French catch

[ohtani's jacket]

How about Robert Gastel and Karl von Chenok?

Roger Delaporte & Paul Villars vs. Yves Amor & Georges Gueret (aired 9/5/59)

This was far more entertaining than the previous Delaportes tag, largely because Amor and Gueret were much better opponents than Said and Minisini. I stopped worry about whether Delaporte was a face, a heel, or a quasi-face, and enjoyed the amazing chemistry he had with Georges Gueret. It looks like Delaporte lost some weight around this period and was including a few more wrestling moves in his bout. Does anyone else think he looks smaller? This had Couderc roaring with laughter at the beginning then turned into the kind of vicious brawl that only heels are capable of. Lots of beard pulling. 

[Phil Lions]

35 minutes ago, ohtani's jacket said:

How about Robert Gastel and Karl von Chenok?

Yes, they did team on a few occasions that I know of, but Gastel was also teaming just as much with Jose Tarres too. Neither team was very regular though. Most of Gastel's tag matches during this time were against Leduc and Montourcy.

[Matt D]

Hunter/Hayes came off like the best team in the world. They really transcended the footage in the last match we saw with them. It was very much a "could main even in any arena" sort of vibe.

[ohtani's jacket]

Andre Bollet vs. Iska Khan (aired 10/2/59)

It's strange that Bollet was off TV for so long. My opinion of him has pretty much plummeted since those early appearances. His stalling and antics did very little for me in this match.  It might have been different if it was the first time to see it or if I was in the mood for it. What I did like about this were the actual wrestling parts. Isha Khan was a generic Asian wrestler with generic Asian offense, similar to the Hawaiian guys in the States, but the one thing I like about those workers is when they unleash a barrage of strikes. They're no great shakes on the mat, but once they get a bit of go forward, they can be entertaining. I really liked the way Bollet sold Khan's strikes. He could have hammed it up and played to the gallery, but instead his selling was subtle and sophisticated. And his own offense was tight. I adored the finish as well as the post-match. They trashed the shit out of that bouquet. This was miles better than Bollet's later performances. I imagine Matt and the other Segunda Caida guys will like those bouts more than I did, but I think we can agree that this is definitely a signature bout. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Jose Arroyo vs. Georges Gueret (aired 10/15/59)

I love Gueret, and Arroyo has been a strong babyface foil for the heels, but you could tell by the finish that this wasn't as hot as previous Arroyo bouts.

Zarak vs. Jean-Pierre Lecompte (aired 10/15/77)

This was better than I expected. I thought it would be Dave Smith-Larsen playing silly buggers, but Lecompte took the fight to him, and they had some fun exchanges. A shame it only went 10 minutes. 

[Phil Lions]

Quasimodo vs. Gilbert Leduc (October 23, 1959, at Salle des Fetes in Montrouge)

I had seen this years ago, but back then it didn't make much of an impression on me beyond how committed Victor Castilla was to the Quasimodo character. Rewatched it again last night and the second time around I enjoyed this match a lot. Probably because now I'm much more familiar with both wrestlers and the context surrounding this match. I wouldn't call it a high-end match, but it accomplished exactly what it set out to do while providing some good action along the way. I believe this was the very first appearance of Castilla as Quasimodo and what better way to debut a new guy, who you're planning on pushing as a main event villain, than to have him go on national TV against your promotion's top babyface. And this is exactly what the match was all about - making Quasimodo. I thought Leduc really went out of his way to sell Quasimodo's nerve hold and make it seem like a devastating hold, thus making Quasimodo seem like a big threat in the process. Quasimodo didn't do a lot in the way of moves and stuck to wearing Leduc down with the nerve hold, but I really liked his signature electric chair catapult into the ropes. It looked great both times. The backbreaker was pretty cool too. I also loved how between the first and second falls Quasimodo seemed to be chomping at the bit to get back to destroying Leduc and as soon as the second fall started he charged Leduc straight away. For his part Leduc got some good shine in there, especially his series of moves to win the second fall. Loved the first jumping piledriver. That was great. The finish was a bit disappointing but it made sense - the villain was disqualified and the babyface did not lose. So yeah, I thought this match was a really strong piece of business. It got Quasimodo over as a threat and Leduc came off as a tough babyface. Plus, if there was to be a rematch between the two at my local arena I would have definitely paid my French francs to see it so the match did good business in that sense as well.

[Matt D]

I am shocked at how good the Bibi/Bernaert team got in 60. Shocked.

Also Phil, keep posting reviews and your thoughts in general. We love to see them.

[ohtani's jacket]

Josef Kovacs vs. Gaby Calderon (aired 10/23/59)

Yuck. You'd have a hard time convincing me that either of these guys were ever any good.

Quasimodo vs. Gilbert Leduc (aired 10/23/59)

I've seen this a few times now. The first couple of times you watch it, it's to see the Monster Movie gimmick brought to life, but this time it was all about Leduc's performance. For a straight shooter, he was remarkably good at putting over gimmicked opponents. On the surface, it shouldn't be a strength of his, but he didn't mind selling for the latest Monster of the Month and was pretty good at the theatrics part of pro-wrestling. The Le Bourreau de Bethune bout is more shocking and dramatic, but this was further proof that Leduc was a multi-talented worker.

Jose Arroyo vs. Michel Chaisne (aired 11/20/59)

This was one of the better bouts in a while. It was a classic face vs. face bout where neither man can gain an advantage and the bout breaks down into a forearm smash contest. That was a pretty standard way of working face vs. face contests in Europe over the years. It was a tried and true way of getting heat for matches that didn't involve heels. It's not something that I ever tire of, but I will say that the lack of a finish here wasn't wholly satisfying. I don't know that 1959 Catch has been as good as the stuff from '57 and '58, however, so you should definitely add it to your watch list. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Guy Robin vs. Al Araujo (aired 11/27/59)

This was available before, but it's a much better watch now that we're familiar with the workers. Al Araujo is a fantastic worker in the same vein as Ami Sola. These type of workers have been the best revelation about 50s Catch. I haven't been as high on Robin as the others, but he did some cool stuff in this match and showed a different side to him as a worker. Up until now, he's come across as a stooge, but this showed us he could hang with the niftier workers too. It's a crying shame that the TV was so fickle. If this had been ITV, you'd see these guys on TV half a dozen times a year. 

Rene Ben Chemoul vs. Gilbert Cesca (aired 11/27/59)

I need to watch this again. The first time I saw it, I thought it was a masterpiece and one of the best matches of the 50s. This time I was distracted by how many times they whip each other into the turnbuckle instead of dazzling us on the mat. Like I said, I really need to take another look at it. There's a chance that it's not as special as I thought now that we have so much footage to compare it too. On the other hand, Ben Chemoul has been such a disappointment in singles that this is the match to really sink my teeth into and finally figure out whether he was any damn good. And Cesca is so mysterious and enticing. I'm repeating myself here, but I wish they'd shown more of his matches on television. He could be one of the all-time greats, or he could be a guy who rose to the occasion every now and again. How are we to know? I really should have watched this again before posting because I don't have anything worthwhile to say about it.

Cheri Bibi & Pierre Bernaert vs. Warnia de Zarzecki & Ami Sola (aired 12/11/59)

We get the last 15 minutes of this, which by rights should be the most exciting part, but it seems that Bibi and Bernaret have improved in their villainy.

And so end the 50s. To be honest, I thought there was a drop-off in quality from '57-59, but perhaps that's because everything was new and shiny when we began. There seemed to be more variety when it came to which wrestlers were shown on TV, and the wrestling felt like it was taken more seriously. I could be wrong, but the move away from Catch as sport, and the influx of costumed and masked wrestlers, led to a decline in quality. Anyone else care to chime in on this? Am I being too negative? I seem to feel this way a lot about 60s wrestling. Every time I see something from the 60s, I can't help but feel that it's not as good as the footage we have from the 50s. Was there a shift in the way wrestling was presented in the 60s, or would I feel the same if the only available footage was 60s vs. 70s?  I wonder. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Jack de Lasartesse vs. Michel Allary (aired 1/22/60)

This was old but worth watching again. Lasartesse is such a great Buddy Rogers style heel. In many ways, his lack of offensive prowess actually works in his favor as not only can he concentrate on heatseeking, he actually looks like even more of a prick by not being that good at professional wrestling. I love how much of his offense is based around those ridiculously long legs of his. Allary is a classic French babyface and starts throwing haymaker uppercuts five minutes into the bout. Entertaining scuffle. I'd love to see how Lasartesse fared against Dapp or Leduc. 

Al Hayes & Ray Hunter vs. Roger Delaporte & Andre Bollet (aired 2/1/60)

This was really good. As much as I love Villars, Delaporte and Bollet were special together. This was easily the best Hunter has looked in the catch footage. The credit for that has to go to Delaporte and Bollet, who were in fine form here. Hayes also did a fantastic job of holding up his end. I came out of this wishing I could see a Hayes vs. Delaporte singles match, which, honestly, is the most excited I've been about Delaporte in a while. If you're looking for entertainment from catch, this ticks all the boxes. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Jean Corne & Ischa Israel vs. Marcel Mannevau & Claude Gessat (aired 4/21/60)

Another match that we already had but one that benefits from the context the archives have given us. Watching this out of context, I would have gravitated toward Les Blousons Noir because they're the heels. The same way that I gravitate toward the rudos in lucha matches. In fairness, Marcel Mannevau is a brilliant heel, so I can't blame anyone for being captivated by his act, but the thing that struck me about this match were the faces. I think the faces are underrated in Catch. I wouldn't have known who Corne or Israel were when I first saw this, but now I know that Israel was already established at this point while Corne was still an up and comer. With that knowledge in mind, it's no surprise that Israel's work is better, yet it's enlightening to see which of Corne's exchanges are good and which exchanges are awkward. Tag team wrestling was becoming increasingly popular during this time, but they had this strange idea that the falls needed to be of equal length. That led to plenty of wrestling, but each fall feels like a match unto itself, and it's difficult to get a feel for the rhythm. This is incomplete, anyway, since they ran out of television time, but it's a reminder why European tags have never really worked for me. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Rene Ben Chemoul & Gilbert Cesca vs. Cheri Bibi & Pierre Bernaert (aired 5/6/60)

This was a decent match, but there wasn't much depth to it. There were some fun moments when Bibi and Bernaert railed on Cesca and Ben Chemoul, and the faces retaliated in kind. I imagine it was the type of match that the average punter liked to see. Hell, if I'd been there, I would have probably loved it too. But in my ivory tower, I couldn't help but think, "Man, I wish we had Cesca's World of Sport stuff."  My mind kept wandering, thinking of the singles matches that never made tape that would have been a better example of his wrestling ability. Ben Chemoul is probably better in these sort of tags based on what I've seen, but Cesca is more of an unknown. It's silly, really, since this is the type of match where they could've plugged in any babyface (within reason), so it was never going to answer the questions I have. There was some nice double-teaming from the heels, especially those elbows in the corner, and the way they took the trash out when returning Cesca to his corner. But I can't honestly say that Ben Chemoul or Cesca where better than Sola or Labat.

[ohtani's jacket]

Robert Duranton vs. Michel Chaisne (aired 6/3/60)

Duranton is doing a Gorgeous George gimmick here but doesn't go all in. There's not even a hint of anything promiscuous. It's pretty tame really. Duranton wrestles the same as he did before. Personally, I think he's an average worker. I guess he's decent for a big man. It's a notion worth entertaining, but compare this to the Lasartesse showcase. Duranton's holds look better than Lasartesse's, but who delivered the better match? Chaisne wasn't great here, but his comeback centered around a weak spot with the valet. The match fell apart from there and turned into a squash. It was hard to say anything good about it when there were other workers doing the same gimmick better, and big men with more talent than Duranton. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Cheri Bibi & Pierre Bernaert vs. Rene Ben Chemoul & Mic Charre (aired 7/22/60)

Fairly standard long form tag. This isn't my favorite style of catch. It gets better when Bibi and Bernaert start delivering a beating, but I got more enjoyment out of crowd watching than the action in the ring. I think this was our first look at Mic Charre. It was hard to get a gauge on him since it was a formula match, but I guess he played his part all right. Some of the spectators needed cooling down so I guess you'd have to chalk this up as a success. Better heel work from the Convicts, but again, Ben Chemoul was nothing special. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Karl von Kramer & Karl von Chenok vs. Gaby Calderon & Luc Straub (aired 9/29/60)

This was exactly what you'd expect -- nerve holds vs. crappy judo. I can't complain too much since I saw it coming a mile away.

Jacky Corn & Roger Laroche vs. Giacomo Guguliemetti & Jo Czernieski (aired 12/9/60)

This was the most entertaining Catch match I've seen in weeks. There were proper holds, Guguliemetti and Czernieski were good heels, and Corn and Laroche made fiery comebacks. I know a lot of people gravitate towards the heels when they watch this footage, but my experience has been that the faces make the matches. I can't think of too many better faces in Catch than Jacky Corn. Everybody knows knows the traditional sympathetic babyface, and the outrageously skilled babyface, but the tough guy babyface is a special breed and Corn is tough as nails. 

Inca Peruano vs. Al Araujo (aired 12/30/60)

The first time I saw this we had labelled it as Inca Peruano vs. Jose Arroyo. That was back before we really knew Who's Who, but it's still kind of embarrassing considering Arroyo has that distinctive shaven head. That said, at least we have another Araujo match. I was full of praise for Peruano the first time I saw this, but considering that Araujo is one of my favorites from the archives, I felt it was more of a two man show this time. Neat match. One of the best from the 60s as far as I'm concerned. The body of the match is everything you'd hope for from the matchup, Definite South American-infused Catch but all the better for it. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Jack de Lasartesse vs. Al Gamain (aired 1/7/61)

Lasartesse is brilliant, isn't he? We've seen a lot of great heel workers in French Catch, but Lasartesse still finds a way to stand out. His swagger is second to none. Gamian looked like he was from decent stock, but if he thought this was going to be a fair fight he was dreaming. Match turns into a scrap and Lasartesse wins it with a killer knee drop.

Jacques Bernieres vs. Jean Martin (aired 4/21/61)

We get the final leg of this. Martin looks like a fun worker. The crowd throw him a peanut, or something, and he eats it in glorious fashion.

Monsieur Montreal vs. Jack Rouxel (aired 9/15/61)

JIP. A pair of big boys trading blows. 

Iska Khan & Serge Gentilly vs. Yves Amor & Pierre Rouanet (aired 9/15/61)

This was better than it appeared. Gentilly hasn't left a strong impression on me to date, but I thought he worked well with Amor and Rouanet. I've complained a bit about shitty judo in Catch, but Khan does the gimmick better than most. Gentilly does the lion's share of the work here and Khan mostly works the hot tag. He works the comedy angle once too often, but he has the same relentless offense as Great Togo. Amor is great. In Amor we trust. Rouanet is also impressive, but Amor holds this together by being the most solid of heels. Gentilly gets a chance to shine instead of being in the JIP bouts. This gets the thumbs up from me. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Inca Peruano & Giuseppe Daidone vs. Mic Charre & Jean Fryziuk (aired 11/10/61)

This was a fun match. I particularly liked the individual match-up between Peruano and Fryziuk. Perunao is somewhat more subdued in the 60s compared to his 50s flamboyance, but he's still a top class worker, and Fryziuk is one of the best babyface foils in catch. This also the best Daidone has looked. He's more of a nuts and bolts heel compared to the other showmen, but it works against a strong babyface pairing in Charre & Fryziuk. Charre rounded things off with some nice looking holds. Everyone brought something to the table in this one. 

Monsieur Montreal & Ami Sola vs. Pierre Bernaert & Jack Rouxel (aired 1/12/62)

This was decent. Bernaert is never gonna be the Tully Blanchard super heel that I want him to be, but he has flashes of greatness. I'm probably underrating him. If I ever watch his stuff again, I'll probably find cause to reappraise him. This was mostly based around the Mr. Montreal vs. Rouxel match-up, which is a match they had ran before on TV. It was decent enough. Sola didn't stand out as much as he has in previous matches. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Dan Aubriot vs. Pierre Bernaert (aired 11/9/62)

This was uploaded years ago by Bob ALPRA, but clearly we know more about Bernaert now than we did six or seven years ago. Aubriot wrestles a classic European style full of flair. Fortunately, he doesn't veer toward comedy, instead punctuating his flair with tight matwork. Bernaert's MOD is pretty clear by now. He never really strays from it in singles or tags. He wrestles a bit more in this match than others, but I'd describe it more as "hanging" than showing his prowess. Aubroit gets suckered into a manchette battle, which doesn't seem like his forte, and is overpowered in the end. This didn't change my opinion of Bernaert, but it's definitely one of his better matches. 

[El-P]

On 3/26/2020 at 2:48 AM, ohtani's jacket said:

Edouard Carpentier vs. Robert Duranton (aired 3/24/62)

I couldn't get into this one. I'm not the biggest fan of Carpentier to begin with, and this is one of those bouts where the face pretty much picks on the heel and humiliates him for the entire bout. They never really engage in any wrestling, but Couderc laughed his ass off. It might have been better if Duranton was more outrageous but he kind of plays it straight (not sure if that's a pun.) Also, this is 60s Carpentier and I have yet to see anyone from the 50s Chicago footage that looked as good in the 60s. 

There's no way I'm not starting to watch some old French stuff without beginning with this match, because when I became a fan Carpentier was often talking about Duranton (especially when Rick Rude was around), so this is kind of the match-up I was always hearing about watching WWF TV.

Two things struck me about good old Eddie, I knew he was a gymnast and I knew of his token flying spots, but damn did he work stiff too ! He really beat the shit out of Duranton there. The other one is that, well, apparently he did not like to sell very much. He's super impressive on offense, but he gave Duranton nearly nothing and looked stiff selling (for the very short while he did). Duranton was pretty funny, especially vocal spots as told by Roger Couderc, who's just a great pro-wrestling announcer (who knew jackshit about it, he was a rugby specialist like you'd figure hearing his accent, but was so smooth and so funny with his one-liners and ridiculously partial announcing that he became the iconic catch announcer of the era). Best one, when the ref tells him "Duranton, break the hold", Bobby acts totally appalled and almost shocked and replies "MISTER Duranton, break the hold !". So yeah, fun stuff, but Carpentier really ate him alive, Bruiser Brody style. I mean, not selling was also a way to become a big star, as obviously he was.

[Pulici76]

Dear all,

It's my first post here. I'm a retired wrestler from Italy, I'm looking for any kind of information and/or footage of shows in Italy and of genuine Italian wrestlers. I keep getting directed to this forum by Google whenever I look up specific Italian wrestlers. I'm seeing reviews here of people like Pasquale Giusto. How did you get hold of his matches? Btw, on my FB page I have loads of articles and results found in the archives of various Italian newspapers if anyone is interested. Let me know.

Cheers

 

[PhilTLL]

6 hours ago, Pulici76 said:

Dear all,

It's my first post here. I'm a retired wrestler from Italy, I'm looking for any kind of information and/or footage of shows in Italy and of genuine Italian wrestlers. I keep getting directed to this forum by Google whenever I look up specific Italian wrestlers. I'm seeing reviews here of people like Pasquale Giusto. How did you get hold of his matches? Btw, on my FB page I have loads of articles and results found in the archives of various Italian newspapers if anyone is interested. Let me know.

Cheers

 

Hey this is fantastic, and I know the people here will eat it up. Welcome! Would you mind posting a link to your Facebook page?

[Pulici76]

Thanks!

This is a link to one of my recents posts. https://www.facebook.com/IlDragoDelWrestling/photos/a.10161022007415574/10165032636805574/ They are not always about the history of wrestling, I sometimes speak about other things but if you look through my photos you will find plenty of stuff. You may also check my statuses, going back in time, as I occasionally post links, which obviously won't show up among the pictures.

I wrestled from 2001 to 2008, my generation was not of aware of any past shows, but it looks like there loads in the 50s, some in the 60s and then they suddenly stopped in 1965. A few years later a couple of Italian wrestlers who had been living abroad started running shows and even wrestling classes in Piedmont, by the Lake Maggiore. I got to meet their relatives but one of the two is still alive, aged 86. Fast forward a few years later, they were attempts of reviving the scene in Rome, early and mid-80s, first it was men, later on it was female wrestling. Again, I got to meet the trainer of the women. Then it all stopped again and the first all-italian league to run shows was ICW in 2001, little did we know we were anything BUT the first ones

I hope you will enjoy your search!

 

 

[ohtani's jacket]

If you visit the Segunda Caida blog you will be able to find links to matches featuring Italian wrestlers.  

[Jetlag]

3 hours ago, Pulici76 said:

Thanks!

This is a link to one of my recents posts. https://www.facebook.com/IlDragoDelWrestling/photos/a.10161022007415574/10165032636805574/ They are not always about the history of wrestling, I sometimes speak about other things but if you look through my photos you will find plenty of stuff. You may also check my statuses, going back in time, as I occasionally post links, which obviously won't show up among the pictures.

I wrestled from 2001 to 2008, my generation was not of aware of any past shows, but it looks like there loads in the 50s, some in the 60s and then they suddenly stopped in 1965. A few years later a couple of Italian wrestlers who had been living abroad started running shows and even wrestling classes in Piedmont, by the Lake Maggiore. I got to meet their relatives but one of the two is still alive, aged 86. Fast forward a few years later, they were attempts of reviving the scene in Rome, early and mid-80s, first it was men, later on it was female wrestling. Again, I got to meet the trainer of the women. Then it all stopped again and the first all-italian league to run shows was ICW in 2001, little did we know we were anything BUT the first ones

I hope you will enjoy your search!

 

 

 

You can try contacting European Catch/Wrestling Museum on Facebook. He is one of the best historians on European I know and he can probably tell you a few things about Italian wrestling. He will also likely be extremely grateful if you can send him some copies of your newspaper articles. You can also try contacting Loss (the admin of this board) to get access to all the French TV we have obtained which features many Italian wrestlers.

[Phil Lions]

22 hours ago, Pulici76 said:

Dear all,

It's my first post here. I'm a retired wrestler from Italy, I'm looking for any kind of information and/or footage of shows in Italy and of genuine Italian wrestlers. I keep getting directed to this forum by Google whenever I look up specific Italian wrestlers. I'm seeing reviews here of people like Pasquale Giusto. How did you get hold of his matches? Btw, on my FB page I have loads of articles and results found in the archives of various Italian newspapers if anyone is interested. Let me know.

Cheers

If you go here https://bit.ly/3gpwEar (link to the WrestlingClassics board) you'll find a lot of my European research. Check out the stuff I've posted on France, Spain and Greece especially. There's a bunch of match results there for guys like Liano Pellacani, Angelo & Pasquale Giusto, Leone Jacovacci, Antonio Fusero, Michele Leone, Rino Deon, etc.