David Mantell

This bout is nowhere near the old school technical classic of the last one, but it's worth posting as Kris Kay was an old time wrestler, an upcoming TBW in the early 90s, contemporary of James Mason and Darren Walsh. Back in the day he was even Big Daddy's FIP tag partner. Today he looks more like one of it Daddy's opponents!

Thanks for this lot. Good to see there was an organised fandom in France. Maybe we can find some from the mid 80s with VCRs. Incidentally La Bete Humane was originally a novel by Emile Zola from 1890. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/La_Bête_humaine Nice to see Le Catch sneaking in these cultural references eg Cheri Bibi and the phrase Deux Manches Et Une Belle (s'il y a eu)

... and here is the other. I'll try give them both a rewatch and write-up ASAP.

I was sure I'd posted the previous Bete Humane by ours and was going to find the original bouts and bump them up but can't find them so here is one ^^^.

It's been a while since we did any present day Old School British Wrestling, so here goes, from old TV venue the Woodville in Gravesend: Scott may be be the less familiar of the two to followers of Rumble's YouTube channel but he is actually the more experienced. He gets an early dominance in a finger Interlock leading into a shoulder press for a series of 2s, in turn leading to Leland bridging up and monkey climbing his man. Both end up bridging out while still in finger Interlock while Scott deftly convertsto standing back hammerlock then side headlock. He throws Leland into the ropes and catches him with a bodycheck on the rebound which Leland sells. Scott gets a headlock but Bryant breaks it open into a wristlock, In classic old British style Scott rolls and cartwheels out until he has reversed the wristlock. But Leland can do the rolls and kip ups too and soon has Joey down in the mount in an armlock. Scott goes up on his head and for a moment looks to be about to do a toupie like Gilbert Leduc to wind his arm up but instead just kips up to reverse the wristlock yet again. Scott leapfrogs and reverse leapfrogs Leland as they crisscross the ring. Both block each others cross buttock throws before Scott sends Leland to ringside. Leland rolls over his opponent's back rather than sunset flip but Scott gets this move by reverse rolling in behind Leland. He gets a double leg Nelson but gets a 2 only. Scott gets an armdrag Leland reverses a posting but Scott absorbs the impact well and backward leapfrogs his man. Scott nearly gets the fall by scissoring both Bryant's legs and twisting him into a folding press for 2. Scott misses a backflip splash, Leland hits it for 2. Leland gets a headlock, Scott gets a shoulderblock for 2. Leland gets a huracanrana and dropkick for 2. Leland comes awkwardly off the top turnbuckle and Scott accidentally throws him on top of referee Anton Green then does the old gag of giving a pinfall count on the ref (a 2). This is taken in good humour and it is back to business. Scott gets a lunge and cross buttock into side heädlock on the mat. Leland powers up but Scott throws him back down. Leland eventually counters with a headscissors. Scott uses a kip up to snap out. He gets a powerbomb with Leland landing on his front but only gets a 2. He tries another powerbomb with Leland landing conveniently on his back but Bryant managed to armdrag Scott on his way down. Various reversed posting and reversed splashed into the corner, Leland gets another 2 count. He struggles to the top turnbuckle still selling the wear and tear of the match. Scott follows him up for a superplex but Leland shoves him off and Superfly splashes Joey for the winner. Apart from a few high flyers near the end a good old fashioned British technical bout worthy of the blow by blow treatment.

Bump

Have finally got to have a proper watch of the match. I wouldn't necessarily describe it as a technical bout. Sure the guy behind the BH mask knows his armdrags and there were a few good little spots including I think Mores doing the characteristically French reverse snapmare (backwards flipping over ones opponent to get behind and apply a standing back hammerlock.) But there weren't too many complex ongoing chain sequences as such. Later on it got more brawly and dirty wrestling The two Masked Mechants make an interesting pair, rather like Kamikaze and Der Henker even The Spoiler and King Kendo in England

It's not about them being good or bad workers. It's about them being shoved down one's throat as superheroic lead babyfaces with incessant wins. That's why 12 year old me made the link in January 1987.

It had its own wrestling scene in the 60s/70s under promoter/lead babyface (and future Rabbi) Rafael Halperin and between then and the WWF's arrival it had quite an assortment of foreign tours - German opposition promoter Edwin Shoburgh, World Class, All Star Wrestling from the UK ... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Professional_wrestling_in_Israel

Am on a train travelling to London to get a flight tomorrow. The WiFi on ithis train blocks YouTube for some reason (or else YouTube doesn't trust the train operator WiFi.) Will post a review when I can get to some other WiFi but it sounds fun with those two masked men involved. I have said the the past that early 70s gimmicks like Le Batman, Le Bete and Le Hippie Du Ring paved the way for the 80s French gimmick explosion with Mambo Le Primitiv, Les Piranhas and Les Maniaks. UPDATE, am sitting in a cafe in Luton Airport at stupid o'clock in the morning - YouTube is not blocked here but it is VERY sluggish. I've had a sneak peak using the fast forward as a slide show - looks to me like the masked men get the win! UPDATE 2: It's playing some other videos but not this behind the first 20 secs (Couderc talking to camera and Les Bons entering the ring.)

Another bout that's been talked about in here but not reviewed, it came up for discussion recently on the "Hulk Hogan Dies at 71" thread. A complicating issue with Joint Promotions was that when any one member had a star they were pushing, another member, jealous and worried about the power the star would give their fellow member, would do stuff to sabotage the push. In 1971 Norman Morell very nearly talked Kendo Nagasaki into unmasking on TV against Billy Howes, in the event as the surviving 8mm camera copy of the broadcast shows, the mask nearly came off and hung from the top of Kendo's head as he fled. This was because another Joint member had persuaded Kendo not to do the unmasking as he would have sacrificed a lot of his appeal by getting unmasked on TV that early. So Kendo avoided a career pitfall and Norman Morell was angry with him but soon had to do business as Kendo's starshine brighter and brighter. So it seems it was with Big Daddy. Best-Wryton over which Max Crabtree had the most influence as booker at that point were already in 1976 using Daddy in Daddy Tags as well as mister battles with monster heels, the likes of Kojak Kirk, Rex Strong and Bruiser Muir. Elsewhere in the country by early 1977,Daddy was still getting teamed with Haystacks against two good guys. Daddy would get round this by shaking the good guys's hands and having a dysfunctional relationship with former bosom buddy Stax, often the team turning on each other by night's end. A more subtle trick employed by other promoters was to put Daddy on in a serious strength based bout against opponents such as John Elijah. Colin Joynson and Johnny Czeslaw. All three of these matchups took place on TV in 1977-1978 and here is one such match. While technically FAR better than Daddy tags, they lacked the kiddy appeal of the tags and good versus evil monster battles that would eventually become Daddy's staple diet. Bear in mind around this time Daddy's feud with Haystacks was beginning after Stax walked out seconds into a tournament final and then engineered the squishing of the referee after Daddy scored a quick Round 1 opener in their rematch. Max Crabtree had Plans for Daddy and bouts like this one contradicted what he was trying to achieve. So anyway, (and the less said about Daddy's hat the better) Round 1: Elijah gets an armlock one sided finger Interlock and there is a rear power standoff before Daddy pulls him in for the infamous bodycheck. A full interlock leads to a Japanese stranglehold and Daddy shoves Elijah's knee down so he his kneeling. Elijah tries to reverse but Daddy twice aborts it. Kent Walton is impressed saying he wishes we could see more of that sort of thing from Daddy (I'm sure Max was in Raptures over that comment!) The third time Elijah gets half way with a reversal, into a crossed arms interlock,before Daddy throws him, but Elijah takes the throw well and rolls upright. They shake hands; Elijah gets a side headlock, Daddy drops tomone knee and tries a waistlock from the side but abandons it.He throws John off into the ropes and catches him with a bodycheck then another one starting from the corner. Elijah is up at 6 and gets a semi Japanese Stranglehold. Daddy cross buttock throws him and keeps holding of the arm for a wristlock in the guard. He stands and gets a straight arm lift twice but Elijah copes, so Daddy posts him, softened shoulder first. Elijah is up at 6 and gets another full finger interlock. He goes with Daddy's whip and takes a bump but backrolls as Daddy prepares to develop the arm hold more. Elijah resists a quarter nelson turn (into a further nelson?) and gets caught in a rear chinlock. Elijah slips out and makes it into a standing back hammerlock into front grovit. Daddy throws him off whipping him in the process but Elijah rolls upright nicely. He goes for a headlock but Daddy turns it into a rear waistlock. He gets an atomic drop before the bell goes. They shake hands Round 2: Daddy gets a single finger Interlock into bodycheck then charges from the corner with a second one. Elijah gets a single leg. Daddy does all he can to prevent the takedown, but Elijah slips his head free and down goes the unmoored Daddy. Elijah makes the most of it with a leg weakener but Daddy is up at 3. He gets an abdominal stretch on Daddy who similarly indoors Elijah to get a cross buttock by unlocking the leg grapevine. Daddy gets the crosspress but Elijah pushes out at 2. They shake hands and Daddy gets the crowd to applaud. Daddy gets a side Chancery throw right across the ring, then a posting all the way back, then a bodycheck. Elijah gets another single leg and this time smoothly into the takedown and a leglock. He converts to an over the shoulder leglock, overhead leglock and finally a standing toehold with legspread possibilities. Remarkably Daddy throws him out of the ring with the flick of an ankle! An ankle throw is a new one even on Kent! "A good sporting contest with a difference" he proclaims it. Daddy gets an armdrag into ground wristlock, barring the upper arm underneath. He gets up to his knees and Elijah rolls out and away. Elijah gets a side chancery (no chance of a throw!) but Daddy pulls his head out by sheer neck power. Daddy gets a semi Japanese Stranglehold and throws his man twice. The bells goes as Elijah lands the second time. Round 3 Daddy gets his bodycheck and a posting and another bodycheck. So far so conventional Daddy. He gets a side headlock but Elijah sweeps him off his feet and carries him across the ring like a bride over the threshold. For a while he looks like he might get an atomic drop but Dad's weight is finally too much and he goes down still with the headlock on making a cross buttock throw and rollover. Again, Daddy encourages applause from the audience for the feat of sweeping him off his feet. They shake hands and Elijah cross buttock throws Daddy who almost rolls through but finishes down on one knee. Elijah gets another cross buttock throw with the same result. He gets two postings but Daddy rebounds from the corner and bodychecks Elijah down before inevitably getting the Big Splash for the one required fal. I am NOT calling Big Daddy a great scientific worker or indeed a shooter but with both work and shoot he knew a fair bit about deploying his strength strategically to maximum effect. This is the sort of bout Blond Adonis Crabtree would have wrestled in the 50s/60s. It is by our standards far better than Daddy tags or Daddy Vs Stax/Quinn/Jim Harris/Masked Marauder etc squash solo bouts. However Max saw things differently. He thought the public wanted to see "Colourful Action" with Daddy as the indestructible destroyer of villains. And maybe in terms of the family audience he was right.

A couple of points before getting down to action. 1) The Victoria Baths in Nottingham were an example of the Baths Hall venues I mentioned recently in the French Catch thread discussion about Swimming Pool shows. Notice the white tiled walls, a common decor for old time indoor public swimming pools in the UK and perhaps elsewhere. 2)Two points of interest to @JNLister - Firstly, you've got him listed as Bob Abbotts on your site in the 1973 page for both this and another bout later in '73 (and you've put "'72" in the date). Second, Kent Walton mentioned an earlier bout by Bob in Wolverhampton (presumably the 19th April 1972 taping, the most recent one in Wolves) that was filmed but not screened for reasons even Kent was unsure about but he suspected it was due to issues with another bout running too long. This may have been the fate of other unscreened matches from TV shows especially where the footage showed up on TWC years later. Anyway, Round One. Abbott uncorks himself from a headlock Mike Marino style. He takes Tony down almost to the mat with a side chancery into front grovit. After some time, StClair gets a leg and transitions to a side headlock on the mat but Bob wriggles free and gets his own standing side headlock. Tony gets a grapevine on to lean forward enough to free his own head and get a crossface on Bob. He transitions to further Nelsons and gets a couple of 1 counts before releasing. They shake hands. Abbott gets a standing hammerlock. /Tony replies with a single leg takedown. Bob rolls into the mount and Tony develops his leg hold into a single toehold then a Gotch figure 4 toehold when Abbott tries to get a facebarand Tony twists out putting Bob'other foot in reach. Abbott gets the head again and makes a side headlock into H&S (American Sleeper) while still in the leglock (now held by the feet.) but Tony slips out and his hands reassume control of the Gotch toehold. Abbott gets the head again, this time a rear chinlock forcing Tony to release the toehold. They move up to standing, Tony goes for a leg and momentarily has a further nelson but Abbott rolls backwards into the ropes. He then gets a full nelson. Tony cannot throw him from a standing start but he gets down and throws him with a roll. Tony goes for a crosspress, Bob tries to snare him in A headscissors but Tony gets away quickly. A finger Interlock and Tony tries leaping into the Sunset Flip end position but Runs Out Of Mat before he can try a leg nelson pin. Bob gets a rear waistlock and rolls backward into a folding press but Tony sets his rolling forward into an arm stretch. Bob rolls back,Tony hooks the legs for a possible folding press but Bob rolls backward and this time it's his turn to Run Out Of Mat. Tony gets an arm, makes a wristlever and forces Bob to bump out of a whip. Bob gets up straight into a back hammerlock. He tries to legdive backwards through his own legs but cannot reach. He tries grabbing for Tony's head but Tony gets a wristlock and a throw. And then the bell goes. Handshake. Round 2 Tony gets a side headlock and takes it to the mat. In the guard, Bob pushes Tony's head and creates space to get a headscissors on. Tony can't kip out even from the upright position so he goes into the mount and pulls the sciccor off with his legs. He gets a single leg but can't get further so releases. He gets a figure four top armlock and throws Bobbin it. Bob tries the French style flying scissors takedown but Tony, being a Brit, throws him off. Bob manages to (clumsily but effectively) throws him in the armlock and, dodging a headscissors attempt, gets away. Bob horizontally twists on a single sided finger Interlock and levers Tony down in the guard. Tony gets up and tries a snapmare but fails and goes down again. He almost goes up on his head in a toupie before rolling backwards, forwards, backwards and stops halfway to pick the wristlever off with a foot. He gets a wristlock of his own but Bob rolls out and gets a legspread to floor Tony. StClair is up a d gets a standing full nelson.He leans back and converts to rear seated bodyscissors. Bob prises the legs apart and comes away with a single leglock in the guard, dropping his weight as an extra weakener. Tony tries a crossface but loses his grip. He gets the other foot in and spins to throw Bob for a bump just before the bell goes. Round 3: Bob leaps in with a flying bodyscissors. Tony counters with a crotchhold, slam and full length shoulderpress for 2. Abbott gets an abdominal stretch into side folding press. Tony, still in the hold, clamps Bob's wrist with the back on his head(!) and puts his own forearm across Bob's shoulders. From there he untangles his legs and spins out keeping one bit of leglock. He leans forward and gets a grovit, abandoning the leglock. But Bob is up on one knee then both, diminishing its effect. He turns himself into a reverse grovit then bridges to kneeling snapmare Tony into a full length shoulderpress. Tony gets an arm in and slowly levers Bob into a side folding press but releases and (after a TWC commercial break) goes for an underhook into backslide pin attempt. Bob gets double legdive and a standing legspread held by a hand each foot. He gets some weakeners with it before releasing, Tony is up at four. He reverses Bob's rear waistlock and rides him down onto the mat. He gets a 3/4 nelson into a shoulderpress but Bob powers up and a full finger Interlock test of strength ensues until the bell rings. Referee Ernie Baldwin (that man again!) pulls them apart. Kent mentions a great match .Tony recently had with Ray Steele, taped Feb 14th 1973 Preston, screened Tuesday 20th, but sadly we have no footage of that in circulation. Round 4. Bob gets an armlock, transitions to wristlever but Tony rolls out. So Bob changes direction and drags Tony down in the guard. Tony backrolls and forward rolls in response to each of Bob's changes of turn. He leaps over Bob and gets a rear snapmare in passing into a further nelson for a couple of 1s. Next Bob tries a full nelson into snapmare into H&S. Tony powers up into standing side heädlock and thence into top wristlock but Bob pulls him down into a kneeling side headlock going full length on the mat. Tony tries another folding press but Bob regains the leverage. Tony gets it up to kneeling then standing position again, throws Bob into the ropes and in the rebound gets a crosspress but is thrown off quickly. He gets a Japanese stranglehold but Bob loosens it and throws him over the ropes. Tony gets back and they shake hands. He leans back in a finger Interlock for a double ankle smash. Bob gets a side chancery throw and twists with his feet on Tony's head. Tony sells his ears and they shake hands again, perhaps the feet twist was a receipt for the hard ankle smash. Bob gets a bearhug but Tony is leaning away so Bob's head creates space to soften the hold. Bob releases and Tony gets an armbar and crossface, gradually switching to bodyscissors. He rides Bob in the hold, dismounting to get a ground full Nelson. He is trying to turn Abbott into a further nelson pin but the bell goes. Round 5: Bob gets an armlock, levers Tony into his back and clamps on a headscissors. Tony does a string of kip up attempts untill he finally pulls his head free. He gets a double legdive but Bob leg throws him off and he takes a bump. Bob throws him for another bump also to the back. Tony gets the initiative on a slingshot but they both collide mid ring. Don't worry OJ, they are both up at 8. Bob gets a headlock off the ropes, slings Tony, sunset flips him on thecround but Tony gets the legs and gets a folding press held with a handstand for maximum vertical pressure and that gets him the one required fall. Another good technical bout but slower than Abbott -Veidor with long periods stationary in holds. If the paragraphs for full length rounds in this bout are shorter than those in the Veidor bout or some others, that's because there was rather less detail. The skill was there but a bit more speed would have really polished things.

Round 1: Veidor gets in early with a side headlock takedown, shrugging off a chinlock counter attempt. Abbott gets into an upright kneel and pulls his head out to leave a hammerlock which he converts to a straight armlock. He then apparently hammerlocks the other arm (why not keep the original hammerlock and straighten the second arm then?) goes for a cross press and gets a couple of Ones from referree (and former British Heavyweight Champion) Ernie Baldwin. Veidor has a finger Interlock, he bridges up, unhooks one sided with a leg and forces a whip on the other arm but Abbott takes it neatly and lands upright. Abbott gets a standing full nelson. Veidor can't throw him and a half break and get behind is repaid the same by Bob to regain the hold. Steve tries again but Bob gets a crucfix takedown into further nelson but Veidor twists out. Abbott gets a reverse neck crank into side chancery, Veidor tries to counter with a slam but Bob comes down knees first and gets a slam of his own white maintaining the side chancery. Veidor gets his own side chancery and throws Abbott from the kneeling position but Bob is quickly up to kneeling and when Veidor throws him again, Abbott throws to to end up with Steve in an inverted grovit. He switches to a headlock but Veidor slips out to make a hammerlock and turns his man with the other arm. He goes for shoulder press variants but only gets 1 or the odd 2. This time it's Bob who finger Interlocks and bridges up. Veidor again unhooks one sided with a foot and gives the remaining arm lever and extra twist. He goes for the whip and forces a bump, shrugging off an attempted headscissors to keep a wristlock in the guard. When Abbot gets upright, Veidor makes it into a standing back hammerlock. Bob's attempt at a legspread is for naught as Veidor readjusts his stance. He turns round into Steve's legs, gets a backdrop but is caught by a sunset flip into double leg nelson but he double ankle smashes out. Bob gets a wrist, spins intona full arm and transitions to a half chinlock (Kent is impressed!) He maintains thecarm while twisting Veidor's neck with both hands until Steve turns into the guard. Bob still has the armlock and Steve is bridging to avoid a possible pin. He briefly puts his feet on Abbot's neck but whatever counter he is planning he abandons. Bell goes. Round 2: Bob gets and armlock but Steve rolls out then backwards then cartwheels as Bob shifts the turn back and forth. He rolls backwards then forward to get control of the arm then forces a sharp upwards whip to make Bob take the bump. Abbott gets a flying tackle for 2 and a rear snapmare from which Steve rolls up nicely the gets a backslide opener. Round 3: Veidor gets a rear waistlock and rolls backwards into a folding press. Bob flips him forward into the double arm stretch with a foot on the back of the head before reverting to the more conventional shoulders. Veidor tries to roll back and in doing so puts himself ina folding press getting a 1 count. Bob tries to press down into the folding press but Steve untucks his head and rolls out. A risky strategy but it worked. Steve helps Abbott up only for Abbott to go for the leg and Veidor to forcexa quick armdrags whip that Abbot easily rolls out of, an exchange both men take sportingly. Veidor gets a standing headlock. Abbott tries to atomic drop him but Steve rolls through until it is a side headlock on the mat. Abbott gets a similar rear neck crank to the start of the bout and pulls Steve round but Veidor tugs himself out; hecstill has thecside headlock in a sitting position. Abbott throws him off to the ropes, gets a backdrop but Veidor lands well, ducks under a charge and gets a cross buttock throw for 2, Abbott gets a single leg takedown, Veidor briefly tries a crossface. Bob transitions to a standing toe and ankle. Veidor gets his other foot in to spin him off upside down (not quite a toupie as Veidor was on his shoulders.) Veidor has to step carefully to avoid Bob legdives from the mat. This time he gets the armlock but Bob folds a knee down and gets half a crossface on with his free arm and held from the hand of his locked arm. Steve throws him off and narrowly slips the jaws of a Bob headscissor. Steve gets the armlock again, covers to a witlever, passes it overhead and gives a high whip, somersault and bump then backrolls on the arm to tighten it for more. He releases the arm and Bob stay down for 7 although the last second of two he seems concerned with looking for legdive chances more than the KO count. They agreed to a half finger interlock and Veidor cartwheels forwards before switching arm and forcing another high whip and bump. He still has the arm and makes an armlock of it. Abbott scissors the other arm. They agreed on a stalemate. Bob gets a throw mostly with the hand and wrist on a moving Steve. Abbott gets a rear waistlock into rear double legdive and turns Steve into the reverse double leg nelson. Steve adjusts to stop the pin count at 1 then the bell goes. Round 4, Abbott gets a quick front waistlock but Veidor side chancery throws out. Abbott neatly rolls out of a further nelson pin attempt. He gets a wristlock into armlock into side chanceorbhry throw and crosspress for several 1s but Veidor bridges out. Veidor gets a front chancery but Bob breaks it open and high whips the arm for a bump. He gets a throw but misses a flying tackle and stays down for 8. Veidor picks him off with a bodyslam but falls for a ground dropkick. He then gets a cross buttock throw and press for the equaliser - the missed flying tackle having been a ruse to make Veidor think his man was injured!!! Round 5: Veidor gets a waistlock into folding press but Runs Out Of Mat. Abbott gets a front grovit then a rear snapmare into Headlock And Strangle (American sleeper) then rear bodyscissors, turning him into another reverse double leg nelson. He gets a couple of one counts before giving up. Veidor helps him up and warily shakes his hand. He then gets a stomachbreaker for a 7! count. He whips Bib to the ropes but Bob comes back with a sunset flip. Veidor turns out of the double leg nelson trying for his own folding press. Bob leg throws him and he cartwheels out. Bob gets cross buttock throw and press for 2. He gets a side headlock but Veidor counters with a folding press just far enough from thecropes. Referee Baldwin almost falls out the ring diving to make the pin count but it counts as three anyway. I was six days old when this bout was first screened but I can appreciate it now, a beautiful technical match. Kent only plugs Abbott for more TV matches once (although he namedrops "my friend" Norman Morell in doing so) and Veidor also gets a plug for another televised British Heavyweight title match. A couple of years later another clean blue eyed youngster Tony StClair would take that belt and except for brief losses to Giant Haystacks in 1978-1979 and Kendo Nagasaki in 1988 would hold it to 1990 ( a mid/late 80s splinter version was held by blue eyes Ray Steele, Pat Roach and Dalbir Singh) so the heel champion policy did not last long with Dave Fit Finlay in the early 90s the next long heel run. And speaking of Tony StClair...

I think a WM7 Hogan Warrior rematch with Pat directing traffic would have turned out similarly acceptable. Probably also sold more tickets than Hogan-Slaughter.

and a bout with Johnny Czeslaw too and all three did their bouts with him in the road plenty of times. Somewhere out there is 8mm footage of Blond Adonis Crabtree on a 60s Paul Lincoln show. He sells decently in the Solihull Kendo bout from 1975 and against Dave Bond in 1978 footage for experimental cable TV in Portsmouth. Max Crabtree booked Shirley (like Schurli at the Heumarkt) to be the unstoppable force of nature and Max hated bouts like the Elijah one, regarding them as a misuse of his brother by other Joint members (Earnshaw expressed the same opinion in his book.)

Hogan Vs Warrior needed Pat Patterson to make it work. With him you got WM6 Without him you got HH98.

Without brother Max booking him as a totally impregnable juggernaut, Daddy could have surprisingly decent strength-based matches.

It's not that they're comparable as workers. But they are comparable as two highly overblown lead babyfaces.

There's plenty of colour TV footage from the start of 1975 and that one bout from January 1969. A lot of bouts Oct '67 - Dec '74 were originally in colour on France's Channel 2 and could be restored to colour some time by chroma dot recovery.

It was his one little party trick that he was rather proud of. Notably, he used it in his first WCW World title win from Flair, because he felt the "rasslin'" folks down South would demand it from him as a matter of credibility. You do get these people on Facebook who go "All you people who say Hulk can't wrestle, watch THIS" and then post a video of the blessed drop toehold into chinlock.

No dispute there although taken individually the Andre of 1987-1990 was probably the worst of them. Daddymania may have reversed the 1970s UK decline but it also set in train the path of the rise of All Star until it took over the territory and still dominates today in 2025. The drop toehold into crossface is the move Hogan fans all point to as "evidence " of him actually being some technical wizard LOL. When I come across these people on Facebook I post them Johnny Saint Vs Vic Faulkner 1981 and tell them " Could Hulk do THAT"?

Okay, this is the last of the Robbie Brookside Scourge of Germany/Austria deep dive videos as it's the last relevant clip I can find. It's set in the beer garden of a pub a year before the IWW bout and for once Robbie and Franz are not lumbered with a match gimmick. It's a lot more scientific - like a longer more developed version of the in ring but of the Falls Count Anywhere match. Robbie puts a lot of energy into taunting and growling abuse at the audience but goes down in two straight falls, firstly from a cross chest backbreaker then from a further nelson folding press. Didier Gapp is trying to do his comedy thing, at one point falling over while refusing a rope break.

Daddy was restrained by Max Crabtree. Without that he could have been a British version of Hansi Rooks in Germany. A lot of fuss is made over Hogan "wrestling technically" in Japan although this boiled down to just that drop toehold into crossface. Until Graham turned up as Karate Man in late 82, Vince's Plan A was reportedly for him to get his revenge and later in 83 turn babyface. Poaching Hulk back from the AWA was apparently Plan C (poaching Kerry being Plan B.) Or so the story goes.

This time it's a Falls Count Anywhere match so they say over the ropes and ECW around the room and briefly outside in the car park, occasionally getting the odd submission hold in passing before just short of halfway when they get in them ring and Schumann gets a drop toehold and Gotch toehold on Brookside. Franz adds double wrists and tries to make it a surfboard but Brookside resists and a frustrated Schumann releases and drops a guillotine elbowsmash. From there it's back to ringside for some table antics. then back in for some near falls and a grovit by Robbie, into Robbie's by now trademark camel clutch/reverse front chancery combination. Franz breaks it open into a wristlock on the mat into double arms from behind with Robbie in the mount. Schumann gets a slam and Superfly splash, then a rear chinlock, putting the knees in the back for good measure. Brookside fouls his way out and Tree Of Woes and low flying dropkicks Franz. Referee Didier Gapp unties him and Robbie guillotine elbowsmashes him for 2. Franz gets a headlock and bodycheck of his own but Paul Neu shows up at ringside and trips him. It heads back outside with Franz topping Neu and being axehandled by Brookside. Robbie gets the pin on the floor and returns to to the ring for the sameme taunting routine as the Ecki bout. The bit in the ring with holds that I quite liked probably had the German wannabe ECW fans tearing their hair out.

Another Eckstein-Brookside match, this from 1998 for IWW. Nice venue, either a gym or a converted pool. Someone in a black t-shirt cuts a promo at the start. Brookside gets a headlock which Eckstein breaks into a top wristlock. Brookside lets himself be powered down then catches Ecki in a headscissors plus armlock. ZEcki gets headscissors of his own and pulls his own head free, Robbie goes into the upright position and pulls his head out then gets an Indian Deathlock. He adds a front chancery but Ecki pounds his way out. After this it gets brawly for a bitty until Ecki gets a monkey climb, sending a Robbie scurrying to the floor outside. When they finally get back to the ring and - after some finger pointy verbals - reconnect and after somee running clotheslines get technical again, Ecki drops under Brookside's charge, leapfrogs over, backdrops and dropkicks him. Robbie heads outside but Ecki follows him and shoved him into a bunch of wooden chairs as their occupants scatter like startled pigeons. Ecki makes it back to the ring but Robbie drags him out and to the wall of the room. Where he dumps him and throttles him with some ribbon. Brookside gets back to ringside, crowing over his actions but Ecki gets back too and they brawl at ringside. Ecki dropkicks Brookside and smashes him into one of the chairs from earlier. Brookside grabs the chair and hits Ecki. Referee Didier Gapp isn't intervening much - is this a Hardcore match? Gapp makes it back second, has a quick word with Robbie and orders Ecki back to the ring (but does not count him.). Robbie repeatedly shoved Ecki out. Ecki drags Robbie almost out by the leg and smashes the limb into the corner post. He throws Robbie into some chairs and works on the knee with one. Now it's Ecki's turn to be king if he castle in the ring. Finally Robbie is back. Ecki goes to work on the leg with a legdive and toehold-legspread. He drops his weight on the knee. Robbie pounds his way out, crotch holds Ecki and drapes him Tree Of Woe style in the corner and lands a sliding dropkick on his head on the mat. Gapp releases Ecki but Robbie gets in with a stomp and posting. Ecki reverse leapfrogs and dropkicks Robbie in the corner. He gets a folding press pin attempt but the black t shirted shouty man from the start runs in and breaks it up. Ecki follows him out and pounds him at ringside but Robbie follows him out and kicks Ecki down. He piledrives Eckstein on a convenient orange mat. Robbie thoughtfully provides his black t-shirt shirted mate with a comfy chair to rest Brookside and Gapp march back into the ring for an argument. Brookside suplexes Eckstein back into the ring. He gets his camel clutch/reverse front face lock combination. Eventually he converts to a rear chinlock.Ecki brawls his way out. Robbie gets a belly to belly suplex. He tries for a suplex but Eckstein reverses it and gets a 2 count. Ecki posts and backwards vertical splashes Robbie, rear snapmares him and lands a low dropkick before cross pressing him for 2. They brawl on . Brookside gets a middle rope superplex. Both lay on the mat. Ecki gets a backslide for 2. Brookside throws Ecki out. Ecki comes back with a missile dropkick, double underhook suplex for a 2 count, reverse top turnbuckle shoulderblock for one when Robbie grabs the bottom rope. Robbie gets a reverse DDT and uses the rope to get a pin. It seems to have been a hardcore match so fair enough. Brookside jeers in victory a d cuts a taunting promo. Some good technical bits in between the out of ring brawling. Far more than possible in a Piratenkampf or any other chain match. Robbie does know how to antagonize a crowd. ******** There's also a short 4min highlight package on YouTube with English commentary by the same German commentators. They are rather pithy and sarcastic to each other ("I'm impressed by your wrestling knowledge!" etc.). Worth a quick watch just for that dry humour.