The Beginner's Guide To British Wrestling

[David Mantell]

Jim Cornette talks about overseas TV sales 

 

 

[David Mantell]

I've dropped Jim and Brian a note about British and French overseas sales of TV Wrestling kinescopes.

Quote

 

British and French TV both sold kinescopes of their wrestling to dozens of overseas markets. World Of Sport matches were repackaged by ITC as Wrestling From Great Britain and sold to 30 countries. French Catch was also sold particularly to former French colonies. Many print of classic French Catch held in France's INA Archive have Arabic captions at the start.

 

[David Mantell]

Surprised this has never been reviewed on here given the high esteem Terry Rudge is held in. This isn't quite a clean match but the referee stays in control and it most remains technical.  

Round 1:  Rudge breaks opens a headlock into a top wristlock.but Steele regains. Rudge withstands a bodycheck attempt. Steele gets a side chancery and takes Terry down but he comes all the way back up to the top wristlock.  Steele gets a side chancery (as discussed in the Ian McGregor bout this is his go to hold) but Rudge straightens it to a wristlever and then front chancery. Each man forces the other into the ropes for a break. Bell goes.Kent hint that Rudge might go heel later.

Cut to Round 3: Steele gets front chancery, Rudge counters with toehold takedown. Steele tries to kick Rudge on the head but does not break the hold. Rudge goes up, gets a snapmare the slingshot. Steele gets cross buttock press for 2. Rudge goes from front to side chancery, Steele resist the throw. Steele gets single leg takedown into front open grovit into sleeper . Bell just as Rudge reverses to front chancery. They part exchangeing suspicious glances. Kent runs down Rudge 's International record including Greece and the draw with Inoki.  

Round 4: Steele wins finger Interlock but can only get the odd 2 with pins.  Rudge fight back Hogan/Warrior style.  Advantage goes back and forth.Rudge gets a butt to Steele's chest.  A break in the corner gets rather needley. Rudge gets standing double wristlock. Ray Steele tries for a bodyslam but to no avail. Bell ends it, Rudge provocatively wipes his forehead on Steele's shoulder.

Round 5. Steele gets standing full nelson. Rudge gropes for snapmare counter then tries powering out, eventually breaks it into front then side chancery, then forearm uppercuts. Kent worries it will degenerate in to brawl but luckily it Rudge gets a butt to the stomach then a flying tackle for 2. Steele gets semi Japanese stranglehold into wrist lever, straight arm weakener and hammerlock. Adds a grapevine the switches to rear standing armlock. Rudge gets drop toehold takedown, vaguely tries for a pin, eventually gets chinlock then up for forearm smash exchange with Steele firing back. They are locked in the ropes when the bell goes, Steele gets in a last slap, Rudge is unhappy and sells it long after. 

Round 6: Rudge tries to come out wet and slipper, ref Jeff Kaye wip noSteele gets front chancery, grapevine, arm lever but Rudge trips for a cross press and 2. Another finger interlock test of strength.Forearm smashes, Steele getting the best of it.  Rudge gets a hammerlock takeover and headscissors. Steele tries to snap it open, Judges tries to crank it forward. And then the bell goes. 

Round 7:  Steele gets headlock into side chancery into headlock in the mount from 135 degrees to armlock to cross press pin, Rudges bridges out nicely at 2. Tries to maintain the finger interlock but Rudge gets standing wristlever into rear armlock. Rudge gives a forearm but gets back a flying headbutt. Both up at 8 but Rudge sends Steele back down with a back elbow for another 8. Steele gets a good folding press for two and a front chancery while backed in the corner therefore broken up by the ref. Slap fight briefly breaks out. Happily for Kent (and purists like me, it goes back to science with a Steele headlock, then a Rudge folding press to match Steele's only he Runs Out Of Mat. Less happily, the bell goes again. 

Neither man can now win by two falls or submissions. The options are knockout, DQ (and they'll have to be quick about throwing it away with still  no public warnings) or likeliest of all, a final round opener making it 1-0 at time.

So to the final Round 8. They shake hands, temperamentaly but no one takes advantage. Steele gets an abdominal stretch. Rudge tries to make it a cross buttock throw but Steele stays anchored and gets the arm into wristlever while maintaining the leg grapevine element.  He switches to double arms from behind (the upper part of a surfboard) Rudge tries a backwards headbutt but can't reach. He breaks it and gets two forearm uppercuts held by front chanceries. Exchange of forearms and bodychecks with Rudge getting the better, flooring Steele with a bodycheck for 9.   Ray gets a folding press backslide for 2 in the corner but just Runs Out Of Mat as Rudge's feet curl forward into the ropes. Double bodycheck for eight, Steele flying tackle for 2. A final exchange of forearms but then the bell goes one last time for a 0-0 draw.  Ray Steele looks like he's going to shake Rudge's hand at the end but he video cuts off so we don't see how that played out.

Skill but not much speed.  I found it solid enough but lacking compared to packer lighter weight bouts.  The bell endings started to feel  slightly cop-out-ish, it feels like they often could have got one more clever counter in but instead they just sat around for the last 10?seconds. I enjoyed it though and referee Ken Joyce came off well  for maintaining order. Not a classic but substantial wholefood nonetheless.

 

[David Mantell]

Nice recent match between two youngsters we've already seen on the channel.

Don't worry about the rather American looking ring. It was borrowed as the normal very Trad Brit Rumble rings would not fit a cage and there was a cage tag match on the bill (blame Nagasaki and Rocco for importing cages to these shores in about 1989)