French catch

[David Mantell]

What's happened to French Catch Tuesday on Segunda Caida? 

Has the stock of new bouts run out?

[ohtani's jacket]

1946.11.15 Henri Cogan vs. Charlie Fisher

We already had some Charlie Fisher in the archive footage, but he's fun to watch. I suspect if we had more Fisher, he'd be a favorite of many since he's a lively and energetic worker.

1946.12.18 Louis Loew vs. Butcher Johnson
1946.4.27 Butcher Johnson vs. Martin Butch

Butcher Johnson is another of those great black workers lost to history. A big star in Britain in the 30s and a stalwart of the business right up until Paul Lincoln broke off from Joint Promotions in the early 60s yet, i suspect, an unknown name to most folks. He worked barefoot and was extremely athletic. There was an exoticism associated with him, particularly in the 30s, because of his ethnicity and skin color, but fortunately that didn't prevent him from demonstrating his wrestling prowess in the ring. I suspect he would have been one to watch in the 1930s. 

[ohtani's jacket]

10 hours ago, David Mantell said:

What's happened to French Catch Tuesday on Segunda Caida? 

Has the stock of new bouts run out?

Time to start reviewing these clips @Matt D I know you love clips.

[David Mantell]

11 hours ago, ohtani's jacket said:

Time to start reviewing these clips @Matt D I know you love clips.

And hopefully get them posted some place us ordinary mortals can see them. 

[Matt D]

On 7/30/2025 at 7:27 AM, David Mantell said:

What's happened to French Catch Tuesday on Segunda Caida? 

Has the stock of new bouts run out?

Just on vacation this week. More to come.

[David Mantell]

16 hours ago, Matt D said:

Just on vacation this week. More to come.

Okay, for this week.  here's a nice short bout that neither OJ nor myself have touched before.

Alex Fontaine, presumably no relation to Pierre Booster Fontaine of New School French promotion the ICWA. He's the one in the black top, looking like a freshly unmasked masked man, or maybe Jon Guil Do.  Joined in progress with Cavilliers outside the ring.  They lock up and Guy gets a side chancery and monkey climb. Alex dumps some relative of Guy out of the ring followed by the man himself. They take turns dumping each other outside and get a lot of dropkicks and huracanranas on each other. They kip up, kip out of headscissors - and kip up straight into a head collision and double KO.  OJ won't like it, but a ringside lady here with kids, whose husband is a boxer, reckons it's a nice fair equitable conclusion.

[David Mantell]

On 1/30/2020 at 2:31 PM, ohtani's jacket said:

Rene Lasartesse vs. Franz Van Buyten (aired 1/17/72)

This was a disappointment. You hope for a classic between these two and you get a gimmick match, and a shitty gimmick match at that. Some of the work seemed okay but the match was long and they committed the cardinal sin of being boring. The finish was stupid and the match was completely unsatisfying. 

The thing is, the French didn't really think of it as a gimmick match.  It was just another place where wrestling shows were held. Obviously the entire evening's show had to take place in the pool including long serious technical bouts and phases of bouts when the audience would just forget about the water. 

In this case, any anticipation about seeing big Swiss Renecger wet was undermined when he managed to capsize his boat on the way y to the ring. Rene had something of Sid Eudy to him, big, tall blond and accident prone.(I bet Eudy wished a certain 2001 WCW PPV had been held in a pool.)

The bout starts off as technical wrestling for giants with snapmares and side chancery throws. Van Buyten showing he can do all the French somersaulting stuff as well as RBC, LPP, Saulnier etc.  Lightweight wrestler Bob Remy is L'Arbitre for contrast.  Later on it becomes something like an 80s WWF match, full of big power stuff. Lasartesse uses a big reverse piledriver a lot. You're showing your (lack of) age if you think Tombstone but that does underline my point about 80s WWF style. About 13 minutes in, Rene does it the fourth time and the commentator says "La Belge TOMBE le quatrieme fois.". Don't you just love unconscious multilingual puns.  At one point the commutator goes on about "Le Manchette Nautique" (Maritime Forearm Smash)"qui est different du Manchette Classique.". No I didn't spot any difference either.

Referee Remy turns the crowd off off him by refusing to allow FVB to bung Lasartesse in the water.  FVB end up pitching them both over and getting himself disqualified after claiming a KO victory (shades of Flesh Gordon getting DQd and claiming moral victory due to some unauthorized pin count - or else Jimmy Hart and his referee's stripes jacket at WM9.) So he pitches them both out again.  Franzl does get one moral victory although this means the clip ends in a cliffhanger as both men are last seen stuck on different corners of the ring while the boat - already badly taking in water - comes to an awkward stop halfway between them.  Presumably Franz  finally had to dive for it during the next programme.

Talking of peoples' wives on the wrestling show. we don't meet Franz's but apparently she was a lady wrestler says the commentator.

[David Mantell]

[David Mantell]

And here is his tag partner from a few weeks earlier:

Yes it's the same Samourai.  The commentator says he is in red with yellow patterns and if this was 2eme Chaine then viewers saw for themselves.

Heel Vs heel, Marcel is of course a Blousson Noir and wears his Blousson to the ring. He looks like Big Bully Busick with a comb over. Samourai throws Manneuvaux around and takes bumps better, rolling up. easily, even after his wrist has been worked on. He easily reverses a standing full nelson and gives moustachioed Marcel to take loud bumps.  Great escape from headscissors, unpicking one leg while in the ball and setting it to legspread.  He even does the monkey climb - after all, the French call it la Planchette Japonaise.  Neat crossface/bodyscissors combination too.  Defensively hecdoes one of Johnny Saint's old counters, being pulled upwards by a limb - in this case the leg- and getting the other leg full locked upright so instead of being dropped, he ends up standing upright. He gets the winner with a sunset flip, no selling a kick to the head from Manneuvaux. 

This is very much a vehicle for Samourai.  Despite all this, he gets booked by the crowd, both at the end (and bows to the MC and L'Arbitre)and whenever he gets a Prime from Un Sportif Anonym during the bout.  Mostly from the bit where he goes wild with the chops on the floored Manneuvaux and gets a Deuxieme Et Derniere Avertisement.  An over the shoulder backbreaker turns into an excuse to choke Manneuvaux on the ropes. 

Talking of Samurais, Kendo Nagasaki deserves and apology from all those who mock the disco ladder match nearly 15 years later. Compared to the cheap Son et lumiere here, that was quite a light show.  Fairy lights come on on the ring as an old beardy geezer called Phillipe is interviewed Then some police surplus flashing lights and something loud and banging we can't see clearly on screen.  This was a prelude for an Astronauts tag team match with about 5 mins of guys being shot into the ring while going about the early stages of a big standard Catch A Quatre which cuts out mid match.

 

 

[Phil Lions]

Step aside Ric Flair, there's a new top dog in town! Rene Ben Chemoul discussing his womanizing ways certainly wasn't on my bingo card when I started checking out a 2001 radio interview with him, but here we are. And if I'm now stuck with this info in my head, you might as well be too!

Quote

- Interviewer (a woman): Ah, you were a ladies' man.
- Rene Ben Chemoul: Well, uh, I can't...
- Interviewer: You still have a lot of charm, you still have a twinkle in your eye.
- Rene Ben Chemoul: You're very nice, but I've changed a little. No, but it's true that I used to really like women.
- Interviewer: So a bit of a womanizer?
- Rene Ben Chemoul: Very, I was very... Oh yes, oh yes. And I had, I still had a good method, no doubt, because I never got into any big trouble.
- Interviewer: Because sometimes you had several women at the same time?
- Rene Ben Chemoul: Oh, uh, you want to know everything, then, really. I mean, of course, because since I often went to the same cities or the same... Well, obviously, yes.
- Interviewer: What was it like? Were they female fans who came to see you at the exit?
- Rene Ben Chemoul: Often, yes, that was it, yes, female fans.
- Interviewer: Did they like strong men?
- Rene Ben Chemoul: Yes, it must also be said that seeing men fighting undoubtedly had a certain appeal for some women. I don't know. You know, fantasies, we don't know where they're going to go.
- Interviewer: So, even in bed, they were asking you to act like a big, tough guy?
- Rene Ben Chemoul: No, but they didn't need to ask me anything. (laughs) I was doing what was needed.
- Interviewer: Were you more gentle or more of a brute?
- Rene Ben Chemoul: Ah, but no, I wasn't a brute, on the contrary. So that's why they came looking for me. They were disappointed because it's... No, I was, I've always been gentle.
- Interviewer: So a life that's a bit hectic in that respect?
- Rene Ben Chemoul: Ah, very.
- Interviewer: Very?
- Rene Ben Chemoul: Oh yes. Oh yes, yes, yes, yes. Oh yes, yes. I've had a life in that regard. Very good. That's why I got married so late [note: he got married in his 50s after he retired from wrestling]. I waited a long time, you know... Well, I didn't try. I waited until I'd stopped doing the rest of the sport to settle down, so to speak.

[ohtani's jacket]

Can't say I'm surprised. 

[David Mantell]

Same story all over the world from Lou Thesz to Bret Hart to Gilbert Leduc

[ohtani's jacket]

Yanneck Fryziuk vs Batistou (10/12/75)

Bob ALPRA uploaded a house show match of Batstou's about ten years ago where he came to the ring with the same band. I've got a lot of time for Fryziuk as a wrestler. He wasn't at his fighting best at this stage of his career, but his accumulated wrestling knowledge was impressive to behold. This was a slower heavyweight bout, but it had some exciting moments, such as the part where Fryziuk had Batistou tangled up on the mat, and the forearm contest towards the end. Even though it had a slow, lulling rhythm, it never bored me. Kind of a gentle bout despite the manchettes. 

[ohtani's jacket]

I went down a YouTube rabbit hole that led me to Dara Singh matches, but I'm telling you, I don't think we saw the best of Jose Tarres in the catch footage. He was something else in his youth. Jack Dale (my new hero) was sublime in the way he sold for him. 

[David Mantell]

There's a viral clip going round of a floating ring on a lake capsizing in France. Cornette mentioned it on his show. I sent Jim and Brian a potted history of Swimming Pool Matches in France with some YouTube links.

[David Mantell]

On 7/23/2024 at 12:47 PM, David Mantell said:

Interesting to see the young Fred Magnier as I'm mainly used to him as the old codger heel in street clothes who sticks his nose into Michel DiSanto Vs Michel Chaisne clean match  and gets a good kicking frm the elder Michel before being sent packing:

To be fair he still looked pretty decent in the other bout on this non INA show from Bob ALPRA's channel:

I think this is actually a colour kinescope rather than a VT copy. It has that filmy look to it.

 

On 7/23/2024 at 8:51 PM, David Mantell said:

Actually Fred Magnier also gets a good kicking in that last bout from Roger Delaporte (French fans hated referees but they LOVED Delaporte)  but it isn't enough to save young Bob Plantin from getting carried out unconscious. Great moment when a disgusted Delaporte has no choice but to declare Magnier the winner, the look on his face says it all "Yeah, darn it, that slimeball is the ****ING winner."

The INA's copy of the full 3 bout show has surfaced on Segunda Caida

Quote

Tuesday is French Catch Day: Magnier! Plantin! Bordeaux! Pereira! Di Santo! Chaisne!

 

8/7/76

Bob Plantin vs. Fred Magnier

MD: Three matches on this show, with the second one being brand new and the first and third being new to us. They were on, coincidentally, Bob Plantin's YouTube channel. We get about 8 minutes JIP here. Plantin is quite young. Magnier is rather pigfaced in a good way for a heel. He's a former firefighter and called the legionnaire since he was apparently in the Legion for five years. Delaporte is the ref looking casual. They say he's 47 but he looks like he's 47 going on 67 with all the grey. 

Plantin was full of energy. While he sold with his whole body and flopped about sympathetically and then came back with fiery (even if he didn't hit nearly as hard as Magnier), I do think maybe he did too much too often, zooming out of the ring, doing a taupie escape without the build, going through Magnier's legs, etc. There was one great bit I don't remember ever seeing before where he went for a cross headscissors but sort of rode through with it into a roll up exchange. Eventually Magnier leaned on him too much and ignored Delaporte too much and they started scrapping but by then Plantin had an injured ear and Delaporte called the match. This would have been better if he called the match first and then when Magnier didn't let up, they THEN scrapped. Here the drama was backwards.

Antonio Pereira vs. Jean-Claude Bordeaux

MD: This went about ten minutes but it was an incredibly skillful ten minutes. Pereira is billed as Portuguese and Bordeaux we've seen in tags with Francis Louis. Both of them were lighter and they could absolutely go. They kept it mostly gentlemanly though Pereira was the aggressor. Bordeaux had a counter for everything though. Lots of sharp hanging on to holds and through throws, though nothing was worked for long as they kept things moving. Sharp headscissors and a 'rana and some very slick ways to land on one's feet. I'm not sure how much of it was Pereira's basing but Bordeaux looked extremely sharp. About two thirds through, Pereira started to lean down upon him a bit more, maybe apologetically, but definitively nonetheless. Despite that, Bordeaux was able to leap up to the top rope and then come flying back with a body press for the win. Definitely a good one to check out if you just have ten minutes to see just how good these guys were at what they did.

Michel Chaisne vs. Michel Di Santo

MD: This is a very late look at Chaisne who we haven't seen since the early 60s if I'm not mistaken. He's got grey hair and seems to be in charge of sports for some town or another as his day job. This is our earliest look at Lino's son Michel. It's twenty minutes or so (a little less) and it's very good. Chaisne had grey hair but he could still go, still knew all the tricks, still had all the technique. The start of the match had Di Santo whipping him around with his arm or his neck on these tight takeovers and they all looked brutal. Lots of hard hitting shots as well, with Di Santo bumping into the top rope throat first after one and Chiasne crashing into Delaporte (the ref here) and even over the top at one point. That gave us more extracurriculars as Magnier, in the crowd after the first match got into it with Chaisne and got routed out the other side of the ring for his trouble.

They didn't overtly play up the young vs old as much as you think, leaning instead into technique and hard shots. It did seem like Chaisne controlled the holds a bit more and had more answers, even if Di Santo was happy to move with energy and give him problems. Finish had both of them sailing over the top and the crowd helping Chaisne back into the ring first for the countout. This made me wish we had another fifteen years of Chaisne matches basically.

Labels: Antonio Pereira, Bob Plantain, Fred Magnier, French Catch, Jean Claude Bordeaux, Michel Chaisne, Michel Di Santo

Read more!

posted by Matt D @ 12:30 PM 

I'll do a write up later on that middle bout as I seem to have covered the other two adequately already. The first minute or two of Pereira Vs Bordeaux looked pretty cool on Bob's channel, I look forward to checking out the whole thing later tonight.

[David Mantell]

5 hours ago, David Mantell said:

The INA's copy of the full 3 bout show has surfaced on Segunda Caida

I'll do a write up later on that middle bout as I seem to have covered the other two adequately already. The first minute or two of Pereira Vs Bordeaux looked pretty cool on Bob's channel, I look forward to checking out the whole thing later tonight.

Okay, it's not a very long bout, about 12 minutes but it's a good fast paced contest.(incidentally that's six wrestlers on this show and five of them are Bons. Even the referee is an honest broker in a culture where Dangerous Danny Davis crooked officials were the norm, not the exception.)

Pereira has the moustache and the blue trunks. Bordeaux is in the green trunks.  Bordeaux gets off to a fast start. He snapmares Pereira and kicks off several single legdive takedowns, spins horizontally out of the last attempt and gets another snapmare.  Pereira gets his own snapmare and shouldeblock but when he tries for another. Bordeaux fires off a dropkick, sending him to ringside. Pereira gets a front grovit but Bordeaux breaks it open into a top wristlock and forces a high whip and bump.  They repeat the grovit>top wristlock>whip sequence. Pereira gets an underhook and appears to lift his man for a long suplex but chances his mind and dumps his man on the ring apron, forcing a break. Bordeaux gets the grovit and takes his man down to kneeling height. Pereira forces upwards and breaks it open into a whip but Bordeaux cartwheels with the whip and forces an armdrag on Pereira who takes the bump. Pereira throws Bordeaux off the ropes and scores a decent bump for it. When he tries again, Bordeaux takes hold of Pereira's arm and the momentum help him to convert his man's throw into his own armdrags.  Bordeaux gets a couple more strong quick armdrags. They go for a double finger Interlock and from there Bordeaux gets a standing full nelson. Pereira throws him off backwards and gets a rear legdive between his own legs. Bordeaux pushes him off with thectaken leg, single leg flips him on the rebound, gets the full nelson back.  Pereira breaks one side and goes behind for his own full nelson. Bordeaux slides downwards in the dropping, arms-last escape and tries to roll away but Pereira catches his legs as he rolls and turns him upright and slaps the full nelson back on. Bordeaux rears into him and comes off the ropes with a flying headscissors takedown.  Pereira gets aside headlock into standing hammerlock into side folding press from behind.  He turns so Bordeaux's legs are pointing away from the ropes and gets a couple of front folding press pin attempts for 1 counts but Bordeaux powers a shoulder or two up each time. Eventually Bordeaux handstands, gets an upside down armhank,flips himself over and throws his man, Pereira tries for another folding press but Bordeaux uses the same counter throw.  Bordeaux ends up with a wristlever running between his legs. Pereira pulls himself upright and goes in to attack behind. But Bordeaux flips over into his back, kips backwards into a ground dropkick knocking Pereira down.   He is up and gets running off the ropes.  Bordeaux backdrops him and goes for the lengthways press.  Pereira gets a rear chancery and bridges up and rear snapmares his  man, turns Bordeaux round and has him in another side chancery. He uses it as a weakener and eventually Bordeaux gets and underhook, crotchhold and slam.  He goes down for a length pres but Pereira does his bridging up into rear snapmare move. Pereira gets a side chancery. Bordeaux breaks it and rear snapmares Pereira who does it right back to Bordeaux and still keeps holding on the side chancery  with his man down.  Bordeaux turns him over and cross presses his man for 1. but is rolled off. Pereira gets a single legdive into leglock in the guard on him, This becomes a grapevine legloçk and then a Marty Jones Powerlock.  Bordeaux flips it over so he is on top. By now it's practically an Indian Deathlock He turns it over trying for a Frank Gotch figure 4 toehold but Pereira has the same idea and they both end up upright and hopping around back to back, each with a hold on the other's leg. They let go and shake hands, getting a warm reception from the crowd. Pereira gets a sudden side Chancery throw.  He goes for another but Bordeaux gets a leg Antonio backflips free and throws his man. They run the ropes, Bordeaux runs through Pereira's legs and gets doubled legs but is thrown off by . Pereira with his own legs.  Bordeaux spins out and gets a flying headscissors.  He gets the Frankensteiner on Pereira and the two men flip back and forth in folding presses until Bordeaux flings Pereira away with his legs.  He gets a side headlock takedown. Pereira tries but fails to force his way out, he forces upwards but gets hiptossed for his pains. He eventually pulls his head out from the headlock to make a back hammerlock in the guard.  He converts to a turning double underhook the n on into the hammerlock again, lifts his man upright and throws and bumps him with his arm in the hammerlock position still!  Pereira drops an elbow, just about legally on Bordeaux as he gets up.  He gets two Manchettes and a kneelift.  This is followed by a whip into the ropes and a bodycheck on the rebound.  Pereira gets a side chancery but instead of the relevant thow, he sends his man spinning horizontally.  He whips Bordeaux who comes back on the rebound with a flying tackle to get a 1 count. But Pereira bridges upright, turns hisman over and slams him. He cross presses for 2.  They exchange Manchettes and Bordeaux gets a posting on Pereira.  He gets another Manchette, a cross press  but is thrown off on top of Delaporte, who stoically keeps his cool unlike some French and German referees we could mention!  Bordeaux gets a posting, Pereira reverses but Bordeaux manages to skip the momentum and hops up onto the top turnbuckle for a flying bodypress and the one fall required. They shake and raise each others hands.

Delightful bout, agile, full of beautifully executed escapes and transitions.  Best purist scientific match I've reviewed on here in a while on these threads, probably since Johnny Kidd Vs Nipper Eddie Riley on the British thread a month ago.