David Mantell

From summer 1980 Mighty John Quinn overcomes his aversion to Lineys to team with Big Daddy's other worst enemy. Apparently the Giant has been touring New Zealand and Canada (presumably Stampede) and won all of his 42 fights in the past 5 months. I'm surprised he only got 42 bookings in that period. MC John Harris, later on an MC in Welsh and referee on Reslo and later still a stand in for Orig Williams on English commentary on selected 1991 Eurosport repeats of New Catch Season 1 from 1988 on TF1, tells the audience chirpily to Say Hello to Johnny Wilson and improbably asks them to Welcome back Quinn. First Session. In the early stages Stax just lets the blue eyes bounce off him like in his later years. A couple of scissor chops from Roberts do make contact so in comes Quinn. Against Roberts this is a competitive match up. Pete counters a backdrop attempt with a leapfrog and comes back off the ropes with a flying bodypress for 2. Wilson tags in and gets a back hammerlock but Quinn uses sheer power to straighten his own arm then starts hitting with fists, looking to get an illegal punch in. He gets a shoulders blow, snapmare and big boot and cross buttock throw for 2. Wilson gets a kneelift and chop but Quinn floors him with forearms for 4, a full nelson and tag to Haystacks who clamps down on the back of Tarzan Johnny's neck. Suspecting that the real object is the Giant using his chest to suffocate, referee Max Ward calls for a break and Wilson is up at 5 straight into a bionic elbow for 7, headbutt for 5 and another elbowsmash. Quinn tags in again and tries again for a backdrop, this time successfully. He follows in with a stomp- a foul in the UK but legal in America giving Kent a chance to l3 ture against the Wild Ways of lawless All In American Wrestling. Like a boxing historian regaling horror stories of the old days of Bare Knuckle fights. Meanwhile Quinn gets a front chancery but wWilson breaks it open and gets a high whip, forcing a good solid bump. Roberts tags in and gets a back hammerlock but Quinn uses chest almost punches, a Headlock and bodychecks before being caught with a kneelift to the stomach. They brawl for a bit then Pete gets a rear snapmare and kneedrop. Wilson tags in and nearly ejects Quinn with a dropkick before Stax is back, beating on his man and finishing him with. Stinger splash and Big Splash for the opening fall. Second Session. Wilson is in a bad way but cannot tag until he makes physical contact with Stax again. This turns out to be a trap - Haystacks charges into the blue eye corner, Wilson moves away and thus Stax posts himself. Roberts is now free to tag in and go to work with karate chops on the Giant. He tags Quinn who brawls with Pete until Roberts nearly gets another flying tackle. MJQ overpowers and slams him but Roberts catches his man with a ground dropkick. However Quinn gets a very American finish- a chop and splash. almost a clothesline and cover - to get the second straight and the win . After the match, a suited Wayne Bridges comes in demanding his return match against the Canadian for the World championship. Made watchable by Stax being used minimally and being a lot more athletic back then while still being a great snarling villain. A lot of brawling but more than a few good heavyweight moves. Roberts especially was capable of more - and gave it his best shot even so.

For instance:

I can't find the exact clip right now but there was a shoot interview clip of Brutus Beefcake getting quite a lot of attention a few months ago where Brutus says he was all ready to win the iC title at Summerslam when Warrior went marching into Vince's office, kvetching about how he hadn't yet been given a title as promised. Unusually for him, Vince rolled over and gave Warrior Brutus's IC title reign (which kept him content until Linda Hogan got pregnant a second time and Warrior could be paternity leave cover World champion like Savage in 1988) There are other clips still up of Brutus saying similar but they lack the impact of that particular one.

Warrior had been earmarked as Hogan's eventual long term replacement in 1987 and was apparently still Hogan's heir apparent until 1991-1992 when a combination of the SS91 contract argument and the steroid scandal while resulted in a loss of size for Warrior and a drop in fashionablity for big physiques) saw him gradually replaced by Bret. These were done because a lot of fans sided with Savage coming out of the Main Event '89 so audiences needed to see Savage behaving a lot more like a heel., both by being cowardly against Warrior and by making pals with Rude at the end. Bottom line is down to Linda Hogan getting pregnant twice and Hulk being required to take Paternity Leave and go on Diaper Duty twice. The first time round, paternity cover wad Savage/ Both Times, WM Even Number ended with a face other than Hogan taking the blet home with Hogan's blessing. Jan or Feb of the next year the belt ended up in the hands of a heel (Savage turned, Warrior jobbed to Slaughter) setting up Heel Champion vs Hogan at WM Odd Number. Warrior had gone into Vince's office and demanded when this title push he was sold on was coming. Normally (Bam Bam, The Powers, Sid, Lex, Crush) Vince would just BS charm them out of his office, but in Warrior's case he really DID wast him as champ some day. so they fobbed him off with two IC reigns and a year as paternity cover World Champion (cut down to 9 months once Vince saw the WM6 PPV figures and started carrying on alarming about how face vs face with Pedro vs Bruno was a flop for his dad in '72 and swearing that for the hand-back to Hogan there would be an interim champion which was Sheik Tugboat Sgt Slaughter.) Heel Savage would usually deal with fellow heels who asked Liz for a kiss by kissing them himself! It's an old trick., if you are flirting with a girl but her boyfriend/husband is someone you like/respect or who (against expectation/prejudice) turns out to be a decent guy, seduce him also and have yourselves a threesome!

From a few years earlier, 1982 and GET THIS!!! - THE IRON SHEIK A BABYFACE!!! He's announced as Hussein Arab, his old ring name, he's an Allah-fearing righteous good guy and he's facing a cheating masked heel, possibly Bill Eadie as the Masked Superstar. (Not sure what the opponent is called "Al Halibut") Check it out.

If the former, it would have been kinescope films, not taped as such. If the latter it would have been a live screening At least in the mid 50s, it would, with both the above.

OJ asked where the footage was from and you replied France. By that, did you mean it was recycled ORTF footage or that TMC went to France to shoot it?

France. After the ORTF broadcasts began, were they just screening overseas sales kinescopes of ORTF's wrestling broadcasts or did they send their own crews out to film matches themselves? (like Reslo visiting the German tournaments). If the former, what was the situation before the ORTF bouts started screening? I assume it wasn't just a screening of the clips off pre-1956 news broadcasts (would they, if compiled together, result in a show of satisfactory length?).

Either French promoters were doing shows in Monte Carlo or else they were crossing into France to broadcast matches from nearby places like Cap D'Ailles. Either way, presumably live. We've already heard from Bob Plantin about how Téléluxembourg worked, just turning up to film odd house shows - possibly notifying promoters, apparently not wrestlers though.

These are the three CORKERS! And this is the lesser one:

They had eight matches on TV 1968-1983 (one tag and seven singles) and four of those are up on Youtube. Of those, three are classics, the fourth (the spring 1983 bout) is a bit rushed at only two rounds long with too much focus on the banter spots rather than the skilled work they could do together. They made up for it with the late '83 bout.

Télé Monte Carlo was a private sector broadcaster, ORTF a state run corporation. No surprises there. (Ditto ITV vs BBC). I expect that, like ITV under Lew Grade, TMC was heavily modelled on American commercial networks (from during the TV wrestling boom of the late 40s/early 50s.) Consider also how TF! suddenly caught the wrestling bug again about a year after its 1987 privatisation. And what good bedfellows Vince McMahon and Rupert Murdoch made for 3 decades.

This was 80. I have one more match left for 80 - see this coming weekend - then I am moving on to clear off the last we've got AFAIK of '81. I've got about 50 bouts in a private YT list from the 1980s to work from, drawn from @sergeiSem and Marco's Catch Sammlung channels.

It's been a while but at least - Old Catch En Couleur!!! Catch Á Six from 1977. Guy Mercier and Bruno Asquini we all know, top Bons of the 70s, here with fellow Bon Gerard Tayse to face three Méchants that pushed every Xenophobic button 8n a 70s French audience. A Spaniard, a Latin American and a Gypsy All dressed in stripey gear like wasps. While Les Bons have their own yellow jackets. As if that wasn't enough, Monsieur L'Arbitre is that former technical marvel turned Horrid Little Man. Michel Saulnier. And at ringside Roger Couderc looking totally the French Kent Walton. Premiére Manche: Tayse and Gonzales the Gypsy start off. Gonz looks like a beardy prog rocker crossed with Larry "UK Black Jack Mulligan" Coulter. He can do great cartwheels out of throws though like any lightweight. He spits angrily at Tayse and tags Trujillo who has a great long distance throw and Sunset flip into double leg Nelson for 2. Asquini and then Mercier end up in against Gonzalez. Guy resists a hiptoss and does one himself. Jones manages one at last buy Guy rolls through with one of his own, but Runs Out Of Mat. Viracocha the Peruvian tags in. Guy soon has him in an Indian Deathlock.It takes loads of Manchettes and the odd hairpull to break. Inca gets a kneedrop and tags Thomas who gets a leg but is cross scissored then kicked off. Bruno next, gets legdived, twice kicks his man off the twice spins him off. He does it to Gonzales too but the gypsy has a good cartwheel and comes right back with a rear snapmare. Gonzales rolls right through one legdive and ends up in fighting posture but facing the wrong way. "Il est souple, Gonzales" says Couderc, a compliment last bestowed on Le Samourai two years earlier. Inca Viracocha and Gerard take turns getting cross buttock throws. Les Méchants are reluctant to tag in but managed to in the end. Mercier forces a whip and bump on Inca. While Saulnier orders his two fellow Bons away. The heels get a pretty straightforward heat, cutting the ring in half and triple teaming Mercier. Asquini tags but after a couple of good stiff Manchettes is soon getting the same treatment. Mercier and Saulnie have one of their near fights as Bruno gets the treatment. Finally Bruno crawls through a heel's legs and tags Mercier who goes wild on Les Méchants until they smash Guy throat first on the top rope and carry on as before. Asquini does get a 1 count on Viracocha but his team mates break i5 up. He comes closer with a 2 on Gonzalez. Gonzales several times snapmares and dropkicks Tayse who comes back with Manchettes. For the most part, the triple teaming just carries on. Hot tags cut quickly short An efficient triple team machine in the heel corner. Eventually Gonzales gets Un Tombée on Bald Bruno after jumping off the ropes feet first. Deuxieme Manche: Gonzales gives Asquini a big long side Chancery throw into the Méchant corner and it's back to work. Once Mercier's tag is missed by Saulnier who drags him back to the Bon corner by the hair. Finally Guy gets a genuine hot tag and eliminates all three villains with Manchettes and Saus Chasées., before giving Saulnier a hefty Manchette of his own, flooring L'Arbitre. He gives both Gonzales and Saulnier repeated postings before cross buttock throwing and pressing Jo for the equaliser. Saulnier makes the count before passing out. He recovers enough to try to raise the good guys' hands but they refuse him They shove him away and shake hands. La Belle: Gonzales gets a full nelson on Mercier who breaks open one side and goes behind to reverse it. Mercier seems to make Gonzales pass out but when he drops to bodyscissors and threatens to do the "Ah Ouais" repeated atomic drop. Gonzales forces a standing break and tags Viracocha . The heels try their double teaming tactics but end up ejected from the ring. They try again but Mercier drags Trujillo outside and Manchettes him all around the ring. Saulnier is ENRAGED, climbing ring posts to order Les Bons back to their corner. Things resume with Guy and Gonzales. Viracocha comes in and full Nelsons Guy then gets a front facelock on him. He goes back to the full nelson as Gonzales gets s shot in. The faces all come in, slingshot heels into each other and play a very different kind of "Catch!" with Saulnier. There's briefly a comedy false finish involving Saulnier supposedly getting the pin on Trujillo which sends Saulnier mad trying to get the timekeeper's attention to resume the match. Eventually he gets is point to Couderc All six catcheurs end up doing the String Of Headlocks gag before separating into three Bons each headlock a méchant and they try to bulldog them together but it ends in Les Bons colliding. After a couple more attempts, Asquini gets the winning fall on Trujillo and again the good guys refuse to let Saulnier raise their hand. It was Catch Á Six but really it was a typical Catch Á Quatre of the period. Not too scientific but fast and full of action. And relations between Saulnier and the Mercier family just getting worse.

Haha I was going to write back and angrily insist that that WAS Kauroff - even the ring announcer says so. Apart from him and the two French "Russians" I posted, the only other one in wrestling in Europe at that time I can think of was the vastly lighter (and previously hairier on top) Larry "Black Jack Mulligan (No Relation to Bob Windham" Coulter. Also about how how Stone Cold and Goldberg have popularised that whole Nikita Koloff look among toxic macho male type like that scumbag Andrew Tate. Which is a reason why I don't like the Stone Cold character. But that's all vastly OT. Tried reviewing the Kauroff-Saturski bout but the bad picture quality and the brawly content defeated me. Maybe OJ would like it if not for the picture. Quite the other end of the spectrum from Wright Vs St Clair in 1986 Bremen. Amusing to see Kauroff cheekily offer a handshake at the end and Saturski refuse it after such dirty wrestling. He's a loveable rogue, old Klaus. No wonder he became a babyface in the 90s. And it was nice to hear the DJ play a favourite of mine. Funkytown by Lipps Inc, which had only come out four months earlier Okay. I'm going to have another go. I can't see it going blow by blow but IIRC I was half asleep last time. I'm planning to do a mop-up of 1980s clips Ivenot covered properly. Starting with this: Colour signal is awful. It improves later. Nice to see Mick McMichael of Doncaster in Doncaster in his kilt. Funkytown really put a an age on this clip. The arguments between Mick and Klaus go on and on and the crowd give Kauroff the bird. Th3 tape is old and stretched so The Bird starts to sound like some tape experiment by Brian Eno on the first two Roxy Music albums. Wolf goes to sit down on a corner post. Finally he pounds Kauroff (getting in one nice snapmare). The two do a bit of slug punch and kneelift. Die Runde Ein ends after not much action. Mick orders them apart. Cut to Runde 2, I assume. Wolf is pounding Klaus in the other corner. Two girls in nice sundresses run past the corner, Klaus hulks up (insofar as a German heel legend can be said to Hulk up) and legdives Saturski but he hammers him off with a heel to the head. Saturski gets an arm., makes a semi Japanese Stranglehold. Eventually Kauroff slugs his way out crudely. He takes down Saturski with a top wristlock but Wolf gets headscissors. Kauroff actually does a decent force jaws open and kip out escape. Wolfgang also does something good, a flying headscissors takedown (until you remember that a scissors was what he had one just before.). Cut to Wolf with a chinlock. Cut to Kauroff with an armlock. No idea how they exchanged/reversed/transitioned - if they did. Some slug and punch then the bell goes. Round 3? Wolf gets an Indian Deathlock and front facing chinlock. He switches to a Gotch toehold in the guard. He drops his weight on Kauroff but only gets 6. Kauroff high whips and bumps Wolf who catches him with a ground dropkick. Wolf gradually gets Klaus down from a collar and elbow which goes on for ages but he is soon up and it carries thon for ages again. Wold gets a scissor chop which Klaus eventually sells by going down on one knee. Camera points at fans for ages before we see Wolf with a side chancery but no throw. Kauroff gets up and gets a side chancery throw of his own and so stomps.. The colour has Improved somewhat. The bell goes and Mick has a job getting Klaus off. Runde 4 I guess Kauroff pounds Wolf in his corner and on the mat and appears to have the KO win but he narrowly survived and drops for another 6. They trade blows. Kauroff posts Wolf and chokes him on the mat. No yellow card but no count either. Kauroff gets a posting on Wolf for 8, slugs him in the corner, They slug and p7 ch on till the end of the round. Runde 5. Some ACTION! Wolf gets 3 dropkicks putting Klaus to ringside with the third. He is back at 8. Both get a 2 count pin attempt. Wolf gets another one with a snapmare. Apparently the time limit runs out. Wolf refusesKauroff's handshake. Slow like Rollerball Rocco Vs Sammy Lee was fast. The odd good hold or move, lots of slug and punch, even more stalling. And Kent Walton later claimed Wolf was European Welterweight Champion around this time? Saturski apparently was on World Of Sport November 1970, going down 1-0 to Judo Al Hayes. Which explains where Kent saw him.

Okay I've lookup the match, it's only a minute longer than what I originally planned (a 1980 Giant Haystacks tag) which I'll save for next week when I've got less time). and our friends the radio DJs praise it to the skies. Pity @ohtani's jacket doesn't feel the same way: Okay, let's make our own minds up. The crowd evidently have, singing "WHATSALOADOFRUBBISH" at Rocco. . Apparently, says Kent, Sammy has a considerable female following. Round 1: Lee mostly focuses on his spinning kick to start, cornering Rocco th3n letting him have a blast. Rocco gets a hammerlock but Lee straighten a the arm, rolls forward twice -th3n seconds time going over on his head like the young Dynamite Kid against Alan Dennisson in 1976. He finishes off with a high whip causing Rocco to bump heavily to the delight of all his haters. Sammy isn't laughing, he glares maliciously at Rocco who responds with a top wristlock. Sammy does the French style back flip to a better angl3 then a cross buttock throw for another hard Rocco bump. Rollerball gets a high finger into side chancery, transitioning to full nelson. Sammy butts out backwards and comes back off the ropes with a flying tackle and cross press but Rocco bench presses Lee out of the ring.Le3 flips in offer the top rope and straight to another spinning kick. Rocco gets a grovit and transitions to double rear arms, perhaps looking afo. Lee flips forward, catching Rocco in a reverse ground dropkick as he does so. Rocco kips up and cross buttock presses Lee who keeps the momentum going into a cross buttock throw of his own. Rocco gets a quick armlock into rear standing hammerlock, driving Lee down to the mat but just short of turning him into th3e guard for a pin. Eventualy Rocco, frustrated , kicks and pounds on the shoulder joint, getting himself some heat by choking Sammy on the top rope. He is warned off by referee Dave Reece . but the dirties have done their job, Sammy is selling his at, rubbing tenderly at the bicep. Rocco tries to get a posting to land on the shoulder/bicep but Sammy reverse leapfrogs him. Rocco, unlike other heels, can keep up with Sammy for speed, he is getting his kicks in. Rocco tries the same precision posting, this time Sammy rolls over the top. He is also ready for the kick this time, grabbing Rocco's ankle as it comes up and flooring him. The cdrowd are delighted to see Rocco on the mat rolling around but personally I would have preferred to see Lee keep hold and develop it into a leglock of some sort! (Advert break on the digital repeat.). Rocco gets even with a concealed punch, kick, snapmares and guillotine elbowsmash. Lee is up at 8 but whipped into a stomach but. Rocco gets anothe4 snapmare but this time misses the elbowsmash. Lee fights back with his trademark spinning kick. whip and shoulderblock. Rocco nervously gets a half interlock into standing full nelson. Lee tries to slip in an arm for a cross buttock throw but the bell goes. Round 2 Lee has an odd, contorted fighting stance with one hand bent a pointing forward. Rocco gets in with a front facing armbars, getting behind and kneelifting the joint, the same one as before. He switches to a concealed punch and kick (Reece is highly suspicious of the former.). He gets in a blow to the back of the neck then a Randy Savage axehandle, carefully timing it just as Lee gets his knee off the mat so it is -just barely - legal. Lee is down for 8, slapped down for 2 and reverse pikdriven. He climbs the ropes for a followup but Lee gets up and throws him down. Rocco leaves th3cring to recover and the crowd sing "nice one Sammy.". They lock up and Rocco forces Sammy in to an over the knee backbreaker held with a grovit, then a headbutt held with the hair (Reece is most unhappy with this.). Lee makes a feet first landing from a Rocco monkey climb and gets his spinning kick in fast as does the fallen Rocco with a chop to the thigh. He whips and boots Lee in the stomach but misses a guillotine elbowsmash off the top rope. Lee, up first, gets a whip and shoulderblock. This time Rocco is up with with a magnificent long suplex. It keeps his man down for eight. Rocco tries again and this tim3 gourdbusts Lee on the top rope, earning himself a public warning. Lee sells it for a long while and as he's allowed up for free without a count (as refs can permit when one man is felled by a foul) he is entitled to that. Rocco tries a third suplex but Lee lands feet first behind, atomic drops Rocco on one knee , posts him and inverted waistlock slams him on to o e knee. He switches to crosspress and gets the opening fall. Round 3. Angry, Rocco goes for chops - and more chops - all the way down to the mat. Reece gives him his Second And Final Public Warning. (If you've seen the Wrestle Me vlog, you'll already know where things are heading. If not - Spoilers and I don't mean Drew McDonald or Don Jardine.). Rocco gets a side chancery throw and, now knowing he has to be careful, delivers a series of guillotine elbowsmashes just fast enough that they can get passed by Reece as continuous motion. He does get away with a hairpull but Lee gets on the attack first before Reece can step in, Lee makes a feet first landing from a backdrop and is back in with a spinning kick. Rocco successfully conceals a punch and posts Lee but when Lee comes back off the top rope, Rocco tries to flyswat him with a punch and Reece catches him! DISQUALIFIED!!! THE crowd don't share OJ's view of disqualification finishes, they are DELIGHTED to see hated heel Rocco gets his comeuppance. Neither wrestler is happy, Rocco shouts threats, Lee mouths curses. I thought that was pretty decent myself. The fouls, like with Jones Vs Bond, were kept in their place - even with a DQ finish - and Rocco was actually able to keep up with Lee unlike Cooper, Mulligan, England and even Breaks who ended up as his humiliated stooges for slowness. And when Saya a returned home for his Tiger Mask push. he brough5va little souvenir with him. See the two different matchups side by side below in a Japanese YouTube channel video. Okay, for all you Haystacks fans, unless something really exciting gets posted to Rumble's YouTube channel, that 1980 tag match will be rescheduled for next weekend.

@William BolognaYet another Wrestle Me vlog piece on British Wrestling, this time focusing on a feud that spanned both Britain and Japan: Sammy Lee Vs Rollerball Rocco and their Puroresu alter egos Tiger Mask mk1 Vs Black Tiger mk1. 5:28 note the comments about the audience being like a tennis audience, well educated in appreciation of skillful play. Credit Kent Walton for educating them this. Most of my own style of reading and analysing a match comes from Kent too. It's how we Brit TV babies were brought up.

Agreed that was a silly overblown statement by this Scott Keith bloke but I would suggest the lasting moral of the Savage/Elizabeth story was that actually SHE was the strong one in the relationship all along and that only by swallowing his pride and not just admitting but embracing that fact could Savage find salvation and inner peace.

For the second time, Kilby is in a final for a British title after its previous holder won a World Championship. Last time it was the Heavy Middleweight title after Rollerball Rocco beat Joel de Fremery to become World Champion . This time it was after the complex feud for both titles between Marty Jones and Fit Finlay ended with Jones regaining the World Mid Heavyweight title on a confusing DQ win (confusing inasmuch as as it was not clear why Finlay was disqualified.) Last time Kilby disposed of King Ben (who eventually did briefly take this here Light Heavyweight title off Kilby in early 1988) this time young Logan is the other finalist for a belt that his Iron Man Of London namesake once was also a finalist for in 1955 before losing out to Ernie Riley, son of Wigan Snakepit boss Billy Riley. Round 1 after an initial lock up hits the corner. Logan gets a side headlock, Kilby throws him to the ropes and bodychecks him then takes him down via a hiptoss into a side headlock on the.mat. Logan turns him into a side folding press and gets a 1 count but then powers up right to near standing position. Kilby snapmares Logan who rolls up nicely and then gets a lunge, then a snapmare of his own, absorbs a Kilby bodycheck and whips his man into the ropes. Kilby comes back with a sunset flip into double leg nelson for 2.before Logan hits him with the double ankle smash and whips him in the ropes Kilby catches him in a cross buttock throw and press for 2 until Logan kicks off. Kilby gets a legdive and begins weakening Logan's knee before scissoring the ankle. Logan gets a crossface and puts his free leg around Kilby in half a bodyscissors. Kilby releases the leg to counter the crossface so Logan completes the bodyscissors. Kilby tries undressing the hold but Logan bumps him in an atomic drop in the bodyscissors (the move that gets French fans chanting "Ah Ouais!". The impact does break the crossface and Alan looks to undo the scissors to Logan tries various arm holds to stop him. They turn over sideways before agreeing to a stalemate. Once up, Kilby gets an arm at. weakener and snapmare and front chancery, but Logan drives him into the ropes and referee Jeff Kaye pulls them apart. Logan gets a full nelson but then the bell goes. Round 2. and Kilby gets a side chancery to rear snapmare. He tries another side chancery but Logan gets a leg. Kilby shrugs it off and gets a snapmare into rear chinlock. Logan snaps it open into an armbar into hammerlock with Kilby down in the mount, twice kneedrops the arm and tightens the hold. As in the last bou, he lets his knees take over the hold, secure the other arm and turns his man over in the guard with a cross press for 2 and another 2 with the arm straight. Kilby bridges up so Logan loads his weight on top. Kent predicts the bridge will hold but it collapses. They start over and Kilby gets the back of the neck but Logan goes for the leg again and takes his man down, making s double legspread. He has it for a good while before Kilby pulls up a knee and jumps forwards into a side headlock on the mat. Logan starts to get up so Kilby cross buttocks him down. Logan gets a 2 count with a side folding press for 2. Logan gets up then slips out the headlock with a side folding press from behind. Alan rolls out into a mash ash they call a stalemate. Kilby gets behind for a standing chinlock but the bell goes. Round 3: Logan gets a headlock into side chancery throw into further nelson - a nice sequence but only for a 2. He gets a few 1s but Kilby keeps getting a shoulder up. So Logan releases and Kilby gets a side chancery throw and bodycheck buck Logan ducks, leapfrogs and hiptosses Kilby into a crosspress for 2. Kilby gets a legdive into an Indian Deathlock, Logan twice knocks off the pinioning leg. so Alan transitions to an improved hold. This leaves him vulnerable to sit-up attacks from Logan as in the last bout. Logan rolls Kilby into a folding press but Runs Out Of Mat as their legs hit the ropes. Kaye calls for a break. Logan gets a half nelson into snapmare down into double kneepress for 1 then a crosspress for 1 before Kilby bridges to throw him off. Kilby gets a powerful cross buttock throw for four before Logan springs into a button to stomach for three , a forearm smash, a side chancery throw into crosspress for 1. Kilby tried for a waistlock from the mat but Logan shrugs him off and they start over. Logan gets a rear waistlock into front folding press for 2. Kilby gets a shoulder in, Logan gets a front chancery into forearm smash using the hold to position his man for the blow. He gives Alan a knee to the stomach and a smash tomthe shoulder blades Kilby collars him just in time for the bell. During the interval we see Marty Jones at ringside in big glasses and a rugby shirt, not exactly the most flattering image of him ever. Round 4. Kilby twice collars and forearm smashes Logan then snapmares and Legdrop Of Dooms him. Logan is up after 6 but side chancery thrown down a long way and splashes him for 2 for a pin count then another 4 for a KO count. Again Alan collars and this time double kneelifts Steve who wandes into the corner but catches Kilby with a superkick for 4 as he follows in. Now it's Logan's turn to do the collar and smash. Followed by a slam and crosspress. Kilby gets an arm up then the other arm up to cut two counts short at 2. Logan offers a reset and Kilby gets his butt to stomach and smash to shoulders pair in again followed by a snapmare down into crossface with the elbows and entire lower arms meeting. Logan tries to grab the fists at the top to undress the hold (and if he could get the power that would be one big gappy "chinlock" to remove his head from!) so realising this flaw in his hold, Kilby switches to a further nelson press, twice for two before Logan regains his balance, a third time for 1 before Steve shakes the hold off! They shake hands and the crowd claps. Kilby gets a full nelson, Logan tries rearing out, then sliding out downwards then gripping his own lifted leg for extra leverage then another rearing. None work, the full nelson stays on. Finally uses a repeated series of rears to hammer Kilby backwards into the ropes for a break. Kilby again gets the front and back pair of blows, then a slam for 5, uppercut for 6 and side chancery throw into crosspress for 1 with Logan getting his arm up before the bell. Round 5 Logan gets a Headlock. (A Q dot in the top right corner signifying an advert break in the next 60 seconds manages to Spoiler what is coming.). Kilby breaks it open into an armbar, passing it overhead to tighten it. Before Logan can roll out, Kilby switches to side headlock and cross buttocks his man for 4. Logan shoves him down, gets a side chancery throw and comes off the ropes in a bodycheck. Alan doesn't sell it much but ducks down under the next charge and gets his man in the rebound with a superkick then a backslide ("double arm shoulderpress") for the opening fall. We get the Wrestling advert break music that went with Jeff Lynne's new 1983 theme for World of Sport, so this was clearly a well kept domestic recording of the original 1985 broadcast. Round 6. Kilby goes from collar to side headlock to side chancery but can't get the throw. He turns his man 90' into a grovit position but Logan beats his way free with inside forearm blows the gets a knee in to force Kilby down on his. Logan whips Kilby into the ropes and gets another knee to the stomach, felling him. Kilby no gets a snapmare and kneedrop for 4 and gets in an elbow but takes another knee for 4. Logan collars him again and gets a single shoulder charge in the corner -andy more and the bout would no longer be clean - then more elbows and knees into a snapmare and crosspress for 2. Logan gets behind for a takedown into side folding press for 2, then a forearm, posting and forearm again Kilby gets a posting of his own, a long side chancery throw for 4 but then falls for the same takedown into folder as a minute before, this time Running Out Of Mat as Kilby's feet touch the ropes Kilby gets two knees, Logan a head. then a side chancery into chinlock then into a further nelson press which Kilby bridges up from enough to keep his shoulders off the mat. Kilby gets a whip into boot as the bell goes. This round was a bit of a brawl, not dirty but a bit of a fight, hope OJ likes it but I hope things get more technical again Round 7 Kilby gets double knees for 5:and a slam for 5 and a hiptoss for 5 also then a posting but Logan takes it on the knee, dives through the legs, comes up and like Johnny Saint's "Lady Of The Lake sequence briefly grabs a headlock then releases and goes behind Kilby for another leapfrog and superkick and posting attempt. Kilby reverses the last one but Logan leaps up on the top turnbuckle and comes off with a flying bodypress for the equalising pin. Better than than last round which was more hard hitting than technical. Bout returns to form here. Round 8. Logan tries his side folding press yet again- and yet again Runs Out Of Mat. The ropes also put paid to a forearm smash battle. Logan gets a legdive into single toehold, brushes off Alan's kick off attempts, replying with a knee weakener. Kilby is persistent with the kicks and Logan lets him go, even graciously helping him up by the hand! They shake hands and start over as Steve gets an armlock and twists. Alan rolls out - Aah THIS is more like it - and gets an arm of his own and a high Irish whip which Logan fails to go for, trading a bump avoided for a serious arm weakener! He stays down for 7 and Kaye checks the joint but Logan - perhaps thinking of what @ohtani's jacket would say about it (nearly 41 years later) - decides to wrestle on. Kilby goes for a rear waistlock, Logan drops to the floor to shrug him off but Kilby lands in just the right position to get a hammerlock on. Logan resists the submission (now how would a title win with a HAMMERLOCK have been, eh?) so Kilby uses Logan's trick of getting the other arm in, using both his legs rather than his arms à la Logan to get the turn of the shoulders into the mat. He does get a couple of one counts but no more. They get up and Logan is clearly protecting his shoulder. He gets a legdive, Alan gets an armbar on the injured arm but the bell rings at just the wrong moment for Alan. He now has to worry about how good a pitstop job Logan's seconds can do on his arm. Round 9 and it's all about that shoulder. Kilby goes right to work hiptossing Logan on the painful joint. He gets another Whip and AGAIN Logan fails to take the bump but suffers bicep pain instead. He throws Kilby -using his other arm! - leapfrogs and dropkicks him and posts him. A second posting is reversed by Kilby, twisting that arm as he goes, but Logan leaps up tomthe top turnbuckle for another flying bodypress like his equaliser in round 7 but misses and lands right on the shoulder. Kilby gets a superkick,long suplex. crosspress uthe pinfall for the winner and the title. Unfortunately the YouTube clip cuts out before Marty can present the belt to Kilby. Thus was the start of a 20 year association on and off between Kilby and the British Light Heavyweight Championship. He would lose and regain it with King Ben in 1988 (fresh off Ben's Golden Grappler trophy win over son Kid McCoy) then by the mid 90s move to All Star and lose it to Skull Murphy in 1995 and Dirty Dan (ex Danny Boy) Collins in 1996-1997 - the highest up the weights Collins would win a title before his first retirement in 2002 - "Mad Dog" Ian Wilson for the Knight family's WAW in late 1998 before seeing out his final years in Adam Mumford's RBW in 2003-2004, still wearing the belt to the ring until he retired in 2004 aged 60. As for the bout, well it's got the definitive finish this time unlike the other so that should keep some folk happy (see also the recent two Rumble bouts I posted between Charley Marley and Craig Callahan for a refused TKO no contest finish versus a pinfall win.). I think this bout was let down by Round 6 which was hard hitting but, as Kent would say, Not Enough Wrestling. The rest of the match was a fine companion piece to the November 1986 bout.

Okay, this an the next match are to make it up to those of you dissatisfied by the camcorder footage on the French thread. From November 1986, the Birmingham Steve Logan, having lost out to Alan Kilby for the vacant British Light Heavyweight Championship a couple of years earlier (see next post!) faces up to him again two years later. These two bouts should be real palette cleansers of technical clean matches. Astonishingly neither one has been reviewed on here before. Round 1. After a false start hitting the ropes, Alan gets a side headlock flicking between that and front chancery. He moves to side chancery and Steve gets a leg in retaliation. Eventualy Logan's legdive gets the better of the situation. Kilby goes down and Steve switches legs to work on the other knee, getting a toe and ankle. He shrugs off Kilby's attempts to boot him off and to grab a wristlock. Eventually Logan backs off. Kilby in turn gets a legdive and weakeners. Logan counters with a crossface. He tries to turn out but Kilby secures a Gotch toehold. He looks to be trying for a surfboard (and Logan does bait him with the odd arm) but instead switches to a side headlock, forsaking the legs. Kilby side chancery throws Steve who rolls through elegantly. They get a half Interlock and Steve offers the other half but Kilby declined and goes for a wristlever instead. He gives the arm a weakening shake then a high whip, forcing a bump and a 4 count. Logan is up and goes from collar and elbow to side headlock to front chancery. He walks his man back to near the ropes to give himself the maximum amount of mat forwards and gets a good long side chancery throw on Kilby. Logan goes for a charge but aborts because Kilby is not fully up. The bell rings and they shake hands. Round 2 and Kilby gets a top wristlock. Logan tries to throw him and eventually manages to hoist him in a fireman's carry. He adjusts his grip but ends up placing him on the corner - Kent reckons Logan was looking for a slam but I think a fisherman's suplex would have done just as well. Either way, Logan gives up and they start over. Kilby gets an Indian Deathlock (Walton calls it a "figure four leglock with bar" - I only use the figure four name on here to refer to the American Figure Four Leglock most of you would automatically think of). He shoves off Logan's attempts to sit up and disentangle the hold. Logan gets a grip on a foot in the end forcing Kilby to reach down to counter - so Logan gets the arm and puts on an armlock into back hammerlock, forcing Kilby to relinquish to get the mobility he needs to combat this new hold. Having secured the hammerlock, Logan uses his knees to keep his grasp while securing the other arm in an armbar. With both arms this secured, Logan turns his man into the guard and gets a couple of crosspresses for one each but Kilby's strength is too much for a pin at this point. Logan gives up and gets the double interlock he wanted earlier. He tries and fails to break each side with a knee so instead fires a lean-back dropkick. Kilby is up at 5 and gets a front chancery and kneelift, a side chancery throw into Legdrop of Doom. Logan shoves Kilby away from down on the mat. Kilby retaliates with a shoulderblock and elbowsmash to the back of the shoulders. Kilby gets two wrist levers, as before jerking the limb each time. The bell goes but being deaf. Kilby can't hear it so goes for a posting but stops when the referee intervenes. Logan accepts the situation (a common problem for Kilby). they shake hands and Kilby goes back to his corner for a sign language chat with his second Jimmy Lapper who was also deaf. Round 3. Alan gets an arm and a hiptoss into crosspress but Logan keeps getting a shoulder up. He gets another armlock but a sharp Logan knee to the chest puts paid to that. Logan looks to go for a whip but changes to a front chancery but it is against the ropes so referee Max Ward calls for a break. Logan gets a posting and a 4 count. Kilby gets a single finger Interlock into high whip but not much of a bump and his follow-up crosspress is easily thrown off. Logan gets a wristlever, drives an elbow into the bicep and converts to a hammerlock on the already weakened arm with Kilby down in the guard. As earlier, he lets his knees take control of the hammerlock and goes to work on the other arm turning his man into the crosspress and this time getting as much as 2 before giving up. Kilby gets a shove, elbowsmash, posting, but falls for a Logan keeps and his attempt at a legdive is preempted by Logan getting an armbar. Kilby half rolls but only into the guard and Logan who still has the wrist, can drop a knee on the bicep and work further on the wristlock until the bell goes. Round 4 Logan gets a leg but switches to the arm from before to go back to work, kneeling the bicep and maintaining a guard armlock. Kilby kips up and deftly reverses the wristlever. He adds a couple of twists then switches to double legs, gets a forward folding press but Logan crawls out. Kilby declined running the ropes and instead gets a beautiful transfer from side chancery throw to headscissors. Logan turns upright with Kilby maintaining the hold in the mount. Kilby bashes Logan's head, in the hold, into the mae and gets back to the sit-up position. Logan tries uncorking the hold with his knees but can't get them in so pulls the legs taut , turns over and goes into a handstand to get the pull to free his head. He gets a wristlever but Kilby rolls through and spreads Logan's legs with his own then boots him backward for a 5 count. Kilby gets a hiptoss into side headlock plus armscissor on the mat. He shrugs off a pair of Logan headscissors with two side folding press attempts in between , maintaining the side headlock all the way through until he transitions to a standing front chancery. He keeps holding of that until the bell goes. Round 5 and still no score. Kilby uses a side chancery to position Logan for a forearm smash. He gets a rear snapmare into crossface Logan keeps forcing it up so Kilby switches to a double underarm Logan tries throwing Kilby forwards then rears his way out ("Nice butt" says Walton with incredible innocence, especially considering his other career!!!!) and gets a forearm smash and rear snapmare. He gets some flying elbows and a posting but Kilby reverses a second one and gets an over the knee backbreaker and crosspress for 2. Kilby gets a bodycheck then runs the ropes but Logan ducks under and catches him in motion with a long cross buttock throw into crosspress for the opening fall. One up to Logan. Round 6. Logan gets a full nelson After falling to twist out, Kilby rears out and gets a front chancery. He gets a forearm and Logan gets a knee but it goes in the corner and Ward demands a break. Logan gets a posting, snapmare and kneedrop for 4, a snapmare and bodycheck but Kilby gets a leg chop and underhook into long suplex and crosspress for 2. They hit the ropes again and Kilby gets a side folding press for the equalising fall. Round 7 and Kilby off to a good start with a slam, then a side chancery throw into chinlock into three further nelson press, the first two for 1 and the last not even for that. Logan gets behind then leapfrogs and superkicks him in one move. He follows with a posting, slam and crosspress but can't get the shoulders down. Kilby gets a whip into backdrop for 6. Logan gets a single leg takedown and waekeners into a toe and ankle hold, briefly putting his head in to shield from Kilby's attempts to boot him off. He gets one more weakener before releasing Kilby who is up at 4. They full Interlock and Logan gets a knee in but as they drop Kilby gets a headlock in and tries a crosspress but gets the same trouble he himself gave Logan earlier. Both men are very cautious in the late stages with a couple of Interlocks going nowhere because, as Kent observes, they are being so careful they don't produce any moves at all! Logan breaks off the last Interlock with his knees and Kilby does get a side headlock, resisting a Logan atomic drop, before the bell goes. Round 8. Final round and off they go, crossing the ring. Kilby drops to the mat and comes up with a butt to the stomach. He gets a posting and a good long side Chancery throw. Logan takes another posting well on his knee and comes back with an elbowsmash. Kilby no sells a bodycheck, goes for a cross buttock press near the ropes but both men catch their shoulders on the top rope. Curiously it is Kilby who is offered a TKO but since he asks for a No Contest it makes no difference anyway. A fine scientific match but of course @ohtani's jacket won't like that result. So to make up for that, I rewind back to Logan and Kilby's previous encounter, back in early 1984 when Logan first won the belt ...

Five years earlier in Hamburg, French born. Germany based promising youngster Dennis Goulet has a good sporting go at carrying Billy Samson to a decent scientific match. The DJ plays something Latin American sounding. Goulet looks like a member of the Midnight Express or the RPMs in his purple and silver jacket plus headband. The two shake hands .. Runde 1: Samson gets a front chancery. Goulet uses a spinning motion to not only uncurl it I to an armbar but also get a high whip and bump- Samson seems shocked by the impact! Goulet this time gets the front chancery and an underhook. Samson lifts him for a backdrop but instead places him in the ring apron and graciously holds the ropes open for him- Goulet accepts and bows in response. Samson gets a rather nice snapmare into front chinlock. Goulet powes his way up but Samson forces him all the way down. Get lifts Samson on his shoulders and deposits him on the corner post. Samson gets an arm and makes an armhank on the mat of it., catching Goulet 's head to make a headscissors. Goulet gets into an upright kneel but Samson drags him back down. The bell goes, Samson releases and they shake hands. Runde 2. Samson throws Goulet who comes back with a flying tackle for 1. Samson whips .Goulet and goes for a backdrop bt5 Goulet gets a sunset flip into double leg nelson for 2. Goulet gets an armlock sideways on. Samson cross buttock throws him but Goulet uses the momentum to armdrag the bigger man! He ends up with a guard armbar. Samson forces his way up and tries another throw but Goulet ends up armdragging him again, right back into th3 guard armlock. (Some annoying guy in the crowd is blowing on a birdie whistle.). Samson pulls himself up and this time twists the arm backwards before hiptossing him and finally gets the desired bump for his man. Goulet goes from collar and elbow to legdive but Samson spins him off, bumping Goulet again. Samson this time gets the leg and put on an Indian Deathlock at 90'. It ends in stalemate and the referee has to untwine the legs. The bell goes, more handshakes. Runde 3 and Goulet gets a slam and bodychecks Samson down. He charges but Samson ducks under and then gives Goulet a BIG backdrop like he tried in round 1. He splashes Dennis for the one pinfall required. Quite a pleasing match, Samson's strength being used intelligently and he has a surprising array of skillful moves.

Off to the Heumarkt in August 1992 for a Battle Royale. Pretty much a who's who of the CWA 1992 including Steve Regal and Paul Neu, gets in and has a fairly generic battle royal. The images freezes up a few times. Didier Gapp and Mick McMichael in his kilt can be seen wandering past the camera. It comes down to Rambo Vs two heels double teaming him who screw up, collide and end up being eliminated for a big babyface win. Talking of the Heumarkt, Getty Images has a whole load of good pic of Vienna tournaments from the 50s/60s https://duckduckgo.com/?q=vienna+wrestling+heumarket&iar=images&t=euandroid&iai=https%3A%2F%2Fc8.alamy.com%2Fcomp%2F2X136HR%2Fvienna-on-july-17th-1990-big-otto-wanz-l-and-his-wrestler-troup-battle-royal-presented-their-new-single-dynamite-in-viennas-heumarkt-arena-19900717-pd0002-rechteinfo-rights-managed-rm-2X136HR.jpg

A couple more bits from the same show. First clip - Catch Á Six featuring that man Flesh again, Natalie and White Storm against Scott Rider (in the kilt) Greg Master and Emilio Stocci. Les Méchants are triple teaming a Bon, presumably nate since the third Bon wears white therefore must be White Thunderand get an Avertisement for it. Big Scott Fireman's Carries the Bon and gets a 2. Scott and another heel double team Nate. The heels in black faces White Storm, both have pretty decent dropkicks. Flesh still does a good dropkick too for his age - this is the guy who was tagging with Walter Bordes on national TV two decades earlier. (I think we may have seen White Thunder on some clips on here in the past.). Flesh hiptosses Scott to set him up for White Storm's Superfly Splash for a winner. This time Jacky doesn't weasel out of the result. Scott tumbles out of the ring like an elderly Superstar Graham in drag. Apparently Scott's two partners face each other in thesecond clip. Greg must be the guy in the pink tights who gets an Avertisement early on so Stocci must be the heel in black from the last bout. Emilio fends off a Superplex attempts d delivers a somersault splash follow-up. Some other good moves including a huracanrana. I think whoever was the heel wins.

Wrestling Stars outdoor show from about 2006. I'm guessing the age from the fact they were still using full length corner bags and a ring that looks like New Catch Season 1 from 1988 except for the www.catch.fr URL on the ring aprons. The other dating factor being that it's the final round bald moustachioed version of Flesh Gordon, in against Cybernic Machine the wrestling computer virus. Referee is Monsieur Jacky Richard, equally tubby, equally bald. Actually Flesh has a Q tip pony tail like Kendo Nagasaki under the mask or Jesse Ventura circa 1992. I must admit I have a soft spot for footage filmed outdoors with the backs of houses in shot, like the Vienna Heumarkt or that pub beer garden in smalltown rural Germany. Nice balconies on those flats. Cyber IC Machine looks like a country cousin of Demolition circa the gimp masks (October 1990) He is choking Flesh on the ropes while Jacky does not a fat lot about it. So Gordon pitches him over the ropes and gets an Avertisement for his efforts. From what we can see round some bloke's head, there are some clotheslines, more Machine choking Flesh in the corner. Flesh does Ken Joyce's old trick of sitting down to avoid a posting. CM misses a Stinger splash in the corner. Flesh gets another Avertisement after an argument with Jacky. Flesh backdrops Cyber IC outside, goes out to finish him off, makes it back in time and is declared the winner. Jacky however changed it to a DQ win for the Machine. The MC is outraged. The crowd break into a good old fashioned chant of Aux Chiottes L'Arbitre. Cybernic throws a chair in the ring. The old Bons Wuz Robbed finish Probably a fun afternoon.