French catch

[David Mantell]

On 3/28/2020 at 1:53 PM, ohtani's jacket said:

James Brown vs. Robert Gastel (aired 1/14/60)

I'd love to make some James Brown jokes, but it seems that was this cat's real name. Brown was an American who came over to Europe as part of the Armed Forces. He was based in Frankfurt and began wrestling there. Later, he moved to Paris. He was a super athletic guy and had a nice flying head scissors. It's said he died in a car crash in 1965, but we have footage of him from 1966 so he must have died some time later. This was a decent bout but a tad pedestrian. Everyone's favourite bludgeoner, Gastel, never really got his motor running. I finally got to see James Brown in action, however, after his name sticking on match lists like a sore thumb.

 

On 3/29/2020 at 11:30 AM, ohtani's jacket said:

Quasimodo vs. Josef Kovacs (aired 1/14/60)

I always impresses me how committed Victor Castilla was to the Quasimodo gimmick. He was almost like wrestling's version of a character actor. Personally, I couldn't understand the matchmaking here. Why book the smaller Quasimodo against the huge Hungarian wrestler, Kovacs? Kovacs himself was often a heel billed as the "Butcher from Budapest" and had an impressive airplane spin hold where he threw his opponent at the end. Quasimodo had the advantage here for a while before Kovacs swatted him away.

Gastel a lot younger and slimmer than the burly Bill Watts-esque Taureau de Batignol of the early 70s but just as much a Mechant. Gastel uses almost a punch to get out of a hold rather than a clever escapes, it gets heat but not quite as much as in England Brown uses a great leg extension submission attempt. Gastel puts up more of a fight than OJ suggests but Brown's technical work is more eye catching. Gastel gets an Avertisement for stomping Brown. The win comes suddenly, as the two are bouncing off the ropes Brown uncorks a huracanrana into a cross press for the one fall required and he feels good, he knew that he could....

Second bout starts off as strength match with Q using the odd foul to even up what shout have advantages the bigger Kovacs. Who looks like a giant version of Zoltan Boscik, same balding scalp and everything.  Q gets extended advantage with a single leg Boston Crab which Kovacs has to work hard to power out of. Slow moving bout comes to a sudden end when Kovacs gets an aeroplane spin for the pin. Q has to be carried back to his corner. He tries a sneak attack and nearly gets pummeled until Kovacs calms down.

Commentator (Couderc?) calls both Bon wins "la justice".  Ring has no corner pads, not even turnbuckles.

 

[David Mantell]

On 3/31/2020 at 4:01 PM, ohtani's jacket said:

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

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

 

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

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

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

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

[David Mantell]

Prince Zefy title defence of uncertain vintage, possibly late 90s but more likely at some point in the 00s. I'm guessing Zefy's march to the ring here was inspired by watching Goldberg which would put this no earlier than 1998.  I think the ring announcer says Kellus is Canadian . Oddly filmed - a good well anchored hard cam and a horribly shaky and lopsided looking handheld roving cam spliced together.  Huge crowd - was this before 2007!and France's second American Wrestling boom when houses shot up across l'industrie du Catch, including the IWSF?

Talking of Dark as a first name - I have a French Star Wars (A New Hope) story book my grandma bought from a jumble sale in the 80s in which the dark lord of the Sith is called "Dark Vader" which may have been what he was called in France and from where this guy got his  ringname. It's a rather French thing I guess, it's hard to think of too many people in the English-speaking wrestling world called Dark, maybe mid 80s valet Dark Journey.  I guess it's just one of those faux-English names C21st French promoters go for, like Bad Mask or Cybernic Machine.

Kellus wrestles his very North American style and Zefy bumps around for his big late 80s/early 90s power moves before taking over with plenty of action stuff like leapfrogs and a flying tackle. And so it alternates. Zefy misses with the traditional French flying headscissor counter but makes up for it with a neat Planchet Japonais.  Kallus removes the corner pads from two corners, MC goes ape excrement about it but the Percy Pringle-esque referee pays him not one jot of attention. Eventually he gives Kallus a public warning and sorts out the pads but by that point Le Mechant has dragged Le Bon outside and is busy whipping him into the crowd barriers - I say Aux Chiottes L'Arbitre! La publique shows it's disapproval by pelting the ring with balls of scrunched up paper- did they take notepads to the show especially to do this? Kellus undoes another corner pad and tries to whip Zefy into it but ends up hitting the metal hooks himself. Zefy goes on one final counter attack culminating in a big Superfly splash 3/4 of the way across the ring for the pin, the win and the successful title defence.

Not a patch on Saulnier Vs Renault or even Vs LPP but Zefy makes it worthwhile with some neat agile moves, his high flying finisher being the highlight of the bout.

 

[David Mantell]

 

Current French star Hugo Perez El General running a wrestling school in the 2010s.  Gannon Gray from this clip appears tagging with Hugo in the below 2023 Wrestling Stars match previously posted and reviewed on here:

 

11 minutes ago, David Mantell said:

Aux Chiottes L'Arbitre!

Notice how this was still a thing in France 2023, just like Catch A Quatre itself.

[David Mantell]

Since I posted a Zefy match from a CWA tournament on the German Catch thread some time back, here to balance things out is Ulf Herman taking the trip the other way across the Rhine for a Eurosport New Catch TV taping in the early 90s. Billed as the medieval sounding Ulf The Cruel and sporting a Ritchie Brooks mullet, bit of a goatee and jazzy early 90s leotard. The Grim Rocker is in his corner and one Danny Gardinier is in Zefy's and gets beaten up by Ulf and Grim pre match.

Cut to several minutes into the bout. Ulf dominates Zefy with big late 80s/early 90s power moves like Kellus did. Zefy mounts a comeback and goes for the Superfly Splash but Grim Rocker pushes him off the top rope and he crashes and goes down to a 10 count Knockout on the mat.

[David Mantell]

On 5/4/2024 at 1:38 AM, David Mantell said:

 

 

The one where Angelito got so fed up of Richard he sel-unmasked mid match.

Both @ohtani's jacket and myself have talked about this one, but never properly reviewed it. So here goes:

Le Hippie du Ring pays a visit prior to the match and shakes hands with both participants.  Bear in mind in America at this time, hippies were heels like The Love Brothers or Captain Lou Albano. In France he's a harmless Hillbilly Jim type.

Angelito is Spanish and masked and being touted as the new Ange Blanc.  Jacky Richard is decades away from being a big fat bald man in a shirt and tie, here he's a spry earl/mid career heel.  Female referee decades before Aubrey Edwards and even years before Rina Chatterton -Babette Carole, no nonsense matriarchal type, former lady wrestler of the sixties now laying down the law on the men.  

Angelito as Le Bon takes throws better than Richard Le Mechant and does a great Jim Breaks horizontal spinout from a wristlock. Richard puts a knee across Angelito's chest to prevent him kipping up in an armlock. Angelito levers out but JR replies.  Angelito does the Kid McCoy/Owen Hart rope trick to try and untwist his arm but Richard maintains control.  Angelito finally breaks the hold by dumping Jacky over the ropes. Richard switches to a hammerlock.  Angelito tries to reverse snapmares out of it but JaR blocks it and lands him back on the mat sort of like Arn Anderson did with his gourdbuster. 

Some more good escapes by Angelito including a trip from behind and another rope-assisted backflip, but yet again Jacky keeps the hold.  Fast paced back and forth but gets a nice round of applause from the crowd and I think they even bow to each other like judokas.   Jacky finally gets dirty and starts stomping Angelito on the mat, Babette restrains him and starts a ten count, attacking on the mat was heat in France just like in Britain, but in America it was just good clean wrestling. Crowd "gives the bird" (annoying high pitched whistle sound) to Richard to express their heat- German fans go for this a lot too, I've noticed.  Babette finally physically pulls Richard off and gives him his first Avertisement- crowd really warm to her. Richard still up to his tricks, nearly earns un Seconde et Dernier.

Angelito fires a dropkick then Hulks up by tearing off his own mask like it's a Hogan t-shirt. Babbette, flips it to ringside, commentator says it's the first time he's ever seen that done.  At this point Angelito, like Jacky, has a full head of hair.  Angelito goes quite wild with dropkicks and les Manchettes.  Angelito appears to be flying out of the ropes but does a Rick Steamboat/Modesto "Kamikaze" Aledo slingshot back in, headscissors Richard and drags him out with him.   Angelito gets a neat British style cross buttock into cross press but only gets a 2 count. Richard back to controlling Angelito on the mat.  Angelito reverse flips from off a standing wristlock then manages to throw Richard a couple of times. Richard eventually boots Angelito out of the ring Babette gives Richard a severe talking. Richard goes to wallop her with a Manchette but she ducks and judo throws him out of the ring and gets a good pop from the crowd. Definitely NOT Aux Chiottes with this Arbitrice. 

 Richard gets a standing Double-nelson but Angelito breaks it with force and backwards dropkicks Richard, goes for a pin but only gets a two count. Angelito moves neatly from a back hammerlock to a headscissor on the mat.  Jacky eventually pries it open and kips up. Angelito has a neat cartwheel on one hand years before Dynamite Kid. He eventually springs off the top turnbuckle for the flying bodypress and pin.  Angelito and Jacky are very sporting and hug afterwards despite the Bon/Mechants divide.  Afterwards the commentator buttonhiles Babette for an interview - she mentions her own former wrestling career. She's single, prefers it that way (hence the dumpy  crop hair and black trouser suit I guess) and works as an Archiviste for her day job.

Good fast paced French style face/heel match. These two had a bright future.  Indeed ....

Quote

They were still going at it nearly two decades later:

 

Proof if need be that New Catch was the heir to Old Catch.  Richard is now lev Travesti Man, mutant love child of Big Daddy, Adorable Adrian and WWF Dusty Rhodes, still with his butler Paul Butin now repackaged as "Best Boy" Jean Claude Blanchet (no relation to Kate) still being allowed to stand on the ring apron which not even American managers could do.  Angelito is rocking a Big Bossman/Mountie/The Trooper Del Wilkes style law enforcement officer gimmick.  He has an Alsatian and Richard has a Yorkshire Terrier and the bigger dog desperately wants to maul the smaller yappier one.  This could have ended very badly indeed.

Twenty years on both men are now bald.  Angelito is a bit haggard by now but  isn't fat like Richard is by this point (and will get fatter in later years.)  Richard has a green boa and  jazzy entry music.  The two have a bit of a dance off. Trav swivelling his hips and Angelito doing that cowboy shuffle dancing that Sam Houston did in the WWF.  Sadly Babette is not part of the reunion, instead we get Welsh ref Chico Roberts on loan from Reslo.  Richard gets a start, cross buttocking Angelito but Ang kips up. Blanchet has to pamper Trav/Jacky quite a bit, often running in the ring to do so.  Angelito reverses one hiptoss into a Planchet Japonais (monkey climb). The big man bumps around a lot. Angelito does another ,monkey climb then a feet first landing from a backdrop into a dropkick.  He snapmares the big man.  

Commentstor Orig  Williams reckon an Angelito Vs Johnny Saint match would be good. Travesti Man finish.  You're a promoter Orig, put it on!  I wonder if he ever did. Travesti goes all Warrior for the finish with a gorilla press and slam and splash for the pin.

Nothing like as athletic as 20 years earlier, a product of a newer more cartoony era, but good enough fun.

[David Mantell]

On 6/22/2024 at 4:57 AM, David Mantell said:

Original 1991 TFM transmission of New Catch episodes when it returned to the channel (British Wrestling equivalent was the Grampian/STV tapings of Relwyskow promotions in Aberdeen 1990, later screened in the Granada region). Only wrestling video on a YouTube channel with a disturbing obsession with the weather forecast!  Cuts out during the Danny Collins & John Harvey Vs Doc Dean and Jimmy Ocean match, so here is a different source for that bout.

 

 

Had a full watch of this this evening planning to write this review, only to find I've already posted the video yonks earlier, still never mind.  The YouTube channel seems to be about adverts and weather broadcasts and suchlike.

Show is taped in Blois on the Loire. Good packed hall but the venue is painted bight green which looks odd for a wrestling venue and clashes with the light blue New Catch ring.

White MC Undertaker was Psycho Shane Stevens.  At this point the "real" Undertaker was still a heel in the WWF (he had headlined Wembley Arena with the Ultimate Warrior and back in America was about to challenge Hogan for the World title at Survivor Series 91.). Flesh makes short work of him in an action packed bout, not so much science but plenty of acrobatic stuff like hiptosses. Rather sweet promo from Stevens threatening all manner of revenge, doing Undie in a Northern accent.(with French subtitles as done later for StClair and Hart Le B.)

Ladies match between old bag heel Valerie Wonder and the still popular Old Catch survivor (and sometimes Toto to heel "cowboy" Jesse Texas) Gabby Lailee. Referee is Chico Roberts from Wales.  Lailee is the more interesting wrestler doing similar agile stuff to the boys. Wonder spends a lot of time choking her out but when Gabby retaliates by garotting the older woman with the tag rope, Chico gives her a summary DQ. and gets an Aux Chiottes L'Arbitre chant for his pains.  Clearly that was taking retaliation too far.

Tony StClair takes on Hart La Barbare (The Equaliser in PNW. Dave/Evad Sullivan in WCW, Barbarian in the CWA and American Hawkwind  in England for All Star.) Referee is Andre Bollet's less imposing brother Charley. A Brit versus an American with a French referee.  StClair bamboozles Hart with his skills like Steve Wright did to Moondog Rex in the CWA 1989. He rope a ropes away from a charging HLB to get in behind for a folding press for a 2 before getting the 3 with a flying bodypress.

Yann Caradec, after Prince Zefy the next great TBW hope of France circa the 80s/90s turn, come to the ring to Breton pipe music (such as was played by the pipers at the 1978 TV taping in a gym featuring Daniel Schmidt Vs Mammouth Siki.).  Set to face bratty young heel Eric Lacrouix for his French Welterweight title and medal (not a belt. A medal like the Mid South TV title that Ted DiBiase pocketed one time and Eddie Gilbert eventually threw in a river.). Nice history package of how Yann made the challenge after being screwed in a Tag Team match.  First half is great French style lighterweight action, shades of Saulnier Vs LPP.  Gets a bit brawly later. Yann gets trapped in the ropes but fights on. Eric's manager Theo with the big comedy moustache pulls a rope down, Yann falls out and is KOd. He protests like Kwango after the loss to Alan Dennison in 1972, but Chico Roberts holds up 10 fingers.

Main event is an all English Catch A Quatre.  Danny Collins was MASSIVELY over in France at this time. After beating Jorg "Baron Von" Chenok on ITV on FA Cup Final Day 1985 to win the European Welterweight title he trekked over every summer of the late 80s to tour for Roger Delaporte's FFCP defending the title across France and Northern Spain. This French audience are quite doolally for him. Partner was John Harvey a part time wrestler, part time conjurer and part time circus fire eater - think Rick Steamboat in the WWF 1991 crossed with Phantasio a few years later. Probably the least exciting of the four. Heels are an odd couple. Jimmy Ocean and Doc Dean. Not only is nice kid next door Doc a heel in a pair of Bret Hart shades, he is teaming with one half of the Liverpool Lads' archenemies back home, the Superflies. Jimmy Ocean had beaten Steve Grey for the British Lightweight title but lost it to Tony Stewart, Doc had beaten Mal Sanders for the British Welterweight Championship (formerly held by Danny) before losing it to Blondie Barrett. Both would regain the titles before losing them to Grey and Soldier Boy Steve Prince.  Danny starts off in top form, all kips ups, cartwheels, scoots through the legs. Honestly @ohtani's jacket  I don't get your problem with the guy, he was an incredible mover, taking all Dynamite Kid's stuff to the next level.  Harvey tags in and is FIP before Collins makes it back in to score the win. Heels try to attack Danny with a chair, Danny challenges them to a rematch which gets massive pops from the crowd despite being in English, they bang on the ring apron like the South London Hellcrew. They love their Danny Boy.   On another bout, Orig Williams on the English language commentary says of Danny "When I see this man's name on the card I go see him." And promote him on a lot of your shows too, Orig.

Clip ends with a trailer for some boxing - one of the venues looks suspiciously like the outdoor Heumarket in Vienna.

[David Mantell]

On 9/25/2024 at 11:36 PM, David Mantell said:

Both @ohtani's jacket and myself have talked about this one, but never properly reviewed it. So here goes:

Le Hippie du Ring pays a visit prior to the match and shakes hands with both participants.  Bear in mind in America at this time, hippies were heels like The Love Brothers or Captain Lou Albano. In France he's a harmless Hillbilly Jim type.

Angelito is Spanish and masked and being touted as the new Ange Blanc.  Jacky Richard is decades away from being a big fat bald man in a shirt and tie, here he's a spry earl/mid career heel.  Female referee decades before Aubrey Edwards and even years before Rina Chatterton -Babette Carole, no nonsense matriarchal type, former lady wrestler of the sixties now laying down the law on the men.  

Angelito as Le Bon takes throws better than Richard Le Mechant and does a great Jim Breaks horizontal spinout from a wristlock. Richard puts a knee across Angelito's chest to prevent him kipping up in an armlock. Angelito levers out but JR replies.  Angelito does the Kid McCoy/Owen Hart rope trick to try and untwist his arm but Richard maintains control.  Angelito finally breaks the hold by dumping Jacky over the ropes. Richard switches to a hammerlock.  Angelito tries to reverse snapmares out of it but JaR blocks it and lands him back on the mat sort of like Arn Anderson did with his gourdbuster. 

Some more good escapes by Angelito including a trip from behind and another rope-assisted backflip, but yet again Jacky keeps the hold.  Fast paced back and forth but gets a nice round of applause from the crowd and I think they even bow to each other like judokas.   Jacky finally gets dirty and starts stomping Angelito on the mat, Babette restrains him and starts a ten count, attacking on the mat was heat in France just like in Britain, but in America it was just good clean wrestling. Crowd "gives the bird" (annoying high pitched whistle sound) to Richard to express their heat- German fans go for this a lot too, I've noticed.  Babette finally physically pulls Richard off and gives him his first Avertisement- crowd really warm to her. Richard still up to his tricks, nearly earns un Seconde et Dernier.

Angelito fires a dropkick then Hulks up by tearing off his own mask like it's a Hogan t-shirt. Babbette, flips it to ringside, commentator says it's the first time he's ever seen that done.  At this point Angelito, like Jacky, has a full head of hair.  Angelito goes quite wild with dropkicks and les Manchettes.  Angelito appears to be flying out of the ropes but does a Rick Steamboat/Modesto "Kamikaze" Aledo slingshot back in, headscissors Richard and drags him out with him.   Angelito gets a neat British style cross buttock into cross press but only gets a 2 count. Richard back to controlling Angelito on the mat.  Angelito reverse flips from off a standing wristlock then manages to throw Richard a couple of times. Richard eventually boots Angelito out of the ring Babette gives Richard a severe talking. Richard goes to wallop her with a Manchette but she ducks and judo throws him out of the ring and gets a good pop from the crowd. Definitely NOT Aux Chiottes with this Arbitrice. 

 Richard gets a standing Double-nelson but Angelito breaks it with force and backwards dropkicks Richard, goes for a pin but only gets a two count. Angelito moves neatly from a back hammerlock to a headscissor on the mat.  Jacky eventually pries it open and kips up. Angelito has a neat cartwheel on one hand years before Dynamite Kid. He eventually springs off the top turnbuckle for the flying bodypress and pin.  Angelito and Jacky are very sporting and hug afterwards despite the Bon/Mechants divide.  Afterwards the commentator buttonhiles Babette for an interview - she mentions her own former wrestling career. She's single, prefers it that way (hence the dumpy  crop hair and black trouser suit I guess) and works as an Archiviste for her day job.

Good fast paced French style face/heel match. These two had a bright future.  Indeed ....

Proof if need be that New Catch was the heir to Old Catch.  Richard is now lev Travesti Man, mutant love child of Big Daddy, Adorable Adrian and WWF Dusty Rhodes, still with his butler Paul Butin now repackaged as "Best Boy" Jean Claude Blanchet (no relation to Kate) still being allowed to stand on the ring apron which not even American managers could do.  Angelito is rocking a Big Bossman/Mountie/The Trooper Del Wilkes style law enforcement officer gimmick.  He has an Alsatian and Richard has a Yorkshire Terrier and the bigger dog desperately wants to maul the smaller yappier one.  This could have ended very badly indeed.

Twenty years on both men are now bald.  Angelito is a bit haggard by now but  isn't fat like Richard is by this point (and will get fatter in later years.)  Richard has a green boa and  jazzy entry music.  The two have a bit of a dance off. Trav swivelling his hips and Angelito doing that cowboy shuffle dancing that Sam Houston did in the WWF.  Sadly Babette is not part of the reunion, instead we get Welsh ref Chico Roberts on loan from Reslo.  Richard gets a start, cross buttocking Angelito but Ang kips up. Blanchet has to pamper Trav/Jacky quite a bit, often running in the ring to do so.  Angelito reverses one hiptoss into a Planchet Japonais (monkey climb). The big man bumps around a lot. Angelito does another ,monkey climb then a feet first landing from a backdrop into a dropkick.  He snapmares the big man.  

Commentstor Orig  Williams reckon an Angelito Vs Johnny Saint match would be good. Travesti Man finish.  You're a promoter Orig, put it on!  I wonder if he ever did. Travesti goes all Warrior for the finish with a gorilla press and slam and splash for the pin.

Nothing like as athletic as 20 years earlier, a product of a newer more cartoony era, but good enough fun.

48 years on from being slapped around by lady referee Babette Carol and 28 years after putting some slap in himself as Le Travesti Man, here is what Jacky Richard does with himself nowadays.  Well okay this is March 2019 but as far as I know Monsieur Jacky is still at this today five years later as is his old nemesis and business partner Flesh Gordon as special enforcer bad cop/good cop Arbiters.  Although Jacky seems to be happy to get tough with les Mechants in this six person (two male four females) mixed tag match.  I dimly recognise the name of the male Bon Benselam or something  - maybe he was in the 2023 clip I posted?  And IIRC one of the two female bons Pauline was one of Hugo Perez's students in the earlier training school footage..

MC says something about lots of testosterone coming up which is funny for a 66%female bout. Mechant females are very Dump Girls types.  Bon females are both great young athletes although Calypso comes across as a bit sickly-sweet. Basha the Mechant bloke looks like a Glam Rock Giant Haystacks in those Green satin trousers.Bout ends when Calypso pins Basha and one of the two females after which the audience,, particularly children, storm the ring in force.

 

[David Mantell]

Another one from the same show. Jacky Richard is not refereeing although I did spot him wandering about at ringside at the end. Also Flesh Gordon (the tubby bald middle aged moustachioed version of him) is on a poster near the ring entrance. Good Bons Vs Mechants match with les Mechants getting a clean win.  Les Bons have high flying moves including that French stalwart the cisseaux Volees, but two shaven headed bearded spitting images of Le Grande Vladimir coming down to Nursery Metal music tell you this isn't your father's Bons.  Nice dealing of the old cliché of heels "posing for a photo" to get hit with a fling move - the two heels actually catch the babyface only to get dropkicked down by his partner.

 

[David Mantell]

 

Same promotion, same venue, same YouTube channel three years later.  Spring 2022 - you can tell it's the period just after the pandemic from the face masks ringsiders are wearing.  Not sure about Micha's trunks, they look like bikini briefs. Thanatos dresses as the Undertaker minus the hat. He leaves his shirt on to wrestle.

Thanatos beats up, ragdolls and overpowers Micha. Micha fights back with hope spots that get longer and longer before Thanatos gets a pin with a tombstone piledriver - see it's not just the clothes!  

Verdict: another American TV Wrestling squash match.  Thanatos gotten over as a dominant heel.

Long bit of blank clip 3-4 min) at the end,

 

[David Mantell]

To balance things out here is WS's rival FFCP with their boss Marc Mercier at last year's Unit des Champions.  Posted in the last couple of months, so presumably things are still going there since Marc announced his retirement from being president of the FFCP in January.

 

[David Mantell]

Been pottering around on the FFCP YouTube channel and found all sorts of stuff.

This is an older grey haired Marc having a comeback fight in 2004 against a masked man called "Der Hunker" - no relation to Oscar "Der Hunker" Versus. Marc is older, he had a career ending injury in 1989.  He can still take bumps including one hefty backdrop but can't somersault  on flip much.  Hunker lives up to his name by wearing sexy rockstar leather trousers (with a dodgy looking belt buckle) but lacks the countering skills, he does absolutely nothing about a wrist lever applied. Public including little kiddies are happy to see Marc win.

Not sure what promotion this is.  FFCP did not come back until 2006.  Could be IWSF- at some point Mercier fell out with Flesh and Jacky and went to the Americanised ICWA for a couple of years, so it could be them too. Bout is timed in rounds with a round card girl who spends her time between rounds sat at the timekeeper's table looking bored.

[David Mantell]

From about the same time.  Film company visits Marc at a show, meets the wrestlers.  Marc is fighting Cybernic Machine (I posted this bout on here yonks ago) a guy in a gimp mask whose gimmick is that he's a computer virus.  CM talks in English and sounds like Ole Anderson as the Black Scorpion or the Shockmaster - TV company have overdubbed this with French in a whispering voice like a pervert nuisance caller on the phone (well he IS wearing a gimp mask I suppose.). Plenty of other old 90s faves like Scott Rider and I think I even spotted Flesh Gordon in there.

[David Mantell]

On 6/7/2020 at 11:50 AM, ohtani's jacket said:

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

[David Mantell]

On 9/21/2020 at 12:14 PM, ohtani's jacket said:

Another masked wrestler:

Daniel Boucard vs. Red Demon (aired 2/6/66)

Man, Red Demon had some shitty ring attire. He had this weird gimmick where he would stop and freeze every time he landed a move. it seemed like he was some kind of Kamikaze ripoff, but every time he tried something athletic he was unbelievably awkward. I mean, he could barely get any height on the athletic spots he tried and almost fell on every landing. It just goes to show you the sheer athleticism that Kamikaze possessed, but Christ, who wants to be Kamikaze with lead feet? Apparently, a poor wrestler named Francis Bertin, that's who. 

Kent Walton liked to claim the masked men "wouldn't talk to me in the dressing room earlier." The French take it one step further- the commentator gets in the ring, gets the full life story from Boucard and then from Demon- silence. A second tries to fill in with stuff like height and weight but the commentator sniffing refuses to listen to him and wanders off. This was  19 months before channel 2 went colour so we shall just have to take their word for it that the Demon was red.

Demon is no Modesto "Kamikaze" Aledo but two left feet is a bit harsh OJ., he does some great feet first landings from throws and even from a monkey climb. Red D has an unnerving habit of standing stock still like one of those street performers pretending to be a statue. He also wheels out the dirty fairly early on, puiing Boucard's ankle up on the rope. He leaps up to the top turnbuckle for a flyer and perches with a knee down which iodd but doesn't stop him hitting the subsequent flying bodypress on target.   Boucard gloriously knows not just the French escapes but also British ones like the forward roll and forward cartwheel rather than the backwards ones most French wrestlers do.  Demon does the pull up into cisseaux Volees.

Boucard gets a folding press on Demon but Demon converts it inoa bridge folding press of it his own. Boucard is out at 2.  Demon bows, does a Danny Collins "Yippee I won a fall" backflip then steps out the ring. At first I read this as a tantrum but on repeat viewing it looks like he thought he's got the winner.  After a bit he comes back  to carry on.  Boucard gets first flipped then just plain thrown out of the ring but recovers first time. Vision mixer goes a bit wild switching shots on Demon getting an arm scissor on Boucard. Demon gets a perfect surfboard on Boucard who resists long enough to capsize it.  Boucard drapes the Demon across the top turnbuckle but is warned of further harm by L'Arbitre. Demon capitalise with a backflip, landing on one knee. He gets the cisseaux Volees on Boucard, flings his opponent and himself out of the ring then nips back in but Boucard is soon in behind him. Boucard goes for a dive but Demon dodges him and Boucard falls out the ring for a 10 count KNOCKOUT. Seconds help him up but to no avail. Winner the Demon walks back, Boucard has to be carried by the seconds.

@ohtani's jacket I thought that was pretty good quite honestly. It got to the point where I was really rooting for the Demon to win. No idea if any more was seen of him, there was Demonio Rojo in the mid 70s but he was an import from Spain just as the CIC was expiring. Sadly we no more of Bertin. Decent middleweight-ish bout.

[David Mantell]

On 5/14/2020 at 1:36 PM, ohtani's jacket said:

Guy Robin vs. Eric Taylor (aired 10/4/57)

This was a really early Eric Taylor match. In fact, he'd only made his debut on British TV the month before. I thought it was interesting that he fought Guy Robin just as Al Hayes and the Fisher brothers had. I wonder if there was a reason why Robin fought the British lads. Perhaps his English was good. I was excited when I learned that we had a Taylor match. Taylor is one of those guys that Walton used to talk about ALL the time. He was a wrestler's wrestler, and one of the stars of the early 60s. He quit Joint Promotions in the mid-60s and began working for the independent promoters, but he sure as hell left an impression on Walton. I thought he was good. I'm sure he was even better in the 60s, but for a young talent he did a stand-up job. Robin's not really the type to chew the scenery so he gave Taylor enough chance to shine. The match seemed to run a bit short, though, as the commentator had to bullshit his way through the beginning of the next match which was a guy who doing a Butch Cassidy gimmick against a guy named Monsieur X, whom the commentator thought was a gorgeous viking. Oh, and that damn martian was at ringside.

Now this is one of the great things about French TV Catch for a British fan -.absolute LEGENDS like Eric Taylor in action in their prime while their ITV bouts are under Granada's lock and key.  This is like watching Tommy "Jack Dempsey" Moore. Bert Assirati or George Kidd in their primes.

Eric Taylor, patriarch of the Taylor family. father of Dave and Steve and he looks it.  Lots of throwing and taking throws well.  Eric works a rather French still with backwards rolls and cisseaux Volees.  He does a nice horizontal spinning escape out of a back hammerlock, I've seen lighter guys like Johnny Saint do this on ITV footage.   Robin gets frustrated and starts heeling up, concealing a kidney punch from the ref and other Irreguliere stuff. Eric wallops him with a couple of stiff Manchettes that would have made son Dave proud. Guy offers a handshake and suckers in Eric for a wristlock, forcing a bad landing, then slips on an arm scissor.  Eric does the same angry fist waving mannerism that son Dave would do 30 years later when his temper was up. We get some good moves from Robin too, a couple of crossed headscissor toupees that send Taylor flying.

Taylor gets on the reverse fireman's carry backbreaker - or as you young Yanks will better know it, the Lex Luger Human Torture Rock.  Guy Robin does not have the .Horsemen coming to the rescue so he resists until Taylor dumps him over the top rope.  Referee does a latterday Delaporte and gives Robin an almighty SLAP!  Taylor tries for a backslide pin and Robin flexes his triceps to lift his shoulders. Robin goes into a lengthy heat phase picking up two Avertisements along the way. Taylor makes a comeback with Manchettes and a dropkick sending Robin out and almost getting a KO. Taylor knocks him back off the ring apron so the ref doesn't count. Robin makes it back in and somehow gets a kneeling press for the pin and Taylor is furious, battering Robin, but the referee's decision is final.

***********************************************

Incidentally that's EIGHT different calendar decades we have covered off on this page 38.  Fifties, Sixties, Seventies, Eighties, Nineties, Noughties, Tenties, Twenties. That's a pretty big swathe of history of the French wrestling territory to have gathered together on one page!

 

 

[David Mantell]

The Italian and Spanish clips are all on this thread so I'll add the playlists on Alessio's channel here:

Spain:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJ811z1HQb3mrl5Vd2lrTQRRL2wENtxuN

Italy:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLJ811z1HQb3mX-n7R_u2ArSZNZOEwu2TV

 

The Spain list is pretty extensive, it runs in to the 60s, it covers most of the big names mentioned in Valentin Morales's essay on Hisa's wrestling titles site-  Hercules Cortez, Catechera, Victorio Ochoa, Jose Tarres, Kamikaze 2 (Benny), Felix Lamban etc. Also Jack Dale of the Dale Brothers who ran Dale Martin in England.  Unfortunately some of the 60s newsreel clips done in an exceptionally nasty snide style, they are speeded up with silly sound effects that would make any true appreciator of wrestling feel like going Postal.

Italy is a bit patchier, it's most stuff of Primo Carnera in the 50s. There's a clip of a very young Andre Bollet (with hair!) from Milan 1957.

Some other interesting playlists on there include the WWF in Kuwait with Roddy Piper and Bob Orton battling Haku and Siva Afi all over a football stadium 35 years before AEW did Stadium Stampede (or as Jim Cornette called it, Football Field F___ery.)

@Matt D - just wondering, are you and Alessio the same person?

[Matt D]

Different guy, would love to talk with him.

[David Mantell]

18 hours ago, Matt D said:

Different guy, would love to talk with him.

Me too, would love to have him on here.

[David Mantell]

I'm tempted to post this to the British thread as these are two Brits and two ITV veterans to boot but this took place in France for a French promoter so according to my rules this counts as French wrestling, the same as the French TV bouts of Bert Royal Vs Tony Oliver in the early 60s and Pete Roberts Vs Dave Bond in 1978 also both count as French.  Also because it follows on a theme I recently brought up of TBWs being sacrificed to bigger nastier heels -  Raymond O'Reilly Vs Hakan in Rumble recently (how's that for alliteration?) or Ian McGregor Vs Skull Murphy on mid 80s ITV. Here is another example.

McCoy was still considered the next Johnny Saint at this point although he had resigned his British Lightweight Championship and left All Star under a cloud after his dad King Ben was sacked after a tag match against Kendo Nagasaki and Blondie Barrett in July 1990 (long story going back to the sixties and animosity between Kendo and Benn's trainer Ernie Baldwin.). He got some World title matches with Johnny Saint on Reslo (with his ex boss Brian Dixon refereeing) and had he not quit in 1993 to go into the roofing trade (just as Kendo was retiring the second time) might well have become the new World champion in the late 90s some time.

He does get to do a lot of his counters and reversals on Scrubber but Daly just sandbags it all before going for a Knockout win after a splash.  If Kid could have tripped Daly and got him down on the mat, things could have got really interesting.

Add Knockouts - To anyone who STILL doesn't believe they were considered more prestigious than pins or submissions in Britain/Europe, please note that Daly could have stayed put after the splash and got a three count but instead stood up and got a ten count because a Knockout win made a more emphatic statement of DESTROYING an opponent than a pinfall win.

[ohtani's jacket]

Scrubber Daley is displaying the dominance of his gut, but aside from that there's nothing prestigious about a heavyweight squashing a lightweight. I can see how pins meant less in European than in other territories as you had to get two of them to win a bout, but KOs (and injury finishes) were excuses to have wrestlers lose without being pinned the same as DQs and count outs in other territories. The exceptions would be KOs from finishing moves. The KOs you're talking about were rarely executed well. 

[David Mantell]

7 hours ago, ohtani's jacket said:

Scrubber Daley is displaying the dominance of his gut, but aside from that there's nothing prestigious about a heavyweight squashing a lightweight.

This bit I agree with and I think there are much better ways to use the lightweight and indeed Kent Walton used to complain on air and report that he got letters saying the same.

Knocking out Kid McCoy was not "prestigious", it just made Daly look a bully and a sadist. Since he was a heel, there was a purpose to this, it got Daly heat - similar to the heat King Kong Bundy got for bodyslamming and elbowsmashing Little Beaver. Had the match taken place back home in Britain, female McCoy fans of various ages would probably have rioted and physically attacked Daly. Indeed it happened multiple times.

7 hours ago, ohtani's jacket said:

KOs (and injury finishes) were excuses to have wrestlers lose without being pinned the same as DQs and count outs in other territories. The exceptions would be KOs from finishing moves.

This WAS a knockout from a finishing move (a splash). To extend the Bundy comparison, Daly getting up and standing back to let McCoy get a 10 count was like Bundy demanding a five count for pins (except that Daly worked with the system to get the desired result rather than demand the system be altered for his benefit.) It layed it on with a trowel.

KOs from finishing moves - eg Kendo Nagasaki's "Kamikaze Crash" diving fireman's carry, Big Daddy's "double elbow" backdrop, Pat Roach's Brumagen Bump - were actually rather too common to be labelled an exception.

Injury finishes where the winner refused to accept the win and it was declared a no contest were and still are and alternative to an end of final round draw without the match going all that time.  Injury finishes where the heel accepted - and even bragged about- the result were a way of getting said heel heat.

[David Mantell]

Another New Catch match, another pair of Brits in France, another knockout finish. This was one of Rocco's last World Heavy Middleweight title defences before his sudden 1991 retirement. The two faced each other multiple times on ITV and Reslo and Rocco and Collins had been coming over to France since at least 1978 and 1985 respectively, but I don't think this particular one has been reviewed on the forum.

Collins gets his trademark things in early - the cartwheel escapes from a wristlock, the scoot through the legs, the odd missile dropkick. Otherwise this is mostly Rocco's bout with lots of moves done as individual high spots. There's an outside of the ring brawl which Collins actually wins albeit at the cost of an Avertisement. The finish sees Collins get his head trapped managed to free himself from a garotting but drops to ringside for a ten count. This is a variation on the finish of their late 80s ITV match where Collins was caught by the knee, gets himself free but Rocco slaps on a Scorpion Deathlock/Sharpshooter for the winning submission. I don't really think Collins gets protected although Rocco using the choking power of the ropes to achieve the KO would have got him a lot more heat back home. Otherwise it's not too different from the sort of knockout where someone would pick an opponent up, fling them over the ropes from the centre of the ring then let the 10 count take effect.

Two notable things outside the match itself. One is the Rocco promo, not that you can make out too much of it with Peter Wilhelm rabbiting away in German over the top of it, but you can clearly here his Manchester accent which makes the "from USA" caption a little ludicrous - and something Orig Williams picked up on for his English commentary. The other is that Rocco has been lumbered with a scantily clad Sensational Second (I'm sure he really enjoyed having to explain her to Ann Rocco) who is clearly a leftover from auditions for Flesh Gordon's similarly underdressed lady companions. Rocco shows his disdain for the whole thing by hoisting her upside down over one shoulder like heel Randy Savage in 1986 used to do to Miss Elizabeth to get heat. Orig on English commentary was in lecherous mood - "She is BLONDE and she is BEAUTIFUL!!!"

[David Mantell]

On 1/9/2022 at 12:49 PM, ohtani's jacket said:

Rene Ben Chemoul & Gilbert Cesca vs. Anton Tejero & Pancho Zapata (aired 7/18/65)

This was a nice blend of cocky babyface moves and retaliatory heel work. Couderc certainly enjoyed it as he kept laughing and singing random songs. It was hard to get a gauge on how good Zapata was, as he was mostly stooging for the babyfaces, but he was entertaining in that role and sold beautifully. I liked the part where he threw Cesca back into his corner after the heels won the first fall. Later on, he had took a big bump off a missed dive, and sold the babyfaces' punches like he was Terry Funk. The rest of the performances weren't eye-opening, but one thing I liked about the bout is that they worked a normal three-fall progression. It wasn't a great match, but it had a definite three act structure unlike something of these Catch matches where the falls are uneven lengths and the rhythm feels off. Zapata was the highlight. 

Pancho Zapata is already a familiar figure to me from his 1969 match on World of Sport against Jeff Kaye (also a frequent traveller to France as was his Barons tag partner Ian Gilmour) which was featured in The Final Bell in December 1988. This is him four years earlier teamed with Anton Tejero (a name which would take on unfortunate connotations on 23rd February 1981 when a Lieutenant Colonel Antonio Tejero staged an attempted military coup in the Spanish parliament.)  French wrestling seems to be littered with heels wearing loud colourful Gypsy, Latin American or Spanish culture (hats, colourful coats, big moustaches, swarthiness etc.  Roger Couderc tells us Tejero plays guitar.) The French would have HATED Hector, Mando and Chavo Guerrero.  So a bald Mexican and burly Spaniard, both with Kong thick taches, are quite the heat generating dream team.  Rene is a technical legend and he and Cesca make straight up Bons against these dodgy foreigners.

Rene's constant barrage of throws to both heels has a similar effect to a Big Daddy tag where Daddy starts the match, both heels getting utterly blitzed early on. (In American Wrestling this usually serves to soften the blow for a BIG heel win such as both Sgt Slaughter and the Undertaker's respective 1991 interim heel title wins.).  Couderc drops references to French pop culture such as Poupee De Cire Poupee De Son (that year's Serge Gainsborg penned, France Gall sung Eurovision Song Contest winner albeit for Luxembourg) and Le Manege Enchante, the a French original of classic stop animation children's TV show The Magic Roundabout.  Perhaps Couderc was inspired to make the remark about Tejero being a guitarist based on Flappy, the lazy Spanish rabbit from the show which for the English version morphed into Dylan, a stoned beatnik American rabbit!  Actually Couderc , the supposed dean of French wrestling commentary, seems to be mostly playing it for laughs in this bout.

Referee Martial seems to be the tough Delaporte/Max Ward/Gorilla Monsoon type, physically the biggest of the five men in the ring and willing to use that power to enforce law and order in the ring, at one point lifting Pancho up by the waist and carrying him out of mischief and clamping his hands over Tejero 's eyes to drag him back to his corner (Terry Funk would have potatoed anyone who tried that, something Tejero clearly briefly contemplates then think better of).  That said the heels still manage to run a couple of rings around him, getting the dirty in while the ref manhandles their partner. And they even get to administer unto the legendary RBC some of the slapstick usually reserved for faces to administer to heels later on in the bout, trapping him in the ropes and leapfrogging each other to land on him.  And when the heels beat down on Cesca leading to Tejero pinning him for the opener, it is really an emotional low point after Les Bons earlier hi jinks. The heels seem to say "You're not laughing now!" as they taunt the crowd.

RBC equalises and then gets Zapata neatly in a surfboard which overbalanced leaving both men's shoulders down. Rather than count them both, Martial just pushes the whole surfboard sidewards.  Rene gets some great flyers in like headscissors and Huracanrana, as well as doing a kind of Fargo Strut, playfully aiming backwards kicks at both opponents. Les bons get a measure of revenge on Les Mechants for earlier antics which were more a Boy's prerogative anyway.  After slamming the heels into each other and hitting them with synchronised missile dropkick which earns them a second and final Avertisement.  Zapata ends up garroted in the ropes like Collins against Rocco. Tejero comes off the ropes but trips for reasons we don't see why and is splashed and pinned for the win.

Technical point, the film has several jumps indicating sections of frames removed due to film damage, possibly from a faulty projector.

[David Mantell]

On 3/20/2022 at 8:28 AM, ohtani's jacket said:

Guy Mercier/Claude Montourcy vs. Chati Yokouchi/Kiyomigawa (aired 2/20/66)

This was like watching paint dry. They keep having these guys on TV who aren't true catcheurs. Surely, there was something better they could have shown us than this. Mercier and Montourcy were decent workers, but Kiyomigawa and Yokouchi were part of that first generation of Japanese wrestlers who were boring hands. If they'd cheated here with more conviction, and thrown manchettes with a bit more gusto, this would have been all right, but as it was, they only exciting parts were the finishes to each fall. You can go ahead and skip this. 

Well they're not Mr Moto/Kenji Shibuya/Prof Tanaka/Mr Fuji caricatures which is a good start. Nice gowns on the Japanese team. Nice appreciative crowd too, cheering good play on both sides rather than just going for patriotism.  Mercier comes up with the  clever escapes, the Japanese are good mat wrestlers moving from hold to hold.  The Japanese start to go a bit heel with clawholds that involve fish-hooking the nose and hiding chokes from the referee.  The Japanese team go back to more scientific moves but are no longer trusted. Commentator calls karate chops "Manchettes Japonaises" -  Japanese forearm smashes!  Half an hour in, it's very much a forearms Vs chops slugfest which is a pity but I guess these boys were in Europe to learn such aspects of the game.   The Japanese are on their second and final Avertisement.  Montourcy tags in and Les Bons double team Yocouchi before Claude finishes him with not much of a chop of his own for the opening fall.  Commentator uses the interim to chat up some young female fans.  Second falls starts with a bit more chop Vs Manchette before Montourcy goes into a flurry of dropkicks and a victory roll for a second straight, clearly they were running out of TV time.  Japanese team don't really know what has hit them and are last seen raising their hands.  Mercier and Montourcy shake the referees hand - 11 years later Mercier would be routinely beating up refs and getting applauded for it. 

Straight up babyface locals Vs heel foreigners match you could see anywhere in the world. A pity there was not more effort to make stars of the Japanese but this was before the Gotch/Robinson revolution and the Satoru Sayamas of this world were over a decade off.