David Mantell

If you're eagerly awaiting the resumption of 1989 then you've got a bit of a wait. This tag match from 1986 comes as a package with two singles matches. We covered into those, Cabanas Vs Franz der Söldner yonks ago but I've also uncovered a Rudi Pegac Vs Dirty Harry singles bout and another Pejac solo contest in that rather nice German village beer garden we visited long ago. Once they're done, hopefully we can clear off the rest of 1989 before going back to tackle the mountain that is 1987, which will take us the best part of a year. Quick who's who - Franz and Rudi are babyfaces in red, Gil and Harry heels in black strappy gear, somewhere between Ludvig Borga and that badly made Demolition outfit they gave to Crush in summer 1990 that did up the wrong way at the back (eg on SNME vs the Rockers). Franz is the face with a Tache on his face. On the heel side the top lip growth is Canada's , the Dirty one has the blond mullet. This is in a tent at a fairground with a brightly lit ride swinging round and round outside the window. It's a good little venue with a decent crowd as some swing camera shots reveal. Teil 1: cut from a long boring MC speech about music to Franz having Harry in a full nelson. switching to side chancery and throwing him down, armdragging him into the guard. Harry shows how Dirty he is by hair-dragging him over then cornering the Söldner and double teaming him with Gil. The ref disappears off to deal with a complaint from OOV Rudi while the MC begs the bad guys to SCHTOP doing their evil double teaming. We swing over to see the ref and Rudi having a blazing row as Gil full nelsons Franz for Harry's blows. One good long heat sequence. Franz fights back and tags the older Rudi while Gil also tags. Rudi legdives Gil, Franz comes back and grab the other leg. They throw the ref and Harry on top in a big pile and get a Yellow Card for it. Pegac (pronounced "peg ash") and Gil full interlock but Rudi kicks both arms away and gets a high whip forcing a somersault bump and a pop. But Harry grabs Rudi from behind so Cabanas can wallop him extensively before hiptossing him back to centre. Uppercuts, a headbutt and illegal stomps on a fallen opponent before he gets pressure points. Franz complains to the ref. Gil makes a headlock, walks Rudi around, dumps him in the corner for more double teaming. But here comes Franz and the good guys tie up the villains in the ropes and bomb them. This gets a grand pop, Suddenly the heels leap into action and Gil pins Franz. I guess that's the first fall. Cut to Gil locks up with Franz and the heels corner and double up on der Söldner. Harry finally tagging in and getting a backdrop, Franz gets a sunset flip into double leg nelson. I think that's one fall each now. Teil 2: Franz and Harry continue despite Gil trying to take over. Harry throttles Franz and backs him into the heel corner for more double teaming. Rudi comes to the rescue and full nelsons Harry as Gil in the corner does terrible fouls to Franz who breaks free and grabs Gil as Rudi grabs Harry. Each face headlocks a heel and they bulldog them together- into the referee! The crowd loves this and we swing round to view one end of the tent. The heels soon regain their heat and double team some more. Which brings in Franz to dtopkick them both out. Rudi is ready in his corner and Franz is on the apron but the heels are hesitant to come in. Cut to the heels with a headlock each looking to copy the faces' trick but end up slung into each other. The faces then do the old time rowing boat spot. Franz headlocks Harry, headscissors Cabanas and does the old Koko B Ware spot on the Islanders from WM4. Gil and Rudi full interlock and Rudi - like Cas Martin on the British thread - falls backward in to a bridge. He lets Gil try breaking it then moves out the way so Cabanas crashes to the match. He takes a five count and three count- the five because Rudi stops the count. then another three before Gil snaps into action with forearms and elbowsmashes before Rudi surprises him with a cross buttock throw and press for the 2-1. A bald old guy presents Harry with a trophy and he and some girls give the faces. a trophy each and some kisses (not the bald guy). Basic face Vs heel tag, got a good reaction but nothing to write home about for technical skill.

This Friday. I've booked a day's leave from work, hoping to get next weekend's reviews done that morning. 🚨𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐈𝐂𝐀𝐍 𝐒𝐔𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐋𝐀𝐌 𝐖𝐑𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐎𝐔𝐑 𝐇𝐈𝐓𝐒 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐑𝐎𝐀𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐈𝐒 𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐃𝐀𝐘🚨 The wait is nearly over! This Friday, All Stars AMERICAN SUPERSLAM WRESTLING TOUR gets underway as we hit the road for a huge run of shows across the country! Joining us on tour are former WWE NXT Tag Team Champion ANDRE CHASE and TNA Wrestling star JOHN SKYLER, alongside the fan favourites of big time wrestling!🔥 From Alnwick to Bournemouth and beyond, we’re bringing the action to a venue near you! HERE’S WHERE YOU CAN CATCH US: ⭐ Friday 23rd October – Hexham ⭐ Saturday 24th October – Alnwick ⭐ Sunday 25th October – Middlesbrough ⭐ Monday 26th October – Tunbridge Wells ⭐ Tuesday 27th October – Leatherhead ⭐ Wednesday 28th October – Aldershot ⭐ Thursday 29th October – Liverpool ⭐ Friday 30th October – Dudley ⭐ Sunday 1st November – Bournemouth Nine dates, nine chances to experience All Star Wrestling LIVE! Ready to rumble will be : ASW World Champion Tommy Freeman 🏆 The 19 stone Wrestling Machine Micky Long 💪🏼 British beef Ricky Matthews 🇬🇧 The gladiator Johnny Jupiter ⚔️ And a lot more! The tour kicks off this Friday! At Hexhams Willowburn Leisure Centre, 7PM ⭐️

Spoiler (and I don't mean Drew McDonald in a mask). Steele never did regain the title. Not that he was being de-pushed with this fine scientific bout. CAS has a gold jacket with red linking - I think he has been clothes shopping in Paris with Black Shadow Round 1. Some early lockups hit the ropes before Steele gets a headlock. CAS breaks it open into a top wristlock but Ray gets the headlock back then converts to side chancery. CAS takes it to the mat and handstands his way out. He gets a wrist lever and shrugs off a counter attack on his other wrist before Steele does the traditional a English roll through. He tries for a chinlock but Martin regains the armbar. Steele again rolls through, but Martin yanks him down into a guard armlock, lifting his shoulder to drive a knee into his left shoulder no. Steele gets up and Martin walks round him maintaining the hold, trying for a rear hammerlock. but Steele gets the other arm, switches to side chancery into side headlock. Martin grapevines Ray's leg (so says Kent, it's out of shot) and pressures that same shoulder. Steele still has the headlock so Cas again tries a top wristlock. . He relaxes and lets Ray slam shut the headlock but slips out at the last second and makes the bent arm into a hammerlock, but the bell goes. Round 2. Steele is in quickly with a standing full nelson but Cas breaks a side and reverses. Ray bucks and throws him off forwards then collars him and breaks out the forearm smashes. Kent Walton is not happy - and see my reaction to the last 5;min or so of Jean Corne Vs Isha Israel earlier today on the French thread. Martin uses one back rather than the headbutt Kent predicts. Martin tries a flying tackle but Steele overpowers him, gets a slam and crosspress and the opening fall!!! Round 3. Cas gets a quick armbar into hammerlock held from the front (hence why Kent called the other sort a "backhammer" ). Steele tries to counter with a crotch hold and lift but can't get the slam and Martin keeps the hold. Cas switches to yer actual backhammer and takes Steele down in the mount. Steele gets up, lands a couple more forearm smashes and gets free but Martin soon gets the wrist lever into hammerlock back on. Steele twists round and makes it a top wristlock. It reverts back to a full interlock test of strength which Steele wins but Martin goes down in a bridge then powers back up. Steele drops a side and makes the other into an armbar into side chancery then strikes another forearm smash. He repeats the side chancery into forearm smash then FINALLY gets that headbutt Kent Walton predicted in round 1 . Steele gets back to science with a side headlock into grovit, briefly releasing for an uppercut before reapplying. Cas gets out and makes it a backhammer but th3 bell goes. Round 4. Steele gets a single legdive but Cas counters with one of his own, flooring Ray and getting leg weakeners and a standing toe and ankle. Ray spins him off and Caswell takes a somersault bump. Steele is up at just 2 and gets a side chancery. Martin tries an axehandle but Steele dodged and gets a side chancery throw, taking him down. CAS tries bridging up so Ray switches to "Headlock And Strangle" (sleeper). He adjusts to side headlock and Martin gets free to make an armbar into grapevine. He tries to add a face bar - Steele slips free but Cas reapplies and cranks hard. Ray yanks off the face bar but still has the wristlever to deal with. He tries uppercuts but Cas hangs on, takes him down to the guard, drops a leg on the arm and folds and scissors the limb. He presses the other shoulder and gets a couple of pinfall 2 counts. Steele kips up and gets a Japanese stranglehold but Cas nearly reverses it until Ray throws him. He gets a double locked wristlever and Steele face bars him when the bell goes. Round 5 and Steele likewise double locks a wristlever with CAS behind him. He tries to bend the arm for a hammerlock. briefly getting Martin on one knee and leaning on him back to back. Kent Walton talks up Steele for impeccable clean wrestling, never getting public warnings - ironically he would finally get to see Steele The Heel in the 1990 Aberdeen tapings for Grampian/STV. Martin kips back up and lands some forearm smashes of his own. He chops Steele off but Ray drags him back down in the guard. This repeats until Cas leapfrogs and superkicks Ray then goes behind for a rear waistlock takedown into folding press for an equaliser. Round 6 and they shake hands but Steele does not want to lose heading into his return match. He gets a side headlock and resists a waist lift before three more forearm uppercuts floor Martin. He tries a side chancery but gets a headbutt -Kent says it's the first of the bout but actually if you check back, there was one in round 3. It gets an 8 count. They interlock and Steele briefly gets a headloçk then they bodycheck each other off the ropes. CAS tries a flying tackle but Steele gets the bodyslam and a crosspress for 2. Steele reverts to uppercuts positioned by side chanceries. Another double bodycheck floors both men starting a double KO count - Steele is up at 8, Martin at 9 but he uses his underneath position to get a backside pin attempt for 2 - so both men have had a near thing decider attempt in this final round. Steele gets more forearms then a cross buttock throw and press for 2. He gets a top wristlock, clips both sides with a leg and delivers more positioned forearms then out of nowhere Martin has a go behind into side folding press for a two count. That's FOUR near thing deciders, two to each man. Steele tries to make it FIVE with a wristlever switching to double legdive but before he can get a front folding press, Martin locks on bodyscissors. Steele tries a shoulderpress but only gets 1 then the bell goes. 1-1 draw. To answer @ohtani's jacket's question, I guess Joint decided an exciting final round crave to the tape would be better wrestling action than a simple squash. Martin was getting a push too - the following year he and Marty Jones would each have a rematch from their RAH classic, this time for Jones' World Mid Heavyweight title. Anyway, I thought fans brought up on the American style LIKED lots of near 2 counts - that final round had five, Savage and Steamboat at WM3 had, what, seventeen? Like Corne Vs Israel, a good scientific match impurified somewhat by too many Forearms/Manchettes. Also not as wildly creative a bout as some other CAS Martin matches e.g. the aforementioned Jones-Martin RAH match. At least the forearmsxwerevmorevthinky spread here than the slugfest the French match suddenly degenerated into in its final five minutes.

Another good vlog from Josh Faulkner, this time about Dave Taylor. I'm tempted to suggest to Josh that. judging from comments on here, there are quite a few Brits that Americans don't get, including his namesake Vic. LOL

Normally these 40min plus videos contain one 5min JIP and one 30min main event. Happily this one is two 20 min matches , o e for this weekend, one for next. This was filmed at the Sall Wagram.Corne has a Breton pipe band accompany him to the ring and back - a common occurrence with Bretons even into the early 90s with Yann Caradec. He looks thinner faced than on later 70s footage, almost like Jim Breaks. Couderc has a guest commentator with him, Hugo Frix . The first three quarters of the bout, before the manchettes take over, stands up to the Grey.Cortez comparison. Armdrags, hiptosses, rear snapmares, Israel gets an armbar, forces a somersault bump and scissors the arm. After they release, Israel scores an armbar into somersault bump himself and a top wristlock on the mat. Corne kips up but is repeatedly armdragged down. Even vaulting over his opponent in the characteristic French style does not improve his position. Corne tries a hip/shoulder bumping motion similar to that later made famous by Steve Wright. Eventually he gets the even more French headscissors takedown into headscissors. Israel easily extracts his head from the upright scissor and Corne sportingly offers his hand but then tries to slap on a front chancery and gets thrown. Co commentator Hugo seems impressed by all the impactfulness of the bumping. Corne throws Israel a couple of times then Israel gets a double leg takedown into double knee press. Corne bridges up but when he tries to drop his weight, Isha catches him with his feet, drops him into bodyscissors and adds a wristlock. Corne shrugs off the embellishment and tries a folding press in the scissors but only gets some 1s. So he turns it sideways and uses Johnny Saint's undress, slipping through to headscissors and then wedging out the last bit of way. Isha gets a bearhug and another bodyscissors. Corne again tries the folding press and uses his feet to pull the locked ankles down and shrugs off more bearhug attempts. Isha releases and from a double interlock he gets a straight arm lift and drop, shrugging of a rear snapmare counter and forcing bumps with an armbar. Another full interlock produces a side headlock for Corne which he maintains despite throw offs by Isha, even when Israel gets Corne to skip over him. Isha eventually stands up, works on Corne's shoulder to weaken the headlock and gets his head out and turns neatly into a sunset flip into double leg nelson Corne gets out at 2 and tries a front folding press but is thrown off. Corne gets an arm from an interlock, forces a somersault bump into the guard and scissors the arm. He gets a bit annoyed as Israel keeps coming up to dismantle the grip and has to be thrown off. Eventually Israel gets a legspread but Corne turns sideways and out. He gets multiple throws and scisseaux volées. Israel forces a folding press for 2 on the last of these but is thrown off and takes a bump,and a 7 count. Couderc explains 10 count KOs to Hugo. Corne gets an Indian Deathlock and uses chops to stop Isha sitting up to disentangle the hold. Israel respond with boots. The crowd get agitated, not year heat but responding to the downturn in action quality. Eventually he sits up and starts untangling the hold so Corne undoes it first. Corne gets a side chancery, Israel a backdrop and Come a scisseaux volées and Israel a cross buttock press but Corne kicks out instantly. They interlock and Corne backfills into an armlock but they Run Out Of Mat when it hits the ropes. Corne forces a shoulderpress from another interlock then throws and skips over Israel who leapfrogs him and backdrops and presses him for 2. Corne gets a whip and dtopkick then starts to work on Les Manchettes. Unfortunately they slightly take over for the last five minutes or so. Israel gets a rear chinlock, also locking off an arm with his leg. Corne elbows out, resumes the manchettes, gets a whip but misses a dtopkick. Israel gets a bodyslam, a rear snapmare and a manchette of his own, another slam, another manchettes, all for long counts. He gets a chinlock into lean back backbreaker but Corne won't submit. Israel gets a manchette, throw, he charges but is tipped over the ropes to ringside. He comes back straight into another series of Manchettes. It gets fairly slug and uppercut till Israel gets a double leg nelson which Corne turns into a folding press which Israel makes into a ground position huaracanrana. They hit the ropes and Isha gets a backslide for 2. From there, sadly it's back to manchettes until Israel sunset flips Corne who gets a folding press and augments it with a bridge for the winning fall. Afterwards they shake hands and hug, Hugo gets in the ring to shake their hands and the pipers pipe Corne back to the dressing room. A good technical bout sadly spoiled by the sudden rash of forearm smashes at the end. Leduc Vs Duranton to follow next week.

By the way I did try finding some French wrestling bear footage to equal things up but when I searched "Ours lutteur" on YouTube I got some French vids of Hercules and the Robins ... and this ..

As promised: Two Brits in Austria. One future WCW TV champion, the other the Father of a future WCW TV Champion. Scion and patriarch of two legendary technical wrestling families. Only one snag, the referee it's every German's favourite example of jumped up petty officialdom, ironic comedy hero Monsieur Diddier Gupp of Paris. Before things get underway we get a brief Ringerparade and then both competitors entering the ring to the tune of "I'm You Man" by Wham - four years earlier since when Andrew. Ridgely (the Marty Jannetty of 80s pop) was ditched and George Michael(s) started sniffing his arm armpits while wearing a biker jacket like someone else did while ditching their tag partner. However I digress. They shake hands and the crowd shouts something at Didi. He gets annoyed and blows his whistle but the fans carry on as both wrestlers "conduct the orchestra" . Runde 1 Dave throws Steve who takes it cartwheeling, stabilises on the ropes and gives his customary little bow despite being neither Japanese nor doing a martial arts gimmick. Dave repeats with the same result then Steve does it to Dave - with ditto including the same little bow. Dave gets a legdive into toe and ankle but Steve spins him off and he takes a bump and 5 count. They double interlock and Steve deliberately goes down then locks his legs over Dav3 Taylor's arms, pulls him over by the head and tries for a double leg nelson but Taylor's leg strength straightens things out and we 3nd up with La Bascule see saw double leg nelson action. Dave tries to slide forwards into a rear folding press but Wright turns it upside down into a double leg nelson which soon becomes La Bascule again. He tries it a couple of times then they have one two way flat leg nelson for 2 each before they give up and get up. Cut to them crisscross the ring before Dav3 trips slightly on a bottom rope. For some reason Didi blows a fuse and starts screaming and waving his yellow card about. Cut to Steve in a side chancery resisting a throw there times before the gong (bell goes. Runde 2. Steve has a headlock, Dave breaks it open into a top wristlock then uses it to hiptoss Steve down into a guard armlock. Wright goes up on his head - shades of Gilbert Leduc and his toupie - but instead of that, clamps on a headscissors. Dave kips out and upright. H3 does a bow like Wright, who does one to Didi. They lock up and Dav3 gets a side chancery throw and bodycheck Steve ducks under and leapfrogs the next two charges before going down and catching Taylor with a flip but Dave lands on his feet only to get dropkicked out of the ring. Taylor gets back at 7 and straight away gets a legdive into side folding press . Steve kicks out and forms a Johnny Saint/George Kidd ball. Taylor threatens to karate chop Steve but Didi blows his whistle, warns Dave and gets Steve to unwrap. Cut to Steve with a full nelson on Dave who tries throwing his opponent but to no avail. He then tries a go behind reversal only for Steve to catch him halfway through with a side chancery throw into sideways further nelson for three 2 counts. Cut to Steve getting an Indian Deathlock. Dave won't submit so Didi unties them both, not a smoothly as. say, Jeff Kaye - in fact he falls over the two wrestlers! He gives them both a severe reprimand. Wright gets a snapmare and flying tackle but Taylor pushes out at one with Wright landing on Didi just as the gong goes. They both help Didi up bu5 he is furious. Runde 3. Steve has a low reverse wristlock. Dave tries to counter with a grovit but Steve possibly uses the wrist attack that Dynamite Kid described in Pure Dynamite to get free the armdrag Dave down into a guard armlock. Cut and we see them up and Steve again thwarts the grovit- even if not with the wrist attack, it's still strong enough for Dave to sell it. Dave tries a rope assisted throw but Steve brakes and again armdrags Taylor into the guard. A third try brings no mor3 luck but on the fourth try Dave uses Didi's shoulder to flip over and get an armlock of his own. When Vic Faulkner tries this on Jeff Kaye, he laughs it off. When Owen Hart tries it on Mick McMichael he grumbles but accepts. Didi however is furious. Anyway Steve gets a rear waistlock and trip but Dave slips out from underneath and gets an armbar into wrist lever. Steve uses his most famous counter. going over on his head then bouncing back and forth on all 4 limb joints before kipping up. He flips backwards, forwards and gets in a monkey climb but still Dave has the wrist! Cut to Steve getting a top wristlock into back hammerlock. Dave runs forward, drops and trows Steve off the hammerlock and out of the ring then then gong goes. Runde 4 Dave gets an uppercut, a posting and another uppercut. He stands back to allow Steve up. Cut to him doing the same. He gets another forearm smash but Steve kips up and returns fire, flooring Dave. Steve gets uppercut, sid3 chancery throw, forearm smash, hits the ropes. Dav3 leapfrogs but injures himself coming down. They lock up but Dave is still selling. Didi rules the bout a TKO for Steve but he refuses the victory. Somewhere @ohtani's jacket is spitting fumes but the Heumarkt crowd are totally appreciative - there are shouts of Bravo and they don't mean Dino. They flap and the MC says what a fine sporting contest it was up until that point. Good elegant stylish technical match, despite Didi's best efforts. P.s. I've just turned up another mid 80s tag match that got missed so we'll do that next weekend then the rest of 1989. We're getting there.

Josh Faulkner does it again, this time with a piece on Mal Sanders, whom the Wrestle Me boys previously touched on in one of their vlogs:

As a rising star in the mid 1980s, Danny Collins just had to have some of his drive sucked away by big Daddy. Here however he gets to quite nicely shine against two jouneyman brute heels. The good guys have a red/gold colour code, Daddy's sequin hat matching Danny's lamé jacket. Stuart's black singlet shows him as a heel like Bobby Heenan, late 80s Andre, Cyanide Sid Cooper and Billy Catanzaro circa 1971. Each heel takes turns to be Daddies and thrown out so in comes Danny..Stuart tastes a dropkick and two armdrags. He strikes a forearm and snapmare but Danny rolls right up, gets a go behind into reverse leapfrog, goes over and catches the Pretty Boy with a ground position dropkick, then scoots through his legs to score a second one. The crowd are delighted to see the bald bully get humiliated. Stuart rallies with a snapmare and two bodychecks despite Danny diving under on the second. But Danny comes back with a sunset flip into reverse leg nelson and only Prat's intervention prevents an early first fall. Prat uses the csame neck drop on top rope that Colonel Brody used on Owen Hart in 1991 on the French thread and 5e Bull tags in. He gets stomps, elbows a whip into back elbow and a PowerSlam but is so slow with the cover - definitely NOT continuous motion- that the pin attempt is disallowed. Unperturbed, Prat gets another back elbow and an ove4 th3 knee backbreaker. But Danny somersaults out of a second backbreaker attempt to tag Daddy who gives both villains his usual. They end up at ringside with a rare for ITV out of the ring brawl as Daddy bodychecks Pratt. Meanwhile back in the ring Collins faces Stuart. He tries a flying tackle, doesn't get the momentum but deftly switches tona legdive then a very high-looking side folding press. Stuart kicks out so it doesn't matter that referee Peter Szacacs (brother of Tibor) is only just getting back. Stuart gets a concealed illegal shot to the eyes and a snapmare attempt which Danny reverses into one of his own then a Legdrop which IS continuous motion. Stuart gets a rear hammerlock but Collins chops both heels and an annoyed Bull comes in,but Daddy chases off both heels. Collins gets a posting, back flip, go behind and yet another side folding press. Third time is the charm, h3 gets the opening fall! Second Fall. Danny comes off the ropes but completely misses a flying tackle. Stuart gets his throat drop on the top rope from earlier and Bull officially tags in on Danny. He gets an elbow, knee and PowerSlam. Dann6bgets the tag but the ref is distracted by the heels slow tag. So they work Danny some more in their corner and Bull gets a kneelift and public warning and Danny tags Daddy who throws Bull Prat out for a KNOCKOUT. Danny handled most of the match and actually handles himself skillfully with two bigger men. A dark horse of a match.

I usually avoid New Catch Season 2 matches on here with no French talent involved as they are kind of the equivalent of posting a 1995 CWA Ice Train Vs Bruiser Mastino (Mantaur) to the German thread. I'll do this one because apart from being nice and short and featuring some good work by Owen it also gives some good examples of Brody's ringside bumps. English commentary is by Orig Williams which is important to this review. Orig admits the alleged South African Brody is from North Yorkshire - to be fair most UK fans will have picked up on Brody's accent long ago. If you don't recognise Owen's black tights with white stars from Stampede, you will probably know them from the LA Sports Arena 1988 when a Work In Progress Blue Angel got a squash win over IIRC Barry Horowitz. Being North American, Owen knows how to cut a promo and does so at a local funfair with Les Gosses. By he time this made it to Eurosport Owen and Jim Neidhart were the New Foundation in the WWF and this too gets a name-drop. Not sure if Mick McMichael ever actually beat Mick McManus especially not on TV, but I'll accept Orig's word. Venue set up is very British - a theatre with some of the pit cleared for a ring and replaced with seats on the stage (see also early 1993 RAWs at the Manhattan Centre). Orig says there are 3K in attendance. After some initial shoving, Owner goes down in a Brody wristlock but uses his distinct kip up and roll variant - forward, backwards and upright forward - to arise. He gets a wrist lever of his own but Brody can absorb a good somersaulting bump- or roll up cleanly and catch a grapevine. Heel or no, he does some beautiful rolls and a splendid armdrags but Owen keeps the wrist I until he folds it on the mat in a pre Jim Breaks Special weakener and stomps. Brody gets a full Japanese stranglehold but Owen swivels it round to a top wristlock until Brody pulls him down by the hair. Owen gets up and complains. Brody tries the hairpull against to counter Owen's standing headlock. Owen ignores it, bounces off the ropes, flips over the Colonel, feeds him his foot and gets a supported dropkick. Brody gets a full nelson and uses it to throw Owen on the ropes and choke him on them, for which McMichael declares No Count (a little mentioned on here feature of Euro rules if a heel tried to use dirty wrestling to get a KO. (BTW Orig is BSing about Continental refs all wearing a kilt - that was Mick's personal little double.This sequence repeats itself. Then Owen reverses a third full nelson, bounces Brody on the ropes, monkey climbs him down and dropkicks him to ringside. Brody takes a particularly graceful bump over the ropes to ringside - we saw it last weekend on the German thread, we shall see more of it in this post. He takes an 8 count outside. Brody gets a headlock and a bodycheck but Owen kips up nicely. Owen catches him coming off the ropes and tries for a cross buttock thread but Brody resists. So Owen puts a legion Brody's head, flips over backwards and now has the grip to get his throw. He keeps the motion going with hands on Brody's chest to launch a Legdrop. Brody gets a semi Japanese into front chinlock and another hairpull down, then another. A third trip and Owen straightens the arm then gets a comedy retaliation slon pulling out some of Brody's moustache with help from Mick (an old gag done on World of Sport in 1976 by Gwyn Davies on Giant Haystacks with Brian Crabtree reffing. ). Lucky for Owen L'Arbitre is not Michel Saulnier nor Diddier Gapp. Brody is winning a full interlock until Owen goes down in a Bridge position. Owen is able to power up. pick one side of the interlock off and go into a kid McCoy Yorkshire Rope Trick - which he often used as the Blue Blazer - and lands back feet first in position a good clean hiptoss. Brody gets a nice side chancery throw, catching a leg on the ropes. Mick knows this ,earns more potential fouling and warns Brody. Some against side chanceries, again gets the leg on the ropes, follows in with kicks and this time earns un Premier Avertisement. Brody uses the tactic again but this time uses the top rope to assist a top and ankle, grinning cheekily as he does so. But Owen deals with the Colonel his own way, getting a boot in on Brody's rump and shoving him ove4 the ropes. Brody again taking that long slow graceful bump. He takes a 9 count from Mick who is more tolerant of Owen joining in than the ref a few posts above was with Flesh Gordon,. Colonel gets a snapmare and the one allowable stomp (continuous motion.). He gets a whip and kneelif. Tries for a reverse over the shoulder neck breaker (some fans start an AUX CHIOTTES L'ARBITRE chant for no apparent reason)! but Owen told through and scores a dropkick, some Manchettes, another dropkick. He flying tackles Brody and they both hit ringside like Rocco and Dynamite Kid in late 1981. Brody taking his customary elegant bump, Owen seemingly to topé some thin air. Owen tries an outside brawl, smacking the Colonel into something then trying an outside posting but the Colonel reverses it and gets back inside for a knockout win. (And it's at this point that I who was looking forward to explaining why I called them "And OVER goes the Colonel" on the German thread, recall that Orig actually used that phrase on Brody Vs Regal from a 1991 German tournament match also on New Catch Season 2. Never mind.) Apart from the quickie brawl finish and a few dirty hair pulls from Brody, quite a fine scientific match. Owen is the rising star, Brody the skilled veteran.

This sadly loses the nifty aliteration of the original French phrase "Sport Ou Spectacle?"

I think Freddy is the one with the Magnum TA moustache (he reminds me of old time English cricket player Ian Botham). Both men get a good cheer coming in the ring, I think this will be a clean match. They quickly touch hands as if to confirm that, then lock up. Runde 1 - most of these moves are off the back of a referee's hold (collar and elbow lockup). They rear snapmare each other a few times, each bounding up nicely. Freddy gets an armbar but Markus gets a rope break - this would be serious heel heat in Britain but not here. Freddy gets a throw but Markus is up sharpish. Then it's his turn but Freddy does not pick himself up as smoothly. Markus gets an arm but backs Freddy into the ropes. Freddy gets a full nelson but Markus gets behind to reverse it. Freddy throws him off and gets a 3 KO count. Markus gets a monkey flip on Freddy for 4. Freddy hip tosses Markus for 4. Freddy gets a semi Japanese stranglehold, Markus leans backwards and is thrown down hard by Freddy for 6 and is selling his head when he arises. Freddy gets a underhook into bodyslam ffor 5. The runde ends a nice round of applause. Runde 2. Markus gets a couple of cross buttock throws for 2 or 3. Freddy gets some back. The last one he converts into a power slam and gets the one required fall. They shakes hands, crowd cheers, clean match as predicted. It was pleasant enough, had the speed and athleticism, but maybe didn't get off the blocks in terms of technical creativity. The best clean matches have technical ingenuity to blow your mind. These two mostly relied on the same few throws. Still it was refreshing after too many German Superheavyweight bouts and good to get to the roots of German Catch before it went all International Tournament. Back to 1989 next week and I have another clean match for you to look forward to.

The idea that the scenes in France or Britain or Germany/Austria ever "died out" - certainly in the sense that Spain/Italy/Greece did let alone every mainland American/Canadian territory, except New York, died out - is one I've pretty comprehensively demolished on here already. Prince suffered an injury at the same time as Marc Mercier did, in 1989 although his was vehicular rather than in the r , during the 90s and early 00s he wrestled the odd exhibition bout (Vs Claude Rocca in 1993, Vs *a* Kamikaze in 1994 and Vs Rocca again in 2001. :before heading off to Bangkok. Saulnier and Genele had both been previous TV opponents of Prince, the latter in clean matches. This time Prince and Saulnier are tag partners - a jump later made in Britain by Vic Faulkner/Mick McMichael and by Nipper Riley/Ian McGregor. (By the way, the film print quality is rather murky with film damage. If this was channel 2 then the murkiness could possibly be down to chroma dots in the film which could be useful in colour restoration some time in the future..) Monsieur L'Arbitre Charley Billet brings them all together. Guy and Bobby look more Les Bons in their shiny light Can Am Connection jackets while Prince and Michel look more Méchant as a pair of miniature Draculas in capes. Guy is recognisable with his quiff hair from that match a couple of years later where Les Petites Gosses Renaults were interviewed about their daddy the baddy (but completely unrecognisable as the skinhead biker who tagged with Jack Richard in the early 80s.) Guy and Michel start of, exchanging jud style collar and elbow throws then kipping up. They do the same with side chancery throws high whips and the like. It's like a speeded up version of the Freddy Barnes Vs Markus L match I posted to the German thread. Bobby tags in and gets head scissors plus wristlock. on Saulnier. Saulnier gets his head free but gets dragged down by the wrist. Prince tags in and gets to work with the high flying stuff. It's all too much for Genele who tags Renault. Prince rolls up and handsprings up at everything Guy can throw him at (see what I did there?) then scoots backwards through Guy's legs and starts throwing Guy about, eventually getting behind into a hammerlock into rollup for what might have been an early pin attempt but Guy rolls over to the ropes and tags Bobby. I think prince cartwheels on an armbar to tighten it then goes in for a series of rapid manoeuvres again culminating in a side folding press from behind. Instead of getting a pin he gets an armbar on the mat then tags Michel. Saulnier gets some armdrags and Bobby gets a back somersault into one legged flip, they take turns backdropping each other then Guy tags in. He overpowers Saulnier in a finger interlock but Michel gets a headscissors which Guy kips out from. Guy forces a high whips and bumps Michel then goes to work with a knee on his bicep, making it into a grapevine arm lock, almost a lone legged. Saulnier turns him over but Guy turns him back. Saulnier gets a headscissor but Guy wedges out. Both sides tag. Genele gets the first heat for hanging on to Prince's foot and hauling him off the ropes - ironically a favourite tactic of Les Bons. Prince gets a superkick. Saulnier is in against Guy and gets a bunch of bulldogs and a headlock on the mat. Guy gets up and twice tries for an atomic drop but Saulnier takes both the impacts rolling and drags Guy back into the side headlock. (I would just LOOOOOOOVE to have seen someone do that to Arn Anderson!!!) Michel gets a bodycheck and cross buttock into cross press shifting back to the side headlock, getting the odd pinfall one count. Guy tries the spine buster counter to even worse avail (2 count back in the headlock.) A switch to hitting the ropes does not help, Saulnier ground dropkicks Guy down and reapplies the side headlock again! By now Charley is checking for a possible submission. Guy tries a sunset flip which goes into back and forth La Bascule. Michel tries a crossed headscissor, perhaps looking for a throw, Guy leans forward trying for a folding press but only getting 1. Michel eventually backdrops him high from a kneeling position. Bobby tags in and he and Saulnier go back and forth between that side headloçk (Michel) and headscissors (Bobby). Prince comes in but is top wristlocked and forced down into a guard arm lock.). He tries kipping up but is forced down.The crowd give heat - did Bobby pull hair to keep Prince back down? Hard to see in this murk. Prince gets up again, somersaults tona better position then monkey climbs Genele. He lands well, upright and within tagging distance of Guy, but the crowds cheer like it's some sort of poetic justice. Prince gets a wristlock but Bobby boots him off viciously -SMACK- and tags Guy. From here the heat turns up a notch as Guy stomps Prince on the mat and gets a hefty boo (in America it was not even regarded as a foul.). Prince slips through Guy's legs and dropkicks him then goes for the tag but Guy grabs him and toughs him up. Charley tried to restrain Guy who slips round the side, stomps Prince some more and Jack Hammers him like Goldberg. (What is the jackhammer's proper name?). Genele is in and after one side chancery throw it's more stomps and the odd headbutt. Charley is doing his best but still gets an AUX CHIOTTES L'ARBITRE chant. Saulnier gets the hot tag and punches Genele quite a bit. Charley tells him off. Genele gets an arm lock on. Prince does the old spot of accidentally distracting the ref so the heels can double team. The match and crowd calm down as Saulnier and Genele armdrags each other, getting the odd 2 count, sometimes twisting a barring arm into a semi Japanese stranglehold. At one point as Saulnier has Genele in trouble, Guy comes in to attack Michel as Prince dives over Bobby and Michel and sunset flips Genele. He actually gets the double leg nelson pin attempt but Charley won't count it as neither man is legal. Prince does get the tag but is soon booted out of the ring. Prince makes it back at 9, straight into a side chancery throw, some boots and a swift exit back to ringside. The crowd continue to demand that Charley go visit the WC as seconds help LPP back. Les Méchants descend on him as hecreenters at 9. It only stops the count Renault cannons him off the apron then drags him for a stomping. Things get scientific again as Genele tags back in and they both reverse cartwheel on wristlocks to tighten them up ending with Prince getting the guard armlock and levering Genele's shoulders down for a 2 count. Genele powers up and forces a high whips and somersaulting bump.He lands a manchette before tagging Guy back but Saulnier also tags in. He is threatening to box Guy and Bollet admonishes him. In the end Saulnier opts for manchettes, flooring Guy twice. Guy gets one back then tags Bobby. Saulnier slingshots Guy into the Bons' corner where Prince jumps on him. Les Bons play manchette tennis with Bobby as the ball. Saulnier throws Bobby to the méchant corner and Guy is back in. They full interlock and Saulnier takes him down and stamps his hands then manchettes him . Guy tags Bobby back and Bobby wins the full interlock but as he goes to stomp, Saulnier dropkicks him down. Guy is back in as is Prince who gets a side headlock into back hammer, rotating round Renault a few times before getting a victory roll into armscissors. Prince gets a couple of one counts before Guy turns him over in a human glove and tries for a folding press holding the rope for leverage. Charley catches and disrupts this so Prince can flip his man across the ring, still maintaining the armscissors all that time. Guy tries another folding press, gets two but is flipped off still in the armscissors. Prince keeps the hold even when Guy tries throwing him out the ring- they both land on the apron and roll back in. The hold maintained. Guy tries tagging Bobby but is just out of distance so Prince armdrags him to the other side of the ring and dares Bobby to try tag him now! Finally Les Méchants break the hold when Guy lifts Prince up and carries him to the heel corner for Bobby to slug him. Prince, undeterred goes to work on Bobby with the same headlock into round and round ending into armscissors as he had first used to get Guy several minutes earlier. He turns and throws Bobby in the hold, trying to get him as punished as Guy had been before the tag. He even daringly lands in the heel corner but Bobby's other farm is well away from Guy's reach to tag. Bobby, like Guy, gets 2 with a folding press. Bobby eventually forces Prince into the ropes to get the break and stomps him for good measure. Guy tags in, halts a Prince legdive, gets a folding press (pretty much a powerbomb!) on LPP and a 2 count but is lifted off in a bodyscissors and flipped off. Guy gets an armbar on the mat, drags Prince up, Manchettes him and tags Genele who continues the treatment with stomps. He slugs Prince down, almost with an illegal full on punch, then works on his arm. Prince flips out, straight on top of Charley and Bobby stomps the pile of bodies. Guy has tagged in, shoves Charley away and goes for LPP's arm. He gets an abdominal stretch and drags Prince to his corner. As Saulnier inadvertently distracts , the heels get in a quick double team as they tag. Bobby lands a headbutt. He gets Prince down with a front hammerlock. Prince almost backdrops him but just as it looks like Genele is going for a sunset flip, he goes round in an odd lopsided airplane spin. Genele almost has a flying headscissors on Prince during this - Prince completes the backdrop but clumsily misses a followdown knee drop.(France still had the continuous motion rule like Britain but it was just about maintained and anyway Prince missed.) Genele works on Prince's arm then tags Renault who somersault whips Prince by the sore arm, continuing the treatment while delivering a hard bump. He delivers a jackhammer and stomp before tagging Genele back. But Genele makes a mistake, snapmaring Le Prince back to his corner to make the hot tag! Michel is on fire with manchettes throws (Bobby still rolls up nicely) dropkicks, flying headscissors and generally revving up the crowd. After a string of manchettes, Genele tags Renault back who gets similar. Michel snapmares him, gets a full interlock and high whips forcing a somersault bump on the bigger man. Saulnier gets an armbar but Guy gets a rear waistlock. Saulnier reverses it. Renault rather splendidly slips down the bottom end of Saulnier then comes back on top with a side headlock but Saulnier straightens the locking arm and makes an armbar in the guard. He pulls Guy up, manchettes him down and tags Prince who fires off dropkicks and then when Bobby tags back in, gets him with Manchettes. Bobby takes Prince down with a back hammerlock, drags him clear of a tag, himself tags and lets Guy continue the hold. Prince reverse snapmares his way out, waistlocks Guy then switches to headlock then a tag. But Charley has been busy getting Bobby out and misses this, so Guy slams Prince on the arm. getting in some stomps as Bollet deals with Saulnier then tagging Genele. He takes Prince down in a guard armlock Prince tries to kip up so Guy tags and briefly both heels have a top wristlock. But this makes it easier for Prince to kip up, somersault over and double monkey flip both heels. Saulnier tags back in and manchettes both men in rapid succession, snapmares, armdrags and monkey climbs. Guy before taking him down in a victory roll. He is quickly up and gets a sunset flip into double leg nelson but Saulnier doublecankle smashes him and the heels tag. Bobby and Michel exchange manchettes. Bobby again gets a sunset flip aiming for another double leg nelson but Saulnier crawl through quickly, turns, gets a folding press and flips over to seal it with a bridge. Plenty of skilled Brits would be proud. It gets les Bons the one fall required. Great fast paced match. The first ten minutes were fantastic scientific work with the detail coming thick and fast. After that the brawling came, went and occasionally revived but not at the expense of good ideas. Classic catch a quatre Français.

And also because by routinely jobbing him to Warrior every night they stripped Andre of all his power and passed it on to the Warrior.

I posted it to the German Catch thread some time back.

Sorry about this but I've been watching a documentary about Andy, Maggie and Hercules and it's pretty damn brilliant so I just had to share with you: Okay, to make up for that, here's an actual match: This is from the Grampian/STV Aberdeen TV taping, filmed late 1990 and screened in said regions in a similar late evening timeslot to the old midweek ITV wrestling slot that ended in 1976 (not to mention years of French Catch in a similar slot on A2 until 1985) and then got a graveyard slot on NW England's Granada TV slot in early 1991. In terms of British wrestling history, it's the equivalent of New Catch Season 2 on Eurosport 1991-1992, particularly the four sampler episodes on TF1 November 1991 plus throw in that one off bout on FR3 in Feb that year. It's also significant as Kent Walton's last gig as a TV wrestling commentator. Two years later when RWS, the former Joint Promotions filmed their Battle of the Brits video in Basildon, Essex, Max and Brian Crabtree handled commentary themselves and went on to do so again for the second round of Grampian/STV tapings in late 1993. So anyway, the match. On paper, basically a styles clash of power Vs dirty wrestling. Round 1: Despite his size, Andy can roll through being thrown and come out upright and ready for more. Double interlocks lead to a lot of stomping on fingers and feet. Andy gets a headlock but Red corners and repeatedly shoulderblocks him. Red gets a side chancery throw but Andy rolls up nicely from that too. Red can't take a throw from Andy quite as well. landing like the proverbial sack of manure.Andy gets a full Japanese stranglehold, the Phantom does an undress of it down his body but getting his arm stuck his crotch. Andy releases but Red crotches himself on his own wrist, Andy drops to his back during a double interlocks and flips th3 Phantom.. Andy gets a rear waistlock but Phantom illegal punches.. Red gets caught by referee Jeff Kaye and gets a First Public Warning. Unusually for Britain. Red seems to be an accomplished Foreign Object smuggler, getting something out of his trunks to use of Andy's eyes, even as the ref turns to inform the MC of Red's misdemeanors. The Phantom scrapes Andy's eyes on the top rope and gets a Second and final Public Warning. The rulebending continues until the end of the round. Round 2 Red gets a posting and undoes his own corner pad. Andy reverses it so the Phantom getts the steel hooks digging in his back Despite this, Andy puts on a Powerlock (a standing version of the American figure four leglock) and gets the opening submission. Round 3. Phantom iis in no condition to continue but Andy starts to reapply the hoody. Referee Jeff Kaye calls it a TKO win for Andy (sorry OJ) but Mister Robin will have none of it, slaps the hold right on and learns forward, unmasking the masked man but I have no idea who that is. Like I said, power Vs fouls. Some nice moments even so - I'm really impressed with the big Scot's graceful feet first landings from throws and I expect the Red Phantom is better at escape moves than heve lets on.

Irony - Super Ninja was managed by Mr Fuji whose only other protegés at this time were Ax and Smash of Demolition (until the double turn shortly afterwards.) Another Demolition member, Crush, would end Rip Oliver's career when he (some reports say legitimately) injured Oliver in the process of beating him by submission to win the PNW Heavyweight title in October 1991. Andre had previously been a heel referee between JYD and Harley Race in the main event of the a show at the same venue a year earlier. He was also moderately heelish in the first of his two matches with Otto Wanz just a car drive Eastwards across the Rhine in 1986 and only one Bobby Heenan short of his full blown WWF heel act in their second match in December 1987. I wonder if reports in PWI in early 1988 of disgruntled local ex-fans back home in Grenoble were actually a shoot?

Actually I've also found a 1985 bout also. But that can wait til next week. In the meantime 1986. Three of the four plus the referee are Brits familiar to any ITV fan. Mister Only One Shooter Here is the other man. We start with Rasputin getting a toehold on Axel and spinning on it. He tries again with the leg and leans forward to make a one legged folding press of sorts but Herr Dieter gets Herr Doyle in a crossed head scissors, goes up in a couple (hence the recording hairline) and takes him down. Cut to them in standing position then Tom Wright offering Brody a handshake which the Colonel refuses. The Colonel gets an arm and Wright goes over on his head, legs in a Y position, then goes into his bouncing back and forth trick before kipping up and stepping over the armbar and getting a side chancery throw into rear chin lock. Rasputin jumps on top with his own headlock so Axel comes in and boots Rasputin in the back, causing him to rear up. Wright escapes and Rasputin falls back forward and applies the hold again - on the Colonel! The penny only drops as Axel quietly steps in and looks on, hand on hip, with sheer SCHADENFREUDE at the sight of one heel healocking the other. It takes a lot to make me like Mr Dog food Eater but I think this just manages it! Somewhat anticlimactically Wright leaps off the top turnbuckle into precisely nobody and he and the Colonel resume. Brody gets front pressure point but Steve gets double legs and shoots the Colonel over the ropes (Brody has a district slow ringside bump- spot him doing the same in 1991 Vs Owen Hart in New Catch Season 2 on Eurosport.- "OVER goes the Colonel!"- Orig). Then we see Rasputin take a similar bump then Steve slingshots the Colonel in, ties him in the ropes and catapults Rasputin at him then Steve and Axel use Rasputin to ram Brody. Cut to Brody and Wright again, Brody puts Wright on the apron ready for a superplex. Then cut to all four men in the ring. The Colonel stomps Steve as Mick McMichael warns Rasputin not to interfere. Brody posts, side chancery throws and stomps Steve. Wright posts Brody and gets a folding press from behind for a pin. Second fall - Wright, like Jean Corner, does Vic Faulkner's cease gag then sends Brody to again do his favourite bump. Finally A el comes in, forearm smashes Rasputin but then in cornered by the villains. They double team- Brody holding, Rasputin charging. The second time Wright grabs the Irishman but is shrugged off. The third time, he trips Doyle flat. While Wright and Rasp argue, Axel gets free and smashes Rasputin down, standing on his blind hair until McMichael warns him off. Rasputin gets a posting but Axel reverses one then falls for a backdrop and cross press to make it a Two Straight win for the good guys. Fans getting up to leave near the camera shout stuff at Rasputin and he jumps right up above the cameraman going "WHY DON'T YOU SHUT YOUR ..." A simple crowd pleaser. Better technical value than Flesh-Khan. Okay 1985 next week THEN we resume 1989.

Okay, something relatively modern again to balance things out. I stuck Flesh Gordon in YouTube Search and got a load of clips of the pron film. So I tried Flesh Gordon Catch instead and got this (Hervé Haters of the world, write your own gags). His opponent is Baadshah Khan, no relation to Killer, Teijo, Nick or Tony. Khan has a beard and a Jackie Onassis bob and a waistband from off a ladies yellow satin evening gown. Before I start, that red beem of light in the thumbnail does make it look like Khan in waving a Jedi Light Sabre around, doesn't it? Pretty basic stuff from late period Gordon to start with, a side chancery throw off a collar and elbow, body checks etc. When Gordon runs the ring he points his fists upwards and waves them about in a curious gesture. Talking of fists, Gordon gets Un Advertisement just for threatening to belt Khan as he cowers (Khowers?) in the corner. Instant Aux Chiottes L'Arbitre chant. Flesh gets double legs into a leglock, practically a Marty Jones Powerlock.. Flesh chops Khan down and is warned by the ref triggering more calls for the official to go to the loo. Flesh gets the power lock and I can see L'Arbitre's objectiion this time as Flesh is attacking the beard line and nose. The ref pulls him off from behind and finally we see some offence from Khan, going behind to dump Flesh out of the ring. This gets le méchant an equalising Advertisement. Flesh sets a nice trap that almost works - getting halfway in the ring and then dodging back as Khan charges him - and nearly overshoots down to ringside! He tries it again and this time gets Khan by the legs, drags him out, stomps him and gets inside whil3 the ref makes a KO Count. (Those red lightsabres are dangerously close to forming a Pentagram). Flesh leads the crowd chanting which sets him afoul of the special rules Monsieur Jacky Richard introduced in the late 2000s. He gets a headlock but Khan punches his way out then chops Flesh down. Khan gets a nerve hold into a rear chin lock. Flesh tries standing up but crashes back down. A third time, Flesh tries to pitch Khan over the ropes but still collapses down. Khan switches to trying to drape Flesh neck first over the top rope but is pitched out first, easier to do when he's not draped on your shoulders. Flesh again earns in Advertisement for try to do the ref's counting for him. In fairness to the official 8 remember a referee in Britain on World Of Sport getting cross with a villain for smiley joining in a KO Count. Flesh drags Khan in, manhandles him and stands ove4 him and gets low blowed in front of L'Arbitre who doesn't quite take in what he's seen. The Wrath Of Khan is let loose as he posts Flesh and smashes his head in the corner. He 5hen pulls off the opposite turnbuckle cover, full nelsons Flesh and frog marches him over to the uncovered turnbuckle but Flesh breaks out, low rear kicks Khan and suplexes him for the pinfall. It's more effort than Shirley Crabtree was making at that point of his career, and snideness aside it's clearly good family entertainment.

Anyway, back to humans ... Another JIP recording from @JNLister's channel. Hitting the ground running in Round 1 Honey Boy Zimba, Sierra Leonean eater of Xmas Goat with rigor Mortis. Worked a strength based style despite having trained at Riley's Gym. Here against Alan Kirby, one of the speedier guys in the upper weights. When we come on board, Zimba has a toehold on but releases. Unfortunately this round was damaged by a racist female heckler at ringside. Zimba and the referee turn to deal with Kirby, being deaf, does not pick up on the situation, throwing Zimba just as the bell goes. They shake hands and the referee takes over dealing with the miscreant spectator as the cameras pull away so we don't get to see the bouncers beat her up and throw her out. Round 2'and Zimba rolls from corner to corner to surprise Kilby who ducks out the way. He gets a crotch hold and slam for 7 and a leg dive into folded leglock, putting the pressure on the back on the knee. He switches to leg spread - we've seen this done to no effect on Johnny Saint, Steve Grey etc but on Zimba it has some impact. He responds by taking an arm and grabbing Kilby's nose - legal as long as his fingers stay out of Alan's nostrils and enough to force a break. Zimba gets some throws, an okay Cross Buttock for 4, a side chancery throw with an interesting follow-up weakener, somersaulting forward with his weight on Kilby's shoulders. He gets a double leg takedown but can't turn Kilby into a Boston Crab and when he tries a front folding press, Kilby grabs both his wrists to stop him applying the pressure. Zimba tries to force the pressure on Kilby's thighs but Kilby loggs his legs to make a body scissors. He turns Zimba sideways on but Zimba gets back on top and stands in the hold. He resumes trying to pressure on the thighs as Kilby has to desperately keep his shoulders up. Kilby resists long enough and Zimba releases. Both men try shoves to little avail. Zimba shows his skill with a drop toehold into front facelock. Kilby forces his way up, briefly straightens Zimba s grovitting arm long enough to slip under and f9d back down making a neat back hammerlock. He untwists the arm, looking to force a somersaulting whip but caught th3 power and Zimba locks in a headlock as the bell goes. Round 3. and Kilby gets nothing from body checking the bigger man. He's not Big Daddy! Zimba unusually uses a headbutt on a fellow blue eye, then a powerful ove4 the kne3 backbreaker. Dynamite Kid remembered Zimba as a stiff worker who didn't car3 if h3 hurt you and I can see that in the sheer impact of those moves. He gets two postings and a slam for 5 and another for 6. Kilby frustrates a third, tries for a cradle, doesn't quit3 manage i5 and settles for a cross press and a 2 count. He lifts Zimba for a suplex but then does a Goldberg style jackhammer (turn into bulldog) for the one required fall. They have a slightly awkward handshake during which a bottle of water falls and soaks the canvas. We get the Wrestling commercial break music over a slide of a bridging folding press in mid attempt. Intelligent if slow bout , some good ideas here and there. I wonder what German and Puro fans would make of Zimba's stiffness, I'd have liked to see him work with Vader.

Well we've revisited Roland Bock's 1976 ursine exploits on the German thread so we may as well watch Andy Robin and his pet on Irish TV. Unlike Bock, Robin actually gets to wrestle his bear: Bret Hart's childhood buddy Terrible Ted gets a name check there. Also the penny drops re. the tartan clad teddy in the Robin/McGregor/Monroe promo. Now I suppose I'll have to find some bear-related French Catch footage for that thread too.

I've found out a bit more about this. It took place in 1976. Bock and some Blond guy Vs Danny Lynch and Peter "Tally Ho" Kaye. Lynch started headbutting the blond guy and the TV host throws a wobbly. He thinks it's all nasty and violent and calls a halt. Poor old bear never ever got its match. I hope it got paid. The handler for the bear was the owner of the local circus from whence it came. This is the only colour VT of German/Austrian Catch to predate the Japanese tape of Bock vs Inoki from Nov 1978.

Having started 1989, I'm going to pause it a couple of weeks. Here is a tag match from 1983 at the Vienna Heumarkt: Axel Dieter&Eugen Wiesberger vs Ivan Strogoff&Klaus Wallas . Dieter is the old Only Shooter here who got fed dog food by Dynamite Kidd. Strogoff we've seen some of on French TV. Wallas was a judoka who flipped between good guy and bad guy status, fighting Mamdouh Farag on Egyptian TV. Eugen I know nothing off. I don't expect it to outdo Corne Vs Richard for my Match of the last 2 weeks This was filmed in cheap Amber lighting (filament floodlights) so looks black and yellow. Strogoff is bald and beardy, the same as we know him on French TV. Klaus has long hair and a big body. The good guys are smaller, Diete with refeeding hair. Someone gets a folding press early on. Lots of finger interlocks and long guard armlocks . This Eufen has some good snapmares and flying headscissors. The two villains have the power edge. The story is all monster heels Vs plucky but probably doomed babyfaces - Powers of Pain Vs Rockers. Or maybe Haystaks and KIrk Vs Marty Jones and Steve Logan MK2.j. One babyface gets a yellow card for coming in without tagging. Eugen makes a hot tag. Bit of a pile up in the corner near the end. One babyface, Eugen scores a beg submission. Cue awful, whistly Austrian folk music, like pigeons singing the Blue Danube. Second session. Wallas and Eugen slug it out. Dieter comes in. Time runs out. I think babyfaces get awarded the win for a 1-0 lead at time. A difficult watch and best left to drunen bear festival goers 1986 bout next week then back to 1989.

The other half of that Catch Á L'Eau TV taping from 1977. Jean Corne , Jackie Richard and L'Arbitre Roger Delaporte all share a boat out to the ring without incident. In a few months time, Corner will turn up at the 1978 FA Cup taping in Croydon wearing a European Welterweight Championship which hecwill promptly lose to Dynamite Kid (FFWD to 1995- again at an FA Cup final this time Jorge Chenok will job that same title to Danny Collins.) Richard, not yet a Monsieur nor a Marquis nor yet a Travesti Man.gets the early advantage, getting a mild bump on a throw and getting a slam from a rear double legs into Flying Bodypress. Jean takes some more throws better, rolling up and bumping Richard. Jacky uses an illegal hairpull to make a top wristlock into a guard armlock. Jean kips up but Jack armdrags him back down twice and uses another hairpull the third time. Corner gets a back roll, bumping whip and dropkick. The go for Interlock and again Richard switches to top wristlock to illegal hairpull to guard arm lock. He uses another hairpull to stymie another bridge up by Corne. L' Arbitre et Le Méchante argue over the hairpulls. And so it continues until Corne breaks it up with a one legged flip. Richard taunts the crowd. A double Interlock test of strength is won by Richard but Corne bridges up, throws him off and gets a rear waistlock on him. Richard tries to leave but Corne saves him a swim and flips him back in.Corne gets an armbar, Richard rolls out but Corne gets an armhank. Richard tries and twice fails to stand up in the hold and grab the ropes. When he does succeed, Delaporte refuses the rope break - does he think Richard will toupie out? Perhaps he has a point - Richard on his next get up legdrops Corne in the hold. This not only makes Corne release but leaves a free arm for Richard to himself armhank. Corne kicks him off butRichard takes the arm, forces a sudden somersault whip and reapplies the armhank. This repeats a few times until Richard makes a clean break before reapplying. This time he has more control. Corne looks like he might try the toupie but instead rolls up his banked arm til he is at Richard's head an can apply a side headlock on the mat. He stands up, switches to a hammerlock from the side and stamps Jacky's foot. They clean break.there is a long pause then lock up and Richard chops Corne down in the side. Corne releases a barrage of Manchettes and Richard ends up cowering next to Delaporte. This becomes a comedy spot where Delaporte pats Richard on the head, warning Corne off, before eventually shoving Jacky away. Richard snapmares Corne and they run the ropes. Corne cross buttock throws Richard but only gets a 2. Quite a lot of stalling and working La Publique by the man who would outlaw all that in 2007. Impatiently, Corne floors him with a kick to the back of the knee. A full interlock sees Corne considering a straight arm lift but going for a somersault whip into armscisors. He gets several 1 pin counts before dismounting to focus on a possible arm submission. Jacky stands up and makes it a rather neat side folding press, gets some 1s and 2s (possibly rope assisted) before Crane pulls him back down again. Richard uses an illegal hairpull to force the break - Corne lets go and sells as Richard bashed him on the head before sauntering off. Delaporte buttonholes him and warns him so Richard manchettes Corne down a couple of times with Jean back up at 5. The second time, Richard slams Corne .They exchange manchettes until Richard ends up tied in the ropes. Cornecwants to divebomb Richard, Delaporte disapproves until Richard kicks him. Annoyed, Delaporte gives Corne carte blanche to attack the tied up Richard and even gets a shot or two himself as Corne watches patiently sat atop his corner post. Richard wins another full interlock test of strength but Corne stomps his hands and chops him. Richard complains to Delaporte who will hear none of it and instead himself stomps le Méchant in the corner before handing back to Corne. Le bon gets a Manchette, Richard gets a snapmare and two bodychecks and another snapmare. They run the ropes. Corne does Vic Faulkner's "Cease" trick then jabs him in the trunk. Richard is up at 8. Corne leaps up for a flying bodyscissors but gets it around the hips with Jacky seemingly more in charge, holding Corne's feet in a sort of inverted drop toehold. It's Corne trying to do a sit up escape and Richard preventing him, holding the feet behind himself with his own feet. He even stops to smooth his hair like Adrian Street while Corne tries the "Look up there" trick to no effect. He goes for waistlocks and is thrown off. He actually escaped using a version of Mister Referee but without touching Delaporte. Corne gets an armbar and somehow throws Jacky backwards. tries for a pin but gets only 2. He gets a side hammerlock into kneelift and crosspress for 1. A snapmare I to double kneepress only gets 1 too. Richard stalls for time, antagonising the crowd- Delaporte orders him to get on with the bout. Richard twice charges and misses Corne in the corner. He is floored by the third of three Manchettes. They slug it out until Richard goes to his corner and collapses, up only just in time at 9 to avoid a KO, or is it another old Vic Faulkner trick to get some times out? More stalling. Corne gets a single legdivé into spinning leglock. Delaporte calls for a break and Corne complies after one last leg weakener. He gets another legdive and weakener. They exchange manchettes. Corne goes down. Richard kicks him. Delaporte halts the count to tell Richard off. Richard corners and chops Corne. Angry, Corne is making closed fists so Richard tells Delaporte to tell Richard not to. So Corne gets a rear snapmare instead but after that all bets are off - charging headbutts, charging shoves, Manchettes, until Richard is floored. Jacky is barely up in time before Corner gets a front chancery to set up a Manchette. They exchange blows, Corne goes down and Jacky stomps him. Under protest from Delaporte, Richard lets Corne up between Manchettes and a big bodyslam. This continues in the same vein until Corne gets a flooring Manchette back. Richard places Corne on the ring apron for perhaps a suplex but instead shoved him in the water. Delaporte and Richard argue until Richard manchettes L'Arbitre and tries to throw the larger Delaporte in the water also. Corne has crawled back but is knocked back in the water by Richard. Ref and heel are now having their own fight and the ref seems to be getting the better of it, flooring and stomping Richard. Finally he throws Richard in, just as Corne is climbing back. Delaporte declares Corne winner by DQ. Disgusted, Richard boards the boat to set sail for poolside. Despite the odd bits of brawling or comedy, this mostly stays a good scientific match until near the end with the final brawl and DQ finish. The stalling is a bit of a pity and a good argument for rounds but that aside there are some intelligent and gracefully executed ideas. Best scientific match of the past couple of weeks.

Okay, winding back a few weeks, here is the Triple Tag Matchmain event. Remember, Wright and McGregor have already wrestled clean sporting match we saw above. Wright is still the odd man out on the English side- like Barry Douglas he is a reformed ex heel - unlike Douglas he does not slide back into old habits to keep Duran happy. Some what @JNLister called "Very British" promos. Duran is a snarling skinhead righ5 wing patriot type.The Scots and their teddy are presented as the sympathetic side. For those who don't get the historical reference: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Bannockburn First fall: The ongoing theme of the match is that Duran fears Robin. Early on he screams from the ring and only Bernie is ready to face Hercules The Bear's fur daddy. So Bernie does but gets slammed and pinned almost immediately. One up to Scotland. Second fall: I think there's a cut here- Robin and Douglas are in the ring.Andy tags Alex Munro who gets posted by Douglas straightaway. Duran attacks the fallen Munro bringing Robbin back in. Douglas and Duran double team Munro but Bernie stays out. Duran tags in, beats down on the smallest Scot. His attacks on the falen Alex get him a First Public Warning. He also gets a full nelson on Alex the NoseBleed, causing Robin to come in and get a first Public Warning himself. It ends up with Robin and Douglas in the ring having a fast paced slug and punch that @ohtani's jacket will like but would have Douglas' grandfather and father the two George De Relwyskows Senior and Junior, turning in their respective graves. They both tag off - Duran tags in but Andy faux tags and stays in, nearly catching the frightened Duran who scurries to ringside. This all plays out a second time then McGregor gets in with Wright - they of the earlier clean ma tch. Ian snapmares Wright, chinloks him and offers his hand to his tag partners - no tag is forthcoming. Douglas gets in and gets an advantage on Ian, side chancery thrown and bodycheck. Duran is finally in, he is thrown but cartwheels upright impressively for a burly surly villain. He forearms both Ian and Alex, getting a Boston Crab. Alex crawls over and tags Andy who pounds Duran then gets a Powerlock for a submission. It's a 2-0 win to Scotland . Andy Robin kind of gets to be Big Daddy here like Scrubber Daly. He gets both the scores. Wright is brave but foolish, Duran is the coward caught and punished in the end. Would have been nice to see more technical work between Bernie and Ian like before.