myers tries some heel smashes but Ick dodges them. Myers crosses his legs to go for a spinner but Mick sharply driven him down in the mount and stands back. Myers gets a side headlock and takes Mick down despite his attacks on Myers' leg. He's not down long, handstanding out beautifully, earning a good round of applause . Myers gets a front chancery into armbar into hammerlock down in the mount. He adds a bar on the other arm while neatly holding the hammerlock with just a foot. West turns himself into the guard and Myers tries for the cross press and manages three 2s before giving up. They full Interlock and Myers forces a high whip and bump, repayment for West's one earlier. Mick is upmat 4 and gets an armbar. Myers looks like he might roll out but Mick forces a third high whip and (not much of a) bump fo4 5 then a rear snapmare. Myers gets an armbar into front hammerlock, locks the other arm, drops his man in a rather gentle powerbomb and goes for a folding press but West double ankle smashes him. Myers gets a full nelson into rear snapmare into chinlock but West snaps out free with an armbar. Myers goes into a headstand and despite getting three one counts, frustrates West enough to release. Myers kips up and gets a jab to the stomach on West for 4. He gets the armbar again and double locks it against the joint. West grapevines Myers and takes him down, going for the legs for a spread as clock counts down. Myers pulls himself up to sit on West's back then turns him over into a double leg nelson. The ropes are nearby and the bell is about to go but West rolls off and up as it finally rings. They shake hands, the crowd claps. Round 2 and Mers gets the best of a one sided Interlock but West rolls through, spins on his behind, gets an extended foot in which Myers goes for but it just makes it easier for West to shove him off and backwards. Myers is up but straight back into West's single leg but, sensing something, West relinquishes. Myers gets a double underarm from the front into a suplex into crosspress on his side,clocking both arms. He has to switch to a more conventional crosspress to get any count and then only 2 a couple of times before he moves lengthways and gets the armstretch at the head end. West hints at a rollback but bridges instead, working his way back until Myers is in a folding press - Kent Walton seems to think it's a backslide by Myers but Clive's feets are obstructing Mick's shoulders from making contact with the mat. Myers kips up. West gets the single leg and a standing single toehold/legspread. Myers puts his own other leg in a figure four position, turns to trip West into the mount, folds his man's legs into a Gotch toehold and turns him over into the Indian Deathlock. Mick sits up in the waistlock but Myers shoves him off. Mick goes for a wristlock on Myers but Myers extracts the arm and re-engages it with holding down the Indian Deathlock. West tries the other arm but Myers grovits him on top of the existing leglock! But the latter is weakened and West is able to extract himself and stand in the grovit. Myers twice tries for a suplex but can't get the weight up. West gets a trip (breaking the grovit) and a legspread on the mat. Myers first slides away then adjusts his feet to reverse the spread. West rolls backwards and tries to jump into dominance in the spread but lands back in the disadvantaged position! They shake hands and give up but Wes is slower to his feet, he is selling some pain. Myers gets in behind with a rear waistlock and atomic drop for 5. West tries the same but can't get the impact. He gets a single leg but doesn't like what Myers might be planning and drops it. Instead he gets a full interlock, rolls back and double ankle smashes Myers then pulls up, Myers snaps into the front double underarm from earlier and tries the suplex again from then. He doesn't get it but manages a long armdrag instead, but it ends up in the ropes. Myers gets a side chancery and hangs on, resisting straight finger jabs from West. The bell ends the hold. Round 3 and West gets a standing full nelson. Myers quickly powers out, hits the ropes and leapfrogs back over but misjudges a vault back and bumps on his behind. West gets a snapmare and a vaulting neck stretch, quite flashy for just a weakener. He gets a second one for eight - not far off a knockout - and hiptosses Myers over the top rope. He comes leaping back in and the two shake hands. Apparently an elderly spectator was injured during Myers' landing. Oh dear. The bout must go on and Myers gets a wristlever into standing reverse armhank into armhank on the mat. He is still worried, checking out that side of the ring. West tries a headscissors counter but Myers dodges it. He tries standing but Myers pulls him down He kips fully upright and walks round, almost having Myers' shoulders on the mat, but Myers pulls him over and down again, this time on the other side of the ring. West has hit the ropes and this forces a break. They full Interlock but West falls backwards and gets a bodyscissors Myers threatens an elbow to stomach but instead leans forward and undresses it with one heel pulling the locked feet down. Myers kneels on top to make another Indian Deathlock. West tries a waistlock but Myers shoves him off. West turnsover onto his front leaving the two men in a two-way grapevine. Both men press up into a headstand, agree to stalemate and referee Max Ward unlocks them. Myers judo throws West down and gets an armbar in the guard, turning his man into the mount. West is kneeling and gets up to roll off the armbar, taking five rolls to break fully free. Myers gets a sudden sharp kneelift that sends West down for six and a reverse snapmare that gets a five count and another for six. He tries again but West gets a legdive and trip. It takes three Myers kicks to get him off. Myers gets a wrist, twists horizontally to wind it up and makes a double armed abdominal stretch of it. He kneels and turns West into a side folding press for 2. He gets another 1 but West goes into a Johnny Saint ball to resist further pin attempts. The bell goes and Myers helps West up. Round 4 and during the break Myers has been coming forward a bit too much for Ward's liking and he orders him to " Get back to your corner!" Come the bell he leapfrogs over Ward and goes for West who quietly sidesteps, diffusing the situation. West gets a full nelson but Myers reverses it. West throws Myers off forward at the second attempt. Myers gets a legdive into behind and a side folding press but West is quickly out and it goes in to the ropes, Running Out Of Mat. West gets another full nelson, Myers breaks one side, goes behind and leapfrogs over, slips backwards through Mocks legs, gets the rear double legs takedown, walks over West to the top end. West bunkers down but Ward starts a count on him and he is up at 7. He hiptosses Myers off the ropes but Myers cartwheels out and lunges at West's waist, downing him for 5 then snapmaring him and getting the ropes when West gets a leg. Myers cartwheels out of another hiptoss attempt and sunset flips West into the double leg nelson into the one fall required for a Myers victory. I do hope the poor old man at ringside was alright- he'll be long gone now but hopefully saw many more years as a fan. Other than that mishap it was a good technical match. West despite his Alan Woods/Dick Colon thing heel appearance was a fine mover and a good match for Myers.

Some more Jack Starz in .Germany 2019 and this more or less a relatively clean match. I don't know too much about Stübing but he seems to be another blue eye/babyface like Jack. Tim gets a rear upper waistlock on Jack who breaks the hold and rolls forward Jim gets an armbar front-on and turns i5 to a wristlever but Tim reverses as Jack tries to crank it up. Jack rolls out and takes two mor rolls to get away. They agree to a full finger Interlock Jack gets in a leg grapevine to bend Tim over into a bridge. He briefly flattens the bridge by knocking out a leg and gets the odd shoulder press 1 and even 2 count off the ref (yes it's indeed an elderly fat bald Didier Gapp!) . Tim has a large crowd following. Jack loads himself on Th3 bridge but Tim can take the weight. Tim snaps in a monkey climb to have Jack down on his back too. Both raise a shoulder each then bridge to avoid a double pin before agreeing a stalemate. Great round of applause from a 2019 German audience. Jack gets a front facelock (helpfully Th3 German commentator calls it that) but Tim breaks i5 open an switches from armbar to hammerlock to side headlock then hiptosses Jack to take the hold to the mat. Starz gets a headscissor and an armbar and brief 2 count. He forsakes the arm to focus on the headscissor, turning it forward to crank Tim's neck. Tim turns the hold upright, handstands and reverse kips to extract his head, getting a pop. Jack gets a butt to the chest and forearm on the back, throws Tom to the ropes and meets him with a shoulderblock. He forearms him in the back but Tim comes off the ropes with a sunset flip into leg nelson. Jack reverses and they Bascule back and forth. After numerous 1 counts, Jack tries a lower leg held front folding press (I could have sworn he did this with Markus but can't find the mention in my last review.) but gets 2. Jack gets a backslide for another two leaving both men sitting back to back in two way armlocks. Tim pulls apart and they break up. He gets a quick grovit into long suplex, then a pair of monkey climbs from two opposite corners but misses a third as Jack dodged, gets a rear waistlock and throws his man but gets only 2 with a crosspress (follow downs are allowed apparently.) then gets a standing side headlock. Tim powers up and tries a bodycheck off the ropes but Tim gets the better of it. They bounce off the ropes, leapfrogging each other until Jack overshoots on a sunset flip and Tim gets him with one of those back elbows the Sheffield Watch Committee so disapproved of in the Seventies and dropkicks Jack out of the ring. Jack is back but Tim flings him out and gets seven before Gapp breaks the count when Tim tries to intercept Jack's return. Jack comes back and Tim offers his hand . My ack accepts but then pulls Tim in for a forearm smash followed by two more, a posting and a backbreaker over the knee. A crosspress gets only 1 and Tim fights his way up with a headbutt and elbow to Jack's stomach, then a dropkick. Jack fires back with a stomp. He slams Tim and follows with a kneedrop and cover for 2. He drives a knee into Tim's neck and gets an arm. He pulls Tim up and pounds him down. They briefly exchange kicks and inner arms until Jack snapmares Tim and shoulderblocks his fallen opponent in the back. He gets a cover for 2 then a pressure points into full nelson down in the seated position. Tim stands up and tries to reverse but goes all the way round back into the hold. Jack maintains dominance with the hold despite several reversal attempts. (Looking at the clip time with only 3½ mins left this is remarkably late in a bout for one of these exchanges.) Jack forces down the pressure on the hold, forcing the shoulder blades against each other but Tim stands up again. He rears out on the third of three attempts but misses a charging bodycheck and Jack again forearms his upper back which has taken quite a pounding bit to mention the full nelson earlier. Talking of which, Jack gets the hold right back on! This time Tim slips out vertically with straight arms, rolls back tomorrow his legs for a front folding press. Jack goes for it and Tim rolls him into a folding press of his own. A nice trap but it only gets 2 before Jack kicks out then gets double legs, trying for a full Boston Crab. Tim resists although Jack gets a "lion tamer" (Chris Jericho was a regular in the German tournaments 24:years earlier in the mid nineties) but never quite gets the Crab he is after. Tim gets a leg free and hammers Jack off with his boot. The two exchange forearm smashes and hit the ropes until Jack intercepts Tim's flying tackle attempt, but Tim still gets him down for 2 the scores a dropkick and rear hipblock to the cornered Jack. He goes to the apron but badly misses a flyer on Jack who gets his man in a fireman's carry (held in a sideways position like a Luger torture rack) into a spinning slam and cover for three. Another Jack Stars win for 2019. A polite clap from the crowd. We cut before Tim is up so don't see if they shake hands. Even more my sort of bout than the last, still plenty of great science in the late stages, the brawling minimised, no out of the ring brawl for instance. Perhaps it was because Tim wrestled clean unlike Markus (was Jack vaguely meant to be the heel.) but despite the odd blows and minor fouls it mostly stayed a good wrestling match. I hope Jack does another tour with All Star some time, I'd love to see him live again in Dudley.

Footnote to the above stories, All Star are due to return to the Victoria Hall Hanley 24th January 2025, 22 years after Dean Allmark Vs Mikey Whiplash, 24 years after Nagasaki & Powers Vs Jones and Walsh and nearly 39 years after Mighty John Quinn Vs Tony StClair on Screensport. Wrestling underwent a brief break at the Victoria Hall when it was closed for redecoration 1996-1998, an event Simon Garfield latches on to in his book as a symptom of an "end" which in truth has still never come. (He quotes Klondyke Kate says that her friend she used to go to shows with was getting very emotional about it). Nonetheless life went on and wrestling resumed in the redecorated venue as you can see in the 2000 and 2003 bouts. In the late 2010s a new manager took over who wanted to move the venue more upmarket so did a Greg Dyke job on the wrestling. This spurred plenty of protest and did score the one minor concession of a WOSW tour date at the venue in early 2019 before the pandemic put the mufflers on things generally. Now in the mid 2020s All Star returns to the Victoria Hall Hanley. Hallelujah And the big news is that All Star are back at Victoria Hall Hanley in May next year, 40 years after that Quinn/StClair match. In the meantime, here's a great shot of the All Star Wrestling show from this past January at the venue. Incidentally, contrary to what I might have said earlier in this thread ITV DID visit Th3 Victoria Hall Hanley - all the way back in 1957!

Nice singing skills!

And let's get it down to 11 with this. Before Andre, Maurice Tillet flew the flag for acromegaly is wrestling. Inevitably his tours took him south of the Pyrenees. No idea about the other guy, I presume he is Italian. Tillet no sells a slam and does on of those weak double underhook suplexes Andre used to do in the late 80s Viz The Main Event finish, almost a side chancery throw. A bit of a brawl until Binacchi gets a full nelson which Tillet rears out of. After the usual crowd shots we have Maurice with a side headlock takedown onto the mat then a cut to a double legs where the Italian appears to be about to punch his way out. Tillet gets a bearhug and Binacchi does illegally punch his way out of that. Rudolphe tries a belly to back suplex but Tillet shrugs him off and flops down in more of an overflow than a splash. Cut to some guy at a table and then back to the ring with the Italian selling a losing move and Tillet celebrating victory back in his robe. (There's a reason wrestlers stopped putting their gowns back in at the end of a match - can you imagine Ax and Smash of Demolition postmatch putting their studded leather gear back on and replacing their hockey masks before striding intimidatingly to the back?)

Bryan Danielson is the only wrestler to have won BOTH: 1) a Mountevans Rules World championship (Rollerball Rocco's old Heavy Middleweight title) AND 2) a version of the World Heavyweight Championship recognised as valid by Pro Wrestling Illustrated (the old World Heavyweight Championship of 2002-2010)

Fuji's own on screen rationalisation was that Demolition had become disrespectful and rebellious against Fuji's teaching. In the run up to Survivor Series, they did gain a number of victories without Fuji's help including wins over the Bulldogs in Canada (where Fuji was banned from the building) Paris and Rome (Fuji was not on the Euro tour- the Paris bout was screened on Prime Time) a heel Vs heel win over the Bolsheviks where the crowd were screamingly pro-Demolition, an MSG win over the Rockers where Fuji was present but uninvolved in the finish and most famously a TV squash match at the cow Palace in Frisco where Brother Love accused Demolition of being unable to win without Fuji, in response to which they ordered Fuji to go to the back and won without him. Pro Wrestling Illustrated picked up on this last incident in their place on the double turn, "How The Powers Of Pain Played YOU For Fools." Trying to further textually analyse motives of the storyline, in kayfabe possibly a lot of the drive came from The Powers. not Fuji. Demolition had survived their initial onslaught in the summer and now they needed to be able to pick a fight with the Demos to get more title shots. Stealing Fuji off of Ax and Smash was an obvious way to do this. Warlord and Barbarian were able to convince Fuji that Demolition was a lost cause, that they were bigger and stronger than the Demos and would dominate them (as PWI predicted in "Warlord and Barbarian - Demolition's Nightmare" that past summer) and that Fuji, like the rat he was, should desert the sinking ship now that Demolition were no longer the biggest strongest tag team in the WWF.

Okay, that leaves 4 out of 11 personality profiles from Lino de Campo's book and 13 out of 29 clips from Alessio's playlist left to post. Make that 12 clips. Let's get this bit of nonsense out of the way quickly. Four guys in linen baskets hitting each other with cucumbers. In a pool, just to annoy OJ.

I wasn't planning on doing a full blown bout review (to match the All Star in Northallerton vlog and the pieces on elderly Pouzade on the British and French thread s) but I came across EWP's YouTube channel and this looked particularly tempting. I've seen quite a bit of NXT UK man Jack Starz live on /All Star's Dudley shows and here he is making the traditional "Auf Wiedersein Pet" North Sea ferry crossing to the German/ Austrian tournaments. Back then, shows were often in canvas tents as we have seen. The prefab metal roof on this venue makes it look like a space age version of the same. Jack starts off working local boy Markus's arm, flitting between armbar, half nelson and a Gator Hold, a move the UK Skull Murphy used to routinely get submissions with on both sides of the North Sea. Markus (gimmick: Rick Rude gone Satanist) reverses and gets a hammerlock, snapmare and chinlock but Starz pulls out an arm for an armbar on the ground in the mount. Markus turns and takes the bump. Jack makes a top wristlock on the mat. Markus backrolls and gets a sitting ambar. Starz escapes with three rolls into upright. Antonius is unimpressed. He feigns a half interlock but goes for a rear waistlock. Jack tries for a behind leg but Markus elbowsmashes him in the back and gets a full nelson, snapmare and kick to the back. Markus gets another armbar. Jack gets a rope-assisted back somersault, several forward and back rolls, a cartwheel and a self-underhooking backdrop and armbar. Markus gets up, forces Jack to the corner and gets a headlock into side Chancery, bounces his man off the ropes and catches him with a bodycheck. He runs the ropes but Starz ducks under the first passing, leapfrogs the second and hits a flying bodypress on the third for 2. Markus reverses a posting but Jack reverse leapfrogs over a charge and hiptosses his man, dropkicks him. slams and kneedrops him but only gets 2. There's an odd skirmish on the ropes which ends up with Markus getting a first yellow card - if I had done German instead of Spanish at school, I might understand what the issue was. Markus backdrops a charging Starz over the top rope and fires a sliding dropkick to him at ringside. He follows out, smacks Jack's head in the ring apron, Jack fires back and the two have a forearm smash battle in the floor (I do love the announcer saying "European Uppercut" as an Anglicism among his German.). Markus eventually throws Starz in the ring, mounts a corner and fires off a missile dropkick. He charges and chops Starz who drops to the floor and puts a foot on him for and arrogant pin attempt that only gets 1. He tries stamps, slugs and a suplex but gets only 2. Jack brawls back but Markus hits a scissor kick for 2. He gets an H&S/Sleeper, corners and posts Jack. He again corners, chops and thumps his man. He posts Jack who replies with a back elbow and a middle rope flying bodypress for 2. They brawl on until Markus gets a camel clutch. Jack stands and rears his man into a corner. He forearms and posts him but this time it's Markus who reverse leapfrogs and catches his opponent's flyer with a kneelift. He crawls across the ring and gets only a 2 count. They brawl on and Starz gets a dropkick and two running elbowsmashes. He rolls Markus to the mat, gets a missile dropkick and a flying bodypress for the one required pinfall. Jack Starz is the winner in 10 minutes. Well that was a surprise find. A good technical first half to remind me what I'm liked about Jack at shows these last few years (despite his gimmick - during the pandemic he grew a long white beard and now looks like 1991 Kevin's Nash & Sullivan as Oz and the Wizard minus the mask.) and a "good fight" hard hitting brawl of a second half to keep the OJs of this world happy. Have saved the Full Matches playlist to my channel so I can do a few more of these.

Was a bit hesitant about posting this until I realised just who this old boy actually is! It's actually sooner we were recently discussing - Theo Pouzade, tag partner and trainer of Eric LaCroix. He appeared as Pouzade in New Catch season 2 on Eurosport and before that as Domingo Valdez, again teaming with LaCroix, on that February '91 FR3 Broadcast. 78 last year would him 79 or 80 now and 45-47 during the 1991 FR3 and Eurosport transmissions. There's an overdubbed English soundtrack which has been generated by auto-translate - and bloody hilarious it is! Plenty of good posters including "2 Kamikazes" (presumably those same 2 we've seen.) Here's a follow-up video from the past few days Apparently he's 82 now so make his 1991 age 49-51. I guess the age 78 video was from 2022 then.

This was my review of a show four nights prior to the show in the Northallerton video above. The Aldershot Facebook video linked in the post was two days before that (total six days prior to Northallerton.) MC at Northallerton was Tony Spitfire who was on in Dudley last week in thecsane blue/grey tuxedo. I shall try and find some similar modern stuff to post to the French and German threads.

A vlog piece about a visit to an All Star show in Yorkshire back in February this year.

A quick one to make up the numbers. The third and at the time intended to be final installment of the Masked Marauders storyline. The all masked tag team (in itself a rarity on British TV) beat Nipper Riley and Firearm Colin Bennett but then accepted a challenge from - and lost to - Big Daddy and Kid Chocolate on FA Cup Final Day World Of Sport. Marauder Minor (Lucky Gordon) was last seen being dragged to safety by Marauder Major who takes on Daddy solo in a lumberjack match, 3½ years before ITV screened Hogan Vs Savage in an MSG one. Just to warm up, Daddy arm wrestlers and beats the Marauder and armwrestles and SQUASHES perennial Marauders manager Gentleman Charlie McGeen, a UK knock-off of the then heel Captain Lou Albano. According to legend, a German with a pay dispute tried to infiltrate the lumberjacks and, in a scene cut from the broadcast, was frog arched out of the room by Daddy personally. This is KNOCKOUT ONLY oh yes. Otherwise known as a Texas Death Match in America. The match is a squash too. Marauder gets thrown out by Daddy and helped in by heel lumberjacks. Syd Cooper and Banger Walsh each run in the ring to attack Daddy but are easily seen off. Charlie stays up on the apron like Marquis Richard's butler in France. He and Marauder try to double team Daddy but are each collared and thrown off. Two postings and a throw send the Marauder out and his future tag partner on TV Walsh tries again and gets the sane treatment. Marauder comes back and takes the double elbows backdrop for a KNOCKOUT. He is now defeated and must unmasked. Daddy realises he hasn't splashed anyone so Charlie gets it. Some lumberjacks including, ironically, Black Jack Mulligan while referee Peter Szacazs the kid brother of Tibor unlaces the mask and pulls it off. A load of light brown hair is underneath covering the face. He rolls out the ring and the heel lumberjacks cover his head with a towel and lead him away. And that was meant to be the end of the Marauders gimmick but they had a second run in late 1983/ early 1984 with Mulligan replacing Lucky Gordon as Marauder Minor. Major and Charlie even teamed with Giant Haystacks to beat a Big Daddy-lead side in an Xmas 1983 triple tag. Finally Daddy and Pat Pattton defeated Banger Walsh and the Marauder who again unmasked and this timecwas clearly identified as Scrubber Daly. He and Gordon later wrestled as Marauders without masks and lost to Big Daddy and Andy Blair. If you like Ultimate Warrior Vs the Honky Tonk Man from Summerslam 88, you'll probably like this too. Best watched through a child's eyes.

Some more Robbie, this time in the ring. We've seen Karsten a couple of times now, wrestling a pretty decent scientific match with Franz Schumann in 1998 and as an old bald guy for the EWP in 2009, ironically taking on Robbie in a tag match. This starts JIP, presumably in round 1. Robbie gets a Superplex off the middle turnbuckle and puts on a curios combination of camel clutch and reverse grovit. The commentator calls it a "front lock"in German. It's not very effective as KK gets his legs out from underneath and stands in the hold. So the Wildcat reverse DDTs him. KK gets a quick folding press for 2, angering Brookside who stomps him and flings him to ringside. The bell goes but Robbie smashes KK's back into the ring frame before he's done. Round 2, presumably, Robbie gets a side chancery and forearm smash. KK is tangled in the ropes and the Wildcat pounces on him with brawling and a posting. KK gets a surprise slam for a 2 count but misses a dropkick. Robbie gets a rear waistlock and smashes KK forward on the mat then backwards in a German suplex. He gets a folding press opening fall. Round 3 and Robbie gets a drop toehold and crossface into Gotch toehold, adding a side headlock. He goes for the surfboard, gets all four limbs but instead of hauling KK up, reverse grovits him. The Wildcat lets go, kicking his man around. He gets a belly to belly suplex but is slow following in and so referee Didier Gapp refuses a pinfall count. They brawl on, Robbie mouthing off to the German crowd before KK posts, Stinger splashes and snapmares him for 2. Robbie gets a dropkick, some clobbering and Boston Crab. KK resists so Robbie releases him, boots him a bit and then the bell goes. Round 4 and Robbie races across the ring to resume the beating. He gets a side suplex and H&S (Actually the commentators just call in "ein Sleeperhold") transitioning to a chinlock on the mat. KK powers up, elbows out and jumps on Robbie's back with a sleeper of his own. obbie back him into the corner and posts him. KK reverses it but Rob takes the impact well and boots KK as h3vtries to follow on. He tries for a suplex but KK reverses it into a fisherman's suplex for the equalising pin. Round 5 and Robbie gets a knee in during a lockup and drapes KK in a Tree of Woe in the corner and sliding dropkicks him. He throws KK to ringside and tries to smash KK's head in the post but the local reverses and climbs the top turnbuckle and gets a flying Bodypress for 2. He snapmares and shoulder blocks Robbie who leapfrogs him but has hiptoss attempt reversed for 2 by the German who goes in for a flying tackle but is caught in a tombstone piledriver ("Á la Fit Finlay" says the commentator) for the deciding falls. Much the same comments as Franz/Doc apply. Slightly more wrestling but not intricate enough to be a technical masterpiece. Robbie is settling into the role of thuggy British heel, "2* world wars, 1 * world cup" and all that. TBC 5:00

I reviewed the original Prince/Noced match some time back and mentioned this rematch at the end. It gets off to a fast start. Prince gets in two armdrags, a double legdive and a neat cartwheel out of a leg throw, ducks under a Noced inner arm and lands a saus-chassé. A few seconds breather and they double interlock then Prince drops to one half and cartwheels to twist the arm, rolls horizontally across Noced's back and armdrags him. Noced gets dirty - as I said in my review he is Savage to Prince's Steamboat in the same white long tights as WM3. The two plus L'Arbitre Charley Bollet stop to have a good point and shout at each other then Noced gets a snapmare, a throw which Prince rolls up from then a second which he cartwheels out of, a Manchette across th3 back and a leg spin which Prince again cartwheels out of. He ducks a Prince Manchette but then falls for a Prince folding press attempt into trow out of the ring . Charley asks Prince if he HAD to do that. Noced is threatening to exit the room, Charley intermittently counts and holds LPP back. It's the audience who bring Noced back - sick of their giving him th3 bird, here turns to chide them, especially the commentator. Finally deciding that there is only one honourable way out, Noced returns to the ring (getting a first Avertisement on the way in) where Dubail intercepts him.. Daniel throws Daniel (sorry) back into the ring over the top rope LPP gets an armlock, spins to twist it, goes behind and takes Noced down with a flying armscissor . Noced rolls himself over on top and with Prince as a human glove, throws his man out, but Prince's bodyweight, such as it is, is enough to drag Noced over the ropes with him. They land on the ring apron and duffle in with Prince still holding the armscissors from earlier. Prince slaps his man's limb, Noced grabs his man's hair. Four times Prince rolls Noced in the hold. Noced stands but still had a human glove on his hand. He lifts and places Prince on the ropes - then rains illegal punches on him, pulls him down and stomps him repeatedly on the deck (just as the commentator tells us Noced's old Mum is in the audience - I only hope her son smartened her up beforehand! Bollet forces Noced back and starts a count on Prince. Dubail is up at 4 when Noced back hammerlocks him down and smashes his head in the canvas repeatedly.. Noced apparently gets a Second And Final Avertisement - the MC mentions disqualification but none is applied just yet. Noced puts Prince's arm in the hammerlock position then throws him so he lands bent arm first. He stomps the Prince out of the ring and Manchettes him back down as he is about to get back in (a second catches him and helps him upright.) and aims a kick at him from inside the ring. Bollet starts a count which reaches six when Noced goes to knock Prince down but Dubail drags him out side by the leg to join him. The two trade forearms at ringside then Prince rolls himself back in with Noced following. Prince butts Noced in the stomach then takes a side chancery but dodged being jumped upon and crawls away, gets up and dropkicks Noced in the back. Angry and fire up by the crowd, he picks up Noced and floors him in the corner with two Manchettes, flips off his shoulders and flying stomach butts him. Prince gets a headlock then ducks down and comes up in front with a hiptoss and a spin on Noced's nose. He gets another headlock and lands one blow on Noced's skull and lets him drop. He gets another headlock and - as Noced grabs for the hair - smacks him in the stomach with the heel of the hand. He gets a side chancery but Noced uses an actual illegal punch and Prince rolls away outside. Noced tries to keep Dubail out but he flying tackles Noced from outside and gets a 2 count. No ed backdrops him but is caught by a ground dropkick. Prince then handstand splashes him for a pin. He offers Noced a handshake but Noced tells him where to go! Prince puts on his spectacles and leaves the ring, stopping by for a brief peck on the cheek with a female fan who had been injured during the match. (He is married with 2 kids, the commentator told us at the start, so no hanky panky!). I'm not quite clear if it was her, but some woman gets in the ring and is introduced to the crowd. Meanwhile the next two wrestlers make their entrance. Batman looking like any normal balding caped crusader who'd lost his mask and a 30 stone bearded monster. Klondyke Bill, the senior of the two Klondyke Brothers, never made it onto ITV unlike Klondyke Jake although the brothers did make it onto that BBC2 documentary later used as stock footage in an episode of Til Death Us Do Part where Alf Garnett was watching wrestling on TV, to avoid paying any rights money for ITV footage. He did turn up at the end of Prince and Noced's previous singles match a year earlier to congratulate le Prince. I doubt Dubail wanted any more of his friendship after what follows. If you look at Bill and think Giant Haystacks, you're not far off. The real Martin Ruane was working for Brian Dixon at this point and after moving to Joint would make his ITV debut 13 months later tagging with Big Daddy to disqualification against Roy and Tony StClair. Big Bill meanwhile, despite his similar gimmick, only ever gets this one complete bout on TV anywhere in the world, against a fellow Brit dressed for closing time at a Halloween disco. He is Canadian just like Haystacks was American in Austria 1986. Shapewise he is the size of Haystacks in WCW 1996, mercifully Martin unlike Bill here did not wrestle topless. Bill works like later period Haystacks - slow and dirty. He bodychecks his man like Big .Daddy. He uses pressure points (a puff of cigarette smoke hilariously passes by Batman's behind like he's just done a Batfart.) He no sells butts and elbows. He can be leapt over to obtain superiority in a top wristlock battle but brushed his Batman off like Big Daddy does to Kendo 17 months later in Solihull. He abused refs like Stax do, throwing poor Charley out of the way and getting an Avertisement. Bat gets an armbar on but Bill uses the bounce of the ropes to shrug him off. He tries again, same counter. Finally he opts for high kicks/knees to the head and chest, flooring Bill on the seventh. Angry, the big man slaps on a rear chinlock - his first scientific move of this bout. After a couple of minutes, Bat hiptosses Bill off! Angry, Bill ragdolls Bat a fair amount then posts him. Bat respond with a Bat Saus Chassé leaving Bill tied in the ropes like the last days of Andre. Despite Charley's pleas as he works to untie the giant, Bat hits Bill with a flying tackle. Bill bearhugs Bat and delivers that most British of fouls, the concealed illegal punch to the lower stomach, shrugging off Charley's admonitions. Another dodgy lunch gets an 8 count then applies his second scientific move, a standing single toehold Bat tries to break the hold a few times with his other leg but it is swept away; finally he uses it to widen Bill's legs and cause him to fall backwards, then gets a toehold of his own. Charley refuses Bill's rope break attempts and even gives him the odd 1 count and helps Bat drag his man to the centre of the ring. Bat applies weakeners but Bill backcrawls back to the ropes and grabs with both arms and this time Charley reckons he's earned his rope break! Limping, the big man gets a rear waistlock into chinlock into H&S into side headlock. Twice Bat straightens it into a top wristlock but Bill reels him in, using the hair (such as Larsen had) the second time. Bill eventually bodychecks Bat and sits on his shoulders like he was going for a Victory roll. He bounces in the hold. Somehow Bat escapes and boots Bill in the behind causing him to fall forward. Bill gets pressure points but Bat drops him neck first on the top rope from outside. Bill gets a chinlock into rear chancery, shoving Charley away as he checks for air supply, before finishing Bat with a bodycheck. He twice gets waistlocks into concealed illegal punches. Bat hiptosses Bill by the beard out of the ring He pulls him back in over the top rope and posts him but Bill catches him in the corner and bodychecks him against the turnbuckles. Bill posts and splashes and posts Bat who then dodges a splash and flying bodypresses Bill for 2. Bill does something between Hulking Up and a Tugboat impersonation 16 years ahead of time then resumes squashing Bat in a corner. Bollet tries to intervene but is thrown off and finally splashed Bat goes to help Bollet but Bill throws him off but then misses a splash. This earns Bill a DQ. He gripes a promo about it but Bolet says Bat A Battu Bill. Prince Vs Noced was less than half the length but I found about twice as much to write about it. A case of from the sublime to the ridiculous. Haystacks - at least the young 29 year-old Haystacks of 1976 - deserves an apology. (Plus that's two bouts so I'll have to do another British and German bout each to make up numbers).

It depends on the individual mask or face paint. This was the first face paint in wrestling I ever saw:

A rare piece of footage of the Liverpool Lads, Doc Dean and Robbie Brookside as heels together. Dean is twice former British Welterweight Champion. Tony StClair is in Franz's corner. Doc is looking much as he did in his final Reslo appearances as Disco Damon in 1985 versus Danny Collins, the old black mullet replaced by a fringe and odd paneled trunks. Round 1 It starts very technical. Dean straightens a headlock into an armbar and Franz replies, instead of a roll, with a Fireman's carry takedown and crosspress for 2. Doc gets a drop toehold and crossface on Franz. Th3 babyface brawls his way out but Doc gets double legs and a weakener. and a somersault splash off the opes. Schumann gets a side headlock cross buttock press but Dean gets headscissors.He keeps it for quite a while. Schumann eventually goes on his back and uses his legs to undress the clamp. He armdrags and armbars Doc who gets the headscissors back, augmented by a toehold. Bell goes but Doc doesn't release for ages. DJ plays Smoke on the water Round 2 and Franz gets an armbar. Doc rolls out and gets an arm if his own. He snapmares Franz down and adds an armhank. Franz pulls him self up and on the second attempt boots Doc in the head. Doc gets the arm with a knee on Franz's head. Franz goes up and down the ropes like Tony Stewart to escape. He armdrags and bodyscissors Doc, gets a 2 count pin. Then a chinlock.then double armlock . Bell goes. Round 3 Franz gets a legdive into legscissor. Doc gets H&S iplus bodyscissors . Franz pulls the headlock open to make a top wristlock on the mat. Doc briefly regains both holds then whips and shoulderblocks Franz and makes a pin but Franz's foot is on the ropes. Doc gets the earlier holds back on, keeps it until the bell goes. Robbie has to restrain Doc from going wild. Round 4: Franz gets a drop toehold into STF then almost a surfboard (Jushin Liger before Doc gets to the ropes.Franz posts and clotheslines Doc. Dean back leapfrogs Franz, backdrops him, puts him on a corner and huracanranas him down. Goes for a pin but the bell goes - both Liverpool Lads are furious. Round 5 Franz has a Marty Jones Powerlock but Doc scuttles to the ropes. Franz gets a double underhook suplex for 2. Doc Dean gets an American Figure Four Leglock. Franz tries to counter with an ankle lock. Doc snapmares Franz as the bell goes Round 6 Doc chops and slams Franz, who drops toeholds him out of the ring where Robbie is waiting. Franz sliding dropkicks them both then topés them both. He snapmares and headscissors Doc for a long while until he kicks out. He gets Doc in a suplex then dumps him on the top rope, the bell saves Doc in a Knockout count. Round 7. Franz throws Doc out the ring and threatens him with an elbow but gets into a fight with Robbie. Doc is back first, Frank appears to have bladed. Doc goes back out and smashes Schumann' into the timekeeper s table, Robbie rolls him back In the ring. Doc gets a moonsault on Franz for 2. He gets more 2s from crosspresses. He says he got 3 and the ref nearly gives him a yellow card. Round 8 Doc posts Franz but then they clash heads. Doc is up first, he suplexes Franz into the ring. Franz gets a DDT for 2. Doc gets a blockbuster suplex for 2. Franz gets the belly to belly suplex for the pin to win and defend his title. Robbie is angry. We Are The Champions plays. Good fight with some good bits of wrestling liberally sprinkled around. Later that year, the Liverpool Lads went to WCW who treated them as jobbers (see their squashing by Harlem Heat.). Doc settled in Florida and went on to indie wrestling, plumbing and sadly an early grave. Robbie came home and became All Star British Heavyweight Champion, the most hated wrestler in early C21st Germany the Wildcat and recognition as a legend.

What I would really like to have would be a singles match between Vic Faulkner and Masambula. Two men from vastly different cultural backgrounds United in their shared values of technical wrestling excellence, sportsmanship and GSOH. But there isn't one, nor is there a Vic Vs Tony StClair match which would have been rather good too. But at least I found this - which doesn't seem to have been reviewed on here before. A very young Steve Grey with sideburns, in against Vic. MC is Charlie Fisher -he was a European Champion in his day and I think one or two of his bouts have been covered on the French Catch thread. Round 1 and the more experienced Faulkner goes to work with with a rolling single leg dive. Mindful of Running Out Of Mat, he drags Grey by the leg to the centre of the ring and turns him into a Gotch toehold but when he tries to stub Greys knee into the mat, Grey suddenly pulls himself upright, a common move of Vic's ironically. Steve gets the better of a finger Interlock and has Vic down in an armlock in the guard but he kips up. Vic succeeds in getting Grey to look up and snapmares the distracted Steve but he keeps his hold and drags Vic back down in the guard. Vic again tries the kip up and snapmares, with the same distraction, but also with the same result. So he changes tack and forward rolls out, kicks off the middle rope to push himself into a backwards roll that lands him standing in front of Grey. He uses his foot to pick off the wristlock and himself armlocks Grey on the other arm. Grey forward rolls twice and is out, to a round of applause. Faulkner gets a figure 4 top wristlock into armdrag into long press but Steve turns him over. He gets a couple of 1 counts despite Vic having bodyscissors on him. Grey turns himself into a front facing position to work on breaking th3 lock at th3 ankles.Vic tries for the French "Ah Ouais" style atomic drop but Grey puts his upright legs down like aeroplane wheels and stands up to break the bodyscissors. Grey gets a headlock but Faulkner works on the ribs to force Grey to break the hold. He wins a full finger Interlock, puts Grey's palms on the mat, holds them down with his feet and pulls up his chin. Grey resists, even when Vic turns his neck. Vic tries for a stomp but Grey pulls his hands back and scores a dropkick on his man! They cross cross and Vic gets a forearm smash in but not much more. Vic throws Steve into ropes, leapfrogs him on the rebound, then takes him down twice with a flying headscissors for five each. Vic rear double legdives Grey, runs up his length, gets the feet under the arms and turns him over into a double leg nelson into folding press with bridge. It's a magnificent pin and it's successful. Faulkner, now ahead, generously helps Grey back to his corner and even attends to him before going back to his own corner to get his own. Round 2. Faulkner gets a full finger Interlock, leans back to turn him into a double leg nelson. Grey tries to force a Bascule but over shoots and Vic rolls through into his own double leg nelson. Grey makes a better effort of getting a folding press but Vic just upturns the press. It ends with the flat two way leg nelson with both men getting an arm up at 2. Vic tries a bridge loaded feet press but it doesn't change things. All four arms up at 1 after 1. So referee Max Ward calls a break and they get up. Vic gets a full Japanese Stranglehold, kicks out a Grey knee, lens back and gets the surfboard. However he leans a bit too far back and to his surprise gets counted for 1 a couple of times before Grey rolls backwards and nearly has his own Japanese Stranglehold until Faulkner double knee chops him. Grey gets a single side interlock and resists Vic's attempts to get the other side, picking it off with his foot. Grey gets a headlock but again like round one Vic works on the ribs to break free. Also like round one, Vic gets a leg and turns Grey into the Gotch toehold - but this time Grey just rolls away. Vic gets a collar and elbow into armdrag into bodyscissors, occasionally getting counted 1. Both try to divert each others attention upwards. From a waistlock position, Vic manages to push off and fall away leaving Grey to land on the canvas. Vic gets an armbar and twists to force a somersault and bump on Steve. He then gets a top wristlock on the mat, driving Grey back down when he tries to stand. Grey does vertically stand, up a foot to unpick the hold, take the other hand and get a wristlever. Vic similarly reverses the armbars back with a rear foot pick but Grey rolls out and away. Vic gets a straight arm over the shoulder, they march around in the hold then Grey leaps up on Faulkner's shoulders, scissors one arm locks the other and tries a crucifix takedown. He manages it with a grab of Faulkner's chin but once down in the further nelson Faulkner shakes himself free. Vic gets a side chancery but Steve resists the throw. So Faulkner gets another reverse double arms, trying for another surfboard. Grey flips out but lands in a double armstretch position. Grey tries to tempt him into a folding press with his legs but Vic will have none of it. So Grey boots him away on the chin (or possibly the throat as Vic is selling his neck a bit) and rolls off. Vic kips up. Steve gets an armbar, passes it over his head and almost forces a somersault and bump- in the end Vic just rolls through. He posts Steve but Grey takes the impact well, on his lower leg. Vic gets a single legdive to drop Grey into the mount, then adds a single toehold with a foot in the back of the knee for extra torque. He sits up but Grey turns into the guard, leaving Vic only with a single straight leg and anyway the bell goes. They get a good long round of applause and shake hands. Round 3 and Vic gets a standing full nelson Grey tries the lean forward escape and unpicking the clasp. Neither have any success. The straight arm drop escape does work but as he rolls over, Faulkner reapplies the hold. The same thing happens a second time and then Grey breaks one side to go behind and apply a full nelson of his own. Vic rears his way out and gets a sunset flip on the still doubled up Grey who uses a leg chop to break out. Vic stays down til 9 to get some rest. Grey throws him and they bounce off the ropes until Grey tells Vic to stop (normally a mind game Vic uses) . Bewildered, Vic turns round and Grey strikes with a rear waistlock into front folding press for a surprise equaliser. One fall each. Vic is exasperated with himself for falling for it but congratulates Steve regardless. Grey offers Vic a bottle of water and toweling off as recompense for when H3 lost a fall in Round 1. Vic gamely accepts. Round 4 and they finger Interlock. Grey forces Vic on to his back and loads himself onto Vic's torso as Faulkner bridges up to avoid a pin. He tries to drop his weight but Vic gets underneath and goes up into a monkey climb and flip. Vic goes for a double kneepress but Steve gets both legs in for a leg nelson. Vic kicks up and over into a folding press with bridge. but Grey crawls out. Vic gets a wrist and high whips forcing a somersault and bump. Vic still has the wrist and kneedrops the bicep. Steve stands up in the hold so Vic armdrags him back down again. Grey slowly backrolls and Vic gets a back hammer . Grey gets both Vic's legs and lifts him, placing him on the top turnbuckle. An amused Vic shakes Steve's hand. Vic gets a bearhug s and rope a dopes Grey off various sides. The third time, Grey comes back with a bodycheck then both men miss a splash apiece. Twice Vic gets double legs only for Grey to spin him off. A third time, Vic cartwheels upright and catches a charging Grey with a backslide for a pin and 2-1 win. They shake hands. Grey would go on to many long years as British and European Lightweight Champion, only finally vacating the former title in 2021 (only a traffic holdup prevented him from refereeing current champion Nino Bryant's win over Lewis Mayhew for the vacant title.) He would also be Rick Steamboat to Johnny Saint's Ric Flair for the World Lightweight Championship with Grey's 1989 moment coming in 1992-1993. A great Vic Faulkner bout, technical, sporting and cheerful. What I like about him.

Faulkner and McMichael were like two friends in a bar who are both brilliant pool players and who like to have a banter with each other as an expression of their cameraderie, especially while having their friendly but high powered pool matches which would honour any Pool Championship. When they get on the pool table together, the whole pub gathers round, partly to hear them mock-gripe in jest at each other but mainly to see them both do some amazing trick shots and other skilfull stuff on The Beize. We have access to four of their eight ITV matches and in three of those the focus is on both men's technical skills with their banter as nothing more than added spice. The one time the banter is overwhelming, they only have two rounds to play with and were probably under pressure from Max C to get stuff in, so the more serious spots suffered. The only other person McMichael had this on-screen banter with was Owen Hart in Germany/Austria and that was when Mick was refereeing. As a referee in the German speaking territory, McMichael was grumpy but fair-minded as opposed to an out-and-out miserable bastard like Didier Gapp. Actively wrestling in 80s Britain, he is an avuncular gentlemanly sort who, when disqualified for recklessly injuring an opponent, is prepared to own up to having messed up and takes his punishment like a man. Vic against other blue eye opponents such as Johnny Saint or teaming with Bert against Roy and Tony StClair or even Masambula and Zimba, he used his tricks sparingly, but when he did, opponents and even the referee take it in good humour. Saint, Faulkner and referee Jeff Kaye in 1981 are all good friends together having a fun sporting contest. When Vic tries it on with a heel, it only humiliates the heel because the heel treats it that way. The heel hasn't got the self confidence to relax and laugh just like he hasn't the confidence in his abilities to play by the rules.

And that last one is in colour too. Possibly another test. Perhaps by that stage they may have advanced from just filming stuff in colour to doing test run transmissions. By way of comparison, here in Britain, BBC1 and ITV both went colour Saturday 15th November 1969 (the first official ITV broadcast being World of Sport. indeed including some Wrestling although not as the first item of the show) but the colour UHF signal was switched on in August and certain programmes -famously including the first 8 or so episodes of Monty Python - were simulcast on the colour frequency as tests , usually only at a few minutes notice. Some older fans report that both World of Sport and the midweek wrestling were beneficiaries of the colour testing. Another possibility is that some of this wrestling was part of the few hours per day colour broadcasting TF1 did between September 1975 and Spring 1977 although most of this was reportedly recycled FR3 programming. By contrast, all the 1975 bouts were before September so could only possibly have been in 819 line monochrome. If they are ever recovered, it will be as 16mm b/w kinescopes, same as all bar one match of everything we have 1956-1974. Incidentally, Bob Plantin's copy of the August 1976 broadcast and the late Albert Sanniez's silent copy of his 1977 bout with Angelito both look very much like colour kinescope films, which ITV was also doing by the mid/late 70s (apparently someone has a print of one of the Marty Jones-Rollerball Rocco matches that had been used on a plane as in-flight entertainment.)

By 1978 TF1 was in colour and the INA does have some TF1 bouts from that period including that Oct 15th 1977 broadcast which I've reviewed before. Correct me if I'm wrong but it seems there was only one TF1 broadcast in 1976. It was taped in colour presumably as a test but only aired as 819 line B&W -and the colour tape got sent to INA like that one lucky unwiped colour tape from January 1969 (Delaporte &Bollet Vs Montreal & Zarzecki) was. In which case the four 1975 TF1 bouts were the very last bouts to be shot only in 819 line B&W and since the INA probably didn't have an 819 line video recorder, they didn't record those bouts. They probably were kinescoped and sold as 16mm b&w film like all the 1956-1974 footage we have but the INA probably didn't bother going back to the former ORTF's overseas sales department (or however it was organised after the ORTF breakup) to buy an update on the stock they had onboarded upon the INAs formation in early 1975. Or if they did, those bout got filed separately under some funny indexing. If the INA don't have those bouts, there are still three possibilities for finding them; 1) They are in an archive somewhere in the world gathering dust. 2) Prints got nabbed and taken home by staff either at the last station in a bicycling chain or else back home in France, and are now in the hands of some elderly film collector 3) A very rich French fan bought an 819 line machine.years earlier when the format still had a future and was still routinely taping bouts in 1975 (or else worked in the VT engineering department and was routinely knocking off their own copies of stuff like the person at ITV who made their own copy of Johnny Saint Vs Keith Martinelli that same year 1975.)

How many of these were on TF1? I recall there were four in 1975.

Just realised that is is actually this one: With all the crowd shots etc cropped out. Was this an actual wrestling show or a mockup of one on a movie set?