David Mantell

Do you mean the flying hiptosses? I thought they were rather good. The only other thing I can think you mean is Murdoch/Clark/Harrison using his sheer bulk to resist cross buttock attempts which seemed reasonable enough if a bit basic. I did say it was his look- the whole caped crusader vibe is a very Lucha thing.

From the French Catch thread: French Catch Vs British Wrestling? ... ... Hold my festive drink. On the third day of Xmas I give you: BRITISH WRESTLING AND PURORESU VS FRENCH CATCH AND GERMAN CATCH, FOUR DIFFERENT WRESTLING CULTURES ALL IN ONE TAG MATCH!!! Zefy and Zrno (the Z team?). make a low key entry, Finlay, post Paula, five months after losing the British Heavyweight Championship to Dave Taylor after seeing off the challenge of young Boston Blackie, is in bully mode and Isuka is in Japanese street thug heel mode as Japanese usually are in Germany despite them having been fellow Axis members. They came out to Ole Ole Ole, a song mostly associated in British Wrestling with faux luchador El Ligero, (sadly last heard of being named a d shamed by Speaking Out.), Finlay climbs the corner posts, shout abuse and soaks up heat. Fans have a chant going for Mile. Zefy gets a good cheer but he's not as insanely over on the East of the Rhine as back home. Zrno and Izuka start. Isuka does some dirty work but he knows his British technical stuff too, rolling out of armbars, applying a standing legspread. He does not spin out of an attempted toupee by Zrno. Mike takes him over in a cross buttock with quite a thump! He misses an elbow but tags in Zefy. Isuka is quick to get the Prince into his corner for a double team which carries on even in the middle of the ring. Zefy sells for Isuka then goes for a bridge then monkey climb then running dropkick. Zrno gets some good moves on Izuka including a flying headscissors. He gets trapped in the heel corner but uppercuts his way out against Finlay. He takes Finlay down with a French-style flying headscissor counter toa wristlock, switching to standing work when he sees Isuka trying to get in. Finlay regains control with an illegal closed fist punch to the throat. He throws Zrno into his corner, tags Izuka who front chanceries Zrno and takes him backwards - too far back. Into the blue eyes corner. Zefy tags in, gets a headlock and bodycheck off the ropes. Another bodycheck, this time by Izuka who then illegally stomps Zefy. TI butterflies PZ's arms for a double team. MZ tries to intervene but referee MMcM in his kilt interjects giving DF the change to complete the double team. Izuka and Zefy brawl and the crowd call - for Mile, not Zefy who is in the ring. Zefy gets plenty FIPped in the corner and on the mat by Isuka, getting a few near KO counts. He comes up with a good reversed cross buttock throw which gets a pop and tries for a dropkick but Izuka ducks- not so that Zefy sails past but so that he lands back to back on Izuka the slides off sideways - possibly a blown spot, it looks quite odd! Izuka gets a fine dropkick of his own, almost a flying karate leg-chop. He then grabs Zefy for a blockbuster suplex, bridges and gets the first fall!!! The villains have the lead but they blow it as only heels can. Firstly only a couple of minutes into the match, Zefy gets his revenge on Izuka with a flying splash off the top corner for the equalising fall. An enraged Finlay runs in the ring, dumps Zefy crotch first on the top rope and earn a summary red card from McMichael to go from 1-0 to the heels to 2-1 to blue eyes in a matter of seconds. The crowd are delighted and cheer - for Mile even though Zefy did all the hard work. Finlay and Isuka protest long an hard at ringside but the ref and the good guys will have none of it except daring them to come back for more and they retreat hurling insults. It's hard to shoe four different styles into one match and we had Zefy 's agility, Isuka's flying kicking style, Finlay's rulebreaking and occasional British technical work an Zrno's old school German mat style all in one tag match. I don't know if everyone got a fair shake to show their skills but it was fast paced enough and the crowd certainly did NOT feel short-changed by the DQ, they were delighted to see the villains especially Finlay, sent packing in disgrace! How to do DQ finishes well.

But I have found this bit on German Catch:

I think I've discussed either on here or on the German thread the history of the man we Brits know as American Avalanche, the Germans used to know as Cannonball Grizzly (not to be confused with the one on All Star shows a couple of years ago) Welsh mid 90s TV viewers as Ragin Bull (not Manny Fernandez) and all you Americans knew as PN News, yo baby yo baby yo. But I can't seem to find it. What is relevant here is that as American Avalanche (but NOT especially as Cannonball Grizzly, mister @ButchReedMark, the former rap master has had a long career over here for All Star Wrestling going back to 1993 when AA was Kendo Nagasaki's equalising tag partner against Giant Haystacks and Scrubber Daly, then billed as the UK Earthquake. (Ironically "Avalanche" would be the original Earthquake, John Tenta's ringname in WCW 1994-1995 - Tenta too would tour the old school British promotions in the final years of his career and life, working All Star and TWA shows in the early Noughties.) He also appears in Robbie Brookside's Video Diary quite a bit. Well over here it's getting near the end of another Xmas but across the pond you still have several more hours to go so if you need a spot of Family Entertainment then here is the AA in Action in 2015, the same year Butch posted, in an All Star main event by the seaside in New Brighton in Merseyside, a quick drive home to All Star's home base in Birkenhead. WARNING - Americans of a sensitive patriotic disposition who cannot handle the sound of several hundred young kids chanting that their country sucks, are advised to avoid this clip His opponent is Mason Ryan, the final student of Orig Williams from the late Noughties who went off to America to achieve WWE Stardom and put Wales on the American Wrestling map (as if Adrian Street and Tony Charles didn't). I actually saw Mason Ryan in action on an All Star show in Leamington Spa circa 2007 but I'm not sure what he was billed as at that point. If all else fails I shall check my bag of my collection of stuff from back through the years. It ain't pretty. Mason was a 6ft 6ins ex Gladiator (you called it American Gladiators your side of the pond) built totally for power. Paul Neu is a nice guy but a massive American Superheavyweight who wrestles accordingly. It's no one's technical classic, it's like Daddy Vs Quinn 1979 if Quinn was the blue-eye and it goes on for a good 15 mins. So NO WAY am I doing a blow by blow of this. But hoo boy is it over with The Kids. So was Hogan Vs Andre in 1988 I hear you say. But just remember, in the 2090s long after you and I are gone, a bunch of decrepit old ninetysomethings will be telling the great grandkids vivid childhood memories of watching that match. And unlike with Big Daddy, neither man was being kept stupidly ridiculously strong by the promoter, so they have a competitive kind of slug 'n punch. In the meantime, just console yourself with the knowledge that this is what the Rapmaster, master of The Broken Record and the Broken Dave Sheldon ended up as.

Again from Hanover 1985 and again featuring Klaus Kauroff. In against Colonel Brody in a place where he feels free to drop N bombs in his promos. (I still have yet to confirm if he ever did that back home in Britain when the ITV cameras were safely out the way but somehow I think most local councils would have none of it just the same as the IBA.) However here in the non Anglophone land of Germany he is free to push the envelope for cheap heat. Kan Klaus Kauroff outheel him or will this be another video where fans cheer the bi bald beardy man? Kauroff starts as a gentleman accepting a handshake from Brody only to be suckered in for a kick to the gut and a flying tackle for a 2 count. Kauroff retaliates by dumping Brody crotch first on the top rope earning a private warning from referee Mick McMichael. Kauroff defeats Brody in a test of strength, forcing his hands to the floor and stomping on them. He cross buttocks Brody then old Brody enemy from England McMichael also stomps Brody's hand. Kauroff gives Brody a Big Daddy bodycheck and fans are chanting his name. Well I think that answers my question. Brody gets a full nelson on but Kauroff neatly powers his way out. Brody goes to the ropes to soak up the heat but Kauroff follows in and gets a full nelson of his own. He breaks it and neatly gets a Kauroff leg but Kauroff boots him into the ropes with the other leg and flips himas he rebounds. Cut to later in he match, Brody has a standing legspread on Kauroff. Kauroff flips him off again, this time sideways over the ropes. (Talking of Big Daddy, he did the same to John Elijah in their late 1977 yes-Daddy-CAN-wrestle clean match on World Of Sport.). Cut to Brody having heat on Kauroff, stomping and ramming him into the corner with McMichael blowing his whistle Kauroff reverses a posting, forearms Brody, rams him twice into the corner and gives him a low hiptoss to start a knockout count. Brody gets up, boots Kauroff in the stomach and comes off the ropes but Kauroff is ready and flings him to ringside. He comes back and tries for a flying tackle but Kauroff catches him, slams him and cross presses him for the one required pin. Exhausted, he rolls off and flops to the mat before getting up and having McMichael raise his hands. Your basic German Heavyweight tournament fodder. Nice to see KK being cheered again.

Short nine mins of footage of Quinn, either still holding his black title or having just lost it to red/white/blue belt holder Wayne Bridges whom he defeated on Cup Final Day 5 years earlier then lost and regained it to >Tony StClair on All Star shows in 1982/1984. Now up against Wild Angus. Jeff Kaye is referee. Quinn is dominating with beatdowns and power moves and throws. Later Casey has Quinn down, beating ,backdropoingand getting a 2 count. Quinn is back in charge after a cut until Casey blasts him with two uppercuts. Kaye eventually gives Quinn a yellow card. Casey brawls back and gets his own yellow card. Cut to Quinn chucking out Casey and getting privately warned. Casey comes in with a sunset flip for a 2 count. They brawl for a bit then Casey gets a backslide for another 2 count. Quinn continues to dominate Casey until there is a round break.and continues afterwards. Quinn pounds a downed Casey in the corner to earn himself a Second And Final Yellow Card. Casey slams and missile dropkicks Quinn, forearms him, flying tackles him for a two count but Quinn comes off the ropes with a Hulk Hogan big boot then a guillotine elbowdrop for the winning pin. A good fight, not a good wrestling match, as Kent Walton would say. But with a few little bits of solidity in there, the odd good move. Good enough for the drunks at the festival.

I think that's all pretty unfair. Murdoch, we already know, is Dick Harrison aka Ron Clarke of UK opposition promotion tag team the Lincolnshire Poachers. Flesh's look, we now know, basically comes from his Lucha Libre background. This is him in an intermediate stage, no longer the high flying missile dropkicking tag partner of Walter Bordes but not yet the tubby bald aging moustachioed figure of the early C21st. It's the early Maxi Cuisine mat so presumably originally screened on TF1 In 1988. English language commentary is by British MC John Harris who also refereed the Johnny South Vs Johnny Palance bout I just posted to the British thread. Referee here is Charley Bollet (brother of Andre Bollet, Roger Delaporte's old tag partn Flesh gets a side headlock on but Murdoch resists cross buttock attempts. He gets a single leg coming off the ropes but Murdoch pounds him down, getting some stomps in., getting a 2 count on a pin attempt .Flesh fights back with two well executed flying cross buttocks and a dropkick. A snapmares gets Murdoch down for a 2 count. Flesh dumps Murdoch to ringside, gets in three elbowsm throws him back in, gets another over the shoulder snapmare, then a third flying cross buttock gets the win. Short but sweet and undeserving of the hatchet job @pantherwagner gave it.

An international dream match for Christmas Afternoon. Klondyke Kate, British Ladies Champion, the only one ever to win her title on TV (albeit on BBC2's Raging Belles docu, not ITV) faces Gaby Lailee, faux Native American and darling Bonne of French ladies' wrestling (when she wasn't busy handling cowboy heel Jessy Texas's horse.) It looks on paper like a female version of Scrubber Daly Vs Kid MCoy and that's pretty much what you get. Gaby spends the early moments dodging Kate's bulky charges into corners. She wrings Kate's arm before Kate blasts her down. Kate drops her weight on Gaby's leg the applies a leglock. Gaby dodges a splash, double leg dives Kate and drops her own weight on Kate's knee leaving her limping. An aggrieved Kate chokes Gaby on the ropes and clotheslines her. Gaby rides Kate's back to get a crossbar on her but Kate just backs her into a corner. She double nerveholds Gaby, backdrops her and disrupts a sunset flip attempt with one stomp. More illegal rope work gets Kate an Avertisement before she dumps Gaby ringside then follows her out and throws her back in. Gaby flips her in. but Kate chops her sides and back. She goes for a piledriver but Gabby slaps her behind so Kate just drops her on the canvas like the proverbial sack of excrement.A second attempt brings similar limited success for Kate but a headbutt is good enough to finally get the piledriver and pin. Kate getting herself over as a heel in France and succeeding. Crowds give her the bird and a thrown paper ball hits her full in the face, but she's content to have her heat.

A tale of two left arms. Nice clean modern copy from a C21st rescreen on S4C Digidol. Match is joined towards the end of round 2 with "Sean" South holding Palance down in an armbar. He's still a decade away from becoming a Legend of Doom (as screened in Reslo's final year) and 14 years from ending Marty Jones's final World Mid Heavyweight Championship in Bristol, May 1999. He has a thick tache and a comb over and looks like Gary Hart before Fritz Von Erich shaved him. He also reminds me of Roland Bock. Palance meanwhile is a stout no nonsense veteran of the Indies who reminds me of Colin Johnson as a blue-eye. He was probably long ago a fresh faced blond haired TBW. By 1985 he looks like a friendly Ray Stevens. The armbar becomes a hammerlock and then the bell rings and they warily shake hands to light applause. After the break, South uses a full nelson to get Palance back down in the armlock. Palance fights his way upstairs with forearms, postings and a kneelift. South gets him down in a backslide for the opener. Still sporting handshakes. South tries to Whip Palance but he rolls through nicely. They shake hands again but South uses this to drag Palance forward to hit the mat, already weakened shoulder first. South reapplies the armlock from a standing position then drops his weight on it. He takes the wrist and kicks the ribs under the hurting shoulder. More standing arm- hank. Two postings build the punishment but then South charges an empty post and hurts his own shoulder. Palance drops an elbow a bit late and gets a quiet warning from the referee. He forces a hard bump with a whip to stretch South's arm some more, but is still selling his own arm. He puts on his own armhank and locks it into a standing figure four armscissor. He eventually converts it to a hammerlock held in position by the feet but the bell goes. Palance gives South a cheeky sporting pat on the good shoulder but South is heavily selling his own arm now. Round 5 and South breaks out heavy pitting moves on Palance's shoulder while keeping his distance to let his own arm recover. Palance floors South with a dropkick. He forearm smashes South down twice and cross presses him for the equaliser. He continues the treatment with a forearm, snapmares and elbowdrop. South regains the advantage with a backbreaker across his knee.and then a second one before getting the winning submission with a Boston Crab. Crowd are split between those applauding and those booing because they know him too well as a hard-nosed heel. Not a technical masterpiece but it told a solid story about the arm/shoulder weakeners until they were forgotten about for the finale.

But I think I shall! To see how far MCoy had come, here is that earlier bout: It starts off nicely enough with some good escapes by both men, until Zolly puts the knee in and starts roughing up the Kid, Kid gets on the same Rope Trick/Toupee hybrid as the tournament final and Zolly doesn't like it any better nine months earlier! Mostly it's Zolly the Bully being brutal then shrinking away whenever McCoy gets in some offence. The bell to end Round 1 saves McCoy from a leglock and test of strength leverage into a pinfall attempt. Things continue that way after the interval although Zolly's opening pin is quite a skillful affair, going over nicely on one hand from a whipped arm lever (which would more normally score a hard bump) before slipping in from behind for a folding press. Zolly tries again for the move that got him the first fall but McCoy clamps down on Boscik's legs for the equaliser! An enraged Zolly attacks between rounds and gets himself a Public Warning. Boscik is still angry at losing his lead and eventually gets and advantage by dodging a dropkick. He desperately works for the 3 in 1 but the Kid resists. He tries again but gets the same neck drop on the top rope that cost him the tournament nine months later. Kid gets a slam for a 2 count. He survives another leglock/wristlever combo and fights back. The kid fights back to the end of the round and a frustrated Boscik gets a kick in earning himself a Second And Final Public Warning. So now not only is the score equal but Zolly is in danger of a DQ and must behave himself. Finally he gets his 3 in 1 and the deciding submission. It's a disappointing moment for the Boothmans and the Southport fans but nine months later it would be a different story. Just like Danny Collins in 1983 getting a consolation fall off Jim Breaks in a 2-1 defeat and then the next year racking up multiple wins over Breaks - a tournament win, a £500 a fall challenge, the British Welterweight title at the Royal Albert Hall and finally after a no contest return match, one more win to put Breaks out of contention. That was Danny's rise and Kid's rise was wins over Zolly B, Steve Grey for the title, Mal Sanders for the Golden Grappler trophy and nearly beating his Dad to make it two years running. Leland's next step is surely a title win of some sort, maybe another shot at Nino - or will Nino win a heavier Mountevans British title and leave his Lightweight title for Leland to pick up? Roll on 2025 ...

Okay, we've seen teenage Leland Bryant come a long way from being the plucky underdog against menacing heels to seeing him beat big brother Nino in a trophy tournament and nearly taken his Mountevans British Lightweight Championship. We've also seen Kid McCoy, an earlier teenage British Lightweight Champion and Golden Grappler tournament winner, reach the finals of the tournament for a second year running before coming unglued at the hands of his own father, but not before showing Dad a thing or two (and as part of Dad's own push towards a brief British title). With both these TBW pushes in mind, one from the 1980s, the other from the 2020s, I think it would be interesting to examine some more of McCoy's push by watching him clean up the rest of the tournament we started on with Zoltan Boscik beating Johny Kidd. To start with, here is McCoy in the other semifinal Vs Jeff Kerry: Round 1 starts off oddly similar to the first two rounds of the Bryants' title match. Lots of two counts, more from bridge folding presses than the trip folding presses employed by Leland and Nino and some of the same acrobatic skill albeit more from throws and bumping than from leaps and flying headscissor variants. Anyway, MCoy gets an opener with a sunset flip in just 52 seconds. Things settle down in round 2 like they didn't quite do with the Bryants' match. McCoy kipping out of a headscissor and using his head as fulcrum for a bridge to turn out of a wristlever, Kerry simply rolling out of one. As with the Bryants there is also a hint of an arm weakener story with Kerry using a hammerlock and a straight arm lift just before the bell on McCoy. After the round break, he continues the arm work, stretching the arm with a whip (and forces McCoy to take a hard bump) and further weakens the arm by using it to pull on three postings. Oddly enough, he gets his equalising pinfall with a Kendo Nagasaki style Kamikaze Crash (diving fireman's carry) rather than an arm submission like Leland did. Sadly Round 4 was cut out (and also sadly not reinstated by TWC) so we get a brief round 5 where McCoy uses his Yorkshire Rope Trick to go up an over Kerry for a neat folding press decider. McCoy wins but next on his plate is Zolly, heavier, older and with the added dimension of dirty wrestling ... From the start Zolly is playing mind games, giving hard words to McCoy. He chops away on the younger man's chest and goes for the ropes when McCoy gets an advantage. McCoy is clearly established as underdog and crowd favourite just as a young vulnerable Leland was in some of his first matches on Rumble's YouTube channel where he gained shock pinfalls in triple tags or where he and middle Bryant brother Xander were sacrificed to superheavyweight Henchman Jim Diehard. Zolly gets his 3 in one (a favourite of Leland, funnily enough) on MCoy who nonetheless resists lon enough that Boscik changes tack and goes for a side folding press 2 count. McCoy gets his other, toupee related version of the Yorkshire Rope trick on Boscik and has the bigger heel cowering for mercy. Zolly weakens McCoy with a single leg Boston Crab (which McCoy resists) and by dodging a couple of dropkicks. He goes for another 3 in 1 but the Kid dumps him on the ropes, gets in a couple of postings and then a straight arm submission to win the contest tournament and trophy! King Ben runs in to congratulate his son while Zolly rolls around in pain and defeat. The late Anne Relwyskow presents Kid McCoy with the cup, a bouquet and a crafty kiss, (the naughty lady!) As the future British Lightweight Champion celebrates with his booty, the Former British Lightweight Champion stands on the corner, desperately calling out for some Respect ...

OK here it is, under full Mountevans rules complete with (female) seconds, with legendary former champion Steve Grey as special referee (as he was supposed to be a third of a decade ago when Nino beat Lewis Mayhew for the revived title). Remarkably, Round One consists mostly of a series of near pins, mostly Nino but sometimes Leland getting 2 counts with an impressive collection of folding presses, victory rolls and other false finishes. This continues into Round 2 with some good headscissors and a back and forth "Bascule" as the French commentators called it, before Nino gets the opening fall, clamping down as Leland tries to crawl over him. Round 3, a great escape from a headscissors by Nino gets countered by a final twist from Leland that leaves Nino with a banged arm. Nino escapes a Leland headlock on the mat with the old Mike Marino style pullout of the head but then changes his mind and puts his head back in (perhaps the escape was actually a blown spot) and starts working for a backslide when the bell goes. Round 4. Nino was selling the arm bump during the interval and Leland zooms in with an armlock. Leland applies the Zoltan Boscik 3 in 1 special! Nino cross buttock presses out but Leland uses the arm to flip over Nino into a side folding press for 2. Nino uses Ken Joyce's stalking on a posting tactic. Round 5 Leland nearly gets an equaliser with a huaracanrana plus folding press. He gets two Zolly specials, the second left handedly, and then an armscissors. Nino looks to be submitting when the bell rings and for a moment it looks like the challenger has the equaliser. Round 6, Nino gets a fireman's carry, Leland breaks open one end to convert to a victory roll attempt but Nino regains the fireman's carry for a Death Valley driver for 2. Since Round 3, Nino has been selling the arm injury and Leland has been trying to capitalise and he finally gets the equalising submission with an armbar on the mat. During the interval, Nino is still heavily selling his arm Round 7 , Nino is still desperately trying to protect the arm. It starts to get a bit brawly, even needly, and in fact Grey gives Leland a quick private warning. Leland twice nearly gets the decider and the title with a folding press and then a karate kick. Nino however catches Leland with a superkick as he comes of the top turnbuckle, puts him in a reverse fireman's carry backbreaker then launches from there into a powerbomb for the pin. Nino gets the belt and the bouquet of flowers and seems to be very conscious of what a match they've had,his slight cockiness melting into just plain exuberance. As for Leland, he still has his 2024 Bob Bartholomew shield. Some of it was possibly a bit more high flying and "flippy" than the British style in its pure form and I might have hoped for a few more technical escapes than this, but this was definitely a fast paced exciting 20 minute match. I think this would have gone down well on a French Catch show, there are definite elements of Michel Saulnier Vs Petit Prince at work here (and not just because Grey here looks a bit like Saulnier in his 1980s " Aux Chiottes Arbitre" phase.)

Okay, let's have a proper look at these bouts in the cold light of morning. Labat Vs Sola is quite a deceptively fast paced affair, despite being down on the mat, both men are constantly trying for holds and escapes, shifting from one drive to another. Nothing too spectacular apart from the one toupee. Lots of small conversions on the mat, up for a quick slam or low distance hiptoss. Guys roll either way out of armbars,. It gets a bit manchetteux towards the end before Labat gets the win with a neat sunset flip. Duranton not only has no Firmin but no furs and shorter hair and a leaner build. He''s quite the arrogant young heel. The bigger size of these guys after watching Labat Vs Sola is really striking. The bigger bodies give scope for bigger throws etc. Crowd are really itching for Duranton to do the dirty so they can heel him. They love it when he takes a bump! Duranton really sells a sleeper/strangle, lips gibbering all over the place. He's not so much the great arrogant bodybuilder of later, more a snooty Heel David Von Erich in Florida type. He struts around like Adrian Street or Buddy Rogers, then in his prime, whom Duranton probably got a lot of it from ... Chaisne is just the straight man in this, like Mick McMichael against both Street and Bobby Barnes. When the referee warns Duranton not to follow down on Chaisne, he threatens to walk out but Michel recovers and comes after le Mechant with a vengeance. Chaisne gets the pin, catching Duranton off the ropes with a belly to belly suplex and Duranton is FUMING. Apparently that was just the first fall and they have to cut back to the studio as the timeslot is up - WTBS would becso PROUD ...

Another surprise sporting contest. Not because Kauroff had metamorphosed into a technical genius but because one of the most notorious villains of das Deutscher Catchen is all of a sudden Mr Nice Guy. Same old bald head, beard, gut and canary yellow cape with sticks, but Kauroff is suddenly a babyface for no apparent reason, coming out to the tune of Dire Staits' "Walk Of Life" getting cheers from the crowd, shaking Mile Zrno's hand ... No, he's not a scientific wrestler per se, rather more a firm-but fair power wrestler similar to Bearman John Elijah, relying on strength moves and a hefty forearm smash. But it's a good sporting contest with Kauroff even pleading for clemency for Zrno when Zrno uses referee Mick McMichael's shoulder fit support for a backflip (Mick's heart melts over it) that when Klaus suffers a leg injury and has to retire from the contest, Zrno refuses the TKO and it ends up with one of those No Contests we all know @ohtani's jacket just loves! Being a nice guy might not make Klaus Kauroff a Winner but at least it saves him from being a Loser.

Glad to read that OJ was acquiring a taste for these - clean cut TBW puts up a good show Vs clean cut veteran. Ritchie later on became a heel. got a dubious British Heavy Middleweight title run off Danny Collins in 1990 and can be seen earlier in the thread heeling it up with Darren Ward, but here he's the nice respectful kid versus the great Steve Grey. The early rounds are mostly Grey except l Brooks gets a folding press opener held in place with a headstand in round 2. So Steve goes to work with forced bumps from jerked armlevers. Brooks nearly makes it 2-0 with another folding press. He withstands a Boston Crab and is saved by the round 4 bell from a surfboard. Grey finally gets his equaliser in round 5 with another surfboard making the back weakeners pay off. He becomes obsessed with another surfboard in round 6, failing three times, missing a dropkick and taking a 7 counts and getting caught in some arm weakeners until time runs out and the kid has earned a 1-1 draw with the legendary Grey. A step up the ladder for the younger man.

Mid 80s. Older Zolly and three TBWs in a four man KO tournament. At least two - Kid McCoy and his semifinal opponent here Johnny Kidd (to be fair a twentysomething by this point. - went on to bigger things, the other was Jeff Kerry. God technical first round, Kidd forces a bump landing, Zolly makes had work on a headscissors, Kidd gets a chicken wing on which Boscik escapes the first time but uses the ropes the second time. Bit of needle in round two, Zolly using some fine legweakerners, tries his 3-in-1(Kidd sort of hiptosses out but hasn't the power to properly break) Zolly uses the ropes to break a Boston (seen as a cowardly heelish way out) Zolly gets the opener with another special leglock of his off the back of earlier legwork. Round 3 Zolly tries for another leg submission but Kidd equalises with a neat backslide. Zoltan carries on the leg strategy with ankle locks and legspreads. Kid dropkicks Boscik out a couple of times.uses a slingshot into the corner and backdrop. Boscik tries to step out of the ring but gets a second public warning for passivity. By round 6 it's getting heated, Kidd mises a flying tackle, injures his arm and goes down to Zolly's 3 in 1. Nice bout with something for everyone. Plenty of technical work for me, plenty of heel heat for you Americans.

Been watching these two in a half asleep way after having a sofa night after dozing off in front of the telly after finishing dinner. Don't get a long enough view to write a coherent review of my own other than concurring with what OJ said. Duranton looking very young here, no sign of Firmin the Valet either. The Labat Vs Sola match has an oddly VT look to the footage - I wonder ...

I'd be interested to see how the French reacted to Johnny Saint Petit Prince vs either Saint or George Kidd would have been magnificent.

Turns out I've already written a piece about this match so I'll go a different approach and go for the blow by blow description instead. You all know the story, Mark Boothman aka Kid McCoy in 1987 was TBW of the year, holder of what is now Nino Bryant's British Lightweight title, winner of the first annual Golden Grappler trophy. His dad, Phil aka King Ben, was a strength grappler who had made a few title tournament finals but never bagged a belt. This year, still champion, the younger Boothman again made it to the final - to face his dad.. ********†* Round one and after briefly hitting the ropes, Ben gets a wristlever on McCoy. Kid rolls out and goes for a grapevine but King maintains the hold and takes him to the mat. Kid tries again, this time rolls forward, cartwheels back. and then horizontally rotates out, leapfrogs dad and finishes with a neat snapmares, but dad is on his feet. Dad tries again, this time Kid turns over on his head using a bridge, then picks off the hold with his foot and grabs a wrist of his own and jerks upward. Dad has to jump and take a bump on his back and now Kid has the hold. Kid switches from wrist to wrist including leaping over dad's back. Dad goes for a roll of his own to reverse the wrist, tries for a grapevine then gets Kid up in a fireman's carry. He puts Kid on the ring apron, but Kid, sensing a trap, leaps over the ropes instead. Kid snapmares Ben on the mat for 3 of a 10 count. Ben gets another wrist but Kid is climbing up to try something when the bell goes. Round 2: King Ben gets a wrist and goes in behind for a waist lock takedown but McCoy gets on top, almost with a waistlock of his own. Ben does the same the swivels round into a front chancery position then steps over his son and out Kid goes for a leg, takes dad down and folds the leg up before switching to a wrist, dad who stands up and horizontally spins then snapmares Kid who yakes it well and is right back on his feet. Kid forces dad to the ropes but Ben has an armlock on. Kid tries to throw Ben but Ben rolls through and is on top with the armlock. Kid gets up one hold and tries the ropes again but KB maintains the hold. He tries a third time, gives Ben quite the bump with the resulting throw but Ben STILL has that arm! Ben stands up and McCoy tries a French Catch style flying headscissors takedown but Ben (as is usual in Britain) throws him off. Kid leaps over dad but dad pulls him back over and adds a headscissor but loses the arm and Kid easily gets his head out and kips up. Ben twice snapmares Kid, both times the son goes over on his hand. Kid goes for a folding press but dad's legs are in the ropes. Bell goes. Round 3 : Ben nails McCoy in the stomach, McCoy overshoots on a sunset flip and lands on his back. Dad gets kid in a hiptoss into a side headlock on the mat. Kid forces back up so Ben comes off the ropes with a bodycheck. Ben gets a full nelson but McCoy slides out and through dad's legs. Ben gets the better of a flying tackle attempt by Kid, puts him down but when Kid hits the ropes again, gets a cross buttock and press for the first fall! Round 4 and Ben has his son on the mat with another wristlever. Kid gets up but Ben twists and jerks his arm up to make Kid jump and take a bump like he made his father do in round 1. Ben switches to a finger interlock, but McCoy climbs the ropes, standing spins horizontally then backdrops dad. Ben gets both legs on his son from behind but Kid goes between his legs to roll him in a folding press then hook both legs for the equaliser. Round 5: Ben snapmares and chinlocks his son He changes tack on posts Kid but McCoy bounces off the pad and rocks his dad with a dropkick. As they lock up, McCoy fires off the ropes but Ben stymies it, gets a side chancery on Kid, snapmares and bodychecks him. They hit the ropes again and Kid gets a cross buttock and press on Ben for a Two. He gets it again but Ben kicks out. Kid tries forcing down the King's shoulders but hasn't got the strength so sportingly helps his dad up. (Sorry, Americans, but no major heel turn angle commences here.). Ben goes for a double leg folding press but Kid crawls out the back way and gets up. They finger interlock and Kid drops down, reaches up with his legs and gets dad in a cross headscissor like he was going to do the toupee. But first he crawls to the corner, claims up the rope with his arms and then finally does the toupee spin to throw dad. Kent Walton identifies this as the Yorkshire Rope trick although usually that means him climbing with ropes with his legs to flip over backwards over an opponent (also a favourite trick of Owen Hart around this time.) They lock up but Ben is backed into a corner and referee Max Ward calls for a break. McCoy gets a leg but cannot turn Dad for a single leg Boston Crab. He switches from one wrist to another but Ben stands up and slips on the standing full nelson Kid beaks it by blasting backwards at Dad and comes of the ropes but gets and elbow in the chest. They hit the ropes again and Kid catches dad with a knee to the chest but the bell rings. Round 6 and they shake hands. Ben gets a waistlock then Kid reverses then Ben reverses it back. Kid turns himself into the bearhug position (some wags in the audience joke "aah!" at dad and son hugging) and goes for Ben's head, then leans back in a bridge and slips through Ben's legs and takes his legs out under him. He hits the ropes and comes back with a flying tackle but dad kicks out a 2 putting Kid on the ring apron . He is back up at 5 and King Ben backs him into the ropes and sends him running but Kid comes back with a "inside forearm" as Walton calls a clothesline. Ben posts his son but McCoy comes off the middle rope to take Ben down with a sunset flip but Ben gets a leg free, spins round, drops both knees on McCoy's shoulder and hooks the legs for the deciding fall! ******* A fine technical masterpiece and one which ran about twice the length of Bryant Vs Bryant. Like Leland getting his title shot at Nino, Ben was reported by TVTimes to be due a crack at the British Light Heavyweight title. He did indeed beat Alan Kilby (the man who once beat him in the tournament final to win his first title) for he belt, but lost it back on the 90 day clause return match later that year

Bob Bartholomew was a long time supporter of the UK wrestling scene. Fan, second, timekeeper, publicist, he worked in many roles, particularly alongside Rumble promoter Steve Barker whom he met when the latter was still at school. He was also a nice guy to chat to on Facebook groups about British Wrestling and last summer he added me on Facebook as a friend - only to sadly pass away the very next day aged 72. A four man KO tournament was held in his memory on the same Ditton show as the Jordan Vs Sid match I just posted. The semis are up on YouTube - they pitted British Tag Team Champions Mark Trew and Kieron Lacey (who before he turned heel had a great clean match in 2022 on a New School show versus the same Jordan Breaks, which I posted to this thread last year) versus brothers and two faves of mine whom I've raved about on here, British Lightweight Champion Nino Bryant and his 16 year old kid brother Leland. Both Bryants beat a tag champ each, leaving us with an all brothers final. And quite the British technical masterpiece it is, particularly between two guys both born after the millennium. There are a couple of obligatory high flying spots off the top turn buckle and down to ringside where those wretched new fangled crowd barriers are, but for the most part it's technical work all the way. Nino goes from being impressed but cocky at what his brother can do to being seriously worried until a little after ten minutes into the match, Leland uses a victory roll to pin his older brother for the win. The two defeated heel semifinalists come to the ring- mercifully not for a beatdown but to receive runner up mini trophies along with Nino. Leland, as winner, gets a full dinner plate sized shield Heels mostly behave themselves as Bob's son (I believe) dishes out the prizes. With Leland Bryant over the past several months on here, we've watched the stages of the traditional TBW push from vulnerable newcomer to apprentice scoring wins to getting a bit win. In this case a trophy tournament. It isn't on the clip, but afterwards Leland put in a challenge for big brother Nina's British Lightweight title. The match has already taken place, it reportedly got filmed and I'm looking forward to sharing that match with you when I see it, so I won't spoiler you with the result. Instead, let's have a look back in time at another tournament final between a British Lightweight Champion and a blood relative - in this case his dad ...

I'll leave it to a French version of me to answer @ohtani's jacket's question but bear in mind (1) Guy at the time had two young sons Marc and Pierre coming up in the business and if you had asked him in 1983 if Le Catch was coming to an end, he would have pointed at his two boys then bitten your head off (2) a lot of the old crowd continued to make appearances even into the Noughties - viz Le Petit Prince putting in one last 2002 match before heading off to Thailand (and prematurely dying there in 2005) who IIRC still had a pretty busy schedule in 1983 and well through the 80s. (3) Guy and referee here Michel Saulnier were pioneers together in the whole Bon Beats up Arbitre Chiotte And The Crowd Cheers Him angle which we see an example of in this bout and which became a staple part of the final years of Le Catch Sur La Tele and the decades since the end of French Catch on terrestrial TV in France through to the 2020s, so that makes old man Guy one of the architects of the direction in which French Catch evolved.. Marcel Montreal still in great shape and looking like a French version of Tarzan Johnny Wilson here. Commentator Daniel Cazal says Montreal's real name is Marcel Chevaux, apparently A lot of the early minutes of this revolve around him getting an armlock on Mercier and hanging on. Apparently Mercier's name puns with the standard French phrase for asking if a wrestler wants to submit ("Vouz abandonnez, Monsieur?") although I'm sure Guy and his two sons must have run into that bad dozens of times before and since. Later, Guy takes control with an Indian Deathlock much like a Ric Flair Figure Four Leglock bent at 90 degrees. Marcel ties some interesting counters including turning the hold over into a leg scissors to hold in place a folding press pin attempt. He gets a Two before Guy reasserts himself. Things carry on that way with a headlock. Then it moves on to knockout attempts - slams, guillotine elbowsmashes, that sort of thing. One time Mercier follows down too quickly and gets a roasting from Saulnier. The crowd start an Aux Chiottes chant but before things can get really hairy, Montreal takes Guy back in the match. Later when Guy is knocked down, Saulnier tries to hurry to the end of the count but is warned off by Montreal and counts him properly. The wrestlers trade uppercuts, slam and Montreal takes o e hell of a bump from a Mercier backdrop. The crowd are still unhappy with Saulnier, completely ignoring Montreal's hammerlock on Mercier to shout abuse at the referee instead. Saulnier's instruction to break as the contest hits the ropes gets ignored by everyone else especially the crowd who are chewing him out. This is a pity as there is some good action in the ring at this point- Montreal has an arm extension which he widens his legs on occasionally to stop Mercier toupeeing out - I recall Bert Mychel doing this same trick against Gilbert LeDuc (on page 40 of this thread.). The bout goes to a time limit draw. Mercier and Montreal are both sporting to each other but Mercier still has needle with Saulnier and refuses to shake his hand. A good strength match rather than a technical classic. I don't think this was the end of an era any more than LeDuc or Rene Ben Chemouel's early 70s bouts were, or Michel Falempin turning up on Eurosport New Catch. They were however bouts where some of the old boys were having their last flashes. Two years before this, Ken Joyce put up a spirited performance before going down 2-0 to Johnny Saint, which shows yo that even at that stage of their careers, some people can keep the speed going.

Continuing from Prince Zefy Vs Colonel Brody on the German thread, here is another good technical bout that I didn't think was going to be one. Sid, as mentioned in the commentary, did a heel turn on Breaks at one of Rumble's outdoor shows at the Oval bandstand in Cliftonville, Kent this past summer. I don't think I posted it here, but it's up on Rumble's YouTube channel (same source as this video) if you want to go have a look. However both Sid and the promotion have since got cold feet on the turn, with Sid behaving himself at every TV match since. Even so, I expected there to still be some needle between these guys. In the event they have a good classy technical matchup with Sid showing a great deal of mastery of Breaks' trademark ankle scissor, first applying the hold himself and being able to twist Breaks up and down at will and then being able to simply step out of the hold when applied to him. Manelli is also much improved with regard to rolling escapes from armbars, previously his lack of use of this tactic has dissuaded me from singing his praises but here he has that area of the British style nailed. There's also a good section involving reversing standing Japanese strangleholds.It gets a little forearm smashes towards the end but Manelli scores a neat folding press for the winner. Breaks looks stunned and for a moment teases a heel turn of his own before shaking Manelli's hand. Presumably this is the last we shall see of the heel turn angle. I am reminded of Dean Allmark and James Mason's matches together. The earliest James/Dean (see what I did there?) match on video is from 2003 when James was doing an experimental heel stint for a year as Bad Boy James Mason, just as Danny Collins and Robbie Brookside both did in the mid 90s. Fast forward to 2010 and James is back as a good guy but at the start of All Star's residency in Birkenhead James flirts with heelishness and gets a public warning against Deano before being TKOd. Deano seems ready to decline the victory but a dazed Mason goes wild and attacks Allmark with a bunch of other wrestlers holding them apart. Deano the challenges James to a rematch where James is the heel throughout (apart from a blue-eye ring entry). This leads to them being on opposite sides of a six man elimination tag match with James, swapping his red/blue ring gear for heelish black/white, on the bad guys side. Versions of this were then redone on various holiday camp locations including one in which James appeared to have cheated to regain the British Heavyweight Championship from Deano only for guest dignitary Johnny Saint at ringside to alert the referee and get it reversed. However, when they met for said title at Fairfield Hall Croydon in November 2013 (one of the last shows in the Concert Hall before things moved to the smaller Ashcroft Theatre room in 2014) they had a FANTASTIC technical bout which I've previously posted on here and ends with a Deano win and a sportsmanly response from James and talk in the ring of a title rematch under full Mountevans rules. This never materialised but I still love to post that bout 11 years later as evidence of the survival of Traditional British Wrestling in the C21st. It's also two guys having a great clean match despite having a history of rivalry. Like this Breaks-Manelli match. (One thing I'm NOT happy about however is the addition of American style crowd barriers which make the crowd look smaller and remove the connection where fans eg old grannies could go right up to the ring apron to make their feelings known.)

Footnote to the above stories, All Star are due to return to the Victoria Hall Hanley 24th January 2025, 22 years after Dean Allmark Vs Mikey Whiplash, 24 years after Nagasaki & Powers Vs Jones and Walsh and nearly 39 years after Mighty John Quinn Vs Tony StClair on Screensport. Wrestling underwent a brief break at the Victoria Hall when it was closed for redecoration 1996-1998, an event Simon Garfield latches on to in his book as a symptom of an "end" which in truth has still never come. (He quotes Klondyke Kate says that her friend she used to go to shows with was getting very emotional about it). Nonetheless life went on and wrestling resumed in the redecorated venue as you can see in the 2000 and 2003 bouts. In the late 2010s a new manager took over who wanted to move the venue more upmarket so did a Greg Dyke job on the wrestling. This spurred plenty of protest and did score the one minor concession of a WOSW tour date at the venue in early 2019 before the pandemic put the mufflers on things generally. Now in the mid 2020s All Star returns to the Victoria Hall Hanley. Hallelujah

Saw this advertised on my Smart TV YouTube app last night, as I settled down to a TV pizza dinner, and thought it sounded like trouble. If you're a regular on this thread, you'll know that Colonel Brody as featured on ITV was a very watered down version of the "South African Military Man" character - in mid 80s Germany where the local handheld camcorders were not regulated by the IBA, he was an altogether nastier piece of work, an openly racist Boer (probably the inspiration for John Wisonski's "Colonel DeBeers" in America rather than the other way round) dropping N bombs left right and centre and using verbage that would have shamed even neo Nazi skinhead band Skrewdriver and this led to a fairly vicious feud with Billy Samson. So there was a certain amount of trepidation as to how he would respond to late 80s/early 90s French Catch's number two Bon, a man who, like the number one Bon, Flesh Gordon, has gone on to be a legend and family friendly hero in his country. Fortunately Brody keeps his trap shut and the two have a most scientific bout- Zefy interestingly using British style rolls on the mat rather than traditional French counters like the flying headscissor, reverse snapmare or backflip in top wristlock. Brody does get some hair pulling in and is warned by Mick McMichael (Brody Vs McMichael incidentally sounds like the most generic ITV matchup circa 1985 one could imagine but here they both are in somewhat different contexts) but otherwise keeps it clean and Zefy fires back with some dropkicks. Brody gets the win with his version of the Kamikaze Crash (diving fireman's carry) albeit for a pin, not a knockout, and gets himself back to the locker room without a single word spoken about the Prince's ethnicity. Not the messy, politically incorrect heat-fest I was expecting but a tidy little Heavyweights Who Can Move bout instead. Pleasant surprise.

Which reminds me - @Matt D did the INA keep records or videos of that first season of New Catch on TF1 in 1988? (Or the later Eurosport stuff, come to that? ) If not, possibly TF1 was no longer under the INA's remit after its 1987 privatisation. ( think I asked before but got no reply - apologies if you did reply and I missed or forgot it.)