French catch

[David Mantell]

5 hours ago, David Mantell said:

5 hours ago, David Mantell said:

Which is one style of wrestling. It's actually my favorite style of French and British wrestling,

Well it's not just lightweights - in Britain Pat Roach, Pete Roberts, Tony StClair and (before he would "lose his cool" and break out the dirty wrestling for the evening) Kendo Nagasaki did all that.

I'm just about to review a Pat Roach match where he does a fair bit of that although that wont be the focus of the review (wrong opponent for that sort of bout).

See also Franz Van Buyten with regard to French Catch. He too was a heavyweight yet he back flipped, reverse somersaulted and headscissor-tookdown with the best of them.

[Phil Lions]

On 5/8/2025 at 5:10 PM, David Mantell said:

https://plus.wikimonde.com/wiki/Wrestling_Stars

This looks interesting. A full company back history of Wrestling Stars. Apparently Jean Claude Blanchet, butler to both Marquises De Fumuulo (Eduardo and Jacky Richard) and later best boy to the Travesti Man, had a big hand in founding it.

Having looked a bit more closely at this, I now notice that the source this article was based on was... WS's official website. That's a bit like writing an article about the history of WWE by watching WWE-made documentaries. Not a good idea. Some of the stuff in it may be true, but there are plenty of inaccuracies too.

[David Mantell]

13 hours ago, ohtani's jacket said:

The focus is from spot to spot rather than any kind of specific match layout. I'm not convinced they thought about matches in those terms. 

Well yes but the different systems of chain wrestling allow everything to link together and form a pattern so each move is a response to what happened with the previous move. Also the greater emphasis on defence work leads to greater scope for creative ingenuity in work. Anyone can put a headlock on, but to get out of one in an interesting and clever way requires skill and artistry.

[David Mantell]

5 minutes ago, Phil Lions said:

Having looked a bit more closely at this, I now notice that the source this article was based on was... WS's official website. That's a bit like writing an article about the history of WWE by watching WWE-made documentaries. Not a good idea. Some of the stuff in it may be true, but there are plenty of inaccuracies too.

I get that and I think it got purged from the proper French Wikipedia but at least it's good to have SOMEONE'S version of the tale. In particular to learn of (I)WS(F)'s roots in KMG who I suppose are the Wrestling Enterprises Of Birkenhead of the French Catch story (if Wrestling Stars are the French version of All Star in the UK.)

You have to start somewhere with someone's side of the story.

[ohtani's jacket]

13 hours ago, David Mantell said:

Well it's not just lightweights - in Britain Pat Roach, Pete Roberts, Tony StClair and (before he would "lose his cool" and break out the dirty wrestling for the evening) Kendo Nagasaki did all that.

I'm just about to review a Pat Roach match where he does a fair bit of that although that wont be the focus of the review (wrong opponent for that sort of bout).

 

All three stronghold North West European wrestling cultures survive at least at grassroots level, which is more than can be said for all bar one mainland American/Canadian wrestling territory

I am well aware of the fact that workers like Pete Roberts possessed finely honed skills. The argument is whether clean wrestling is the archetype. I would argue that it's the ideal, but it was far from archetypal. I don't believe that promoters would have wanted it to be the archetype. I don't think there's money in it being the archetype. I don't believe that everyone in the audience enjoyed it. There are countless examples of it being a hard sell on the television screen. I believe the average WoS viewer and the average fan in attendance wanted to cheer for their favorites and boo the heels. All of this rah, rah, well played technical stuff was a sideshow. Wrestling is built on the personalities. Even at the height of 50s catch, it's not the wrestling that's at the forefront but the masked gimmick workers. I agree that there are distinctly European moves and counter moves. Everyone knows that. The argument is that those moves were not the main draw. 

As for whether France was a dying territory or not, you can believe what you want to believe. I don't give two craps about comparisons to the US. At least there's an acknowledgement there that the territories died. 

[ohtani's jacket]

16 minutes ago, David Mantell said:

Well yes but the different systems of chain wrestling allow everything to link together and form a pattern so each move is a response to what happened with the previous move. Also the greater emphasis on defence work leads to greater scope for creative ingenuity in work. Anyone can put a headlock on, but to get out of one in an interesting and clever way requires skill and artistry.

Forget about the skill and artistry of getting out of a hold. That's not what new viewers are looking for. They're looking for ebbs and flows and a dramatic conclusion. It's like pimping a Fujiwara match that has amazing defensive but doesn't feature a dramatic KO finish. The average fan won't appreciate it. European matches of this era aren't built the same way that modern wrestling is. There is a lot to admire about the work, but if your focus is on great matches then it's a tougher sell. I imagine the average Catch worker in the 50 and 60s probably had the mentality of going out there and doing their shit and not necessarily working a great match, but apparently the promoters knew differently and there may have been more of that in the provinces where it was tougher to draw crowds back. 

[David Mantell]

59 minutes ago, ohtani's jacket said:

Forget about the skill and artistry of getting out of a hold. That's not what new viewers are looking for.

It's what native viewers were looking for, in Britain's case because Kent Walton educated them to think that way, or at least to aspire to think that way in the belief it made them a better fan and a more cultured person. He definitely promoted an idea of high-class connoisseur wrestling.

In France's case the style was more showy and less cerebral.  I suspect a lot of the flippiness of French Catch was an attempt to reproduce the sheer gymnastic appeal of all the big flamboyant spots (suplexes backdrops etc) of professional GR earlier on.

I say, with respect, you're just imposing your own America-derived notions of what constitutes a great match on a different wrestling culture to which such criteria do not apply.

[David Mantell]

5 hours ago, ohtani's jacket said:

I imagine the average Catch worker in the 50 and 60s probably had the mentality of going out there and doing their shit and not necessarily working a great match,

They had THEIR IDEA of a great match.

Who is to say who was right and who was wrong?

[ohtani's jacket]

9 hours ago, David Mantell said:

It's what native viewers were looking for, in Britain's case because Kent Walton educated them to think that way, or at least to aspire to think that way in the belief it made them a better fan and a more cultured person. He definitely promoted an idea of high-class connoisseur wrestling.

In France's case the style was more showy and less cerebral.  I suspect a lot of the flippiness of French Catch was an attempt to reproduce the sheer gymnastic appeal of all the big flamboyant spots (suplexes backdrops etc) of professional GR earlier on.

I say, with respect, you're just imposing your own America-derived notions of what constitutes a great match on a different wrestling culture to which such criteria do not apply.

There are countless instances of Walton getting frustrated with the crowd for not reacting to the work in the ring. There are also instances of Walton getting frustrated with the workers for not putting on a better match. However, when Walton would say that a match was one for the purists, that acknowledges the (small) portion of the audience who valued ringwork over shenanigans . All this crap about Walton educating British viewers to be a higher class of fan is pompous. And harkening everything back to American-whatever is jingoism.

Look at a French audience from a 50s match where a French guy is fighting a foreign heel. The crowd, probably some of them already drunk, are fired up and on the verge of fighting with the workers not because of the great Catch aesthetic but because they're being worked. I'm sure there were an element of fans who preferred pure Catch and hated the brawling and all of the gimmicks, but that element were clearly in the minority. You are dismissive of brawling, fine, whatever, but you keep painting these false narratives. McManus vs. Pallo was one of the biggest feuds of the 60s in Britain. The work in the FA Cup match pales in comparison to the Jacky Corn vs. Bill Howes match. It's not bad, but I am certain everyone who's seen the footage would argue with me. There's no question, though, that McManus and Pallo were the draw. The reason for that is obvious. It's got nothing to do with projecting American notions onto jack. A large portion of the British audience wanted to see Catweazle not Alan Serjeant. It's okay. It's just want way things are. It's the same reason why more people enjoy blockbusters movies than foreign films. 

You missed the point on the great matches comment. I didn't say that there aren't any great Catch matches. My point was that the match layout isn't orientated towards the type of structures and match layouts that new fans are used to. In order to help fans who are struggling to get into Catch, it helps to look at the issues from all sides instead of pretending like Americans can't appreciate anything that's different from an American-centric product. 

[David Mantell]

5 hours ago, ohtani's jacket said:

And harkening everything back to American-whatever is jingoism.

Not at all, I'm saying one wrestling culture's idea of what constitutes great wrestling does not hold a monopoly on validity.  The Europeans were Not collectively Getting It All Wrong, they just had their different way of doing things.

 

[David Mantell]

18 hours ago, ohtani's jacket said:

My point was that the match layout isn't orientated towards the type of structures and match layouts that new fans are used to. In order to help fans who are struggling to get into Catch, it helps to look at the issues from all sides instead of pretending like Americans can't appreciate anything that's different from an American-centric product. 

Wrestlers - in any place or time - aren't really under any compulsion to make those  allowances for fans from other far away territories where things are  (least of all fans from the future watching their matches years after they have passed away.) Surely the onus is on the viewers from the other backgrounds to adapt their mindset to the different wrestling world into which they are entering?

[David Mantell]

Some more Teddy Boys, still not clad in Edwardian Drapes, still not a DA quiff in sight.

On 11/23/2021 at 12:04 PM, ohtani's jacket said:

Rene Ben Chemoul/Gilbert Cesca vs. Teddy Boys (Adolphe Sevre/Robert Le Boulch) (aired 5/9/65)

This was part of the original Bob ALPRA collection, and I have to say it's aged pretty well. I'm not sure I buy Robert Le Boulch as a "Teddy Boy," but he's wildly entertaining as a bumping, stooging heel. Teddy Sevre is at least a younger looking man, and more vicious in his approach. There was a nice rhythm to this match, and I enjoyed the ebb and flow. I'm not a huge fan of Rene Ben Chemoul's showboating style, but he provided a nice contrast to the workmanlike style of Gilbert Cesca. Cesca is solid, but it's pretty clear that he wasn't a great worker. Certainly not based on the expectations we had from the original Cesca/Catanzaro match. He tends to be invisible in some of these tags, but I kept an eye on him in this one and he was a capable hand throughout. I thought they might go off the air without a finish here, but it wasn't the case. I still don't really understanding the pacing of French tags. The first fall was incredibly long, and the second two were tacked on in rapid succession, but I don't think it hurt the match here. Good match.

The mention of Les Bloussons Noirs is a clue to the creation of their gimmick.  Les BNs were in England and one of them ran off with Max Crabtree's first wife (which isn't germane to the story) and they were billed as The French Teddy Boysdespite being bikers, not Tedd. (Which is).  Les BNs/The FTBs took the name back to France along with the first Mrs Max Crabtree where the name was reassigned to this tag team. 

By the 1970s you did get a lot of middle aged Teds as well as second generation Ted's who got into a nasty war with Punks, so I suppose Robert's half of the gimmick has aged better than expected. Physically, Robert reminds me of Bill Eadie as Ax of Demolition, both older guys in leather and greased hair. 

Rene was clearly an early architect of the Saulnier/PP/Angelito style we discussed earlier.  He does the back somersaults off a top wristlock- in fact he follows up on it with a neat drop toehold. He does do Scisseaux Volees but early on not as a counter to a Clef Aux Bras.  About 21 minutes in, he does do this move- a little pointlessly too as he is down on the mat with Robert and has to kip up and THEN flying headscissor when a ground- applied headscissor would surely have sufficed.  He also does some forward cartwheels a bit like Dynamite Kid or Danny Collins. He does the vaulting overhead leap to behind an opponent that the above named guys all used. "Il est vaultigeur" says the commentator.  I must look that word up. "Vaulter" says an online dictionary - as in a pole vaulter. Makes sense. Down on the mat he can wrongfoot an opponent with false legdives and even scoot through their legs (not as smoothly and swiftly as Collins though) - I imagine his bouts with George Kidd in the 50s were a lot of good fun.   He does Kidd's human ball trick- like Kidd in the 1975 match with Black Jack Mulligan he sticks out the odd arm or his head as bait.

Cesca is slower and more methodical. He throws and is thrown. He has an underhook suplex and a backdrop not unlike Big Daddy's double elbow drop- the dangerous one Bret Hart recalls Max C bribing wrestlers to take.  The Teds are just generic thug heels. I've seen the post where OJ reckons it's Sevre in the Aledo match although that Teddy Boy was younger and brattier with spiky hair years before Punk. Sevre looks physically bigger to me than that other Teddy Boy and has a Beatle moptop cut (I remember reading somewhere the Fab Four got the style off a French art movement). It's also a welcome back to that big heavyset referee again, Martial who I previously cited as a precedent for Roger Delaporte's Enforcer Referee character from the late 70s.   One time he roughs up Sevre who tries to appease him by patting him on the head!

Sevre gets the opener on Cesca with a double knees press. Afterwards the Teds pretend to help him up then Sevre gets in a cheeky shot and they both post him to his corner, which he overshoots and lands outside the ring. They aim the odd kick at Cesca and an aiding RBC and themselves are slapped around by Martial who is reluctant to raise their hands. Le Boulch is from Britannia and likes sport especially wrestling says the commentator. They both have motor hire businesses away from the ring.  Les Mechants try some of the tying up and slingshotting tricks Les Bons normally do (and blue eyes on Reslo) but it backfires as Cesca escapes and RBC is rammed into one Teddy Boy who falls off the apron then he dropkicks the other Ted out of the ring to join him.  RBC handles both Teds, even doling out a Shawn Michaels superkick to one of them.  

Le Boulch tries his own George Kidd ball but can't roll up enough and Cesca nearly gets a rear bodyscissors on him before Sevre comes to the rescue. Later on when one Ted is slung out, he lands in a ringside seat and pours his woes out to the fan sat next to him.  A nastier incident with fans attacking the Teds at ringside has to be broken up by Les Gendarmes who frogmarch the miscreants out. Cesca gets the equaliser with a rolling folding press as Rene dropkicks away the other Ted. Rene gets the decider with a Victory Roll.

Yes definitely a fun bout.  Ben Chemoul and referee Martial are the stars here. The Teds are violent but not upstaging like the Road Warriors, Cesca is functional. Ben Chemoul would go on to tag with Walter Bordes in a few years starting a line of Bordes tag partners that would end with Flesh Gordon.

 

 

 

 

[David Mantell]

4 hours ago, David Mantell said:

Ben Chemoul would go on to tag with Walter Bordes in a few years starting a line of Bordes tag partners that would end with Flesh Gordon.

In between RBC and Flesh, there was one Claude Rocas.  Here he is against some young whippersnapper in the 21st century...

[David Mantell]

... And here he is with Le Petit Prince back in their primes.

On 3/27/2025 at 11:41 AM, David Mantell said:

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]

Two gimmick orientated bouts, pointing the way to the future world of Flesh Gordon, Jessy Texas, Scott Rider etc etc.  

Batman was Dave Larsen until the late 70s when he changed into masked villain Zarak (possibly aka Zorba The Greek.) Here his opponent is Abdul Khan, an Ahmet Chong type foreign heel, a bald bearded barefoot Arab with very little style in the ring other than dirty wrestling although he does produce a neat drop toehold. Batman doesn't do too much scientific wrestling apart from the odd very British cartwheel out of trouble.  Batman gets the win with a cross buttock and press.

Le Petit Prince is at ringside in a sheepskin jacket. Some little kids fawn over him. He is happy his buddy Batman won and has brought along a couple of his paintings to show the cameras.

My first ever Masked Wrestler in December 1979 was a Mr X, defeated by Big Daddy on TV when hec was unmasked as journeyman Arthur Buffalo Bison. Seven years earlier this another masked Mr X faced Mammouth Siki, France's answer to Junkyard Dog.  They start exchanging throws, already some of the flippiness of later French Catch,  The masked man gets his heat on Mammouth. who battle the masked miscreant. The crowd, led by the MC, bay for an unmasking- "He he La CAGOULE".  Siki gets a bridge out of earlier moves.    Eventually X has Siki tied up in the ropes and is throwing referee Charley Bollet out of the way. It's all too much for Le Petit Prince who jumps in the ring to confront X over his tactics. He unties Siki and they (including referee Charley Bollet) pile on top of X fo get the pin.  Afterwards, Prince unmasks X who spends  time kneeling down hiding his face until a towel can be provided to hide his identity and take his leave.

Fun if insubstantial bouts, loud characters, the odd good move. 

 

 

[David Mantell]

On 9/21/2024 at 6:07 PM, David Mantell said:

 

On 9/21/2024 at 6:07 PM, David Mantell said:

OJ wrote

Guy Renault vs. Michel Saulnier (aired 10/9/72)

This was late in Saulnier's career, You could see he was starting to lose his hair a bit. I've been reading into Saulnier and he was a really good amateur. He was almost selected for the 1956 Olympics but lost out to Andre Zoete, who ended up representing France in three straight Olympics ('56, '60 and '64.) I've noticed that one of the reasons why France seems to have so many "champions" is that they like to herald the amateur successes of their wrestlers. There are a lot of wrestlers during this era who "almost" made the Olympics, but Saulnier seems to have made the French team. Injuries forced him to retire from catch in the 70s. He ended up becoming a referee and dabbling in promoting and training. Renault was working a Teddy Boy gimmick here. He ended up forming a successful tag team with Bobby Genele that were a Teddy Boys for the 70s. The match wasn't bad but Saulnier was a bit long in the tooth.

Two notable things apart from the action: firstly there was a rather splendid cup up for grabs. The other was that Renault's three young daughters were sitting in on commentary. Not that the commentator could get much out of them except a long sheepish pause followed by "Oui" rather like the prelude to Monty Python's Nudge Nudge sketch  with John Cheese interviewing  not very verbose schoolboys Palin, Jones and Idle. About five minutes before the end they give up and interview their young blonde mother. He does get one of them to declaim a clearly rehearsed goodbye.

It's a surprise Renault was not his early 80s skinhead biker Blouson Noir look from his tag team with Jacky Richard. I know he is meant to be a Ted but he looks more like your average 1970s street thug, like the late great Lee Brilleux, lead singer with 70s pub rock band Dr Feelgood or maybe some criminal thus trash on 70s UK cop show The Sweeney.

I was expecting him to be a heel as per 9 years later but here he's having a clean match in the French style and @Jetlag this is how the French clean matches are. Very acrobatic, very "Souple" (ultimate compliment for a French wrestler from the French commentators) . Lots of reverse snapmares, backflips from standing wristlocks, not so much flying headscissors but lots and LOTS of cross buttock throws in a side headlock. Renault is a lot taller than Saulnier and the imbalance reminds me of Adrian Street and Jim Breaks on ITV about 6 months earlier.  A few few pauses in side headlocks as there are no round breaks so they need rest.  One brief bit of needle triggers a Manchette exchange and nearly a ropes foul til L'Arbitre calms them both down and they shake hands.  Saulnier gets the pin for the win and the cup with a neat folding press with bridge that would please Johnny Saint, Kent Walton and probably Bob Backlund too.

Verdict: great scientific catchweight/poids libre bout. Le Petit Prince is still the best Saulnier opponent though.

Bah, I was looking forward to reviewing that bout, but I've already done it.  It's worth bumping this up for my description of the different French moveset from the British one as this ties in with points I made above.

[David Mantell]

Not my lucky day for this- I also had the Black Diamonds Vs RBC & Gil Cesca in mind but I've already done that too. That's pity cos I also watched Foley as Big Daddy Ritter's manager in Stampede recent and finally made the liink mentally between the 1965 heel and 1980 manager) Fortunately here's a bout not done so far. We've covered some M'boa/ M'boaba/N'Boa (which is correct @Matt D?) Different video titles say different things) but not this one. Same babyface  team as the Diamonds bout too.

We're at the Cirque d'Hiver and directing is Jean Pradinas who would still be at it in the 80s working with Daniel Cazal on the young Flesh Gordon's bouts. This other commentator says Boa (let's just call him that) is Vraiment Quelque Chose- Really Something (as the Associates sang of one Stephen.). Les Bons in their white jackets are ready, looking to the unaccustomed viewer like a doomed jobber team.  Lagache (what a great name for Un Mechant)follows in in black, I think I've seen him heeling up in an early 80s match.  In come Boa and his manager looking like Samoan Sika and and Kimchee. No sign of the snake itself.  Referee is big old Martial.in a sports jacket that makes him look somewhere between Billy Bunter (look him up) and Fatty Arbuckle. René's brother Roger is seconding Les Bons. The film develops an interesting shade of turquoise at times - I guess this print has been through the wars. 

Lagache starts against Cesca who rolls through various throws unscathed. Lagache can deal them out - including a fair old Planchette Japonaise (Monkey Climb) - but try have no effect on Cesca. But when Cesca gives Lagache a high whip he has to take the bump and rather sheepishly go to his corner to tag Boa.  (To be fair, few people could land feet first from a High Whip- Pete Roberts being one.).  Cesca legdives Boa for a folding press pin. Boa is saved only by his legs rolling into the ropes so Cesca plays bait and switch with Le Congalais, nipping out of he way of his charges so he posts himself, going to the floor so Boa leaps over him, then getting a legdive and crosspress for 2.  René finally tags in and Boa is TERRIFIED, scampering back to his corner before realising he has to face his fear. RBC goes to work, with three snapmarrs and a high whip all causing Boacto bump all over the ring. Boa in response bites René on the arm, puts him up against the ropes in a top wristlock and nibbles some more.  In the absence of an actual serpent, Boa's schtick is to "eat" opponents.  Martial shoves him off and RBC gets back to work. He gets Ben Chemoul on the mat in a ground top wristlock but Rene kips up, does a 360 somersault and lands just in the right position to drop toehold the Snakeman.  He turns it over into something almost an American figure four leglock- Martial makes them break it up. 

(Yes this print HAS been through the wars! There are odd short groups of frames missing, possibly from projector damage when the print was being bicycled through some faraway African or Arab country. )

Boa gets his wristlever back on. René does another kip up, somersault and legdive - this time a single into a spinning toehold. He Manchettes Boa at close range, then tweaks his nose and gets a headbutt for it.  Boa throws him to his corner and tags Lagache.  He gets a back hammer and jumps on it.  RBC rear snapmares him but Lagache keeps the hold. Another snapmare, hold still not broken. Then René goes for one of the three typical French Catch escapes, the Reverse Snapmare. He lands behind Pierre and double legdives him. Boa, watching, puts a boot in. Cesca tags in and they lockup. Lagache backs into the ropes and gets a top wristlock. He takes down Cesca who kips up and tries to flip out but Lagache keeps control.  Lagache makes Cesca turn in the hold and take the bump. He overhead throws him in the hold for another bump. We miss how Cesca flips out, for a shot of Boa. Lagache tags him in. Cesca gets an armhank, two snapmares a hiptoss, a Planchette Japonaise and another snapmare and hiptoss. Cesca gets an abdominal stretch converting to a straight press. Boa tries nibbling his way out of a shoulder press and does get a standing wristlever out of it. Cesca slings him off. Boa and RBC have a contretemps so RBC tags in. Boa doesn't fancy it but RBC gets a top wristlock and takes the African down. He has his man in a figure 4 top wristlock but Boa uses a concealed illegal punch to get out. Camera cuts to Boa's manager in his Kim Chee getup. Back to hardcam, RBC is on the mat. Boa gives him a Butt. A posting lands but Martial will not allow a follow down. Boa posts RBC. He follows down again but Martial still won't have it.  Ben C reverses a third posting attempt.  He double legdives and slingshots Boa into his own top turnbuckle. Cesca tags in and gets the Lex Luger Human Torture Rack on the big man but instead of submission, makes it an Aeroplane spin, leaving Boa to land on his spine like the proverbial bag of poo. Cesca posts Boa, adding to the back damage. Cesca front Chanceries his man but Boa gets him on the ropes and Les Mechants double team him. Martial drags Boa off by the hair but behind his back Lagache gets stomps in from the apron.  RBC runs in to complain, Martial sends him out, again throws off Boa by the hair and pulls Lagache off Cesca.  Boa gets Cesca in a headlock and turns to conceal a closed fist punch to the head, then another one. RBC tags in, goes from side headlock to hammerlock to a leglock. He wrenches and loosens as the crowd chant Ou-Ais. Boa tries dirties including hairpulling to break the hold but not for long. Les Bons tag. Lagache holds René as Boa shoulderblocks him. He tries it again but Cesca grabs him on the ropes. We don't see what happens next but La Publique love what they see. When we cut back to the ring, Boa is disappearing over the ropes. Rene dropkicks Lagache off the apron. Boa gets in and gets snapmares. The first brawl of the bout, a fistfight, breaks out. Boa goes down.  Martial tells Cesca off but La Publique disagree.  Cut to two gentlemen of African descent who have no sympathy for kinsman Boa, they laugh at his plight. Both sides tag.  Ben C legdives Pierre,puts a foot on him and leans back to stretch all the leg ligaments. René does it again (cuevvocal sound effect from commentator) plus three trips.  Pierre backs into Cesca and Ben C trips him again. Lagache gets a legdive and leglock, occasionally illegally using the rope. Marchal comes close to investigate.  Rene escapes and Lagache nearly legdives the heavyweight referee!  Lagache pounds on Rene - Martial drags him off but Boa uses the distraction to choke Rene with the tag rope, jumping off the apron to ringside to better to it. Martial sees off more punches from Lagache then turns his attention to Boa and frees RBC. Both heels get stomps and Lagache snapmares René and gets in more punches, then stomps. Lagache narrowly stops Les Bons tagging. Martial allows the tag and Cesca corners Pierre. They break up and get a finger interlock. Cesca gets the French Scisseaux Volees takedown. Lagache cannot escape conventional lly but drags himself and Cesca to his corner where Boa can grab an ankle, tagging himself in. Boa runs to get a ground side headlock.  Boa slams Cesca's head to the mat repeatedly. He stomps and pounds and Lagache pitches in from the apron. Boa butts Ben Chemoul and pounds him. Martial tears Boa off but Lagache fouls from the apron.  Boa twice headlocks and foul punches RBC.  ITt goes on like this with one heel punishing René while the other takes his punishment from Martial ... Boa throws both Bons to ringside. He slams René's head into the ring post and gets a clout from the outsised ref. The public helps René back but Boa helps him in the last bit then lands him an over the knee backbreaker. and a surprisingly well done flying bodypress for a heel in France 1965 to get the opening fall.He slams RBCs head some more but Martial drags him off. Lagache calms him before he spoils things and the seconds revive the "Completement Groggy" RBC. The heels "try to help up" RBC and start slugging him but Martial sees them off. Shot of the public looking worried. 

2eme Manche - Boa and RBC restart. RBC is sluggish, Boa anxious to get on, asking WTF is the delay? Boa hiptosses RBC into Les Mechants' corner. Lagache stomps from the apron, Boa does something 'orrible to René's nose. Cesca tries to intervene Martial drags Boa off by the hair.  Boa gets Martial blindsided then resumes his nose-related foul. Lagache takes over the treatment. A young woman in the audience in what looks like a fez complains. So does Cesca. Fat lot either does. Lagache still has a side headlock on and still uses it as a cover for fouls.  This includes a Boa kick from the apron. Pierre releases the hold to get in his own kicks, Martial escorts Cesca out of the ring.  Lagache Manchettes RBC - straight into Cesca's waiting arms and a Hot Face Tag! Disaster for Lagache? No, he just gets the same headlock and same fouls on Cesca . Martial disallows a tag to Boa so Lagache takes Cesca down in a side headlock on the mat. Then the tag. Boa puts a wristlever on. As Cesca gets up, Boa makes it a top wristlock and forces Cesca onto the ropes where Lagache does terrible things to Cesca's behind. Boa throws Cesca down, manchettes the back of his neck twice, smashes him to Pierre in the corner who gets an illegal chinlock on that Martial has to break up. Martial pulls off Boa by the hair but Lagache uses the distraction to foul Cesca again. This is starting to become a pattern. Cesca tries to trip Boa who pulls him in and kicks both legs in succession. He whips Cesca into the ropes but Gil comes back with a knee to the stomach and tags René. He corners Boa pounds him in the corner (like an 80s WWF show minus the crowd counting.) Boa tries the same but RBC slips through his legs and dropkicks him out.  Lagache rescues his partner from any more adventurous crowd members and RBC flips him in. He grows Boa's hair and holds on until Martial has had enough andctells him this really needs to stop. Martial gets between them and ends up squashing Boa on the ropes. He chases after cheeky René who stamps on Boa 's nose and does a pirrouette on it as payback for earlier nose-related fouls. Les Bons bat Boa back and forth but Martial thinks that is enough for retaliation. Boa gets some punches and Manchettes in. Boa lures RBC to the heels corner and Les Mechants briefly regain the advantage but RBC fires back with his own Manchette. Cesca tags in. A long shot of Boa's pith helmeted manager then we cut back to Cesca delivering Manchettes to Boa. He clings to the ropes the goes down on his knees as Lagache leans in to help him. Cesca continues to punch Boa and Martial has had enough but the public hasn't. Cesca throws Boa over the ropes but he lands on the apron. Cesca bangs Boa's head on the ring post and he falls to ringside. Martial starts the count. The announcer thinks Boa has been counted out but no. Lagache tags in. So does RBC Who gets a staying full nelson, the first scientific wrestling move in quite a while. Lagache reverses it but Ben C breaks free and lands four dropkicks then tags Cesca back. Lagache posts RBC into Martial who goes down (the lady in the fez is in HYSTERICS.). Cesca goes to the top turnbuckle, flips over Lagache, dodges a charge from him. Y going over the top and pulling him down into a folding press for the equaliser. Boa tries to intervene but RBC dropkicks him away.  Boa lands in the ropes and afterwards falls to ringside. Les Mechants' seconds and the helmeted manager have their work cut out getting these two fighting fit for ...

La Belle: 

Cesca does a rolling legdives to take down Lagache in a crosspress. Boa pulls Cesca off, Gil goes for him and Lagache double legdives him., getting a leglock. Cesca uses his free leg to try to hammer and push away. He eventually throws him with a sort of mat based huracanrana but Lagache still gets a leg and takes him back down in the leglock. René so ehow gets a tag and pulls Pierre off then gets a wrist lever on him, chops him down, snapmares him , works over his face a bit, drops an elbow on his skull and superkicks him. He delivers two Manchettes and tags Cesca who also delivers Manchettes - and fists causing Martial to pull him off and Boa to come in the ring. Both heels are now in and Cesca is feeling fit to take on both but neither fancy it. Eventually Boa goes at it with Cesca who gets a kick and corners Boa with more punches. Martial orders him off so he tags René who hooks Lagache into the corner with legs over ropes, charges the diagonal of the ring for a heat but then again to dropkick away an interfering Lagache. RBC snapmares and somersault splashes Boa who fights back with an over the knee backbreaker and slam then comes off the top corner with another flying bodypress but misses and lands splat in the middle of the ring like Snuka at MSG 1982.  He gets up but René delivers a running sunset flip for the deciding fall.  Les Bons win 2-1. They celebrate as Lagache andthe manager help Boa back to his corner 

The first part of this was fantastic scientific wrestling until the heels took over and dirtied their way to their one fall. Sadly the Bons comeback was more of a brawl and their ignoring the pleas of the referee didn't help, but La Publique saw les Mechants get their just deserts and went home happy. You can't argue with the customers but I would have liked to see more of RBC especially's skills.

 

 

 

[David Mantell]

On 5/13/2025 at 6:36 PM, David Mantell said:

Quote

Teddy Boy is nothing of the sort. He is a Rocker/Greaser. He does not have an Edwardian Drapes suit or a DA quiff. What he is is quite the thought young brawler.

Some more Teddy Boys, still not clad in Edwardian Drapes, still not a DA quiff in sight.

 

On 5/20/2025 at 1:27 PM, David Mantell said:

On 5/20/2025 at 1:27 PM, David Mantell said:

Renault was working a Teddy Boy gimmick here. He ended up forming a successful tag team with Bobby Genele that were a Teddy Boys for the 70s. The match wasn't bad but Saulnier was a bit long in the tooth.

. I know he is meant to be a Ted but he looks more like your average 1970s street thug, like the late great Lee Brilleux, lead singer with 70s pub rock band Dr Feelgood or maybe some criminal thus trash on 70s UK cop show The Sweeney.

Just to clear things up, REAL Teddy Boys looked like this: