David Mantell

Bad Boy Johnny Yearsley is best known (apart from the Monty Python "Epilogue"sketch) for another bout from around this time in which he is leading Billy Two Rivers 1-0 only for the Native American to explode with chops for a KNOCKOUT win, oh yes. Marino booked the South for a while around this time and gets the blame for a slump in business only resolved by Big Daddy mania. The lighting rig in this taping is HORRENDOUS by the way, all dark shadows. Was this due to industrial action? Marino gets him in a front chancery position and they move about in this odd lockup., going into the ropes. They break and Yearsley takes down Marino in a side headlock. Marino tries bridging out before standing up and doing his characteristic twisting escape. Normally I'm not a fan but it actually looks quite good and snappish here. Yearsley takes Marino down with a front chinlock . Marino uses his bridge to lever up but Yearsley pulls hair to get him back down. It hits the ropes, they break. JY gets a hammerlock and Marino spins out and downwards. Yearsley gets a single legdive and leglock, Marino on the mat grapevines the other leg which makes Yearsley release. Yearsley wins a finger interlock but Marino bridges out of pin attempts then powers up to get a Japanese stranglehold but Yearsley throws him. Yearsley gets a bearhug but Marino breaks it open into a half nelson and Yearsley goes for the ropes getting himself some heat. Yearsley gets cross armed takedown into grovit into shoulder press. Marino back rolls into a dominant position with both arms folded off then a side headlock Yearsley breaks it open into a top wristlock but My arino switches to the other arm for an armbar and Yearsley goes for the ropes again to considerably more heat. Yearsley's bearhug goes into the ropes so he tries a top wristlock and Marino does the traditional British roll out. Yearsley tries a high whip and gets a bump and proceeds to an armhank but Marino sits up and gets a headlock. Bell goes and Yearsley gets in a quick cheap shot. Round 2 and Johnny gets dirty, headlocking Mike in the corner and running his face on the ropes. He gets a snapmare and crosspress Marino but Mine powers up and kips up and gets a front chancery. Yearsley gets another cheap shot in the corner and a brawl erupts. Max Ward tells Marino off. Yearsley gets a wristlock and Marino gets a back roll and horizontally turn into a single leg dive and leglock. Yearsley rolls over onto the guard and Mike nicely switches to a crossface. Ward refuses Yearsley a rope break so he powers up, corners Marino and cheap shots him again. Either these are not quite punches or he is concealing them well. I'm not too sure which just yet. Yearsley refuses to release a chinlock in the corner and Ward pulls him off and gives the Welsh heel a ticking off. Yearsley gets Marino in a Japanese stranglehold, Marino reverses and Yearsley goes for the ropes. Yearsley gets a headlock, Marino breaks it into a hammerlock. Yearsley gets a rope break. Yearsley gets a grovit into a series of headlocks switching to conceal something from Ward. Marino gets an armbar and crossface, Johnny goes for the ropes. Kent thinks Marino wanted a Jolly Boscik style 3 in 1. Yearsley uses a hairpull to headlock Marino down to the mat. He pushes his arm on Marina's throat - a foul- and Ward drags him off by the ears! Marino uses a front chinlock to position Yearsley for a forearm smash which gets a pop from the crowd. Yearsley knees Marino in the corner as the bell goes. Max has to order him to his corner. Round 3. They hit the ropes on lockup and Yearsley runs Marino's face again on a different top rope. Marino gets a bodycheck. He gets a wrist but Yearsley goes for the ropes yet again and gets a First Public Warning for passivity (too many rope breaks( and the ropes treatment also. Yearsley goes for pressure points but Marino breaks it up and gets a side headlock. Yearsley pulls him down into a ground top wristlock. Marino gets headscissors and Yearsley gets out with a longwise press that he uses to conceal some illegal closed fist punches. Finally Yearsley gets a knee across the windpipe and the referee drags him off. Max Ward could be one tough angry cookie! (TWC advert break.) Ward is still telling both men off after the break Yearsley gets a side headlock into side chancery throw. then a front chancery. He sneaks in a punch on the ropes. Marino gets a leg dive and leglock extension weakener, stepping on Yearsley's face as he does it, justice for Johnny's earlier fouls. Yearsley complains he has been stomped in the eye. Yet again he runs Marino's face on the ropes. Kent mentions Marino has thin scar tissue there - is Yearsley going for a cuts TKO? Yearsley backs Marino into the ropes and strikes him in the back in the kidney area. Mike gets a wristlock but Yearsley rolls out of it to get a top wristlock so Mike throws him and gets the bump. Yearsley whips Marino in the ropes, catching him with a knee on the rebound. He almost has a KO but foolishly knees the downed Marino. Marino gets a side headlock and slips in a retaliatory closed fist punch then a snapmare throw. Marino ends up getting the quiet reprimand. Yearsley wins his second finger Interlock and goes for the cross press. Rather than going for a pin he goes for fouls - illegal concealed fist and the knee on windpipe- before releasing. Marino wallops him with an uppercut as the bell goes. Round 4. Yearsley throws Marino and knees him on the ropes, getting the odd kick in before Ward orders him off. Marino gets a side headlock and grapevine combo. Yearsley gets some sort of foul on Marino's back and tries to capitalise witha crosspress but Ward orders him off. Yearsley gets in a stomp and Marino is angry, threatening a punch and Ward has to talk him down. Yearsley does the rope foul again and gets his SECOND SND FINAL PUBLIC WARNING but Marino is bleeding. Yearsley tries a straight armlift but Marino forces it into a side headlock. Yearsley pulls out from behind to leave a hammerlock but Mike rolls out. He is still in a wristlock in the guard. He bridges and rolls on his head into an upright kneel then stands and goes for the rollout but has to take the bump rather than complete the roll like the Young kids of the time might. Yearsley still has the wrist. He switches to double wrists and tries to stand on Marino's hair but Ward has his beady eye on Johnny. Marino uses his bridge to power out ( he really does this power up with a lot of grace.) He locks Yearsley into the tope rope but has to release (no French style shenanigans allowed.) Yearsley offers a handshake. Marino has none of it and forearms him. Yearsley throws him and gets a good bump. He tries again but Marino gets in first with a headlock into side chancery plus lift. Marino keeps the hold a good long while, Yearsley gets in a concealed closed fist but Marino no sells it. He takes Yearsley to the mat with the side chancery. Yearsley powers up and gets to the corner but the bells aves him. Nonetheless he gets in three illegal punches which annoy Max Ward and the fans a lot. Round 5 Yearsley twice side headlocks and kneelifts his man. He gets a side chancery throw, whips him into the ropes and catches him with a knee on the rebound. Marino is up at 6 and Yearsley side chancery throws him for another 6. Marino comes off the ropes with a shoulderblock catching Yearsley's leg as he goes down and applying his distinctive figure four leg extension (the same as he would use to get a consolation submission on Kendo Nagasaki on TV a year later) to win and progress to a final against the winner of a Spencer Churchill Vs Steve Logan MK1 match. Better than OJ makes out. My appreciation of Marino's unspectacular but solid technique went up a lot in this match. He also has a lot of the foundations of the British rolling escapes that young kids like Bobby Ryan and Steve Wright were starting to elevate to a higher form around now. Yearsley is an underrated crumb heel. Balding head and growly disposition. A bout for more advanced connoisseurs.

From 1986. Rambo is another wrestler who comes down to disgraced paedophile Gary Glitter's track "I'm the Leader of the Gang (I am)" Later on after round one they play an awful knock-off of that Mr Postman song that the Beatles and the Carpenters both did (sung in broken English with a German accent) . All the same camera mixing tricks as the Steve Wright Vs Tony StClair match from the same tournament Samson is a strength man and Rambo is a North American so the are best served by the slow old German style. Holds are worked for long periods of time and the escape that works is the last one tried. Being a North American, Rambo pushes upwards on headlocks etc to power out rather than downwards to the mat to pull off a leverage based escape. Agadoo by Black Lace gets played between rounds. Ouch. I would expect Rambo to be the heels but he gets as much applause as Samson. A babyface match with competitive needle. Still going at the same pace at the end until Samson rallies for the pin. The camera cuts away at the ruckal moment so only when Billy's hand is raised by referee Mick McMichael do we know the result. No sportsmanship, Rambo refuses a handshake.

From the same tournament as Otto's return match with Don Leo. It's the younger more slimline Wanz in against an expat British heel and Dave Schultz lookalike. A grey bearded man in a suit and hat is interviewed in the ring. Otto can still do rolling cros buttock takedowns into an armlock at this stage. He has a basic snapmares and an abdominal stretch and is a bit of a slugger. Viking looks like a biker who took up wrestling to be paid to beat people up. Mick McMichael in his kilt is the referee. It all ends when Viking charges Otto in his corner at the start of round 2 and slugs him but Otto takes over and slugs Viking then slams and pins him.

Two gimmick orientated bouts, pointing the way to the future world of Flesh Gordon, Jessy Texas, Scott Rider etc etc. Batman was Dave Larsen until the late 70s when he changed into masked villain Zarak (possibly aka Zorba The Greek.) Here his opponent is Abdul Khan, an Ahmet Chong type foreign heel, a bald bearded barefoot Arab with very little style in the ring other than dirty wrestling although he does produce a neat drop toehold. Batman doesn't do too much scientific wrestling apart from the odd very British cartwheel out of trouble. Batman gets the win with a cross buttock and press. Le Petit Prince is at ringside in a sheepskin jacket. Some little kids fawn over him. He is happy his buddy Batman won and has brought along a couple of his paintings to show the cameras. My first ever Masked Wrestler in December 1979 was a Mr X, defeated by Big Daddy on TV when hec was unmasked as journeyman Arthur Buffalo Bison. Seven years earlier this another masked Mr X faced Mammouth Siki, France's answer to Junkyard Dog. They start exchanging throws, already some of the flippiness of later French Catch, The masked man gets his heat on Mammouth. who battle the masked miscreant. The crowd, led by the MC, bay for an unmasking- "He he La CAGOULE". Siki gets a bridge out of earlier moves. Eventually X has Siki tied up in the ropes and is throwing referee Charley Bollet out of the way. It's all too much for Le Petit Prince who jumps in the ring to confront X over his tactics. He unties Siki and they (including referee Charley Bollet) pile on top of X fo get the pin. Afterwards, Prince unmasks X who spends time kneeling down hiding his face until a towel can be provided to hide his identity and take his leave. Fun if insubstantial bouts, loud characters, the odd good move.

Tarzan Johnny Wilson Vs Roy StClair, Cliffs Pavilion May 1977 transmitted August. Bit disappointed that I can't find a review of this one on here already. Suffice it to say it's full of the sort of action I absolutely adore and leads to a finish OJ will presumably totally hate. It's also - like the Nagasaki/Strong match -very much a heavyweight bout, yet it contains a lot of the moves recently described on the French Catch page as "the lightweight style." Down to business with Round 1; they lock up and go straight in the ropes then retry with Wilson getting a headlock. Roy reaches behind and pulls him into a folding press for a one count before Wilson's feet roll into the ropes. Roy gets a full nelson then switches it to a rear snapmare throw. Wilson gets up and gets a side chancery throw I to chinlock but Roy pulls his head out leaving TJW's arm in a back hammerlock position. Tarzan rolls the wrong way and Roy gets a brief pinfall attempt. He rolls back and Roy gets up again with his, the hammerlock by now a double wristlock. TJW gets his head between Roy's legs and backdropd him. Roy replies with a sunset flip into a folding press pin attempt. Wilson pulls his head out but Roy gets his head out of the hold.before a Bascule can ensure. They break and start over, TJW gets a wristlever that St Clair rolls out and Tarzan high Irish whips Roy to force a hard bump. TJW gets a Headlock and strange (sleeper) - Roy unfolds it to an armbar then converts to a rear hammerlock. He tries to reach backwards for a rear snapmare (not a reverse one as in French Catch) but can't reach far enough so horizontally spins out, facing downward. Roy gets another Headlock and strangle, He gets a bodyscissors and pulls him back with a bodyscissors then turns it over for a pin attempt, held with the scissors. Tarzan rolls out backwards and secured a Frank Gotch toehold. Roy tuns into the guard so Tarzan brings his weight down on the crossed legs. Roy tries to grab a waistlock but twice gets thrown off by Wilson., The third time, he chops Wilson in the sides, forcing him to relinquish. They start over, Wilson gets a wrist and tightens it up with a standing horizontal spin, producing a shoulder high top wristlock, forcing Roy to the mat. Roy twists into a barred straight arm. TJW forces Roy to take a high whip over his own extended arm, still holding onto the low top wristlock Roy gets a headscissors but John snaps out. Roy again gets a wristlever and tightens with a horizontal spin again, He slaps on a rear standing arm hank then vaults his man, armdragging and throwing him for a bump. Roy gets a right legdive and ankle lock, Wilson snaps back and throws Roy off but he cartwheels to safety. Tarzan gets a legdive and leans onto it to weaken the limb. Roy kicks him in the back as the bell goes. Round 2'and Tarzan gets a side headlock into cross buttock and press. He keeps him in the headlock and adds an arm scissor. Roy turns into the mount and stands . He grabs the headlock, releases the arm, keeps it bent in the back position and makes a hammerlock of it. Wilson escapes with a standing forward roll. He gets a full Japanese stranglehold on Roy who tries to reverse it but Tarzan double rotates the hold. Roy scoots backwards through Tarzan's legs and uses the tug to flip Tarzan over on the hold. He then kneedrops Tarzan in the back. Roy gets a side chancery throw and leg drop and underhook suplex into crosspress for 2 before being thrown off. TJW wins a test of strength and goes for a full frontal press pin but Roy powers out, Tarzan gets a double armbar. then switches to the pre surfboard rear double wristlock. Roy falls backwards and tries to roll forward, tempting TJW with grabbing a leg. Eventually Tarxan tries to grab the ankles and so releases the wrist and so lets Roy roll away. Roy gets a standing full nelson but Tarzan powers out. He gets a rear standing armlift which does not lift Roy but hurts his bicep. Roy kicks the back of Tarzan 's knee until he is kneeling, then he grabs a headlock and kneedrops Wilson in the face. He doubles him over and tries for a side chancery but Wilson falls in the ropes. Another finger Interlock and Wilson scores with a lean-back dropkick for eight and a high bumping throw for an 8 count then another such throw for four. Wilson gets a side chancery and double knees press for a two count. Roy gets a reverse double legs into side chinlock as the bell goes. Round 3. Johnny gets a side headlock into armbar and strikes a flying knee weakener into the shoulder then repeats from the armbar. He coverts to double armbar and wrenches on it with all his might. He pushes the weakened shoulder down. He jams the knee into shoulder joint to further aggravate it then switches to a rear arm hank. He is seated on Roy who is crouching down on the mat now. Roy crawl forwards through the legs and stands up leaving only the standing rear hammerlock. Tarzan twice throws Roy with the arm still in the hammerlock position taking the brunt of the force both times. With the arm suitably weakened Wilson reapplies the rear arm hank. Roy will not submit so Wilson goes back to the hammerlock, this time flat on the floor in the mount. StClair flips into the guard, thus untwisting the arm. Wilson folds it into a ground top wristlock which becomes a standing one when Roy kips upright. Wilson levers him back down and Roy slaps on a headscissors. Wilson turns the hold into the upright position and so turns the hold upside down, unplug his head leaving the legs again in the Frank Gotch toehold position. Maintaining the hold, Tarzan drops a shoulder into Roy's back. Roy turns into the guard and Tarzan kneels on his crossed legs. Roy tries for a bearhug, more as a breather than a serious hold. Roy lunges forward, gets an arm and throws Wilson and applies his own headscissors but it goes into the ropes forcing a break. Roy takes an arm and slings Wilson towards a posting before yanking him back for an arm weakener as good as any Irish Whip with a bump landing. The two briefly lock up on the ropes. Roy gets a right arm then switches to the left arm, barring it and driving the knee one last time into the shoulder. Just at that moment the bell goes and they shake hands. The crowd who have really enjoyed these holds give the two men a. Standing ovation. Round 4 starts with a finger Interlock until Roy knees Tarzan's bicep.. Wilson gets an armbar into a double reversed arms and tries to take a knee out but Roy straightens the arms each way to reverse the double arms. This ends in stalemate so they break and start over, the crowd applauding the sportsmanship as much as the skill. Roy kneelifts Tarzan in the face, whips him into the ropes and gets a cross buttock and press for a two count. Wilson gets a rest double legdives on Road turns him into the reverse double leg nelson, also for a two count. Roy lunges and doubles up Wilson then throws him across the ring. He is up at 5 and comes off the ropes in a flying tackle but Roy falls backwards and Wilson flies onto the ringside floor while Roy also has a bad landing on the ring apron, injuring his neck which referee Max Ward I'm. The referee counts both en out for ten - a Double Knockout. However given that the bout had been progressing so finely, this is commuted to a No Contest. The crowd applaud both mens efforts and are delighted with the result but I know someone who won't like it match. Ah well. the crowd enjoyed it and so did I. Make your own mind up.

This pair had once been tag partners in December 1975 on TV but facing the Haystacks-Daddy tag team, Strong had gone down a fall to Daddy before Kendo and George abandoned him to a second straight fall at Stax's hands. Strong starts off with a side headlock which Kendo breaks open into a top wristlock. Not being a Frenchman, Strong does not back somersault out of this, nor does he reverse snapmares out of the back hammerlock Kendo converts it to. Kendo gets in a couple of chops but these back Strong into the ropes forcing a break. Strong gets a front grovit on , so Kendo goes to the mat and rolls backwards into the upper position (This mat based roll was an ancestor of the traditional British roll on the mat to untwist and arm lever) and neatlyslips Strom's already bent arm behind him to form another hammerlock. He then underhooks the other arm and turns Strong over into a cross press but Strong twice pushes out at 2 so Kendo releases him. Strong twice gets a side headlock on Kendoand throws him using the ropes for extra bounce but both times Kendo rolls through the throw to an upright position. He chops Strong back to the opposite ropes and throws him, getting more of a bump on Strong who cannot roll through so easily. Kendo forces another bump with a high Whip. Nagasaki gets another standing hammerlock and Strong reaches for a rear snapmare but Kendonducks his head out of the way so Strong dhufles in the direction of the ropes. He underhooks Kendo's other arm meaning to get behind but Kendo gets a cross buttock throw. Strong gets a headscissors but Kendo takes a 270 degree turn round to the front rolling position then forward rolls out, grabbing a side headlock at the top of Strong's body., then switching to a cross press but Strong goes for the ropes. Strong gets a Japanese stranglehold but Kendo cross buttock throws him off. Strong gets an extended double wristlock on Kendo who nearly rolls out in the traditional British style (as he did out of the hammerlock earlier.) Strong also rolls out of Kendo's armbars (see @ohtani's jacket it wasn't bjustbthe lightweights) but then grabs the ropes to break it. Strong gets a legdive but Kendo folds himef into the Gotch toehold position, curls up and rolls out. Strong gets another Japanese Stranglehold and Kendo cross buttocks out and throws Strong again getting a bump and a count of 5. Strong gets some sort of chinlock and Kendo backs him into the corner forcing a break. Kendo gets a chinlock, Strong tries to lift him for an atomic drop but Kendo pulls him back down into a throw, landing up with a side headlock. Strong tries to pull Kendo into another headscissors but can't get the leverage. The bell save him. Throughout the first round and this round break, Walton touts Kendo's intert in mysticism. his "faith healing" clinic in South London and how Naggers is " a formidable hypnotist. Clearly Kent has been tipped off as to what is to come in round 2. Early on Kendo leans forward and stares strangely at Strong causing him to recoil. Strong gets a bearhug which Kendo slowly and majestically turns into a cross buttock into side headlock on the mat. He adds to the hold by scissoring off one wrist. He converts the headlock to a ground top wristlock while at the same time uncrossing his legs and crossing them the other way, thus smoothly transitioning to a cross press like points changing on a railway line. Strong powers out with two one counts and Kendo let's him up, but Strong isn't happy, complaining to the referee about something. Kendo gets a single legdive and traps the other leg to bring his man down in the guard. Nagasaki then turns Strong by the secured leg into a single leg Boston Crab. But Strong is too near the ropes and grabs them to force a break. Strong gets a headlock then whacks Kendo in the eye with the heel of the hand, flooring him. Strong tuns his body to block the view for the referee the delivers two illegal closed fist punches to Kendo's eyes. Crabtree catches the second and threatens Strong with a public warning if he carries on. Kendo is angry. The anger of a man who is trying to play it straight for once, then has THIS happen to him. So far he has functionally been the blue eye of the bout while Strong has been subtle heel, going for the ropes too easily and now outright fouling. Kendo staggers around then lunges forward into a pressure points position staring into Strong's eyes. Strong does not move as Kendo hits the ropes from a flying tackle.Strong tries to keep his balance but collapsed and Nagasaki gets the one fall required with the said press. It's an early version of the hypnosis angle would regularly inflict an Robbie Brookside 10-14 years later. Cut back to the studio for Bank Holiday Monday Sports Special- anchorman Dickie Davies quips " So, an Eastern victory ..." Despite the slightly gimmicky ending this is a good short technical bout which show that heavyweights çould work the British style too. Some particularly graceful work from Kendo.

... And here he is with Le Petit Prince back in their primes.

In between RBC and Flesh, there was one Claude Rocas. Here he is against some young whippersnapper in the 21st century...

1991 All Star has a go at a cage match. Kendo Nagasaki and Blondie Bob Barrett versus Marty Jones and Danny Colin's at Civic Hall Wolverhampton. Commentary at the start is by Peter Kendo himself and refers to his current storyline for LDN. Dance pop song about Kendo is also of recent vintage. The footage however is prime early 1990s post TV All Star boom. Kendo's manager Lloyd Ryan gets an early kicking out of the cage door and the blue eyes go to work. Kendo briefly exits the cage but uses a chair to bash down the good guys and gets back in. After Jones leaves the cage. Kendo keeps guard on the door while Barrett destroys Collins until Marty gets back in.m Salt and a chair come into the mix. Collins accidentally takes out the referee with a missile dropkick. Barrett accidentally blast Kendo with salt and Collins and Jones leave the cage together to be greeted by a trumphant mob of supporters, but the referee sees nothing. So they go back in to revive the referee and as they do so Kendo and Barrett ambush them and leave which the referee sees so Kendo and Bob win the match! Collins was British Heavy Middleweight champion and Barret either was or soon would be British Welterweight Champion. Wild and violent and totally unsuitable for ITV but at the time the total opposite of the kiddy friendly Big Daddy Roadshow and so way ahead of it by 1991 at the box office. Electric atmosphere too.

Nice interview with an out of character Jane "Klondyke Kate" Porter. Best bit is when the interviewer talks about British wrestling coming back and she flatly points out that it never went away. Atta girl.

Some more Teddy Boys, still not clad in Edwardian Drapes, still not a DA quiff in sight. The mention of Les Bloussons Noirs is a clue to the creation of their gimmick. Les BNs were in England and one of them ran off with Max Crabtree's first wife (which isn't germane to the story) and they were billed as The French Teddy Boysdespite being bikers, not Tedd. (Which is). Les BNs/The FTBs took the name back to France along with the first Mrs Max Crabtree where the name was reassigned to this tag team. By the 1970s you did get a lot of middle aged Teds as well as second generation Ted's who got into a nasty war with Punks, so I suppose Robert's half of the gimmick has aged better than expected. Physically, Robert reminds me of Bill Eadie as Ax of Demolition, both older guys in leather and greased hair. Rene was clearly an early architect of the Saulnier/PP/Angelito style we discussed earlier. He does the back somersaults off a top wristlock- in fact he follows up on it with a neat drop toehold. He does do Scisseaux Volees but early on not as a counter to a Clef Aux Bras. About 21 minutes in, he does do this move- a little pointlessly too as he is down on the mat with Robert and has to kip up and THEN flying headscissor when a ground- applied headscissor would surely have sufficed. He also does some forward cartwheels a bit like Dynamite Kid or Danny Collins. He does the vaulting overhead leap to behind an opponent that the above named guys all used. "Il est vaultigeur" says the commentator. I must look that word up. "Vaulter" says an online dictionary - as in a pole vaulter. Makes sense. Down on the mat he can wrongfoot an opponent with false legdives and even scoot through their legs (not as smoothly and swiftly as Collins though) - I imagine his bouts with George Kidd in the 50s were a lot of good fun. He does Kidd's human ball trick- like Kidd in the 1975 match with Black Jack Mulligan he sticks out the odd arm or his head as bait. Cesca is slower and more methodical. He throws and is thrown. He has an underhook suplex and a backdrop not unlike Big Daddy's double elbow drop- the dangerous one Bret Hart recalls Max C bribing wrestlers to take. The Teds are just generic thug heels. I've seen the post where OJ reckons it's Sevre in the Aledo match although that Teddy Boy was younger and brattier with spiky hair years before Punk. Sevre looks physically bigger to me than that other Teddy Boy and has a Beatle moptop cut (I remember reading somewhere the Fab Four got the style off a French art movement). It's also a welcome back to that big heavyset referee again, Martial who I previously cited as a precedent for Roger Delaporte's Enforcer Referee character from the late 70s. One time he roughs up Sevre who tries to appease him by patting him on the head! Sevre gets the opener on Cesca with a double knees press. Afterwards the Teds pretend to help him up then Sevre gets in a cheeky shot and they both post him to his corner, which he overshoots and lands outside the ring. They aim the odd kick at Cesca and an aiding RBC and themselves are slapped around by Martial who is reluctant to raise their hands. Le Boulch is from Britannia and likes sport especially wrestling says the commentator. They both have motor hire businesses away from the ring. Les Mechants try some of the tying up and slingshotting tricks Les Bons normally do (and blue eyes on Reslo) but it backfires as Cesca escapes and RBC is rammed into one Teddy Boy who falls off the apron then he dropkicks the other Ted out of the ring to join him. RBC handles both Teds, even doling out a Shawn Michaels superkick to one of them. Le Boulch tries his own George Kidd ball but can't roll up enough and Cesca nearly gets a rear bodyscissors on him before Sevre comes to the rescue. Later on when one Ted is slung out, he lands in a ringside seat and pours his woes out to the fan sat next to him. A nastier incident with fans attacking the Teds at ringside has to be broken up by Les Gendarmes who frogmarch the miscreants out. Cesca gets the equaliser with a rolling folding press as Rene dropkicks away the other Ted. Rene gets the decider with a Victory Roll. Yes definitely a fun bout. Ben Chemoul and referee Martial are the stars here. The Teds are violent but not upstaging like the Road Warriors, Cesca is functional. Ben Chemoul would go on to tag with Walter Bordes in a few years starting a line of Bordes tag partners that would end with Flesh Gordon.

Wrestlers - in any place or time - aren't really under any compulsion to make those allowances for fans from other far away territories where things are (least of all fans from the future watching their matches years after they have passed away.) Surely the onus is on the viewers from the other backgrounds to adapt their mindset to the different wrestling world into which they are entering?

Some more Gaeatano, here against the big Swiss at Graz 1980, just two years after his hammering by Inoki (I hope we can see that one some time.). Proof that those were more innocent times, Gaeatano comes to the ring to Gary Glitter's "Leader Of The Gang". Rene of course wears THAT cape to the ring. Cut to Rene repeatedly shoving Bobby into the ropes and giving his a stiff knee each time. He tries hoisting Gaetano over the ropes but it stopped by the ref, Bobby has more luck and out goes the big blond. He saunters round to the ring steps. Cut to Rene giving Bobby a side chancery throw and shouldet press for a 2 count. The pin attempt turns into a finger lock test of strength on the mat. Rene switches to an armlock. Bobby kips up so the Swiss throws him in the hold to keep it. He pounds Geatano 's bicep to soften it for a submission. Bobby slowly powers his way up and vaults over Rene; the armlock is kept but he is left in something like a Japanese Stranglehold position in order to do so. Rene throws Bobby again, so Bobby headscissors him. Cut to a round break with comic German music. Then a shot of some boots. The cut to Rene back in the headscisso. It looks like he is prying it open but a patch of bad tape prevents us from seeing this. Rene gets up and reigns blows on Bobby, a few look like closed fist punches but the ref does nothing, perhaps he didn't see although the punches were barely concealed. Cut again to Bobby headscissoring Rene once more. This time we see Lasartesse prise it open and kneelift Bobby. He kicks the lighter mad around and a running knee to the chest sends him somersaulting to the ground for a bump. Rene stomps Bobby's neck twice. He just about let's Gaetano off his feet then chops him down (so the No Followdowns rule is in force.) He pulls up and posts Gaetano and stomps him in the corner. Cut to more kneedrops and a choke on the middle rope then cut to a choke on the bottom rope and throat stomps from bad old Rene. The camera pans away to an empty bit of ring, then cut to Rene showing Bobby through the ropes, nearly getting a Knockout then shoving him out again. He is back to beating Gaetano in the corner when the bell goes. Cut to him continuing the beating in the middle of the ring then being warned back to his corner then a shot of a Mark Granny shouting angrily about he big blond bully. She no doubt remembers him doing all this same Scheiss back in the Sixties. So does her mate. Gaetano is in his corner nursing his bruised biceps. He steps outside for a bit and gets counted until he returns when Lataserre punished him with pounding blows including one over the head that fells him. Rene gets aside chancery throw and kneedrop. He tries to get away from the big man who catches him in the corner, gets him in a front chancery., snap suplexes him and drop a knee and some stomps. Lasartesse goes for the top turnbuckle but Gaetano lifts him off in a fireman's carry. He bashes the bigger man's head into the corner, puts him down and lands a headbutt. Rene rolls out of the ring in agony as the fans cheer! Big long panning shot of the audience, ending up with the now much happier Angry Granny from earlier and her equally delighted mate. Cut to Bobby still beating on Rene who covers up. Bobby gives him a swinging forearm then a dropkick over the ropes. Our grannies clap this! Rene gets back in the ring but cowers off Gaeatano and lies down in the ring getting counted. Gaetano takes his arm, twists it (Rene does nothing to untwist the arm) and posts Lataserre. He floors him again with a kneelift then again with a forearm. Rene rolls out to ringside clutching his head. He rolls in again and this time Bobby after seeking audience approval., uses a closed fist punch which earn him a First Yellow Card. The round bell goes and Billy gives the Swiss one more dropkick over the ropes. Cut to in the round, Rene has somehow regained his heat. He kidney jabs Gaetano and slings him over the top rope. An annoyed Bobby claims from ringside to apron the top turnbuckle in one move and fires a missile dropkick that floors the big man. He gets in some high jumping stomps then doves him to ringside with the flats of his feet. But Blond Rene is up on his feet and ready for a ringside brawl. He has Bobby laying on the apron while he pounds him from outside then gets back in the ring and stands back for the count. Cut to Rene kneeing Gaetano in the corner and standing back for another count then stomps him on the mat. Gaetano does get up somehow because we cut to Rene front chancerying and duplexing him for a pin cover, a high stomp and finally an Ivan Koloff kneedrop then finally a tombstone piledriver for the KNOCKOUT!!! The poor quality footage and the cuts make this a hard watch. If the full professional footage of this show (the source for the Otto/DLJ match ever shows up, this would probably be a satisfying brawl for OJ. What holds and technical moves there are, are in the long ponderous style of German/Austrian wrestling pre Steve Wright where every option for escape must be tried before one option actually works.

Not at all, I'm saying one wrestling culture's idea of what constitutes great wrestling does not hold a monopoly on validity. The Europeans were Not collectively Getting It All Wrong, they just had their different way of doing things.

They had THEIR IDEA of a great match. Who is to say who was right and who was wrong?

It's what native viewers were looking for, in Britain's case because Kent Walton educated them to think that way, or at least to aspire to think that way in the belief it made them a better fan and a more cultured person. He definitely promoted an idea of high-class connoisseur wrestling. In France's case the style was more showy and less cerebral. I suspect a lot of the flippiness of French Catch was an attempt to reproduce the sheer gymnastic appeal of all the big flamboyant spots (suplexes backdrops etc) of professional GR earlier on. I say, with respect, you're just imposing your own America-derived notions of what constitutes a great match on a different wrestling culture to which such criteria do not apply.

I get that and I think it got purged from the proper French Wikipedia but at least it's good to have SOMEONE'S version of the tale. In particular to learn of (I)WS(F)'s roots in KMG who I suppose are the Wrestling Enterprises Of Birkenhead of the French Catch story (if Wrestling Stars are the French version of All Star in the UK.) You have to start somewhere with someone's side of the story.

Well yes but the different systems of chain wrestling allow everything to link together and form a pattern so each move is a response to what happened with the previous move. Also the greater emphasis on defence work leads to greater scope for creative ingenuity in work. Anyone can put a headlock on, but to get out of one in an interesting and clever way requires skill and artistry.

Terry Rudge in trunks with some hair takes on the five time Royal Albert Hall trophy tournament winner. They lock up and Tibby gets a headlock which Rudge breaks opens into a ground top wristlock. Szakacs gets a headscissor but Terry snaps out. Then it's Tibor's turn to break a headlock into a top wristlock. Rudge rolls away. They lock up again but it's too near the ropes for the referee. Rudge gets a side headlock. Tibor throws him in the ropes but Rudge comes off at an odd angle. Rudge gets a side chancery and takes it to the mat. Rudge gets an armbar, Tibor rolls off and horizontally spins to tighten his own armbars, the exchange eans a polite clap from the crowd. Rudge gets a full nelson. Tibor uses leverage from a leg to break it open into an armbar. Rudge does a standard horizontal spin to slacken it off then twists the other way. Tibor ties up and arm and leg but the bell goes. Round 2, Rudge gets a side chancery. Tibor turns it into an armbar. Terry rolls out. Tibor gets a full nelson into side headlock, Rudge breaks out. He gets another side chancery. He tries to throw Tibor who gets a small package but Rudge keeps his shoulders up. Tibor gets a ground headscissors but rather than capitalise, he rolls backwards and out. Rudge tries for a folding press into cross press. A finger Interlock on the mat goes standup then rolls backward to twist both arms. As Rudge widens his arms out sideways, Tibor switches to a wristlever but Rudge rolls off. Rudge gets a side headlock into reverse neck crank then releases and forearm smashes Tibor. He snapmares and crosspresses him but Tibor kicks out and the bell goes. Round 3. Rudge gets another side headlock into reverse neck crank into side chancery. He releases then gets a standing rear chinlock. Tibor breaks it open into a wristlever but Rudge rolls off then gets a side chancery. This time Tibor slips out backwards and delivers his judo chop which gets a big pop from the crowd. An annoyed Rudge gets three forearms , a snapmares and neck crank. Tibor breaks this into an arm around but it hits the ropes. (No boos for this as it was accidental) Very quickly Rudge goes for another side chancery but Tibor makes it a top wristlock. Rudge converts to a front chancery but it hits the ropes so he goes for a side one instead. Tibor gets a forearm smash and another trademark chop. He shoves Rudge through the ropes but the ref pulls him back and Rudge saves himself by grabbing the middle rope to avoid tumbling out. The ref helps him up. The go into an exchange of forearms smashes and Tibor has Rudge on the ropes. Rudge gets the advantage but the ref quite rightly breaks them up. They lock up and Rudge gets a side headlock. Tibor tries prising him off then fires him into the ropes but Rudge comes back with a shoulderblock, flooring his man. He gets a forearm and a nice thrown on Tibor who lands in the ropes. Tibor reverses a throw into the ropes but Rudge pulss up short in the rebound. They lock up but it goes into the ropes and the ref breaks them, then the bell goes. They have a slight encounter on their way back to their corners. Round 4. Rudge quickly corners Tibor. He gets some forearms and a throw with Tibor taking a rolling bump. Rudge gets a side chancery throw into crosspress but Tibor easily throws him off. Rudge fires off more forearms and slings Tibor into the ropes but he comes back with a cross buttock and press for the one required fall. A good scientific contest, apart from the forearm smashes. A bit of needle too so not quite a clean sportmanly match. Another two heavyweights who can do the British style and roll off armbars etc which further proves my point from the French Catch thread.

From the post CWA EWP and from Fit Finlay's farewell tour, he gets a World title shot here at Paul "Cannonball Grizzly" Neu, the artist long ago known as PN News. First up it's nice too see they still went in for white ropes and dark blue mat- what is it about old school German wrestling and that colour combination. They've still got the disco between rounds "Eurotrash Hits " the commentator calls it- and indeed they still have rounds at all when All Star hardly bothered. Finlay has Robbie Brookside of all people as his corner man while Grizzly has Ecki Eckstein as his flag waver. One is an old man, the other a big fat man also getting up in years so a fairly slow paced affair and not in the methodical German style either. Bearhug territory from Grizzly . Things look a bit temperamental between Robbie (with his corner bucket). and Finlay (the crowd favourite) at the start of round 3. The commentators discuss Finlay's former backstage job with the WWE Divas - Trish Stratus is name checked. Finlay cross buttocks Grizzly to break out of a bearhug in round 4. Finlay gets a yellow card in round 5:for persistently not allowing Grizzly back in the ring. Grizzly goes to work in round 7 with a Big Daddy style offence but it falls to bits when he misses a "Cannonball Roll" (that's a Broken Record for all you old WCW fans). of the top turnbuckle. At this point the Wildcat goes WILD, turning heel on Finlay and attacking him at ringside then getting into a wild schmoz with Eckstein and a bunch of other guys who run in. Everyone including Grizzly piles in to keep them apart. Robbie says something rude about Finlayin German with a strong Scouse accent and Finlay piles out after him followed by everyone else. Brookside cuts a long promo in English challenging Finlay to a Liverpool street fight then storms off. Finlay offers to make it a tag match with son David Jr (III). Which I guess led to the Finlays Vs Brookside and Dirty Dan Collins tag match I reviewed several pages earlier in this thread.

Actually Brody could work the British style (he being in reality a Yorkshireman) and roll out of armbars with the best of them. FYB as I've just noted on the French thread "was a heavyweight yet he back flipped, reverse somersaulted and headscissor-tookdown with the best of them.". Yet here they work a slow methodical old time German match (until the end when they have to be pulled apart.). It's half an hour of camcorder footage so I'm not blow by blowing it. Anyway the bout end in a time limit draw after half an hour of slow solid holds with a late flurry of pin attempts by Franz. At the end we see the intro of a triple tag where Billy Samson, Johnny Saint and someone else I don't recognise prepare to take on Butcher Mason (Mighty Chang ) a heel Dave Taylor and Rene Lataserre. At the start we see Terry Rudge getting red carded and I think Rolo Brazil getting declared a winner.

Well it's not just lightweights - in Britain Pat Roach, Pete Roberts, Tony StClair and (before he would "lose his cool" and break out the dirty wrestling for the evening) Kendo Nagasaki did all that. I'm just about to review a Pat Roach match where he does a fair bit of that although that wont be the focus of the review (wrong opponent for that sort of bout). See also Franz Van Buyten with regard to French Catch. He too was a heavyweight yet he back flipped, reverse somersaulted and headscissor-tookdown with the best of them.

ANATOMY OF A DISQUALIFICATION. You'll probably know Walker in wrestling best from his time as Nitron. bodyguard to Woman in WCW, later teaming with Kevin "Vinnie Vegas" Nash as Big Sky. Future Hollywood movie star Tyler Mane is here fresh off training by Red Bastien (whose name Kent Walton has trouble with) and stints in South Africa and Don Owen's PNW. He's playing the arrogant American heel who thinks the "Limeys" are midgets and their rule system offensively strict and say. He comes to bring plunder and destruction but gets sent back to the dressing room in disgrace. Pat Roach could never be a heel again after playing loveable bricklayer Bomber in ITV comedy drama Auf Wiedersein Pet. Here he is Walker's equal in size and master in terms of skill. I hope Andre the Giant never saw this footage, Walker rips off his stepping over the ropes routine, something Andre hated. After an abortive lockup, Pat gets a headlock and then tries a bodycheck to little effect. Pat gets an armbar so Sky walks to the ropes which gets him an initial burst of cowardly heat for not having any significant technical response.. Pat tries again for a straight armlift (a relative of George Steele's "flying hammerlock") he gets an armbar and weakener on as Pat rolls to undo the wristlock, moving just like a lightweight Another twist of the arm sees him BEAUTIFULLY turn on his head from a bridge to get an armbar of his own. From here he positions Walker nicely for another Straight arm lift. Sky pulls him down to the mat by the hair. After they break, Sky gets another armbars plus weakener which again Roach rolls out of. Roach attempts some forearm smashes which again sends Walker to take the coward's way out on the ropes (in America this was not Heat, it was acceptable even for a babyface.) Walker gets an American sleeper on Roach but he replies with two kneeling fireman's carry takedown submission attempts, the second interrupted by the bell. Cut to round three, Roach is posting and backdropping Walker. Walker initially gets away with a concealed closed fist punch but when he brazenly punches Roach off the apron , he gets a SECOND AND FINAL PUBLIC WARNING for this (the first, it seems was during the clipped out Round 2). Enraged, Walker bodyslams the referee and not only gets DISQUALIFIED but also gets a grand pompous dressing down from MC Brian Crabtree. "Yankee, in the United Kingdom when someone strikes the referee like that, its INSTANT Disqualification! You are Disqualified!!!" The crowd are delighted to see Walker rage at being told off like a naughty schoolboy (this shot was later included in the end credits reel for the weekly wrestling show.) This doesn't establish the Mighty Yankee as a winning force. But instead it establishes him as a disgraceful scandalous man, undeserving even if tainted victory who needs to be Taught A Lesson. This was his only ITV match so that never happened, not the full wrestling lesson from Roach nor the humiliation of Daddy treatment (another Mighty Yankee, Bill Pearl, suffered that fate.)

Well it's not just lightweights - in Britain Pat Roach, Pete Roberts, Tony StClair and (before he would "lose his cool" and break out the dirty wrestling for the evening) Kendo Nagasaki did all that. I'm just about to review a Pat Roach match where he does a fair bit of that although that wont be the focus of the review (wrong opponent for that sort of bout). All three stronghold North West European wrestling cultures survive at least at grassroots level, which is more than can be said for all bar one mainland American/Canadian wrestling territory

Quite a lot of finishes in European Wrestling are alien to American Wrestling fans. For example as a British fan I was brought up to regard a 10 count knockout as being actually a more thorough and definite finish to a match than two falls/. submissions (and I get the impression the same concept exists in both French and German/Austrian Catch) but you wouldn't believe the hard time I had explaining this to people on the "Why is America always assumed to be the centre of the wrestling universe?" thread on here. So yes there is some amount of opening of mind required and accepting of certain aspects of European Wrestling as being different, not defective from American Wrestling.