French catch

[David Mantell]

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This is where I don't agree with your premise. There is no universal "they". The "they" in the 1960s were a completely different group of people than the "they" in the 1980s, and so was the TV landscape in general. Your premise is somewhat akin to saying that if Warner Bros. Discovery decided to cancel AEW tomorrow they'd base their handling of the cancellation on how AOL TimeWarner handled the WCW cancellation back in 2001. They won't. It's ancient history at this point. TV executives don't care about what happened 25 years ago to another group of executives. They only care about what is happening now and what will be happening going forward.

I'd imagine an exec today would scrap AEW exactly the way Jamie Kellner scrapped WCW unless they were a wrestling fan (unlikely in such circles) in which case they would replace it with some better wrestling.

If a show survives a cancellation attempt due to lobbying by a hardcore fan base, execs will be careful if they try again (compared the flagrancy of Michael Grade canning Doctor Who in 1985 to execs quietly scrapping it in 1990.)

If ITV had a past bad experience cancelling wrestling -  or if the WWF's UK Invasion had been more advanced - Greg Dyke wouldn't have been so cocky about it in 1988.

Also I wouldn't bet the house on TV execs not knowing their history. The entire media stereotype of Star Trek fans as autistic spectrum "Trekkies" comes from the temporarily successful campaign in 1968 to  prevent ST Classic Series being cancelled after Season 2.   A very noisy lobbying fan campaign got Season 3 commissioned, it was generally regarded as jokey and crap and cancellation went ahead without fuss but the lesson was learned about SF/Fantasy series gaining small but obsessive cult followings which could make nuisances of themselves but could also be relied on to view or buy pretty much Anything related to the franchise.

France only had one TV station in 1961. Events there could easily stand out in media history.

[PeteF3]

Star Trek revivals were based on the huge syndicated ratings TOS repeats got for decades afterward moreso than just the letter-writing campaign. I don't know of wrestling having any kind of comparable possible KPI. Contemporary ratings would draw the attention of any TV exec even if they weren't around 20 years before.

And it's not like the major networks ever brought it back. TOS aired on NBC but all the revivals have been in first-run syndication, on a lesser startup network (UPN or CW), or streaming-only.

[David Mantell]

Point being that exec decisions that produce inconveniently negative reactions can have impact on decisions decades later. "You've got to be careful and subtle about cancelling that show. Its cult fans are loonies, they will end up doing protests outside our studios. ". Entire genres, not just individual shows can be impacted.

In those cases, tact and subtlety, not Greg Dyke/Jamie Kellner/Michael Grade publicity stunt cancellations are the order of the day.

[David Mantell]

On 2/16/2025 at 10:29 PM, David Mantell said:

Black Shadow is apparently Moroccan not American as 70s commentators claimed.

Apparently his name was filched off a luchador who had toured Europe some years earlier.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Shadow_(wrestler)

I added a little Legacy section about the French Catch Black Shadow.

[David Mantell]

OJ on the British thread a long time ago:

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Fit Finlay vs. Kung Fu (Eurosport circa 1989)

I can't think of a more mediocre match-up in all of European wrestling than Finlay vs. Kung Fu. It doesn't matter whether it's in Joint Promotions, All-Star, Reslo or EWF, it's mediocre every time.

This all Irish bout was effectively Finlay's second bout on French TV, he and Ian Gilmour having dressed up as Scotsmen eight years earlier in a bout which might also have been on TF1. For French viewers, New Catch on TF1 was just a continuation of Old Catch on FR3 and previously A2 with shorter bouts, nicer rings and various British and German/Austrian talent popping up.

This copy is taken from the recap repeat broadcast on Eurosport early 1989 just after the Astra launch with English commentary by veteran MC./referee John Harris. I believe Hammill had also wrestled in France a few times in the 80s but not on TV AFAIK. Hammill is introduced as "Jimy" which Harris picks up on. He also notices Princess Paula 's absence.

Finlay can definitely get heat in France just as in Britain - this is the same year as the Croydon catch-weight bout with Johnny Saint on ITV. He has a headlock switching to front chancery now and then before finally switching to wristlever. Eddie takes two rolls to untwist then widens Finlay's leg stance to more easily fell him with a stomach stomp. This doesn't get the pop it gets in England,. Finlay is up and angry however. He gets a full nelson, spins and Manchettes him then gets pressure points. Hammill kicks and chops Finlay down and gets a flying tackle for a 2 count.  Finlay boots Kung Fu a couple of times, eventually getting his foot caught, being spun round, chopped and thrown out of the ring. The French fans, especially the little kids, are having GLORIOUS fun antagonising Finlay. He comes back with a wristlever into back hammerlock. Kung Fu tries for a crotch hold and slam but can't get the weight. Finlay gets in a concealed closed fist punch just like his dad taught Rasputin to do in the Fighting Finlays documentary. The ref complains but Finlay insists in was an open hand.  He gets pressure points bit Kung Fu gets a chop, posting and superkick. Another posting and Scisseaux Volees from Kung Fu. A posting, chop and snapmares follow. He goes for a lean back folding press on Finlay but only gets 2.  Finlay picks up Hammill by the hair and gets in TWO concealed illegal punches.  He snapmares Edie but misses with a kneedrop and Kung Fu further weakens the knee with kicks, then posts Finlay who comes back with a solid Manchette. He climbs the ropes but Kung Fu knocks him off. Another posting (breaking the top turnbuckle) and a backdrop follow. Finlay gets up, illegally punches Hammill again and pitches him out the ring. He catches Hammill returning and tries to bash his head in the corner.  He tries a missile dropkick but misses, due in part to the ropes still not being right says Harris. A reverse waistlock bodyslam finishes Eddie for the one fall required in little more than five minutes.

Mediocre OJ? I think Hamill gives it his all for good moves mixed with martial arts. Finlay was mainly concerned with getting over as a heel and a bully on national French TV and I guess he achieved that.  I shall have a look at their Reslo bout that same year. to compare .

 

 

 

[David Mantell]

On 6/7/2020 at 11:50 AM, ohtani's jacket said:

Le Petit Prince & Claude Rocca vs. Bob Remy & Anton Tejero (aired 8/18/80)

One of the later Petit Prince bouts not really reviewed on here. OJ made it 4th in a list of faves 13 years ago but that's about it.

Before the bell starts Anton Tejero (who is in for all sorts of fun 6 months down the line from this bout with a name like that) attacking Prince, knocking his spectacle off, not that he'll need them for the match but he's got problems to look forward to afterwards.  This turns out to be a trigger for Couderc to come up with all manner of politically incorrect French teams for sight issues - "myope comme un dope" etc.

Still the big moustachioed heel has some starter heat. Remy and Rocas'start out, good standard moves from both including a nice Roca's handstanding escape from a side headlock. They tag and LPP is having run running rings around Tejero, making a fool of him to pay back from the specs and for having Couderc dig up every synonym for "blind as a bat" he can come up with. Tejero ends up ejected from the ring.

The referee has obviously been watching LPP's old opponent and real life trainer Michel Saulnier in action.  It's not actually Saulnier but possibly George Wiesz.  Not much actual Danny Davis esque biased calling but he does get cross with Les Bons especially Roca's, for clumsiness and recklessness that causes him to take bumps. Couderc finds the ref bumps hilarious but then he's not the one taking them. One time, the referee decides not to allow Prince out of a submission for getting the ropes and tries to kick his arm free. After a couple of failed attempts, the ref practically dropkicks LPP's hand, still fails and lands in a heap on the mat. 

Remy reminds me of a heel version of Mick McMichael of Doncaster, same look and build but a bad attitude. Tejero gets his personal heat back by interfering quite a bit while not tagged in. There is a great camera shot for this of him facing the hard cam when obeying tag rules and stepping out of camera facing position to go cheat. 

Roca's gets a pretty decent surfboard on Remy but no submission. By 21 mins in the ref is getting his first Aux Chiottes Arbitre chant.  LPP rolls out of the ring and gets patted on the back and helped up by a kindly fan only for Tejero to knock him off the apron and sending him into La Publique like he is crowd surfing. It's quite a bump! He is helped back this time by a second smoking a cigarette. This could have ended up very badly indeed, not just for the second's long term health but because Tejero is intent on booting LPP out of the ring every time he tries coming back, even when the Chiotte Arbitre orders him off. Eventually the double teaming heat moves back to the ring. In the end it's Remy who gets the opening pin on LPP with a slam after the ref misses a tag to Rocas.

Prince eventually gets a double monkey climb and the heels then tags Rocas who goes Manchette Mad, even giving the ref one to much cheers, before aeroplane spinning Remy (and taking out Tejero with the "propeller") for the equalising pin. Les Mechants regain their heat with some double teaming, a LPP/Ref argument ends with him scooting through Monsieur L'Arbitre's legs to make it a foursome. Les Bons have Tejero in a 2 on 1 toehold one on each foot, they lure in Remy and dump him on top, then the referee then themselves to make a pile of five bodies! A similar situation occurs later with Tejero tied in the ring ropes, Les Bons drive Remy into his stomach and the impact sends the referee flying outside.  In the end. Prince gets the decider with a sunset flip on Tejero after cornering him and flipping over him into pounce formation.  Prince gets a very good superkick at a time when Chris Adams was wrestling in England and possibly visited France. Who knows, perhaps Le Petit Prince  and Shawn Michaels are only two links away in a chain of teaching the superkick.

Overall, Tejero and Remy were carpenters making two of France's top Bons look hot stuff. Thirty minutes Big Daddy tag minus Daddy. A lot of skilled well executed moves from both sides, not to the point where blow-by-blow is required to convey the spirit of the match but enough to make it a handsome exhibition.

[David Mantell]

It's been a while since I posted anything relatively Modern on here. Or at least anything more modern than Eurosport New Catch.  Last time was on page 43 in mid January when I introduced you all to the delights of Igwe and Mungu.  So here goes:

In Britain, the only wrestling to take place on British soil between closure of hospitality on 20th March 2020 and Freedom Day 19th July 2021 were some NXT UK tapings held in closed TV studios at the former LWT premises at the South Bank of the Thames in London, also use for similarly closed off championship boxing fights. (Plus a few wrestlers who happened to live together were able to carry on as training partners with their housemates.)

Wrestling promotions in France however took the next step and held socially distanced shows like AEW did. Voici one such show by WS from Oct 2020 (just a couple of weeks before we Brits went back into lockdown) .  Hence the thin audience (there are more recent clips on that same YouTube channel to show how things have fattened out since the pandemic ended.) and also the masks and the fact that most of the audience are clapping instead of cheering, although a few can't help themselves. The wrestlers, I presume, were in a bubble together.

The big surprise here is to find out that Gannon Gray used to be a Bon as in those said later clips he is un Mechant teaming with Hugo Perez El General who owns the channel. Here he faces a heel doing an Arab gimmick (possibly of actual Algerian descent) and wins after the baddy takes a clumsy topple off the corner post.

Fair play to WS for finding ways to do things in those troubled times and nice to see business rebuilt after the pandemic. However, not long after this show, on 28th October 2020 France went back into lockdown.

[Phil Lions]

"Today, a wrestler doesn't earn enough to live"



Came across an interesting story/interview with Roger Delaporte for one of the major French magazines in January 1977 where he laments the bad state of the business. Keep in mind, catch was still airing on TF1 at that point and I think later that same year it may have even been airing twice a week (on different networks), but despite this business was way down. Delaporte attributes it to a few factors:
- Catch no longer airing live and instead typically on a delay of a few weeks, but the network wouldn't announce that it was pretaped. This allowed the network to plan their timing better and advertise in advance the exact time a show would end, which suggested to the public that all matches were fixed and therefore they lost interest.
- Those taped shows would air mainly on Saturday night, which was a big night for catch live events, and having catch TV airing at the same time killed the live attendance. "We went from 5,000 spectators to 1,000 spectators. Even worse, one night I happened to be wrestling in a town and that same night a match I had wrestled in that town three months prior was airing on TV".
- FFL (the amateur federation) no longer being in charge of catch led to "a multitude of bogus federations and a proliferation of promoters, resulting in total disorder." Multiple L'Ange Blancs, Bourreaus, Kamikazes... All sorts of guys now claiming to be World champion...
- "In the past there were 300 wrestlers. Now there are barely 30 left. Simply put, catch shows are no longer profitable."
- In the past there used to be tax exemptions for catch shows, this was no longer the case and now the promoters had to pay VAT.
- Advertising in the press used to be free, now you had to pay for advertising in the newspapers.
- Since July 1976 the state required wrestlers to be affiliated with Social Security and therefore money had to be deducted from the wrestlers' pay and the promoters' revenue to go to Social Security.

And then the story makes it sound like Delaporte stopped promoting catch at Elysee-Montmartre in 1970 and he was to resume promoting now [1977]. It's not addressed in detail, but that is what the story suggests. There were definitely shows at Elysee in 1971-1976 so could it be that someone else was promoting there during that time (and Delaportre was simply leasing them the venue for the night)? I'm not sure, but this claim definitely peaked my interest. I'll try to find out more.
 

[David Mantell]

On 7/2/2020 at 1:42 AM, ohtani's jacket said:

Guy Mercier vs. Allan Le Foudre (aired 1/24/70)

Charly Verhulst used the alias Allan Le Foudre in this match despite the fact that even the commentator and Guy Mercier referred to him as Charly Verhulst. I guess that was the name Verhulst went by in earlier appearances in France. It's not the first time a commentator has pointed out that a wrestler is using a different name. Anyway, Verhulst was a fine Belgian wrestler. This match was an experiment in using a rounds system. It featured five five-minute rounds with the winner decided by two referees at the end. I believe they were also wrestling for a purse of 10,000 francs. I'm not really sure if pinfalls or submissions counted. It seemed like the winner was determined at the end of the fifth round. Although in this case it appeared to be a draw, which defeats the purpose of determining a winner over five rounds. I'd have to watch it again to understand the rules. There was some great wrestling as the emphasis here was on catch as a sporting contest. Mercier looked better than in any other match I've seen him in. I do wish he would stop doing Leduc's moves, however. It's cool that we have so many different types of Verhulst matches. It's probably an artificial construct based on how few matches we have, but he feels like a traveling Naoki Sano type. The rounds stuff is an interesting experiment, but I think it works better with 2/3 falls. 

As promised on the German thread. Charlie Verhulst 10.5 years younger. 24:days too late for the sixties but never mind.

Actually I 've already done a bit of a review of this before:

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@ohtani's jacket said

. It featured five five-minute rounds with the winner decided by two referees at the end. I believe they were also wrestling for a purse of 10,000 francs. I'm not really sure if pinfalls or submissions counted. It seemed like the winner was determined at the end of the fifth round. Although in this case it appeared to be a draw, which defeats the purpose of determining a winner over five rounds. I'd have to watch it again to understand the rules.

Wel I got it anyway!  It was just a bog standard five rounds no score draw!  The "purse"you mention was the Prime some stinkin' rich fan offered to pay each man for a good scientific bout this far. At the end of the fight MC Raymond Poignard (sp?) pauses to check with the ref before confirming it is indeed a draw.

Before the clean match starts in this nice rustic looking venue with oak beams visible, the crowd exercise their heat muscles a bit when two Mechants show up in smart suits. Kurt Kaiser, bald Nazi heel in a country that the real Nazis overrun and still ruled 26 years later, plus Switzerland's answer to Sid Rudy, Rene Lataserre. He cruelly shoves Poignard out the way and struts around, shaking both men's hand (as Kaiser did.). Charlie is younger looking. dark cropped hair. 

Round 1 - armdrags by each man, kip ups by Mercier who gets CV in a headscissors. He turns into the upright position, takes hold of the legs beneath and frees his head then holds the resulting Gotch toehold aiming to get Mercier into the mount. He nearly gets it but Mercier turns it back and pulls on Charley's head to get himself loose. Back to armdrags. They end up on the ropes, ref calls for a break. Verhulst gets a legdive and leglock. Mercier tries a crossface but it breaks. Verhulst with a leg weakeners. Mercier tries again for the crossface and gets it but Verhulst gets the leg again. Mercier puts his other leg in and looks like going for a toupee but instead a rope break. Up and this time Mercier gets the leg into leglock and Charlie tries the crossface. Which becomes a headlock, surviving a Mercier throw. Mercier in in green trunk apparently so maybe this is in colour on Channel 2.  Mercier turns round to get another armdrags which this time breaks it  Mercier gets a side chancery.  Verhulst underhooks his and gets him up for a slam but on the descent Mercier turns it into a reverse snapmares. He gets another side chancery and throw, holding the side chancery. The bell goes.  A round is a "Reprise" in French by the way.

Round 2- Lataserre is helping with colour commentary, apparently he is having trouble finding opponents as they are scared of him.  Mercier gets an armlock, Verhulst gets and underhook, Mercier slams him and comes up with the armbar. Throws him in it twice. Verhulst cross buttocks him off. Reset. Mercier spins before going in for a legdive and leglock.  Verhulst sits up so Metcier switches to front chancery then a double held armlock (almost the double wristlock).  Verhulst gets a rear waistlock but Runs Out Of Mat in the corner. They get up and he gets a standing front chancery into a vertical suplex into chinlock. Mercier gets a wristlock and throws him in it, keeping hold.  Verhulst turns round and has Mercier ready for a fireman's carry but Guy steps back to break. Verhulst gets a drop toehold trip into a Gotch toehold and tries to switch to full nelson but Mercier turns into the guard and bridges up then powers up in a top wristlock. Verhulst tries powering down but it's slow and goes into the corner. The bell goes, they shake hands. Mercier gives Verhulst's hair an affectionate tousle on his way to his corner.

Round 3-  Verhulst gets a front chancery. Mercier counters with taking a leg. He gets the better of the two but Verhulst twists out.  Verhulst takes a leg of his own, develops it into a toehold.  Mercier gets a spare arm, turns his man into a cross press for just a 1 count. He gets the better of a two way armlock battle taking Charlie down.  Our spectator friend with more money than sense announces his 10K Francs Prime he wil pay the winner. They end up in a standing top wristlock battle, Mercier flips Verhulst who responds with a headscissors. Mercier tries bridging out but Verhulst pulls his feet out under him, easy when he's on his toes like that. Mercier goes into the upright and tries the spinning toupee escape so Verhulst collapsed it to the other side. Another fool and his money are soon parted as another spectator offers 10K francs to the pair. Mercier tries bridging and regains the upper position and again the toupee escape - and again Verhulst topples it sideways. Mercier tries using his knees to unplug the scissors but to no avail.  Finally he bridges and rolls backwards unplugging his head and making a seated Gotch toehold.  Verhulst pushes up and rolls out.  He gets a side chancery takeover. and is poised on the mat for another.  They stand and Mercier throws him but Verhulst keeps the hold. Verhulst throws and Mercier tries to grab an arm to counter but it all goes in the ropes.  Break and Mercier gets a side chancery but then the bell goes.

Round 4 - they lock up and Mercier gets a waistlock, slides it down into a bearhug then makes it a belly to belly suplex (slow and fluid, not snapping like your Magnum TA version.)  Mercier tries a cross press, tuns parallel and gets a couple of one counts. Verhulst has a ground top wristlock and turns things over. Mercier tries to kip up then gets a headscissors.  Verhulst tries various tricks. Eventually he uncrossed the feet and makes an over the neck leglock but it goes into the ropes. One or two of the public are calling for Manchettes. Instead they get a couple of high whips with bumps forced on Mercier.  The last one, he kips up and snatches another headscissors. Now its Verhulst tries the toupee escape but gets it turned sideways onto the mat.  Verhulst turns it upright and starts making the seated Gotch toehold from the last round. He moves into standing and Mercier adjusts the legs to a cross headscissor for a possible Toupee throw.- and gets it! Verhulst lands still in the cross scissor. But then the bell goes. During the break the commentator interviews Mercier who says Verhulst is hard work.

Round 5 .  They lock up and Mercier gets a waistlock, not quite tight enough to be a bearhug. It goes into the ropes but Mercier gets a throw out of it before the ref can intervene. The pace is quickening.  Verhulst gets a leg takedown but Mercier kicks him off.  It's a Mercier waistlock versus a Verhulst side headlock. They go to the mat and Mercier emerges on to with a standing chinlock. But Verhulst has his legs and brings him down. They break and reset..  Verhulst gets a side chancery and throws Mercier in it.  They end in the corner, break and reset. Verhulst gets a cross buttock throw. They both have a two way armlock and Mercier gets a throw of it but it ends in the ropes. Verhulst gets an abdominal stretch and takes his man down with an arm pinned behind. This however impedes pinfall attempts and Verhulst gets up and makes it a standing armlock as Mercier applies counter pressure. He throws Verhulst and finally give the crowd three of the Manchettes they longed for. Verhulst fiesta one then Mercier fires back then Mercier goes for a legdive but Verhulst falls back on the ropes. Hardly any time left.  Mercier goes from front chancery to double underhook suplex. He gets a 1 :count as the bell goes like a TV title match in America. Verhulst kips up and helps Mercier up and they shake hands and sling an arm over each others' shoulders. Match A Nul, says the ref, more sportsmanship and cheers. 

This was a lot like Bert Mychell versus Gilbert LeDuc. Not as flashy as the new young lightweight style people like Saulnier, Petit Prince and Mantopolous were peddling but scientific and logical.  Not as ponderous as the old German style of Dieter Sr, Chall, Bock etc. A lot more creative than the Zrno bout a decade later in Austria. I liked it.

 

[David Mantell]

On 3/27/2024 at 10:26 AM, David Mantell said:

Am watching this bout. So they did have rounds in France after all.  At least sometimes.

Verhurst (pronounced Veruce) was cited many years later as Mile Zrno's trainer by Orig Williams on English language commentary during a CWA Zrno Vs Fit Finlay match screened as part of a New Catch episode on Eurosport.

Interesting looking venue with the big coach-and-horses doors and lamp pillars. Hopefully there are retrievable chroma dots on this film as I would love to someday see what this place looked like in colour.

Nice bit with the two heels at the start.   Kurt Kaiser must have been very close to the bone for a country under Nazi occupation just over 25 years earlier. Latasserre (sp?) being a great arrogant heel.

They're doing "primes" again!  Both men get awarded a hefty prime of 10,000F during the head scissors escape sequence (with Mercier forming a human corkscrew with his bent legs to help twist out of the hold.)

The curse of the celeb intellectual colour commentator strikes again, this one wants LeFoudre to win because he looks the more sympa of the two.

I forgot I wrote this bit a year ago. Still now you have the short review and the long review. The quick summary and the drilling down into the intricacies of a technical match.

[David Mantell]

On 4/1/2025 at 8:56 PM, Phil Lions said:

"Today, a wrestler doesn't earn enough to live"



Came across an interesting story/interview with Roger Delaporte for one of the major French magazines in January 1977 where he laments the bad state of the business. Keep in mind, catch was still airing on TF1 at that point and I think later that same year it may have even been airing twice a week (on different networks), but despite this business was way down. Delaporte attributes it to a few factors:
- Catch no longer airing live and instead typically on a delay of a few weeks, but the network wouldn't announce that it was pretaped. This allowed the network to plan their timing better and advertise in advance the exact time a show would end, which suggested to the public that all matches were fixed and therefore they lost interest.
- Those taped shows would air mainly on Saturday night, which was a big night for catch live events, and having catch TV airing at the same time killed the live attendance. "We went from 5,000 spectators to 1,000 spectators. Even worse, one night I happened to be wrestling in a town and that same night a match I had wrestled in that town three months prior was airing on TV".
- FFL (the amateur federation) no longer being in charge of catch led to "a multitude of bogus federations and a proliferation of promoters, resulting in total disorder." Multiple L'Ange Blancs, Bourreaus, Kamikazes... All sorts of guys now claiming to be World champion...
- "In the past there were 300 wrestlers. Now there are barely 30 left. Simply put, catch shows are no longer profitable."
- In the past there used to be tax exemptions for catch shows, this was no longer the case and now the promoters had to pay VAT.
- Advertising in the press used to be free, now you had to pay for advertising in the newspapers.
- Since July 1976 the state required wrestlers to be affiliated with Social Security and therefore money had to be deducted from the wrestlers' pay and the promoters' revenue to go to Social Security.

And then the story makes it sound like Delaporte stopped promoting catch at Elysee-Montmartre in 1970 and he was to resume promoting now [1977]. It's not addressed in detail, but that is what the story suggests. There were definitely shows at Elysee in 1971-1976 so could it be that someone else was promoting there during that time (and Delaportre was simply leasing them the venue for the night)? I'm not sure, but this claim definitely peaked my interest. I'll try to find out more.
 

Actually as we can tell from the INA footage, both TF1 and Antenne 2 were screening wrestling -if anything it feels like it's more the latter whose 11pm news bulletin comes on after the match.

Wages were a sore point in Britain also - by 1987 the average purse forca Big Daddy main event was £30 with. £25 for a non Daddy match. 

(Actually, taking about money van lead to trouble- a discussion just last year on a FB group for British wrestling about pay rates led to a screaming row and the group moderators being forced to hand over the reigns to ex wrestlers. The issue being that pay was nobody's business other than the individual concerned.)

It was Guy Mercier who  lobbied successfully for the social security and pay for Itinerant Workers (see earlier discussion) for wrestlers and it was a sore point with French promoters and remained so into the C21st.  It was a big issue in Guy's son Marc Mercier's dispute with Flesh Gordon and Jacky Richard's Wrestling Superstars promotion with each side accusing the other of being evil swindlers.

I'm sure people could work out for themselves that Catch was taped in advance - eg when they saw themselves on TV! Actually I think the houses look pretty respectable by English/French standards - well filled out theatre/civic centre type venues. Unlike America which relied on the big monthly Arena show, Britain and France were built on intensity of touring smaller 300-500 seater venueS like theatres.  Shows on this scale still happen in both countries but the schedule is a lot thinner.

In the 70s Britain was also going through a dip period which ended in 1977 with Big Daddy and the consequent boom. We have no statistics for how much of an impact Flesh Gordon, Jessy Texas  Les Maniaks etc had on boosting houses.

Delaporte himself remained part of the business in 1977  having recently gone from infamous Heel to tough enforcer referee.

[David Mantell]

On 4/2/2025 at 10:05 PM, David Mantell said:

"In the past there were 300 wrestlers.

Now there are barely 30 left.

And who were they?

Brainstorm of French/France based wrestlers active during/around 1977:

Jean Corne, Khader Hassouni, Petit Prince, Albert Sanniez, Jacky Richard, Remy Bayle, Le Grande Vladimir, Marc Mercier, Michel Falempin, Walter Bordes, Claude Rocas, Bob Plantin, Michel diSanto. Michel Chaisne, Fred Magnier. Zarak, Jean Menard, Pierre Bernaet, Pierre Lagache, Bruno Asquini, Daniel Boucard, Daniel Nocoed, Mammouth Siki, Franz Van Buyten, inca Viracocha, Paco Ramirez, Anton Tejero, Gass Doukhan, Rene Ben Chemoul, Rene Cabellec, Angelito, Tomas Trujillo, Jo Gonzales, Ivan Strogoff, Daniel Schmidt, Jean Pierre Momo, Salah Latif, Gerard Bouvet. Pierre Payen , George Cohen, Bob Remy, Guy Renault, Rene/Jack de Lasartesse, Black Shadow, Marcel Montreal, Josef El Arz, Alan Mitchell, Joel De Fremery, Antonio Pedera, Jean Claude Bordeaux 

I make that 50, not counting visitors from the UK like Pete Roberts, Dave Bond. Marty Jones,  Dave Fit Finlay, Ian Gilmour and Rollerball Rocco, visitors from Germany like Karl Schneider, wider scale globetrotters like Jon Guil Don , the Mansour brothers, Yasu Fuji, or indeed the entire ladies' division or any unidentified masked men such as El Demonic Rojo or Le Samurai who might already be on the list.   (Zarak is included as we know who it was- Dave Larsen)

Clearly the roster was in a healthier state than Delaporte makes out. Also knockoffs of famous masked men were an issue in Britain too - Eddie Hammill jobbed away his Kung Fu mask because he was tired of imposters, Bill Clarke's infamous "King Kendo" impersonator act eventually became a respectable TV gimmick in its own right.

[Phil Lions]

4 hours ago, David Mantell said:

And who were they?

Brainstorm of French/France based wrestlers active during/around 1977:

Jean Corne, Khader Hassouni, Petit Prince, Albert Sanniez, Jacky Richard, Remy Bayle, Le Grande Vladimir, Marc Mercier, Michel Falempin, Walter Bordes, Claude Rocas, Bob Plantin, Michel diSanto. Michel Chaisne, Fred Magnier. Zarak, Jean Menard, Pierre Bernaet, Pierre Lagache, Bruno Asquini, Daniel Boucard, Daniel Nocoed, Mammouth Siki, Franz Van Buyten, inca Viracocha, Paco Ramirez, Anton Tejero, Gass Doukhan, Rene Ben Chemoul, Rene Cabellec, Angelito, Tomas Trujillo, Jo Gonzales, Ivan Strogoff, Daniel Schmidt, Jean Pierre Momo, Salah Latif, Gerard Bouvet. Pierre Payen , George Cohen, Bob Remy, Guy Renault, Rene/Jack de Lasartesse, Black Shadow, Marcel Montreal, Josef El Arz, Alan Mitchell, Joel De Fremery, Antonio Pedera, Jean Claude Bordeaux

He doesn't outright say it, but I believe he meant French wrestlers specifically when he said that, because in the whole story he talks about French wrestlers only and later the story talks about the various jobs French wrestlers had taken on to make ends meet. That said, he is probably exaggerating a bit to make his point. Plus, there were plenty of, as Le Petit Prince used to refer to them with disdain back in the day, "Sunday wrestlers" too (i.e. semi-pro/local guys wrestling just as a hobby on the weekend), but there definitely weren't many proper French pros left by that point.

[David Mantell]

7 hours ago, Phil Lions said:

He doesn't outright say it, but I believe he meant French wrestlers specifically when he said that, because in the whole story he talks about French wrestlers only and later the story talks about the various jobs French wrestlers had taken on to make ends meet. That said, he is probably exaggerating a bit to make his point. Plus, there were plenty of, as Le Petit Prince used to refer to them with disdain back in the day, "Sunday wrestlers" too (i.e. semi-pro/local guys wrestling just as a hobby on the weekend), but there definitely weren't many proper French pros left by that point.

Everyone on that list was France-based in 1977 and all of them were on TV and we have the footage on YouTube around that period 1976-1978.

[David Mantell]

Two important details we don't have for French Catch are

1) the raw French Catch TV Ratings

2) the context of said ratings (what was considered good or bad figures at the time in France and how other programmes did).

It's worth mentioning that the typical 3 million British Wrestling got each week in 1998 is exponentially double what WWE Raw gets (1.5 million) and 5 times what AEW Dynamite gets (0.6 million) in the America of 2025 but taken as a per capita proportion of population (UK 1988=60M, USA 2025=330M) ITV got 1/30th of the population. RAW gets 1/220th of its population and AEW 1/550th.)

(data sources-1988 British wrestling @JNLister's site, current American Wrestling from Jim Cornette's show - he and Brian Last get their figures from the Wrestlenomics website.)

My guess is that whatever Le Catch was getting it was similarly clobbering both exponentially and proportionally what Raw and Dynamite get in their home countries today.

[David Mantell]

23 hours ago, Phil Lions said:

later the story talks about the various jobs French wrestlers had taken on to make ends meet.

Well yes, quite a few British Wrestlers either had second jobs and/or had to supplement their UK income with appearances at the German Tournaments or the Euro Kats Festival in Athens.or even fly out to some Asian or African country whose TV station bought screenings of bicycling prints of Wrestling From Great Britain and where consequently they could expect a spot of red carpet treatment. 

For French wrestlers a trip to the German tournaments was nice and easy, none of this North Sea Ferry nonsense, just a simple motorway journey Eastwards across the Rhine like an interstate four wrestlers in a car journey in the American Territories. Germans may well have made the opposite journey Westwards to get some money and exposure on French TV.

[David Mantell]

On 4/4/2025 at 10:59 AM, David Mantell said:

I make that 50, not counting visitors from the UK like Pete Roberts, Dave Bond. Marty Jones,  Dave Fit Finlay, Ian Gilmour and Rollerball Rocco, visitors from Germany like Karl Schneider, wider scale globetrotters like Jon Guil Don , the Mansour brothers, Yasu Fuji, or indeed the entire ladies' division or any unidentified masked men such as El Demonic Rojo or Le Samurai who might already be on the list.   (Zarak is included as we know who it was- Dave Larsen)

16 hours ago, David Mantell said:

Everyone on that list was France-based in 1977 and all of them were on TV and we have the footage on YouTube around that period 1976-1978.

I did include a few Spanish Wrestlers as the scene in Spain had died with the closure of the CIC in 1975 (although we have kinescopes to prove some of these guys were already journeying northeastwards across the Pyrenees for work and TV exposure even before that) and during the intervening 15 years before the WWF arrived on the newly launched TeleCinco in 1990 and then toured in 1992, Spain was basically overspill territory from France with various French promoters including Delaporte (plus the odd German) touring the land and guys like Danny Collins and Robbie Brookside having old war stories of wrestling shows in bull rings in Spain.

Dave Larsen was to France as someone like Steve Wright was to Germany, an expatriate. (Not that he transformed his host nation's wrestling style the way Wright did.)

[David Mantell]

This bout hasn't been reviewed yet on here but I did mention it as having been broadcast in December 1967 on 2eme Chaine and therefore the earliest known surviving B/W  bout which might be restorable to Colour using Chroma Dot Recovery (Channel 2 went colour in October but the only bouts between then and this are a set screened in October on Channel 1 including Peter Maivia.) Actually there are one or two bits where a few frames are missing, possibly from repairs to film damage, including during the MCs announcement of the equalising fall. However there had been quite a few off screen - Steve Young as preparation for becoming the UK Skull Murphy, the same .Kashmir Singh losing his long Sikh hair in battle in a way that would not upset family and friends. Possibly  Black Jack Mulligan at some point (I mentioned him on the German thread - the lconnection to this post.

This is 21 years before Big Daddy and Kashmir Singh beat Drew McDonald and Rasputin in a match ending with Dr Monika Kaiser screaming her lungs out as a lady hairdresser snipped off tiny bits of Drew's hair before the cameras cut and I suspect Drew stormed out and repeated the finish around Britain before finally doing the REAL headshave at home in the bathroom mirror., ready to appear bald at a TV battle royal a month or two later. It's 19.25 years before Piper vs Adonis at WM3 inspired Ed Leslie to ritually humiliate jobbers and a few name heels.  Before Jimmy Valiant and Paul Jones made "bald headed geek" a slogan. Twenty years in the other direction it was a humiliation for women who had slept with Nazis "la collaboration hoizontale".

Couderc in his glasses reminds me a bit of Steve Allen backstage at WM6.  Apparently whoever takes the fall gets the shave. Batman is introduced as American (he was Brit Dave Larsen) and starts, flinging the Black Jackets about and cartwheeling out of their armbars. Le Duc pulls off a nice flying headscissors early (appropriate for a hair match). The heels are a lot more Manchetteux and it becomes more of a striking contest when they take over. They get the first fall on LeDuc with a folding press after a double team. A dolly bird at ringside looks all fornlorn about it.   I think she was one of Gilbert's many girlfriends, or something like that according to Roger C. If either Bon loses the next fall they will be the one shaved. The heels have big moustaches, the badge of a villain in mid C20th France, the sort of heads found on criminal gang members, later pictured in the press mounted on a prison mantlepiece. 

Batman gets quite a hot tag in the middle fall with a flurry of dropkicks and a bulldog/flying headscissors one on two combo to the opposition. It goes quieter down . A Blouson gets an armhank on LeDuc and he goes into his corkscrew Toupee, the one he usually uses to escape headscissors, to roll up his hanked arm.  As LeDuc tries to headstant in the arm hank (and topples over a few times first) Couderc makes a real eye rolling joke in fake English, quoting Shakespeare - "Toupee Or Not Toupee? - zat is ze question." When LeDuc finally pulls off the escape, Couderc shouts "Toupeeeeee!" with childish glee.  When LeDuc does his attacking headscissor throw toupee, Couderc stans singing Bingo Bang Bang.  Gilbert also gets into a ringside brawl with both BNs, still unthinkable on ITV a decade later.  The equaliser is gained with one Blouson trapped in the ropes by Batman while LeDuc slingshots the other into the first to soften the latter for a splash and pin.

The Bloussons' individual names are Claude Gissinn and Marcel Manueveau. (Sp both) .  I had trouble keeping track of who was who when I last reviewed a bout of theirs. It's Manueveau who gets pinned after Claude trips in the ropes like the future Barber (see how these things connect up) at WM2 in the process of losing the WWF World tag belts. And it's Manueveau who gets the new bald look. He's actually quite brave about it, roaring at Les Bons to stand back before slamming himself down on the chair and letting Le Coiffeur (a cross between Duranton's poor manservant Firmin and Michael Palin as Arthur Pewty in the Monty Python Marriage Guidance Councillor sketch) do his work. Unlike the blond hairdresser from the British hair match, this guy has an actual pair of shears and gets the job reasonably done. Mannuveau still has a few clumps left.Anyway, the crowd give the result a polite clap before both heels scurry off.

Anyway, maybe some day we shall see this in colour.