David Mantell

Three Brits and a Quebecer. I'm not expecting a Johnny Saint classic. Not after his singles match with Brody. But maybexa few little tricks will be snuck in. Sunny and Brody starts. It's a heavyweight strength hold fest and Sunny works North American anyway. Saint tags in and starts with a flying bodypress and 2 count. He then does the full Russ Abbott/Lady of the Lake sequence on The Colonel. Plenty of young kids like Jordon Breaks today like to copy these two sequences. Befuddled, Body tags Viking. Saint neatlyvreverts a front wristlock on him although a fade cut sadly drives us of the chance to see it all. The German crowd are lapping up Saint's tricks, squealing with delight. SUNY comes back in and Viking gets the heels heat back, beating down on him. It becomes a two way brawl until Brody comes in and dominates. He stomps and posts the faux Native American until tamed enough for Viking to resume. Sunny tries to punch his way out but Viking and Brody double team him. The Scotsman continues to beat down on War Cloud. The villains tag in and out. Viking gets the opening. pin on Sunny. A bad 80s cover of Sweets for my Sweet plays. Bell rings and Viking goes back to work. Sunny scoots through his legs and scores the hot tag. Saint dropkicks both heels out of the ring. Suddenly Brody full Nelson's Saint and Viking punches him. He gets some axehandles in before Saint scoots round to score a folding press equaliser. And there it ends. Possibly the good guys (can't decide if babyface or blue eye is more appropriate) already had a fall in hand. Perhaps the decider followed. It's really not clear. Any clues? Still we got some good bits of Johnny Saint action, not the drubbing Brody gave him solo.

The rematch is at a more conventional venue, the Cirque d'Hiver. Big Tough Martial is the ref. Manneuvaux and Bayle start off, crisscrossing, Manneuvaux has a fine flying tackle, Baylecsome nifty snapmares. The second time MM tries his flyer he is caught and slammed and really sells it. Gessat tags in and the pace keeps up.until they lock down into a 2 way front chancery log roll. Gessat and Aubriot both have fine headscissors. The commentator tries to interview Manneuvaux on the apron but MM Ignores him. Manneuvaux gradually breaks out the dirties. He and Gessat try to double team Bayle but Martial gets stuck in. The BNs continue their double teaming ways despite Martial's best efforts. Aubriot is thrown to ringside but Bayle rescues him. Bayle undresses a Manneuvaux full nelson and gets a ground dropkick in. He has Manneuvaux in trouble on the ropes and is warned off by Martial. Baylecsome the headscissor takedown in response to a top wristlock. Les Bloussons double cream Bayle again. Manneuvaux has a Gotch toehold but doesn't get the behind leg synched into the depth of the rear of the knee.After getting choked on the ropes, Bayle goes to work then tags Aubriot on the second attempt gets a Surfboard. Manneuvaux gets the opening fall with a further leg nelson folding press (the small package to you Americans) on Aubriot for the opening fall. The BNs work over Aubriot with foul and fair tactics. At one point Manneuvaux gets an eyerake into chinlock and has his own scalp badly yanked by Martial. Manneuvaux argues bitterly about it. Aubriot puts up a strong if close to the edge of the rules performance on both BNs.The commentator calls stamps on the mat "un Petit coup" Manneuvaux comes to Gessat's aid and gets a thorough pasting from Martial on the ropes. The heels heat continues - Gessat has a fine Planchette Japonaise for a Mechant. Aubriot gets two Scisseax Volees and a Tourniquet (giant swing) and cross press for the equaliser. All four brawl their way into the interval until Martial gets calm. Les Mechants get back to work as the bell goes for la Belle. The end comes when Aubriot drapes Manneuvaux over the corner and tags Bayle who press slams drops and splashes Manneuvaux (like the Ultimate Warrior only a front not back drop.) for the deciding pin. Cut back to the studio and a female presenter gives a continuity announcement. More of the same as the Maison De La Radio bout 3 months earlier. Fast more than skilfull, plenty of interesting nuggets but best not give a blow by blow account ss they would be harder to sift out.

Would you believe it was the start of May that we last did some New Catch? Zefy in his prime taking on a Japanese young boy learning to work heel. He's not quite the Tokyo Street Thug heel Hiro Yamamoto was on CWA shows a couple of years later. Takayaki uses stiff kicks and suchlike and his technical and flying skills are not up to Zefy's level but it's an enjoyable action piece enough. We join in progress as Zefy has an armbar. Takayaki backs him in the ropes until L'Arbitre Charley "Brother of Andre" Bollet warns him off, knees him a few times and gets a side chancery throw into headlock ("Etrangelment" the commentators over dramatically call it). Zefy breaks it into an armbar into cross buttock throw. Takayaki gets a leg and standing toehold, drops his weight on the knee to make a leglock. Zefy gets a chinlock on in response but releases as the Japanese tightend the pressure. He goes back to standing toehold and Zefy turns him over with almost a toupie (he doesn't quite go up on his skull). They finger Interlock and Takayaki gets three kicks and a slam. He tries and fails to get the pin with the finger interlock. Zefy bridges up (Hideous and unnecessary zoom in on crotch) resists his man's break attempts and and does the Planchette Japonaise on Le Japonaise.to a great pop. They reset and come off the ropes. On the first pass Zefy absorbs an elbow, on thecsecond he drops down underneath, on the third he leapfrogs over and gets a bodyslam and press for 2. We get a slo-mo of some action- yes it was almost a toupie but Zefy's elbows took some of the load. NOT THAT BLOODY CROTCH SHOT AGAIN! Sheesh. Back to the present, Takayaki gets a cross buttock into side heädlock on the mat. Zefy starts to stand up so Takayaki switches to front then side chancery throw and crosspress for 2. Takayaki gets a wristlever, passes it overhead and lands weakener elbows on the upper arm. Zefy gets his arm free and grabs a side headlock. He comes off the ropes but Takahashi resists a bulldog and scores a fine cross buttock throw on the rebound. The Japanese and Zefy's female valet have a disagreement - this will build to something. He whips Zefybwho switches arms and throws his man. Next a flying headscissors and dropkick. Valet looks happy. More replay. Zefy gets a headlock, Takayaki blast a couple of blows and slams his head in the corner with the pad off. Bollet tells him off. Takayaki gets some stomps on the fallen Prince Two more kicks floor Zefy. Not sure if Takayaki gets un Avertisement at this point. He does get a suplex and 2 count. More slo-mo. The Japanese slams Zefy and gets a Scorpion death lock on (Sting has popularised the move in the West but not yet Bret Hart. Mostly I think he was channeling Masa Chono. Crowd shot, a good full house with raucous kids. Les Gosses Francais Aiment le catch. bien Sur. Zefy crawls to the ropes, Bollet demands the break. Takayaki complies but then drops a guillotine elbowsmash angering Bollet. Side suplex and folder gets only 2. Takayaki tries a Camel Clutch.How much American Wrestling does this guy watch? He sneers and we see he mis missing a tooth, useful for a heel. Zefy too by the looks of it, he backs his man into the corner like Hogan at MSG January 1984. Takayaki switches to sleeper at the last second but it doesn't help. More slo-mo. In a corner, Takayaki gets a kick and Zefy some butts to the chest. Zefy gets a neat side Chancery throw and un Manchette. The valet is up on the apron doing a Paul Butin. Zefy fires a dropkick, two Manchettes and accepts one back.On the ropes, Iisuki fends Zefy off with a kick. He comes off tecropes with a bodycheck, flooring the Prince. He gets a second one and a fantastic spinning kick. A crosspress gets only 2. He gets a slam and missile dropkick, shoving the valet out the way as he goes. A rear waistlock suplex and bridge gets 2. Crowd is chanting for Zefy. He gets a powerslam for 2. Iisuki is on the wrong end of Two Manchettes and a head smashed into that same exposed turnbuckle no one has fixed in minutes. Zefy gets a posting but is met with a kick to the head. Iisuki gets a flying bodypress but Zefy rolls it over for 2. He backdrops his man out of the ring. The scantily clad valet (the Princess?) and Iisuki gets into a shoving match at ringside. He gets back on the ring apron and Zefy suplexes him in for 2. A forward powerslam and Superfly splash gets Zefy the winner. And CUT. We don't get to see the postmatch "afterbirth" if there was one. The file is labelled 3 so there may well be two earlier parts. Iisuki had some good moves but much to learn in terms of heel psychology. Zefy was on good form and the star of the piece.

@JNLister Was wondering if you know the chronology of Klondyke Kate and Naughty Nicky Monroe's kayfabe relationship? I know that they were a heel tag team together at the Royal Albert Hall in 1987 then they fell out and Nicki became a blue eye and Kate beat her for the vacant British Ladies championship on the BBC2 Raging Belles docu and injured her and a couple of years later Nicki came back and won the title and then by 1995 Klondyke Kate and Naughty Nicky were heel tag partners once again. But here in 1985 they seem to be enemies with Nicky on the good girls' side. To further complicate matters Kate and Rusty, tag partners here, had a bout on Reslo around this time. I would ask Mrs Nicola South or Jayne Porter but do not expect a helpful answer from either so shan't bother. Okay, the singles bout first. Round 1 JIP: Rusty is working on a leg. Releases and retakes the limb but Rusty refuses to submit. They Bascule back and forth with the leglock still on. Nicky gets a legspread and knocks Rusty down. Rusty goes for straight arm lift attempt, whips and forces a bump, switches to ground top wristlock, goes up for another high whip and bump then down again, Nicky gets headscissors, twists forward, Rusty gets the ropes and the bell goes. Round 2: Rusty gets a standing full nelson. And the odd hair grab too. Nicky reverses, Rusty drops and backs through Monroe's legs and gets rear double leg takedown. She uses headbutts to Nicky's behind to stop her sitting up. Nicky turns the whole thing over and gets a double arm stretch. Rusty tries to use her feet to bait Nicky, this nearly backfires when Nicky gets the folding press but Rusty crawls out at 1. Rusty gets a headbutt then goes dirty with a bottom rope choke held with a boot. She then chokes on the top rope opposite then catapults her down on the mat. No count due to fouling. Rusty gets an elbow to the back of the neck and a stomp to follow. She gets a side chancery, some hair and a concealed punch, one of these three is not a foul! Rusty stomps on. She headbutts Nicky down but the referee stops the count when he sees Rusty standing on Nicky's hair. Nicky gets a bearhug but Rusty concealed punches out. Bell goes but Rusty continues and gets a public warning. Round 3: Rusty gets another concealed fist to down Nicky. She gets two rolling suplexes and a crosspress for a 1 count. Nicky gets her own concealed punch and referee John Harris (later briefly the English commentator on New Catch before Orig took over.) is suspicious and argues with her. Nicky posts Rusty, hooks her up in the corner and gets three blatant punches and a public warning of her own. Very naughty of Naughty Nicky. Harris stops Nicky attacking the downed Rusty in the corner. Comedy spot - Rusty leans on the ropes to complain about hairpulling, Nicky boots her in the behind, flooring her. Rusty posts Nicky and gets in a stomp too - just permissible as continuous movement. She axehandles the bass of Nicky's spine which is not thus allowed. She collars Nicky getting up and elbowsmashes said base of spine. She slams Nicky's head in the corner. She slams and double kneepresses Nicky for three 2s. She front Chanceries Nicky on the ref's side and gets a concealed fist on the other side. Rusty gets double rear arms (surfboard component.) Bell goes but Rusty will not release, Harris prises her off. Round 4, Rusty gets a posting and lifts Nicky by the hair and headbutts her way to a Second And Final Public Warning. She cruises for a DQ by standing on the bottom rope on Nicky's bicep. She posts Nicky but Monroe gets behind for a folding press and the one required fall. Not bad, some good if not sparkling technical work early in the bout, more dirty wrestling later on. Nicky seemed to be quite happy to use dirty tactics herself. That and the Naughty nickname suggests she was already an accomplished heel. Now for the tag match: Kate comes out looking young and vicious like Kathy Burke in Sid & Nancy. She is introduced from Canada (not Stoke on Trent!). Nicky gets a big pop. She and Kate have matching red outfits like they've already been tag teaming. Tina is blond and looks like a weather girl Like Mitzi she's the big sister for the kiddy audience. Rusty punches and throws Tina who cartwheels out twice. Tina and Rusty exchange headbutts and punches. Rusty slings and rather crappily throws Tina who lands feet first then slumps in the corner. Tina leapfrogs Rusty, gets double legs and a folding press. Kate tries to intervene but arrives too late. Rusty takes Tina down with pressure points. Tina powers up, shoves Rusty away. The heels choke Tina on the top rope. Rusty headlocks Tina while Kate elbowsmashes her, Nicky hauls Rusty off. Posts and blasts Rusty in the back. Kate holds Nicky while Rusty gets concealed punches. She gets a public warning. Undeterred she Full Nelsons Nicky holding her for two Kate bodychecks. On the third, Nicky dodges and the heels collide. Blue eyes posts heels into each other. Heels try it but good girls switch round and headbutt the heels. Rusty gets Nicky in a headlock into front chancery. Concealed punch and boot. Finally Kate tags in! She headbutts Nicky down and gets a public warning. Nicky concealed punches (retaliation?) slings, boots and fells Kate. A double axehandle follow down gets a private warning from Harris. Nicky posts Kate, hooks her up in the corner and concealed punches her twice, finally she took has a Public Warning, only that nice Tina Starr lass has none. Harris demands Kate be disentangled, the blueceyes comply but cause her to drop on her behind in the process. Kate's illegal punch is not concealed as such -;Harris is inside and reprimands Kate thoroughly. Tina tags in, the heels get to work on her. With a slingshot and double clothesline. They do it again. Kate slams and double knees Tina for the equalising fall.But Kate also gets that Second And Final Public Warning. She and Rusty cuss out the kids at ringside. Kate offers a handshake. Tina is suckered in and Kate pounds her on the ropes. Rusty tags in, ragdolls Tina and chokes her on the ropes. Tina falls out and Rusty gets a Second And Final Public Warning. One more PW to either heel and they are DQd. Nicky and an old lady help Tina back. Rusty elbowdrops Tina who gets a concealed punch of her own (a girl can't be good forever) and tags Nicky. She pounds Rusty but Kate grabs her hair while the referee counts Rusty. Kate argued about this with Harris while Rusty illegally punches Nicky. Rusty gets a posting and one stomp. Nicky reverses the next posting. Kate tags, headlocks and concealed punches Nicky. She takes an armbar over her head and a nibble on Nicky's hand. She gets double rear arms on Nicky who flips out and ground dropkicks Kate in the torso. Kate fires back in kind but misses a splash. Nicky cross presses her for the decider. More rough and tumble, less science than the singles bout (Tina's opening folding press was great though.). Fair play to the kids in the audience for non discrimination - they just treated it the same as a men's bout, an idea American women's wrestling is struggling to come to terms with right now with a hist society unreceptive to such ideas.

Possibly Billy Robinson brought the roll on the mat (the signature British move) to Japan. Other WCW people like Bagwell and Badd could only possibly have learned from Regal so he could work with them more easily. I was watching the OSW vlog on the 1988 Royal Rumble from a decade ago and they were complaining that the Steamboat- Rude bout that night was boring because it was just continuous armbars. (See from 3:58 onwards below) To me as a fan brought up on British Wrestling it does stand out like a sore thumb that in the American style nothing gets done about an armbar, people just stand there selling it!

Alessio has that one on the Date Unknown playlist on his channel. Was (is?) this Maison De La Radio place a TV studio? If so it was a very large one. It looks like I said like a cinema. TV studios in the UK in those days were not big Hollywood sound stages, they were poky little rooms much like the places they did all those Southern US studio wrestling shows, if anything even smaller. If they set up a ring in the studio ATV used for Tiswas (Broad Street in Birmingham) it would look just like an episode of the Poffos' ICW circa 1980. In Germany, with the show where Bock wrestled the bear, the only giveaway that it wasn't a Southern US studio wrestling show was the fancy stylish set design beyond the budget of genuine American studio wrestling. This Maison place on the other hand has a giant theatre sized seating rostrum, a big blank wall suitable for projecting films and theatre/cinema curtains hanging open either side. In short it looks to me like a cinema even if it officially wasn't one. There was a rematch between the four a few months later. I've been considering doing a review but I'd been meaning to do that 2007 Mickey Trash bout for longer so that got priority.

Bit of a build up the Villain piece here. Mickey Trash was a common early C21st opponent of Flesh Gordon. Two tall bodybuilding face painted cyberpunk Mechants. Miserio is a luchador with a depressive condition, tragedy masks on his mask and an action man figure of himse of. Emil is a not very interesting Italian. Les Mechants beat down on Les Bons, Les Bons get a hope run, Ls Mechants get their heat back when Michel drags Emil out by the leg getting an Avertisement for his team. Mickey does big power moves on the masked man in yellow. He fights back with some bi modern soot moves on both heels until Trash gets him with a released blockbuster suplex. Soon Miserio is the one selling the big spots. The heels get another Avertisement for double teaming but under IWSF rules at this time they could go up to 5 until DQ. Miserio dodges a charge from Michel, headscissors him and tags Emil. He does out dropkicks and armdrags. Mickey ends up ringside going nose to nose with a fan. The villains get their dominance back until Miserio goes on a jackknife spree. It's back and forth until Mierio misses a diving summersault splash. Michel pins him to win .

Still a bigger venue than Techwood Drive. That back wall still looks like a movie screen. Maybe stuff was indeed projected into it.

Yamamoto the sour faced Heel Kid of Japanese young boys. Scorpio thecex luchador turned student of WCW World Champion Ron Simmons, like Ice Train abandoned when his mentor took the Dark Patch and like him also ending up in the German speaking world when WCW lost interest in Simmons and his trainees. Hiro has a Kabuki makeup and comes to the ring to the Shamen's Move Any Mountain. Scorpio to his old WCW music. Two pieces of early 90s kitsch. Skaggs does his old dive over the top rope into the ring. He can already dance to match Watts, Taylor and Wright (A). Scorpio must be another WCW midcarder who Steve Regal taught British chain wrestling to. At first I thought it was just the crummy limited style WCW used to dress up mostly WWF ISH bouts as being technical but 2cold has the mat roll and kip up down right to break out big from the standing arm reversals. A clean break on the ropes gets a very British polite clap - so Germans do that too? Just as I was hoping for a clean match, Hiro gets a bit brawly leading to an atomic drop and 7 count. It's more American chops and brawling and bodychecks.with the odd folding press for 2. Yamamoto gets thrown out of the ring. They brawl outside and throw each other on tables. Bloody ECW, I say. Yamamoto puts his knees up to avoid a Scorpio backflip splash. There's a headlock from Hiro but it just goes on and was clearly an American style crest hold, not a British style link in a chain sequence. Yamamoto gets a yellow card. He also gets a Boston Crab but let's go for no good reason. We then get various big WCW Cruiserweight spots including misses and hit for 2 high flyers including moonsaults from both. It culminates in Hiro getting thecwun with a German suplex. Started off very promisingly, still a decent WCW match later on, very Clash Of The Champions fodder for 1993 before the Yellow And Red Reich pushed out the likes of 2 Cold Scorpio and gave Brutus Beefcake PPV main event World title shots - like the CWA had already done nearly 11 years before.

Memo to @JNLister - What source was this recording? It looks like it might be a colour kinescope. 1974 was one year too early fa U-Matic home VCR. Twenty years before The Legend Of Doom. South was more of an Old Anderson tribute. Hd has hair - lots of it. And handlebar whiskers. Round 1: South gets an arm around, Steele looks to roll out so South puts in an arm to go over so he has to take the bump. South keeps the arm but Steele links with the other arm to get behind and form a hammerlock. He gets a frin chancery but South spins him out but Steele rolls nicely and up. Steele gets a side headlock, south straightens it to a wristlever, Steele turns it the rest round and back to front chancery but South works the same escape. So again South rolls to upright on the mat. South gets a side headlock into side chancery throw into seated front chinlock. Steele escapes front behind with a wristlever into hammerlock. Johnny tries a run out but is driven to the mat. Steele holds the hammerlock with a knee and adds an underarm armbar, eventually holding it in place on the mat with the other knee. South bridges to avoid a pin. Steele tries getting the shoulders down but South pulls up with the finger Interlock and they are both grappling from collar and elbow. South gets a front chancery on Steele. Ray gets the arm into a rear armbar, hammerlock on the mat and final arm weakener. He gets Arn armbars, passes it overhead twice and forces a hard bump. South swivels round on his head and rolls out and away. South gets a legdive and seated leglock, Steele gets the chin. South keeps the leg but breaks the chin hold and starts working on one leg while Ray annoys him with the other foot. Steele gets the chin back and pulls it into a further nelson, South bridges and tries to roll out. Steele gives up and they reset. South gets armbars into hammerlock with bar. Bell goes, they shake hands. Kent Walton refers back to Steele's June 70 debut with Leon Arras and says he could one day be a champion (He was British Heavyweight champion forca while although this was a disputed Joint/ITV branch against Tony StClair's version recognised on Reslo and All Star shows except on ITV). Round 2. Steele gets a side chancery, South forces him all the way to the opposite ropes. Steele gets a "Headlock and Strangle" (sleeper). South goes down and Steele arjusts to side headlock. South gets a face bar from underneath. Two way holds. Steele breaks South's holds, South tries to regain but referee Ernie Baldwin is unhappy with where South's hand is and throws it away. Steele leans down in the side headlock and turns it into a front chancery. South straightens the arm into a wristlock and starts rising. Steele tries to reach round to reapply to Headlock. He gets the sleeper but South reaches up for Ray's neck and gets a kneeling rear snapmare out of the sleeper and keeping an arm held by his knee to work on. He scissors the wrist. South gets nastier repeatedly elbowing Steele in the ribs (and saying "Boom!" each time LOL! ) Steele gets a one handed chinlock. South continues to both elbow the ribs and hold the other arm. Steele hooks the elbowing arm with his other leg and gets a further nelson but it goes into the corner where Baldwin has to separate them. South gets an Indian Death Lock and continues to hammer away with the elbow. Steele has enough, sits up and gets a front into side chancery then pulls a leg free from the leglock. He gets a crossface, frees his other leg and switches to sleeper, a brief crosspress, sleeper again then standing side chancery. South hammers away but Steele keeps the hold before finishing with a kneelift. South gets a headlock and pushes Ray into the top rope, he is turning heel. Steele gets a front chancery and a heel of hand blow, forearm and back elbow. He gets a side chancery throw and a chinlock that looks like fishooking in the mouth. He gets and elbow in on the bell. Baldwin has to order them apart. Walton profiles South, mentions him wrestling for The Opposition (Paul Lincoln?) Round 3. South kick Steele in the legs, he is angry. Steele gets a side headlock, crois buttock into another side headlock plus short armscissor. South pulls down on the head and Ray focuses on the heädlock. South slips out behind in the seated position, gets figure 4 headscissors. Steele turns into the guard, pulls the scissors loose and gets his head out. He gets a single toehold, South gets a side headlock. South breaks the toehold and gets a sleeper of his own. Steele fires him off the ropes and leg trips him into the Gotch toehold. He reverts to the single toehold and drops weakeners on the lower knee. He tries to add a chinlock South clips out and gets a crossface while still in the toehold. Steele switches to over neck leglock to full Boston Crab. South gets the ropes and an angry Steele stomps him. South in retaliation gets in a concealed closed closed fist punch but no Public Warning, possibly as it was retaliation for the stomp in Baldwin's mind. South gets two postings and a snapmare, slingshot to the ropes and three forearm smashes. He whips again but Steele gets in behind forca side folding press. After a couple of 2s, Steele slides towards direct shoulder press. South gets an armscissor and wristlever They pull apart and Steele gets the knee on the bell. Round 4 South gets a posting but Steele double kicks him as he follows in. They have a finger lock test of strength then Steele gets an arm force high whip but South collars him to block this. Steele takes the wrist downstairs but South kneels him in the back and smashes him in the face. South throws Steele off the ropes and Ray takes a heavy bump. South gets a far distant side chancery throw. Another throw and rebound produces a bodycheck which floors both men. They hits the ropes again, South dives under as Steel leaps over him, catches him with a cross buttock throw for 2 and a kneelift. Rope run again and Steele gets a reverse waistlock slam (not a piledriver as Kent incorrectly claims) and double knees for 2. He switches to double arm stretch. South turns upright until bowing over Steele, gets in stomps, a brief double knee, an armbar from in front, shoulderblock and high whip forcing Steele to take a bump. A stomp to the ribs finally earns himself a Public Warning He is now clearly working villain as Rasputin charmingly called it in that clip with Dave Finlay Senior. Steele gets two uppercuts and a knee. He gets a legdive while South takes a wrist. , gets his man down and applies armscissors. He tries to crank the arm but it's not effective as it goes with the joint not against, as Kent Walton notes. South loosens the arm, kneedrops it, contemplates a straight arm lift , bashes away with a body check or two, high whips Steele to force a bump and STILL he has the hold. Steele gets himself free with a series of forearms which draw juice. He gets a Rick Rude style Rude Awakening for 5, a dropkick for 7 and the Aeroplane spin and double knees for the double knees and required fall. Despite the needle they shakes hands and both receive a polite clap. Despite the needle, South experimentation with his future heel self and the odd bit of brawling it was mostly a good intelligent technical match. I'm glad to read that by 2014 OJ was developing a taste for bouts like these.

This appears to have been filmed in the same location as the Mantopolous tag match above. No sign of the drumkit from the other match although at the end I spy a grand piano with a pianist all ready to go. It's the same plain white backdrop. Actually I think it's a cinema rather than a TV studio and that is the screen. (Over in Britain, Granada Cinemas had Paul Lincoln promotions shows at their cinemas which were then filmed and the prints bicycled round the country - there's even an example on the British Wrestling thread, the Wild Man of Borneo bout). Gessard (no moustache) and Bayle start off. Good fast technical start Manneuvaux (moustache - Couderc makes a silly remark about the tache's lone weight). tags in and gets kicked out of the ring. Gessard in, keeps Bayle in a headscissors. Manneuvaux takes down the other Bon (I think it's Dan Aubriot). with a knee to the base of the spine and applies a headlock. He really looks sinister with his moustache, thick eyebrows and slicked black hair like a 1920s Hollywood heavy. (Think early Oliver Hardy before he became Stan Laurel's comic foil) Aubriot wedges out so Marcel pulls hair to regain the headlock. What a Mechant! He gets Bayle (who tags in after a failed Aubriot folding press pin attempt ) in a headlock on the ropes and L'Arbitre pulls him off by the nose! Gessard tags in and stomps on Remy's leg and gets heat. Bayle twice slingshots Gessard acrossthe ring Dan tags in and grabs Gessard by the ears (Mick McManus's least favourite place to be grabbed) and knocks him down. Manneuvaux helps by headlocking Dan from behind and the villains double team him. Manneuvaux cuts off Dan's air as L'Arbitre escorts Gessard out but this does not get the same heat it would in England even though Aubriot is thrashing away with his legs to get the ref's attention. Dan gets shoved out the ring and the ref backdrops Manneuvaux out to join him. They have quite the ringside brawl, the hardcam catches the ringside camera swinging round to keep focused on the action. All four guys end up in the front row seats with spectators fleeing for their lives (luckily no braver souls make a bid for TV fame and pitch in.) Les Bons make it back to the ring first while Couderc begins leading the audience in the most godawful drunken singalong. The hardcam actually captures him dancing around in his own little world! Les Mechants stumble back and a tag team brawl ensues. Couderc is still singing and so are la Publique. Gessard works Remy over with an armbar (he does nothing to escape) then tags Manneuvaux. Bayle gets a fireman's carry then an overhead press slam (Couderc sadly starts the bloody singing again!) the tags Aubriot. Manneuvaux gets a bodyscissors in the corner but Dan knocks his hands off he ropes and he lands in a heap and the fans laugh at him. He gets a figure four top wristlock on the mat, Dan kips up to make it a standing top wristlock. Manneuvaux tries to get the advantage pulling hair again but the ref flings him off to the ropes. Aubriot gets a Manchette and a side chancery throw into front chinlock (more drunken Couderc singing). He takes Marcel's face (the ref ignores this or puts it down to retaliation) and switches arms on the chinlock then gets a crosspress for 2. Manneuvaux gets headscissors but Aubriot kips out and tags Bayle. Manneuvaux gets a sleeper (and crafty eyerake) The heels double team Bayle as they tag and get their first Avertisement. Aubriot gets the hot tag and we get so evof Couderc:s infamous pro Bon bias "Allez Aubriot! Vas y Aubriot" and more singing. Manneuvaux ends up tangled in the ropes as Bayle tags back in. It gets fast with ground dropkicks and missed splashes from both sides. Gessard tags in Aubriot throws him with headscissors. and Bayle throws him with a rear snapmare. Gessard gets some throws of his own. Bayle gets a powerslam for 2. They knock heads and Bayle gets up but the villain is counted out for 10 - KNOCKOUT!!! Not a technical classic, a simple Bon Vs Mechant brawl with a happy ending.

We've talked about this match a fair bit. Broadcast on Sports Loisirs, a sports package show. The only other bout we have from this slot is Flesh and Zefy Vs Jacky Richard & Jessy Texas, but this in the only INA match although reportedly they broadcast quite a few more going up to November 1987. This was a Saturday and the speaking clock says just after 1530h. Ted Jones sou ds like he should be Welsh but is actually Belgian - with a German flag to prove it. Karl Von Kramer is most certainly not Carl "Barbarian Karl Kramer" Davies (who made his one and only ITV appearance 5 months later teaming with brother Wolf to job to Big Daddy and Marty Jones) but I don't think he's the 50s/60s one either - I think someone told me it was his son. Funny looking venue with wooden pillars and matching ceiling beams. There is a potted palm plant. Ring has a shiny skirt like it's going out nightclubbing after the matches. The corners are covered by pillowcase things saying "OFFOY". Kramer has an old male manager in a Panama hat - we later learn that his name is "FRITZ VON ERICH". Someone's been reading their American magazines. He undies the turnbuckle cover and a little bit tries to stop him. Jones has two dolly birds. Maybe I imagined it but I'm sure on a previous viewing I saw the two naughty girlies pull poor old Fritz's chair out from under him. International referee Louis De Flamenca is in a red jacket like a circus ringmaster. Most of the bout is slow strength holds and dirtied. Not inspiring to write a blow by blow account. A Continental version of Bully Boy Muir Vs Collin Joynson. Jones gets some good cross buttock throws on the bigger Kramer. He dumps him on the ringside. He uses a neat swinging motion to break open a seated chinlock into a standing top wristlock. He uses an over the shoulder slam to counter an inverted front chancery. At one point Kramer is pounding him on the ropes and he takes Kramer over one shoulder and Arbitre Louis over the other and throws them both out with him. A spectator tries to pull Jones out of the ring, Jones goes out and wallops him. They don't throw him out, just sit him down, so maybe this was an angle like Fred Magnier running in during the late 70s Michel Di Santo Vs Michel Chaidne bout and getting a kicking from DiSanto and Delaporte. Karl gets the win and a Euro championship after taking advantage while Jones is being pulled off the ropes. Afterwards we get what Jim Cornette calls an Afterbirth while Jones is beating up both Kramer and L'Arbitre. Not the most inspiring end to Alessio's last playlist (he needs to add Flesh/Zefy Vs Richard/Jessy.) but New Catch would see better moments.

Only seven minutes long, sounds like this is going to be an execution. Stax is in full Grumpy Garden Gnome mode, refusing a handshake. Wright ducks past Stax as he will need to keep distance and use speed to even survive a few respectable minutes. Cut tonStax with his hands round Steve's throat - he caught him in the end. Stax floors Steve with an overhead blow for 5. then with a bodycheck for 2. Wright goes for a leg but after a bit Stax shakes him off. Cut to the Giant again choking and bodychecking Steve, this time in the corner. Wright dodges a Stax charge, dropkicks him onto the ropes and begins the process of hauling him over to ringside despite Mick McMichael's objections. Stax recovers and slaps Steve out of the ring like a goofball. On the way back he headbutts the Giant and launches a missile dropkick off the top corner, flooring the big man. He stomps him and jumps off the opposite top corner bouncing off the Gian's stomach, earning himself a first Yellow Card. He gets two more stomps and another feet first corner jump as Doncaster Mick warns him and refuses to count a pinfall where Steve just covered him American style. He continues to attack the downed Stax with a chinlock and what looks like tying his hair to the top rope. Stax makes it to his feet but is soon on the ropes from two dropkicks and a double handed shove. The bell goes but Wright continues to charge Stax again and again. He finally retreats to his corner with a naughty smirk on his face. Round 2 Wright nearly sneaks up behind Haystacks to jump him on his shoulders off his own corner but Stax throws him to ringside and goes outside himself to continue the treatment. He ponds away at Wright until he is DQd. McMichael goes out to stop him doing any morecdamage. Not the execution I expected, more a Stax disgraces himself to establish himself as a vile heel. Another variant I was used to as a child. Sadly Daddy did not come to Germany to sort big nasty Stax out.

Ten months earlier in Hanley for Screensport. This is just the highlights of the three falls and a minute or two each leading up to each one. Referee is Frank Casey - no he's not Fit Finlay's dad either. Round 3. Cortez falls victim to a back hammerlock from Robinson and stupid jokes about his moustache making him look like Charles Bronson from Miller and Beezely. Oh dear. The Chuckle Brothers are at their worst here. He turns s him into the guard with thecarm in hammerlock position for a couple of two counts, then into the mount. Cortez stands, gets a French style reverse snapmares to behind Jackie, rear double legs takedown and turns him over into a folding press but Jackie's feet hit the ropes. The Hanley crowd applaud and even the Chuckles call it beautiful. Jackie gets a front chancery (not a side one, commentator!) Cortez tries turning sideways then stands up to get a sideways folding press for the opening fall. They shake hands. So far so clean. Round 5. Cortez turns a front chancery into the standing neckbreaker, almost a Rude Awakening, but Robinson rolls up his back and, still in the front chancery, grabs a leg. gets kicked off, comes back off the ropes with the same further folding press from the Lewisham ITV bout but this time gets the equaliser. Round 7. Somewhere in between, things have gone nasty. Cortez and Casey are having a shoving match. Robinson isn't happy either, getting a forearm and an attempted rear snapmare in before the bell. He gets the snapmare successfully once he bell is gone, then another front chancery but Cortez slips in what might be a concealed punch (the Chuckles don't notice) followed by a crotch hold, bodyslam and kneedrop right in the throat. Cortez gets a forearm, rear snapmare and forces a leg down on Robinson's throat (anything that cut off the breathing was MAJOR heat in Britain - Kent Walton had seen to that!) Casey - eventually - sees what's wrong, orders Jon off and he - eventually - releases. Robinson is angry, contemplating a closed fist punch but instead goes for a side chancery. Cortez resists but when Robinson switches to rear snapmare he goes over. Robinson gets a crotchhold and slam but goes for a double arm stretch hoping for Cortez to roll backwards and fall for a folding press. Cortez seems to almost fall for it but rolls way in the Nick of time. He gets a whip of the ropes and a cross buttock throw and press for the deciding fall. Robinson is unhappy and protesting although it looks fair enough to me. Okay. You want dirty wrestling? You want blue eyed boy versus villain? You got it in that final round. Personally I preferred the later Lewisham clean bout and I'm glad they buried the storyline hatchet and had that later bout. But if you prefer round 7 of this, we'll there's no accounting for taste ...

Erm, @ohtani's jacket Billy Finlay is NOT Dave Fit Finlay's dad. Fit Finlay's dad is Dave Finlay Senior https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Finlay_Sr. Anyway, they lock up but hit the ropes. , Robinson gets a hammerlock but Jackie kips up, straightens the arms back into a referee's hold. Robinson gets in a rear snapmare and comes out of it with a wristlever. Cortez rolls out, spins on his behind to wind up Cortez in an armlock of his own then switches to leg. Robinson counters with a monkey climb but Cortez lands feet first. Jon gets the leg again but Jackie backs into the ropes. Jackie gets a side chancery, takes Cortez down . Cortez looks to handstand out but instead grabs a front chancery and Robinson grabs one of his own. Like Le Petit Prince and Jack Richard in 1966 on the French Catch thread they roll on the mat in stalemate.. unlike Richard and Dubail they roll into the ropes and have to break up. Cortez gets a side headlock into cross buttock throw into forward neck crank and back to side headlock. Robinson tries handstanding out but no joy. Cortez switches to a cross press but can't get the shoulders down so switches back to the headlock. Robinson tries an atomic drop but Cortez rolls through on a cross buttock thrown to keep the headlock. Jackie got Cortez down in the mount and managed his headstand escape (Cortez's arm was in the hammerlock position - a missed opportunity?) Cortez gets a front chancery but backs into the ropes. Referee Billy "Not Princes Paula's Father In Law" Finlay stops Jackie getting a wristlock on the ropes but the two shake hands. Cortez gets a legdive and toe & ankle hold, looking to develop an ankle scissor. Robinson tries for the chin the gets an armhank counter in full position before a heel smash for a 7 count. Robinson gets a side chancery and takes his man down. Cortez gets one of his own and briefly they log rol again but Robinson flips Cortez in front for a front headlock but Cortez's feet hit the ropes on the flipover forcing a break. Pity. A case of Running Out Of Mat. Robinson gets an armbar into rear arm hank but Cortez pulls the arm through forcing Robinson to flip over, then pounces on him for the cross press and a 2 count. Cortez tries for shoulder press but Robinson bridges out. Cortez tries to break the bridge but Robinson gets his knees in for a monkey climb. Cortez rolls back on impact but rather than go for the folding press >a Robinson soars over him. Cortez tries a monkey climb of his own, Robinson rolls back and this time Cortez gets the folding press but Robinson unfurls and we get a brief Bascule before Cortez tries another folding press and Robinson crawls out. Robinson whips Cortez who does not go with it and has his arm badly wrenched. He is up and ready at 8 but Robinson gets thecarm and delivers a further weakening blow on it for 7. Cortez goes for a wristlock into figure four top armlock of his own and whips Robinson who takes the bump then rolls back upright. Cortez gets a standing back hammerlock, Jackie reaches for a rear snapmare but can't get the head. He instead gets a foot through his own legs. Cortez boots him in the behind and drops into a flip position but Robinson deliberately overshoots a flyer off the ropes catching Cortez's legs with his own for a further folding press - a trademark of his and a BEAUTY it is - but it only gets him a 2 count. Robinson gets a standing full nelson but Cortez gets an arm free, pulls himself up into the Crucifix takedown position and gets his man down in the further nelson for the one fall required. Handshakes and sportsmanship all round. (And there it cuts just before the one and only onscreen backstage angle in ITV wrestling history - Clive Myers and Fuji Yamada making a challenge to Kendo Nagasaki and George Gillette for a tag match with a fourth man of Kendo's choice. Rocco volunteered, leading to a year of teaming and then a red hot feud.) Dunno about meandering. I thought this bout was a pretty good technical exhibition. Even the forearms and other blows were kept to a minimum. My sort of match all round. Clearly the crowd's cup of tea too despite this being one of the most notoriously violent crowds of the 80s/90s UK. (A legendary Johnny Saint Vs Robbie Brookside match was filmed there a few months later and the Catford Crazies liked that too.). But hey, if that's not your cuppa, try the earlier Cortez/Robinson bout I planned to review...

I'll do a proper British match review later (I've already got France and Germany in the bag but need to get out the house now) but here's as n intering snippet from Corny about wrestling on the BBC in the 1930s.

Erik Watts used to be a highly touted youngster until his daddy was fired from. WCW. Danny was another until he decided to morph into Dirty Dan. This is a Final Four and the ring announcer says something about different types of gimmick match. Erik has finally succumbed to Alex Wright/Dave Taylor dancing. Danny makes his entrance to FGTH's Two Tribes. Both men have come on a long way, Danny brawling and bumping, Erik ducking and dodging deftly. Erik can even do a decent roll from an armbar - did he get to work with Regal in WCW? The voices cheering for Erik are young, high pitched and female. 90s house music in the round gap. Round 2. Lots of either man outside. McMichael refuses Danny a rope break. .Nice sunset flip by Erik. Danny getting a lot of heat. Erik has a neat waistlock snap suplex. Dance mix of Also Sprach Zarusthrea during the break. Round 3. More heat from Danny. Erik doing big slingshot and jumping hope spots. Danny ironically goes for a flip and Erik stomps him. Danny using kneelifts rather than dropkicks to be less flashily babyface. Erik gets his arm hurt and Danny goes to work on it. He eventually gets a first yellow card. Spanish pop hit Tengo De La Noche in the break. Round 4. Danny does some old blue eye moves and shows off to the crowd he is. Erik gets a flying bodypress, botches it slightly and gets Danny in the knee but scores the pin anyway. Erik celebrates to Depeche Mode's I Just can't get enough. Two guys both learning new tricks in from if an away crowd.. Danny how to sell as a heel. Erik how to be more skillful and athletic.

Portrait of the Monsieur/Marquis/Travesti Man as a young Jacky, going up against late 60s and 70s France's most attractive babyface. Sneery commentator calls the bout a cultural and educational experience (a less laboured version of the paintings thing 3 years later. Both are in capes which makes the into a bit confusing. Apparently Dubail has a day job as an "industrial designer". Plenty of TV wrestlers on both sides of La Manche had day jobs, sometimes middle class ones. Richard has trunks instead of his later tight. LPP established as the star early on - Richard knees him over but he rolls backwards into upright and fires a dropkick - all in one motion. Both men can reverse inverted front chancery presses on the mat but Richard has to resort to a blow to break a Prince bridge. The two way inverted front chancery being reversed and surviving snapmares is the story of the early part of the bout. Eventually Jacky gets a leglock and it's the same story - the submission hold version of La Bascule,, the same hold both way but dominance flipping back and forth. Even after Dubail boots Richard from behind he comes right back with the same single leglock. Both of them try to convert to a single leg Boston Crab at the same moments leaving themselves standing in a back to back standing tug of war for the two intertwined legs. At one point Dubail sells his right knee but Richard takes the left. This might not be a botch as he traps the leg in the ropes - perhaps his gameplay is to work on both knees. After some heelish stomping on the grounded Prince, he is freed from the ropes and Richard goes for the right knee while holding the other leg bent with his foot. On the second attempt LPP monkey climbs out, slips through Richard's legs and dropkicks him. He snapmares Richard, goes through the legs, does a half cartwheel half vault over Richard who is tryingf or a backdrop and headscissors and throws him twice, goes up into the Victory Roll position but flips backwards behind Richard, nips forward through his legs and rear snapmares him and gets a rear chinlock into side headlock. WHEW!!! Tough to do, even tougher to note it all down! Richard tries for an atomic drop but Prince rolls through to keep the side headlock. He tries again. Same result. Prince transitions to armbars to double rear leg takedown to flip into bridge so as to cross the legs into a Gotch toehold the roll round the leg end of maximum leverage. Even the sneery commentator is impressed "Elle est belle ce prise du Petit Prince!". Dubail presses down to stop a pushup escape and uses his feet to keep his toehold while escaping an over the shoulder chancery attempt. LPP turns it over into an Indian Death lock. He uses a Manchette so avoid sit up counter attacks. Richard finally mat suplexes out and fires off a couple of angry Manchettes and some kicks which put Prince out of the ring. It's mostly stomps and Manchettes other than one good over the knee backbreaker. Clean versus dirty has replaced two way hold stalemate as the dominant theme, Prince gets pitched DEEP in the crowd onto the lap of some lucky lady who starts mothering him like mad. Bouncers stop her from putting him in her handbag to take home and he gets back on the ring apron then knocked into the next door seat to the said Lucky Lady. Crowd are now spitting heat, besieging the ring South London Hellcrew style. Arbitre holds Richard back. One angry hold man calls the ref a "Salopard.". Look it up if you don't know! Prince gets back to the ring for more Manchettes, kicks and another fine over the knee backbreaker. Prince gets his hope spot with Manchettes of his own and a series of 3 dropkicks. He ties Richard in the ropes (with difficulty and fires off superkicks as well as more Manchettes. A dropkick catches Jacky just as he frees himself. Prince gets a wristlever and reverse cartwheels and reverse somersaults on it to make it tighter. He then clamps on a headscissors. Twice Richard snaps out but is taken back down with the headscissor reapplied. He switches back to wristlever and Richard rolls back to untwist the arm but Prince catches him in a front chancery. He then somersaults sideways mid air into the flying headscissors position taking his man down in the scissorhold once more. He convers to an armhank (sadly a crowd shot conceals all of how this was done) and turns Richard over in the hold, rubbing away on the shoulder muscles. Richard eventually stands up in the hold and dumps Prince to ringside. besieging him on his return with stomps and Manchettes. Prince does a Steve Grey horizontal spin on the mat to turn a wristlock into a more powerful hammerlock. He fires a dropkick, forearm, two monkey climbs, the second converting into a sunset flip and double leg nelson for 2. This becomes a Bascules of back and forth leg press pin attempts. Prince eventually gets a flying headscissor throw. Richard fights back with the dirty stuff sending Prince out of the ring and the crowd whistles the bird at him ("a concert of music provided by the public' says the sneery commentator.) . Prince seems to miss a flying tackle into the ring but catches Richard with a ground dropkick as he follows in and splashes him for the one fall required. Richard looks disgusted, puts his hands up vainly then quits. Vehicle for the Prince, his skills as a technical wrestler and his skills as a crowd sympathiable babyface. Young Jacky was the heel jobber reminding me a lot of Psycho Shane Stevens two decades later, young, spiky and angry.

YAY! I was hoping Travis Heckel would draw Jim as the older tubbier Herve of the C21st.

Am posting this one (1) to make it three videos each of Britain, France and Germany. (2) Because there's an interesting Ron Simmons connection - his former WCW protégé fresh from the Power Plant. whom he turned back to heel against versus his future Acolytes partner, the future JBL. Pretty generic late 80s American Muscleman bout. JBL gets the win with a clothesline.

Some more Erik, same venue Stadhalle in Bremen, four days earlier he takes on Destroyer Johnny South aka British LOD aka (Hawk) Legend Of Doom. Mick McMichael refereeing complete with kilt. Wonder what the lad from Oklahoma made of that? South and McMichael get into the ring to some truly AWFUL screechy thrash metal sung by some fool who thinks he's Robert Plant. Erik comes down to "Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)" by C+C Music Factory, another classic piece of early 90s kitsch. I'm pretty sure someone or other used that music in All Star around the same time. At least Erik doesn't dance to it a la Dave Taylor/Alex Wright. You can tell it's not the real Mike Hegstrand cos Johnny South can WRESTLE, going from collar and elbow to inner arm to outer wristlever and takedown. Erik too has been going native and can roll up to untwist an armbar. He's also learned the transition from armbars to rear folding press takedown which he pulls off snappily. After that things revert back to type with South pulling old British heel tricks and Erik doing a Thesz Press. By Round 2 the bout is all American spots with only a basic adherence to No Follow Downs the only reminder that this is Europe. Very WCW Worldwide fodder. That Whigfield track again during the round interval, it had only just been a hit at that time. Round 3', Erik works on a lot of arm weakeners - double wristlock s, arm hanks etc. Between Rounds 3'and 4:we get New Order's How Does It Feel? Pretty bad for South, even worse when Erik gets the one fall required with a backslide.

Erik Watts heads to Germany to get away from the accusations of nepotism. Here he faces thuggish young Japanese heel Hiro Yamamoto. Erik of course was a familiar figure to German fans as his WCW matches were broadcast on RTL's Catch Up. He takes quite a beating from Hiro before coming back with a sunset flip pin attempt only for Hiro to becsa ed by the bell. Interim music "Saturday Night" by Whigfield. VERY 1994!!! Erik soon battles back to get the one fall required with a flying bodypress. No sign of the STF Daddy allegedly paid Masa Chono to teach him.

Just to show you all that French Catch of that era was not ALL kiddy fun with Flesh, here is a more serious title bout with then recently crowned European Heavyweight Champion Erik Isaksen of Norway giving his predecessor Bernard Van Damme a return match. Okay we'll get Monsieur L'Arbitre out the way quickly. Long hair. red satin shirt, looks like a cheesy cabaret piano player. Never mind him. I've done some looking up of Isaksen, I can't find this IWSF version of the title but Erik has held a good few other versions - by the ICWA (the French FWA) a year earlier in 2006 and by the UEWA in 2015 at a time when All Star Wrestling in Britain may have been a member. The belt looks like the WWF Flags belt from WM2 and WM3. Erik spends a long time after the start at ringside antagonising the (rather youthful looking and gender balanced) Publique, to the point where once he got back in after the ref threatened him with an Avertisement I sighed with relief. Once up and running, Erik was by far the more interesting wrestler, a real smug git of a heel with a touch of Brian "Leon Arras" Glover about him. He angers the crowd so much the MC has to quietly and gently persuade them to kindly NOT throw paper balls! He does Kendo Nagasaki's Kamikaze Crash (diving fireman's carry) as well as a fireman's carry side slam with which he nearly gets a fall and might have got it if not for his arrogant pin cover, kneeling on his opponent while flexing his biceps. Bernard, despite his name, is nothing like Rob or indeed Jean Claude. His gimmick is kind of Warrior meets Jimmy Snuka. He tries for a headscissors at one point but Erik turns it into a powerbomb. BVD does get the Scisseaux Volees later after picking Erik off the top turnbuckle and slamming him. He finally gets the win with a flying bodypress to regain his title.

Well done to @Phil Lions for acknowledging the Modern Era and the 2007 boom in Catch in France, by the way. To underscore the point here are those two loveable rascals Flesh and Zefy, 20 years after beating Marquis Jacky Richard and Jessy Texas on FR3, taking on Horacio the pirate whom we've met before (in a frilly sailor top that looks suspiciously like a ladies' blouse) and a new heel from Italy Kaio - not to be confused with Kato Bruce Lee from circa 1983 but a young Italian heel with his country's tricolore painted as a stripe across one eye, on whatever channel this was on. We join the action in progress, each side takes a fall then celebrates by knocking the opposition to ringside and getting a yellow card/Avertisement for their efforts. Zefy gets round the no exciting the public rule by doing a Walter Bordes style war dance which is just to rev himself up, honest guv. The crowd get their Aux Chiottes L'Arbitre chant in after the ref refuses Zefy's rope break for a posting. There's a fairly long section where Zefy does a giant swing on Kaio then keeps the double legs and it's not clear if he's going for another swing, a slingshot or a Boston Crab. The finish has Gordon at ringside using someone's crutch to immobilise Horacio snake handler style while Zefy, after some effort, does a top rope superplex on Kaio for the win. Zefy doesn't otherwise do much of his high flying stuff. The odd dropkick and that's it. We've seen this venue with its big and red hot crowd before. Yes Phil, this was definitely the good times.

Just found out that the French phrase was originally a literary reference. https://www.bdtheque.com/series/19039/deux-manches-et-la-belle Or maybe the book title was a Lutte Grecoromain reference and they were already doing best of three falls even before Catch.