French catch

[Matt D]

8 hours ago, ohtani's jacket said:

Le Primitif vs. Eliot Frederico (aired 7/18/84)

This was the strangest thing I've seen in catch. It was a guy in a monkey suit pretending to be a primitive. He had a group of African tribesmen at ringside beating a drum and spurring him on. They jumped up and down whenever he was winning, and threatened to shoot people with bows and arrows when he wasn't. The fucked up thing about it is that we have about half a dozen of this guy's matches on tape. 

How much weirder is it than La Bete Humaine? 

[ohtani's jacket]

Oh, it's no contest. La Bete Humaine doesn't have a posse.

[El-P]

8 hours ago, ohtani's jacket said:

Le Primitif vs. Eliot Frederico (aired 7/18/84)

This was the strangest thing I've seen in catch. It was a guy in a monkey suit pretending to be a primitive. He had a group of African tribesmen at ringside beating a drum and spurring him on. They jumped up and down whenever he was winning, and threatened to shoot people with bows and arrows when he wasn't.

*gasp* Sounds racist as hell too ! I'm shocked there was still wrestling somewhere in France in 1984.

[Jetlag]

Mombo Le Primitif is among the most surreal things I've ever seen in wrestling. OJ didn't even mentioned that they subtitled some of the wrestling moves in that match like it was a combo book. E.g. Mombo would do a kneedrop to the arm and it would display CRAAAAACK! on the screen, or ONK! when he got thrown outside. The guy playing Mombo seemed like a capable wrestler but had no idea how to portray this character. He did all kinds of shit, like a plancha or cartwheeling on the ropes. The crowd has no idea what to make of this and treats Frederico as a de facto face. At one point, an old lady sitting in the first row tries to kick Mombo and he pulls her scarf off. Mombo would've made a great opponent for Survival Tobita, maybe forming a team with Ape Virgon.

[ohtani's jacket]

Walter Bordes & Flesh Gordon vs. The Golden Falcons (aired 8/13/83)

This was really good. I thought it was better than the first Bordes & Gordon tag and the first Falcons tag. It had a real lucha feel to it with a South American twist. Add Bordes' flair and you had a nice cocktail. They added some dramatics with Gordon being busted open and needing medical assistance. It was two-on-one for a while until Gordon returned with a bandaged head. I would have lost my shit over this if I'd been a French kid in '83. 

Guy Mercier vs. Marcel Montreal (aired 8/27/83)

Is this the last of the old-school catch matches? This wasn't a great match, but you have to appreciate two lumpy old guys going out there and wrestling like men. 

Jacky Richard & Albert Sanniez vs. Jean Corne & Kader Hassouni (aired 9/3/83)

These guys may not have known it, but this was a good bye to the classic era of catch. The so-called "les Trente Glorieuses" And it's not a bad match to go out on at all. They look a little old to begin with, but once they warm up it's the catch of old. I love the reaction they get from the spectators. One of the defining things about catch has been the passion it brought out in the spectators. The passion here was as pleasing as the exchanges. And again, I have to say Jean Corne will go down as one of the all-time great catcheurs in my eyes. 

Black Shadow vs. Angelito  (aired 2/25/84)

There was nothing to this bout. It was JIP and we only saw a few exchanges, We've seen both these guys before on YouTube.

Walter Bordes & Flesh Gordon vs. Les Maniak (aired 2/25/84)

It's a brave new world. I'm curious who had the book at this stage and what the promotion was. It seems that shitty gimmicks were the order of the day. Les Maniak were billed from Mexico, but I have no idea if they were luchadores or not. I guess their gimmick was supposed to be deranged killers. Maybe they were trying to recreate the cover from Metal Health. I guess this was all right since it was a Bordes & Gordon match. They're a pretty good tag team and Bordes is still a top 30(?) wrestler in Europe at this point. But it was silly compared to the catch we know.

Marquis Edouard Fumolo De La Rossignolette vs. Georges Cohen (aired 2/25/84)

Jesus, what a name. To call this ordinary would be an insult to ordinary matches everywhere. The least said about the Marquis the better. If I were a wrestler, the last thing I'd try to do is steal gimmicks that have been done better by dozens of wrestlers throughout the history of catch. I love Cohen but he was running in fumes at this point. Catch looks done but there's still a couple of dozen matches to go. 

[Matt D]

BTW, this Japanese fellow is on the bandwagon:

http://wrestlingheart.com/others/france/fcatch/fcatchanalysis.html

[Tim Cooke]

That's awesome!

Edited May 26, 2020 by Tim Cooke
Put in apostrophe instead of semi colon

[ohtani's jacket]

Flesh Gordon & Angelito vs. Les Piranhas (aired 7/18/84)

This was Gordon and Angelito against two guys in piranhas costumes. No, I'm not making that up. At first I thought, "Am I being too hard on this? I mean if this were Mexico and they wrestling Ninja Turtles or Thundercats, I'd think it was awesome." But no, it was terrible.

Georges Cohen vs. Anton Terejo (aired 7/18/84) 

I spoke too soon about Cohen. This was a fun little bout. Terejo was clearly a million times better than the Marquis at taking Cohen's offense. If you like Terejo then you'll appreciate that the bugger could still go. Note how good a foil he was for stylists like Cohen and Le Petit Prince. 

Linda Blair vs. Nicky McDonald (aired 7/21/84)

These were a couple of British girls. I think Nicky McDonald may have been Nicky Monroe. If I'm not mistaken this was the first time women's wrestling had been shown on TV. It was pretty basic but better than piranhas and primitives. But it was another of those matches that kept cutting to a fake studio interview with Delaporte, and that bald-headed guy with the moustache arguing with his girlfriend at ringside. I think we saw him before in the Franz van Buyten vs. Bob UFO match from the same show. 

[Jetlag]

Well, there is at least one womens match from 1970s.

That Piranhas tag was better than given credit for, I thought. Angelito looks great in these matches. His body control would look great next to most luchadores.

[El-P]

2 hours ago, ohtani's jacket said:

Flesh Gordon & Angelito vs. Les Piranhas (aired 7/18/84)

This was Gordon and Angelito against two guys in piranhas costumes. No, I'm not making that up. At first I thought, "Am I being too hard on this? I mean if this were Mexico and they wrestling Ninja Turtles or Thundercats, I'd think it was awesome." But no, it was terrible.

Well, if you're going into Flesh Gordon territory, that last sentence is gonna come up more often than not. The name itself reeks of bad 80's porn actor.

[ohtani's jacket]

He's a straight Flash Gordon ripoff, though. I guess he took the Flesh Gordon name to avoid any legal trouble. He's a pretty good worker, too. The only knock I would have on him is if he's in charge of the book. In that case, these shitty gimmicks are on him. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Mongo Le Primitif vs. Patrick Lopez (8/1/84)

This is not as shocking the second time you see it. I'd love to know who his entourage were. My guess is that they were either local musicians or some type of cultural group. At any rate, they provide a steady beat for Mongo to wrestle to. An argument can be made that the wrestler playing Mongo doesn't do a particularly convincing job of depicting an ape man. He should be ripping muthas' heads off, but he's about as savage as Curious George. Look out! Over the top rope Tope Suicida in France, 1984. Didn't see that coming. I liked Mongo hanging with his boys afterward. 

[El-P]

41 minutes ago, ohtani's jacket said:

He's a straight Flash Gordon ripoff, though. I guess he took the Flesh Gordon name to avoid any legal trouble. He's a pretty good worker, too. The only knock I would have on him is if he's in charge of the book. In that case, these shitty gimmicks are on him. 

Yeah, I dunno the stuff I've seen from him in the 90's really wasn't anything to write home about and looked dated as hell.

Plus I will never, EVER be able to unsee this episode of the cult show TV show Strip-tease (the show has nothing to do with actual strip-tease of course, it's because it presents characters in the most naked, unfiltered way possible).

Don't be sad you don't speak French, it is cringe as fuck (the stuff he says about women and sex makes you want to crawl under a rock, and I'm not easily offended).

He looks like Keiji Mutoh now if you wonder...

[ohtani's jacket]

His latter stuff is trash, but in this early 80s period his work is surprisingly good. I'm not gonna say he's a lost great worker or anything, but he'd no longer be on a list of worst workers ever. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Marquis Edouard Fumolo De La Rossignolette vs. Gerald Malpard (aired 8/1/84)

The Marquis is a bore. I suppose if I watched enough of him, I'd accept him. He's the Tally Ho Kaye of 80s catch, but Tally Ho Kaye had better offence.

Angelito & Flesh Gordon vs. Black Shadow & Eliot Frederico (aired 8/1/84)

These guys could all go. Hell, they were practically the workrate cru of 1984 catch. But I couldn't get into this. 

Le Primitif vs. Flesh Gordon & Angelito (aired 8/22/84)

Mongo is billed as Mambo here. Is it Mongo or Mambo? Why is he wearing a crown? I hope he stole it off another wrestler. The dancing is starting to get a bit suggestive. One of Mongo's boys does a back bend at the start. Some crazy voodoo shit or sumthin. The match itself is shit.  I was begging for it to end. The cameraman missed the crazy bump Angelito took at the end, which was about the only highlight of the match. The post match was epic, though. Mongo had his crown on and was waving a bone at the crowd. There's a dwarf in his posse now! The first thing I thought of was the Geto Boys. Damn it feels good to be Mongo. 

[Matt D]

We're watching the last match we have from 57 for Tuesday - Eric Husberg vs Jose Arroyo. They briefly show a poster with the card whereas this is second from top and Chaisne vs someone else I don't recognize is on top. He has the "De Fer" as part of his name so I was trying to figure it out and found this instead, from 1902.

https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=SFC19020105.2.151.2&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1

By the way, the announcing calls Husberg someone with a reputation as being  bad guy, in this case "mechant". Did we ever pin down if that's what heels are called?

"Wrestling is not forbidden from time to time to be a very beautiful thing." might be the best line the youtube translate ever spit out, by the way.

[ohtani's jacket]

It could be Tete de Fer or Le Masque de fer.

EDIT: It's Tete de Fer, which translates to Iron Head. Interesting that the date we have is the same as the poster. I think some of these catch matches were broadcast live. 

EDIT II: I checked and Arroyo vs. Husberg was the last match on the show. The crowd file out at the end. 

[El-P]

32 minutes ago, Matt D said:

By the way, the announcing calls Arroyo someone with a reputation as being  bad guy, in this case "mechant". Did we ever pin down if that's what heels are called?

Yes. Heels are called "méchant", which means "mean". Same as in movies, like I said.

[SirEdger]

Exactly. And babyfaces are referred to as "bon", which means "good guys"

[Matt D]

4 hours ago, ohtani's jacket said:

It could be Tete de Fer or Le Masque de fer.

EDIT: It's Tete de Fer, which translates to Iron Head. Interesting that the date we have is the same as the poster. I think some of these catch matches were broadcast live. 

EDIT II: I checked and Arroyo vs. Husberg was the last match on the show. The crowd file out at the end. 

I think he might have said that the poster was wrong or some such too, but come on, I couldn't even keep the wrestlers straight on that one. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Al Hayes vs. Jean Casi (aired 12/7/57)

Jean Casi was an Italian boxer who fought professionally for a couple of years in the mid-40s. He wasn't anywhere near as successful as Laurent Dauthuille or Charlie Humez. but people say he was a good boxer. His other claim to faith is that according to Roger Delaporte, Casi and Delaporte fought the first televised wrestling bout (live from Vincennes in 1953.) I'm not as high on Hayes as others, but I liked that he used some of the British mat technique here. It's become apparent over the past few months that the French style, the Spanish style, and the British style were all different from one another. I wouldn't say one was better than the other. They each had their good points. But it's clear that the French didn't do mat wrestling the same as the British did. The British liked to dress and undress holds. There was a lot of twisting and turning. You think of the classic imagine of them working a top wristlock or a similar hold. Some people had the impression that Casi couldn't keep up here. Maybe that's because he wasn't a great worker, but I think it had a lot to do with the fact that he couldn't work the British style. Imagine how hard it would be to keep up with a guy like Hayes if he was working circles around you. Personally. I thought Casi was quite dogged. I liked the way he stuck with Hayes despite Hayes toying with him. It was almost a boxing ethos. I liked the finish too with Hayes downing him. 

King Kong Taverne vs. Ray Hunter (aired 12/12/57)

This was nothing special. I like the fact that everyone in '57 gets a match, and everyone gets a chance to wrestle no matter how good they are, but these guys weren't very interesting workers. Taverne, in particular, has no identity. I thought he would be the Mal Kirk of 50s catch, but Mal Kirk knew exactly who he was as a worker. Taverne calls himself "King Kong," but doesn't wrestle like it. He wrestles like a pussy cat. I'm not sure where he was from. I've read that he was a German wrestler, but I can't find anything to back that up. What I do know is that he should have been playing a heel because he wasn't going anywhere with this passive stuff. The rap on Hunter has always been that he was average, and watching the tape I've got to admit he's not that flash.

Al Hayes vs. Julio Gasparrini (aired 12/12/57)

Gasparrini sure was earnest. He fact he bordered on comical at times. Most people will enjoy this just because it's a chance to see a young Alfred Hayes. Again, I was happy with the balance between the judo gimmick and the British style. What I'd really like to see is Hayes on ITV. He appeared only a few times before becoming a star for Paul Lincoln. Once against Billy Joyce and another match against Dazzler Joe Cornelius. Those matches would make great comparison pieces to these French matches. He appeared quite a few times after the merger, but by then he was a star and may have worked differently from this period. Anyway, I'm waffling. I think the Casi match is better, but enjoy Lord Alfred in his prime. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Linda Blair & Magnifico (?) vs. Nicky McDonald & Brigitte Borne (aired 8/25/84)

This was okay. At least they treated women's wrestling seriously. I'm pretty sure that Linda Blair is the British wrestler, Lena Blair. I couldn't make out her partner's name, but it sounded like they were calling her "Magnifico."  Borne was a French wrestler who was prominent in the 70s along with a number of other women. Actually, it looks like we have one of her 70s matches against Lola Garcia. 

Kader Hassouni & John Debruyne vs. Les Piranhas (aired 5/11/85)

This was all right. They worked it as a straight match, which was better than the alternative. Debruyne had a New Wave haircut. The match could have been a bit tighter, but it was a crowd pleaser. 

Le Primitif vs. The Golden Falcons (aired 7/7/85)

This was like 50 minutes of the news and 10 minutes of the match. I guess it is officially Mambo the Primitif. He didn't have his crew with him, which was disappointing. No crown, either. I was kind of amused by how much advertising there was on the ring apron. Would I really want one of these 1985 galas in my town? The tape cut off before the finish, so I guess we'll never know who won.  

[ohtani's jacket]

Eric Husberg vs. Jose Arroyo (aired 12/27/57)

I've liked the Husberg I've seen so far, but that's been against guys his own size. I'm pretty sure these guys were in different weight classes. Catchweight bouts were always some of the more intriguing WoS bouts because they created match ups you wouldn't ordinarily see. I haven't seen a ton of Husberg, but I was interested in how he would fare against a bigger guy. Personally, i thought he was brilliant. I loved the way he went at Arroyo's eyes and face, and later on the choke. I also loved the way he worked the match on three fronts. There was his shtick with the crowd, his shtick with the ref, and his shtick with Arroyo. Husberg was fantastic. I adored the way he puffed out his chest every time Arroyo grew fidgety. But I have to make special mention of the crowd. The spectators were great. They ate up every inside move like it was a Jim Breaks bout. If I had one complaint about the bout it would have been that Arroyo held back too much. He could have beaten the piss out of Husberg if he'd wanted to. But that's exactly what he wound up doing, and Husberg sold it like a champ. It was actually pretty nuanced selling. Instead of simply being knocked out by Arroyo's forearm blows, Husberg sold a strike to his non-dominant arm that made it impossible for him to clutch Arroyo's head and deliver a forearm smash. Husberg went down clutching his shoulder and Arroyo was able to pick him off. That was the best finish I've seen in catch since Humez sent Debusne to the canvas. Watching this, I had renewed hope that Husberg might bring something worthwhile to his Cheri Bibi tags. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Motta dos Santos & Pierre Payen vs. Francis Louis & Jean Claude Bordeaux (aired 6/19/71)

This was a fine match in keeping with other matches I've seen from the 70s. According to the commentator, Pierre Payen was an injury sub for Antonio Pereria. Payten does his best to establish himself as a Daniel Noced type early on, but Motta dos Santos is the best wrestler on show. And while I'd rather see dos Santos wrestle Le Petit Prince, Michel Saulnier or Albert Sanniez, we should appreciate another glimpse at this fine talent. 

[Matt D]

That's two votes for Husberg vs Arroyo and that's enough to make me wonder if we either lack some distance, are still blinded by the novelty, or are just a little overwhelmed in general given the state of the world. It was the first match in the project that really felt like work to get through for me. I have my type and I have my preferences, and have traditionally, in other projects, been for nuance over flash more often than not, but in so many of these matches, we get both and I fully admit that I may not have appreciated Husberg as much being so used to Pellacani and Peruano and Oliver and Bernaert who are all much more overt and over the top.