Phil Lions Posted October 31, 2025 Posted October 31, 2025 24 minutes ago, David Mantell said: Correct me if I'm wrong but it seems there was only one TF1 broadcast in 1976. Three: - March 20, 1976: Kader Hassouni & Claude Roca vs. Bernard Caclard & Albert Sanniez + Mr. Montreal vs. Inca Wiracocha - April 30, 1976: no specific matches advertised - August 7, 1976: Bob Plantin vs. Fred Magnier + Antonio Pereira vs. Jean-Claude Bordeaux + Michel Chaisne vs. Michel Di Santo
David Mantell Posted November 1, 2025 Posted November 1, 2025 And that last one is in colour too. Possibly another test. Perhaps by that stage they may have advanced from just filming stuff in colour to doing test run transmissions. By way of comparison, here in Britain, BBC1 and ITV both went colour Saturday 15th November 1969 (the first official ITV broadcast being World of Sport. indeed including some Wrestling although not as the first item of the show) but the colour UHF signal was switched on in August and certain programmes -famously including the first 8 or so episodes of Monty Python - were simulcast on the colour frequency as tests , usually only at a few minutes notice. Some older fans report that both World of Sport and the midweek wrestling were beneficiaries of the colour testing. Another possibility is that some of this wrestling was part of the few hours per day colour broadcasting TF1 did between September 1975 and Spring 1977 although most of this was reportedly recycled FR3 programming. By contrast, all the 1975 bouts were before September so could only possibly have been in 819 line monochrome. If they are ever recovered, it will be as 16mm b/w kinescopes, same as all bar one match of everything we have 1956-1974. Incidentally, Bob Plantin's copy of the August 1976 broadcast and the late Albert Sanniez's silent copy of his 1977 bout with Angelito both look very much like colour kinescope films, which ITV was also doing by the mid/late 70s (apparently someone has a print of one of the Marty Jones-Rollerball Rocco matches that had been used on a plane as in-flight entertainment.)
David Mantell Posted November 2, 2025 Posted November 2, 2025 On 8/10/2020 at 12:18 PM, ohtani's jacket said: Batman vs. Klondyke BIll (aired 6/6/74) I'm pretty sure this was the British Klondyke Bill and not the Canadian wrestler with the panties fetish that Tony Schiavone likes to talk about. What an amazing gut. That has to be one of the mightiest guts in the history of professional wrestling. And he knew how to use it too. The tiny little rake thin ref took the hugest bumps off Klondyke's gut. You'd have to be crazy to expect this to be any good, but Batman did go to the top rope to try to put the big man away. I reviewed the original Prince/Noced match some time back and mentioned this rematch at the end. It gets off to a fast start. Prince gets in two armdrags, a double legdive and a neat cartwheel out of a leg throw, ducks under a Noced inner arm and lands a saus-chassé. A few seconds breather and they double interlock then Prince drops to one half and cartwheels to twist the arm, rolls horizontally across Noced's back and armdrags him. Noced gets dirty - as I said in my review he is Savage to Prince's Steamboat in the same white long tights as WM3. The two plus L'Arbitre Charley Bollet stop to have a good point and shout at each other then Noced gets a snapmare, a throw which Prince rolls up from then a second which he cartwheels out of, a Manchette across th3 back and a leg spin which Prince again cartwheels out of. He ducks a Prince Manchette but then falls for a Prince folding press attempt into trow out of the ring . Charley asks Prince if he HAD to do that. Noced is threatening to exit the room, Charley intermittently counts and holds LPP back. It's the audience who bring Noced back - sick of their giving him th3 bird, here turns to chide them, especially the commentator. Finally deciding that there is only one honourable way out, Noced returns to the ring (getting a first Avertisement on the way in) where Dubail intercepts him.. Daniel throws Daniel (sorry) back into the ring over the top rope LPP gets an armlock, spins to twist it, goes behind and takes Noced down with a flying armscissor . Noced rolls himself over on top and with Prince as a human glove, throws his man out, but Prince's bodyweight, such as it is, is enough to drag Noced over the ropes with him. They land on the ring apron and duffle in with Prince still holding the armscissors from earlier. Prince slaps his man's limb, Noced grabs his man's hair. Four times Prince rolls Noced in the hold. Noced stands but still had a human glove on his hand. He lifts and places Prince on the ropes - then rains illegal punches on him, pulls him down and stomps him repeatedly on the deck (just as the commentator tells us Noced's old Mum is in the audience - I only hope her son smartened her up beforehand! Bollet forces Noced back and starts a count on Prince. Dubail is up at 4 when Noced back hammerlocks him down and smashes his head in the canvas repeatedly.. Noced apparently gets a Second And Final Avertisement - the MC mentions disqualification but none is applied just yet. Noced puts Prince's arm in the hammerlock position then throws him so he lands bent arm first. He stomps the Prince out of the ring and Manchettes him back down as he is about to get back in (a second catches him and helps him upright.) and aims a kick at him from inside the ring. Bollet starts a count which reaches six when Noced goes to knock Prince down but Dubail drags him out side by the leg to join him. The two trade forearms at ringside then Prince rolls himself back in with Noced following. Prince butts Noced in the stomach then takes a side chancery but dodged being jumped upon and crawls away, gets up and dropkicks Noced in the back. Angry and fire up by the crowd, he picks up Noced and floors him in the corner with two Manchettes, flips off his shoulders and flying stomach butts him. Prince gets a headlock then ducks down and comes up in front with a hiptoss and a spin on Noced's nose. He gets another headlock and lands one blow on Noced's skull and lets him drop. He gets another headlock and - as Noced grabs for the hair - smacks him in the stomach with the heel of the hand. He gets a side chancery but Noced uses an actual illegal punch and Prince rolls away outside. Noced tries to keep Dubail out but he flying tackles Noced from outside and gets a 2 count. No ed backdrops him but is caught by a ground dropkick. Prince then handstand splashes him for a pin. He offers Noced a handshake but Noced tells him where to go! Prince puts on his spectacles and leaves the ring, stopping by for a brief peck on the cheek with a female fan who had been injured during the match. (He is married with 2 kids, the commentator told us at the start, so no hanky panky!). I'm not quite clear if it was her, but some woman gets in the ring and is introduced to the crowd. Meanwhile the next two wrestlers make their entrance. Batman looking like any normal balding caped crusader who'd lost his mask and a 30 stone bearded monster. Klondyke Bill, the senior of the two Klondyke Brothers, never made it onto ITV unlike Klondyke Jake although the brothers did make it onto that BBC2 documentary later used as stock footage in an episode of Til Death Us Do Part where Alf Garnett was watching wrestling on TV, to avoid paying any rights money for ITV footage. He did turn up at the end of Prince and Noced's previous singles match a year earlier to congratulate le Prince. I doubt Dubail wanted any more of his friendship after what follows. If you look at Bill and think Giant Haystacks, you're not far off. The real Martin Ruane was working for Brian Dixon at this point and after moving to Joint would make his ITV debut 13 months later tagging with Big Daddy to disqualification against Roy and Tony StClair. Big Bill meanwhile, despite his similar gimmick, only ever gets this one complete bout on TV anywhere in the world, against a fellow Brit dressed for closing time at a Halloween disco. He is Canadian just like Haystacks was American in Austria 1986. Shapewise he is the size of Haystacks in WCW 1996, mercifully Martin unlike Bill here did not wrestle topless. Bill works like later period Haystacks - slow and dirty. He bodychecks his man like Big .Daddy. He uses pressure points (a puff of cigarette smoke hilariously passes by Batman's behind like he's just done a Batfart.) He no sells butts and elbows. He can be leapt over to obtain superiority in a top wristlock battle but brushed his Batman off like Big Daddy does to Kendo 17 months later in Solihull. He abused refs like Stax do, throwing poor Charley out of the way and getting an Avertisement. Bat gets an armbar on but Bill uses the bounce of the ropes to shrug him off. He tries again, same counter. Finally he opts for high kicks/knees to the head and chest, flooring Bill on the seventh. Angry, the big man slaps on a rear chinlock - his first scientific move of this bout. After a couple of minutes, Bat hiptosses Bill off! Angry, Bill ragdolls Bat a fair amount then posts him. Bat respond with a Bat Saus Chassé leaving Bill tied in the ropes like the last days of Andre. Despite Charley's pleas as he works to untie the giant, Bat hits Bill with a flying tackle. Bill bearhugs Bat and delivers that most British of fouls, the concealed illegal punch to the lower stomach, shrugging off Charley's admonitions. Another dodgy lunch gets an 8 count then applies his second scientific move, a standing single toehold Bat tries to break the hold a few times with his other leg but it is swept away; finally he uses it to widen Bill's legs and cause him to fall backwards, then gets a toehold of his own. Charley refuses Bill's rope break attempts and even gives him the odd 1 count and helps Bat drag his man to the centre of the ring. Bat applies weakeners but Bill backcrawls back to the ropes and grabs with both arms and this time Charley reckons he's earned his rope break! Limping, the big man gets a rear waistlock into chinlock into H&S into side headlock. Twice Bat straightens it into a top wristlock but Bill reels him in, using the hair (such as Larsen had) the second time. Bill eventually bodychecks Bat and sits on his shoulders like he was going for a Victory roll. He bounces in the hold. Somehow Bat escapes and boots Bill in the behind causing him to fall forward. Bill gets pressure points but Bat drops him neck first on the top rope from outside. Bill gets a chinlock into rear chancery, shoving Charley away as he checks for air supply, before finishing Bat with a bodycheck. He twice gets waistlocks into concealed illegal punches. Bat hiptosses Bill by the beard out of the ring He pulls him back in over the top rope and posts him but Bill catches him in the corner and bodychecks him against the turnbuckles. Bill posts and splashes and posts Bat who then dodges a splash and flying bodypresses Bill for 2. Bill does something between Hulking Up and a Tugboat impersonation 16 years ahead of time then resumes squashing Bat in a corner. Bollet tries to intervene but is thrown off and finally splashed Bat goes to help Bollet but Bill throws him off but then misses a splash. This earns Bill a DQ. He gripes a promo about it but Bolet says Bat A Battu Bill. Prince Vs Noced was less than half the length but I found about twice as much to write about it. A case of from the sublime to the ridiculous. Haystacks - at least the young 29 year-old Haystacks of 1976 - deserves an apology. (Plus that's two bouts so I'll have to do another British and German bout each to make up numbers).
David Mantell Posted November 4, 2025 Posted November 4, 2025 Was a bit hesitant about posting this until I realised just who this old boy actually is! It's actually sooner we were recently discussing - Theo Pouzade, tag partner and trainer of Eric LaCroix. He appeared as Pouzade in New Catch season 2 on Eurosport and before that as Domingo Valdez, again teaming with LaCroix, on that February '91 FR3 Broadcast. 78 last year would him 79 or 80 now and 45-47 during the 1991 FR3 and Eurosport transmissions. There's an overdubbed English soundtrack which has been generated by auto-translate - and bloody hilarious it is! Plenty of good posters including "2 Kamikazes" (presumably those same 2 we've seen.) Here's a follow-up video from the past few days Apparently he's 82 now so make his 1991 age 49-51. I guess the age 78 video was from 2022 then.
David Mantell Posted November 8, 2025 Posted November 8, 2025 Some New Catch. The EWF's resident Lucha bad boys Sergeant Mendietta and Carlos Plata take on European Welterweight Champion Danny Collins and Breton Yann Caradec in a cross- Channel linkup of youngsters. Charley Bollet referees. By the way, I propose that we call the original 1988 New Catch episodes Season One and all the brand new non- repeat 1991-1992 Eurosport episodes with the big ring with the shiny canvas and EUROSPORT logo Season Two. To quote Leon Arras, How's About That Then? Plenty of crowd working to start. Yann and Plata in heelish black and red start. Yann gets a good couple of armdrags on the bigger man. The bearded camouflage clad Sarge on the apron calms a hairpull. Orig tells us the heels won a tournament in Mexico. Plata gets his own three armdrags into armlevers on the kid from Breton but he kips up and makes it three apiece. Danny tags in and with the crowd behind him (the French in the late 80s/early 90s LOVED this guy. ) Plata tries a rear waistlock but Danny makes it his own back hammerlock and rides Plata down into the mat. Plata gets an armbar and - ironically given Sarge's complaint- hairpulls Danny down but Collins responds with a headscissors, side headlock and bodycheck on the bigger man. Caradec tries to get a tag in Charley warns him off but it's enough of a distraction to Plata for Danny to get pressure points and a kneelift. Collins gives young Yann his tag but Sarge also tags in. Collins tags back and does a back somersault to rev up the crowd. Sarge is unimpressed and goes to work with chops and a posting which Danny reverses and follows with a kneelift. He gets a snapmare and kneedrop on Sarge and only then lets Yann at him. Sarge is going for the tag but Yann, keen as Scrappy Doo, drags him back by the hair - and pays for it as the big brute gets a back hammerlock on. With a chinlock - almost a chicken wing on the kid. He kneedrops him and roars to the crowd. The Mexicans work Caradec on the top rope and catapult him to the mat. Sarge works on Yann's arm. He bites the kid's hand and the taste is a first Avertisement. Plata tags back in and posts Caradec. The second time he tries it, Yann reverses. Yann gets a headlock. Plata breaks out and sends him to the post but Yann reverse leapfrogs and snapmares the Mexican who gets a single leg trip in response. Both sides tag. Collins and Sarge take turns chopping each other in the corner. Sarge drops to avoid a Danny posting, a bit later than Ken Joyce would. He leads Danny cat and mouse out and in the ring and clotheslines him as he re-enters but Danny gets a boot up to shoot down a Sarge corner flyer. Sarge scurries to his corner, neither Mexican fancies facing Danny and the crowd knows it! Cut via a slo-mo repeat to Danny bearhugging and reverse atomic dropping Plata. Bolet doesn't like it and gives Danny an Avertisement. Sarge tags in again and also gets the reverse atomic drop, he complains about a knee to the groin- perhaps this explains the Avertisement if Bollet thought Danny did that to Plata too. No Deuxieme Et Dernière Avertisement though. Danny responds to blows with a standing full nelson. He tries to trick Plata into hitting his own man, succeeding when Sarge reverses the hold but Danny gets free at the last second. Taking on both men, Danny snapmares and Legdrop Of Dooms Plata and goes toe to toe with Sarge, hitting a double clothesline on both bigger men. Caradec tags back and Plata beatdown with fair and foul blows. He gets a toe and ankle with legspread but Sarge interferes. Soon Yann is similarly getting the big men crashing into each other, administering dropkicks and armdrags. The kid has both big Mexicans at ringside but when we return from another slo-mo they have their heat back. Sarge putting a full Nelson on Yann. Danny comes in and sees of Plata before breaking the hold but this time it's Les Bons who screw up as le Breton dropkicks The Briton. Plata whips Yann into Sarge's elbow a gets a front folding press. A win for Mexico, a loss for the Bristol - Brittany connection. But try telling that to Les Gosses- a crowd of eight year old boys come to ringside and bang on the apron to cheer Les Bons despite the defeat. This is a cut price version of the Dangermen Vs The Hornets from World of Sport 1972 with two kids trying their luck with two bigger heelish monsters and giving them quite some trouble before finally coming unstuck. I wrote a lot more about it than I expected to.
David Mantell Posted November 14, 2025 Posted November 14, 2025 Quote Pancho Zapata/Vicente Castilla vs. Dan Aubriot/Remy Bayle (aired 11/28/65) This was an old Bob ALPRA upload. Zapata was supposedly Joachim La Barba and Castilla was Quasimodo. Why they didn't wrestle as Barba and Quasimodo in mid-60s France is anybody's guess. It's one of those great Catch mysteries like whatever happened to that Martian at ringside. One upside of them wrestling as a Mexican and a Spaniard, and wrestling lesser names like Aubroit and Bayle, as opposed to a showboater like Ben Chemoul, is that we got to see them work a lot more holds. Unfortunately, the beat down of the faces dragged on forever, and the match had the usual problems with rhythm and pacing. It didn't seem to bother the crowd, but it didn't do much to spark my imagination. Maybe it needed Ben Chemoul in there after all. Remy Bayle/Dan Abriot vs. Victor Castilla/Pancho Zapata (11/28/65 This followed the pattern of most of the 60s foreign heels vs. French babies tag matches; and while 40 minutes of the heels beating down the babyfaces and the babyfaces retaliating and being beat down again may wear on some, Castilla and Zapata were really effing good at beating people up. Castilla was the same guy who worked as Quasimodo though apparently he was playing himself here. I guess there's no clear timeline on this stuff. That deformity, or whatever it was on the back of his skull, was truly disgusting/awesome. Zapata was fucking awesome. He had really short legs and came across like a mdiget Terry Rudge. I thought he was spectacular in this. Match kind of petered out because of the length, but so much great brawling in this. I really want to see more Zapata. Another Mexican 25 years earlier than Carlos Plata and Sergeant Mendietta. We've already seen Pancho team with Anton Tejero and face Jeff Kaye on World of Sport. Here he tags with Victor Castillo the Artist Formerly Known As Quasimodo to take on Dan Aubriot and Remy Bayle the man later known as Der Henker. With Big Bon Martial as L'Arbitre. . A bout reviewed TWICE by OJ! Premier Manche - Les Méchants come out wearing black hoodies like they've just escaped from the Opus Dei. Bayle and Zapata start out. Bayle a lot slimmer than the French John Elijah of the 70s/80s. Plenty of throws and kip ups and Bayle does a nice handstanding escape from a Zapata headscissors. Zapata's not too bad technically, forcing whips and hard somersault bumps on Bayle. Bayle gets it together and rolls through throws then turns and gets a front chancery into backslide into guard armlock. He took uses whips whenever Pancho tries to get up. Aubriot tags and Pancho gets top wristlock dominance and tags Castillo who takes over the armlock (and hair pulling) treatment. Aubriot works Victor's jawcwith his boot to escape. A finger Interlock ends with Dab getting Vic in a double leg nelson for 2. It looks like Vic puts himself in a reverse bodyscissors from Dan then gets the ropes. Dan gets a rolling headscissors but misses a snapmare as Vic escapes. Dan bridges in an arm press but rather than go thecwhole Planchette Japonaise routine, moves out sideways leaving Victor to crash to the mat. Aubriot gets a hammerlock into side folding press for 2. Castillo gets another hammerlock so Remy tags back in. Victor refuses to release until Bayle threatens him. Victor gets morecwhip bumps but Bayle rolls out on one and starts a legspread causing Castillo to leap off quickly. He gets a headlock 8nto kneelift, Bayle gets a side headlock into backhammer into drop toehold into single toehold. He open collars Bayle who goes from armlock to ankle lock to lifting Victor by the leg and dropping him in his knee. (In Britain people try this on the likes of Johnny Saint and it backfires with Saint standing himself upmas the leg is lifted.) Both sides tag. Aubriot half breaks an Interlock to get a backhammer into headscissors takedown. Zapata does a kip up escape. Not what you would expect from a big ugly Toro of a Mexican heel. Commentator says Pancho is very well known in North America - any more information about this? Dan gets an interlock into Sunset flip but Runs Out Of Mat as Zapata's shoes hit the ropes. It's Pancho's folding press Vs Aubiot's headscissors as Dan attacks his nose (Martial disapproves.) Zapata chops out and gets dirty with stomps on the downed Dan. He somehow falls out the ring apron as Remy comes in and gets a reverse double leg nelson on Pancho as Castillo makes the save. Pancho has a chinlock but Martial shoves him off and orders a break. Pancho gets a lengthways press but Bayle bridges and gets thecspace for a Planchette Japonaise. Pancho gets a nice headscissors throw but Martial has to warn him off following in. Aubriot is back in with a Manchette. Pancho gets double reverse arms into a Gotch toehold - he has some good moves despite his brute heel image. Dan kneels up and crawls away. Pancho gets side headlock into kneelift and Manchette then pressure points. Aubriot gets a snapmare but Pancho fouls his way out. With help from both men tagging in the pressure points are maintained. They also smack Dan's head in the mat until Martial stops it, pulling Vic off. So it goes on, pressure points and illegal stomping. The crowd is angry and so is Bayle but Martial gently puts him outside. The pressure points and other dirties and failed rescues by Bayle continue. Ies smo Zapata tries smothering Dan with his chest. Bayle tags in with Manchettes, an atomic drop and a saus chessé that sends Zapata to ringside like Danny Collins did in the last match. Zapata gets the better of a top wristlock battle and keeps his man down with hairpulls and rear Manchettes. Victor tags back in, overpowers Bayle who stomps his fingers and pounds with Manchettes. It stays very manchetty until Victor gets a leglock and keeps it some time. He drags Bayle to the Méchants' corner where Pancho gets up to plenty of no good. He tags in and jumps and stomps while Victor STILL has the leglock. The Hispanic villains take turns, one in the ring with a hold, the other fouling from the apron. Traditional dirty heel stuff. Martial warns them. administers the odd smacked bottom (!) even drags Victor off by the neck only for Pancho to continue the tricks as he reprimands Castillo. Les Bons retaliate with a double team to get a legdive, toehold and drops on Castillo, tagging in and out. Aubriot eventually has Victor by the chin. He Manchettes, headlocks and headscissors him. Victor gets back the advantage with pressure points and a smother until Martial pulls him off by the ears. Pancho takes over with a snapmare and stomps and knees, Martial only intervening when the ropes are used. He throws Aubriot who scoots through his legs and gets the full Boston Crab set up but Zapata spins him off. But he lands upright and scores a huracanrana on the Mexican. He gets a spinning stomp and Manchette. Dan gets a hammerlock into sunset flip into double leg nelson for 2. The two brawl and whip until Aubriot gets another sunset flip on Zapata for the opening fall. They brawl on a bit after the fall, Castillo is ENRAGED. Deuxième Manche: Pancho gets a crosshanded grovit, shoves Aubriot onto the ropes and chops him. Dan tags Remy. Pancho slugs him around and tags Victor who uses eye rakes and fish hooks under cover of pressure points. Remy slips out backwards between Castillo's legs but straight into the heel corner where Pancho also fouls him. Victor gets a kick then a legal snapmare and headlock. He full Nelsons Remy as the heels double team Bayle. Zapata misses a charge and ends up at ringside. He gets back, Remy fires a dropkick but Pancho gets a toehold and help from a rope whenever Martial is looking the wrong way. The big referee eventually catches him and orders a break. A fight breaks out between L'Arbitre and le Méchant Aubriot takes over but ends up thrown to ringside. Pancho knocks him off the ring apron but misses the next time and Aubriot tags Bayle who gets to work with Manchettes, chops and stomps. Victor tags in and gets a bearhug into the heel corner but Remy slips out behind. The brawl continues until Castillo gets a leglock and keeps it a good while, seeing off Bayle's attempts to break it. Pancho tags in and slams Bayle who dodges a Zapata flying headbutt and tags Dan who twice slams Pancho. Victor tags in and they interlock but Aubriot cartwheels to twist one side into arm armlock on the mat, getting Victor up and throwing him in the hold. Castillo tries a cross buttock press but is still in the hold. He throws him off, chokes his man on the ropes but misses a splash. Aubriot bounces off his back before tagging Remy who gets to work with chops. Castillo slams him on Pancho's knee three times as Pancho stomps him. The heels finally get their first Avertisement for this. They still get a fourth one. They continue to batter Bayle. Pancho gets a slam and kneedrop and tags Victor. Bayle resists two face first (tombstone) piledriver attempts from Castillo but goes down for a slam. Victor gets pressure points. Bayle gets a leg out underneath, the heels corner and double team Bayle despite Martial's best attempt to stop them. Bayle fights back with Manchettes and a snapmare of his own but gets backdropped outside and despite crowd anger is counted for 10. KNOCKOUT, oh yes OJ. It appears to be a one knockout bout as that wins Les Méchants the match, KO-1. The villains strut around taunting the crowd (including someone with an umbrella) to near riot as Les Flics look benignly on. Last week we saw two burly Mexicans dominate two plucky good guys in colour on satellite TV. This week, we see One Burly Mexican and a burly Spaniard bellringer do the same 27 years earlier in 819 line monochrome VHF.Such is the continuity of live and of Wrestling territories. Same territory, different era, same situation.
David Mantell Posted November 22, 2025 Posted November 22, 2025 On 3/22/2020 at 7:18 AM, ohtani's jacket said: Vic Hessle & Bert Royal vs. Guy Robin & Edmond Liehn (aired 9/11/58) Vic Hessle was the father of Bert Royal and Vic Faulkner. Unlike his boys, Hessle was a heavyweight. He was a big star during the 1930s wrestling boom then served as a paratrooper in the Second World War. After the war, he was one of the few wrestlers to successfully re-enter the business and became one of the big names of the post-war era. He was a few years away from retirement here but still had plenty of fire in the belly. The match was a constant stream of cheap shots and retaliation. Robin and Liehn didn't look like much at first but ended up being perfectly scummy. The bout was similar to a lot of the Faulkner/Royal tags. Royal was roughed up a lot and spent the entire bout upset at each and every slight. There was good energy and they entertained the crowd. Good bout. We've just seen the Royal Brothers in action from June 1970 on the British thread. Now as promised here is some more of the Faulkner family 11¾ years earlier across the English Channel, dad Lew Faulkner aka Vic Hessle teaming with young Bert Royal. Old man Hessle (whom Kent gave props to during the Royals Vs Black Knights match). is a different kettle of fish from his sons physically, bigger bulkier body. He has lighter hair than Liehn which his how to tell them apart (Guy Robin is balding and young skinnier Bert is already thinning on top.). He has his son's skill but is more power than agility. In his day he had matches with Bert Assirati, post Wigan and possibly post India, Assirati at his most knowledgeable and dangerous, Première Manche - The bout is JIP - the previous show must have been overrunning. Robin is getting a KO count but he gets up only for Big Vic to legdive him down and work on a grapevine leglock. Guy tags Edmond who corners Vic til L'Arbitre (a third balding man in the ring) orders them apart. Vic gets the same leglock on Ed.Now both méchants are hobbled. Ed tries to pummel Vic in the mat but the ref pulls him off and Bert grabs him on the apron and holds him for dad Vic's charge. The ref separates them and Vic gets the leglock (clearly a speciality of his). Guy tags back in and chinlocks Vic from behind. Vic captures the barring arm and makes a hammerlock of it. Robin gets up and turns out so Vic applies his leglock for a 4th time. This gets him the opening submission. 16 mins plus so we missed about 14 mins. Father and son chat as they towel off. Deuxième Manche. Bert comes out with a dropkick. The heels threaten him by with punches but he laughs them off and interlocks Ed who rolls on the mat. taking a bump. Bert gets a reverse armhank. He snapmares Ed and long presses him. Guy on the apron tries to interfere but the ref sees him off. A four way brawl ensues with Manchettes akimbo. Both heels end up at ringside. The Bald Guy is back first and then Ed legdives Bert and front folding presses him. Robin's interference stops Ed getting a pin on Bert who ankle smashes Ed and Manchettes him. Ed attacks Royal from behind and chinlocks him down to the mat. Guy tries to interfere and dad Vic gets in to complain. Ed twice snapmares Bert and Guy flying kneedrops him. Guy is ushered out by the ref. Ed has an armlock but Bet uses a crossface counter inorde4 to get free. Vic joins in and a Manchette war ensues. Bert goes after both heels and gives dad a dubious in ring tag. Vic pitches Guy out and goes after Ed. It ends up Vic and Guy with Guy slapping around Vic who gets a side headlock. Guy forces him to the corner and the heels double team until Bert joi s in. Guy gets an Avertisement. He also gets a side armlock which Vic reverses eventually . Robin the heel vaults over him and Vic pounds him in the back. .He long throws the balding guy and Planchette Japonaises him, armlocks him and gets a leglock on him but Guy gets a rope break. Vic Manchettes him. Bert gets nasty on Guy, grabbing him in holds with elements of fishhooking. Quite a fierce brawl erupts. Bret Planchette Japonaises his man then drags him to dad who mistakenly clocks Bert. Ed gets a front folding presses him for the equaliser. Une Manche Partout. A lady is vending biscuits and sweets to ringsiders, the commentator runs down the menu (making me hungry!) La Belle: Vic takes over (was the Same Two Men rule not enforced in France 1958? It was later. Vic armdrags Ed but runs out of mat. They finger Interlock and Vic gets a shoulder lift on Ed like young Vic Faulkner would try to do to Zimba in June 1970. He pulls Ed up but can't get a throw. Ed pulls him down by the hair and gets a ground headlock into sitting chinlock. Vic makes it into a back hammerlock. Ed rolls out and lunges as Vic, injuring his shoulder in the process. Guy tags in and Vic headlocks and Manchettes him down. He tries a legdive but Robin grabs the hair and getd a standing rear chinlock. He gets the odd illegal kidney punch in. Both non legal men try to intervene. In Guy's case, this helps Ed get more fouls in. The heels get a false tag and Guy takes over the hold. The heels double team Vic and Bert runs in but Guy throws him out. Eventually Vic gets Guy headlocks in the heel corner, Bert pinions Ed in the Royal Family's corner and Vic bulldogs Guy into Ed as Bert moves away at the last second. L'Arbitre starts a knockout count on both méchants disrupted by Bert stomping on them. Thecref boils it down to Vic and Guy. Vic gets a legdive and toehold but throws it off. Guy gets an armlock into ground hammerlock but Vic fires up and scores a back elbowsmash (illegal in Britain at this time, I believe) . Ed tags in and takes Vic down with a rear chinlock on the mat. Bert scores the hot tag and Manchettes both heels with gusto. They double team him but he kicks them off. Bert has Guy down in a leglock in the guard but Ed tags in and they start double teaming Bert again. Vic comes in to slap villains around but the ref soon has it back down to Ed and Bert. Bert elbowsmashes his way out of an Ed bearhug and tags dad Vic who gets a monkey climb.and some Manchettes. They go for a top wristlock and Ed gets Vic on the ropes so Guy double teams with a top wristlock on the other arm which of course brings Bert in. The referee clams down and we're left with Ed pounding on Vic in the corner. Vic soon gets the better and fires him into the Royal's corner where Bert gets the odd slug in. There is even the odd technical move like a Vic Planchette Japonaise. Guy tags in but Vic gets a cross press. It goes into the ropes and the recorders a break. Soon Vic is back getting double teamed by the baddies. Guy suplexes him and tries for a standing armlock but Vic moves out of the way. More Manchette, another PJ. The heels ran Vic's head into Guy's knee. Bert comes in and does a Rude Awakening on Ed. He forces a whip and bump and an armscissor in the guard. In the end Ed submits making it a 2-1 win for the Royal Family, predecessor team of the Royal Brothers. The shake hands with the ref and the MC. Bert offers a handshake to Guy and Ed but the heels are feeling urinated off and angrily refuse. Bert is angry and hecand the heels trade insults. Dad Vic calms him down and puts his robe on the lad and they go home. I'm not surprised OJ liked it, quite a brawl. I shall have to watch more of how Bert and the younger Vic dealt with truly poisonous heels. Maybe I'll report back on the British thread soon, unless any nice surprises are posted to Rumble's YouTube channel.
David Mantell Posted November 23, 2025 Posted November 23, 2025 Managed to track down another clip of Vic senior in France. (See my potted history of the family on TV on the British Wrestling thread). Just a minute of action against balding Butch Leteur from 1948. You'll recognise Vic from the tag match above. Leteur gets an armdrag but Hessle upturns the Hold and pounds away on Butch. After some audience shots,,we see Vic has a single toehold on Butch and the crowd are doing the "Ah Ouais" chant as he intermittently tightens the hold. Butch gets a Manchette but Vic comes back with bodychrcks and a Manchette of his own. He snapmares Butch over the ropes and L'Arbitre starts a KO count. Cut to Butch tied in the ropes and getting dropkicked by Vic. The referee accidentally backdrops a charging Hessle and Butch tries to pounce on Vic but the ref pulls him off. And there the clip ends. Smarmy English commentary but he does refer to it being called Catch. If yo want to hear it without the commentary here's another version:
Phil Lions Posted November 23, 2025 Posted November 23, 2025 ^ That's Vic Hessle vs. Paul Leteurtrois. October 15, 1948, at Cirque d'Hiver. More footage from the same match:
David Mantell Posted November 24, 2025 Posted November 24, 2025 15 hours ago, Phil Lions said: ^ That's Vic Hessle vs. Paul Leteurtrois. October 15, 1948, at Cirque d'Hiver. More footage from the same match: Did the English commentator come up with the name "Butch Leteur" ?
David Mantell Posted November 29, 2025 Posted November 29, 2025 On 10/26/2024 at 12:18 PM, David Mantell said: On the subject of Collins and Harvey Vs Dean and Ocean, Collins got hat revenge match he was clamouring for - and gave Ocean a darn good hiding: Here's a longer edit of that match with English commentary by Orig Williams. Danny and Jimmy Ocean were both British/European champions - Danny would also become World Middleweight champion this year 1991, Ocean was British /European Lightweight Champion- but expect more of a fight than a technical exhibition. Orig is in lustful mood over the "Glamour Girls" (not Leilani and Judy.). Promo time: Accent spotting - Jimmy is Norfolk n good, Danny is Bristol/Somerset. Jimmy has clearly been watching the trailer for Ringmasters The Great American Bash as he rips off Hawk's "Just when you thought the nightmare was over" promo. Monsieur L'Arbitre gives Ocean a bunch of (private) avertisements over what is Interdit but he rushes past to attack Danny, pounds him down and lands a snapmare into guillotine elbowsmash before resuming the brawling. Danny dropkicks Jimmy out. Ocean undoes a pad and gets in the dirties- kidney punch, slam head into naked turnbuckle. Ocean gets a Randy Savage flying axehandle twice among the fouls. He finally gets his first (public) Avertisement after walloping Danny with a chair at ringside. Danny retaliates with a foul of his own, a reverse crotch kick, plus an over knee backbreaker but Ocean gets a crotch shot of his own (Orig says that this would have been a summary DQ in Britain) Danny is back with a snapmare into kneedrop, posting, spinning kick, frontward and backwards atomic drop, double legs into butt to stomach. Ocean is up at 8 for a Manchette. But Ocean is back on the dirty moves with a neck on ropes and choking with unwrapped wrist tape. A chest smother gets a referee break but Ocean puts his knee on Danny's throat while he argues. and garrotted him with tape. But he it sitting on Danny's shoulders so Danny uses a German suplex to escape. Danny gives Ocean the tape treatment back and earns his own Premier Avertisement. The two trade concealed fists and visible elbowsmashes. It all goes more American with clotheslines including a top rope one from Ocean. Danny gets a gorilla press into stomachbreaker. Ocean nearly gets his Deuxième Et Dernière Avertisement with another crotch shot - L'Arbitre is VERY suspicious - then gets a slam and a Superfly Splash worthy of Jimmy Snuka himself. But Danny kicks out at 2 and responds the same to an Ocean DDT. The two brawl on until a Danny flying tackle sends both out. Ocean gets back inside first but Danny floors him with first a missile dropkick then a flying bodypress for the side folding press pin. Some good high flying spots but mostly a brawl which is OK if that's what you like. And if you want kayfabe justice for the afterbirth of the Danny/John Harvey Vs Ocean/Doc Dean match, here it is.
David Mantell Posted December 6, 2025 Posted December 6, 2025 Some more New Catch, this time from Season 1 in 1988 with Drew McDonald and Billy Samson making the respective journeys southwards across the English Channel/Manchester (via the length of Sassenach land) and westwards across the Rhine to be in Paris for the TF1 cameras. Drew is still sporting a shaved head from losing a hair match to Big Daddy on ITV months earlier. Sadly no sign of Doctor Monika Kaiser. (No need for the Nazi Fraud getup, her summer dress and red sunhat woud have done fine.). Samson may or may not be the guy who wrestled in Britain on ITV as Samson Ubo a couple of years earlier but he is billed here as Billy Samson from Bogota. Colombia (despite speaking German to camera) and claims in the pre-match promo to already have beaten Drew in his hometown. This broadcast is from a 1991 Eurosport rescreeneing with commentary by Peter Wilhelm of the CWA. Its starts as a brawl and means to go on that way until Monsieur L'Arbitre has had enough and demand some wrestling so Samson gets a snapmare into front chinlock. Drew like the total heel he is, goes for the ropes and gets some good heat for it (nice to see this still got a reaction from a French crowd in 1988). Drew gets a headlock but Samson breaks it into a top wristlock and takes him down into a guard armlock Again Drew goes for theft Drew gets a full nelson. Samson twice tries throwing Drew forward before the Mighty Scot switches to a side chancery throw and axehandle before the referee stops any followup. From there a Manchette contest breaks out until Samson shoves Drew down. He gets a legdive, trip and leglock, eventually making an upper legscissor down on the mat. Once again, Drew goes for the ropes - at least this time he struggles to get there rather than taking the lazy way out. Drew is up and limping. He gets a one sided pressure point on the "Colombian" who drops to one knee. Drew then gets a Headlock And Strangle (Sleeperhold) on Billy then an axehandle and deliberate chops on the mat. L'Arbitre doesn't particularly reprimand, just gives Billy a count. Drew gets a side chancery takedown into this time full pressure points, moving to one side then dropping an elbow - possibly just softening th3cshouldrr muscle by scrunching it up before a pounding. He drops a guillotine elbowsmash then back to work on the shoulder. Eventually he chokes Samson on the rope using his weight until Billy shoved him off. Despite Billy still being on the ropes, Drew gets the pressure points on again and drags him back for more such treatment before getting a Manchette and another guillotine elbowsmash. This time L'Arbitre prevents a follow down, giving Billy a 7 count until he is up and back in Drew's pressure points. Again Drew puts Billy in a H&S on the ropes, this time Billy tries rear snapmaring him forward to ringside, eventually managing it. Drew gets back in but a manchette, snapmare and dropkick send him back out. Samson side chanceries Drew back in and post him then gets a backdrop and splash for the one required fall (a favourite in 1988 of Kendo Nagasaki for opening/equalising pinfalls). If the Bogotá story is true then Billy is now 2-0 up. 1988 was also the year of Ken Patera Vs Dino Bravo in the WWF. If you liked that, you'll probably like this. Bland strength and brawling bout relying on the crowd favour/heat to get over. At least it was short to type..
David Mantell Posted December 8, 2025 Posted December 8, 2025 On 11/4/2025 at 10:18 PM, David Mantell said: Was a bit hesitant about posting this until I realised just who this old boy actually is! It's actually sooner we were recently discussing - Theo Pouzade, tag partner and trainer of Eric LaCroix. He appeared as Pouzade in New Catch season 2 on Eurosport and before that as Domingo Valdez, again teaming with LaCroix, on that February '91 FR3 Broadcast. 78 last year would him 79 or 80 now and 45-47 during the 1991 FR3 and Eurosport transmissions. There's an overdubbed English soundtrack which has been generated by auto-translate - and bloody hilarious it is! Plenty of good posters including "2 Kamikazes" (presumably those same 2 we've seen.) Here's a follow-up video from the past few days Apparently he's 82 now so make his 1991 age 49-51. I guess the age 78 video was from 2022 then. Another one from old gramps himself Popoff/Theo Pouzade/Domingo Valdez. A young whippersnapper vlogger goes visiting Eric Lacroix's manager on New Catch Season 2 and tag partner on that one last FR3 broadcast in early 1991 at his home/makeshift gym/shrine to the good old days. No footage, but vintage posters GALORE (And ditto anecdotes in French from the man with the LE ZEBULÓN moustache himself. Speaking of vintage kids TV from diverse Euro nations, Popoff is no relation to Miss Popoff out of Rentaghost. ) Okay. that's a CWA Vlog on the German thread and this on the French thread. I guess I shall have to find an equivalent for the British thread.
David Mantell Posted December 12, 2025 Posted December 12, 2025 On 9/26/2025 at 9:42 AM, Phil Lions said: On 9/26/2025 at 9:42 AM, Phil Lions said: David Mantell said: You're right that he was on TV as plain old Gerard Hervé in 1979, but he may have already been doing the character for his own KMG company (the G stood for Gordon) founded in 1979 and the alleged ancestor of (I)WS(F). Just checked my notes and that KMG story is definitely not true either. Even Hervé himself is on record that he started using the name Flesh Gordon in 1982. And indeed, I have him on posters as late as February 1982 still using his real name. So the KMG, with G for Gordon, was definitely not founded in 1979. **The Penny drops** Of course it's always possible the G stood for Gerard (Hervé).
David Mantell Posted December 13, 2025 Posted December 13, 2025 I did have a Hugo Perez bout from the same show as this here but it felt too much like the Samson/McDonald bout, all strength moves and little finesse. So here instead is Prince Zéfy in his autumn years, no longer quite the high flyer but able to work a crowd (and gets an Avertisement for "exciter la Publique" one of the heel rules Monsieur Jacky instituted in the Noughties as I recall. ) but fights gamely back back until Trash and Gannon start walloping him with corner pads and giving him quite a binding before missing a double team spot allowing The good Prince to get some retaliation both in wrestling and his corner pad flogging before scoring the pin with a shoulder charge. Two interesting points - the crowd singing along to Flesh Gordon's music (is that tune something more famous?) and Gannon Grey as a heel manager here - he later did a stint as un Bon during the Pandemic before becoming a méchant once again by 2023.
David Mantell Posted December 21, 2025 Posted December 21, 2025 On 8/28/2020 at 11:26 PM, ohtani's jacket said: Robert Duranton vs. Ted Lamar (aired 7/26/73) Duranton is doing a gladiator gimmick in this. Lamar keeps him honest throughout and tries to mat wrestle, but Duranton's skills haven't improved much from the 50s footage. In fact, they may have regressed. At least the shtick is kept to a minimum. Well it's about time I got the French thread back to its roots and went straight for Les Trentes Glorieuses." Duranton is without his fur coat or Firman (whom we see became a referee and later a wrestler himself.). In a vague keeping of theme with the Adrian Street bout on the German thread, Robert wears a mini skirt with braces - apparently the centurion gimmick to which OJ alludes - but he swiftly ditched it. Lamare is very much un Méchant - and a really nasty crumb heel at that. This leaves Duranton as -if not Le. Bon - then certainly the sympathetic heels as emphasized by his handshake at the start with a stick wielding Andre Bollet - his career ended the previous year by a hit and run driver. Duranton practices his boxing shots before the bell goes. After an initial lockup lands them in the ropes, Ted gets a hiptoss into armbar in the guard. Robert stands and tries for a front facelock but Ted slam him back down. Duranton gets a headscissors. Ted turns it upright and goes into a handstand but Duranton turns it sideways again. Ted turns it back upright then turns himself to right angles and kips up out. Duranton gets a snapmare and attempted grovit, Ted gets a Bearhug, Duranton does a foul to the eyes or nose before getting out with a Manchette. He gets a snapmare into chinlock but Lamare pulls out from behind to make a hammerlock on the mat. He tries for a rear chinlock but Duranton reaches back for a reverse snapmare and gets it but Ted retains the hammerlock throughout. Duranton stand and rear legdives Ted who kicks him into the ropes and legflips him. Ted gets the leg againand turns into a seated legscissor. Bob replies with a crossface but Ted moves into Indian Deathlock position, shoving Duranton off. We cut to some celeb and his girlfriend being interviewed. When we cut back. Duranton has a crossface into ground suplex into crosspress for 2. Back to crowd shots. Cut back to Robert with a crossface on Ted. Ted gets up to knee and rear snapmares Bobby, applying his own rear chinlock. He rides through a throw by Duranton. Robert escapes through the back into a rear hammerlock. Ted stands and tries for a rear snapmare but Bobby drags him back down, switching to an armbar. Ted eventually forces Duranton off into the ropes, body checking him and side chancery throwing him. Duranton likewise slings his opponent to the ropes, ducks under the first. and slams Ted on the second. He teases Ted with some faints and is reprimanded for it by Monsieur L'Arbitre. Ted backrolls off a a half sided interlock with one further twist to bring him down. Ted now has a top wristlock on the mat on Duranton. Robert powers up but Ted drags right down again. Duranton tries again, forces a rope break, sneaks in an illegal punch and posts him, choking Lamare in the corner and earning his Premier Avertisement. Duranton follows with chokes and Manchettes. Ted gets a single toe-and- ankle. Duranton takes overcwith a chinlock. Lamare throws him and gets an H&S (sleeper). Duranton powers out with Manchettes, leaving Lamare tied in the ropes. He pounds his man until the ref frees him. Ted throws Duranton twice and Bobby rolls to ringside to recover. He comes back and they trade more blows. Duranton is on A KO count, he stays down til 9, then springs up like Vic Faulkner. Ted gets a wristlever.and gets his man down in the moun. using a foot to help make a hammerlock. Duranton tries to interfere with his spare hand but Ted secures it to make a further nelson and get a 1 count. He tries some crosspresses and a side headlock so Duranton grabs his hair to pull his man over for a series of fouls. But Ted gets his ankle and Durantonhas anyway earned himself a Deuxieme et dernier Avertisement. He continues with kcks, Manchettes, a choke and an Ali shuffle. Ted fights back with a slam and more fists. Ted eventually gets a spectacular side chancery throw into inverted grovit, another side chancery throw. It hits the ropes and and brawling resumes Duranton corners and bites Ted, chokes him on the mat. Ted does a nice bridge upright into rear snapmare, the first good wrestling move in ages. He gets an over the knee backbreaker. Then it's back to manchettes. headbutts, punches, rope chokes etc. Even Monsieur L'Arbitre gets in a few shots to try and prise the men apart. It's Duranton's turn to be tied up in the ropes and bashed. He gets free, flings Ted Lamare out to ringside, will not let him back and eventually lands him against the ring barriers (pretty unusual to have them there in an old time Euro territory!) getting himself disqualified. Duranton is now happy, he attacks MC Jacques Rouxel and cuts his old traditional complaining promo. This started off as a slow but worthy heavyweight match then degenerated into a fouling and brawling afair - presumably not OJ's kind of brawling as he also gave it a bad review.
David Mantell Posted December 25, 2025 Posted December 25, 2025 On 12/13/2025 at 10:24 AM, David Mantell said: did have a Hugo Perez bout from the same show as this here (Prince Zéfy Vs Mickey Trash) but it felt too much like the Samson/McDonald bout, all strength moves and little finesse. So here instead is ... Okay, maybe enough water has flowed under the bridge to give this a go: From Hugo's own channel, against Adam Benseba. Quite crowd working at the start with lots of Miss spots but a nice monkey climb from Benseba. Adam throws Perez out and Perez le Méchant won't stay back in back in. Perez does get back in and takes his man down with a hiptoss into armlock in the guard. More armdrags follow. Quite a slow pausing bout. Perez gets arm weakeners and a headlock and bodycheck. Benseba fights back with a dropkick, bodychecks of his own and a slam. Hugo pleads for mercy then slams Benseba's head in the top turnbuckle, chokes him on the ropes, agues with L'Arbitre. Generally more heel dominance. Adam kicks out at 2. Perez gets an armbar, some sort of chinlock (it's hard to see from the angle and distance) goes for a Barry Windham Superplex off a top corner but Benseba fights back headbutts him down, leapfrogs and dropkicks Hugo, twice Stinger splashes and DDTs him, covers but still only gets 2. Hugo catches a crowd working Adam by surprise with a side folding press but still only 2. Curiously Bensaba ,le Bon, gets the win over bigger star and tutor Perez with an overhead slam. La Publique est content. Perez complains.Clip ends. Better than I remembered, still very 80s WWF. I'M going to recharge my tablet then go back to the Good Old Days for my final Xmas day review.
David Mantell Posted December 25, 2025 Posted December 25, 2025 On 9/23/2024 at 5:50 AM, David Mantell said: Although before that, I am reminded that we have seen a more recent Perez- Benseba bout on here.
David Mantell Posted December 25, 2025 Posted December 25, 2025 Okay here's the piece de resistance. Two bout on all three threads on one Xmas Day. This one goes out to anyone who laughed at either myself or the commentator when Lamare got out heeled in the end by Duranton. Here is Lamarre and another Vieux Pontoufle Jo Marsalo being total crumbs in the ring against Papa Mercier and a Corn brother. Back in 1970, I'm that mysterious year the ?th of ? says @Matt D. 1er Manche. Ted and Jo are pretty grizzly old guys, Jonas a comb over, Ted with his French thug badass moustache as seen on many a guillotined head in the mid C20th. Ted and Jacky start off, Jacky's half interlock becomes a high whip forcing a somersault and bump from Ted who gets a legdive but Jacky boots him off. Ted gets a hiptoss into guard armlock. Jacky gets up, turns to reverse the torque and tries for a hammerlock so Ted hiptosses him back down but it goes into the ropes. From a double interlock Ted gets a top wristlock He takes Jacky down but Corne kips up gets another high whip into somersault and bump then tags Guy who tries the same but Ted rolls off. He gets a better whip from a standing position forcing a higher bump. Ted comes up still forcing a top wristlock. Guy turns the torque and the whip backwards but Ted gets a headscissors on him. Guy forces the jaws open and kips up. Jo tags in an takes a whip and bump himself. He rolls up nicely from three hiptosses as Corne tags back in, snapmares and legdives Jo, drops into a leglock. Jo turns round, gets a crossface and pulls Jacky off his legs. He moves from chinlock to side chancery but Jacky resists the throw and when finally thrown. bridges up and throws Jo into the ropes. Mercier is in and taken down by a top wristlock. He tries to kip up and once upright gets the traditional French Scisseaux Volees counter. Marsalo emerges with an odd hold, a Gotch toehold on a handstanding opponent. He gets several one counts then gets him down in the traditional Gotch mount but Jackie rolls off. Marsalo gets a side chancery throw but is thrown off sideways on his second attempt. Jackie gets a rear snapmare but Marsalo upturns it. Jacky bridges up. And rear snapmares Jo who goes for the tag but Les Bons do it first. Guy hiptosses Jo, throws and dropkicks him. Ted is soon tagged back in. gets a double Interlock, kicks one side off and backrolls on the other, getting a top wristlock on the mat. He frustrates Jacky's attempt to get up and reverse s his full nelson, throwing him this way and that and getting a headscissors on. Jacky turns the hold upright, bends them open to release and forces a knee down in an Indian Deathlock. A side chancery counter doesn't work but an armdrag does. Guy tags in, legdives Ted, gets a toehold and legspread, drops into a leglock but is caught in a crossface. It becomes a chinlock, a front chancery countering a legdive. an armbar, a forced whip,and bump.. Ted loads on to a bridge. Eventualy H3 gets an Indian Deathlock. Jo tags in a bit Guy is now energised darting around the ring. Jo throws him but is legdoved and leg weakened. Jo gets a bearhug. Guy gets a leglock into sid3 Indian Deathlock of his own. and uses neck cranks and chops to defend his Deathlock. Guy gets a double undrhook suplex for 2. Ted gets back in with a Manchette to Guy. Guy gets a double interlock to headscissor take down into double leg nelson. They Bascule back and forth ending in a Ted front folding press. Ted gets a kneepress on but it doesn't hold. Nor does a cross press. Jacky is tagged back in. This time it Jacky who has the leglock and Ted who crossface counters. Soon the position is reverse again. Eventualy Ted has a chinlock on Jacky. Ted throws Jacky and gets a Planchette Japonaise. He tries another but is backdropped. It goes on like this for some time . In the end, Jacky rear legdives him,turns him over into a double leg nelson and score the opening pin. 2eme Manche. Ted and Jacky resume. Ted gets a side chancery throw into chinlock. Jacky curls into a George Kidd ball to escape. Guy tags in and is caught in a side chancery throw by Ted, into that chinlock. Guy bridges out, snapmares Ted and tags Jacky back. Again Ted's trusty snapmare into chinlock has his man down. For some reason Guy drags things close to the heel corner to try his bridge out escape. Guy gets a Manchette and tags Marsalo who does the same move. Guy eventually has a standing top wristlock on Marsalo but the big balding heel takes him right the way down again. Guy gets a back hammerlock and tags Jacky who gets a full interlock, bridges backwards and throws Jo. He loads himself on a Jo bridge then high whips him causing a somersault bump. Jacky tags back in and scores snapmare. He throws Jo who rolls to take it well, rolling up to tag Ted again. Ted gets double legs into a full Boston Crab, dragging his man back to his corner. Jacky tries to roll out under. Eventualy Jacky flips out and tags Guy again who fires off a mighty dropkick then a spinning legdive. Into toehold then drops into Legdrop. He takes a wrist for good measure.. He whip it hard, an angry Ted slaps him back and starts throttling him. Marsalo comes in and L'Arbitre misses Guy tag in but let's it go. The two exchange Manchettes. Marsalo pitches Corner to ringside as Guy joins him. Jacky returns, gets Manchettes and a kneelift and tags Guy who floors Marsalo with a Manchette and three dropkicks. Ted tags back in and kicks off Guy's legdive attempt. Jacky back, gets Manchettes and a headbutt for his pains. Ted slams him but the Manchette war continues with legdives and dropkicks thrown. Ted gets an advantage with an Indian Deathlock. Jacky gets a "human glove" eventually on Ted. I've seen /midget wrestler Mark Little Legs" Seely do this trick to heels like Mikey Whiplash and Robbie Dynamite but NEVER a full sized wrestler do it. Ted even tries for an equalising pin but Jacky curls his shoulders. Jacky eventually has an armscissors from it on Ted. Eventually Ted lifts Jacky up high and Marsalo knocks him down, earning himself the first Avertisement of the bout. Marcello tags in, bearhugs Jacky Ted comes back, slams Jacky, hiptosses him and scores the equalising fall. La Belle - Jacky has long Manchette wars with both heels, tags Guy who does the same. He gets a series of dropkicks and aeroplane spin and double kneepress for the winning fall. Good action packed match to round off my Xmas. A bit repetitive 20min in building towards the opening fall. Alright, merry Xmas one and all. I hope to do more reviews before I get back to work a week on Friday.
David Mantell Posted December 27, 2025 Posted December 27, 2025 On 4/29/2018 at 12:34 PM, ohtani's jacket said: Andre the Giant (Jean Ferre) vs. Scarface (aired 1/1/68) This is some of the most fascinating shit you can watch. It's not just Andre being young and mobile -- I mean truly mobile, not oh, he was more agile in the 70s mobile-- it's young Andre working the European style. in particular, the European style where the clean, sportsmanlike match breaks down into a heated brawl. He's also playing face, which is interesting in and of itself. Andre doing FIP spots are the roots of his later HIP work. He was still a bit green in spots but I still came away thinking that 60s Andre was impressive. January 1968. Scarface is a visiting American who has been given one of the toughest assignments in Catch, the early twentysomething Jean Ferré (André Rousimoff). Andre is in slim athletic shape although somewhat bony with a bad habit of poking his head forward. He wears a tassel jacket with a scarf tied l8keca necktie. It gives him a slightly hunched frail look. The picture is very sharp, I almost thought it had an interlaced VT look until I spotted some film damage. The two men tower over referee Roger Mollet. They take turns to throw each other around then Scarface gets a top wristlock. He takes his man down but Ferré kips up (itself a sight to behold) Scarface pushes Ferré back down but Ferré pushes up only for L'Arbitre to run him back down. Scarface gets a front facelock They two wrestlers Interlock and Mollet becomes tangled up in their tie-up. Bollet leaps to get a grovit of his own. Managing in the second attempt ibut Jean managed to convert it into a ¾ nelson. Scar goes for the ropes then gets his grovit back, shoving L'Arbitre out of the way Mollet again gets dangerously entangled in the lockup. He pounds on Jean's back. Eventually all three fall out of the ring and the two giants battle at ringside. The bell rings, seemingly to stop the contest but once Mollet has everyone back inside he restarts the match rather than an early double KO. Jean cross buttock throws Scar twice across the ring. Scarface gets a legdive and leglock. Ferré has to struggle to keep his shoulders up. Eventually he boots Scar in the head to escape. Back up, Scarface gets a standing side headlock on Jean who throws him off and bodychecks him down, Scarface gets the headlock against Ferré again. Jean throws him in the ropes but Scar rope-a-dopes his way out of rebounding. Scar gets a standing armlock on and makes it into a front facing hammerlock, slipping in an illegal concealed kidney punch that has fans gasping and Mollet racing round to see what happened only for there to be just a legal double wristlock left. Scar eventually has Jean down almost in the guard in his hammerlock. Ferré gets the ropes forcing a break. Mollet tries to pull Scarface off, but gets thrown across the ring. Ferré gets up as Scar and Roger argue. Scar gets another headlock but Jean throws it off. Ferré gets three haymakers that flatten the American. He gets up and attacks Jean, getting an armlock. Ferré counters with a standing full nelson. He keeps it for a very long while. Scarface eventually manages to slide out downwards. Jean drops down in a lengthwise press cover but the two men roll over and over until Scar falls outside the ring. He spends quite a while out there either getting counted or arguing with Mollet. Eventually he comes back and gets a bearhug on Ferré who forces Scarfaces head back then Bionic Elbowsmashes him off. He tries another but Scarface leaps to get the headlock back on. He corners and pounds Ferré who floors him and gets another armbar which he folds into a punishing top wristlock. Scarface low blows Ferré who threatens to punch Scarface but instead elbowsmashes, headbutts and corners him. Mollet tells Ferré to release, the giant looks incredulous but before he can do anything , Scarface takes over and pounds him. Mollet finds himself twice trapped between the two wrestlers. Soon it is Ferré battering Scarface. Scar gets a front chancery in this corner and a rope choke. Jean in turn is choking Scarface on the ropes and Mollet's arm is trapped in it. Scarface gets a Deuxieme et Dernier Avertisement. He nonetheless dives back in on a grovit even if Jean is holding the rope. Jean carries on pounding Scar until warned off. He gets more blows and a headbutt which fells Scarface only for him to legdive Ferré, trap one leg in the ropes Mollet unties the roped leg while Scarface attacked the other leg. An angry Jean corners and Hulks up on Scarface. Finally, Scarface collapses on the mat in the guard for a 10 count - KNOCKOUT!!! Jean Ferré wins again. Scarface is carried out and Ferré does a quick postmatch promo. Very similar to Duranton Vs Lamare.A slow power match turned brawl. Hard work to review.
David Mantell Posted January 1 Posted January 1 Wrestling Stars outdoor show from about 2006. I'm guessing the age from the fact they were still using full length corner bags and a ring that looks like New Catch Season 1 from 1988 except for the www.catch.fr URL on the ring aprons. The other dating factor being that it's the final round bald moustachioed version of Flesh Gordon, in against Cybernic Machine the wrestling computer virus. Referee is Monsieur Jacky Richard, equally tubby, equally bald. Actually Flesh has a Q tip pony tail like Kendo Nagasaki under the mask or Jesse Ventura circa 1992. I must admit I have a soft spot for footage filmed outdoors with the backs of houses in shot, like the Vienna Heumarkt or that pub beer garden in smalltown rural Germany. Nice balconies on those flats. Cyber IC Machine looks like a country cousin of Demolition circa the gimp masks (October 1990) He is choking Flesh on the ropes while Jacky does not a fat lot about it. So Gordon pitches him over the ropes and gets an Avertisement for his efforts. From what we can see round some bloke's head, there are some clotheslines, more Machine choking Flesh in the corner. Flesh does Ken Joyce's old trick of sitting down to avoid a posting. CM misses a Stinger splash in the corner. Flesh gets another Avertisement after an argument with Jacky. Flesh backdrops Cyber IC outside, goes out to finish him off, makes it back in time and is declared the winner. Jacky however changed it to a DQ win for the Machine. The MC is outraged. The crowd break into a good old fashioned chant of Aux Chiottes L'Arbitre. Cybernic throws a chair in the ring. The old Bons Wuz Robbed finish Probably a fun afternoon.
David Mantell Posted January 1 Posted January 1 A couple more bits from the same show. First clip - Catch Á Six featuring that man Flesh again, Natalie and White Storm against Scott Rider (in the kilt) Greg Master and Emilio Stocci. Les Méchants are triple teaming a Bon, presumably nate since the third Bon wears white therefore must be White Thunderand get an Avertisement for it. Big Scott Fireman's Carries the Bon and gets a 2. Scott and another heel double team Nate. The heels in black faces White Storm, both have pretty decent dropkicks. Flesh still does a good dropkick too for his age - this is the guy who was tagging with Walter Bordes on national TV two decades earlier. (I think we may have seen White Thunder on some clips on here in the past.). Flesh hiptosses Scott to set him up for White Storm's Superfly Splash for a winner. This time Jacky doesn't weasel out of the result. Scott tumbles out of the ring like an elderly Superstar Graham in drag. Apparently Scott's two partners face each other in thesecond clip. Greg must be the guy in the pink tights who gets an Avertisement early on so Stocci must be the heel in black from the last bout. Emilio fends off a Superplex attempts d delivers a somersault splash follow-up. Some other good moves including a huracanrana. I think whoever was the heel wins.
David Mantell Posted January 10 Posted January 10 It's been a while but at least - Old Catch En Couleur!!! Catch Á Six from 1977. Guy Mercier and Bruno Asquini we all know, top Bons of the 70s, here with fellow Bon Gerard Tayse to face three Méchants that pushed every Xenophobic button 8n a 70s French audience. A Spaniard, a Latin American and a Gypsy All dressed in stripey gear like wasps. While Les Bons have their own yellow jackets. As if that wasn't enough, Monsieur L'Arbitre is that former technical marvel turned Horrid Little Man. Michel Saulnier. And at ringside Roger Couderc looking totally the French Kent Walton. Premiére Manche: Tayse and Gonzales the Gypsy start off. Gonz looks like a beardy prog rocker crossed with Larry "UK Black Jack Mulligan" Coulter. He can do great cartwheels out of throws though like any lightweight. He spits angrily at Tayse and tags Trujillo who has a great long distance throw and Sunset flip into double leg Nelson for 2. Asquini and then Mercier end up in against Gonzalez. Guy resists a hiptoss and does one himself. Jones manages one at last buy Guy rolls through with one of his own, but Runs Out Of Mat. Viracocha the Peruvian tags in. Guy soon has him in an Indian Deathlock.It takes loads of Manchettes and the odd hairpull to break. Inca gets a kneedrop and tags Thomas who gets a leg but is cross scissored then kicked off. Bruno next, gets legdived, twice kicks his man off the twice spins him off. He does it to Gonzales too but the gypsy has a good cartwheel and comes right back with a rear snapmare. Gonzales rolls right through one legdive and ends up in fighting posture but facing the wrong way. "Il est souple, Gonzales" says Couderc, a compliment last bestowed on Le Samourai two years earlier. Inca Viracocha and Gerard take turns getting cross buttock throws. Les Méchants are reluctant to tag in but managed to in the end. Mercier forces a whip and bump on Inca. While Saulnier orders his two fellow Bons away. The heels get a pretty straightforward heat, cutting the ring in half and triple teaming Mercier. Asquini tags but after a couple of good stiff Manchettes is soon getting the same treatment. Mercier and Saulnie have one of their near fights as Bruno gets the treatment. Finally Bruno crawls through a heel's legs and tags Mercier who goes wild on Les Méchants until they smash Guy throat first on the top rope and carry on as before. Asquini does get a 1 count on Viracocha but his team mates break i5 up. He comes closer with a 2 on Gonzalez. Gonzales several times snapmares and dropkicks Tayse who comes back with Manchettes. For the most part, the triple teaming just carries on. Hot tags cut quickly short An efficient triple team machine in the heel corner. Eventually Gonzales gets Un Tombée on Bald Bruno after jumping off the ropes feet first. Deuxieme Manche: Gonzales gives Asquini a big long side Chancery throw into the Méchant corner and it's back to work. Once Mercier's tag is missed by Saulnier who drags him back to the Bon corner by the hair. Finally Guy gets a genuine hot tag and eliminates all three villains with Manchettes and Saus Chasées., before giving Saulnier a hefty Manchette of his own, flooring L'Arbitre. He gives both Gonzales and Saulnier repeated postings before cross buttock throwing and pressing Jo for the equaliser. Saulnier makes the count before passing out. He recovers enough to try to raise the good guys' hands but they refuse him They shove him away and shake hands. La Belle: Gonzales gets a full nelson on Mercier who breaks open one side and goes behind to reverse it. Mercier seems to make Gonzales pass out but when he drops to bodyscissors and threatens to do the "Ah Ouais" repeated atomic drop. Gonzales forces a standing break and tags Viracocha . The heels try their double teaming tactics but end up ejected from the ring. They try again but Mercier drags Trujillo outside and Manchettes him all around the ring. Saulnier is ENRAGED, climbing ring posts to order Les Bons back to their corner. Things resume with Guy and Gonzales. Viracocha comes in and full Nelsons Guy then gets a front facelock on him. He goes back to the full nelson as Gonzales gets s shot in. The faces all come in, slingshot heels into each other and play a very different kind of "Catch!" with Saulnier. There's briefly a comedy false finish involving Saulnier supposedly getting the pin on Trujillo which sends Saulnier mad trying to get the timekeeper's attention to resume the match. Eventually he gets is point to Couderc All six catcheurs end up doing the String Of Headlocks gag before separating into three Bons each headlock a méchant and they try to bulldog them together but it ends in Les Bons colliding. After a couple more attempts, Asquini gets the winning fall on Trujillo and again the good guys refuse to let Saulnier raise their hand. It was Catch Á Six but really it was a typical Catch Á Quatre of the period. Not too scientific but fast and full of action. And relations between Saulnier and the Mercier family just getting worse.
David Mantell Posted January 17 Posted January 17 Michel Saulnier was to be the first in a line of heelish referees including Louis Deblamecque, top heel in his own right of his local FR3 station 1982-1987 and "Arbitre International" George Weiss in the mid 80s on A2. Now on New Catch Season 2 in 1991, we meet another one. To the people of Germany, Didier Gapp was a comedy hero, a parody of petty officialdom. To his native Frenchmen in the 80s and early 90s he was nine more Aux Chiottes Arbitre. Buffalo is an American with the finest dyed black hair this side of (American) Greg Valentine circa Rhythm N Blues. , Tony a Brit of solid WOS/Reslo history but both appear in France 1991 courtesy of the CWA. Tony has previous in ref bashing - to his shame and embarrassment afterwards he lost control in 1987 against Mighty John Quinn in their tag match leading to a DQ fall each and tag partners Kendo Nagasaki and Neil Sands fighting the decider solo. Tony and Buff work very American syle match to accommodate Buff, lots of work illegally on the ropes. Smashing heads into posts. Clotheslines. Manchettes. Stalling. That sort of thing. Tony eventually takes his man down into a side headlock a couple of times. Buff gets the better of a flying tacklem asking it a slam but missing with a guillotine elbowsmash. Buf gets a good long suplex like any 80s American would. Like an American he has to be reminded of No follow downs but instead of getting into an argument with Gapp he looks up ruefully and Gapp gives a KO count for 6 until Tony is up. He does more trendy big American 80s moves like an over the knee backbreaker and a Superfly Splash and a Powerslam for 2. Tony fights back- with nothing very interesting, just bodychecks, clotheslines and Manchettes - until a flyer off the top turnbuckle catches Gapp. He is recovering but suddenly passes out as Buff goes out, gets a chair (a wooden café effort, not a steel one), wallops Tony and throws it out, then makes a sudden recovery to count le tombée. The footage cuts off but there must have been plenty of heat in that little theatre, mostly towards Gapp.
David Mantell Posted January 25 Posted January 25 Following on from two weeks ago (in fact I did consider doing this first and doing Buffalo Vs Tony this week), here are Trujillo and Vircocha again a year earlier only in regular Catch Á Quatre, not Six, and without the benefit of a surly Saulnier helping them out due to a grudge with Les Bons. (Saulnier was still just finishing up from being active in the ring and the very model of a Lightweight championship clean wrestler as well see in bouts from the 60s and early 70s. Their opponents are both playing away from home - Gsss and Walter may make an Electric tag team but both of them have regular partners. Walter at this point was paired with Claude Rocas (earlier it was a senior Rene Ben Chemouel, later it would be a young Flesh Gordon.) while Doukhan paired with George Cohen as Les Israliens (George I believe we Algerian Sephardi Jewish, not sure about Gass.). Bordes and Doukhan did have a previous TV match against Josef El Arz and Black Shadow which I've already reviewed on here. We get quite a bit of spare footage of Roger Delaporte, his assistant and some other TV guy in a headset sitting around waiting for their cue, smoking their cigarettes. (No idea whether this was broadcast or if this is a transmission tape sent to INA after broadcast. There's no speaking clock so my guess is the latter.) The MC is announcing whom is on the bill n3 t time and it's a good lineup including Gilbert Le Duc. Bored crowd members are blowing airborne and harmonicas and chanting Pappa Doux Mais Mais to jumpstart Bordes's ring entry. Finally everyone climbs in the ring, along with a suited Jacky Corne who cordially shakes everyone's hand. even Les Méchants. Inca is again wearing his stripey coloured gown designed to get xenophobic heat from the French fans but he is outshone by Bordes in his gorgeous gold lamé gown with a red sash. Trujillo doesn't yet ear the stripey gear, preferring a grey sheepskin top, while Gass has his usual light blue jacket suitable for guest cast in Blake's 7. A young curly haired second is in Les Bons' corner - possibly a pre career Marc Mercier? Premiére Manche. Gass comes off the ropes through Trujilllo's legs. He comes back, gets a double legs takedown but Tomas spins him off before he can do worse. Doukhan cartwheels out of trouble and, carrying on rotating , gets a cross buttock throw on Trujilllo in the same motion, then a second one. He gets a side chancery throw, bodycheck and lands nicely from a backdrop attempt to come back with a dropkick, before tagging Walter and triggering fresh chants of PDMM. Inca also tags in and gets a nice side headlock takedown only for Walter to counter with the same Wedging Out escape that Salvatore Bellomo used on Klaus Kauroff on the German thread yesterday and that Johnny Saint frequently used on ITV etc. He used the same escape to get out of a side chancery throw into long press in the guard. Inca next instead tries a standing headlock but Walter uncorks himself much like Mike Marino would do at this time but with a certain agile skip as he yanks his head free. Inca does the same again with the same Water counter. Walter then dives through Inca's legs and gets two hiptosses. Inca is no slouch for agility either, he gets a side headlock takedown with a leap up almost like a sideways Planchette Japonaise only for Bordes to yet again wedge out. Inca gets another headlock takedown which Bordes breaks open to form a ground top wristlock which Vircocha himself counters with a headscissors. Walter forsakes the wristlock to wedge out and snap open th3 headscissors and kip up. Water tags Trujilllo demands L'Arbitre keep Bordes back until he is fully in the ring. Walter gets a standing full nelson, Tomas breaks a side and goes behind to reverse. Walter slips downwards and backrolls but Tomas catches him again with the Double Nelson as he gets up. He doesn't get a firm grip in time and Walter now goes behind then falls backwards, boots Tomas from behind into the ropes and catches him with a leg flip on the rebound. Tomas gets a shoulder but next Walte4 leapfrogs him then catches him with a pair of Scisseaux Volees on the run and a dropkick out of the ring! Doukhan tags back in and double interlocks Trujillo, picks off one side with a foot, gets behind in a loose standing hammerlock position, slips forward through Trujilllo's legs then catches him with a ground position dropkick. Again Les Méchants tag, looking and waiting for that heat moment. Viracocha seems to have it with a double Interlock into high whip and a decent if not earth shattering bump. But Gass gets a side chancery takedown and neck stretch in one motion to regain the Bon advantage for now. Gass gets a full nelson into a rear snapmare with quit3 a thump then tag Walter. But perhaps the tide is turning - Tomas gets an armlock in the guard position and sees off a couple of kicks and headscissor attempts before Bordes bicycle kips up, only to be pulled down again by the heel in black using the hair. Again Bordes tries bicycle kipping upright, steps over Tomas's head and snapmares him. Tomas ducks under the first rope run and drop toeholds Bordes's second rebound, blocks him into quite a strong Powerbomb like bump and then gets a sunset flip for the first pin attempt of the bout, only for Walter to double ankle smash even before one,. Walter gets a running leapfrog and again dropkicks Trujillo out of the ring into Couderc's area of seating - "sur moi" quips Roger. Trujillo clambers back, dodging pestilent ringsiders and tags Vircocha who gets a double interlock before releasing one side to get a high wristlever and reverse armhank takeover down into armscissor in the guard, switching to headscissor with the wrist still held. Doukhan reaches to prise open the scissor but instead opts to kip upright, still in the hold and go for the folding press, getting the first actual pin count so far and then only a 1 before Viracocha spins him off with the scissors. He keeps holding but Gass's legs hit the ropes. Vircocha has Run Out Of Mat. They start over and look to be headed for a double Interlock but Gass gets a spinning single legdive takedown. Mindful of his opponent's recent error, he drags Inca by the foot to the centre of the ring and gets a ferocious straightening leg weakened on the villain. Inca's legs are still in good Nick, he gets a fantastic drop toehold into Frank Gotch toehold. Gass curls himself up into the George Kidd ball (across the Channel Kidd was just retiring at this time.) tempting Inca with various limbs offered then hastily withdrawn. Gass eventually gets an arm in the confusion and armdrags his man into the guard. Inca makes it up only for Gass to high whip him back down (to no5 much of a bump- Inca absorbs it well, it must be said.). Both sides tag prompting some total Cul in the crowd to play Papa Doux on the air horn. La Publique don't pick up on it much, serves the idiot right. Walter meanwhile gets a wristlever as a set up for a chop to the chest. Mercifully the bout stays technical for now as another lock up results in Tomas getting a Full Japanese Stranglehold on the kneeling Bordes. He drops to his own knees - perhaps looking for a surfboard? Walter stands up and tries to throw his way out but Tomas goes with the momentum and reapplied the full Japanese Stranglehold. Water tries again, rolling round in the momentum until, on the mat, he can get a foot in for a singl3 leg flip. But Tomas is not down long enough for a count so they start over. Walter gets a spinning armlock takedown into crosspress (and quite a Beauty it is!) but L'Arbitre is slow to count and Bordes slaps the mat in frustration. Th3cref runs round and gets a couple of 1 and 2 counts before Tomas turns things over and gets his own cross press for one. Walter turns things his way up again but Runs Out Of Mat for the second time this bout. The heels tag a d Inca walks straight into trouble, Walter stepping over his arms to get into a spinning kick worthy of Sammy Lee 4 years later. Gass tags in, finger Interlocks Inca to the mat and stamps on his hands. He follows up with a spinning kick on the downed Inca but a gentle cheeky effort such that L'Arbitre lets it go. Another interlock and Vircocha gets a back hammerlock from a front facing position from which he lands blows to the back and front, felling Le Bon. Is this the end of the technical portion of the match? Not entirely, as Inca picks up Gass for a snapmare but upon getting it drops a knee. Not yet a brawl but moving into deeper heat. Inca kicks Bordes as he tries to tag in and kneelifts a recovering Gass just as he breaks contact with the mat with any body part bar the sole of the boot but is still not upright (the bare minimum for legality but still a long way from sportsmanship.). He gets another kne3 but knocks Doukhan into tagging range and in comes Bordes in brawling mood mnchettingbIn a into the heel corner and leading the jeers as neither villain wants to come forward. Trujilllo eventually comes forward and after a brief battle for arm supremacy-gets a fantastic rope assisted arm drag - shades of Mark "Kid McCoy" Boothman a decade plus later! Trujillo gets another one from the opposite corner. Tomas is still Un Méchant however and he pulls the hair to get Bordes in a reverse DDT and single permitted stomp before L'Arbitre moves in. He gets the hair again but Bordes gets that most classically French of escapes, the Reverse Snapmare - to park himself on the r8ng apron with Trujillo in the reverse front chancery with his neck on the ropes. He could get a nasty neckbreaker on that top rope but the ref earns him off . So Papa Doux releases and Trujillo missed with a chop, is knocked down and slingshot splashed á la Rick Martel but gets out the way resulting in a bump for the bon. Tomas goes for a Legdrop Of Doom but misses. Both sides tag and start over. Viracocha starts things off with a neat side chancery throw and comes back off the ropes with a bodycheck. Gass gets one back but Trujillo gets a decent swift backdrop in return. Gas ducks down under the next charge and comes up with a shoulderblock which fells the villain. He gets the same rear snapmare and forward neck weakener as earlier then tags Bordes. The roads chants Papa Doux Mais Mais as he side headlocks Inca . He comes off the ropes first with a bodycheck then with a flying bulldog side headlock takeover into a side headlock on the mat in the Mount, but yet again Runs Out Of Mat as the heel's legs tangle with the ropes. He keeps the headlock and goes for the same sequence, this time getting Inca down right in the middle of the ring. Vircocha gets up (with help from the ropes ) and tries a rear legdive but Walter rolls all the way back to his corner and tags Doukhan. Trujillo who was knocked off the ring apron during that last exchange ruefully tags in also as Gass watches on in some amusement. He baits Tomas and gets behind for a rear waistlock into atomic drop. Tomas comes back with a legdive, fells his man and turns into a leglock but Doukhan boots him in the backside into the corner where he takes the posting badly on his shoulder. Inca tags in and gets a mild bodycheck and a single shot to the shoulders before Walter tags in. Halfway through, the heels have had a strong Heat period but the bout is still mostly scientific. Inca keeps his distance nicely from a sliding leg attack by Walter, possibly even a drop toehold attempt, and gets a high whip that sends Bordes flying for quite a vicious bump. It's an emotional low point for the fans, one guy pointedly shouts "papa DOUX!" to perk things up. But Bordes has a painful expression. He gets an excellent back roll out of a wristlever but then falls victim to the same high whip and bump as earlier. Inca in the corner thinks this deserves more respect and tries to get the crowd to clap! Trujillo meanwhile has spotted that Bordes's arm took the worst of those high whips - perhaps he even bumped bicep first - and posts him so that he lands, bicep first also, in the corner. Still selling the arm, he is up at 7. Inca tries t9 post him but he uses his good arm to hang on to the corner. The referee , on appeal from Inca exercises his option to reject the rope break (something that would become critical in years to come when Saulnier turned heel) and kicks the arm away, springing the posting on Bordes who tags Gass. Gass charges straight in - and is caught and double teamed by Les Méchants until stopped by L'Arbitre. Tomas gets rough, doling out the Manchettes and stomps with the odd interjection by Inca. (If this is the official end of the science and the full takeover of brawling then that's something of a record for a Les Bons Vs Les Méchants bout, some 60%+ of the way through the video.). One irate fan calls Trujillo "un Connard". (look it up if you don't know) and demands he be given Un Avertisement. Yup, it the Paris version of the South London "GIVE 'IM A PUBLIC WAWNIN', REF!!!" guy!. Trujillo gets a couple of postings, the second into a fist loaded corner and a full nelson while L'Arbitre guides Bordes out of the ring allowing Inca to get blows in. Inca swats Bordes casually off the apron and continues the heat. (Bordes land in the lap of Une Spectatrice Charmane - so that's him Ratted Up for the night post match then! We forget how helpful wrestlers were to each other back in the day) and slingshots Gass Doukhan into the heel corner. Both Bons pull themselves up but Gass once again is double legged and slingshot into the corner. He falls down and Inca gets a cross press low splash for th3 three count and the opening Tombée. The villains celebrate and get a shove in on Gass as he gets back to his corner. Deuxième Manche - Les Méchants are now in the lead and feel like taking greater risks with L'Irregularité. Inca gets a Double Nelson and hold him for Tomas who lands a headbutt. Inca gets two Manchettes then the same Double Nelson for Tomas' headbutt. Walter dives through and gets a full nelson of his own on Trujillo who tries a rear through the legs single leg takedown but is booted in to backside. This however ends in the very repeat of the headbutt to torso the heels were trying for anyway. Not a smart move for Les Bons although Inca gets it badly too. Both sides tag and start over, a cold start to the Hot Babyface Tag. Now it's Les Bons turn to play the brawling game as Bordes gets two Manchettes on Trujillo and another on Inca in the corner. Soon he is whacking away both villains alternately before he slings them both to ringside to try their luck with La Spectatrice ( was she the blonde lady in the stripey top.). Inca makes it back first and is snapmared in And bionic elbowed by Gass who also has un Manchette for Tomas on the apron. He throws and dropkicks Tomas out and ties Inca in the ropes and dive-bombs him. When Inca tries to intervene, Gass double legdives and catapults him into Trujillo. Inca is in and gets a cross handed grovit on Bordes and Les Méchants double cream him but Les Bons reverse the tactics and soon have Tomas stomach butting Inca. Gass is still officially in and snapmares and elbowsmashes Tomas repeatedly. Tomas gets a side chancery throw back in return but Gass ducks down, leapfrogs and crosspresses for the equalising fall . Les Bons celebrate in the ring, looking like Strike Force in their matching white pencil trunks. La Belle: (Par-Ce Qu'Il Y A EU). Gass gets Manchettes and a kneelift from Inca and a 10F Prime from a ringsider with too much spare cash and a desire for 5 secs TV fame. Bordes tags in and for a moment it gets technical again as Inca back hammerlocks him. Walter gets up, tries to slip in the other arm for an armdrag or the foot for a reverse drop toehold but eventually gets a rear snapmare Inca lands well on his feet and gets another hammerlock, pinioning Bordes for an illegal Trujilllo stomach punch from the ring apron. He takes Bordes down into almost the mount with the hammerlock. Bordes tries a reverse snapmare but just ends up atomic dropping himself while actually tightens the hold on Le Bon. Oh dear. He tries the escape again with the same unsuccessful result. A third attempt is no better but the referee takes an interest and gives the heels Un Avertisement (shared, so it's a One Knockout Tag. I'm not sure what the Avertisement was for but let's hope Shouty Man from the 20-25 mins period was satisfied. Inca gets an overhead lever into another back hammer, a standing one this time Bordes gets a side headlock and FINALLY that classic French reverse snapmare to land behind his man, get a double leg takedown, run the length of his opponent laying in the mount and gets a side headlock of his own then headscissor the other heel and throw BOTH of them! Gass tags in and that's the end of the scientific wrestling for tonight as he wallops both villains with Manchettes like a classic American Babyface doing a Hot Tag, then gets a hiptoss and dropkick out of the ring in front of La Spectatrice and her equally blond friend, both giggling at it all. A four man brawl ends with Les Bons back to back. The both duck down, both heels collide, each face covers a heel, one gets out and rescues the other, Inca posts Brides but he runs the last bit and ends up on the top turnbuckle coming off with a flying bodypress for the decider and winner. Probably the best example of Old French Catch we've had in a while, mostly technical except for one run of heel heat in the final third of the video. Less of the comedy aspect of the Catch A Six a year later, more chance to see Vircocha and Trujillo's actual skills. As with the cleanup of remaining 80s bouts on the German thread, I intend to mop up on any remaining colour INA taped bouts for 1975-1987 then do the same for the remaining stash of monochrome overseas sale kinescope prints for 1970-1974 then ditto 1965-1969. I do however intend to bung in some New Catch or later (I)WS(F) or revived FFCP footage some weekends either for relief or because I'm busy or just remind everyone that Le Catch survived coming off TV IN December 1988 just like British Wrestling did.
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