David Mantell

1983 is when Gerard Herve becomes Flesh Gordon. I'm not saying his personal popularity helped bring about the recovery but more likely it was the more gimmicky cartoony style he as lead bon exemplified that either tempted execs to put more on or else stimulated demand for catch among a younger audience. Some of the other characters like Kato Bruce Lee and Eliot Frederico (Le Rocky Du Ring) start to pop up around that time. So do more outlandish masked characters like Mambo Le Primitiv, Les Pihranas and Les Maniaks. Gordon has said that commentator Daniel Cazal was a willing collaborator of himself in trying to make le Cstch more "colourful" so perhaps the revamp of style and the revival in broadcasts were connected.

Also might be a good idea to check for Sunday evenings at around 1700h. We know there were such broadcasts from the time codes on the INA tapes.

And lo and behold they're all A2. Which clears up one mystery about the INA collection all going colour in 1975. The INA just didn't bother with the B/W bouts on TF1 when there were enough colour bouts on Antenne 2 to fulfill the quota.

I'm pretty sure there is a LDM with Brigitte on it on @Matt D's channel. Will go and check. LDM wasn't really a wrestling TV show as such, more a docu series taking a wry look at wrestling. It clearly did pave the way for the move of the proper TV wrestling coverage to FR3 the following summer. Well there's this one that we've already discussed. No sign of Leo Derwedrt/ Derweeri though.

This matchup is mentioned in the 1991 listing but may be a 1988 bout seeing as it's a smaller ring with no giant Eurosport logo on it.

The above was an episode from the 1991 TF1 run but if the date is correct it's two weeks later - presumably also a Monday night..

Off topic slightly but regarding Swimming Pool Matches - I expect you all already knew this but it turns out WCW did one on Nitro once: https://www.facebook.com/reel/979964607591567 (Only slightly different as the floating ring has an attached ringside but Ric Flair still takes a water bump.) Is that what you hated so much about those matches, OJ?

The brief return of New Catch to TF1 that year. I think these bouts may have posted here by me in the past. They've certainly been talked about - El P saw them. TF1 got privatised in 1987 so possibly the 1988 and 1991 broadcasts were outside the INA's remit. I take it they've been checked for on the INA's database? The British equivalent was Joint Promotion's first Aberdeen taping in late 1990 screened a few weeks later on Grampian/STV and then on Granada in early 1991, which were Kent Walton's last ever commentary work.

I'm pretty sure there is a LDM with Brigitte on it on @Matt D's channel. Will go and check. LDM wasn't really a wrestling TV show as such, more a docu series taking a wry look at wrestling. It clearly did pave the way for the move of the proper TV wrestling coverage to FR3 the following summer.

Yes, I thought this had already been reviewed:

Matt has handily edited off the news broadcast. Even so, the match takes 4 mins to start as Charley Bollet has problems getting Mambo to prepare for the match. Mechant Vs Mechants but Mambo is the crowd favourite like a nonplussed babyface George Steele. Comedy captions on screen such as "BUOWW!!" and "SPLASCH!!" and even "CRAACK!!" for of all things a Mambo full nelson. I think I reviewed another match with this. (with the Marquis Jacky Richard in it as I recall.) Daniel Cazal's guest colour commentator is a singer called Billy. I think this is the same Gonesse TV taping as Flesh Gordon and Khader Hassouni Vs Marquis Jacky .Richard and Black Shadow. The INA recording abruptly cuts out after 10 mins so unless we can make contact with original French fans who made video recordings of their own we shall never find out how this ended. Mambo was back against another heel opponent Jessy Texas just a few weeks later- and he had the band with him.

Three years earlier, another Otto defence, the same year as his first Sgt Slaughter match. I'm not really familiar with Duncum other than that he was in the AWA Heenan Family and his outside interference caused the only AWA World Championship title change of the 1970s seven years earlier making Nick Bockwinkel champion the first time and ending Verne Gagne's seven year penultimate title reign. Half an hour of good quality professionally filmed footage with two fixed cameras, one high up , the other for close ups. Fairly straight up American brawl. This is the year Otto got his few weeks with the AWA title himself. By now he looks more Wahoo McDaniel than Colin Johnson. (Afterwards I watched the 1984 Ed Leslie bout and Wanz is A LOT. fatter there). Duncum's fluffy blond hair makes him look like a heel Dusty Rhodes. Most of the disco between rounds sou ds like old Brill Building girl group songs or early 80s knockoffs thereof. At one point fans start singing the same song for Otto that they sang for Roland Bock against "Killer" Antonio Inoki in 1978. Early in round 3 Otto has a headscissors on and it looks interesting to see how Duncum will get out (especially after the referee refuses a rope break) but disappointingly I think Otto just releases. Similarly, early in round 1, Duncum impressively knows how to undress a headlock into a straight arm and slip underneath to create an arm around. The two carry on brawling though the round gap between rounds 5 and 6 although Duncum does grab a quick swig of water. Just both continuing to stomp each other. I don't think Otto makes it back to his corner. Duncum gets dumped out of the ring at the end of round six and his seconds in their white "We are Yanks" baseball caps troop round to sort him out as he rolls around on the mat outside. He makes it back for round 7. Otto finishes off Duncum with two guillotine elbows, a rolling splash and a final suplex. Otto versus the Americans is what German/Austrian Catch is best known for, but we have seen StClair Vs Wright and Ligervvs Schumann and know that the German speaking audiences were capable of appreciating so much better.

Rare video of 3 wrestling matches in Lusaka, Zambia. 0:00 Kid Chocolate (dark trunks) vs Alan Bardoville (yellow trunks) 0:24 John Mwale (green trunks) vs Johnny Kwango (orange trunks) 1:20 Masamboula (spotted trunks) vs Prince Kumali (red trunks) Source : Reuters archives Descritption from the source : "A team of top black international wrestlers came to Lusaka, Zambia's capital, for the first time on Thursday (7 November) night. Wrestling is a popular sport in the country and the crowd was well pleased with he evening's programme. The evening opened with a close-fought battle between Kid Chocolate, Jamaica's Lightweight Champion, and the Dominican Republic's Middleweight Champion, Alan Bardoville. The result was a draw. Next on the programme, a contest between the local Middleweight Champion, John Mwale, and Johnny Kwango of the Central African Republic. Kwango is a leading television personality in Baaing, but he could not match the Zambian's skill and determination and lost after a knock-out. The high spot of the evening was a bout between Masamboula, the Heavyweight Champion of Gambia, and Prince Kumali, the Guyanan Heavyweight Champion, who is called (with geographic licence) the 'Lion of Africa'. After six hard-fought rounds, Kumali gained the winning pinfall." The odd thing about this is that "Kid Chocolate" was usually Alan Bardouile's ring name in Britain. Not sure who this one is. Possibly George Burgess aka Jamaica Kid (1970s)/ Jamaica George (1980s)/ Cool Cat Jackson (Reslo early 1990s). Notice they all very much work a British style here. Clearly Zambian TV was screening "Wrestling From Great Britain" (repackaged World Of Sport footage sold overseas by ITC). See especially the line "Kwango is a leading television personality in Baaing" The four corner pads are all white but red and blue corners are indicated by the metal ring posts.

A rather spirited heel Vs babyface undercard from 1985 in Poysdorf, Mittelbach, lower Austria. Babyface Franz Schlederer from Yugoslavia in the orange trunks was later nicknamed "der Soldner" - the mercenary - is up against burly Swiss heel Franz Schlenz, who has some kind of title and some kind of attitude. Schlenz attacks Schlederer before the bell and goes on that way as carpenter heel Schlenz generally reacts to the Austrian's technical moves with fouls rather than have a scientific bout. The Swiss wins this way.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oldest_surviving_professional_wrestlers#Oldest_wrestlers_to_ever_perform_70_and_over

Some old thoughts of mine about Naggers from the Introduction To British Wrestling thread:

Have taken the liberty of having a look at your past posts- I see you've already posted on the French Catch thread.

Welcome to the thread. Dean Allmark filmed quite a lot of All Star bouts (or got friends to do so) and put them on his YouTube channel. They're an invaluable record of All Star in the Noughties and Tenties and nence the Old School British scene during that period. Were you at this bout Mark? It's one of my favourites. It would have been nice if Kent Walton could have lived to see it. We have similar threads on here for French Catch and German Catch, although the French thread could do with some native fans who grew up watching Le Catch Sur la Tele and carried on following the exploits of Flesh Gordon, Monsieur Jacky etc etc like I and presumably you and many others have done in Britain from 1988 to the present.

A full length All Star show a decade ago at Fairfield Hall Croydon in the main concert hall. Just before shows there got relegated to the smaller Ashcroft Theatre room. Headline attraction is the return to the UK of Fuji Yamada, in against then (and most recent) British Mid Heavyweight champion Robbie Dynamite Berzins. (Posted because I wanted to find a Reslo Finlay/Yamada match but there isn't one.) Thunder is Darren Walsh, son of Banger Tony Walsh. In the Warwickshire area he was still Darren. In the rest of the country and in Germany/Austria he was Thunder -EWP World Heavyweight Champion, British Heavyweight Champion and top heel in a Warlord style half metal mask. Oliver Grey/Joel Redman was later All Star British Heavyweight Champion twice, last losing it to Mickey Long last year. Fit Finlay's son David Jr, actually David III, in against his dad's old punching back, a now middle aged Danny Collins, out to settle old grudges.

Fuji Yamada Vs Fit Finlay would have been a natural match to put on Reslo some time in 1989-1990. Sadly we don't seem to have ever got that, but we got this. It's a fan cam of a time limit draw in Germany, Xmas 1993. Not exactly a technical classic but an action packed epic nonetheless. Can be hard work focussing for nearly 45 minutes from a handheld longshot.

This was the third in the series of the Big Daddy Vs Spoiler (with Doctor Monika) feud. The first, Daddy and Andy Blair Vs the all masked tag team of The Spoiler and King Kendo saw the Spoiler have his mask pulled off to reveal some tights over his head underneath. The second, of which this is a rematch saw the Spoiler unmasked and revealed as Drew. Now he risks losing the next layer. I dealt with the French December 1967 hair match, so here is the other one. It was set up when Drew McDonald came out after Daddy and Marty Jones's win over the Barbarians Karl and Wolf Kramer waving an open pair of scissors about and giving Health and Safety KITTENS at the thought of the bad example to children watching. In a promo before the match not included in the YouTube clip (but that's a screengrab of both promos at the start) Drew McDonald ripped off a line from Jesse Ventura's WM3 commentary when he says "there'll be one of us going home tonight looking like Humpty Dumpty." As a devout Glam .Rocker I rather envy Daddy's purple sequin jacket in this - his top hat here matches. He seems to still be suffering the effects of the stroke he had around this time. Monika has ditched her SS Fraud uniform for a nice sundress and red hat . The villains have El Diablo in their corner in a nice new maroon/silver mask (he usually wore red/blue). He gives away that he's Tony The Brain/Weasel Francis by wearing the exact same white leisure suit he wears as a manager. Gordon Prior is a very shouty hectoring MC. You wonder if he's a strict school teacher during the week. He reminds me of Rumble's Steve Barker nowadays. (Steve if you're reading this I'm sure you'll take that as a compliment.). Daddy takes that beautiful jacket off and swings it round and round which can't have done it much good. The kiddy Daddy fans besiege the ring apron provoking concern from Kent Walton and a cry of "SITTHEBLUDDYMOKEYSBACKONTHEIR SIIIIITS!!!" from Monika. Female heel managers don't mince words. Daddy clears out the heels and Singh takes over The twice future European Welterweight Champion gets a headscissor throw (not quite a toupee) on Rasputin who takes quite a bump. Mostly the villains just use dirty wrestling. Daddy gets a public warning for a two on two sequence where receives into the whole pile of wrestlers in the corner. The villains each get a Public Warning (Rasputin for illegal punches, Drew for double teaming) and Kashmir gets a nice opening fall over Drew with a folding press after recovering from a backdrop. Rev. Michael Brooks is at Ringside. Drew gets a Second And Final Public Warning for repeated guillotine elbowsmashes on the floored Singh. He gets the equalising submission with a backbreaker and Daddy hits Drew with the plastic bucket. The heels are 1-1 and Daddy and Drew are 2-2:for Public Warnings. Drew thinks he has the winner with another Boston Crab but in fact he has tagged Daddy who gets the win with a splash despite Drew's pleas for mercy. And so commences a shouting match between Monika and Prior, she claiming Drew kicked out , he shouting "YOU KNEW THE RULES! YOUR HAIR COMES OFF NOW!" at Drew over and over again even after he has sat down on a stool and a rather nervous female hairdresser who obviously thinks Monika is going to attack her snips off tiny bits of Drew's split ends with nail scissors.And there we leave them. As I've said elsewhere, I suspect that after the cameras cut, Drew got up and strode off, leaving the Lucha de apuestas to be redone every night on tour while the REAL head shaving took place in Drew's bathroom at home. He did thereafter appear bald but the special stipulations stopped here after three layers, two mask and one hair. - thankfully no Loser has Scalp Skin Surgically Cut Out match. Quality? Well the Singh opening folding press is good and so was the headscissor throw a minute or so earlier. The rest is what you get from a Daddy tag. I'm sure there was something good on the undercard that it subsidised.

This bout hasn't been reviewed yet on here but I did mention it as having been broadcast in December 1967 on 2eme Chaine and therefore the earliest known surviving B/W bout which might be restorable to Colour using Chroma Dot Recovery (Channel 2 went colour in October but the only bouts between then and this are a set screened in October on Channel 1 including Peter Maivia.) Actually there are one or two bits where a few frames are missing, possibly from repairs to film damage, including during the MCs announcement of the equalising fall. However there had been quite a few off screen - Steve Young as preparation for becoming the UK Skull Murphy, the same .Kashmir Singh losing his long Sikh hair in battle in a way that would not upset family and friends. Possibly Black Jack Mulligan at some point (I mentioned him on the German thread - the lconnection to this post. This is 21 years before Big Daddy and Kashmir Singh beat Drew McDonald and Rasputin in a match ending with Dr Monika Kaiser screaming her lungs out as a lady hairdresser snipped off tiny bits of Drew's hair before the cameras cut and I suspect Drew stormed out and repeated the finish around Britain before finally doing the REAL headshave at home in the bathroom mirror., ready to appear bald at a TV battle royal a month or two later. It's 19.25 years before Piper vs Adonis at WM3 inspired Ed Leslie to ritually humiliate jobbers and a few name heels. Before Jimmy Valiant and Paul Jones made "bald headed geek" a slogan. Twenty years in the other direction it was a humiliation for women who had slept with Nazis "la collaboration hoizontale". Couderc in his glasses reminds me a bit of Steve Allen backstage at WM6. Apparently whoever takes the fall gets the shave. Batman is introduced as American (he was Brit Dave Larsen) and starts, flinging the Black Jackets about and cartwheeling out of their armbars. Le Duc pulls off a nice flying headscissors early (appropriate for a hair match). The heels are a lot more Manchetteux and it becomes more of a striking contest when they take over. They get the first fall on LeDuc with a folding press after a double team. A dolly bird at ringside looks all fornlorn about it. I think she was one of Gilbert's many girlfriends, or something like that according to Roger C. If either Bon loses the next fall they will be the one shaved. The heels have big moustaches, the badge of a villain in mid C20th France, the sort of heads found on criminal gang members, later pictured in the press mounted on a prison mantlepiece. Batman gets quite a hot tag in the middle fall with a flurry of dropkicks and a bulldog/flying headscissors one on two combo to the opposition. It goes quieter down . A Blouson gets an armhank on LeDuc and he goes into his corkscrew Toupee, the one he usually uses to escape headscissors, to roll up his hanked arm. As LeDuc tries to headstant in the arm hank (and topples over a few times first) Couderc makes a real eye rolling joke in fake English, quoting Shakespeare - "Toupee Or Not Toupee? - zat is ze question." When LeDuc finally pulls off the escape, Couderc shouts "Toupeeeeee!" with childish glee. When LeDuc does his attacking headscissor throw toupee, Couderc stans singing Bingo Bang Bang. Gilbert also gets into a ringside brawl with both BNs, still unthinkable on ITV a decade later. The equaliser is gained with one Blouson trapped in the ropes by Batman while LeDuc slingshots the other into the first to soften the latter for a splash and pin. The Bloussons' individual names are Claude Gissinn and Marcel Manueveau. (Sp both) . I had trouble keeping track of who was who when I last reviewed a bout of theirs. It's Manueveau who gets pinned after Claude trips in the ropes like the future Barber (see how these things connect up) at WM2 in the process of losing the WWF World tag belts. And it's Manueveau who gets the new bald look. He's actually quite brave about it, roaring at Les Bons to stand back before slamming himself down on the chair and letting Le Coiffeur (a cross between Duranton's poor manservant Firmin and Michael Palin as Arthur Pewty in the Monty Python Marriage Guidance Councillor sketch) do his work. Unlike the blond hairdresser from the British hair match, this guy has an actual pair of shears and gets the job reasonably done. Mannuveau still has a few clumps left.Anyway, the crowd give the result a polite clap before both heels scurry off. Anyway, maybe some day we shall see this in colour.

I've checked and they're both the same video (same tracking shot across from one side to the other as the two wrestlers are announced.) Was the Richard Land copy a high generation version of the same?

Not the bout from Eurosport New Catch with Paula in 1990. This is a couple of years later. Zrno's technical work has shit up in quality in this match since that one, he is obviously keeping up with the Wrights. Even Finlay does a few clever escapes just to remind the world he can. It ends with Finlay DQd after he starts going all hardcore at ringside, after which Zrno ward him off with a chair to which he cuts a promo. This is a high quality copy and was filmed in good quality multicam and the camera crew have access to ringside and the aisle to follow wrestlers about. The prefab looking building can hold about 500 and appears to be the German equivalent of a Town .Hall or Civic Theatre wrestling venue in Britain. Still not quite broadcast quality like the big Otto fights.

I think I've already posted that video on the French thread to illustrate how he visited all three Stronghold Euro territories, but this is it: Also there's this. Just occurred to me this is only a month after he and Quinn were at Wembley Arena, losing to Big Daddy and Wayne Bridges (blue-eye reunion of old 1974 heel tag team of Bridges & the Battling Guardsman)