The Beginner's Guide To British Wrestling

[David Mantell]

We've seen Jeff Kaye quite a bit lately as a referee.  We've seen him and Ian Gilmour tagging up as the Barons in both Britain and France. We've seen him sort out villains from Pancho Zapata in 1969 to Mike Bennet in 1985. Recently I saw him in Stampede. Calgary, commentating an early British Bulldogs match (No I'm not posting the video here but it's the new "Iconic Tag Teams' Debuts" video on the WWE Vault channel.). He was out there playing Tim White to Giant Haystacks when not refereeing, MCing or TV commenting. Now here he is having a top class clean match against another top class technician.

Round 1: Cortez gets a full nelson but Kaye throws him off and gets an in the guard wristlock.  Cortez kips up and gets dragged back down.  He tries again and Kaye armdrags him back down. Sideways moves don't work either. After the next kip up. Cortez side chanceries Kaye but Kaye takes his man with him and retains the hold.  He tries it again but as Kent Walton points out, he is only hurting himself and will have to think of something else "and knowing Cortez he probably will.". He's right.  Cortez drops to the mat, switches hands and armdrags Kaye to take over control.  Kaye kips up, cartwheels and whips Cortez who also cartwheels to avoid the bump and come out upright.  They go for a full finger Interlock and both get a short arm scissor and both agree to call it stalemate and break up .  Cortez gets a side headlock and takes his man to the mat.  Kaye tries to break it with an atomic drop but Cortez hangs on.  Kaye in the end handstands his way out of the hold.  Cortez armdrags Kaye for a 5 count.  Kaye gets a wristlever but the bell goes and he releases.

Round 2:  Cortez gets a single legdive. Kaye undermines Cortez's leg so he goes down and converts it into a seated leglock. Kaye turns into the mount so Cortez makes it a single toe hold. He lifts Kaye by the foot, trying to smash his knee into the mat but Kaye pushes up then rolls forwards and away.  Kaye tries a cross buttock throw but Cortez arrests his momentum with a side headlock then a hiptoss of his own.  Cortez now has the guard wristlock. Kaye rolls back and tenses his arm to resist a hammerlock attempt.  He twice goes up on his head and the second time looks to be trying a toupie but instead gets a headscissors. Cortez easily snaps out.  He backrolls off a half finger Interlock so Kaye rolls away.  Kaye gets a Fireman's Carry takedown into armlock with bar. Cortez rolls from the guard to the kneeling position then upright but Kaye still has a wristlever.  He rolls forward and spins horizontally on his backside till he takes down Kaye into an armbar in the mount.  He turns him over into the crosspress and only gets a one before being thrown on to the ring apron!  Back in, he gets a double finger Interlock into a double leg Nelson. It turns into La Bascule (back and forth double leg nelsons), occasionally turning sideways rather than just back and forth. They give that up and try another finger Interlock and Kaye makes a drop toehold of it, ending in a figure 4 legscissor.  They turn into a seating position but end up too close for an American figure four leglock so break (for once untying the legs without referee assistance.  Cortez gets a rear waistlock into full nelson, bounces Kaye off the ropes, drops down to trip him into a folding press but Kaye sidesteps out of the way.  Cortez gets an armbar and has Kaye in the guard again. Kaye tries to bridge his way out so Cortez turns him sideways, maintaining pressure on the upper arm. Kaye gets a headscissors but Cortez kips out quickly.  They lock up and hit the ropes as the bell sounds.

Round 3  Kaye gets a headlock and takes it to kneeling position. Cortez upturns it into a side folding press but Kaye uprights it.  Kaye gets another handstanding escape and a beauty like the last! Cortez throws Kaye who cartwheels out of trouble nicely.  Kaye leapfrogs Cortez and goes for a flip. Cortez tries to clamp down with a front folding press but Kaye throws him off and when Cortez rolls back from the armstrtch he in turn clams down for a folding press balancing on his elbows instead of bridging. It gets him the opening fall. 

Round 4.  Kaye tries for a leg but Cortez darts over him to get a headlock. Kaye slips out the back to make it a hammerlock.  Cortez turns into the guard straightening the arm and Kaye gets 1 before Cortez throws him off the crosspress.  Cortez gets a wrist into an armdrag, Kaye gets a headscissors and has it more firmly than earlier tries as Cortez cannot just kip out. He struggles to force the clamp open, goes into upright position and a handstand but can't maintain it. He tries again, turns 90' in the scissors and now falls out of the hold. Cortez gets a front chancery but Kaye straightens the arm , high whips his man till he bumps into the guard and gets the same guard wristlock on again.  Cortez goes up into the headstand and this time he is the one who gets the headscissors. Kaye has similar difficulties snapping out to those Cortez had but goes into a bridge, flimps back and forth between kneeling and bridging and so weakens the hold that he can, finally, kip out.  Cortez again goes for the front chancery, Kaye again straightens the arm and goes for the night whip but Cortez rolls up nicely.  Kaye offers a handshake. And Cortez accepts then tries to make a throw of it but Kaye cartwheels out. Fortunately he is a good sport about this but of mischief.  Kaye throws Cortez who cartwheels upright but bangs his neck on the rope but luckily it is nothing serious. Kaye gets a single leg, they agree to break it up but as they do Cortez tries a crafty drop toehold. Max Ward will have none of it.  Cortez backrolls off a half finger Interlock, bringing Kaye to his knees.  He takes Kaye down into a ground top double wristlock, resisting Kaye's attempts to push up until Kaye gets a headscissors.  Cortez turns into the front position, gets a headstand and lays his legs against Kaye's head.  The weight overbalances Kaye and Cortez gets up and makes his escape.  Cortez gets a legdive and toe & ankle hold.  Kaye crosses his leg to make a figure four. This tempts Cortez to try to set up an Indian Deathlock but Kaye turns into the mount and rolls away.  Cortez gets a foot and switches to a wrist and again spins horizontally on his behind to wind up the arm.  He then switches to a drop toehold and thence into a Frank Gotch figure four toehold, switching from side to side. He pulls up Kaye by the leg but Kaye rolls away and the bell goes.

Round 5 and Kaye gets a side headlock into  cross buttock and press. Kaye turns sideways and gets a side folding press for 1. He stands in the side headlock and leaps into a high almost headstand (more horizontal) to pull out.  Kaye gets a full nelson. Cortez reverses. He holds on despite being backed into twice and lifted forward in a throw attempt.  Forcing the hold open doesn't work but a side turning throw does, only for Cortez to reach up and get a headscissors.  Kaye turns it upright, escapes and even gets a leg out of it but hits the ropes and has to break.  Cortez gets an armdrag but Kaye headscissors him so Cortez goes into his usual headstand.  He gets out and tries for the leg but Ward says it's not part of the same move, so he gets a wrist and slings Kaye into the ropes, hiptosses and cross presses him on the rebound and gets the equaliser.

Round 6: Cortez throws Kaye (whom Walton thinks is developing back problems) into a hard bump on his back. He is up at 7 but still selling his back. Cortez gets an over the knee backbreaker and Kaye bridges to relieve the pressure. Kaye uses an inner arm blow - about the first striking move of the bout - to get out. Cortez gets a half nelson but Kaye uses a forearm smash over the head.  Kaye gets a rear snapmare and cross buttock throw but Cortez rolls upright and catches Kaye's incoming flying bodyscissors attempt by the legs, turns him into a full Boston Crab and gets the deciding submission. Cortez is the winner 2-1 on a late rally.

Not the fastest or most dazzling but still nice stylish scientific bout with Kaye showing what a skilled wrestler he was in his day and Cortez getting to show more flair and colour than he does against the likes of Keith Hayward.  Even if the wristlock in the guard is overplayed by both men, they find plenty of ways to try to escape and plenty more to prevent said escapes.