David Mantell

He and Johnny B Badd came over here in 1992 for a WCW publicity tour There were other videos of the two of them out and about around the sights of London.

Maybe not private sector (although TMC certainly was/is). but definitely from outside the confines of French governmental regulatory reach.

Kasbarian is wearing a single arm black leotard as worn but many a heel from Cyanide Sid Cooper to Heenan-era Andre. He is the bon while early badling Bruno is the méchannt. Martial the big no nonsense Arbitre turns up in a nice smart blazer. All coats are off ready for action. GK gets the rope advantage. Bruno gets an armdrag and a whip/bump top wristlock After trying a go behind, George gets a headscissors. Rocco kips up out but is dragged back in. He uses the same power escape Harris did on Dave Taylor. George throws him off after a couple of tries. GK gets full nelson into snapmare.Cut to Rocco getting scissors of his own. When George likewise momentarily frees himself, Rocco reels him in with a figure four headscissors. GK turns him into the guard and makes a Gotch toehold in the mount. He elbows Rocco's back to stop him arching up then leans across his torso to put an end to all that. He then turns him into the cross leg seating leglock, dropping a knee on it. Rocco gets GK's head and suplexes him off but George lands on his feet while Rocco still sells knee pain from earlier. Rocco gets a legdive and leglock like Harris did early on in both his bouts. Georges reverses the dominance so Rocco kicks him off. Rocco gets top wristlock but GK throws him off. Double interlock into a GK Figure four top wristlock. He keeps hold of it in a standing position and takes him back to the guard , twice. Bruno uses a hairpull to get out but only gets un Avertisement Privée from Martial. Double interlock into WM6 test of strength, George gets first blood making the Italian kneel. He gets up and has George in a guard wristlock. It goes into the ropes. Rocco gets a snapmare then pressure points in into the mount. They get up again, Rocco keeping the pressure points. Georges slips out backwards between the legs, gets a rear leg and slams the knee down (Johnny Saint would force a stand up when the leg is pulled up but luckily for Kasbarian he is not facing Johnny Saint here.). Some more kneecap drops, one loaded with a boot in the inside of the joint. At this point les Manchettes break out s in the two Harris bouts. Martial won't have GK cornering le Méchant so quietly earns him off. GK reluctantly complies. Rocco gets a headlock into rear hammerlock into rear double leg takedown into pressure points, allowing his man into a seated position. He moves from position to position and the hands move to double claw with the odd bit of illegal fish hooking to annoy the crowd. GK eventually gets a rear hammerlock in the mount from it . H3 moves to front kneeling position and works the hammerlock as the Paris crowd chant "ah Ouais" as they normally do for bodyscissor atomic drops. Rocco gets to his knees and gets a rope break. He gets a rear top wristlock into armbars taking it down into an armscissor and side chinlock into half nelson. It would take a LOT of turning to get a further nelson press. Rocco gets a naughy eye poke before trying that turnover + the long way and it ends up in the ropes. George tries to comply with the rope break but Bruno chokes him on the middle cord. Martial finally gets tough and prises him off unfazed Bruno gets a snapmare into pressure points. Georges gets the ropes but Buronjumps on him then slingshots him off, getting in single kneelifts and a snapmare then some more pressure points. Georges fights back flooring BR with Manchettes. He ties him in the ropes to batter him before Martial intervenes. They lock up and Rocco gets armbar into armhank. He narrowly keeps Georges from the ropes with a full nelson into bodyscissors. It does eventually hit the ropes so they break. Georges gets a kneelift and a cheeky finger stomp. They interlock and Georges gets a whip and bump and finger stomp. He tries a top wristlock but Rocco replies with an illegal kidney punch. Another whip, bump and finger stomp and Kasbarian gets the Manchettes going. He keeps it going on the ropes and while arguing with Martial, Bruno strikes cornering and jabbing GK, until Martial orders him to his corner. GK gets a whip/bump into kneeling top double wristlock. He adds an armscissor on top. Bruno turns it slowly round trying to get Georges in the mount to make a Gotch toehold but Georges drags him back. He now has a seated armscissor. Again Rocco tries and fails with the turn. He finally gets the turn but Georges goes with it to make a full 360 but they Run Out Of Mat as Bruno's legs hit the ropes. Bruno plays possum, kneeling down to restart the count and insisting GK step back. Georges swiftly gets the seated armscissor back. He turns himself (nearly risking being folding pressed) and gain just enough far from the ropes. Bruno gets a leg outside and demands a break which Martial grants. The Italian gets rough leading up to a kneelift and kicks the falling ex Homme Masqué on the mat. More kneelifts (Vocabulary - Coups de Genou - "knee blows"). Some vicious Rocco fish hooking settles into pressure points then back and forth. Kasbarian gets up and the Bruno pressure points/fouls become a cross-arm grovit. George is corned and Bruno lifts one leg of his but Bruno bashed him with the other heel. He helps him up then down with a Manchette and headbutt. Bruno punches his way out of a bodyslam attempt. They trade Manchettes and Coups de Genou, one of the latter flooring Bruno. A snapmare into coup de genou from GK, then Rocco fires back and gives Kasbarian two hefty postings. A sling into the ropes and big Georges comes back with a flying body lock into cross press for the winning fall! Probably the best of this weekend's three bouts for me. (The combination of science and a slower speed made it easy work for myself, plenty to write about while not having to stop and rewind so much to catch every little nuance. Even more than Harris/Taylor this shows heavyweights doing what they can understand the handicap of their size and make one wish they had been lower down the weight spectrum .

Hurricane Harris again billed from Australia even here in the UK. I just debunked Hebden Boy's Aussiness on the German thread. Dave is from a family of technical legends but also a big man equal to Judd. Maybe he can make him behave himself .. Round 1 As with against Johnny South in Germany a year later, here Judd starts by crushing Dave on the ropes. Conscious that perhaps S4C might be a bit more regulated than a single camcorder, he releases getting in a quick shove. Harris gets a front chancery but Taylor extracts an arm, forcing a high whip and bump for the bigger man. Harris gets the same leglock as against South. He switches to toehold but Taylor spins him off, an impressive feat for two men their size. Harris up at 4 gets a top wristlock down into the guard. Taylor is up and down - the audience claim hairpulling. Taylor gets a French Catch style Scisseaux Volees takedown. (Normally this doesn't work in Britain the victim lifts the flyer off and tosses them casually away.). Judd turns upright and forces Dave's knees apart through sheer slow power. He has a powerlock on and Dave is having to curl his shoulders to avoid a pin count. Harris witches to single bar to the knee. Again Dave spins him off (Not a toupie, he goes over on his hands not his skull). Harris gets in behind with a facebar forcing Dave to his knees. He switches to pressure points and drives a knee in, then a kneedrop and facelock. The audience aren't happy but the ref lets it go as all one move. Harris finally gets a bit dirtier with a hairpull and some kneedrops that were clearly not continuous motion from earlier. He forearms Dave and pounds him on the ropes, hits him in a headlock and follows down. Very much more British fouling than the South bout. The ref mainly tells him (in English) to "let the man get up". The bell goes, Judd basks in his own heat before getting a swig of water. Round 2. A more even forearm smashing contest sees Taylor floor Judd. Harris fires back and snapmares and foot drops Dave. Judd gets pressure points and a chinlock. He roughs his man up some more but Taylor reverses a posting and gives Judd a backdrop. Harris could really bump spectacularly for a man his size! Taylor, the blue eye, lets Judd up fairly, villain or no, before dropping a descending forearm on the back of the neck. More bursts of forearms including one in a chinlock to steady his man.Harris corners Taylor who reverses this but the ref does not allow much retaliation. Taylor complains but unlike some late 70s/early 80s French Bons we could mention he complies and would not dream of beating up Monsieur L'Arbitre. Harris chokes Taylor on the ropes but Dave rear snapmares him to ringside (whereas South just bucked him over.). The bell goes as Harris climbs in. Harris gets Taylor in a war of words, something he says is too much and Taylor flips him in and gets a public warning. Round 3. Harris gets a headlock and some fouls. They exchange forearms then Dave ties up his man in the ropes and flying tackles him.n He tries a second but is met with a Harris inner forearm (hey even in America they weren't yet called clotheslines in 1983). After some more forearms he gets a splash and an opening pinfall. Round 4 Taylor leaps across and goes for a monkey climb on the cornered Judd. It doesn't come off but does trap him untill he shakes Dave off and goes back to brawling. Taylor gets a dropkick, posting and a this time successful monkey climb (yes Harris could bump!). Dave dropkicks Judd out almost on the laps of those two gorgeous Welsh lasses OJ mentions (probably in their sixties by now, sadly) where he stays down for a KNOCKOUT. Or maybe Judd figured he'd pulled and threw the match to hang out where the action was. Obligingly after the match Dave dropkicks Judd who has got back in the ring back out to be with the girls. It's at this point I seriously think that was on purpose! Two superheavies of WWF size, one of whom later made it in WCW, trying to do a match for two lighter guys. Give them credit for trying, it was far better than the Harris South bout on the German thread.

Okay, on to 1984. Johnny South with thinning hair, moustache and bushy sideburns, the Legend Of Doom many years into the future, actually looks the perfect part of the German working class babyface here. Like beardy Roland Bock, you half expect him to be smoking a pipe and out walking a large dog. Here he takes on fellow Brit Gunboat Judd Harris. Except Harris gets listed in the captions as being from Australia so often I had to go double check. He was born in Plymouth and raised in Hebden, Yorks. So yes, a fellow Brit and no more Aussie than Al Hayes and Ray Hunter in 50s France. Glad to have that settled. Runde 1 sees Harris set out his heel credentials backwards choking South on the ropes. Judd gets a leglock and holds it some time till South bashes the heel with a heel over the head. Judd gets a top wristlock and they go up and down on it. South gets a headlock. Cut to Judd being counted for something then bludgeoning South down for various counts. South gets brawling, slams Judd's head in the corner and gets forearmed and fouled in return, choked on the ropes as the bell goes. It takes him a goodwhile to release and he is soon back at it. DJ plays something discoey. Runde 2 South gets forearms, Judd gets a foul to the throat. Jud comes South on the ropes. South tries bucking him over the tope rope. No luck, maybe later? Cut to South having apparently succeeded and getting a pop. Now he's doing the dirty to keep Harris out- or failing that, down - but being cheered. Nice kneelift from South. He puts Harris's legs in the ropes in the corner but Harris undies himself before he can be charged. South gets double legs but the bell goes. H3 gets a special ovation. Runde 3 South gets two monkey climbs! He dropkicks Harris out of the ring. Noticeably he obeys the rules and does not follow Harris out. South gets the winning pin with a flying tackle! Afterbirth: Harris throws one helluva stroppy to all sides until South dropkicks him out the ring from behind. Most of the best action in this is in Runde 3 with South's charge for victory. The first two Runden were fairly standard tournament brawls. It would be interesting to see what Harris could do with an opponent who made him work more scientifically. Over on the British thread. I may have the answer ...

Short TV feature from early 2014 of Axel Diter and son and a lady choreographer with whom they were working on a project. No mention of there of Only One Shooter Here or dog food pie. Some good shots of the 60s including a Ringerparade. Also camcorder footage of Axel Vs Grand Vladimir, possibly poached from @sergeiSem's YouTube channel, already up and running back then.

Since this has popped up from out of nowhere, I may as well post this here also - the Iron Sheik as a BABYFACE (shock, horror) in Kuwait 1982

A little known fact is that Hossein Arab appeared in Kuwait 1982 as an upstanding clean wrestling clean living Allah-fearing BABYFACE!!!

Quick TV feature circa 2011 on Prince Zéfy including snippets of a tag match and him training backstage with what looks like Bernard Van Damme

In a French speaking zone right up on the border. On 819 line. Mostly acting as an alternative to RTF. Fits the pattern. And, as you say yourself, it was French Catch they were broadcasting. Not VDB, not the German/Austrian tournaments and not the ancestry of the stuff we cover on the German catch thread. Not that whole territory.

Dave Viking has passed away recently. So I don't want to be too negative about thim but after the Holy Grail Young George Kidd clips on the French Catch thread and the Caswell Martin- Lenny Hurst scientific masterclass from 1979 i.expectbthis Will be a bit of a comedown. But it's the last 1983 bout and Eddie Stein lock (also deceased I believe) has the look of young 80s Barry Windham to him. So let's give it a go. Runde 1 Dead Dave is dirty from the off, uses a hairpull to switch from hammerlock to headlock.Lots of slow power holds of varied cleanness by Viking. which Eddie struggles to escape. He does get a snapmare and a long running headlock. Mostly Dave is in charge and stalling. Tutti Frutti by Little Richard in the interval. Runde 2. Eddie gets an armbar and armhank but switched to blows. Anytime it might get scientific, brawling starts Viking attacke Steinblock after the bell Runde 3 Dave carries on with a before the bell attack. Beats down on Eddie. Beats him on the ropes, neck first. More post bell stomping from Dave Runde 4 Eddy fights back. Scissor chops. Ties in the ropes quite a bit. Dave has a bad time of it but he regains control and Eddie ends the round slumped in a corner Runde 5 Dave is the heel offering the babyface a handshake while the audience advice NO!. Eddie gets a rear snapmare and kneedrop. He has Andy cornered but the. ref orders him off so Dave pitches Eddie to ringside an goes out to join him. Dave beats him up outside the ring til, the Ref orders him back. Dave eventually has Eddie in the Tree of Woe in the corner and beats him til DQd, then some more after. Well what did you expect? Big monster bullies kid is DQd and disgraced , still doesn't learn. Still I suppose it's all good for building a monster heel. On with 1984 next week.

Found this last week after watching Hurst Vs Hayward. A technical clinic although obviously the finish was not OJ's cup of tea. (My recommendation for best Caswell bout is Vs Marty Jones at the Royal Albert Hall - I think we've covered that one on here in the past.) This was taped at what in later life became a local venue of mine, the Royal Spa Centre in Leamington. All Star still ran shows here into the late 2010s and I've definitely posted at least one tag match from spring 2010 on here. The headline bout for both the taping and that week's screening was Big Daddy and Young David defeating The South London Hardmen (Mick McManus and Steve Logan MK1), a match Davey Boy Smith later claimed as an early landmark in his career. We join the action where WOS viewers presumably did, with no score at the start of ... Round 3. Hurst gets three side chanceries but Hurst is up each time at 3. He goes for a fourth but Martin gets on a side headlock then slips round behind to make it a standing hammerlock Cas then trip him forward into the mount and secure a double leg nelson. He goes to bridge back but Hurst secures a bodyscissors then turns onto his front to use the scissors to hold Martin in a folding press for 3. Hurst gets the opening pin. 1-0 to Lenny. Round 4 . Fresh off.scoring, Hurst rolls right up to Cas but it shoved down for 6. Hurst gets a single standing right ankle but Martin cartwheels out much the same as H3 might to untwist an armbar. Beautiful execution and it gets a round of applause so Hurst tries again and gets the same escape from Cas and the same crowd reaction. They double interlock and Cas puts his boot up on Hurst's chin and hammers his knee, driving the leg in and getting 7. Even Kent admits it's "a new one"Hurst can use his legs too, after sidestepping a lo kip he fires off a dropkick and dives on the fallen Martin all in one move for a front folding press but this time it's Cas who locks on a bodyscissors, bridging to hold Hurst in a kneeling position. Hurst counters by getting an underhook and standing up in the scissors. He reaches in for a crotch old and gets a body slam on Martin for 4. Hurst gets a toe and ankle in a kneeling position, Martin again twice tries to use his legs as a peg to shove Hurst away but this time to no effect. A third time he shoves Hurst off and into the ropes but Hurst cartwheels away to avoid rebounding into something nasty. Another double interlock and Hurst leans back and slaps on a crossed headscissors, possibly looking for a to7pibut Martin folds one leg to make a standing figure four leglock, holding the toe of the top foot down with his own floor and the straight underneath leg up by the heel. In return, Hurst pulls out Martin's own leg so he collapses sitting, then applies a leg spread. Cas can do the splits fine, butit does forc3 him to drop his leglock. Stalemate,. They double interlock and hit the ropes so Martin backrolls out of trouble. Another double interlock and Martin gets a fireman's carry, gorilla press and stomach breaker. He gets a 9 count - almost a knockout - and a single right leg but Hurst is on the ropes. Break. Hurst is still selling the stomachbreaker but he himself buts Martin in the stomach for 3, shoves him down for 2 and gets a backslide for 1 before Martin headstands out - a novel escape from a backslide if ever I saw one! Hurst gets a single interlock , twists on it to make a top wristlock and drags Cas down into a guard armlock but Martin rolls with the takedown so his legs pop up and clamp a headscissors on Hurst. Then he drags him down in the figure four headscissors and cranks forward with Hurst sell8ng the pain before dropping down. The bell saves Hurst. Round 5.- Martin reaches in and takes a single leg, (risking a front facelock there, it has to be said). Hurst counters with a one legged monkey climb but Martin lands feet first. Hurst gets two side chanceries for 2 each and a cross buttock throw for 3. They cross cross and Martin goes over with a leapfrog, under with a drop down and then he gets the trip into a reverse double leg nelson into folding press with a bridge he tried for in round 3 - and this time he gets the fall! 1-1 the score. Martin exuberantly backrolls out and the two shake hands again . Round 6 - they lock up and Martin gets a cross buttock throw into the guard and then switches to an ankle and putting it through several weakeners culminating in a bodily drop down on the crossed legs. Hurst is nearly KOd but makes it up after 8. Martin is clearly still after the legs. He gets a legdive but Hurst turns him into the ropes forcing a break. Hurst gets an arm, twists it good and then does a high forward whip forcing Cas to bump. and take a 7 count. A second go gets 6. Martin gets a rear waistlock but Hurst uses his own wristlock to break it open, sling Cas into the ropes and mett him with a bodycheck on the rebound. A second time H3 is caught and slammed but catches Cas with a quick ground dropkick before Martin can get upright. Martin kips up quickly though and leaps over Hurst into a sunset flip with Hurst again doing "Aloha Arn" as he goes down into a double leg nelson He is up quickly (as the ref trips on the ropes!) but spun off with a headscissors by Cas - almost a toupie - and not up until 8. He is soon back, dropping for a legdive into seated double anklelock. He leans back a bit too far as Martin tries various crossface and chi holds on him but holds firm on the leg until Martin uses his own other leg to pull Hurst off momentarily but he soon gets the hold back and Martin is reduced to th3 chin attacks. They are enough of a nuisance that Hurst finishes up with a mighty standing dropping leg weakener for 7. Both men legdive each other to form a standing H. Stalemate and so is a simultaneous legdive/arm taken. Hurst gets a dropkick and double legs and tries for a Boston Crab. But he can't get his man turned over and Cas goes up on his head. For a moment it looks like a toupie until Martin crawl on through Hurst's legs and huaracanranas him over then hooks booth legs as Hurst rolls back, for a rear folding press but Hurst bascules it into a front double leg Nelson. Martin tries a folding press but is spun off out of the ring onto the apron. They shake hands. Martin gets a side chancery throw and legdrop of doom for 8, another side chancery throw and walk over for 7. Hurst gets a rear snapmare and twisting stomp for 7 also. The two get locked up in a corner, the ref tells them to break and on top of all else the bell goes. This makes Hurst back off and the two shake hands. Round 7 -Hurst gets a wristlever, drives a knee in, forces a bump on a turn over knee height and rolls back and forth each way, delivering two legdrops to the bicep, scissoring the wrist and turning it into a guard top wrist scissors. He switches to basic wristlock as Hurst gets up, tries a headbutt but comes off the worst. Hurst gets a wrist, is thrown to the ropes but rebounds with a bodycheck. Martin kips up and takes his man down to the mount in a back hammerlock, turning him into seated and kneeling positions before making it a bar-hammerlock, still in the mount. Hurst tries to get up but Martin tightens the angle on the hammerlock. So Hurst tries the French Catch style reverse snapmare and goes over backwards - over the ropes to ringside, landing badly. Martin, the referee, MC Brian Crabtree and some St John's Ambulance personnel go to help but the contest is over. Cas is offered the TKO win but sportingly refuses. In consideration of the two falls, the ref calls it a 1-1 draw, not a no contest. Five good rounds of agile inventive athletic technical wrestling with two sophisticated and beautifully executed pinfalls. What more can you wish for on a Saturday? The first two rounds perhaps.

The Borgs were wrestling in London the day I was born 21st March 1974. I have a copy of the Evening News for that evening with the bill advertised.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telesaar There you go. Another private sector competitor to (O)RTF operating from just across the border, screening Le Catch, the one hit French TV show of which they can make their own version. Interesting no one set one of these operations up from the Channel Islands. Although of course viewers in some parts of France would have been able to watch World Of Sport and other ITV Wrestling, albeit only in b/w, 1969-1988 from either the Channel or Southern/TVS ITV regions, (likewise British viewers in parts of Kent with a new fangled 625 line BBC2-ready set might have been able to watch Le Catch on 2eme Chaine/A2 right from the start, TF1 from 1976 and FR3 from 1982 albeit also with no colour)

Sounds like a familiar situation. Presumably broadcasting from just outside the country to compete with (O)RTF while not being covered by French government regulations.

Kidd cheekily getting un Manchette out of a sportsmanly handshake (we saw some else do this more recently.) Andre doe.a Mike Marino spinning corkscrew escape from a headlock. A pity it degenerates into what Kent Walton would call a forearm smashing contest. Andre clearly the heel, ambushing Kidd and stomping him in the ropes and out the ring. Kidd returning fire with Manchettes Quite a substantial afterbirth with Andre getting a leglock on Kidd who just reversed it on the mat.

Some more Kidd. A battle of the folding press (Guy) Vs the double leg underhook submission (Kidd, operating on his back 23 years before the Jack Mulligan match!). Falling sideways from a seemingly blown side chancery into a bodyscissors. Kidd uses the bodyscissors perfectly, to manipulate Guy around. The hammerlock held by the legs by Guy which gets him the winning submission and a trophy.

Weekend comes early for Trad Euro Wrestling fans: I could be wrong but I'm guessing George is the black trunks. Beautiful counter to the high arm whip early on, turning round on the roll and clamping down on the attacker's wrist (it's not quite a wrist scissor because the legs are aligned, not crossed.). You can see the origins of both the British roll on the mat and the French back somersault off a top wristlock as they exchange control. Black trunks vaults nicely over after turning into the mount from a guard wristlock. The reverse fireman carry backbreaker (aka the Lex Luger Torture Rack) and a nice escape into a backslide for the opening fall. The SURFBOARD equaliser! The rest waistlock into rear double legs into another surfboard to almost make it 2-1 there- and the collapsing it in just the right direction for a folding press 2-1 Magic stuff from two all time great World Lightweight championship claimants.

Nine months earlier in September 1973, Angelito is back on TV. His first bout back in 1971 saw him self unmask midway through defeating Jacky Richard and that's the way he is here, receding but not yet shaven headed. That match was overseen by Babette Carole, ex catcheurs turned Madame L'Arbitre. And guess what? Two years later, she's also back! We JIP as the la Première Manche is in progress, introduced by the biker jacketed commentator as a middle aged female fan in a summer blouse looks lecherously at him. In the ring, the heels have heat, one stomping away on a fallen Bon, the other with a US Blackjack Mulligan moustache, on the ring apron. Angelito, for the Bon is he, does not long accept this treatment before com8nh up with a rear hammerlock, ducking to avoid rear snapmare attempts. El Alami, the other Bon, is a clean cut Moroccan kid, possibly a TBW, politely waiting his turn - for now - on the apron. He tags in and goes to word with Manchettes on the longer haired Guy (butch moustache is Roux). Guy fires back so Amir slips in a headbutt. The big cowboy Roux tags in. Amir does the quick armbar to hammerlock to rear legdive to drop toehold c9mboused by everyone from Flesh Gordon to Samm6 Lee. He clamps down on an armlock as Roux thrashes. When Roux backrolls he iwas forced to be hard-whipped back with a bump. Roux tried a front chancery but Alami slams him down. With the armlock on, Alami whips Roux around, slams him in the mat and still in th3vguard armlock. Roux tries the old Vic Faulkner distraction tactic but Alami fires back. Both sides tag, Angelito gets a hammerlock. Soon Roux has one on Angelito. Angelito gets a reverse snapmare on a hammerlock. Les méchants get some double teams in. The crowd give Babbette some Aux Chiottes chants. She eventuality gives the heels a beating. A confused Guy attacks a ringside second. Babbette tortures opponents by tugging their beards. Angelito gets a similar reverse snapmare to earlier my comments. Eventually Roux slams Angelito for the first fall. Deuxième Manche Guy is choking Angelito out.The heels double team him. The crowds abuse Babette until she beats up Les Méchants Alami doles them out with Manchette. Babette gets knocked down, she blames Guy and gives him a Planchette Japonaise. Méchants continue to get a hard time from Bons. Babette and each other inadvertently. Angelito snapmares Roux several time, Roux leapfrogs Angelito but winds up taking a dropkick. Commentator bizzarely claims Angelito is l'Ange Blanc's son! Angelito bars one arm of Guy's and stamps the hand of the other. He high whips and bumps Guy then tags Alami. Guy Alami around has the advantage throwing He handstands out,gets his own side chinlock. He gets a flying bulldog on by headscissor combo . All four men are in with Bons doing 2 on 2 unto the méchants. Babette gives EVERYONE un Avertisement. The heels try to double team Alami but Babette won't stand for it. Still the heels manage to work over El Alami'. Angelito tags in and neither heel wants to face him. The heels fight after Roux enters the ring - he think it's on purpose by Guy . They settle up . Roux gets idirty on the mat. So doesGuy. Angelito ends up at ringside bu6 female fans cmofo for5 him. Heels work him over. He does trick Roux into straight-arming his own partner Guy thinking it was Angelito after Guy sought help, unable to perform the straight arm himself. Angelito gets an armdrag, legdive and weakener on Guy then tags Alami and each man works a leg. Guy is eventually slingshot into Roux. Alami gets some great Scisseaux Volees on Guy, the last sending him ringside. When he gets back, Alami armdrags him down for a crossface equaliser. La Belle (Parce-ce-qu'il y avait Eu,). El Alami' gets a Manchette on Guy. He and Roux exchange fire and end up deep in the crowd. Guy ends up being thrown back to Angelito who continues the treatment in the ring. The bons both get good throws in. Heels double team Angelito Bons try out various complex pins some of which Babette doesn't like the look of until Angelito flying bodypresses Roux for the pin. Babette throws Roux out by the moustache. Afterbirth. Babette talks to camera about how sad it is that dirty wrestling continues. "La combat continue" and she has to pull them all apart Tightly packed acto into a short half hour including plenty of good science. Not a masterpiece but better than some recent ones.

More from 1983 Recklinghausen. This time heel afrokid Indio tries it on with Gunther's previous opponent Dave Morgan, a month before his match as Die Maschke Vs Steve Wright in Bamberg. Again we get a lot of into before the actual bout. We do have a commentator but he's in German. Runde 1: Indio gets a side chancery and eventual throw. Then a s3econd one. He gets a hammerlock into hiptoss but Morgan hits back with a ground dropkick. Dave gets a headlock, Indio tries atomic dropping him but can't get the lift an ends up thrown into a side headlock on the mat. Indio stands, throws Dave off, resists a bodycheck but it armdragged down twice He gets a legdive but is spun off for 6 . They lock up and Indio gets armbars in the guard. Morgan kips up but is dragged down until he gets a French style headscissor takedown. He tries a crosspress but is thrown on top of the ref. Dave and the ref shake hands. End of Runde. Runde 2. Indio gets a single leg folding press and some 1s. Morgan toupies him off. They exchange forearms. Dave leans back from a double interlock to get a double ankle smash. And forearm for t. Indio gets forearms. And a side backdrop but is flipped out of the ring. He uses a hair pull to reel Dave back into a headlock from two top wristlocks. Dave gets a front facelock and cartwheels off when Indio brreks it. Indio gets an armdrag into guard armlock. Dave uses the ref's shoulder to cartwheel out of the hold and gets an armhank. Cut to Indio furearming Dave to the mat. He bodychecks Dave but is cross buttocked and crosspressed for 2. Dave gets an armbar and boot to the stomach. He lunges and rear snapmares for 2. Indio gets nasty and stomps as the bell goes. Runde 3. Indio still doing the dirties, mostly in a corner. He eventually gets a respectable snapmare and the one follow up stomp the rules allow. He throws out Dave giving him a boot on the way out,. Runde 4 TBC Indio still pounding and fouling. Dave tries throwing him out. Cut to him flooring Dave and stomping. Dave fights back with dropkicks and flying head scissors and some pounding of his own. He ties Indio in the ropes, who stays ther3 between rundes. Runde 5 More of the same brawl n dirty from>Indio including headbutts. Dave gets a flying forearm and crosspress for for 2. He hooks the rope to stop a rebound and gets a sidewards folding press for the 3. A few Curate's Egg technical parts in this brawl. Probably brought to the mix by Dave.

Another good example of how many undercard bouts could be technical dark horses. Hayward is the former Commonwealth Games bronze medallist turned professional European Middleweight champion, quite outside the range of what the North American wrestling industry would consider hirable (a stint in Stampede notwithstanding). Here he has a veteran technician with whom to put on his scientific exhibition. Unlike such lighter or less experienced opponents as Tim Fitzmaurice where Keith's effortless superiority made crowds politely root for the opponent, Hurst is too experienced to get the sympathy vote. We join the action in round 4 . Hayward gets an arm weakener out of a one sided lockup. Hurst converts a double interlock into backdrop(putting his own head in an underhook to get it) into crosspress for a couple of 1s. Interestingly curling 1 leg to get extra downwards pressure. Hayward in the guard turns himself upright and gets an armbar in the process! He folds the arm into a hammerlock and hooks the other arm to turn Hurst into a crosspress, but his feet hit the ropes forcing a break. They are up and Lenny gets an underhook but Hayward pulls it straight and gets a weakener, (the second time he has done this in the bout instead of force a high whip plus bump . ) Lenny sells the pain, staying down for 6. Keith moves from single interlock to armbars to legdive. Hurst gets a retaliatory wrist lever. Hayward eventually re)eases the leg when Hurst figure four scissors the arm but instead lifts Hurst and places him on the top turnbuckle. They shake hands. Both men get a legdive - stalemate. A second try results in the same. Hurst gets a side chancery off a double Interlock and throws Hayward who rolls upright neatly. Hurst gets the same sid3e chancery throw but Keith takes it equally beautifully. Hurst gets a side headlock on Keith who makes it into a top wristlock and another armbar weakener. The bell goes as Hurst gropes for a leg. Round 5 starts with Hurst getting a side chancery off collar and elbow, getting the throw after some resistance. A second side chancery throw is more easily gained, even earning a 2 count. A third time Hayward stays down in a seated position and Hurst vertically splashes the back of his neck for a four count. He converts a fourth one into a kneelift.for another 4. A fifth side chancery throw and a standing full nelson ensue as Kent Walton wonders what has happened to the usually speedy Keith. Kent quickly gets his answer as Keith reverses the hold, slips down into a rear waistlock and gets his trademark German suplex finisher out of nowhere for the pin! Keith is 1-0 up. Round 6 and Hurst gets a wristlever from a collar and elbow. getting two twists and a long forward whip and bump. Any further and it would have been a posting! He gets the near posting whip again, getting even for the round 4 arm weakeners? Hayward is up at 4 but caught in a Hurst abdominal stretch, sideways on. Hayward won't submit so Hurst drives in a knee and gets another arm weakener before releasing. Hayward is up at 4 straight into another side chancery throw. Hurst whips Hayward into the ropes, misses a rear elbowsmash and gets hit with a flying tackle, but rolls over backwards as he goes down until Hurst has the cross press and an equalising pin! This finish is worth entry money in itself - a properly done version of what Wendi Richter and Leilani Kai BUNGLED at WM1. Round 7. Hurst gets a single leg off a single interlockbut Hayward leans forward, seemingly to get an inverted rear waistlock to start his trademark suplex. However the camera cuts to reveal Keith has reached all the way over and got a toehold. Stalemate and they start over. Hurst gets double legs and a lift but Hayward goes over into a sunset flip and double leg nelson attempt for 2 with Hurst giving it some SERIOUS "Aloha Arn" as he goes down. Hurst turns over and gets a high folding press for 1 but Hayward kicks out, himself getting a 6 count on Hurst. They single Interlock and this time it's Hurst who goes behind for the rear waistlock He takes Hayward down in the mount rather than attempt his opponent's speciality bridge ecsuple (I believe a relic of Hayward 's Olympic GR days.). Hayward easily twists out and gets a front chancery (allowed as Hurst is trying for a legdive on the mat.). but Hurst. Straightens the arm. Hayward briefly connects with the inverted rear waistlock - but can't get the weight for a suplex and Hurst regains armlock control with his man behind. He straightens the arm to a more conventional armbar shape Hayward does the traditional British rolloff and comes up with a sharp forearm smash. Hayward gets a double legs into folding press for 1, straight arm pres for another 1. Hurst bridges. They roll over and over with Hayward bodyscissoring his man. Both get long arm press attempts as they go on top. Hurst converts from bodyscissors to headscissors but Hayward uses the headstand escape. He lands in position to get a Gotch figure four toehold and augment it to make a simple cross surfboard. Hurst tips i5 over and lands on his knees. Hayward still hangs onto the crossface until the bell goes Round 8, the final and Hurst gets a dropkick, snapmare and twisting nose stomp. He gets an armbar into hammerlock from a collar and elbow but Hayward spins to untwist, single leg diving his man on the go and getting a single toehold, leg weakener and 5 count but is too hasty following in with another legdive and privately warned by the ref (the first such occurrence of the bout). who demands a start over. Hurst turns horizontally on a high Interlock to pull down an armbar and make another hammerlock. Hayward reaches back and tries for a rear snapmare but Hurst resists so instead Hayward reverse snapmares back over French Catch style and both men fire dropkicks, bumping heavily and both up at 9. Hurst gets a vigorous headbutt from above. Hurst gets another dropkick, Hayward a running elbowsmash, forearm and dropkick. The science seems to be fading in the final scramble for a decider, but it soon picks up again. Hurst can only get a 1 count from a crotch hold, slam and crosspress. Both men go down from a bodycheck for 8, a Hayward dropkick gets 5, a Hurst backslide gets 2 (after slipping grip on one arm first time - possibly a botch). as does a Hayward sunset flip into double leg Nelson. A Hurst side folding press hits the ropes and Runs Out Of Mat. Hurst tries leaning back from a full Interlock into a cross scissor toupie but as he locks on the feet and hand stands up, the bell finally goes 1-1 draw. Hayward looks a bit put out as a Hurst reaches for his water bottle then the Advert Break strikes, but one hopes it ended in handshakes. Several of Keith's exhibition victories including the Tim Fitzmaurice one saw Kent afterwards ponder what if Hayward faced a more experienced or heavier man. Here he gets one and doesn't get it all his own way but still,acquits himself well, getting at least 1 of 2 of his trademark bridging suplex pins. A fine technical match except for one short scramble in the final round. ,

Summer 1974, just months before the INA was formed and started taping Channel 2s colour bouts, of which this may have been one. This one starts JIP like Myers-Apollon on the British thread. Montreal has the muscles, Freddie M is the old guy. Take it from there. That's le Bon beating on Le Méchant with manchetes. Marcel tags Jean Pierre Le Compte, not to be confused with the Viscompte, Joel de Fremery. He has a moustache so easy to identify. Caclard we've seen before as a ratty little heel in patterned trunks. Reminded me of Buff Bagwell near the end of WCW. Helped turn Albert Sanniez méchant. He takes over on JP. Magnier is in and has arguments with the big tough L'Arbitre. Talking of hard nosed L'Arbitre, Delaporte has access to the commentators desk much like Mick McManus would do on ITV sometime Montreal has a side headlock on Magnier and a side headlok later on Caclard He slams and dropkicks Fred out of the ring. Les Méchants have JP cornered but L'Arbitre is of those tough Martial/Delaporte/Max Ward/Gorilla Monsoon type refs and himself pounds the heels on the ropes. It goes on like this until the heels win a fall, Magnier over JP. It seems clean enough - a crosspress in the middle of a forest of manchettes -but the crowd thinks it's a ripoff and so do the announcer and Montréal La Belle (match was 1:0 at the start says the commentator.). Heels pound on JP so e more, Caclard gets an Avertisement. Montreal gets the hot tag. He manchettes Magnier to oblivion then grabs Caclard and does him the same plus bearhugs him a good long while then switches to bodyscissors. Caclard does briefly get some in attempts in the bodyscissors. The two roll into the ropes. Marcel Montreal slams Caclard around then tags JP who continues the treatment, even giving him the old Ah Ouais bodyscissors atomic drop treatment with Montreal doing it to Magnier. JP and Caclard do finally dish up a minute or two of technical work, snapmaring and headscissoring and scissorthrowing and Gotch toe holding each other plus even the odd crawl through each others legs until Magnier comes in and it goes back to him pounding on JP. Marcel tags back and gets Magnier in an aeroplane spin, wiping out Caclard, slamming and splashing Magnier and getting the 2-1 win. Apart from that one little JP Vs Caclard bit at the 19 minute mark, it was all very slug and punch. Perhaps the science took place before the cameras started .Otherwise lightweight fun like 1983 Gunther & Gaetano vs Indio and Harris bout on the German thread.

You've got these two badly confused. Wagner is the taller German, and Dave Morgan is the shorter Brit, who notably spent a lot of time as a globe trotter and eventually settled in Germany. Wagners reputation as a worker really wasn't very good. Okay, here we go with 1983 this time. I've got the correct one for Gunther. Curly lighter hair, tall. gold trunks. Teaming with Bobby Gaetano and behaving himself to face John "Judd"/"Gunboat" Harris, a Brit like Morgan and Indio Guajaro, Germany's answer to France's Black Shadow. There's quite a bit of stop and start title sequence added years later before the bout commences. (Ther3 ar3 also so e odd voiceovers I don't understand.) When it does get going it's pretty much your typical fun 'n family friendly German tag match. The two big men start with Harris getting the early advantage with a mix of strength and dirty moves . Indio continues the trestment then Harris is back with a legdive and leglock. Th3 heels double cream Gold Gunther but a high energy Gaetano gets the hot tag, Ali shuffling, snapmaring Indio, leapfrogging Harris so H3 bodychecks the ropes and falls over for 6, Indio takes back the heat with a snapmare into some illegal stomps on the fallen Bobby, then Harris gets to forearm smashing, illegal choking work. Gaetano gets a hope spot cartwheeling out of an Indio cross buttock, leapfrogging to behind his man and scoring with some dropkicks and a chinlock.He eventually ties up both heels in the ropes and he and Gunther do all, the old battering ram spots to the baddies. By the time this is done we are 2/3 of the way through this clip. Gunther gets cornered by Harris a d the heels double team to get back their heat till Harris gets a pin on Gunther. Second fall, Gaetano tags in bu5 things still go the heels' way until Gaetano goes on a dropkicking rally, finding Harris to ringside and flying tackles Indio down for a cross press equaliser to make it 1-1. At this point things wrap up quick - between falls the two heels attack Gaetano and the referee forcing a DQ. They beat on until Gunthre comes to the rescue. Fun but lightweight compared to Myers-Apollon on the British thread.. TBC

Back in Myers' pre Iron Fist days when he wore the Union Jack trunks, he was quite the purist-friendly technician and much of that carried over into Clive's Iron Fist days so I don't see why this would be a styles clash at all. Apollon was trained by Lee Bronson who himself was trained by Wayne Bridges and was the son of 40s/50s star Norman "the Butcher " Ansell. He is however no relation to "Golden Apollon" Richie Brooks, at this point a couple of years away from turning pro. We JIP at the start of Round 3 - the bout being a warm up match, the first two rounds having been scoreless and this being quite a short round. Apollon gets in quick with a snapmare and Legdrop Of Doom for a seven count then gets a posting in. Myers stalls i the corner breaking Apollon's momentum. Myers gets a snapmare into side headlock but Johnny neatly straightens the arm into a wrist lever then switches to another snapmare and twice tries a bodycheck but the first has little impact and on the second, Clive gets in a superkick. And suplexes his man, using his duplexing arm to get the cover (see also Myers and YAMADA Vs Kendo & Rocco from 1987) and the opening fall! Myers leads one-nil. Round 4. Myers is not the only one to have scored that Saturday afternoon. This being the original transmission, the latest football scores pop up and apparently bubble perked legend Kevin Keegan hàs got a goal for Newcastle Utd. Anyway, back to the match. Apollon goes from side chancery to front chancery to suplex and gets three before Myers craftily breaks the count by putting his hands behind his get a rope break with his elbows! Myers gets an arm, teases a Johnny Saint style stepover then forces a high whip and bump. Apollon absorbs it well, taking it on his behind and swivels into a position from which it is eay 6 to spring up. Nice absorption move by John. They single interlock and Myers switches hands to get a wrist lever and deftly develops it I to a back hammerlock then a double wristlock. He armdrags his man in the hold but Runs Out Of Mat as Apollon's legs hit the ropes as he goes over. Break and double interlock . Apollon tries a lean back dropkick but Myers steps back and John crashes. Myers gets collar & elbow into armdrags I to guard armlock but Apollon gets up swiftly and gets an armbar into posting. Myers resists the posting, squatting down like Ken Joyce. Apollon has more jo6 with a snappish monkey climb, but Myers then resists a snapmare attempt. Apollon gets an armbar into ankle lock on the standing Myers. He drops the foot back as Myers seeps to be planning a superkick. (Apparently Apollon had one planted on him in the untelevised Round 1.). Myers tries for a legdive but only gets a shove to the stomach, leaving Apollon down to get a legdive attempt of his own. Apollon gets an arm and tries an armdrag but Myers clamps down to make a long press for 1 . Myers tries a double arm stretch in the guard but Apollon picks them off with his feet in a bicycle motion. Apollon gets a wrist but the bell goes. They shake hands. Kent Walton mentions that Johnny trains at a gym in the Railway Tavern which later became the Bridges pub, home of Southern Wrestlers Reunions for many years. Round 5. Apollon gets a headlock but Myers counters with his backdrop suplex but isn't quite in the right position for another pin. So instead he gets an armscissor and side headlock on, adjusting as Apollon moves. Apollon gets a headscissors and so Myers drops his own holds to fight it. He bridges up and swivels into the front upright position, spreading his man's knees to release his own head with which he butts the legs. Myers gets off a legdive swatting away Apollon's attempt at a topé to spin him off. He switches to crosspress then armbar then an attempted straight arm lift but has to drop Apollon when he threatens a headscissors. So he ends up with just a guard armlock and Apollon aiming kicks at his back. A lockup goes nowhere except Apollon falls on his seat. Again he gets an arm but Myers resists the armdrags attempt that was actually intended. Myers also resists a side chancery throw but goes with an attempt at a long suplex which switches to cross press and slam. They try for some more lockups but the bell goes before anything substantial can happen. Again they shake hands. Round 6 Apollon gets a stomach jab and posting. Myers cartwheels out of a cross buttock throw but is caught by Johnny's dropkick and briefly tied in the ropes like late period Andre or the heel in a continental tag match comedy spot. He quietly untangles himself. Apollon finally gets his armdrag in finishing on a guard armlock. Myers is up and off the ropes but runs into a sharp Apollon elbow. Johnny capitalises with a side chancery (taking advantage of Myers' head not being quite up ) and Harley Race head-drop. then another armdrag into armscissor. He pulhes Myers back and slings him into the ropes but Myers again holds the rope to break momentum. He gets an arm. whip and superkick of his own twice . Myers gets the same suplex attempt converting to powerslam as earlier - practically a Goldberg jackhammer! - and gets the second straight fall with it. Myers the winner 2-0 What I like is how a seemingly inconsequential undercard bout like this can turn into a real clinic of " Human Chess,". Good match in a Territory where such things were common.

It's horses for courses which version was better. Lane/Eaton was better for pure wrestling. Condrey/Eaton were better heels. Lane being genuinely handsome somewhat undermined the idea of a heel team of two plain-looking guys who thought they were God's gift to women. Question - could Condrey/Eaton have done a babyface run like Lane/Eaton did in 1988/1989?