French catch

[ohtani's jacket]

Luis el Gayo vs. Rene Gerber (aired 5/11/57)

This was amazing. Gerber was a Swiss wrestler and for some reason Swiss wrestlers are always heels in catch. He gets out-outmaneuvered on a hold early on and starts abusing el Gayo. And it's not in a brutish sort of way. He's clearly an accomplished wrestler who knows how turn a legit hold into a dirty one. And boy does he know how to work a crowd. We've been blessed with some great heel work in this 50s catch, but Gerber may be the best of the lot and that's saying something considering how good the rest have been. I lost count of how many fans Gerber argued with. It started off with this guy who looked like he was a train driver or a chimney sweep and ended with up half a dozen other altercations. At one point, he was down on the canvas and someone pulled his hair. And in between rounds he would threaten to throw his stool at people and flickered his water at them. He wasn't a big guy either. Really well build but short. But he really had them worked up. I was surprised when they brawled on the outside. All el Gayo had to do was be demonstrative and he would have drawn heat, but to his credit he was really good as the aggrieved babyface. His retaliatory moves were just as nasty as the holds Gerber dished out, and there were a lot of vicious strikes. I was surprised this went to a finish actually, and the post-match was incredible with el Gayo attacking Gerber with Gerber's own towel. This was one of my favorite matches in the collection so far. If you're going to have a match disintegrate into a nasty brawl then you might as well do it in the first few minutes. I loved the camerawork too. They usually have a single hard cam in the 50s. The closeup shots at ringside felt like something out of a movie. They reminded me of the cinematography from a film noir. Think Body and Soul. Great match that I think would entertain a lot of people outside of the French catch bubble. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Dr. Adolph Kaiser vs. Inca Peruano (aired 5/17/57)

I would have liked to have seen more of this since Inca was the first personality we've seen wrestle Kaiser. I liked that Inca was able to evade Kaiser's strangle hold a couple of times and that he was able to leave under his own steam. Perhaps I'm reading too much into it, but there seemed to be some weird psychology going on with Kaiser. The way he reacted after winning the bout was strange. It had a real Anthony Perkins vibe to it. I am pretty sure that he snaps when he chokes people out and that it's meant to be some kind of personality disorder. 

 

[ohtani's jacket]

Ami Sola vs. "Cheri Bibi" Roger Trigeaud (aired 5/17/57)

Cheri Bibi was a character in a series of novels written by Gaston Leroux, who also authored The Phantom of the Opera. It's the nickname of a young butcher's apprentice who is gifted with extraordinary strength. He gets framed for the murder of his boss, and later on,  in a twist of fate, has his face surgically replaced with the face of the murderer for whose crime he was convicted. Over the years, the novels were adapted into several different films. There was a film in 1954 that may, or may not have been, the inspiration for Trigeuad taking on the gimmick. French promoters from this era often drew inspiration from films and literature. Off the top of my head, there's Spartacus, Batman, the French version of James Bond, and a character from The Three Musketeers. We have a few matches from Trigeaud in the 60s, but he was much leaner here. There was more mat wrestling in this than there has been in most matches so far, and Sola was a nice foil for the showcased wrestler, but this wasn't as exciting as the big heel showcases we've seen so far. It was more of a geek out for people who follow this stuff closely.

[Ricky Jackson]

These reviews are terrific oj. Can't wait to see some of these matches and all the heretofore unknown European workers 

[Matt D]

12 minutes ago, Ricky Jackson said:

These reviews are terrific oj. Can't wait to see some of these matches and all the heretofore unknown European workers 

Agreed that the reviews are great. 

For now, most of these that are reviewed here are being posted at Segunda Caida every Tuesday, so you could watch them this second. 
 

As for the rest, I imagine there’ll be news soon and then OJ will either follow along... or outpace us and I can crib from his notes. 

Links to the last three here. Watch and share freely:

http://segundacaida.blogspot.com/2020/03/tuesday-is-french-catch-day-luis-el.html?m=1

[Ricky Jackson]

Awesome. Thanks Matt 

[ohtani's jacket]

Since it fits within the chronology, I thought I'd go back and watch the original catch find.

Gilbert Cesca vs. Billy Catanzaro (aired 5/2/57)

This was unlike any match we've seen so far the collection. It was unique in that it was a pure wrestling contest. There were forearm smashes, and both guys had a rush of blood to the head, but there was no out-and-out heel performance. If there was aggression, it was because the contest was competitive.  I wonder how often matches like this were on the cards and how rare it was for them to make TV. There was some great wrestling in the bout, but catch's bread and butter so far has been heels that drew incredible heat. I hope there are more wrestling contests like this to go along with the larger than life stuff. As a gateway match, it reminds me of the first time I watched Steve Grey vs. Clive Myers. Once I was hooked, an entire world unfolded with larger than life characters and TV villains. We know how good guys like Cesca and Rene Ben Chemoul are from the old Bob ALPRA footage. I'm hoping we get a showcase or two of their talents the way that ITV used to slip in one or two matches for the purist. In terms of how good Cesca vs. Catanzaro is on re-watch, I think the first half of the bout is stronger than the second. They lose a bit of steam in the final third. It's still one of the all-time great pure wrestling contests, however. It hangs with any match you care to name for pure wrestling combat. And even with the new footage, it's still a trip to see these two lightweights having such a physical wrestling contest in a 1950s Parisian hall. If wrestling had national treasures this would be one of them. 

[Matt D]

We've got Bob Anthony vs Rene Ben Chemoul from 61 coming this week and that's wrestled pretty clean/pure wrestling too. 

[ohtani's jacket]

That should be interesting. I've seen every Bob Anthony match in existence but nothing from his prime. If it's the match I'm thinking of, it's a World Middleweight title bout at the Palais des Sports.

[ohtani's jacket]

Marcel Parmentier vs. Jean Fryziuk (aired 5/24/57)

This was the closing minutes of what looked like a fun bout. We're starting to get a decent idea of all of the heel tricks that were used in French catch. What's not clear yet is who was a perennial heel or who was just adopting the role for the match. Parmentier was magnificent in this match, especially when he was trying to steal the limelight from Fryziuk at the end,  but it can't have been that difficult to work a few staple heel moves. Judging by the match records we have, Parmentier could have been a heel of note, but I don't recognize any of his opponents. Fryziuk's name features more often in the match records, so I'll assume that he was reasonably popular. I don't think either man featured that much on television after this. Again, I'm theorizing, but it seems like it was difficult to get on television. This match either benefited from being right before the main event, or because the promoter wanted the audience to see Fryziuk. With ITV, there was always an element of randomness depending on what was on the card they were filming, but there were also stars who featured much more regularly than other wrestlers. And wrestling was on ITV twice a week at one point. I'm pretty sure catch was only ever on once a week. Anyhoo, this was worth watching for Parmentier's antics. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Al Hayes & Ray Hunter vs. Roger Delaporte & Roger Guettier (aired 5/24/57)

Ray Hunter was an Australian from Tasmania who began wrestling in England in the early 50s. The team of Hayes and Hunter would go on to form an important part of Paul Lincoln Promotions in the early 60s, a rebel promotion that rose to prominence after wrestlers started breaking away from Joint Promotions in the late 50s and began promoting their own shows and working on the independent circuit. Lincoln and Hunter had bought a steakhouse in Soho in '56 and turned it into a coffee shop that was considered rock 'n' roll central in the late 50s. One cool thing about Lincoln, who managed some of the early rock acts in the UK, was that he encouraged the musicians to take on stage names and gimmicks just like wrestlers. Hunter doesn't have a great reputation among old school British fans. Most of them are only familiar with his work after the merger with Joint Promotions. People who went to the Lincoln shows swear Hunter was involved in a number of memorable feuds. I thought he was okay here, but you can understand how he didn't impress in the UK given the quality of heavyweight workers at the time. Delaporte is clearly the man they love to hate in French wrestling. I'm not sure if he did anything as individually brilliant as Bollet, but I really liked his double teaming and he drew tremendous heat between falls. The match cut off before the finish, which was unfortunate as they were whipping the crowd into a frenzy. Someone threw a stool into the ring and it was getting bounced around like a beach ball. I wasn't really impressed with this bout in the beginning but it grew on me as the crowd started throwing debris at the heels. I can't wait to see Delaporte tag with Bollet. I can't imagine how they're going to find opponents worthy of that pairing. 

[Matt D]

39 minutes ago, ohtani's jacket said:

Al Hayes & Ray Hunter vs. Roger Delaporte & Roger Guettier (aired 5/24/57)

Ray Hunter was an Australian from Tasmania who began wrestling in England in the early 50s. The team of Hayes and Hunter would go on to form an important part of Paul Lincoln Promotions in the early 60s, a rebel promotion that rose to prominence after wrestlers started breaking away from Joint Promotions in the late 50s and began promoting their own shoes and working on the independent circuit. Lincoln and Hunter had bought a steakhouse in Soho in '56 and turned it into a coffee shop that considered rock 'n' roll central in the late 50s. One cool thing about Lincoln, who managed some of the early rock acts in the UK, was that he encouraged the musicians to take on stage names and gimmicks just like wrestlers. Hunter doesn't have a great reputation among old school British fans. Most of them are only familiar with his work after the merger with Joint Promotions. People who went to the Lincoln shows swear Hunter was involved in a number of memorable feuds. I thought he was okay here, but you can understand how he didn't impress in the UK given the quality of heavyweight workers at the time. Delaporte is clearly the man they love to hate in French wrestling. I'm not sure if he did as individually brilliant as Bollet, but I really liked his double teaming and he drew tremendous heat between falls. The match cut off before the finish, which was unfortunate as they were whipping the crowd into a frenzy. Someone threw a stool into the ring and it was getting bounced around like a beach ball. I wasn't really impressed with this bout in the beginning but it grew on me as the crowd started throwing debris at the heels. I can't wait to see Delaporte tag with Bollet. I can't imagine how they're going to find opponents worthy of that pairing. 

First one we get is actually vs Hunter/Hayes.

Then LeDuc/Gastel, de Zarzecki/Mr.Montreal, de Zarzecki/Carpentier (I think), de Zarzecki/Mr.Montreal (again), de Zarzecki/Guguliemetti.

Lots of interesting looking Delaporte singles matches though.

[ohtani's jacket]

Bob Anthony vs. Rene Ben Chemoul (aired 7/7/61)

Bob Anthony was the son of well known wrestler, Bob Archer O'Brien, and began his wrestling career as a teen idol. He made his television debut at the end of 1960 and was on television a handful of times in 1961. He then got a huge rub in 1962 with a bout against McManus. Despite his career taking off, there was a lot of unrest among the wrestlers at the time. They ended up unionizing, but they felt discriminated against so a lot of them quit and went to work for Lincoln and other indy promoters. A few years later, Anthony, Hunter, Hayes and Lincoln bought into a nightclub in London, and Anthony, who had already been doing some work promoting rock bands, was put in charge of booking bands and running the club's disco. You wouldn't think it to look at him, but his nickname at the time was The Wrestling Beatle and he ran one of the most "in" clubs of the Swinging Sixties. He was still a kid on the wrestling circuit in this footage, and not hobnobbing with the Beatles or the Rolling Stones yet, but it's an interesting side story.

Rene Ben Chemoul was one of the most beloved French wrestlers of all-time. Couderc adored him and called him Le Tigre de la Lutte and Le Roi Rene. Walton raved about him and considered him one of the finest technicians to ever grace English shores. He also the son of a well-known wrestler, Albert Ben Chemoul, and I just discovered that he had actually been a prisoner of war during the Second World War.

Neither man was at his best here, possibly because of fatigue. Ben Chemoul, in particular, gave many more passionate performances than this. I have a match record of them working a one night tournament on 6/30. I am not sure if this is the final from that tournament but it would explain some of the fatigue (or perceived fatigue.) There were some nice details but the tension never really built and the match ended up being nothing special. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Just a heads up to folks struggling with identifying wrestlers. I finally confirmed that El Gayo is indeed El Gayo:

[Matt D]

This, like everything you've been posting, is great.

BUT

I am not spelling Frisuk's name as Fryziuk. We have to draw the line somewhere!

[ohtani's jacket]

1 hour ago, Matt D said:

I am not spelling Frisuk's name as Fryziuk. We have to draw the line somewhere!

It took me a while to find a record of that guy. 

[ohtani's jacket]

I want to keep following along with the Segunda Caida guys, so for now I'm only going to watch matches of note. Starting, of course, with the British guys.

Vic Hessle & Bert Royal vs. Guy Robin & Edmond Liehn (aired 9/11/58)

Vic Hessle was the father of Bert Royal and Vic Faulkner. Unlike his boys, Hessle was a heavyweight. He was a big star during the 1930s wrestling boom then served as a paratrooper in the Second World War. After the war, he was one of the few wrestlers to successfully re-enter the business and became one of the big names of the post-war era. He was a few years away from retirement here but still had plenty of fire in the belly. The match was a constant stream of cheap shots and retaliation. Robin and Liehn didn't look like much at first but ended up being perfectly scummy. The bout was similar to a lot of the Faulkner/Royal tags. Royal was roughed up a lot and spent the entire bout upset at each and every slight. There was good energy and they entertained the crowd. Good bout. 

[ohtani's jacket]

James McTiffen vs. Roger Guettier (aired 6/19/52?)

James McTiffen was Gwyn Davies, the Welsh wrestler and British Heavyweight champion, who was in one of my all-time favorite WoS matches against Steve Veidor. The date on this is almost assuredly wrong since according to my information, Davies made his debut in 1952 as a 17 year-old. Plus, Couderc was commentating this, which doesn't fit the timeline of the footage we have so far.  Davies came to the ring wearing a kilt and had a guy with him playing bagpipes. He played the bagpipes during the bout to motivate Davies, which naturally upset Guettier. Davies was a magnificent athlete and an incredible physical specimen, probably one of the best big men ever, but he didn't quite have it all together at this point. It was fun to see him in his prime but the bout was criminally short. Half way through the file it was over and then there was a match between Serge Reggiori, and I wanna say Jacques Bernieres, that we didn't get the finish to. 

Tommy Mann vs. Claude Montourcy (aired 10/17/57)

Tommy Mann was billed as an American here but he actually hailed from Manchester (by way of London.) I had no idea what to expect from him, but I knew he was one of the great middleweight champions. It turns out that like Hessle, he made his start in the ring in the 1930s, so he was a vet here. A real hard nosed, tough as nails type. A bit like Les Kellett. They put him against a good looking fella named Montourcy as they are wont to do in the wrestling business. It took a while for the bout to heat up, but once it got cooking I liked it a lot. Mann started working the whole cheating foreign shtick that the crowds liked. He started to grow on me with his tricks, and Montourcy was a fine babyface. An injury finish brought the whole thing to a halt but it was still a satisfying bout. I was kind of surprised that Mann wasn't treated like a bigger deal since he had a big feud with Rene Ben Chemoul, but I dug him all the same.

PS - that martian thing was at ringside again, which is something I need to get to the bottom of. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Tony Charles vs. Giacomo Gugliemetti (aired 3/29/63)

We got the last 9 minutes of this. I've never been a fan of Tony Charles but he was excellent here. Gugliemetti was drawing a lot of heat for his heel antics and Charles was brilliant as the fired up babyface. I always found him to be as dry as dirt on WoS, so this was a pleasant surprise. 

Jean Corne & Michel Falempin vs. Jeff Kaye & Ian Gilmour (11/14/70)

Kaye and Gilmour came to the ring with kilts and bagpipes playing. Someone will have to explain to me the French habit of having English wrestlers dress up as Celts. It has to be some kind of rib. The commentator had "Joe" Kaye and Ian Gilmour mixed the entire bout. Fortunately, the action was a lot better than the commentating. Kaye and Gilmour tagged together often as The Barons and had good chemistry. They brought a lot more WoS spots to this than a lot of the other British wrestlers. In fact, it was almost like a hybrid Catch-WoS bout. Like a lot of European tags, it was more stylistic than dramatic, but it held my attention throughout.

James McTiffen vs. Johnny Stein (aired 10/2/59)

We only got about 8 minutes of this but it seemed better than the Guettier match. It was mostly strength holds but it ended with a bear hug that did what bear hugs are supposed to do.

Tommy Mann vs. Luc Straub (aired 9/5/58)

This was even better than the first Tommy Mann bout since the crowd were really angry at him. Mann was easily the best discovery I made today and a guy I hope I can see more of some day. From what I gather, he was only on ITV a handful of times in the early 60s, so this catch footage is quite valuable.  

[ohtani's jacket]

Antonio Montoro vs. Pierre Bernaert (aired 2/12/60)

Antonio Montoro is considered to be one of the finest wrestlers that Spain ever produced. Judging by the footage, he was a major stylist in the vein of a George Kidd or a Johnny Saint. To be honest, I prefer the rough, hard hitting style of 50s catch to the lightweight style. That sounds like an argument for not liking lucha because it looks fake, but I understand that it was a way for smaller guys to get noticed, and there are lightweights I adore like Jim Breaks and Steve Grey. I think Montoro could have done with a better base here. They didn't mesh well and seemed to have trouble doing rope spots. Some of the stuff Montoro did was creative but a few spots made me groan. Too often this style of wrestling comes across as showboating. Eventually, Bernaert grows frustrated with the dressing and undressing of holds and punches Montoro in the face. That may be the most effective response I've seen to the Johnny Saint style of wrestling. In fairness, Johnny Saint had some great matches, and I'm sure Montoro did too. I would have liked to have seen him against a guy like Catanzaro. As it stands, he didn't nail the first impression test.

Modesto Aledo vs. Teddy Boy (aired 10/13/60)

Modesto Aledo is another Spanish guy with a huge rep, and man was he good. I honestly thought I'd uncovered one of the all-time greats while he in control of the bout. Then Teddy Boy took over and it became a showcase for him. To Aledo's credit, Teddy Boy repeatedly suplexed him over the top rope and onto the floor, which was ballsy stuff. Aledo had a fiery comeback, and I thought we were back on the Aledo train, but Teddy Boy got the "w." Apparently, Aledo jobbed a lot in Britain as well. I swear he looked incredible, though. 

[ohtani's jacket]

L'Ange Blanc vs. Paul Villars (aired 1/9/59)

Watching this match was surreal. It was a bit like having footage of the original El Santo. Up until now we've only had clips of L'Ange Blanc just like we only have footage of Santo from his movies. Because of that, he hasn't really been on my catch radar. I've been aware of his existence but my catch journey has been in pursuit of more matches like Cesca vs. Catanzaro. The idea behind L'Ange Blanc was that he was an avenger against the hoard of French villains. Couderc claims that he came up with the gimmick and the costume design. Like all masked men, his identity remained shrouded in mystery. He was billed as South American but rumours had it he was the son of a French diplomat. In reality, he was a wrestler from Madrid who really did get his start in South America. In fact, I believe he moved to France after the Venezuelan coup in 1958 but that information is loosely scraped together. In any event, he took off in 1959. I'm not sure if this is his debut match or not. Legend has it that his debut drew a crowd of 15,000 to the Palais des Sports and that the TV station's phones rang off the hook. He grew so popular that he was part of the 1959 Tour de France, wrestling a match each night at the stopover towns. He also had imitators throughout the country on a nightly basis. It was a similar story to other superhero success stories in wrestling. The same mythos of good vs. evil that resonated strongly to a post-war generation, articulated by the passionate cries of Roger Couderc. Despite the fact that he looked like a luchador, the French venues, and the artwork for the bills he appeared on, almost gave it a gothic or expressionist feel to me. As for his wrestling, it's important to remember that he was a heavyweight and a welterweight or middleweight like the great workers of the day, but if this is your number one babyface you could do worse. He wasn't a master technician but he was definitely a decent one. He put Villars to sleep at the end of the match then revived him after the bout much to the crowd's delight. It's impossible to say enough about Paul Villars' moustache. Possibly the greatest moustache in wrestling history. Definitely the most villainous. He cut a promo with Couderc before the bout, which was something I hadn't seen before. This was definitely an important piece of footage. We only have one more match with L'Ange Blanc in the mask and nothing from his legendary feud with Le Bourreau de Bethune, which was considered to be the McManus vs. Pallo of French catch. The rest of the footage is after he unmasked. So an important document, for sure. And a whole new chapter in the narrative that we're trying to piece together.  

[ohtani's jacket]

Gilbert Leduc vs. Bert Mychel (aired 12/12/70 or 4/12/71)
Gilbert Leduc vs. Bert Mychel (aired 4/16/73)

Gilbert Leduc was one of the greatest wrestlers that France has known. Nicknamed "The Gentleman of the Ring," he was a long time European and World Champion. I guess he was comparable to a guy like Mike Marino, who was a perennial champion and a cornerstone of the professional game. His specialty was "La Toupie," which was a vertical escape from a heads scissors. Apparently, he could get nine rotations on his head spin, with legend having it that no other wrestler could get close to that number. Bert Mychel was an amateur wrestler who competed at the 1960 and 1964 Olympics. You can imagine the catch that these two put on. The first match was a gentlemanly bout of catch with both men saluting each other. The second bout was a nitty, gritty affair that showed a rougher side to the gentleman's game. There was some sort of nitrate decomposition on the film that made it looked like both men were burning up in flames. I enjoyed the contrast between bouts. Catch was one life support at this point but nobody told these guys. This is the only Mychel we get, sadly, but Leduc is featured in plenty more matches. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Gaston Maujean vs. Guy Cavillier (aired 5/30/57)

Match labeling let the side down this week. The guy in the leopard skin trunks is actually Guy Cavillier. The bald guy who beats the snot out of him is Gaston Maujean. I thought the match was all right even if Cavillier did seem a bit off.

Gilbert Leduc vs. Warnia de Zarzecki  (aired 5/30/57)

This was a fantastic wrestling match. I'm totally sold on the idea of Leduc being The Guy. He was in his prime here, the World Champion and Prince de la Lutte Professionnelle. He carried himself as well as anyone I've seen from the 50s and that includes Thesz and Gagne. Note the tape over the eye. That's a side of Leduc I haven't explored yet -- the sympathetic babyface being savaged by cruel and brutal men.

]

This was as good a wrestling contest as I've seen in a while, and de Zarzecki played his part. I thought it might be a bit of a golf clap bout, but it was hard fought and physical. A lot of great strength holds. Leduc looked a cut above de Zarzecki, but I feel like Leduc respected the Pole. I don't want to burn through all the Leduc we have, but it sure is tempting. 

[Matt D]

Now I feel bad for sullying the good name of Maujean. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Lino di Santo vs. Michel Allary (aired 6/7/57)

This was a nice little match. Allary was a young prospect who we saw a lot of in the ALPRA footage. Lino di Santo was the European champion guiding him through his paces. Again we saw a lot of focus on leg strength. Leg scissors and head scissors work is quickly becoming a staple of 50s catch. There's been a lot of talk about the Spaniards in this footage but don't overlook the Italians. Pellacani and di Santo have both been solid thus far.