David Mantell

Gerard Bouvet and Claude Rocas going at it in their later years:

Rematch 10 months later in Hanover, continuing with 1981 Wondering if I should rewatch the Graz 1980 bout as preparation. Runde 1 - mostly threatening to pummel each other on the ropes. Interlock tests of strength where Rene has the advantage. Bobby does the French style back flip off a top wristlock, from there getting a nice monkey climb. Gaetano kips out of guard wristlocks. After the bel they fight on and the ref blames Gaetano who I think gets a public wart(this ref is not equipped with cards, apparently.). Runde 2. A round of super heavyweight heel heat. René doing his best Sid, power dominating Bobby. Snapmare, elbow drops combination. Slams of all sorts. Chinlocks. Uncovering the corner pad for a posting. Stomping on the mat. Gaetano ends up in his corner on the mat being tended to by his second. Runde 3 more of the same so far so heel. A long running chinlock until Gaetano lifts Lataserre in a fireman's carry and threatens to dump him to ringside. But the big Swiss is soon back in charge. Crowd rallies for Bobby who goes all karate kicks forcing Rene outside for a breather. René soon gets his heat back. Runde 4. Bobby gets up some speed with a dropkick and snapmares. Ref gets knocked down, reprimands Bobby for it. Bobby stomps big Rene on the mat, crowd says yes ref says no. René gets snapmare, stomp and tries the top rope but Bobby throws him down. Bobby doing dirty back to Rene including the uncovered turnbuckles. I think he gets a second a final public warning (still no cards.) Rene goes outside for another breather or two. By the end of the round he is back in charge and has good guy Gaetano down again for a 7 count. He gets a tombstone piledriver between rounds. Runde 5. René gets another Tombstone and Bobby stays down for the 10.. KNOCKOUT. THE Big Swiss wins. A much more lopsided contest than what I recall of Graz July 1980.

Okay, after a couple of weeks of the sublime, how about the ridiculous? Flatliner and Little Legs recently did a reunion match for Joel Redman/Oliver Grey's ASW South training promotion for All Star. Mark is looking a bit older these days with his grizzled beard and Flatliner is looking a bit skinnier than his prim3 but they still send the family audience home happy. This starts as a personal appearance by Little Legs with Lee Bamber (a link back to ITV) interviewing him about his film credits including Harry Potter until a couple of heels (including Kian "Mr Fox" Kelly whom I've seen at All Star main roster shows in Dudley) plus their pet heel referee Bradley James pick on him forcing Flatliner to come out and make it a match. I'm not going to go into blow by blow, it's just the giant and the midget humiliating the heels, including Bradley, except for them double teaming Little Legs for a while to get some heat. Flatliner does do a Vasilous Montopolous style tie up on both villains. Like I said in 2023, at least Flatliner and Little Legs knew their place as end of the night relief rather than having the show revolve around them like Big Daddy.

Okay, my night out was very good last week. Back down to business. Some more of the nascent Gordon/Zefy tag team on New Catch Season 1 in 1988. Gordon, Zéfy, méchant Jessy Texas and l'arbitre Charley Bollet were all familiar figures from Old Catch in France, indeed Flesh and Jessy date back to A2 (and the three of Jessy. Flesh and the Prince were on that last FR3 broadcast in November 1987). and our earliest Charley is on a 1969 kinescope but Pat O'Hara is a newcomer - a French version of Scrubber Daly (whom Flesh faced in season 2 in 1991) in a fleece jacket and demons. This is from the Eurosport rescreen of season 1 with Peter Wilhelm of the CWA on German commentary. Gordon takes quite a bump from a Jessy backdrop and still comes back with a ground dropkick. and crosspress for 2. Zéfy gets to work with cross buttock throw and bodychecks. Jessy gets a standing full nelson but the Prince rears out and dropkicks. Gordon is back with a side chancery throw and dropkick on Jessy who suits the ring in protest. Pat finally comes in, Moon dog denim and Sid Cooper beard. He gets a wristlock and drags Flesh down into a guard position only for Gordon to kip up. He uses an illegal hairpull to get Flesh back in the guard - nom wonder Flesh shaved it all off later on, not just alopecia. Still Flesh climbs over, rear leapfrogs with a trapped wrist and rear dropkicks Pat til he tags My essay back. Neither heel wants to go but Jessy must. Flesh gets to work with a snapmare, monkey climb and tries for a second one. Jessy parks him on the corner and pounds but then turns his back and is caught by a leap from behind into an armdrag. Zéfy tags in and gets two snapmares, two armdrags and two dropkicks until Jessy is back at ringside complaining. Both sides tag. Gordon gets a standing hammerlock, Pat rear snapmares him I to a kneeling chinlock. Flesh eventually turns out an d regains the back hammerlock, this time with Pat kneeling forwards. Pat gets up so Flesh double rear legs him and gets a dropkick as Pat gets up too quickly for any leglock. It's Prince Vs Pat and Zéfy gets a side Headlock. He tries a cross buttock but can't get the power so switches to side chancery. He takes Pat down with a victory roll and hammers him down with a pair of dropkicks. Jessy is back and into snapmare, two monkey climbs, dropkick and a top corner missile dropkick. Flesh is back and Jessy finally gets some heat by double legs into a full Boston Crab. He releases and gets a guilloche elbowsmash, flying axehandle to the back and a leglock which Flesh kicks out of and dropkicks Jessy back to ringside. Zéfy and Pat are back and the Prince has a side chancery into leaping rear snapmare. He tries for another but Pat fouls him and bounces him off the ropes into a couple of backdrops. Zéfy gets a dropkick back. Flesh is back but Pat grabs his hair and gets Un Avertisement for his pains. Flesh gets dirty too, rubbing Pat eyeballs first on the top rope. (Charley disapproves.). Jessy back gets an illegal punch to the chest and heel of hand blow to the face that gets Les Méchants some more heat. He stomps Flesh and slingshots him out of the ring then follows up with a flying axehandle off the apron and stomps at ringsid before heading inside, leaving Flesh to desperately pull himself up by the crowd barricade as Charley makes the count. In the end Flesh pulls Jessy out for some ringside Manchettes and a slam. He gets himself and his man back in time for a long vertical suplex to get the winning pin. Nice straightforward enhancement vehicle for the Gordon/Zéfy team which succeeded Gordon and Walter Bordes and which was still going together in the 2010s. Only one man different from that lady November 1987 last FR3 bout as I said so a good link to the past also.

Oh drat. That's what I originally had planned as the quickie for this week. Okay something else nice and quick. Fast forward to 1996. Paul Neu the former PN News versus Tony StClair whom is either in his final British Heavyweight Championship reign or has already lost it to Marty Jones. Both are in T shirts and Neu - I suppose I should call him Grizzly here - sports a Q tip ponytail like he, Kendo Nagasaki and WCW era Jesse Ventura all went to the same barbers. Two minutes in and they still haven't locked up. Billy Haley's Rock Around the Clock is playing. They finally get going and Grizzly throws Tony to ringside but misses a dive to ringside on top of him as St. Clair darts back in. Tony leads Grizzly cat and mouse out of the ring and back in and over to the ropes where he pitches the former rap master to ringside. Grizzly has had enough and walks out. Audience and MC sing "Auf Wiedersein" at him sarcastically but he is gone and Tony the winner. Okay that was quite some quickie. I wonder why this was done? Back to 1981 next week for the penultimate 1981 bout with the last one to follow the week after.

Okay, as promised the third and final (actually the earliest) of the three Johnny Saint Chic Cullen matches. From summer 1983, the early days when it was not much different from what was on World Of Sport minus Big Daddy. Cullen is still Dynamite Frankie Cullen - he was Chic by the time he made it to WOS. a year later. Round 1: Saint has a good firm headlock on which withstand a Cullen rear waistlock thow counter of some sort (possibly German suplex). Saint shrugs off an attempt to straighten the barring arm and a leg attack but flubs it as he tries to take it to kneeling position and Cullen uses a simple Mike Marino in cork to free his head. It gets an early round of applause. Cullen gets an arm, passes it overhead and armdrags Saint down to the guard. Saint kips up twice but Cullen armdrags him down again. Third time Saint unpicks the lock with a foot and makes a back hammerlock in the mount of the arm he picked. Cullen is up and rolling through arm twists, once ending up on his back but kipping up, finally high whipping Saint who makes a good feet first landing to more applause. Cullen gets a Japanese Stranglehold and put Saint down on his knees, with a knee in his back. Saint tries powering out but Cullen pulls him back in again. He does a fine backwards roll to nicely reverse the JS. Cullen equally deftly reverses it back through Saint's legs. (More applause). Saint tries a sidewards standing reversal but when he gets it, switches tack and goes through o e of his sequences from breaking an interlock with a foot to going behind via a back hammerlock to coming through Cullen's legs with single leg takedown. Cullen spins him off but Saint absorbs it in a cartwheel upright. Cullen gets behind with a rear waistlock into rear double legs takedown into rear crossface. (This was 1983 when the Iron Sheik's camel clutch was the talk of the American biz). He pulls Saint's neck way high and back then switches to a Headlock and Strangle (as Kent Walton called Sleeperholds). He has a good grip but Saint gets him worried with various distractions with hands and feet that sucker Cullen in until he makes a grab and ends up in a hammerlock takeover into headscissors. Saint resists kip out escapes and an attempted upright turn. Cullen tries a bridging escape as the bell goes. Cut to Round 3: Cullen is quickly in with a side Chancery but switches to a hiptoss for the subsequent throw into a cross press. He has several tries including the 180 degree spins round we saw in the other two bouts, but Saint keeps getting an arm up until Cullen gets sportingly fed up and released. Saint gets a rear waistlock and takes Cullen down into a seating position. Cullen unfastens the waistlock and takes the arm up top for a high whip and bump, following in with a Legdrop to the shoulder (I think I called Cullen 's legdrop "Of Doom " previously but to be fair he's doing it here when Hogan was still in the AWA.) He then gets a Cobra clutch (this was the year of Sgt Slaughter's second crack at Otto Wanz's CWA title - perha ps Cullen saw it on the continent or perhaps he saw the video at the time.). Saint turns out I to a standing wristlever and then into front chancery. Cullen easily breaks this and high whips Saint but he lands well on his feet. Cullen tries for a headlock but Saint end up getting front facing pressure points from it. Saint throws him off, leapfrogs and shoulderblocks him down for 3 and catches him coming up with a side headlock. He switches arms, goes for a single leg but Saint gets a rear snapmare and bodycheck. Cullen leapfrogs the rebounding Saint and gets a stitch kick and inverted waistlock suplex into crosspress for the first fall. Round 4 and Cullen gets a single leg takedown into standing toehold into over the shoulder leglock into an odd leglock held by the thighs (not quite a leg scissor.l) and back to the standing toehold with Saint up on his other foot and getting a single leg monkey climb and 5 count. Cullen launches himself at Saint and floors him for 4 then gets a front chancery as he rises into a powerslam into crosspress for a couple of 2 count and a long press that Saint counters with a bodyscissors. Cullen stands up in the hold, forcing a stalemate - Saint releases. Saint gets pressure points but Cullen snatches an arm and armdrags him I to an armscissor which Saint counters with a headscissors. This time Cullen gets the upright position and handstands out but Saint pushes him back in again. So Cullen turns the hold upside down and uses his feet to uncork the hold. In the process he scissors both Saint's ankles in the same leg trap Jordan Breaks likes to use in the 2020s. Saint briefly gets a 1 count shoving Cullen's shoulders (a trick Jordan's Rumble opponents should consider.). In the end Cullen fells him again, in the guard. Saint gets up, manages to part the feet.gers one leg, switches to the other and makes a single leg Boston Crab of it, then a full length Boston Crab. Eventualy it either goes to the ropes or Cullen resists long enough but Saint releases. He gets an over the knee backbreaker but Cullen rolls off, taking an arm in the process. Saint goes over on one fist then gets another spin to weaken Cullen's arm. Cullen is down for 6, selling the arm.Saint gets a reverse snapmare and seated chinlock into neck twist into rear pressure points Cullen gets a snapmare of his own and three rapid bodychecks but Saint gets a rear waistlock into standing full nelson. Cullen rears sharply and gets a cross buttock throw and press for some 1 and 2 counts before releasing. Saint rolls backwards in a full interlock to gain the strength advantage. Cullen gets up, turns back to back with Saint - and then the bell goes! Cut to Round 6 and Saint -who now cannot get a 2F or 2S win in this bout - gets a side headlock takedown switching to guard armlock. Cullen gets up but finds himself caught in an over the shoulder armbar into a posting cum whip that he is unable to roll or somersault with, only take the arm weakener. Saint on the run leapfrogs Cullen and drops down I to the Ball. He offers a handshake to Cullen who accepts and is dragged down into a crosspress - but only for 2. Cullen reverses snapmares him but Saint lands on his feet. He trips Cullen and scores a front folding press pin for the final round equaliser. Yet another fine match between thesectwo even if certain tropes like the Cullen 180 degree spin on a crosspress become noticeable after watching all three bouts in a short spa e of time. A win for each man plus a draw - a nice even long-term tally.

Well yes. Any old idiot can kick out of a pinfall. But to "undress" a submission hold and escape/reverse it and to do so in an original or otherwise aesthetically pleasing manner - THAT takes skill.

Like this for instance. DID YOU KNOW ... Warnia De Zarzecki was Mammoth Siki's trainer (possibly just storyline like Hulk "training" Hillbilly Jim).

I've got a night out next Saturday so this can count for two weeks worth. We've seen all four of these guys in later stages of their careers. Commentator is the infamous Claude Darget who, a couple of years after this got sacked for breaking kayfabe on air and then reinstated after all his colleagues went on strike in sympathy. We JIP la Première Manchewith LeDuc apparently the one getting the moves - a high arched folding press in which Chaisne dodges getting counted by rounding off his body - and a figure four armscissors .Chaisne turns this into a folding press of his own. We get some more of the Human Glove as done by LPP last week and FYB on the German thread. Gilbert gets dominance back in the armscissor he never relinquished. Another lift by Chaisne gets no further -the glove Gilbert takes him down. The third time he breaks the hold (and the picture breaks - but the implication is that he used a short sharp bump. Le Duc goes a bit wild with Manchettes and a slam. Chaisne powerbombs LeDuc and gets 2 with a folding press from it. Le Duc gets a Scisseaux Volees takedown. Chaisne gets a snapmare but then gets backdropped but leapfrogs LeDuc and gets one more Manchette before covering him for the pin. Chaisne leads 1-0. Except that the bout mysteriously finishes at that point. I think LeDuc won overall. I had a hard time picking out who was who especially as LeDuc did not do his famous toupie. Sufice to say what we have is two minute Very slow methodical moving around a single hold and two minutes of all out action. On with the next bout, but not before we see a changing of guard of referee s. At least the next two are easy to tell apart. Joachim is a familiar figure for us younger British fans under his later incarnation as Pancho Zapata, highlights of whose 1969 World of Sport bout with Jeff Kaye were included in ITV's The Final Bell in December 1988 (just eleven days before the New Catch Season One Finale on TF1.). Here he has the Pancho moustache but not the bald head. La Barba has given himself some stubble. RBC comes out in a rather splendid Japanese patterned robe. This is 5 years after his world Lightweight title war with George Kidd. RBC is quick off the mark getting a pair of high whips and bumps on JLB. (OK let's stick to those acronyms.). JL gets manchettes in on the ropes (Irregulière!) until L'Arbitre has had enough. RBC gets a top wristlock takedown to the guard. JLB fights his way up but then uses an illegal concealed punch to get the break - and some crowd heat. JLB gets to show some science of his own, converting a finger Interlock into a folding press leg nelson. RBC gets a superkick then takes down JLB with a spin on a single side Interlock. JlB uses more illegal punches. RBC uses a single legdive and spinning leglock into ground leglock. JLB fights his way up, gets a powerbomb but when he dives it, strikes RBC's feet. RBC appears to be trying for a toupie off a double Interlock but instead kicks JLB in the head. JLB gets double legs but RBC spins him off. RBC gets a headlock into back hammerlock into single leg takedown and single toehold (a bit like the start of Johnny Saint's "Russ Abbott.". ). JLB gets a headlock but RBC twists out and reapplies the toehold. JLB escape and jumps on RBC but misses and RBC kicks him as the crowd and Darget laugh. JBL this time gets the Interlock into single high whip and bump. He gets a guard armlock and maintains it, seeing of a couple of RBC Scisseaux attempts. RBC eventually kips up and ground dropkicks him off. (There are quite a few film gaps in this print - I think it must have had quite a few bits damaged and cut out while being bicycled around various customer TV stations around the world.) RBC gets a manchette while JLB hides in the corner. Then a kneelift and stomp. JLB wins a double Interlock test of strength and puts a foot on RBCs chest and gets an armlock on. L'Arbitre isn't too keen on how the foot sometimes gets too close to the throat. He orders a break and now RBC gets rough with chops and kneelifts. He gets a single leg takedown into guard armlock. JLB pulls his hair until RBC is in the guard . He knees him in the ribs and may be choking him out and anyway it's too close to the ropes to L'Arbitre orders a break. RBC kind of Hulks up and gets an elbowsmash off a finger Interlock, then goes a bit mad batting the Mexican on the ropes. Even when the ref stops it, René gets in a dropkick and manchette. They roll on the mat until JLB has a double kneepress but is holding the ropes. Another break and the ref doesn't like the Barba's kick afterwards. JLB gets a slam and another double kneepress well away from the ropes this timeand then gets 2 but L'Arbitre orders a break for a foul. RBC is good and mad, threatening a punch.He gets a top wristlock and manchettes JLB into the ropes, then twice throws him to ringside by the EARS (somewhere Mick McManus was wincing.) They Interlock and JLB gets a wristlever but RBC kneelifts him and gets on a seated leglock. JLB gets a crossface counter but RBC shrugs it off. He is sweating and more grips by JLB just slide off. Finally he gets the side chancery he wanted and throws RBC out, knocking him back down when he tries to climb back up. RBC dives over the ropes in a flying tackle and goes for the ears again, low throws and kicks his man until the ref stops him. The ref takes a bump and blames RBC, giving him un Avertisement, JLB tries an ambush but misses and posts himself . JLB slam his and tries to launch himself off the corner but RBC is recovering. The Mexican gets down but RBC legdives and leglocks and toeholds him. JBL gets a rear chinlock (and the odd sneaky punch) RBC in turn uses kicks and punches to free himself and gets a knee on the fallen JLB straight afterwards. They double interlock and JBL wins the test of strength, his prise being a ground top double wristlock. RBC kips up, back flips and drop toeholds JLB down into a seated leglock. JBL pulls him down and gets out but misses a jump and RBC takes him down and reapplies the leglock. JLB gets the pull off again but the ref catches him trying some small fouls and orders a break. They lock up with JLB behind RBC who gets a snapmare and 3 dropkicks on the Mexican. La Barba is up at 8 and chokes and pounds RBC on the ropes til L'Arbitre says Non. Le Bon crotch hold lifts Le Méchant but instead of slamming him., gets him good and properly tied up in the ropes, getting two dropkicks on his foe. The third time, L'Arbitre inadvertently backdrops RBC just as JLB breaks free and gets a double kneepress but only gets 2. Joachim goes into a total rage, stomping the ref until RBC dropkicks him off. They lock up again and JLB gets the high whip, somersault bump and armhank on RBC. RBC tries kipping up but is dragged back down, the second time with help from a hairpull. Eventualy RBC gets up and gets a standing wristlever, scraping JLB's head with his foot as Darget make horrific screeching noises. (He should have been sacked for THAT, not busting kayfabe. What a row!). JLB eventualy heaves him to ringside and aims a kick at him. Ben Chemouel is finally helped back by ringside officials. JLB powerbombs him for just 3 and gets in two Manchettes and an illegal blow on the ropes. JLB gets a Deuxieme Et Dernier Avertisement - I don't recall him getting a Première one. RBC gets him down and does various retaliation to his face including a spinning stomp on the nose. JLB gets a full nelson. RBC slides out downwards and legflips him off. JLB gets the full nelson back. Again, RBC slides out downwards. This time, JLB reaches down and grabs him back so RBC rears into him and follows with a rear dropkick. JLB is up just in time and gets a side chancery throw and double kneepress for 2 and a few 1s. then a long press out of which RBC bridges into rear snapmares (like Chic Cullen) then gets a pressure points, leapfrog and reverse dropkick. JLB comes back with manchetes that eventually put RBC on the ropes causing L'Arbitre to step in. JLB posts RBC and follows in with stomps but RBC uses his feet to propel JBL to ringside. (More corvine noises from Darget.). He comes back and gets a pair of side chancery throws but RBC ducks under, leapfrogs over and finishes with a huracanra. René Ben Chemouel is the winner. Scientific Bon versus Dirty Méchant. This is why I prefer clean matches. René spends too much time having to be the outraged and avenging hero to show the skills he needed to work with George Kidd in multiple Euro territories (although it's nice to see him in good shape and not the tubbier guy he was by 1969 teaming with Walter Bordes. Similarly I get the impression Joachim/Pancho knew more than he let on because he wanted to be the good carpenter and not upstage le Bon. Darget was just a pain. He reminded me of Roddy Piper in the early 90s (not the Mid Atlantic Piper who was great as a double act with Solie). I don't know why la Publique loved this guy - he didn't even know how many falls there were in EITHER match. Okay, that's one in advance for next week. Back here in a fortnight unless anything mega breaks. (Next week's German match will be a quickie. from 1981. The British bout will be a good 'un though, that third Saint-Cullen match from early Reslo. Anyone else noticed how Reslo and regional FR3'Catch both started the same year, 1982?)

Since writing the above, Gangrel and Steele have won the All Star Tag Team Championship beating Ricky Matthews (also on in Dudley)and Callum Andrews in Northallerton. They are defending today in Middlesbrough and I doubt Gangrel will be slowed to take his share of the title home to America, so expect another title change soon.

I will patch in my other review of this match here when I can find it in the French thread. Okay that was Ivan Strogoff and Franz Van Buyten on French TV in August 1977 with Ivan DQd for beating up the referee (who looked suspiciously like Louis Deblamecq, the corrupt referee cum top heel on one of the regional FR3 shows 1982-2987, master of the bitchy result reversal, hater of midgets, wearer of purple satin shirts. Now three years and nine months and a trip eastwards across both the Rhine and the Rhine to the May 1981 Hanover tournament, it's time for the rematch: This time however, Strogoff does not come alone. Franz is in the ring (in a nice touch it has all red ropes like the one previously on French TV) while Ivan gets in and the ref is giving FVB the final patdown. Franz, after last time, declines a handshake and down to work they go. Round 1: Strogoff gets in a mixture of throws and brawling, Franz does his bridge to upright and into a snapmare from the mat,, Franz has a side chancery for quite some time. Ivan turns it into a crossface from behind. FYB almost rear snapmares Strogoff from a kneeling position! A second attempt comes closer with Ivan's legs in the air until he regains his balance. Third time he goes over in a powerslam but FYB can't follow up and a knockout count reaches about 4 for both men.Ivan gets one forearm smash in before the bell.Franz sells it heavily. The DJ plays The Scaffold 's 1969 version of old English drinking song Lily The Pink (one of the Scaffold, John Gorman, later found fame presenting This was on . Saturday morning ITV.) Round 2. Franz breaks one side of a double interlock with his foot and makes a top wristlock with the other half. Nobody does a French style somersault into a better position, instead Franz gets the takedown into a sitting armhank. He curls up like Le Petit Prince did to form a human glove to avoid being pinned (one day I shall have to show You Lot British midget Mark "Little Legs" Seeley's version of this move,.). Franz is back on top with the arm lock then Ivan with the glove, back and forth until Ivan tries to throw the glove of FYB but is pulled down in a victory roll back to the armhank. Ivan actually drops Franz on his second attempt with quite a bump but Van Buyten keeps the armhank! Third time they both fall out the ring with Franz dragging IIvan back in. Still the armhank is on, which earns FYB A cheese. Ivan gets a rope break and they start over with Franz getting an arm until the bell goes. Round 3 lots of crowd working. Strogoff gets brawly and dirty in the corner until Franz collapses. Ivan stomps his man a lot. Forearms with long counts. Headbutts. Ivan milks the crowd for heat. A good long pressure points. Franz gets up Ivan pushes him down and chokes him on the ropes. He then puts him in a pre-backslide and hooks his throat under the top rope. Nasty. He stomps FVB around until the bell goes. There in his corner is Rene Lataserre! Ivan waves a red towel like a flag. Round 4. Ivan takes Franz down with a rear chinlock. Franz gets Ivan up in a somewhat lopsided Fireman's Carry Takedown. He threatens to dump Ivan over the side but the referee earns him back and inadvertently pushes him back into the chinlock (now a full headlock). Franz gets loose but Ivan makes it a pressure points and chokes Franz on the middle rope. At ringside, Lataserre gets in a punch. Franz tips both Ivan and the referee to ringside then pitches Ivan out again and follows him out for a ringside brawl. Lataserre and others get involved and it all becomes one big schmozz which heads back to the ring like something out of Memphis or the USWA. This effectively ends the bout. Afterbirth: Apart from the two principals, the ref and Lataserre, I spy Bobby Gaetano, Dave Viking, Billy Samson, Mamdouh .Farooq, ... Quite the battle royal. Everyone climbs out and the MC scolds both Franz and Ivan. A DDQ I presume. Less of a brawl than the French TV match, just the old ponderous German style with some fouls thrown in untill it comes apart totally at the end.

Actually I haven't although I've posted other stuff from the glass building TV taping (at flower festival in Staffordshire IIRC). So here is the glasshouse Saint Vs Cullen. I'll post the early Reslo one some time in the future. This isn't on Arthur Psycho's otherwise excellent Screensport playlist on his channel. I had to go a bit further afield, but I found it. One of The Chuckle Brothers is MCing. (as he would later do on ITV including for the Bridges-Kendo World title fight. Future British Bushwhacker and at the time suspended for being too lenient ref Frank Casey is refereeing but since it's a clean match, viewers surely won't be writing in to complain about his decisions this time. This is announced as an eliminator for the World Middleweight Championship but more likely for the World Heavy Middleweight Championship as (1) the Chuckles mention Cullen going on to face Rocco (2) the only active World Middleweight Championship in all of Europe in 1985 was the IBV ((later CWA) Version founded that year. First Session: Saint gets a headlock but it goes into the ropes. He gets another headlock which transfers into side chancery but Cullen snaps it open into an armbar into back hammerlock from a front facing position. Cullen switches to standing side headlock.but Saint stretches out the arm into a bar and twists - Cullen cartwheels out but Saint drags him back down into the guard. Cullen kips up so Saint gives the arm another couple of twists over head. Cullen tries a Fireman's Carry but oddly puts Saint back down with himself still in the twisting armbar. Cullen rolls forward then backwards then gets a. sudden cross buttock throw and bump on Saint for 5. Saint gets pressure points, forces Cullen down and soon has a full surfboard. Cullen rolls backwards getting rear double arms when Saint stands, Cullen puts a foot in the back of the Lightweight champion. Saint somersaults out but Cullen snaps down fast in a forwards folding press. Saint keeps his shoulders up and bodyscissorses Johnny. Stalemate and they reset. Saint gets a full nelson, Frank tries throwing him off to no avail, he tries undressing the locked hands. A reverse butt does it, followed by a back elbow. Cullen whips Saint. posts him but Saint parries the impact, goes between Cullen's legs and leads him through the Russ Abbott sequence., ending with a side folding press but Chic escapes and scrambles away. Johnny gets a cross buttock throw into side headlock on the mat, switching back to armlock in the guard. He tries various minor twists to wrist and hand then switches arm añnd rolls on the other arm to twist it up. He scissors and folds the arm. Before switching back to guard armlock, finally smashing the arm on the ground for a 6 count. Cullen ducks past Saint's attempt to corner him, but Saint gets a top wristlock. Then a high whip forcing a somersault and bump. He continues to work on the wrist until Cullen gets behind him and gets a rear crossface. Saint still has the wrist and forces another somersault and bump on his standing opponent! He then backrolls on the arm to give it one last little rip before releasing. Cullen is up at 6 He gets behind Saint and bends his neck before switching to crossface. Saint goes up on his haunches, swivels round to get a wristlock and armdrags Cullen all in one move, finishing with a headscissors. Cullen bridges in the hold but Saint forces him back down. So Cullen tries kipping out but to no avail. He turns the hold into the upright and handstands out.Saint is up at 5. Cullen gets a front chancery but Saint makes it a top figure four armlock from behind upright. Cullen despite the hold attempts to retake the front chancery but Saint shrugs him off. He tries a hiptoss but can't get the lift. He tries to use the bounce of he ropes but Saint goes wIth him and makes an armdrag of it, down into another guard armlock. Cullen stands up and gets a French Catch style flying headscissors takedown attempt but Saint, being a true Brit, shrugs him off, to land with a bump back in the guard armlock. Cullen gets up, tries another front chancery, again is shaken off. Cullen bread tries a Zoltan Bostik 3 in 1. then a rear waistlock suplex for two 2 counts. They break and reset. Saint gets a pair of postings on Cullen with a 6 count on the second. Saint gets pressure points on. He switches to a third posting and apparently gets the impacts but when he follows in, Cullen twice kicks him away. Cullen tries a Superfly Splash but misses. He gets up at six and Saint shoves him in the ropes, leapfrogs him on the rebound and goes into the Johnny Saint ball. Cullen tries for a foot but Saint unrolls himself into a crosspress and gets a 2 count. Cullen snapmares Saint but Johnny lands feet first and gets a single legdive into a front folding press for the first fall. Second session. Cullen gets in behind with a rear double leg takedown into Gotch toehold. He gets an armlock (using his thighs to maintain the toehold) . He has to forsake the toehold eventually but focussed on the armlock, almost down in the mount. He transitions this to a back hammerlock then turns Saint into the guard for a crosspress for several 2s and 1s, spinning 180 degrees in the crosspress at one point. But Saint always has an arm up so in the end Cullen releases and they reset. Saint collars Cullen and gets a double kneelift for 7 then pressure points into rear pressure points. Cullen snatches an arm from behind him and makes a hammerlock of it. He adds a headscissors and takes his man over and down in the hold. Saint turns the headscissors upright and (after shrugging off a Cullen attempt to double underarm him) goes into the handstand escape. Saint is up at 2 and gets a side headlock. Cullen throws him to the ropes but Saint returns with a bodycheck. Cullen ducks under the next Saint charge, leapfrogs over the one after that and on a final one gets a hiptoss and crosspress for the equalising fall. Third Session : Cullen breaks one side of a double Interlock to have an arm - and from there get in a single kneelift. The ref counts 7. Cullen shoves and posts Saint, side chancery throws him down and delivers a guillotine elbowsmash but there was too long a gap and the referee immediately calls a break and Cullen complies. Saint still gets a KO Account for 6 and gets up into a barrage of forearm smashes. Saint is down for 7 this time. Saint gets a posting and long vertical suplex for 7. Saint side chancery throws Cullen and goes into a further nelson for 2. Saint rolls off a Cullen backdrop attempt to land a dropkick. Saint gets a back elbow, snapmare but misses a bodycheck and Cullen gets one. After a bit more criss-cross, Cullen gets a hiptoss into crosspress for the fall, the 2-1 win and a title shot at Rocco. After the match, the other Chuckle Brother interviews both men+not a promo, more those serious sports interviews ITV did now and then and ORTF in France did rather a lot. .Saint the loser says maybe he should have put some weight on. Cullen the winner says nothing- he was Rocco to come. Cullen did indeed beat Rocco for a short reign around this time but I'm not sure if that was before or after this bout. Despite the cheap location it was another fantastic scientific match.

My favourite Steve Grey series - how to do great storyline with no heel involved. "The Guilty Conscience of A Champion" Danny Collins is the 17 year old wonder kid whom fans love, especially since he beat hated horrid little man heel Jim Breaks multiple times including for the British Welterweight Championship and putting Breaks out of conterdership. But his run of luck comes to a halt against legendary fellow good guy Steve Grey. Danny tries to put on a brave face, putting the belt on Steve but it's obvious he's devastated. Seventeen years old and suffering his first ever title loss. Even Steve feels bad about the poor kid. He praises Danny's efforts and promises him his 90 day return match ASAP on TV. So the stage is set. A few weeks later they have their rematch and astonishingly Danny pulls off the upset and defeats Grey to win back the title. He is overjoyed. It's a real feel good moment. And as Grey hands back back the title and presents Danny with the championship bouquet, it seems he is happiest of all to be losing the belt. Like it's a weight off his shoulders ... Both are brilliant scientific wrestlers and both bouts are technical masterpieces.

Again Gangrel was the star attraction, teaming with Brody Steele in the main event. I've seen Brody team with American Avalanche Paul Neu in the past. Speaking of Neu, the new Cannonball Grizzly is now Cannonball Griffin to avoid confusion. He and tag partner Bronco Billy Wild were in separate singles bouts leaving Krissy Dekker as the only non Superheavyweight heel on the bill - and he is more of a fouling heel than a wrestling heel, so no scientific classic tonight. Best individual effort was the masked Shenobi. Programme for the show featured a photo of a Ringerparade at St George's Hall Liverpool show with Laetitia back as MC. Nice to know she's back doing that. Some bloke with a smartphone on a tripod filmed part of Mickey Long's title defence against Wild. I thought maybe there was going to be a title change, but no. We'll see if the footage surfaces.

A real rarity here. A WWF promo by the Colley Smash, with Ax and the Harts. Hyping up an eight man tag in Calgary. It went ahead with Darsow. WWF @ Calgary, Alberta – Saddledome – February 14, 1987: Rick Martel, Tom Zenk, Jim Brunzell, & B. Brian Blair defeated Demolition, WWF Tag Team Champions Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart

LPP should probably have made it onto New Catch Season 1 on TF1 in 1988 and his partner here Gerard Bouvet indeed managed that, jobbing to Jacky Richard as Le Marquis the same episode 2 at Bellomo Vs Commando. Sanniez was a former Bon who in the ,ate 70s increasingly became a snidey little Méchant, almost a French Jim Breaks horrid little man. Anto Tejero. was already getting heel heat off the French xenophobia towards Spaniards.gypsies and South Americans long before the events of 23rd February 1981 in the Cortes, Madrid made that name world-infamous. Couderc draws attention to Prince removing his specs. The venue is a rather grubby old civic gymnasium with tiles similar to those in some baths halls still being used for British Wrestling at this time (with ITV footage to prove it) and dark green walls contrasting with the modern basketball hoops and 5 a side football goals. 1er Manche - Sanniez and Bouvet start, Sanniez despite his attitude is still a skilled wrestler, getting in armdrags, back flipping on a hiptoss attempt - Bouvet does the same - twice kipping out of Bouvet headscissors and uncorking in the guard with his feet the third time. Bouvet gets an armdrag and takes a somersault bump to get in a ground dropkick. Tejero the big Bruiser among three flyers tags in and gets a back hammerlock but ends up dropkicked out of the ring. Then finally Le Petit Prince tags in. He reverses a full nelson and convets to side chancery into several armdrags and double legs, cartwheeling off a Tejero leg throw. He dives through the Spaniard's legs and jabs him into his corner. Sanniez tags in. He dives out there throws, Prince rolling up from two and cartwheeling from the third. He leg throws Prince out of a double legs - Dubail cartwheels out and gets behind for a folding press that Sanniez has to roll to ringside to escape. Bouvet is back, he clips off one side of an interlock with a foot and horizontally standing spins the other arm into a top wristlock, taking Sanniez down into the guard. Sanniez levels up and has Bouvet in an armlever so Gerad rolls out and swivels on his behind to pick out and take an arm, like Steve Grey. Sanniez kips up from this but comes down in a hard bump. Tejero in and he mostly keeps Bouvet down, using his strength to armdrags Bouvet down time and again until Bouvet gets a headscissor which Tejero flexes out of in the upright position, getting a standing powerlock á la Pete Roberts out of it. Bouvet powers out and legflips Tejero on the rebound as both sides tag. Saniez starts on the dirties, throat chopping Prince on the ropes and getting a 9 count although it may have been a sly trick to recover energy by Prince - perhaps he had been watching some Vic Faulkner? He locks up with Sanniez backing on the ropes. Ordered to release he back flips off then strikes with a Superkick. Sanniez sidesteps another one and tags big brute Tejero, who immediately gets caught in a half nelson and twice has to go for the ropes - French fans sneer at this just like the English fans in 1973 when Tug Wilson tried it. Tejero smiles but does not taunt the crowd for heat as some would. He gets his own hammerlock on Prince who likewise uses the ropes - which the crowd are OK with in a turnabout is fair play sort of way. Tejero complains loudly, putting a leg through the rope to illustrate his point,. Prince kicks the rope hurting Tejero then scampers off to tag Bouvet. Tejero limps to likewise tag his partner. Bouvet gets a full nelson on Sanniez who cannot break by force and finds a one-sided go behindescape easily reversed by Bouvet. A rolling escape is likewise taken the full way round and another go behind ends with Bounces getting a rear legdive through his own legs. Sanniez does get a neat legflip from it, eventually getting an underhook and slam. Bouvet gets up to a side chancery into side headlock but goes for the legs and gets a Gotch toehold from it. Sanniez uses an illegal hairpull to headlock Bouvet into the heel corner where Les Méchants double team him until the tagged in Tejero accidentally hits Sanniez. Prince tags him and Tejero hairpulls him to a corner for a blow to the head but misses and hits his hand on the top turnbuckle. He tries the opposite corner but Prince bodyscissors and heel smashes him then boots him away but Tejero cannons into L'Arbitre who gives Prince a telling off for it. Sanniez is in and gets a full nelson on Prince who flings Sanniez off and gets double legs into a slingshot. Prince gets a rear waistlock but we miss a load of action due to a shot of a ringside dignitary. When we get back, Prince gets a nice Planchette Japonaise in. Sanniez backdrops him, Prince ground dropkicks him and Saniez does it back and sends Prince over the ropes but he Rick Steamboat slingshots back, flying scissorses Sanniez and Frankensteiners him out of the ring. Sanniez heels it up for some ringsides as the rest pop for Bouvet. He stops off to complain to Tejero and should a final retort to the fans - maybe one of them went over the line with their comments - until even Tejero tells him to leave it out. Bouvet leans back in a double interlock, risking a pin count of 1 - trying the flip over for a double leg nelson or perhaps another Planchette Japonaise, in the end getting one leg in position. He gets his flip over double leg nelson in the end but La Bascule rocks back and forth. Sanniez tries for a folding press but Bouvet shakes him off and dropkicks him . Prince tags in, drops an interlock to one side, cartwheels to get the twist going on the arm then gets a leapfrog armdrags on the other arm. Prince has a guard armlock, Sanniez complains about the knee across the throat so Prince turns Sanniez' head sideways so he can clearly breathe. Despite that, the ref pulls him off and Sanniez takes an arm of his own, applies weakeners and twists to make an armlock. He maintains the Guard Armlock over some time. Prince pulls himself up and gets a rope break. The referee refuses and breaks his grip but is accidentallly kicked and blames Prince. Prince tags Bouvet and they double post Sanniez, taking out a charging Tejero and beating on both Méchants. The ref gets it back to Sanniez Vs Bouvet. Sanniez uses an illegal hairpull get get Bouvet back in that guard armlock and keep him the. Hold. Bouvet gets up and free, comes off the ropes but Sanniez cross buttocks him into a crosspress for 2. He has the hold back. Bouvet fights back and gets a side folding press for two. Sanniez gets a sunset flip and double leg nelson for 1. Bouvet gets a bodycheck, rear snapmare and dropkick sending Sanniez out of the ring, sadly on the other side so no more issues with the group of fans. Actually he nearly runs into Couderc's TV monitor. Prince chases him back inside and, once there, slaps on a side headlock on Tejero who has tagged in. He slips behind, crawls through to the front, side chancery throws the Spanish heel and spin-stomps on his nose. Sanniez tags back, Prince puts him through the exact same sequence he put Tejero through before going off to tag Bouvet. Tejero is also back. He whips and bodychecks Bouvet, tries to repeat it, ends up missing a charge and getting his head caught up in the ropes. The referee tries to release him but gets his own foot tangled up when Bouvet tries to help. Tejero and L'Arbitre get free (in Britain a bout might get cut short on a TKO this way). Bouvet gets un Premier Avertisement for his part in that. Tejero throws Bouvet and gets a nice solid bump. He backdrop Bouvet who lands feet first and goes for double legs. He spins off Bouvet who cartwheels up to upright. Bouvet gets two Cisseaux Volees and a dropkick which sends Tejero outside . Both sides tag and Sanniez top wristlocks the freshly tagged Prince and illegally hairpulls him down into kneeling position. Prince powers up and high whips hard, forcing Sanniez to somersault and take a hard bump. Another top wristlocks power battle sees Prince almost win until another hairpull restores the status quo ante. Prince pulls up and tries the same whip as before, Sanniez anticipates and he and Prince reverse each others' side headlocks. Eventually Prince mounts the standing Sanniez from behind an semi victory rolls him down into an armhank into figure four armscissor. Sanniez gradually and painfully turn this into a folding press (with his arm still trapped.) He gets a couple of 1s before Prince's leverage reasserts itself and he has the figure four armscissor back. Sanniez tries the folding press again, eventually lifting up Prince in a Human Glove. He goes to dump Prince at ringside - Prince is a lightweight but not a midget and, as earlier, he drags Sanniez out and curls back in under the bottom rope. Sanniez crawls back but he is STILL in that triangular armscissor!!! He goes for the folding press again and the human glove again. This time he dumps him in the heel corner and Les Méchants go to work on him. Bouvet's complaining (and attempt to butterfly armlock Tejero) only distracts L'Arbitre. Tejero has at some point tagged in and is battering Prince with occasional shots from Sanniez on the apron. A Tejero manchette sends Prince rolling to ringside. Bouvet helps his partner back but he runs straight into a Sanniez Manchette - has there been a tag? Sanniez feels pleased with the world, arms aloft throwing his head back with joy to face the skies- okay the ceiling is in the way but never mind. He is ready for Prince's charge and catches him in a front chancery as Tejero helps drag him back to his corner.The front facelock intercepts another charge for the babyface corner and L'Arbitre stops Bouvet interfering. Bouvet shoves L'Arbitre and gets un Deuxième et Derniere Avertisement while both heels stomp Prince. Sanniez gets a top wristlock in the guard on Prince- Tejero tags and applies it to the other arm, Tejero gets out but not before driving a Legdrop Of Doom on the first arm. Eventualy both men try the hold on Prince, he somersaults round to a better angle then flips the pair of them with one foot each before making the hot tag to Bouvet. He comes in with a Manchette, dropkick, side chancery and spinning nose stomp. Another dropkick pitches Tejero out of the ring. Bouvet risks DQ by collaring L'Arbitre then going after Sanniez on the apron, dragging him in and flinging him out the other side. Bouvez posts Tejero who reverses but Bouvez báckward leapfrogs him and rolls him backwards into a front folding press for the opening fall. Bouvet is still upset with L'Arbitre and refuses to let him raise his hand. Prince is unhappy with the ref too. 2ème Manche.Tejero side chancery throws Bouvet and single legs and leglocks him. Remarkably, Bouvet kips up fully upright in the hold and reaches for the tag to Prince - only Sanniez diving in to smash him stops Les Bons. Prince runs in and pulls the two into the position from which Bouvet made the tag but the ref is mad at Prince and focuses on him , not on Les Méchants doing their Irregulière thing. Prince slips past and stomps Tejero. Still all it does is antagonise the ref and give the villains another free hand. Finally Prince double dropkicks both villains in the backside and sends them out as the crowd pop. Tejero and Bouvet resume and this time Bouvet gets the snapmare, legdive and stomp. Sanniez makes the save but Prince helps Bouvet get the leg back. Les Bons make a clear legitimate tag and Prince takes over the leglock. Sanniez tries to run in, Les Bons attempt a double leglock but L'Arbitre catches them at it. Bouvet has an armlock on Sanniez who backs him into the heel corner. Tejero holds Bouvez while Sanniez hits the ropes - knocking Prince off the apron - and lands a bodycheck sandwich like Giant Haystacks and Big Daddy in their mid 70s heel tag team phase . Sanniez tries another but is tripped by Prince, still on the floor after being knocked off. Bouvez dropkicks him out and Sanniez and Prince brawl at ringside Things get a bit too close to Couderc and he calls out to Bouvez who apologises. Bouvet is caught in another heel double team but escapes as Les Méchants collide. Prince is in and side headlocks Sanniez. Tejero coming to the rescue is dropkicked and flying headscissored while Prince bulldogs Sanniez . Just like Koko B.Ware against both Islanders at WM4. Bouvez tags in and steps over an interlock arm to make an armbar on Sanniez . He then gets a weakener on the other arm and lets him go tag Sanniez. Les Méchants tag and try another double team. This time it's Sanniez who is knocked down Meanwhile Prince has tagged in and has tied Tejero up in the ropes and is chopping him. He flying headbutts Tejero then Bouvet does the same. Prince, still the legal man. Comes back and double legdives Sanniez and flips him- straight into L'Arbitre who is cannoned to ringside while admonishing Tejero. Prince snapmares Sanniez and now Les Bons double team as Tejero comes over to stop it. Bouvet snapmares him away and Les Bons post Les Méchants into each other and each face cross presses a heel. Both heels kick out but a confused Sanniez slugs Tejero. Prince snapmares, superkicks and corners Sanniez, back flips off him bodychecks and rear snapmares him, Planchette Japonaises him, gets backdropped but catches Sanniez with a ground dropkick and a handstand splash for the crosspress and second straight fall. It's a 2-0 win for the good guys. Unlike Guy Mercier and Bruno Asquini when dealing with Michel Saulnier, Prince and Bouvet do actually let this ref raise their hands. Fans storm the ring like that Bob Backlund clip on All American Wrestling. Prince claims out so they mob him at ringside too. Couderc gets a few words about how he's been waiting for this one for three months (Anyone know the story?) before he is besieged by autograph hounds. He is rather lost without his specs. Good fast tag match, three technicians and a tank. Prince especially gives it his all, you lose nothing from him being in a tag match.

Oh great, I already reviewed it: Feeling guilty now. Perhaps I shall do that Petit Prince match tomorrow after all. (Next day). Before I do that, I think it's worth reminding ourselves that this was Salv just 18 months earlier Okay, on with Le Petit Prince ...

I didn't know this bout was on YouTube and I was going to make my excuses for not being able to complete the Salvatore theme this week with this one and do a Le Petit Prince match instead. But surprise, it does exist, it's nice and short so here it is. Commentary in German by Peter "CWA" Wilhelm. Commando AFAIK doesn't make do without underpants - instead his gimmick is a Vietnam holdout in camouflage paint, 2 years before the Mercenaries at Survivor Series 1990 and 7 years before Fall Brawl War Games 1995. Bellomo is older and tubbier and has a Lou Albano beard. He wasn't yet a Wildman but had been by the time Wilhelm recorded the commentary for the 1991 Eurosport re screen of Season 1 - so Peter calls him a Wildman although there is no sign of a centurion's hat. He does have a black body stocking like masked wrestlers wear so I guess that muscular physique had collapsed since leaving the WWF. They briefly lock up and Bellomo gets a top wristlock then a standing full nelson. Commando powers out and hairpulls his way out of another top wristlock (this ref seems less rigorous than Emile Poilve on World Of Sport 1973). He snarls and throws his headband to the crowd (a very un heelish thing to do!). Sal gets a side headlock into cross buttock throw. Commando gets a big powerslam landing Bellomo on the ropes. He also chokes him on the ropes - "das ist brutal" observes Wilhelm. Bellomo manchettes Commando down and gets double legs and tries for a Gotch toehold but Commando gets the ropes just like Tug Wilson and flees the ring like countrymen Moose and Ed (by this point in the AWA as the Colonel). He comes back and finds himself in a headlock but gets a good German suplex counter. Bellomo gets a headlock but Commando chokes him on the ropes. Again re. Both. They brawl outside where another referee Charley "Brother Of Andre" Bollet orders them to behave. Commando bashes Bellomo with a trophy but Bellomo grabs it and returns the favour. Bellomo gets a clothesline and what looks like a jackknife two years before Kevin Nash even turns pro and gets the win. Dunno who Commando was- some mate of Sal's. from the US indies I guess. Anyone else on here know? I think @ohtani's jacket will like the ringside brawl otherwise it's a quick TV squash, Sal and his power holds overcoming the American's dirty wrestling.

Am going back to Dudley for more All Star this Tuesday. Will post a report.

Okay let's continue the Salvatore Bellomo theme from the German thread with this. Sal in leopard print years ahead on Tarzan Johnny Wilson (although a long time popular look for circus strongmen. Tug Wilson looks like the late Bobby Ball out of Cannon And Ball doing a sketch about being a judoka which will surely end with a serious judoka hammering him. He later teamed with fellow mustachio Rocco as the Rockets. For brevity I shall use both T names. Round. 1 Tug gets a legdive into front pressure points into rear pressure points on Tino. He finishes off with a chop to the throat and is held off a mat stomp by ref Emile Poilve. More martial arts blows than moves follow. Tino takes several KO counts. He gets in a rolling throw which sends Tug to ringside to a pop, selling his back but this is a ruse to allow Tug to get Tino's leg again. He converts to a grovit but Tino makes a whip that Tug fails to go with, straining his arm. Tino gets another rear snapmare but Tug gets the leg yet again Tug does a fair bit of choking and Poilve warns him off. Tino gets a rear waistlock into armhank. He bashes away with the same calf smashes he used on Moose and Ed ¾ of a decade later. Soon Tino has the other arm. Tug survives and is released but then tries choking him on the rope. Poilve again is not so amused, Tug is selling arm pain and Tino goes to pull himi to the corner but himself his warned by Poilve. They lock up but the bell rings. Round 2. Tino this time gets the legdive. He switches from ankle to knee with Tug selling. Tug gets a rope break and a ton of heel heat. Tug gets a good Superkick and some illegal mat kicks Tino gets Cheers for repeated forearm smashes, mainly because it's the hated Tug getting the treatment, Tug however gets behind gets a brief hammerlock into feigning a crawl though the legs into double rear legdive into reverse double leg nelson for the first fall. Tug the heel is 1-0 up. Round 3. Tino plays an odd prank on Tug, offering his arm for a hammerlock then, one accepted, spinning round out of it with a humiliating open hand slap. Tug uses an illegal hairpull to help get a chinlock. He works on Tino's nose (Poilve reprimands him privately for both the nose and hair moves) Tino gets a standing top wristlock, taking care to keep Tug away from the ropes, hiptossing him down to make a Breaks Special on the mat. He switches to a Japanese Stranglehold, putting a knee between the shoulders Tug loosens, undressed and almost wriggles out but is caught with one arm through his legs in a minor comedy spot. Both men try pressure points with Tug yielding first to try pull Tino off. Poilve doesn't like it and chops them apart. Tug gets the worst of it (if he has a full beard as heels in this spot usually do, it could have been much nsstier for him.)Tino gets a go behind into back hammerlock into leapfrog into reverse dropkick - a speciality of his, says Kent Walton. He gets a throw for but Tug responds to another one with a body check . He tries for a pin but Tino has the ropes. Tug gets nasty , headbutting and stomping. Tino gets a full nelson, using it to smack Tug's head in the mat repeatedly before switching to bodyscissors and waistlock. Tino does the old French "Sarah Ouais" atomic drop spot. The British crowd cheer but don't do the chant because, not being French, they don't know it. Tug gets a rope break. He sells his hip as the bell goes. Apparently Tino is a mechanic by day job, living in Belgium. Round 4: Tug gets a standing reverse crossface and forces Tino down. He learns too far over Tinona David blocking his breathing so Poilve gives him a First Public Warning. Tug instead opts for a standing grovit into chops to the neck which he continues with his man down in the guard - andwith a knee across Tino's throat. He eventually gives up but not without getting a stomp in while getting up. Tug is now heavily into heelish fouling territory. Tino rallies with two rear waistlock into atomic drops on the knee (targeting the base of the spine not the privates - he is a blue-eye after all.). Tug is down for 8 and gets up into a side chancery into side headlock into triangular sleeper into a final single chop (before the hold was released, as Kent notes). Tug is up at 9 but ripe for a fall and it comes as a leapfrog into flying tackle takedown for an equalising cross press pin. Round 5: Tug plays coward, staying in his corner until 9. Tino offers him a handshake which Tug accepts but uses to get a kick to fell Tino and then apply pressure points, which the ref lets go as one continuous move. Tug switches to rear chinlock which slips into a choke. Poilve orders a break - Tug complies but makes out to be weary of such orders. Poilve means business and gives Tug his Second And Final Public Warning - he is just as fed up as the crowd (and Tino) with this interference with the opponent's breathing. Tug keeps Tino down with a series of chops to the back of the neck. He adds a superkick for 5 and an illegal knee to keep him down- risky as he has no more PWs to play with. Tino gets a single leg takedown but Tug gets a rope break which makes the crowd no happier. Tino tries again, well away from the ropes and with his knee in to add torque to the leglock, switching to a seated position. Tug gets the break with axehandles and continues to batter Tino on the mat before using his feet to shove Tino to ringside where fans help him up. Tino is Hulking up now, pounding on Tug and getting several knockout counts reaching high numbers before getting a side chancery throw into crosspress into reverse grovit in the guard - Tug claims that HIS breathing is being interfered with but Poilve disagrees. Tino switches to side headlock then a chop to the back of the neck for a 9 count then a series of forearm smashes, the last from the rear. Tug is saved by the bell going at the count of round 5. Note Tug has not been on the offensive since Tino rallies after being kicked out of the ring. Kent is dropping hints that h is not too keen on the bout, calling it extraordinary and unusual. Round 6. Tug gets a single legdive into crosspress with the main aim being Tino's throat for more illegals involving the forearm and knee. Poilve moves quickly in and Tug, mindful of his public warning. Tug s, is forced to restrict himself to legal variants just away from the throat which are less potent. Tug stomps Tino quickly before releasing and clearly has fun stirring up the crowd heat. He gets some KO counts with flurries of chops before Tino gets an armlever and lays on heavy back blows. Tino suddely goes for a rear waistlock into reverse double leg nelson and gets a pinfall to make himself 2-1 winner. Afterbirth: Tug Wilson assaults Salvatore Bellomo and kicks him to the crowd. This triggers a British crowd riot with a classic old boiler going after Tug with her bag, and (hopefully only kayfabe) "No Pay" for Tug Wilson. Not a Walton- friendly scientific bout. Salvatore Bellomo was a competent strength wrestler but by no means a scientific wrestler. He is a star in the making, a young pretty Baby Hercules Cortez, and Tug, the cowardly crumb heel did an admirable carpenter job building him up. Which leads on to the question @ohtani's jacket raises- why were the Continentals allowed to just walk it over the British like that. My guess is that this was meant to be the start of an abortive talent exchange across Britain/Europe to produce a melting pot TV show like New Catch 15 years later - perhaps even a tape exchange between ITV and ORTF - and they wanted to quickly establish these new faces as serious forces to be reckoned with. I think they achieved that with Salvador - I would love to have seen him clean wrestle or even tag partner with Tarzan Johnny Wilson. TBC

So be it. On with 1981. Some more Sal Bellomo. Tagging here with the man epitomised the old guard Bret resented jobbing to, the man Dynamite Kid once duped into eating Dogfood pie, the Only One Shooter round here with the Saturday night special to prove it - until he realised he had Siki on one side and Afa on the other, ready to tear him limb from limb if he hurt Bob Dellaserra. Their opponents are two North Americans we've seen a fair bit of in the last few posts - Ed "Not Yet Col DeBeers" Wiskowski and Moose Morwoski (The Owskis?) , coming to ringside to Ennio Morricone's The Good The Bad And The Ugly. Match begins. Blond Ed versus Axel although both partners try to get involved. They lock up and Axel gets in an early bunch of gross - a hiptoss off the ropes, a rear snapmare with stomps, a low altitude whip and bump into seated armhank. Dieter bashes Wisk with his heel, gets up and slugs Morw on the apron and slings Wisk by the feet into a Bellomo head-butt. Fans are happy and waving at seeing the heel mistreated. Axel posts and slugs Ed, then bulldogs him til he tags Moose who takes a rear snapmare before giving out a good old Polish-American pounding and stomping. All the old tricks including luring in Bellomo and double teaming Axel as the referee ushers Sal out. Moose is like 70s Harley Race's head on Larry Hennig's body. One babyface lure in somehow becomes a proper albeit lukewarm tag. Sal getting to work with a snapmare and kneedrops He out Rawls the heels until Moose slams him andgoes to a top turnbuckle but Sal unperches him to ringside, slugging down Ed to join him. The crowd and Tino seem happy with the heels both ringsides but the ref and MC are not and the former gives Tino a warning (possibly not Public/carded, no card is held up by the ref). Axel tags back, battering Moose with kneelifts. Moose takes several seconds of a KO count to recover (the ref holding Axel back) before he tags Ed. Sal tags in and Ed seems to be reluctant to face him. Tino gets a leg, spins Ed and forearm smashes him down flat, soon all four are in then Axel throws Ed out as Moose takes a asting in the other corner from Tino. Ed is still the legal man so Tino bounces him around as Moose gets out on the tag rope. Cowardly Ed begs for mercy before poorly superkicking Tino down. Tino doesn't sell (well it was a weak on) but gets a backdrop off the ropes for a 2 count. Finally the heels regain their heat dropping Tino neck first on the top rope then double teaming and choking him with the tag rope. It doesn't last long, Sal rolls along the ropes back to his corner for another lukewarm babyface tag. Axel smashes Moose, as the crowd chant his name. Ed slugs Axel to ringside so Tino gets in an d gets stuck into Ed, bashing him into the heel corner. Moose is back in the ring, sees this and quietly creeps across the ring. The MC orders him to stop (stop what?) but he gets there and starts, ending in Ed piledriving Bellomo. Axel goes berserk, attacks the heels and even attacks the ref to finally earn a First Yellow Card. Or maybe Second And Final after Tino's efforts as the faces are DQd when Axel goes outside to make an all four ringside brawl. However the ref brings back the babyfaces and declares them winners to make the Oskis got the blame. The heels come back for the afterbirth brawl but are seen off with Sal getting a fine dropkick on Moose. More OJs kind of German match than mine. Moose and Ed were clearly the Mastino/Ice Train/Young JBL of this era, 15 years earlier.

May as well post that LPP playlist here. I've reviewed most of it already:

France was always a bit behind Britain for TV, except for three days in April 164 between the respective launches of ORTF 2eme Chaine and BBC2 and the five years 1977-1982. Britain had three (more or less) full colour channels from Sat 15th November 1979. France had only two at that point, Channel 1 still being in b/w until Sept 1975 (and only part time colour until Sping 1977) As well as LPP's undeniable skills in the ring, mention must also be made of his gimmick and general appeal as a babyface. Dubail with his myopia glasses became Le Intellectual Du Ring, a heroic nerd type into culture as much ás his technical wrestling skill. One occasion he even brought his paintings to ringside to show Couderc. Boy George once called Jarvis Cocker a hero for all the kids at school who wore glasses and got picked on by bullies. The same comments apply to Le Petit Prince .

Thanks for that. Have been listening. Will listen some more. (update: Have heard the rest now) One thing, there were only 2 TV Stations in France (not counting the private channels blowing in from across the borders). 3eme Chaine En Couleur, the future FR3, did not launch until 31st December 1972. Also re Prince's size, your interviewer could do with a read of this thread.

Well in that case it looks like the last German/Austrian match pre 1981 for the foreseeable future on here will be this: All North American matchup. The Canadian Woman/UFO. the man who told Axel "Only One Shooter" Dieter to "pull the Fn trigger" versus the former Polish Prince and future Col De Beers (a gimmick I still maintain he stole off Colonel Brody when their paths crossed in this territory. ) the latter with bleached hair. Cowboy hat and county music blaring. Runde 1 and They do North American things - Bob gets an armbar and tightens it but Ed doesn't even try and escape, he goes for a rope break and catcalls. Ed back elbows out of a hammerlock.butvtakrs quite a bump from a Bob cross buttock throw. Bob is slow to release a rope break on an armbar and Ed complains. About the nearest all round to a chain sequence is just after the bell goes when Ed does a "Hulk Hogan In Japan" drop toehold into crossface but Bob slips the crossface and gets the other arm ready for a turn into a further nelson press. Enough is enough says the referee. Runde 2. More early 90s WCW. Side headlock and bulldog down met by IMMEDIATE headscissors and equally immediate prise open and snapout. Slower more ponderous Old German hold work.Smashing Bob's head in the corner. This blond version of Ed reminds me a lot of Jesse Ventura. Bob has a nice roll through and ground dropkick response to an armbar, maybe the Canadian has been watching kids like Steve Wright and Caswell Martin. Bob drops a leg on his armbar after the bell. Runde 3 Ed is selling his arm. But uses it to bionic elbow Bob. Bob regains the advantage a d works on the arm. Ed being American knows no rollouts. Bob falls out the ring during a cross cross. Ed tries to keep him out the ring but gets a First Yellow Card for his efforts. Plenty of OJ-friendly brawling. Ed runs Bob's eyes along the top rope. "SCHTOP" cries the MC and things do stop with the end of round bell Runde 4. Slug and punch brawl. Ed actually does a rather good rollout into forwards folding press for a 2 count. Ed bulldogs Bob's head into a corner but Bob pulls out of a second one. More brawling. Ed gets a piledriver just as the bell goes. Runde 5 Ed drops Bob on the ropes throat first and gets a Second and Final Yellow card. More slug and punch. Bob uses his knees to block an Ed aerial move. Ed tries for something not yet called a Powerbomb. Bob backdrops and sits on him but it all rolls into the ropes. Referee orders them both to the centre of ring but they ignore him. Bob gets a swinging neckbreaker for 2. He gets a flying tackle for the one required fall. Two North Americans in Germany. Could just as easily have been Bruiser "Mantaur"Mastino Vs young JBL from 16 years later. OK, on with 1981 unless anything more recent catches my eye.