French catch

[ohtani's jacket]

Le Petit Prince vs. Albert Sanniez (aired 10/15/77)

Robert Duranton appeared at the beginning of this in a giant fur coat. Then he took his coat and shirt off and posed for the crowd. God knows why you'd have Duranton do that before a lightweight bout. It was like an NWO wrestler doing a run-in during a cruiser weight contest. He sat next to the commentator for the entire bout but didn't have much to say. The Prince wore glasses as part of his ring attire but they weren't cool. The match, on the other hand, was outstanding. Sanniez is one of my favourite guys in the entire collection and one of the real bright spots during catch's decline. Great worker, great wrestler, and great heel. He was a tremendous base for the Prince, a wrestler who could have felt really played out in 1977 but felt fresh again thanks to Sanniez. There was some bullshit with the ref (an element that seemed to creep into a lot of the later catch), but it built to an exciting flurry at the end. The crowd was really into this. They brought back the outside brawling spot from the 50s. This was definitely make my list of recommended matches.

Dave Bond vs. Pete Roberts (aired 2/27/78)

Imagine my surprise seeing Pete Roberts and Dave Bond wrestle on French TV in 1978. We get less than 10 minutes of this but the action is good. Roberts is one of my favorite British wrestlers and one of the most overlooked/underrated workers of all-time. Any time we some action from him in his prime it's a good day. The crowd actually gave them an ovation at the end so it must have been a pretty good bout. Couderc tried to speak to Roberts in English when he tumbled to the floor. I love it when Couderc does that. 

[ohtani's jacket]

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. 

[SirEdger]

I assume that Robert Duranton also wrestled as Bobby Duranton in California around the same time? I was just doing some research on Cagematch today and I stumbled upon a WWA card in California in 1964 with both of them seemingly popping up on that card (Duranton was working a tag match against Freddie Blassie and Carpentier wrestled Kintaro Oki in the semi-main)

[ohtani's jacket]

Yeah, you can find some information about his US career here -- http://wrestlingclassics.com/cgi-bin/.ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=10;t=002139

[Jetlag]

On 3/22/2020 at 11:02 AM, ohtani's jacket said:

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.

 

Yeah, the actual air date here is June 19, 1959. Not sure how that mess-up happened since I listed everything in order, but it's bound to happen when you have to process hundreds of files.

[ohtani's jacket]

Albert Sanniez vs. Guy Cavillier (aired 2/1/69)

This was another brilliant performance from Sanniez. I'm just about ready to anoint him at the same level as Jim Breaks, Steve Grey and Jon Cortez. Here he was wrestling that goofy looking bugger from Tuesday's Segunda Caida review and he made him look totally credible. The only downer with this was the no contest injury finish. Aside from that it was a terrific contest.

Gilbert Leduc vs. Geoff Portz (aired 10/19/62)

Geoff Portz was one of the great British heavyweights of this era. It may not seem like it but this footage is almost the same as getting a Georges Gordienko match or some early Billy Robinson. Everything they say about Portz is true. Just a pure wrestler through and through. He's the first guy I've seen give Leduc a run for his money in terms of how legit he seemed. This was a wonderful exhibition of catch. The finish was a bit soft but the wrestling wasn't.

Andre Bollet vs. Franz van Buyten (aired 1/1/69)

Catch was getting all experimental at this stage. This had the commentary broadcast throughout the area. The bout featured a lot of cheap shots from Bollet and angry responses from van Buyten. I'm not a fan of this type of wrestling, and personally I think it's a waste of van Buyten's talents, but I did enjoy Bollet's bag of tricks. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Antonio Montoro vs. Inca Peruano (aired 11/18/60)

We only get a few minutes of this, which is a shame because it looked like a much more exciting bout than Montoro's other match. And he looked a shit ton better.

L'Ange Blanc vs. Andre Bollet '(aired 11/18/60)

This was disappointing. Bollet's act is starting to wear a bit thin with me. L'Ange Blanc was a passenger in this when really he should have been blazing his way across the screen. Bollet's matches tend to be long and drawn out and don't offer much in the way of wrestling. I would have loved to have seen a really intense, heated encounter but the action only picked up when Bollet and Delaporte attacked L'Ange after the bout. 

Rene Ben Chemoul vs. Comte de Diadone (Guiseppe Diadone) (aired 3/10/67)

I'm still waiting for a match where Chemoul lives up to his reputation but this was closer to what you'd expect. The only trouble was that his opponent was average. I'm not sure how Diadone was billed here. He was one of those workers who used different variations of his ring name. It sounded like the commentator called him Comte de Guiseppe Diadone. I just went with Comte de Diadone since that was the name he most commonly used. He was a bearded Italian who worked an aristocratic gimmick. 

Vassilios Mantopoulos vs. Jack Rouxel (aired 6/29/67)

This was a catchweight contest. It was a bit ho-hum in the beginning. Mantopoulous danced around a lot while Rouxel appeared to be one of the least talented guys in the footage to date. But little by little the action improved and I began to appreciate the effort Rouxel was making to bump and sell for the smaller star. In the end, it was a decent contest. The finish was fun. Rouxel was locked in the George Kidd ball, and for a big man he sold it extremely well. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Tony Oliver vs. Serge Gentilly (aired 1/1/59)

We get another Tony Oliver match, which is a treat. This isn't as good as the Bert Royal match, but it's still a solid performance from Oliver. He isn't quite as imposing a heel as he was against Royal, but you get to see him wrestle a bit more and he does have some grouchy moments. Gentilly is another one of those youngish French talents that have been popping up. He's not bad, but he doesn't have a strong personality. The main thing is that we have another Oliver match on tape, which is a bonus. 

Kamikaze vs. Nicolas Priore (aired 5/22/71)

I'm pretty sure that this is the original Kamikaze, Modesto Aledo. It certainly looks like him. Kamikaze was basically a gimmick like Black Man or Great Sasuke. He was dressed completely in black with an oriental looking mask, and wrestled in Valentin Maldonado's words: "a very violent and unorthodox style, mixing cheating, martial arts, mat wrestling and an incredible aerial ability," which, to me, sounds pretty revolutionary for the 1960s. He lost the mask in 1965, but he wore it to the ring here as part of his entrance. When he took it off, there was something strange about his face. I couldn't quite figure out how he did it, but he looked as though he was deformed. Now according to the Wrestling Heritage guys, the way the gimmick was pushed in the UK was that Kamikaze refused to take his mask off even if he lost because his face had been badly burned in the Korean War. I'm not sure of the validity of that, and the Wrestling Heritage guys seem to have all sorts of theories about who was behind the mask (more than likely some UK imitators), but in any event, the Kamikaze here looked creepy as fuck, especially with the grainy footage. Nicolas Priore was a well-built Italian guy, but that doesn't really matter. I spent most of this bout trying to get a better look at Kamikaze's face. He didn't really do the athletic spots he was famed for, but he was aggressive. He kept bowing to the ref whenever he was cautioned and was a pretty odd customer in general. There was a second Kamikaze as well, and the two tag together in some of the footage we have, so I guess we will learn more about him as time goes by.

George Cohen & Gass Doukhan vs. M'Boaba & Karl von Kramer (aired 9/14/68)

Sticking with the gimmick wrestlers, this was a brief, incomplete clip of M'Boaba, or N'Boa the Snakeman, as he was billed in the UK. He was billed from deepest, darkest Africa and had a handler with him that was dressed a bit like Kim Chee. He used to bring a python to the ring with him in the UK but sadly there was no snake here. He was actually Bob Elandon, a wrestler from the Belgium Congo, and I've gotta tell you, I've seen better wild man acts. There was a Karl von Kramer in the UK who's real name was Jack Land, but I am pretty sure that the Jack von Kramer here was a guy named Michel Laurent. I want to say they say they billed him as Swiss. George Cohen and Gass Doukhan were French based Israeli wrestlers, I believe. These wrestled together as an Israeli tag team. The crowd was wild for this. They gathered around the ring and shook the bottom rope to spur the Israelis on and they wanted a piece of Kramer. There was a really cool surfboard type spot in the corner where Kramer was bounced up and down like a trampoline. 

[ohtani's jacket]

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.

Spartacus vs. Eric Husberg (aired 4/29/60)

Spartacus was French wrestler, Jacques Pecheur. Spartacus wasn't just a nickname either. He came to the ring with an awesome gladiator costume, pretty much the splitting image of Kirk Douglas. And he could wrestle too. I was quite impressed with this bout. His opponent was Finnish wrestler, Eric Husberg, who at one time was nicknamed "The Nordic Marvel" but is mostly remembered these days as Cheri Bibi's tag partner. As far as I'm concerned, this was a bit of a gem. Unbelievably, Pecheur ended up becoming a killer for hire. He was hired to murder, Gaston Glock, the Austrian gun maker, to cover up embezzlement of Glock's firm, but Glock was able to beat Pecheur into unconsciousness, and our Spartacus was sentenced to 17 years in prison.

James Brown vs. Kiyomigawa (aired 3/29/63)

Kiyomigawa is an interesting story. He was a former sumo wrestler who became one of the early Japanese pro-wrestlers in the 1950s. The early promotions all folded due to mismanagement and for whatever reasons Kiyomigawa, divorced and separated from his family, headed overseas and wrestled his way around the world. He traveled to Mexico, South America, Africa, Europe, the States, and other parts of the world. He finally returned to Japan in 1970 and was involved in the wrestling business in various different aspects. He helped book Japanese wrestlers in the German tournaments, was the referee for the big Inoki vs Strong Kobayashi bout in '74 and became a trainer for All Japan Women's Pro-Wrestling. He was actually one of the trainers of the Beauty Pair, Jackie Sato and Maki Ueda. I can't honestly say he was very good. Most of the early Japanese wrestlers weren't that great. He had a weird physique and his wrestling style was reminiscent of Baba. But he's another guy whose story isn't well known.

[ohtani's jacket]

Michel Saulnier vs. Jean Rabut (aired 6/20/65)

Ladies and gentlemen, do we have a new super worker? I know the Segunda Caida guys are planning to do a spotlight on Saulnier vs. Le Petit Prince this week so I don't want to steal too much of their thunder, but Saulnier seems like he was an amazing talent. He was a small man, barely five foot tall, but fast and incredibly skilled. He had a strong amateur background in Greco-Roman and freestyle wrestling and was a class act. It was actually Saulnier who was assigned to train Le Petit Prince after the Prince was discovered by Parisian manager, Robert Lageat. This was a neat showcase for his skills, and fortunately there is more to come. 

Guy Mercier vs. Peter Kayser (aired 5/2/70)

Kayser looked like an intimidating prospect. He was a nasty looking German with a shaved head who reminded me of a bigger Steve Wright. He was the nephew of the German wrestler and promoter, Gustl Kaiser, and a German amateur champion. In Billy Robinson's book, he says Kayser challenged him to a private match and Billy pinned or submitted him 13 times while Kayser pinned him once, but I figure if Kayser could pin Robinson once he can't have been too bad. Mercier looked like the real deal too, but I need to see more of him. He had a bit of Marty Jones about him. In fact, this match reminded me of that episode of WoS where Steve Wright randomly appears as Bull Blitzer and has a barn burner with Jones. 

Jacky Montalier vs. La Bete Humaine (aired 2/8/71)

This has to be seen to be believed (or maybe not since it's not that good.)

[ohtani's jacket]

Spartacus vs Jack Van Dooren (aired 7/1/60)

This wasn't as exciting as the Husberg match since Van Dooren was a bigger man and not as quick, but it was solid and continued the rather unique babyface run of our Roman gladiator inspired Frenchman.

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.

Rene Ben Chemoul & Walter Bordes vs. Kamikaze I & Kamikaze II (aired 12/26/68)

Well, this is confusing. I'm pretty sure that Les Kamikazes were the Spanish versions but neither guy removed their mask. I guess we don't have an accurate timeline on when Kamikaze I lost his mask, or perhaps he kept using it in France. In any event, the match was more about Chemoul and Bordes than it was the Kamikazes. This felt like a better reflection of what made Chemoul so beloved. He gave a fiery and passionate performance. He danced salsa when he was winning and shed tears when his prodigy was in trouble. I was surprised by how good Bordes was. I didn't expect him to be be so smooth. The match was formulaic but entertaining. Les Kamikazes were strange and exotic and shifty enough to make decent foils for the babyfaces, and the team of Chemoul and Bordes shone. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Guy Mercier vs. Peter Kayser (aired 8/22/70)

This was a return match from their May bout. More of a straight heel vs. face affair, which was less interesting (to me, anyway.) Mercier looks like he was heavily influenced by Leduc. He does the same headspin but it doesn't look as good. I'm not at the stage yet where I can recognize the venues they're working by name, but I can distinguish them visually, and I wonder if they work differently depending on the venue. This had some bruising moments but the first match was better.

Michel Saulnier vs. Ricardo Torres (aired 8/14/71)

Another neat performance from Saulnier. Torres was supposedly the son of L'Ange Blanc, Since Saulnier was a trainer, I kind of saw this as Saulnier putting young Torres through his paces. The match had a lot of pure wrestling sequences without any arc or build, and there was no real narrative, but the wrestling was cool.

Le Petit Prince vs. Daniel Noced (aired 3/16/73)

This was an important match-up for me. Up until now we've seen the Prince take on great workers like Saulnier and Sanniez. This time he was taking on a larger opponent who wasn't as quick or as talented. It seemed like a good litmus test for the Prince's skills. Noced was game. A bit like Rouxel only a better performer. He gave a big man performance that I think a lot of people will like, and I probably did him wrong by underselling his ability, but the Prince really shone here. He was lightning quick and did incredible moves, but he could also wrestle and sell a beating. There have been plenty of phenoms over the years who could do one thing or the other, but rarely has there been a total package like the Prince. History hasn't been kind to the Prince. He's not that well remembered outside of France. Hopefully we can change that. If you enjoy lightweight action, you owe it to yourself to check him out. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Le Petit Prince vs. Bobby Genele (aired 5/22/66)

This was an early television appearance by Le Petit Prince. Apparently, his first televised match was against Jean Ferre (Andre the Giant.) The Prince was from Audincourt in Eastern France. His father was Swiss and his mother was Italian. He came from a background in gymnastics. From all accounts, he won many gymnastics titles and was selected to represent France at the Olympics but was forced to withdraw due to injury. Fortunately, he also had a passion for Greco-Roman wrestling, and together with his younger brothers, he developed a style of artistic wrestling that mixed wrestling with acrobatics.  The brothers would try their luck at so-called "wrestling huts" at patronal feasts in the Franche-Comte area where they grew up and later in the Paris region. I don't really know what these wrestling huts were. I'm not sure if they involved taking on a hooker of if they involved some type of worked wrestling performance. In any event, that was where the Prince was discovered. As I mentioned the other day, he was discovered by the manager, Robert Lageat, who was one of the big matchmakers in Paris along with Étienne Siry and Maurice Durand. Originally, he took the stage name Alberic d'Ericourt. You can hear the commentator and ring announcer refer to him by that name during the match. Le Petit Prince was a nickname that Couderc gave him. Bobby Genele was a skinny-looking kid who didn't like being made fun of by d'Ericourt's fancy moves. So he started beating on him. The Prince was in his first year as a pro, so he wasn't as polished as he'd become. But this was still entertaining.

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.

Inca Peruano vs. Jose Arroyo (aired 12/30/60)

Inca Peruano gets lost in the shuffle during the 60s but what an excellent worker. I wanted to check this out because Jose Arroyo is a name that appears a lot and I wanted to see if he was another great Spanish worker. He was solid, but it was Inca Peruano who stole the show. He could not only work a storyline to rile the Parisians up, but he could wrestle too. Not necessarily in the amateur sense, but in the professional sense. He knew holds -- how to counter them, how to bump for them, how to sell for them, what to do and when to do it. As far as I can see, he was a consummate pro. 

Spartacus vs. Hans Schnabel (aired 1/7/61)

I created some confusion when I talked about Spartacus' arrest. The story happened in 1999 when Pecheur was 67 years old. Here is the Forbes story if you anyone is interested -- https://www.forbes.com/global/2003/0331/020.html#99a46bb3eb5d This wasn't the Hans Schnabel who wrestled in the US at the time. I think this was a German guy. He was TKO'ed in this bout and jobbed hard. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Le Petit Prince vs. Michel Saulnier (aired 1/1/68)

This was the final 10 minutes of a draw. It was interesting to see the contrast in styles between Le Petit Prince and his tricked out moves and the legit amateur champion and base, Saulnier. 

Jacky Corn vs. Pierre Rouanet (aired 1/1/68)

I'm pretty sure this is Pierre Rouanet. This was match was going nowhere until Rouanet gave Corn a hard shot and Corn gave Rouanet a receipt. After that it was pretty intense. I couldn't figure out if they were being intentionally stiff or if there was some bad feeling between them. Rouanet looked pretty sore at the end and his selling seemed too good for a run-of-the-mill match like this. I've never seen a catch bout where this stiff, and Corn featured twice already in the footage Segunda Caida has reviewed and no mention was made of him being stiff. At least it made for an intriguing bout. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Le Petit Prince vs. Michel Saulnier (aired 10/4/69)

This wasn't wholly satisfying for me. The constant interruption of the paintings and music was irritating for me and I struggled to get into the rhythm of the match. I watched this twice and it reminded me of the old Rey Mysterio Jr vs. Dean Malenko chestnut where it makes perfect sense for the wrestler to ground the high flyer but you're denying the audience the most exciting part of the match. This was great whenever they did rope spots, and the final 10 minutes were exciting, but I didn't really appreciate Saulnier cutting off the Prince early on and would have preferred a grittier struggle on the mat. Then again, we may have gotten that and I didn't notice because of those overlays. 

Zarak vs. Walter Bordes (aired 3/12/77)

Zarak was one of the many alter-egos of British wrestler, Dave Larsen. Larsen was part of the Lincoln stable of wrestlers, and if you've been following my posts you'll know that the Lincoln wrestlers (Hayes, Hunter, Anthony, Larsen) had a direct pathway to Paris. This was well after the Lincoln merger with Joint Promotions, and Larsen had apparently disappeared from the British scene at this point. Zarak was, without a doubt, the cockiest masked wrestler I have ever seen. The swagger was amazing. He actually made Bordes crack up during the intros. The match played out exactly as you'd expect. It wasn't bad but it wasn't the most authentic catch. You may notice the chant "Mamadou Meme" during Bordes' matches. Mamaodu Meme was a popular song by Nino Ferrer. I'm not sure how it became a rallying fall for Bordes but you hear it a lot.

Billy Catanzaro & Gilbert Lemagouroux vs. Albert Sanniez & Bob Remy (aired 3/12/71)

Catanzaro as a comedy heel? I'm guessing most people aren't familiar with this part of his career. This was disappointing for me on a number of levels. IInteres guess if you can accept Catanzaro playing the buffoon you may enjoy it more than I do, but I was really looking forward to see Catanzaro vs. Sanniez, and while they had some fun exchanges together, it was built around Sanniez making Catanzaro looking foolish instead of two great workers squaring off. And Gilbert Lemagouroux (or Le Magouroux, however it's written) wasn't anything like I expected. I had this impression that he would be awesome because he was Catanzaro's partner and because he looked good in pictures. Not the case in this match. Catanzaro was pretty old here, and others may find more value in his comedy routine than I did, but this wasn't the bout I was hoping for at all.

Interestingly, the TV listing for this match screwed the pairings up:

re

Roger Delaporte & Paul Villars vs. Gordon Nelson & Bud Cody (aired 7/25/58)

This was really early on in Nelson's career. He qualified for the 1952 and 1956 Olympics but lack a lack of funds prevented the Canadian Olympic team from taking freestyle wrestlers to the Games. He needed to find sponsorship for '56 but wasn't able to. Frustrated, he turned his attention to pro-wrestling and began his training in Winnipeg. He sent a letter to Jack Dale of Dale Martin Promotions and made his start in England. He worked in England for the better part of 12 years (as himself and the masked Outlaw) before moving to the States and becoming Mr. Wrestling. I'm 99% sure that his partner is fellow Canadian, Bud Cody, for the following reasons: the commentator keeps calling him Cody, he was working the German tournaments that year, and more importantly, it looks like him. This was a brawl and didn't resemble catch as such, but I'm sure that suited Delaporte and Villars more than a technical match would. We didn't get to see much of Nelson's technical acumen, except for one cool pinning maneuver, but it was hugely entertaining and the most fun of any of the bouts I watched today. Cody was the star of the show for his side. He took the fight to the Frenchman and they obliged by stooging as well as any heels you care to name. Delaporte had this skit between rounds where he had a go with his second. This delighted me as I'd never seen it done before and I've seen a shit ton of European wrestling. The match was 40 minutes long but the action never let up and the match just whizzed by. The finish was a glorious bit of cheating and the heels' selling at the end was sublime. Delaporte and Villars' stock shot up in my book, and after sitting through a lot of mediocre tag matches from the 50s, this set a new bar for me for how good these 50s tag matches can be. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Ischa Israel vs. Henri Le Mao (aired 8/22/65) 

Ischa Israel was an Israeli wrestler who worked in the UK and France during the 50s and 60s. Henri Le Mao was another successful amateur turned pro. This started slow but it had a heated finish with both guys trying uppercuts, headbutts and whips into the turnbuckle to try to get a knockout before time expired. 

Ami Sola vs. Pepe Marques (aired 10/28/60)

Pepe Marques was another Spanish wrestler. This was decent catch. It also featured a lot of uppercuts toward the end but this time it was due to fatigue. 

Jean Corne vs. Robert Le Boulch (aired 9/3/59)

Jean Corne was a talented wrestler. Up until now, we've only seen him in tag matches, so I was looking forward to seeing what he could do in singles. His opponent Le Boulch was a nasty man and set about doing whatever he could to stop Corne from wrestling, similar to how Teddy Boy prevented Aledo from doing the same. Thankfully this was from the era where the crowds were wild and would have a go at the wrestlers from ringside. Folks are gonna love the kicks and swinging punch that Le Boulch gives to the spectators. This kind of had that vibe of tag wrestlers squaring off for a singles match (if you catch my drift), but Le Boulch made it entertaining.

Gilbert Leduc & Batman vs. Les Blousons Noirs (aired 12/1/67)

I wish Batman wrestled with his mask on. He wears it for the intros of an earlier match then takes it off. I guess he either lost and was forced to unmask or had trouble seeing. Either way, he was a strange partner for Leduc. Leduc spent a lot of this match face down on the canvas. It reminded me of Misawa taking a beating only this time it wasn't the Boy Wonder, Akiyama, standing on the apron, but Batman. Les Blousons Noirs were a polished heel act. Their gimmick was out of date at this point but they were one of the more solid tag teams in France. The match could have done with a bit more build, and like a lot of French tags, they could have shaved a few minutes off the running time, but they held it together. There was also a surprise haircut at the end..

Roger Delaporte & Andre Bollet vs. Robert Gastel & Gilbert Leduc (aired 12/14/61)

It was weird seeing Gastel and Leduc on the same side. Not sure how that transpired. This was long, and slow at times, but Delaporte and Bollet were able to carry it with their personalities. Neither of them could wrestle that well but they were both tremendous stooges. It's easy to see why Delaporte was a big star. His theatrics were entertaining and had Couderc roaring with laughter. Leduc hasn't impressed in tags yet. I prefer him in singles matches at this stage. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Jack de Lasartesse vs. Gaby Calderon (aired 2/1/70)

It feels like an age since I've seen a good Lasartesse performance. I still have the bitter taste of that swimming pool match in my mouth. But this was vintage Lasartesse. He only executed the most basic of holds and he wasn't a great wrestler, but the swagger, the arrogance... Few wrestlers have played the arrogant heel better than Lasartesse. The judoka, Calderon, was looking a bit worse for wear in this match, but Lasartesse was golden. He was a giant of a man in this era and his long legs made his knee drops seem devastating. This was a nice reminder of why I used to rave about Lasartesse so much. 

Le Petit Prince vs. Daniel Noced (aired 6/6/74)

This was a 10 minute bout, but it was great. Noced is one of the best dance partners the Prince had. The Prince unleashed all of his offence on Noced, and Noced sold it like a champ. He really is the Psicosis to the Prince's Mysterio, Jr. 

Peter Maivia vs. Danny Lynch (aired 10/21/67)

This was a short clip. Lynch was a British heavyweight who bumped like a madman. He had a reputation for blading in every single match. It was hard to tell but I think he bladed here. Peter Maivia did Peter Maivia things, but the highlight here was Lynch's spills. 

Le Hippie du Ring vs. Gilbert Bernaert (aired 6/39/70)

This was the Hippie's debut. I wasn't sure how this was going to play out. Would the Hippie refused to engage in holds as a pacifist or would he be extra violent? It turned out that he was a decent grappler and it was up to Bernaert to get nasty. Everyone got flowers and kisses at the end, however. 

Pierre Bernaert vs. Armand Zarpa (4/11/65)

Zarpa was Armando Zarpanalian. He was billed as Armenian in Paris, but Greek in most of his overseas forays. I think he was a product of the French wrestling scene, as I checked Phil Lions recent research into the history of Greek wrestling and his name wasn't mentioned. This started off slow -- a deliberate stalemate perhaps -- and became exciting when Zarpa began reacting to some of Bernaert's inside shots. We've seen that formula a lot in French and British pro-wrestling where the workers are trudging along and then one of them needles the other and the match erupts. This wasn't red hot but it better for the niggle. Zarpa looked like a decent hand but the quality of the match probably depended on his opposition. 

Janos Vadkerti vs. Roland Daumal (aired 10/13/60)

This was a nice little match from when men were men and catcheurs were catcheurs. I think Vadkerti was a Hungarian wrestler.

Sergio Reggiori vs. Eric Wasberg (aired 7/1/60)

Another short, JIP match that paints the wrestlers in a good light. Eric Wasberg was a Swiss wrestler not to be confused with Eric Husberg who was a Finnish wrestler. I wish we had more of Wasberg but actually it was Reggiori who stole the show here. 

Jimmy Dula vs. Andre Drapp (aired 4/26/71)

This was better than expected. Drapp was a bodybuilder, and Dula was a huge black guy doing an African gimmick, but they worked a really gritty strength based match. There were no quarters given. Drapp was, allegedly, part of the French Resistance and had shot and killed several Nazi soldiers. I don't know if that story is true but he looked a hell of a lot tougher than your average bodybuilder. Dula was billed from Morocco but I'm not sure of his actual origins. I think he came from a boxing background and he flashed that a bit during the meaty part of the bout. I'd definitely watch both men again.

[ohtani's jacket]

i'm tired from all this real world shit, so I watched a bunch of shorter clips.

Doviskoff vs. Andre Lacour (aired 11/20/59)

Only two minutes of this? I was intrigued to see the bald Russian light weight, Doviskoff, but I guess we'll never know how good he was. Lacour was often billed as Andre Lacourt, but I believe "Lacour" was his real name so let's go with that.

Michel Saulnier vs. Jetty Coster (aired 6/3/60)

Jetty Coster, what a name. This was a younger Saulnier so definitely worth checking out.

Inca Viracocha vs. Guy Mercier (aired 10/19/62)

This was listed as Inca Peruano but I am pretty sure it was Inca Viracocha. Viracocha was Peruano's friend and compatriot, Jorge Figueroa. Guy Mercier was young here. 

Yasu Yoguchi vs. Mathias Sanchez (aired 3/14/65)

I am fairly certain that the Yasu Yoguchi we see here is Chati Yokouchi. He was another Japanese wrestler who traveled a lot. He was especially popular in the UK where he worked the whole devious Mr.Fuji act. Sanchez is like no other Spanish worker we've seen so far. He looks like Ron Jeremy. 

Joaquim La Barba vs. Dan Aubroit (aired 4/11/65)

It's a shame that La Barba disappears from the scene as he was one of the best characters from the 50s stuff. Aubroit strikes me as a guy who doesn't look like your typical French wrestler.

Daniel Noced vs. Vassilios Mantopoulos (aired 7/16/65)

It's my boy, Daniel Noced, with shorter hair, still looking like a world class base for famous light weights. 

L'Ange Blanc vs. Robert Duranton (aired 7/5/71)

The unmasked L'Ange Blanc kept playing to the crowd like a meerkat sticking its head out of a hole. It was that awkward kind of shit luchadores sometimes do after they unmask. I haven't been impressed with Duranton thus far, but he threw some nice looking punches and uppercuts here. Well, I thought they were nice -- I have no confidence in judging a worked punch. All I can tell you is that I wish he worked like this more often. Plus he had cool muttonchops. L'Ange Blanc got his ass handed to him. Seems that his star had fallen.

[ohtani's jacket]

Jo Benardo vs. Eric Wasberg (aired 6/14/57)

Y'know, when I was researching about Eric Wasberg I learned that you can't take the nationality aspect too seriously. Wasberg is billed as Swiss but it turns out that his paternal grandfather was Swiss. Likewise, Eric Husberg is billed as Finnish, but in actual fact he was born in Paris to a Parisian mother and a Finnish father working in France. I guess I should have learnt from Tommy Mann being billed as American. Wasberg ended up becoming a stuntman in films.

Inca Peruano vs. "Cheri Bibi" Roger Trigeaud (aired 6/14/57)

While doing my research, I discovered that Inca Peruano died last  year in Paris at the grand old age of 93. Apparently, he was born in a small village in the Andes where sport was everything, and excelled at acrobatics, boxing and wrestling and moved to Spain to learn about the world and earn a crust. Cheri Bibi was still billed as Roger Trigeaud here. I thought this bout was a failure, to be honest. I kept waiting for it to be more explosive but it didn't happen. It wasn't that Trigeaud was playing a strongman gimmick so the bout was boring. They just never meshed. The bout was better when Trigeaud was on top and Peruano was selling. Peruano had a poor bout offensively. They blew two or three spots and his control work was dull. He's a great worker but we didn't see that here. I wouldn't call this a disappointment since I didn't have great expectations for it, but it was poor by late 50s standards.

I actually found the poster for this show:

Immediately, you can see that the date from the archive is the taping date not the air date. The footage seems to imply that Inca Peruano vs. Cheri Bibi went on last despite having second billing, and before the match, the ring announcer talks about the main event for the 6/16 show. 

[Matt D]

Mark had me on to talk a little about the French Catch stuff. I stumbled over names, forgot things (like mentioning Inca Peruano), said the same thing three times, tried not to talk loud enough to bug my wife, etc. Then I totally forgot Bull Curry's name as we talked about Houston a bit. BUT hey, it's twenty minutes of me babbling in case anyone wants to hear it:

https://tinyurl.com/winterpod83

Very cool that you found that poster, @ohtani's jacket. We get one Tommy Mann match later on in October 57 and I'm curious to see him.

Here's here vs Chemoul briefly:

 

[ohtani's jacket]

Andre Drapp vs. Yves Amor (aired 3/27/58)

Drapp continues to defy my expectations for a bodybuilder, though it does appear that he had an amateur background of sorts. I found this nugget of information from Phil Lions: 

"Some new results. This time from Nancy and the surrounding area.

Nancy was a bit different than the other spot towns that I've researched in a sense that they had an active amateur scene and the pro shows weren't as reliant on heavyweight foreigners. The local athletic club "Louis Vasseur" was the one putting on all the pro shows in Nancy and they would feature amateur catch matches on these shows too, but also they would do amateur shows as well. This is how Andre Drapp, for example, got his start. He would go on to be a top French bodybuilder and pro wrestler. Anyway, I decided to include the amateur results as well since the pro and amateur stuff are kind of intertwined in Nancy. The matchmaker for pretty much all of the Nancy shows was a guy from the athletic club called Andre Triboulet."

According to my own research, Drapp started attending Club Vasseur when he was 16 years old. He practiced physical culture, Greco-Roman wrestling and catch, and worked his first pro-wrestling match in 1938 at the age of 18. But it wasn't until after the war, and the 1948 Mr. Universe contest, that he pursued a career in  pro-wrestling. Surprisingly, he got his start in North America. He didn't return to France until the end of 1956. So while he may seem like a vet in these matches, he was actually a new star on the Parisian scene. They called him "The Lion of Lorraine." You can see on his ring robe The Cross of Lorraine, which was the symbol of Free France during World War II. Drapp, as I mentioned the other day, was a resistance fighter in the war, hence the significance of the symbol. Thesz toured Europe in '57-58 and wrestled Drapp in Paris. Now there's match I wish we had. 

But we do have this one, and Amor was a skilled wrestler in his own right. He reminded me of a French Pat Roach, which is a very good thing. The match was an excellent heavyweight contest. It followed the format that we're all familiar with by now, but it's a good formula and it's quite helpful for us when introducing new workers like Amor. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Le Petit Prince & Francis Louis vs. Jacky Richard & Daniel Noced (aired 2/22/71)

I think I've been underselling Noced. He was amazing in this. We got to see more of him offensively than in other bouts and he had some fantastic exchanges with both Louis and the Prince. This started off as a really amazing lucha style tag and then it got wild. The heels started working Prince over, and the Prince can sell a beating like a mofo. The crowd were spitting tacks. They did the outside brawling spot that we've seen numerous times but the spectators got involved and a fight broke out. The dude looked Le Hippie du Ring so maybe it was worked but it had me pumped. It looked like Prince bladed but it's hard to tell with grainy black and white footage. If you've watched a lot of the 70s footage that was released before this collection was available, you'll be excited to see a young Jacky Richard. I actually think 70s catch may be the peak of the tag scene. There are cards where there is nothing happening in the main events but there's always that one good tag match. This was a must-see and I think it will go down as one of the favorite matches from the collection.

Mammoth Siki vs. L'Homme Masque (aired 8/21/71)

Mammoth Siki was another of the black bodybuilders involved in the French scene. He was a massive dude. L'Homme Masque was a big guy too. This was pretty dull. They tried to work holds but it wasn't interesting. This was what I was expecting from Drapp, to be honest. One of the lesser matches I've seen so far. 

Jacky Corn vs. Remy Bayle (aired 4/14/61)

Jacky Corn is on my radar now. He went pretty hard in this match as well, especially in the second half when they started ratcheting up the physicality. It looked like he took a legit blow to the nose. This was a fine example of the catch formula we've been discussing. In this case, It was Bayle that ramped up the physicality, but we know Corn is a tough bugger. Sadly, we don't see the result as the footage cuts out before the end. Even so, Corn is one to watch. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Le Petit Prince, Jean Corne & Alan Mitchell vs. Daniel Noced, Jacky Richard & Guy Renault (aired 2/9/74)

This is the closest approximation to a trios match I have seen outside of Mexico. Which isn't to say that all six-man tags should be like trios matches, but Mexican wrestlers did turn them into an art form. I'm not quite sure why this resembles a trios match. There wasn't a lot of cross-cultural exchange between Mexico and Europe. There were European wrestlers who toured Mexico but not a lot of Mexican wrestlers who made it to Europe. It's possible that some of the Mexican influence was filtered through Spain, but to the best of my knowledge the six man tag format wasn't common in continental Europe. I've been it used a bit on WoS and during the German tournaments but nothing like that. If I had to guess, I'd say it was a coincidence. They just happened to have three good rudos and a phenomenal lightweight in Prince. They'd been having wild tag matches around this time and this trios was no exception. They managed to do a little of everything here just like in a lucha trios. This wasn't any matwork or topes, but there was the same type of pairing off and different styles of wrestling like comedy, brawling and rope running. The Prince worked a bunch of elaborate throws and continued to have great chemistry with Noced. I'm not sure which promotion this was, or who was booking it, but it's neat that we get this crew working together in various different combinations.

Arabet Said & Serge Gentilly vs. Yves Amor & Georges Gueret (aired 2/12/60)

We get about 10 minutes of this. Arabet Said was billed as Moroccan, and I believe in this case it's absolutely true. It was hard to tell how good he was technically since this was basically a heel vs. face brawl with a wild finish. He wasn't the most convincing babyface brawler I've seen but perhaps he was being called upon to play a role he wasn't used to. Gueret was entertaining. He's the kind of worker that people will gravitate toward. And another guy who got into films and stunt work. A fight broke out in this between a spectator and one of the seconds. My new favorite thing in catch is watching the ringside fights.

Arabet Said vs. Pierre Lecoq (aired 10/10/59)

Said had a reputation for being a stylish wrestler and this is the only singles match that we've got from him. He seemed relatively stylish. He was active and moved a lot. I'm not about to shout from the rooftops that he's the greatest undiscovered wrestler of our times, but he wasn't bad. His opponent, Lecoq, was the most old-school, carnie looking wrestler we've seen so far. They ended up working a nice match.

Cowboy Jack Bence vs. Roger Delaporte (aired 5/26/60)

Bence was a wrestler from Massachusetts who used a Texan cowboy gimmick. He was a true journeyman, and was one of the first wrestlers to travel the world after the end of the second World War. He even traveled to my home country of New Zealand with Andre Drapp. In the UK, he was a loudmouthed American heel, and I guess his success there gave him a pathway to France and Germany. This was surprisingly entertaining given the length. Delaporte gave a master class in comic stooging and Bence was actually a pretty good wrestler. There was some confusion over who should play heel since Bence was used to playing the brash American in the UK, but eventually the crowd settled on Bence as the good guy and he was able to adapt. Delaporte hasn't been able to prove that he can wrestle, but he sure enough knows how to stooge. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Roger Delaporte vs. Andre Drapp (aired 9/22/60)

Man, Delaporte was a master at drawing heat. He may not have had many moves in his repertoire but he knew how to entertain. We've seen a lot of technical matches from this collection, a lot of hard hitting physical bouts, and workers who have amazing athleticism, but Delaporte is able to craft these long singles matches where all he really does is make faces and strut about. I find his matches strangely compelling despite the fact that they're all 30 minutes plus. These felt like an epic showdown between Delaporte and Drapp. This wasn't a match where Drapp dazzles you with his technical skills because, frankly, Delaporte isn't much of a wrestler, but it had an amazing atmosphere. Delaporte is such a heat magnet that you could probably argue it's the Delaporte Show and Drapp is just another spectator, but it's hard to think of another wrestler who does as little as Delaporte and is so entertaining.

Georges Cohen vs. Pasquale Giusto (aired 5/8/66)

These guys were major stylists. I imagine that this is the type of match that most people expect from European wrestling if they're familiar with Grey vs. Myers or Johnny Saint. Giusto is a little unorthodox in that he was much taller than the wrestlers who typically work this style. He was an Italian who often toured France and the UK with his older brother, Angelo. They came from a high wire/trapeze background, which you can definitely see in his work. Cohen was billed as an Israeli. I'm not sure of his origins exactly. Fellow Israeli, Gass Doukhan, died a few weeks ago and his obit says he grew up in Paris. This started off as a pure spectacle but was soon heated. They actually went at each other pretty hard for a pair of stylists. The excuse for it all was competitive juices, but Giusto was acting like a bit of a shithead. It was entertaining, for sure.

Jon Guil Don vs. Anton Tejero (aired 4/18/76)
Jon Guil Don vs. Tomas Trujillo (aired 6/13/76)

Jon Guil Don was a martial arts expert. He was billed as South Korean but was actually a wrestler from El Salvador. His gimmick was similar to the Irishman, Eddie Hamill, who starred as The Amazing Kung Fu in British rings. In fact, the pair tagged together in the UK, and it looks like Jon Guil Don picked up a few of Hamill's tricks. Guil Don wore a gi and performed with a nunchaku before his matches. His signature spots were karate kicks with his finisher being a karate kick from the top rope. They paired him with South Americans due to the language barrier, I suppose. It took me FOREVER to decipher Trujillo's name. The Trujillo match was better since it was longer and Jon Guil Don bled, but on the whole if you've seen Hamill's matches, or Sayama's work in the UK as Sammy Lee, Jon Guil Don wasn't a major departure from that. His kicks were better perhaps, but I've read people say that Jon Guil Don was one of the best workers to tour the UK. That seems like nostalgia to me. Maybe he had some amazing throw downs in UK halls but not here. He worked in Mexico a bit, apparently. 

 

[WIG]

Jumping in here a little late. I had seen the Catanzaro-Cesca match a few years back and was blown away but at the time there wasn't much else available. Now i have discovered there is a lot more available so i'm gonna take in as much as i can.

One of the first matches was BERT ROYAL VS TONY OLIVER 02/22/1957. Holy hell was this just as good as the first match i had watched. The Catanzaro-Cesca match was worked very equal with the crowd loving both guys and just soaking up the action. This match was not, very clear face-heel dynamic with Royal being the crowd favorite and Oliver being quite the loathed dastardly heel.From the beginning Oliver is such a smug prick. Every movement and gesture makes you want to smack him in the face. Beyond all the nifty mat work my favorite things were the well placed punches. Both these guys landed some awesome body shots and is something i would like to see more of in modern wrestling. I also loved late in the match when Oliver was just giving it to him with nasty uppercuts just beating his ass and then snaps him down and gives him a short closed fist right to the nose while the ref was shortly blinded by their body positions. Loved all of this.

First two French Catch matches were very different and have blown me away.