French catch

[David Mantell]

We've seen Eddy Steinblock in action in his home territory on the German thread. Here he travels west of the Rhine to face the future Mantaur  on Season 2 of New Catch on Eurosport 1991.

Eddi3 gets an early advantage (after some nondescript body blockages)with a toe and ankle hold.  He eventually drops a leg and lets Mastino up only to get another fuller leglock on!  Mastino pulls him off by the hair and guillotine elbowsmashes him.  Bruiser gets a powerslam for 5, a posting for 6, an over knee backdrop and cover for 1, a chinlock.  Eddy gets a scissor chop, Bruise gets a slam, elbow drop and splash for the winner.

Not much to be said here.  American style squash, although Steinblock fights back well.

Most Old Time Catch thing about this - dear old Charley Bollet, brother of Andre as Monsieur L'Arbitre.

[David Mantell]

And just to prove it, here he is 19 years earlier on an ORTF era overseas kinescope from February 1972. (Falempin made it to New Catch Season 1 in 1988). Whether this was originally in colour depends on whether it was on channel 2 or 1 but three of these four guys certainly appeared together in a Catch Á Six in August 1978.(inca. Gonzalez and Tomas Trujillo Vs Guy, Bruno Asquini and Gerard Tayse.)

These star of this show incidentally is Gonzales who make a terrific show of playing the hopeless cowardly luckless loser.  He's more than a good carpenter here, he's actually a bit of a scene stealer.

Les Méchants are Gitanes with stripey jackets and that's enough to triggerhav heat from the Cirque D'Hiver crowd.  Jo Go had the thinning long hair and a moustache but not yet the wispy prog rocker beard (later on the commentator will do a Kent Walton and tell his viewers that Jo's hobbies Include "playing th3 guitar" an anti-Hispanic stereotype nothing to do with heavy metal or owt.)

Inca and Michel start with some false starts and the odd cheap shot. Then Michel gets a couple of armdrags and Ina gets a rear waistlock but Falempin forces it open and reverses it.  Ina does the same so Michel slips out downwards and back through Inca's legs. But Inca dodges and gets a mount hammerlock so Michel pulls himself up and gets a rear snapmare.  But Inca lands well so Guy tags in and gets a single armbar and whips Inca then gets a headlock takeover. Inca eventually gets control of the Headlock and tags Gonzales who side chancery throws Guy.  But Guy bridges up and gets his own rear snapmare then a high whip and bump on Jo.followed by an armdrag. The commentator compares Jo to D'Artagnan the human character on whom Dogtanian was based in the cartoon.). Guy gets a top wristlock and armdrag takedlowns him, then another armdrag.  Jo gets a hammerlock and tags Inca back in, landing. Les Bons also get a tag and Inca get a quick bulldog on Michel He keeps hold and does a cross buttock on Falempin who replies with a rear snapmare. Inca gets more throws of various in on Falempin who stalls him with a mount chinlock.  He stands up with the hold, Ina uses a trip to get out but Falempin reapplies instantly.  Inca tries the same trick and dodges the re-grab, getting a simple armlock to the bicep. Falempin tries to reverse snapmare but Inca has walked him over to the heel corner so as Falempin goes up, Gonzales chops him down.  La publique et Monsieur Charley L'Arbitre ne sont pas contents but what can they do?  Guy tries to complain but Les Méchants double team as Charley packs him out.  Emboldened, the heels give Falempin the bumps even though it probably wasn't his birthday then Gonzales takes over.  Falempin tries to fight back with a front chancery but Inca stomps him down.  The heels tag and again give Falempin the birthday bumps. Inca has an armbar on, Michel tries the classic French Scisseaux Volees escape but Gonzales points Bollets attention to Les Bons corner then hauls him off.  Falempin tries bridging but Gonzales pulls Michels' feet out (and I haven't even got onto the REAL show stealing stuff I mentioned at the start.). Finally Charley catches Gonzales brazenly stomping Falempin and just throws him out, earning himself an Aux Chiottes Arbitre chant.   Inca still has an armlock on Falempin and he tags Gonzales but Falempin backflips on them both then double legflips the pair of Méchants before finally tagging Guy. Who goes at bit wild with three sequential dropkicks like Speedball Bailey on that video on the German thread.   Charley tells him off and nearly gets swatted.  Inca cones in and gets similar treatment. Falempin comes in an Gonzales roars defiance at the crowd.  He gets a side chancery, cross buttock throw, huaracanrana and double legs before Falempin spins him off, but Gonzales takes well, cartwheeling off and getting a snapmare into headlock. Falempin comes back with  a hammerlock but Gonzales comes back with a leglock till Les Bons tag leaving Gonzales looking bewildered.  He attacks Michel on the apron but Guy just fires off more dropkicks.  Gonzales crouches frightened in the corner as Inca gets an armbar.  Inca continues to work on Guy on the mat.  Falempin gets the tag (afte4 nearly falling over the ropes!). And snapmares and neck stretces Inca. Jo tags back in and he and Michel gesture menacingly at each other until Michel gets a double Interlock into snapmare.  Gonzalez has to go with a. number of whips but he feigns a leg injury to get some Manchettes in on the now back Guy.  "il est un comedien, Lola des trruques" says the commentator.  Jo sells Manchettes, a snapmare or two and a dropkick quite flamboyantly.  He fires back with a snapmare and dropkick of his own before both men miss a dropkick each.  Gonzalez staggers around then tags Inca.  They exchange Manchettes and Falempin comes in again. Inca gets a legdive and leglock.  I think he uses a crafty bite or two to stop Falempin.  After some Inca Manchettes, Guy comes in They exchanged hammerlock and a haggard looking Gonzalez staggers back in.He drops flamboyantly to his knees beseeching Charley to take Guy's threats of a closed fist seriously and intervene.  Then he dives in and gets a full nelson, the shrew!    Inca gets a tag and a flying headbutt and beat Falempin down before getting back the full nelson.  Gonzalez comes in for a double team but misses and ends up tied in the ropes by his neck, flailing his legs in panic.  As Charley and Inca try to free him, Les Bons et La Publique have all sorts of fun, the faces bombing him, the fans cheering it.  It's ironically a Falempin Manchette that finally knocks him free.  But Le Gitane is groggy and in no state to fight ... until he suddenly bashes and whips Falempin.  He even gets a sunset flip into double leg nelson at one point but only gets two from it.  Falempin fights back and both sides tag, Guy and Inca mixing Manchettes with stabilisers for illegal closed fists.  Guy ducks a Manchette and gets a legdive into toehold finishing with a leg weakener.  Falempin is next in but Inca whips and bumps him around, into the heel corner.  Inca gets a double Interlock into horizontal spin into arm lever and a snapmare. They exchange shoulderblocks and Guy tags in.    Both heels are in a heap in their corner and Charley holds Guy back a bit. Gonzalez goes for an Interlock but Guy gets a bearhug, hoisting him high before dropping him into an over the knee backbreaker which Gonzales sells like his back his broken. Les Bons take turns,  Falempin slams Jo, Guy post him , Falempin again gives him another over knee backbreaker. Guy posts him into the heel corner where he tags Inca.  Michel takes him down with a three quarter nelson but Jo kicks him off. Guy runs in but Charley coaxes him out.  Falempin gets Inca in a legdive and leghank into practically an Indian death lock which he holds for some time until Charley demands a break.  Inca gets the best of a top wristlock battle on Guy  until he rolls upright and gets the classic French Scisseaux Volees takedown counter.  Gonzales gets a tag and an arm bar. Guy goes up on his head and performs a toupie to reel himself free.  But Les Méchants are soon back double teaming Guy in the corner Jo manchettes and stomps his man - " Voici un  Gitane en colère!" quips the commentator.  Jo gets a snapmare and stomp in one motion for an 8 count til Jo gets a headbutt in.  After more stomps he tags Inca who gets a full nelson on Guy who fires back then tags Michel.  He and Inca exchange thunderous Manchettes then he tags JP who begs off!  But Guy is angry and gets a full nelson.  Gonzales powers his way out before using a rear to to totally escape then fires a dropkick and manchettes and stomps then tags Inca who is just as hard hitting a heel.  Jo is back and uses a grovit as setup for a Manchette.  He corners, backflips, strikes - and misses! Guy tags in and Manchettes both heels before getting the WM4 Koko B Ware bulldog plus flying scissors takedown on both villains.  He dropkicks Inca to ringside then turns to the kneeling exhausted Jo, easily manchetting and twice flooring him as he staggers around.  Finally he gorilla presses Jo and drops him in an over the knee stomach breaker 5en crosspresses him for the one fall required.

Even in defeat Jo is centre of attention staggering around selling and exhausted. He showed me quite a lot both as a carpenter and as a powerful aggressor in his own right which spiced up a good fast paced Catch Á Quatre.

[David Mantell]

And talking  of bouts refereed by Charley Bollet 

Sorry but there's a post on the Worst Professional Wrestler Ever? thread page 1 that got my goat somewhat recently.  It's been dead eight years so I'll get it off my chest here.

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On 10/28/2014 at 9:57 PM, El-P said:

I never actually saw that on Eurosport, only saw a few episodes on national TV TF1. Damn, I missed some stuff that seems awesomely random. Here's a vintage match with Flesh Gordon & Prince Zephy, the two babyface "stars" :

(and yeah, you've got the French equivalent of rednecks in the audience)

(damn, there was actually some pretty good stuff here from Zephy & Jessy Texas. The valet holding the ropes each time his guy makes a tag is a great gimmick too).

 

I'm not bothered about the pros and cons of Flesh Gordon or Marquis Richard - we have seen and debated them at their best and worst on this thread. I'm not even  bothered that an November 1987 FR3 broadcast was wrongly identified as New Catch. 

No, it's the rednecks reference I object to, given the Loooooong history of weaponising class snobbery against wrestling fans.  It was Rednecks (so called because their necks got sunburnt from hard farm labour) that were the Meat And Wine  of Territories era American wrestling.  It was common Mexican folk that sustained Lucha Libre all those years til it rose to become a recognised part of Mexican culture. It was common cloth-cap working class "Oiks" in Britain who built a d sustained British wrestling and the proto "chav" underclass who all had satellite dishes that bankrolled the UK WWF boom.  And it was Les .Ouvriers for whom  Roland Barthes identified the wrestling hall as a sacred temple back in the 50s.

Fast Forward 30 years and I don't think Barthes would have any more truck with the cussing out of a 1987 audience for Le Catch as being poor, proletarian and vulgar than he would with such treatment of their 1950s predecessors.  He'd only be 71 in 1987 if not for that laundry van in March 1980

Steam duly let off.

 

[David Mantell]

On 5/4/2026 at 7:08 PM, David Mantell said:

On the subject of this match, does anyone know what song that is that Flesh and Zéfy use for their ring entrance and post match celebration?

As I mentioned on the British and German threads, I had a weekend in Blackpool recently and went along to the Sandcastle Waterpark. Years ago in the changing rooms th3n had video screens that played that same tune. I got talking to an attendant I've known for years and I told him about this bout and how it had th3n same music they used to play in the Waterpark lockeroom, he remembered the song but didn't know what it is..

EDIT: Apparently it's this (although the Waterpark may have used a knock-off cover version.)

 

 

[Scarletlikesounds]

I think the next catch guy I wanna look into is Ben Chemoul, I saw only one of the tags with Cesca and he blew the already incredible Cesca out of the water.

[HeadCheese]

On 5/7/2026 at 5:58 AM, Scarletlikesounds said:

I think the next catch guy I wanna look into is Ben Chemoul, I saw only one of the tags with Cesca and he blew the already incredible Cesca out of the water.

He's my favorite from the limited French Stuff I have seen, I don't fully connect to French Catch but, Rene Ben Chemoul is my favorite. He really pops out especially with how playful he is.

[HeadCheese]

7/27/2025 Battle Royal (Joseph Fenech Jr. vs. MBM vs. Calypso vs. Leon Vigoureux vs. TLB vs. Isaac Machado vs. Adam Frost vs. Vallon Cage vs. Coda Reznov vs. Agathe vs. Clarty Jr. vs. Luchanord vs. Morcego vs. Nelson Fernandes), CACC Show Sur L’Eau

Its really cool that the French are still wrestling on lakes, a battle royal on top of a lake is wild.

 

 

[El-P]

[David Mantell]

20 hours ago, HeadCheese said:

7/27/2025 Battle Royal (Joseph Fenech Jr. vs. MBM vs. Calypso vs. Leon Vigoureux vs. TLB vs. Isaac Machado vs. Adam Frost vs. Vallon Cage vs. Coda Reznov vs. Agathe vs. Clarty Jr. vs. Luchanord vs. Morcego vs. Nelson Fernandes), CACC Show Sur L’Eau

Its really cool that the French are still wrestling on lakes, a battle royal on top of a lake is wild.

 

 

Like I've said, it's just a part of this particular wrestling territory's culture that swimming pools etc are - and have for a long time - been  considered a normal place to hold a pro wrestling show.

On 5/7/2026 at 1:58 PM, Scarletlikesounds said:

I think the next catch guy I wanna look into is Ben Chemoul, I saw only one of the tags with Cesca and he blew the already incredible Cesca out of the water.

Was that a Catch Á L'Eau show too?

[David Mantell]

On 10/14/2025 at 10:01 PM, David Mantell said:

Quote

MD: This one ALMOST slipped through the cracks and that would have been a shame as it was great fun. Bambini at least seems more of a native than Tiny Tom or Cowboy Lang (they were noted as part of Flesh Gordon's stable of wrestlers) and that gave all of this a very different feel while hitting some of the same familiar marks (albeit, sometimes in different ways). Puma Negro was entirely the straight man, basing and occasionally becoming an obstactle for the Hassan Bambini act.

And what an act it was. He was an over the top creature of chaos, more Puck than Lord Littlebrook. He spent the entire match completely and utterly "on", just one entertaining bit after the next while being as over the top as possible, menacing his opponent and the ref to the crowd's delight. There was a combination of spots you'd expect, things I've never seen before, and bits of acrobatics like huge press up monkey flips or catapults where Puma ended up contorted in between the top and middle turnbuckles. 

All of it had the sort of 80s French whimsy you'd expect. My favorite bit might have been Bambini getting frustrated at the ref not counting how he wanted, so he kept going down on his knees and counting in French. When the ref finally got down to show his count pacing, of course Bambini stomped on the ref's fingers. On paper, not much, but the vocal "un doux trois" went a long way. The ref was a good sport overall and took maybe the best comedic bump of the match, kicked off on a hold escape to be lodged into the ropes. And of course, once there, Bambini slammed Puma's head into his gut a few times then tried to blame it all on Puma. Eventually, he dramatically DQed Bambini and gave the match to Puma, doing it as theatrically as possible. Somehow after that he ended up covered in silly string, which is exactly how this thing should have ended. Look, I wouldn't want to spend all my time in this part of French Catch but as a one time visit, it really was a lot of fun.  

ER: I don't know that I've watched much European mighty midgets wrestling and certainly not any from the 80s. Matt mentioned Cowboy Lang, and Lang was living in the Bay Area in the late 90s so I learned American Midget style watching a 50 year old Lang wrestle at fairs and other area Indies, going through the same beats of the same match. I thought it was funny and surprising that these 80s French minis have more in common with American Mighty Midgets style as I just kind of assumed it would have been more like French Catch But Done By Midgets. Instead of seeing smaller wrestlers with exaggerated athleticism like in lucha minis style, it's them doing slightly different Euro Disney variations on classic American midget wrestling. Lucha minis hinge on the basing of the rudos, classic American minis was more about prankster babyface making things difficult for the poor referee tasked with maintaining decorum. That's what we got here. 

Instead of elaborate armdrags it was "will he bite the referee's butt like in American midget wrestling style? Oh, in France they kick the ref in the butt instead, I see." There's more humor placed on the referee humorously covering his crotch with his hands, on how well he utilizes comedic hand cupping. He wasn't the hop around yelping kind of ref. Older. How would he handle the Tossing spots? Once I saw they were a brother of American style, I expected more tossing. I didn't think the kickout into the ref's arms would be done identically. I expected a different punchline. Good to know that's a universal language of the style, but I was holding out for that different punchline delivery. However, I really enjoyed the tease into thinking we were getting a tossing spot, the ref picking up a crying, picked on Bambini in his arms, and instead cradling and rocking him, comforting him. Feeling pity for his playfully menacing antagonist. The ref got caught in the ropes and stuck in a convincing way that worked best at his age/size. He was a ref in his 50s who looked like a less late night TV handsome Tom Snyder and fell back into and hung up in the ropes, great at selling being stuck in the ropes while also trying to hold onto that position for fear of taking a worse bump. The counting pace routine was really great, the referee standing up for his slower measured count and keeping his cool during Bambini's "un doux trois" bullying. Stomping fingers is a spot only used by heels in American wrestling and it takes French comedy style for crowds to laugh at stomped fingers. The acrobatics were saved for the late match run, drawing out the physical routines for a long time before getting to actually replicating combat. By the time Bambini was pulling out his armdrag variations and monkey flip it had been long enough that they could have segued out of a wrestling match entirely and into some other kind of physical performance beyond. 

And it perhaps it did become that, because even being placed in the middle of 1986, nobody would have expected the silly string. 

OK, the first thing to be said is that it's good to have SOMETHING - ANYTHING of French Catch from French terrestrial TV from calendar year 1986. It plugs that particular gap  and disproves any notion of a hiatus (I'm sure there was plenty more, probably another bout with this one) but at least this is hard evidence that there was anything at all..

It's got the same miserable heel referee from the 1982 FR3 broadcast and the 1987 Jones Vs Kramer match, although it's not filmed at the nice place with the sloppy wooden ceiling, rather in somewhere with a big top tent over it. Possibly on a boat of some sort.

The two little people work in much the same style as the two in the support slot for Marc Mercier Vs Albert Sanniez 1982.  They can both credibly cartwheel and handspring out of throws etc. The referee does a similar reverse DQ decision to the one he did in the tag match in 1982 and ends up being squirted in silly string for his pains as "ER" mentioned.  If you try ignoring the comedy aspect, it's a reasonably fast paced  gymnastic sort of bout, but not intelligent enough to motivate me to try a blow by blow description.  

Not sure where these two were imported from but I'm guessing Mexico from the El Puma name (the Spanish CIC having shut down 11 years earlier before anyone makes that suggestion).

Some more of Hassan and Puma as each of them eqips themselves with a lady wrestler for a mixed tag. Hassan gets one of the top French female stars of the era, Gaby Lailee. Puma gets Spain's Ascency del Oro.

This was privately filmed on U Matic by an independent video maker -Edgar Bastian himself who owns the YT channel - who was apparently hired in by the village elite who put the event on. It was they who insist on the elderly boxing bloke who complains about wrestling being a work.

There's also a JIP Flesh Gordon Vs Jessy Texas match which we shall get back to as next week's Catch match.  For now we fast forward to 8:29.  The MC's cheesy white jacket makes me fear he's a Butlers Redcoat type but I actually end up learning something interesting and new - that it was André Bollet, brother of arbitre Charley and one time tag partner of Delaporte, who unmasked L'Ange Blanc back in the day.

Yes it's that man Charley again. Fussy but honest unlike that Louis de Blamenque guy from the 1986 FR3 bout (and other FR3 bouts in 1982 and 1987). Gaby still in her native headdress, a relic of her stint as Tonto to Jessy Texas on A2 a year earlier.

1er Manche

The ladies start off, trading armdrags 8ncluding off a double interlock.  Gaby cartwheels on one move them tags Hassan who gets warming up to do cartwheel type stuff on Oro till she tags Puma. Hassan cartwheels out of throws then dives forward behind Puma  to rear dropkick him out of the ring.  (Great move).  When he gets back Gaby is in beckoning.  So in comes Oro and gets caught in a headlock. Unfortunately we don't see how she got out as instead we get a drunk audience member in a check shirt, bottle in hand, shouting "Vaz-y!". while two lady fans look on embarrassed.  Oro gets a headlock, Gaby twice considers a trip but instead twice throws her to the ropes and is bodychecked on the rebound.  Oro dives in but Gaby dodges so Oro misses. Midgets are in , for a moment Hassan is ready for for Pro, but instead he gives Puma some cross buttocks. Puma gets headscissors and some 2 counts, Hassan uses a simple upright headstand escape.  He dodged  Puma charges but Puma gets 2 kneelifts and a posting. Hassan resists the impact a second time and easily kicks out a pin attempt.  The women tag in and Oro armdrags Gaby twice. Gaby uses vertical spins to high whip Oro for a bump.  She legdives and knee splashes Oro. Who dropkicks her off but lands on Charley.  Midgets in.  Hassan struts and superkicks. Collar and elbow.  Hassan gets a guard armlock and some 2 counts.  Both midgets try go behind in a kneeling position.  Hassan gets a rear leg spread but gets Manchettes on a charge. Gaby slaps Puma who threatens to punch her.  Hassan gets a standing ankle, spins and fells Puma for a  2 count. Women in.  Gaby gets a full nelson, keeps it some time then switches to rear snapmare.  She gets a side headlock into front olding press but Oro keeps her shoulders up.  Oro gets a reverse armhank, uses illegal  hairpulls to stop Gaby kipping up and out. On the third try she gets up and has a wristlock through Oro's legs. Oro rolls forward, takes the bump then rolls back and connects with a ground dropkick. Gaby gets a reverse snapmare and tags midgets.  Puma gets a front chancery but too close to the ropes.  Hassan does Vic Faulkner's "stop" trick then does another diving reverse dropkick.  For some reason he gets un Avertisement for this for "lutte irregulière" (Why?).  He gets two  good rear chanceries and some good armdrags and legflips and a fling bodypress for the opener. 

2ème manche

Midgets lock up.  Hassan gets side chancery throw and legdrop.  Puma dodges another one but Hassan single leg flips him.  Puma goes out but Hassan side chancery throws him in, gets a second and a double legflips posting Puma falls back out the ring.  He gets back for another side chancery.  a.nd double leg flip but tangled with the ropes. Hassan gets 2 but Puma kicks him off into Charley's arms. The old gap of pitching him back and him being thrown off 7ntil Charley has had enough.  Puma complains and gets un Premiere Avertisement for it.  Women in.  Oro gets a headlock, Gaby throws her off but Oro regains.  A second one and Gaby ducks, hiptosses and cross presses for 2.  Oro gets a posting but Gaby gets bodyscissors in the corner and boots her off for a crosspress and 2.  Midgets in.  Hassan twice corners and pummels Puma, is dragged off by Charley and warnedbut goes through his legs and resumes. Hassan gets a cross body lock for 2.  Both get mat grovits and roll over  Charley.  He's not happy and gives both midgets the Deuxième Et Dernière Avertisement.  Women in.  Gaby gets a front chancery, Oro breaks it open to get a whip and bump into armhank.  She gets some 1s  from it but Gaby ups her shoulder each time.  Gaby rolls up the arm into a headlock into cross buttock throw.  Unfortunately we cut away to fans being asked it wrestling is a suitable sport for ladies or not. We briefly see Oro tied in the ropes which the MC correctly says is illegal.  When we get back, Charley is trying to stop and argument between Puma and Gaby while Oro is selling on the mat.  They lock up and she gets some dodgy chest blows and a cross body throw.  She is up for a Manchette to the rear shoulders and illegal rope fouls which Oro claims is retaliation for whatever we missed earlier.  Ironically we get more such vox pops at this point.  Finally we get back to the ring and Or has an armbar against the shoulder. Into pressing the other arm. Into a seated crossface into mat side headlock in the guard. This gets reduced to a dubious throttle which Gaby counters with a cross-arm grovit and two powerful Manchettes into a rear snapmare .  Midgets are in.   Puma gets a front chancery to set up a pair of Manchettes.  Hassan bulldogs him into the corner.  Hassan gets a toehold into leglock - almost a Boston Crab. He does eventually get a full Boston Crab having to first undress the single leg hold.  Puma flips him off but Hassan rolls upright nicely.  Puma stomps him illegally on the mat and gets a full nelson and tries to switch to a rear waistlock suplex but Hassan sits to break the fall.  Undeterred, Puma gets a bodyscissors and even the spinedrop in the hold - although as Puma is Le Méchant and Hassan Le Bon, the crowd don't chant  "Ah Ouais" at all. Hassan slings upright but is distracted by an argument with Charley. Women back in.  Gaby gets two rrear snapmares and some  Manchettes.  She gets a cross buttock and press for 2 and another snapmare but Oro comes back with a bodycheck that reminds me of Flair felling Sting for the title-regaining pin at the Meadowlands Jan 11, 1991.   We get a long shot of the MC and when we get back Gaby gets a Manchette and a somewhat sloppy Fireman's carry (almost like Oro is trying to convert it to a sunset flip) . She gets the takedown and cover but Oro easily bridges out.  Gaby gets a side chancery throw, two shoulderblocks, a slam and crosspress for the second straight. Winners 2-0 Gaby and Hassan.

Afterwards Gaby is awarded a big bouquet of red rosess and Hassan does a promo where he fends off questions about is it sport Vs acting and he talks about his acting career. Wanting to keep kayfabe the MC comes to the rescue with Qs about how Hassan feels about the win tonight etc.  Gaby also gets interviewed, she says yes it is for women, she only gets the aggression out in the ring and back home she's a nice say-hello-in-the-street type.  

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@ohtani's jacket wrote

Only you could extrapolate that much out of a midgets match

Oh no I can extrapolate a lLOT more from the right midget match or in this case midget/female mixed match. Dark horse candidate for scientific Match of the weekend.  The four ladies and gents really pushed the envelope in terms of going for serious content rather than brazen farce. I'm impressed. Well done to them. Only a pity we had all the distracting stuff with fans/the MC (Apparently it was a little village and Everyone in town wanted their Warholian 15 min on camera.

Okay. Flesh Vs Jessy from the start of the clip next weekend and it will balance out. ta longer 25 min clip on the German thread.

[Scarletlikesounds]

On 5/9/2026 at 12:00 AM, HeadCheese said:

He's my favorite from the limited French Stuff I have seen, I don't fully connect to French Catch but, Rene Ben Chemoul is my favorite. He really pops out especially with how playful he is.

Hoooooly fuck I watched that Chemoul/Bordes vs. Tejero/Peruano tag and its a strong fucking 9/10, what an incredible incredible match. I think its the best catch I've seen, above Bollet vs. Weicz, Henker vs. Leduc & Cesca & Cesca vs. Catanzaro

I also watched Tejero vs. Bordes and it's not quite as good but still showcases how great the two are as workers.

[Scarletlikesounds]

Also, weird thing I've noticed but this French stuff translates really differently culturally, because the heels often come off as the faces to me- like every match poor bollet or tejero just wants to wrestle and these gremlins keep refusing to wrestle them and constantly evading them and then they tie them up in the ropes and try to beat on them when theyre helpless before abusing their rightful anger to throw them out of the ring- such dastardly behavior! for shame Buyten, for shame.

[Scarletlikesounds]

4 hours ago, David Mantell said:

Was that a Catch Á L'Eau show too?

Honestly, I have 0 Idea

[David Mantell]

Sorry, that was just a silly joke.  I think I know the one and it wasn't a swimming pool show.

[David Mantell]

On 9/29/2024 at 11:38 AM, David Mantell said:

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@ohtani's jacket wrote in 2020

Gaby Lailee vs. Acensy De Oro (aired 3/8/87)

Flesh Gordon vs. Eliot Frederico (aired 3/8/87)

A pair of nothing matches to end our 80s catch adventure. 

8th March 1987, 3 weeks before WM3, 13 days before ITV televised Kendo & Rocco Vs Yamada from Croydon in place of Hogan Vs Kamala and a month before Magnum hobbled to ringside to inspire Dusty and Nikita to victory.

I really like the intro and how it segues from the lone live trumpet player to the distinctly Fight Night vibe music as the wrestlers get in to the ring for a German/Austrian style Ringerparade and do their best disco dancing moves to show they are ready to go.  Loads of soon to be familiar New Catch faces -Flesh, Marquis Jacky, Angelito, Zefy, Eliot Frederico (who I think became the Grim Rocker) Flesh is dtill....

I'm really taking to Gabby Laillee's work.  Once again she's in with an Old Bag heel in Ascension del Oro who works much the same as Valerie Wonder in 1991 on TF1 New Catch. Out of the ring brawl sees Oro in a front row seat as ringsiders move swiftly out of the way, it earns Gabby an Avertisement.  Gabby easily gets the win.  Gabby has a manager/hunky boyfriend in her corner, alleged Yugoslav champion Draganan.

Flesh and Eliot come out for their match, Le Rocky De Ring has a tubby besuited manager who looks like a heel Arnold Skaaland.  Flesh is still in his athletic prime, trim but not as skinny as his days with Walter Bordes. Plenty of high flying stuff reflecting Herve's Lucha background and plenty of standard French somersaulting counters. Eliot is just a straight up brawler. Flesh looks like he's got it sewn up when Jacky Richard comes to the ring and helps Eliot win. Draganan comes back to protest and a challenge is made.

Verdict: More fun than @ohtani's jacket reckoned it was

For those who want to see more of Gaby and Oro.  With Charley reffing yet again!

Actually I've just realised on Alessio's 1970-1987 playlist there's Catch Au Village ending  with the Gabby & Hassan Vs Oro and Puma tag, then Hassan Vs Puma solo (from FR3 1986) and then Oro Vs Gaby solo to start the March 1987 syndicated FR3 broadcast. All in succession. 

Hassan and Puma are in the Ringerparade at the start of the Match 1987 broadcast too (Puma in a black cowboy hat.). I wonder what happened with all the matches with the other wrestlers in that Ringerparade?