David Mantell

Undie in 1991 = Tommy Rich in 1981. Both so hot they just HAD to get lucky even if the regular champ got it back days later. On a similar point, in 1989 Zeus was in a film opposite Hulk Hogan, he destroyed Hulk at Survivor Series but got beaten back by Hulk in an emergency PPV shortly afterwards. This is also the story of Taker in 1991.

I think we've covered this bout also on the British thread but may as well post it here too:

A Regal tribute: Wrestling Legend Alan Serjeant Passes Away - William Regal Pays Tribute

I bumped this up on the British Thread so it may as well go on here too. RIP Alan.

Bumping this up - RIP Alan Sarjeant. https://itrwrestling.com/news/wrestling-legend-alan-serjeant-passes-away-william-regal-tribute/

Bruce Pritchard has talked quite a bit about Sheik Tugboat. Interestingly, Warrior Vs Undertaker completely outdrew Hogan/Slaughter (check ThehistoryofWWE site) and proved to be Warrior's revenge for being lumbered with a sadly buried Rick Rude a year earlier as champion.

Quick snippet from Heumarkt 1985 of Axel Dieter senior getting dropkicked a lot by Steve Wright and a tag match.

The twilight is falling over the beer garden but the show goes on. Rudi Vs Harry (p)rematch from 85. A pair of rather orangey filament floodlights hang like two UFOs in the sky. Harry comes down to the same John Lee Hooker song Barry Windham used. Runde 1 Same sort of match as 86. Pounding on the ropes. Rudi gets a pop with a dtopkick. Rudi frankly wrestles as Dirty as Harry. VAST crowd shots - these shows were rough but they drew. Harry kicks Rudi out of the ring. Harry gets a top wristlock into full nelson. Runde 2 Rudi Headlock into go behind into hammerlock, crawls through the legs, gets up at gets a rear snapmare. Ref stops Rudi attacking Harry leg on rope. Harry gets a leg instead and his legspread from last week (next year). Carries on on the ropes unlike Rudi..But it stays on the ropes. "Schtop Herr Kocina" but he won't . The bootlaces spot. Harry soaks up the heat. Rudi and ref have an argument, ref gives Rudi a yellow card. Runde 3 Harry pounces. But Rudi overpowers him. Rudi works on leg despite Harry's other leg on rope. Rudi gets a fireman's carry but Harry is too heavy and slips down and gets a chinlock. Keeps it a good long while. Ends up Mon the ropes. I think he carries on after the Runde ends- "SCHTOP Herr Kocina, it is pausen!" Ref gets the break, Harry gets Massive heat. Runde 4 An argument, Rudi snaps.hits ref, gets Second And Final Yellow Card. Harry gets top wristlock into standing rear chinlock. Rudi again tries fireman's carry but can't hold it. More rope choking from .Harry. Uppercut battle. Rudi gets two flying headscissors and a dropkick out the ring. Rudi has pointless row with ref, nearly gets red card. Silly babyface. Double interlock into Rudi cross headscissor flip.. Rudi kicks Harry, ref warns him. Rudi has a bad enough, fireman's carry takedown on referee, red card, Harry wins by DQ just like next year/last week. Beer garden ready to riot Same match as before/after, not too much wrestling as Kent Walton would say, other than a few brief exchanges. Beer garden looks lovely. I want to visit that place if it's still standing and anyone knows where it is. Another tag match next week then I think we're done with Rudi, Harry, Gil and Franz Der Soldner and back to 1989.

Okay, on the subject of New Catch: Orig Williams on English commentary for Eurosport. The man who billed Johnny South as Sean South on Reslo here refers to him as "Sean Johnny South". Steve Casey is the former Steve McHoy, son of Frank Hoy, known to the Brits as Wild Angus, the Americans as Black Angus Campbell and the Germans as Rasputin #1 (Sean Doyle being ,#2 - actually another Sean/Johnny conundrum, he was really Johnny Howard, Sean Doyle was his early ring name as a clean blue eye in the early 70s!). Two Brits across La Manche just like Pete Roberts Vs Dave Bond in 1978. But before you all question the validity of this match on this thread, spot a VERY Catch Français Monsieur L'Arbitre - good old Charley Bollet. Casey gives South clean break, South headlocks Casey and uses a hairpull to take him down .He does it again when Casey told through on an armbar. South forces a guard armlock. Kip up, hairpull down. Casey does a double roll and gets a backdrop on South (after a possibly botched first attempt?). Casey gets a headlock into side chancery - South illegality punches Casey several times but Casey no sells and gets a side chancery throw into Legdrop of Doom into rear chinlock into Headloçk And Strangle (sleeper). South tries a snapmare but can't get the overhead grip so he stands up and elbowsmashes out into a wristlever into front chancery into snapmare into kneedrop and a cheeky kick to Steve's head but Casey is up at 2. He gets a tumbling single legdive, gets the other leg, is booted off but cartwheels past the leg flip and guillotine elbowsmashes South who is soon up. Casey posts him and he takes it on a knee and as on Reslo points to his brain to show how clever he is only for Steve to get a knee in. But South gets a whip without Casey going with and and axehandles his. on the mat. Up at 4, Casey falls for a pullback whip again with no somersault or bump, just an arm weakeners. South gets an armhank on the hurting arm. He tackles Casey down into almost a Skull Murphy gator hold. drops a knees d stomps before Charley decides this isn't continuous movement - "Degagez, s'il vous plait!" L'Arbitre gives Casey a 4 count and South nearly gives him a standing arm lift ove4 an arm before settling on an armbar into pressure points. Casey bashes his way out and gets a bodycheck . South gets an elbowsmash and kneelift for 3:and another pullback whip. for six before South breaks the count with his stomping and Bollet orders him back. South whips Casey to ringside and Bollet warns him again. Casey is back at 8, selling his arm.s.outh bounces him off the ropes misses a clothesline but Casey gets one. South gets posting, clothesline and posting but misses his second clothesline. Casey gets a long somersault whips and Legdrop into guard armlock. He gets a flying forearm for a 2 count pin. South punches up and gets his own flying forearm smash Both men are down but up at 9. Casey gets a posting but South catches him with a boot, a clothesline, misses a charge into the corner and Casey gets behind with a rear folding press rollup for th3n one required fall. The Lamb of Angus wins. Like the Reslo tag bout on the British thread, nothing exemplary but solid.

More Reslo featuring more of the future Legend of Doom. He still had some hair here and Robbie still had his shorter hair from his Golden Boys days - which this is slap bang in the middle of (even if AFAIK Reslo never featured Brookside teamed with "Steve Jones" as Orig called Regal.). For his part Haystacks does not yet have his early 90s Mohawk. Incidentally we've already seen a Haystacks/South tag team on here as blue eyes Vs Kendo and Barrett on an early 90s camcording of an All Star show. I'm going to do something a bit unused start with the final score. Two knockouts to one knockout. It's particularly interesting that OJ has given this a fairly positive review given he subscribes to the idea that the finish makes/breaks a bout, but over the course of this match we get an exploration of different manifestations of the Knockout. The villains refuse a handshake so down to business. First session. South threatens to break out 5h3 closed fist punches and is warned off by Blackie and ref Brian George (Dixon!). The blue eyes get the crowd stomping. South rolls off an armbar but messes up a reverse roll and finds himself in a guard armlock. He tries to stand up (rather than kip up - he is the heel) but some twists of the wrist from Blackie and down he goes. The result is the same when he tries again, getting in a couple of uppercuts which Blackie absorbs (no sells). South gets a rope break and brags about his cleverness in doing so. He gets the same way out, to crowd heat, causing BB to release with bad grace. The third time Brian refuses the break so South just headbutts his way out. He then lands the same concealed illegal punch he used on Murphy last week, bashes Blackie on the ropes and tips him out. More forearms, (including one to Brookside) another concealed punch and a headbutt for 8 and a stomp barely part of the same move and more that are flat-out not(for which Blackie gets a no count), follow, then a posting, then a second one which Blackie reverses (although South takes it easily on his lower leg), butts South in the stomach and snapmares, slams, posts and corner monkey climbs him. South is desperate and an open illegal punch gets him a First Public Warning. He slams BB into Stax's knee, pounds him on the ropes and stomps when he drops til Brian gives Blackie a no count. They brawl on til Blackie gets a side chancery throw, knee drop in continuous motion and - the first tag of the bout - tags Brookside who gets a Legdrop Of Doom and rolls nicely up from some South throws. South offers his had in congratulations then kicks Robbie and pounds him on the ropes. But Robbie slips out behind and dtopkicks South to ringside. He gets back in, slugs Brookside and with only five minutes of clip left, tags Haystacks who bashes down, side chanceries(!) and headbutts Robbie, each for counts into upper numbers, before getting a clothesline and trademark Guillotine Elbowsmash for the opening knockout. Heels 1, blue eyes 0. Plus, just like in his famous bout with Pat Roach Vs Stax and Drew McDonald, Robbie is eliminated. South gets some stomps and demands Robbie be cleared out. Some other wrestlers in street clothes help him out. Second session. Stax jeers at Blackie, now facing handicap tag conditions. He bashes him down for 7 and tags South who gets a side chancery throw into kneedrop (continuous motion) for 8, a headbutt and kick for 6, a slingshot into Stax's arm and some illegal stomps on the mat which gets no count. A repeat of the double team backfires and South gets bludgeoned down accidentally by his own partner then dropkicked out of the ring. Although he lands upright, heis busy arguing with ringsiders and gets counted out. One knockout each side and we'll be down to a singles match for the decider - which Haystacks decides to jump start, attacking Blackie on the ropes. Third session -and for a while you wonder if there will be one o4f is Stax DQ'd? Nope, not even a public warning. He even gets a six count. Blackie slips out from an illegal choke in the corner and bashes the Giant then tries to get him over the ropes. But Stax gets a slug over the head, a posting and a vertical Stinger Splash in the corner. Dixon halts the count, as Blackie is in no shape to continue. Injury TKO for the decider. Haystacks (and South) win. Notice not a single pinfall or submission attempt in all of that. The near 10 counts function in lieu of pinfall 2 counts. It's not a great scientific match but it's an interesting examination of the permutations of the Knockout (one finisher ,KO, one Countout as Americans w.ould understand it, one injury TKO.) And it was quite a hard hitting brawl which was right up OJ's street.

The long reign was supposed to come eventually when Hogan was gone permanently. The one we saw was a dry run. Linda Hogan was pregnant for the second time with Nick so once again a paternity cover champion was needed like Savage had been when Brooke was born. Apparently Plan A was for one year as champion from WM6 before 65K at the Toronto Skydome to WM7 before 100K at the LA Colosseum, however when the disappointing PPV rates for WM6 came in, Vince went on a rant about babyface matches and how Pedro/Bruno in 1972 drew only 28K to Shea Stadium and vowed there would be an interim heel champion for the handback to Hogan. Initially this was going to be "Sheik Tugboat" until they got Sgt Slaughter in who was rather less preposterous but still only sold 15K. The irony was that Hogan-Warrior-Pat Patterson 2 was about the only matchup they had with a cat in hell's chance of selling out the LA Colloseum. "He'll have more World title reigns. This one will end at Wrestlemania." - Wrestling Superstars magazine 'The Champions And The Men Most Likely To Take Their Titles - Hulk Hogan Will Defeat The Ultimate Warrior For The WWF World Championship' (They also predicted "Lex Luger will defeat Sting for the NWA World Championship" which was apparently the plan at the time - and ultimately went ahead at GAB 91 with Sting replaced by Ric Flair replaced by Barry Windham. And the WCW title instead of the NWA title. )

These matches weakened Warrior's stock also since the cage matches ended in Slaughter climbing out of the cage which according to WWF rules was a clean win. This undermined any protection Warrior got from the screwball Royal Rumble finish where Savage hit him with the sceptre. With the fair and square cage match wins compensating for the previous foreign object loss, Slaughter became a more legitimate champion and Warrior a more legitimately defeated ex champion. (Bear in mind Warrior at this point was still, in theory, heir apparent for when Hulk finally went off to Hollywood forever - it took the Summerslam money argument and the greater fallout from the steroid scandal to finally change that.)

A further thought - if one were to spread out each half hours' worth of New Catch Series one over the course of a year, 1988 would not be a bad year on average for French pro wrestling on French terrestrial TV. Ditto all of Series 2 if it had all been screened in the space of (but spread out along) one calender year and on a terrestrial TV channel.

IMHO the Season 1 finale premier on 26/12/1988 was the equivalent moment in French Catch history to The Final Bell on ITV 17/12/1988. Up to you if you want to mention that suggestion.

The year long Eurosport run of New Catch was a back to back run of a repeat of the 1988 season on TF1 and the Premiere of the full season 2. The four episodes on TF1 were a sampler of the latter. (Or was it an abortive TF1 run of the full Season 2?). A handful of Season 2 matches were aired on a Euro Special episode of Reslo on S4C. I think the producers of New Catch had ideas about selling it to TV stations around Europe - perhaps even ITV. *** I recall reading here that nominally, the FEC Promoter was Jean Claude Blanchet who played the manservant Paul Butin Fluchard for Marquis Jacky Richard (and Marquis Eduardo before him).and who later became Best Boy when Richard became Travesti Man in New Catch Season 2. Orig Williams inadvertently calls him by his real name here Presumably Blanchet was a Jack Pfefer style front man for Flesh. *** As we've discussed in the past, Bernard Van Damme had his own post New Catch TV show Eurostars on various private TV channels. As I think I've previously suggested, (1) Eurostars may have been screening in places like Macedonia, Switzerland etc and sowed the seed for a live invasion (2) the Macedonian/ Swiss/ etc footage could have been screened on the Eurostars show.

Talking of found stuff, here's some footage of the old Hamburg tournaments with interviews with Karsten Kretschner (we've seen footage on here of him before as a promising rookie by the late 90s) as a TBW, learning the ropes in 1993 from Rene Lasartesse himself, and nowadays as an old bald beardy guy. There are old images of Ski Hi Lee anc Harold Sakata as well as footage of Rene Lasartesse, gym footage of Indio Guajaro, match clips including Jorg Chenok Vs Terry Rudge, Klaus Kauroff, etc.

Same venue as before, same Ferris wheel or whatever with big flashing lights going round and round outside. Harry comes down to the ring to the same bluesy song Barry Windham used to use. Runde 1 - the lockup hits the ropes but Harry pays no heed. Rudi gets let off the ropes when Harry has more plans for him. Dirty Harry, dirty match. It looks like it shall be . The tables are turned but Rudi cautiously does release. Harry gets 4 for a clothesline, Rudi gets a dropkick for 4 too, Then a hammerlock into through the legs to the front into a snapmare for 5. Harry gets a headlock on Rudi who lifts him by the crotch and places him on the ring apron. Harry whips and bodychecks Rudi for 4 . He tries again but Rudi leapfrogs and dtopkicks him for 4 before Rudi - the babyface - kicks him in the mat, apparently believing he is stalling. This restarts the count which goes to 3. Bell goes. Runde 2: Harry takes advantage of Rudi arguing with the ref to grab a headlock.He breaks it open to form a hammerlock then releases. In the first big post of the bout Rudi gets a couple of spectacular armdrags but misses a blow and gets forearm smashed with a leg pointing upward which Harry gets a standing toehold on, advancing the hold up the leg towards the knee, possibly looking for a single leg Boston Crab. Rudi stays defiantly in the guard, refusing to be turned. He reaches for the ropes, getting them just as Harry gets the other leg. To add to Rudi's worries, the referee accidentally treads on his hand. Harry retains the original leg, spreading the other by holding the ankle with his boot. Rudi gets the rope again but the referee refuses the break, kicking his hands away(this explains why there was no break earlier.) Harry goes back to double legs as the referee again refuses Rudi a rope break (and again nearly trips over his arms. ). Then Harry drags Rudi to the ropes and uses bandages to tie the leg to the ropes. This is totally illegal and the MC orders him to SCHTOP! The ref draws the line too, warning Harry as he kicks the trussed limb. The bell goes but neither that nor the ref stops Harry working on the leg. Cut to Rudi free and in his corner while Harry argues with the fans and the ref tries to get his attention. Runde 3 - they exchange forearms and then Rui gets two headscissors and a dropkick to clear Harry from the ring. (Continues on Teil 2) Harry is in no hurry to return to the ring - Rudi snapmares him in and monkey climbs him. Harry is down for two when Rudi grabs him by the scruff of his neck, flings him away (earning a First Yellow Card) and gets a full nelson. Harry backs in to him to break it so Rudi dtopkicks him to ringside. Harry gets back for the end of the Runde. Runde 4 and Harry again gets a single leg into toehold, securing the other leg with his own boot. He again tries to secure Rudi's leg to a rope (in the process he turns Rudi into the guard but does not seem bothered about capitalising. He seems to want to tie up Rudi's leg again. The ref finally gets his break and this time Rudi gets the legdive into legspread (both on the mat). He tries Harry with whatever Harry used on him (a tag rope?) and forces th3 other leg down on the rope. The ref falls over in the chaos. Camera pans to the cheering crowd - several hundred in a prefab events unit-;quite a decent turnout! Perhaps over 1000 in that unit. Cu5 to Rudi slugging Harry in a corner. He will not be warned off, he throws the ref aside. He eventually gets a snapmare but it is too late - Second And Final Yellow card to the babyface. Harry still gets a 4 count. Rudi gets a drop toehold into Gotch toehold Harry gets the rope break - allowed this time. Rudi actually backs off and the runde ends anyway. Runde 5 after some discussion. Rudi gets a fireman's carry takedown. Harry escapes and gets a rear chinlock. Rudi snapmares out of it, ties Harry in the ropes and bombs him, goes through the ref's feet and slingshots him into Harry. More crowd shot of manifold happy German Catch fans. They're not so happy when Rudi gets the red card. - Dirty Harry the heel is the winner on DQ. Harry bows and he and the ref hold the ropes open for each other. The crowd on this other side is equally huge. Rudi hugs a child fan. Cut to Rudi and Franz Der Soldner at the start of last week's tag match - I guess it was the follow on match. The wrestling work was a throwback to the pre Steve Wright ponderous style of trying every escape before breaking out with the last remaining option. The brawls (Very OJ friendly) and crowd working if anything sped things up. As well as the rematch from this in the nice German beer Garden, I've also found a rematch of the tag match. This feud seems to be the gift that keeps giving - all of it on @sergeiSem's old YouTube. But we will get in to the rest of 1989 soon - and then about a year of 1987!

Okay the other half of the video I posted last week. Duranton in his prime looks a magnificent arrogant heel, like Paul Orndorff with some of Sid's body. I expect he's read a few magazine articles about Buddy Rogers, especially the hair which someone clearly spent time on. Firmin stays mostly at ringside like an American manager/valet, he doesn't spend the match up on the pron like Paul Butin Fluchard did for the two Marquises. LeDuc gets polite applause, Firmin gets mild abuse but you can hear the HARTED for Duration come rumbling ove4 the hillside like a storm. Leduc gets quick holds and when Duranton counters them with power, he counters the counters with more skill. A Leduc side headloçk begets a Duranton spine buster begets a Leduc side headloçk takedown. That sort of thing. One time Leduc doesn't even get lifted because he grapevines Duranton's thigh. Pretty early on Duranton clearly does stuff to set up a toupie response, like arm armhank where Leduc can use his head spin to roll up the arm. Obvious th3 shoot reason why he does it but in kayfabe why would you use the very holds your opponent is the master of countering? Admittedly Leduc does take his customary two or three attempts to get upright. Impressively LeDuc buck-throws Duranton from a standing full nelson but Robert has a good long guard armlock, ending with Gilbert using the classic French flying headscissors escape. Duranton equally shows himself skilled at his opponents game. wedging out of the resultant headscissors like he's Johnny Saint. Soon Duranton is using the manchettes and for a power Heavyweight like him, you think "why not?". Leduc can hiptoss in a headlock and he can monkey flip Duranton, so again no strength slouch. He gets a full interlock lean back into cross headscissors and toupie d a second one and actually backdrops the bigger man. He gets some Manchettes of his own.floofing Duranton on number 3. He tries the headscissors to counter a guard armlock but Duranton this time throws him off like most British wrestlers did. When Duranton gets the headscissors, he actually stifles a toupie escape and Gilbert resorts to a rope escape - frustrated, Bobby gives him a good kicking and gets a private warning Gilbert fires back with manchettes and dropkicks, one hitting and flooring Firmin. He gets a half interlock and roll to get a secure guard top wristlock on Duranton. The big man stands up, gets a brief headlock and some bodychecks (at this point across the channel, Blond Adonis Shirley Crabtree was still a muscleman- had he started using his trademark bodycheck yet - If so the Big Daddy Tummy Butt must have started lif3 as something like this.). Duranton tries to vault Leduc but can't get the height and crashes. To add insult to injury, LeDuc actually gets the better of a bodycheck. An angry looking Duranton gets a hiptoss into guard armlock and scowls to camera. He gets heat from putting his knee on Leduc's windpipe. He risks a rope break dragging LeDuc to the ropes, but when he is ordered to break, Firmin leads in and has a go at Leduc's kneecap. Then when Duranton again deliberately gets caught on a rope break, this time from a front chancery, Firmin trips LeDuc and Duranton gets his kicks in. This finally earns him un Premiere Avertisement. Leduc rallies with manchettes and a hiptoss or two, the last getting an 8 count. Duranton finds some garbage a fan threw in (presumably) and angrily pelts Gilbert with it. He drives Leduc to the guard from a collar and elbow (great strength spot!) topping it off with a grovit. He keeps it even as Gilbert stands up and uses it to position for another manchette. He keeps picking up Gilbert for manchettes and postings and reapplies the grovit. Duranton and Firmin think they have won and servant joins master to parade around the ring. But Gilbert attacks from behind and posts Firmin (as a fan throws a chair in the ring - a solid wooden one quite unsuitable for folded metal chair spots) . L'Arbitre ejects both the chair and Firmin from the ring while LeDuc, the Bon, uses illegal punches on méchant Duran. H gets manchettes, a slam and bodychecks on the bigger man when Firmin strikes again with a trip. The referee apparently gives LeDuc a knockout count but instead DQs Duranton (I guess he got an unannounced Deuxieme Et Derniere Avertisement for the earlier round of Firmin fiddling) so Leduc wins on DQ. The French MC can be just as headmasterly as his British counterparts when making these announcements. Two guys who know the basics of each others' styles and can play each others' game. The scientific sections are intelligent if not speedy like the first bout. Duranton's heel act is fantastic to watch.

This Friday. I've booked a day's leave from work, hoping to get next weekend's reviews done that morning. Well I got this thread's review done at least. So anyway, Dudley Town Hall - crowd of 300, four matches - one tag, two singles and a Survivor Rumble (one of those eight man elimination by over the top rope tags currently fashionable over here - even Rumble Promotions did one of which I posted the video.). The two singles matches were both Britain Vs America so not going to be great places to break out the technical wrestling skil but Tommy Freeman especially impressed me with some rollouts etc during his World title defence against ex NXTer Andre Chase. Wish I could have seen his recent title win over Micky Long (sole survivor of the Survivor Rumble btw) . Freeman vacated the British Heavyweight title as always result and Ricky Matthews won the title just last night in Liverpool at St George's Hall so congrats to him. He made his first defence this evening against the other American visitor John Skyler from South Carolina. Skyler got a public warning - nice to see they live on in 2026. In other news, the masked Shinobi is working heel this tour - he and Cannonball Griffin were the losing heel side in the opening tag match against Micky Long and Johnny Jupiter (think a young blue-eye version of Randy Colley as Detroit Demolition). Next Dudley show is Feb 18th, Gangrel and Brody Steele are due back in thecUK for that tour.

Apparently, Albert Sanniez has died aged 84, so say several sources including Bob Plantin. Now I was under the impression he had died some time back but then I've been wrong like that before (viz. Phil Hickerson) so anyway RIP to our Albert. Another archetypal French bout and one I'm amazed I hadn't previously reviewed. This is Sanniez just shortly before his heel turn into a French version of Jim Breaks. It's also intricate enough to warrant the blow by blow treatment. Sanniez gets a top wristlock on Angelito and throws him twice in it. Ang converts to an arm lever and uses a simple standing twist to tighten it up which Sanniez loosens again with a horizontal posterior spin a la Breaks. Angelito kips up and does one of the characteristic French moves I mentioned, the back flip off a top wristlock. He then does another one, the headscissors takedown while in an armbar. (British wrestlers usually prefer the forwards roll on the mat rather than the headscissors counter.. When the French headscissors trick was tried on World of Sport, the scissorer was usually caught and thrown off.) Angelito gets a rear seated bodyscissors on Sanniez an lifts him for the "ou-ais" mini atomic drop but Sanniez positions for a feet first landing. Ang tries again with an added chinlock for extra pullback but San undermines it the same way. The third time Sanniez flips all the way backwards to a standing start. He tries for a crafty folding press but Angelito drags him right back and tries for the double legs folding press plus bridge.Sanniez aims a kick at Angelito's face, causing him to release Sanniez goes behind Angelito and gets a ground top wristlock on again, Angelito kips up and back flips out and whips Sanniez's arm to force a hard landing from a forward flip but Sanniez fires back with a ground position dropkick. Sanniez gets a top wristlock on the mat, Angelito tries to reverse it with a simple double arm twist but Sanniez clamps on a side headlock to arrest the manoeuvring. He does the spinning flying armdrags and a conventional pair and comes out still with the anm. .Angelito tries a headscissor counter on that Sanniez snaps out of easily. He still has the arm so Angelito tries a rope assisted backflip similar to British wrestler Mark "Kid McCoy" Boothman's Yorkshire Rope Trick (or one of the two he did). But Sanniez STILL has the arm! Angelito gets into a standing side by side position, flips to undo the armlock then cross buttocks Sanniez out of the ring but the ropes save him. Sanniez manchettes Angelito and Angelito responds in kind. They both come off the ropes at the same time and both hit the deck. Stopping only to high five each other they exchange European uppercuts. Angelito throws Sanniez down to the ring apron and sunset flips him to ringside. They re-enter from opposite sides and Sanniez gets a standing full nelson on Angelito who leans forward to shrug him off. Angelito gets a forearm and double leg slingshot leaving Sanniez flat in the mount in the opposite corner. Another Manchette and another flip but this time Sanniez hits the ground rolling into a standing position. When Angelito charges in Sanniez backwards vaults him and lands a dropkick. A Manchette each and Angelito posts Sanniez. He tries again, Sanniez reversed it but Angelito goes up into a flying bodypress for a two count. Angelito gets a bodycheck then a sunset flip which ends up in a back and forth "Bascule" of alternating double leg nelson pin attempts. Sanniez tries to get a folding press but Angelito clips him with a double ankle smash then tries for his own folding press and Sanniez also breaks it up with the double ankles. There are two mins left says the MC. They alternate Manchettes and dropkicks as the clock wears down. Sanniez performs a powerbomb on Angelito! Sanniez whips Angelito into the ropes, presses him overhead, drops him chest first on one knee and tries for a pin but Angelito gets a foot under the ropes. More manchettes and Angelito gets a fireman's carry into another over the knee stomachbreaker then a crosspress which Sanniez reversed (note referee Roger Delaporte counting pin attempts by stomping his foot!). Sanniez bench presses Angelito up from the mat and delivers a blockbuster suplex. They are still exchanging Manchettes when the time limit runs out. A good little scientific draw, sags a bit in the final 120 to 60 secs as the clock and their energy wears down but they got in a few final good moves in there. Nice sportsmanship afterwards too, all handshakes and hugs. Within months Sanniez would have changed his attitude and style - as too would Angelito for a little while two years later when he teamed with career long archenemy Jacky Richard. For now, these two put on a fine exhibition of the French Catch technical style.

If you're wondering who Carwyn James was - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carwyn_James Fit Finlay Vs Flying Funaki. FF versus FF. When Fuji Yamada came back for a second tour in 1989 he brought a tag partner with his, Flying Funaki. I wish we had one of their tag bouts but here is Funaki on his lonesome. Fit Finlay in Bully mode being used as a Luxury Jobber like Ax and Smash at the Tokyo Dome. This same year he jobbed his British Heavy Middleweight title to Danny Collins, the kid he SLAUGHTERED three years earlier. So he was in the trim for putting the kids over and making them look good. Funaki's first big move is the same spinning escape from a side headlock dear old Mike Marino used to do! Finlay does a lot of attacking moves like his hammerlock and a lot of dirty wrestling to make sure the crowd are on Funaki's side. . He also still has a decent flip to bum out of Funaki's whip while growling with rage. Actually Funaki's rolls and cartwheels are as British as boiled beef steeped in Dynamite Kid and Danny Boy Collins and only became "Juniors shit" in Japan from the UK/Japan/Calgary triangle. ("Juniors" in any case is short for "Junior Heavyweight which is Americanese for Mid Heavyweight. Marty Jones and Nelson Royal were opposite number on each side of the Atlantic.) Funaki also gets a great sunset flip which Finlay punches his way out of like he did against Johnny Saint at Croydon on ITV a year earlier. Funaki also start putting on the Scorpion Deathlock (OK the Masa Chono Powerlock.) . Funaki also does a lot of chops which Finlay sells His Flying dropkick on Finlay gets a slow mo replay. Funaki gets the win and all the little kids in the audience run WILD banging on the ring apron. A Star is born and Finlay did his job making the kid look good just like Sid Cooper. Blackjack Mulligan and Tally Ho Kaye did for Sammy Lee nine years ago . Sadly no sign of Paula at the end giving her man HELL. WTF is that awful buzzing sound at the end? For those of you who let the clip run and caught Finlay Vs Funaki, here are reviews of that.

South wasn't quite a blue eye here. If you insist on using lucha terms, this was Rudos Contra Pareja Increible. It was quite a common set up in the late 80s - two heels feuding, the sympathetic heel tags with a blue eye rival of the pure heel who gets a suitably unliveable tag partner. Classic example on ITV 1988 Kendo Nagasaki and Shane Stevens Vs Rollerball Rocco and Wayne Bridges. Danny and Finlay had form in this - about a year later, possibly inspired by WM6 Dusty and Sapphire Vs Savage and Sherri there was a mixed tag pitting the Finlays against Danny and Klondyke Kate which the Finlays won. Just like Kendo and Rocco, Murphy and South are former tag partners (from All Star's final TV match Vs Marty Jones and Steve Taylor - previously reviewed on here, as was another South match of him as sympathetic heel, tagging with Haystacks against Kendo & Barrett.) Also the Collins/Finlay feud is about to reach its apex with Danny unseating Finlay as British Heavy Middleweight champion three year after "bully" Finlay kicked sand at Danny so to speak, destroying him on TV and attracting the attention of Big Daddy. Finlay and Murphy are of course the legendary Riot Squad from the ITV Top Tag Team tournament in 1982. First Session starts with Paula getting frog marched back to the dressing room by referee Chico Roberts (later frequently on New Catch Season 2 in 1991.). Danny is gaining power, he not only breaks open a headlock into a top wristlock and converts it into a hiptoss with knee drop followdown (all one move. He gets a bit more reckless with the rules as he pounds on Finlay and forearms Murphy. Murphy retaliates and Finlay throws Collins out of the ring then smashes him on a corner post as he is on the apron. South joins Danny at ringside and helps him back as Finlay gets a public warning. Finlay tries again with the post but Danny blocks it with a locked out leg then gets a sunset flip into double leg nelson on Finlay whim Murphy rescues at 2. Skull tags in and they double clothesline Danny who rope-a-dopes a Murphy forearm then kicks him down, dodged a Murphy elbow drop and smashes Finlay to ringside before legdropping Murphy. The Boy (22 by now) is handling both Riot Squad alone! He tags South who goes on a forearm smash spree on both men including a concealed illegal punch (see @ohtani's jacket, South was still a heel at heart) posting him twice, the second time lamping Finlay who strikes back). Murphy slams and gets the opening fall on his ex tag partner. Second session Murphy seems to be playing chicken for South but lures him in for a back elbow and a rather late knee drop and even later diving headbutt, both of which referee John Harris (as in the ring announcer, not Judd/Gunboat Harris) lets go. Murphy steadies South for a Finlay axehandle but Finlay says he made the tag. Finlay beats down on South but has to punch to the head his way out of a sunset flip (Harris misses this). Danny tags back in, leapfrogs Finlay, cross buttock throws him and dropkicks him out of the ring. Finlay makes it to the ring apron. forearm smashes Danny, goes for the top turnbuckle but is met by Danny who gives him a superplex worthy of Barry Windham then a middle turnbuckle missile dropkick, a slam and a crosspress which Murphy breaks up at 2. Skull tags in and gets an illegal concealed punch and fireman's carry into gorilla press onto the ropes. He pounds and slams Danny then tags Dave who gets an over the shoulder backbreaker but Danny bicycles out, dodges a Finlay forearm which catches Skull knocking him down and is then tripped from behind by Danny into a side folding press for the equalising fall. Finlay is extremely lucky at this point that Paula is backstage or she would have torn him the proverbial new sphincter! Third Session - Finlay kicks Danny and the Riot Squad double clothesline him and throw South out. This gets Murphy a public warning- if either man gets two more that DQ will be the decider. Danny ddges another double clothesline and South trips both of the Squad and Danny dropkicks th3 pair out for a three man ringside brawl. South bangs Murphy into a post as Danny slider dropkicks as South squares up to Finlay much to Harris's alarm. He thumps Finlay, returns. and the blue eyes high ten. Finlay fells Danny with an illegal punch for 4, slams him for 5, gets an over the, Danny spins out of another backbreaker but misses a dropkick, knee backbreaker and stomp. He tags Murphy who gets an over shoulder neck suspension. Finlay delivers two blows from the top turnbuckle, the second as South and referee Harris argue, then Fit tags in and gets an over the shoulder backbreaker submission. The Riot Squad win 2-1. By American standards, this would a decent action packed 10 minutes tag. Not a great scientific match but some good spots here and there especially from Danny. soon to take Finlay's title.

And here's some 1961 footage we hadn't seen before:

Also just to clear things up, we have FOUR Schurli tag matches from the Heumarkt. This from 1978 - I think tagging with Billy Samson Vs Sika Anoia and Wild Angus: This from 1979 with Cas Martin Vs Judd Harris and Indio Guajaro This from 1979/1980 - Schurli and unknown Vs Johnny "Rasputin" Doyle. A black wrestler is apparently on Rasputin's side so not Cas or Billy S. I think there's another bout at the end with Schurli against what looks like Indio or Sika and what looks like the Rasputin off FR3 in 1982 - that could be a Fifth match. And this from 1981 Schurli and Caswell Vs Indio and Wild Angus (billed as Rasputin #1 - the more familiar Johnny Doyle being #2) Also here is a suited up Schurli at the said 1981 event, hosted by Radio Wien:

Rare 1967 footage of Schurli Blemenschutz, some wrestling but mostly talking to camera and hosting a training session inside an empty Heumarkt.