Franz van Buyten

[Grimmas]

Discuss here.

[Jetlag]

Fairly unique worker who doesn't have any really flashy spots or works exceptionally stiff compared to other euro workers, but was able to create highly engaging matches out of thin air through excellent selling. You could probably pick any tall, fat ugly dude from a bar or construction site and Franzl would get a three star match out of him. Also, he was able to get a better match out of Suni War Cloud than Terry Rudge, in my opinion. There's a decent amount of footage available from his late career, even into the early 90s in that france wrestling promotion where he was still able to have really fun matches (check out that Haystacks bout). Of course the highlights are against the king bad boys like Rudge and Lasartesse. Overall an exceptional euro heavyweight worker with a tremendous ability to connect with the crowd, and had what is for my money the greatest chain match ever with Dave Taylor of all people.

 

Recommended matches:

vs. Terry Rudge

vs. Rene Lasartesse

vs. Dave Taylor

[ohtani's jacket]

I've loved Franz van Buyten ever since the day you introduced me to him. Voting him onto a list like this may be a bridge too far for him, but I'd rather watch him than a million other guys who've been nominated. Footage is the big issue as you know how infuriating the German footage is.

[Jetlag]

Poor Franz has stranded on the very last page. I'm still really high on the guy, but it seems almost all of the online footage has vanished. Apparently Franz vs. Terry Rudge is still online... on a gay porn site. What a pitiful thing to happen to one of the best 80s babyfaces. Maybe I'll get around and do a mass upload within the next few days, but something tells me it's kind of pointless. Regardless of that here's a big match list, just so I've got it.

 

1. Hassan Ali Bey, Monster Rousimoff & Franz Van Buyten vs. Rusher Kimura, Isamu Teranishi & Thunder Sugiyama (Japan, 2/5/1972)

Random appearance in japan. Really fun 6 man tag and Franz's interactions with Andre are solid gold. He is pretty great as a stooge aswell as working technical exchanges with Teranishi.

 

2. Franky van Buyten vs. Ivan Strogoff (Hannover, May 1981)

Franz in Hannover was Franky and merely a mid card act. A pretty good mid card act as this is an enjoyable match against the bruising tough Strogoff.

 

3. Franz van Buyten & Bobby Gaetano vs. Judd Harris & Le Grand Vladimir (Recklinghausen, April 1984)

European tag wrestling is weird, but this is a tremendously fun match. Gaetano and van Buyten make an awesome babyface team and this has plenty of great spots throughout and cuts a tremendous pace.

 

4. Franz van Buyten vs. Rene Lasartesse (Hamburg 18/9/1984)

Their first match we have on tape! And this is a great one as it is a frenetically paced tour de force. They beat the fuck out of eachother and besides that there is also some killer work around Rene's tombstone piledriver.

 

5. Franz van Buyten vs. Rene Lasartesse, Chain Match (Hamburg 11/10/1984)

JIP with a little less than 10 minutes shown, but what is shown is fucking epic. Franz is relentless, Rene struts, they fight tooth and nail to a great finish.

 

6. Franz Van Buyten vs. Frank Mercx, Chain Match (Belgium, 1984)

Franz in his home country of Belgium. His connection to the crowd in Hamburg is great, but in these matches from Belgium it's something else. People running up to fix the corner pads after heels remove them and all that. This is a tremendous chain match. They beat the shit out of eachother, things get bloody, and eventually Franz gets a great comeback. God knows where the footage came from and why it was taped. Just be thankful it's there.

 

7. Franz Van Buyten vs. Le Grand Vladimir (Belgium, 1984)

Another match that exemplifies Franz's greatness that I described in the first post. Really, there was no way in hell Vladimir could have had this match with anyone else. This is more of a wrestling match than the chain brawl, but it is fucking tremendous with each hold cranked in and both guys laying it in.

 

8. Dave Taylor vs. Franz Van Buyten, Chain Match (Hamburg, Germany, 5/10/1986)

This is it. Franz's masterpiece. 1986 or 1985, no clue what the real date is, but it doesn't matter. Contender for the greatest chain match ever, and quite possibly the greatest european match on tape from the 80s. I've written alot about it in varies places and it never stops being fascinating.

 

9. Franz van Buyten vs. Terry Rudge (1/10/1987)

The tournament finale. This is a brilliant match, as you'd expect from the greatest babyface vs. the greatest heel. They do some slick wrestling before Rudge puts in an ass stomping and things go from there. Both guys get to do what they do best.

 

10. Franz Van Buyten vs. Suni War Cloud (Hamburg 8/10/1987)

Franz does the impossible and gets a good face vs. face bout out of this awful indian. I mean, there is a ceiling to what a guy like Suni War Cloud can do, but there are some genuinely very good exchanges sewn neatly into this bout.

 

11. Franz van Buyten vs. Rene Lasartesse (Hamburg 17/9/87)

Their first match in the tournament and sets the tone for the finale later on. Another very good match in the series, and while the don't go all out Rene busts out his signature bump off of the top rope which is a pretty crazy sport for guy who looks like your grandpa.

 

12. Franz van Buyten vs. Crusher Mason (Hamburg 18/9/87)

Crusher Mason, the man with an iron grip, a stomach made of stone, and no shoes. Granted the guy isn't awful, but he surely has never looked this good in any other match. Franz works the best match possible, turning Mason's goofy claw spots into heat fuel and making this short, big bellied guy look like a menacing giant.

 

13. Franz van Buyten vs. Col. Brody (Hamburg 20/9/87)

Franz was on fucking fire in September of 1987. Brody is the absoute worst - just the lamest possible euro heel you've ever seen. And Franz easily turns this into another good match. I remember first watching this, after skipping through dozens of shitty Col. Brody matches, and here he was in a compelling match - I thought there was no limit to what Franz could do.

 

14. Franz van Buyten vs. Rene Lasartesse, Tournament Finale 1987

This is a match I got directly from Werner Bendig and I uploaded it a few years back. I don't think it's on the CBW DVDs. This is a fantastic match that would boost any wrestler's resume, and a showcase for both guys. Lasartesse works over van Buyten like an expert, van Buyten fight backs with some out of this world hope spots, and it all builds to a tremendous finish.

 

15. Franz van Buyten vs. Frank Merckx (Herne, 11/6/1988)

Oh man. Merckx was absolutely done at this point and this goes about 20 minutes too long. There is also a weird intrusion where it seems members of the audience jump into the ring and get chased away. Aside from all that, Franz is good working from underneath,and they manage to actually pick it up near the end and deliver a huge finish that got great reactions.

 

16. Franz van Buyten vs. Mike Shaw (7/10/1988)

17. Franz van Buyten vs. Mike Shaw (22/10/1988)

Mike Shaw is Norman the Lunatic. I'm not very familiar with that guy but I imagine these are the best matches of his career. Franz lays out effective structure around him and the two matches play of eachother.

 

18. Franz van Buyten vs. Rene Lasartesse, Chain Match (15/10/1989)

Their last taped meeting. Lasartesse is corpse-like but he can still engage in a violent brawl, and this is a stupidly good match. Lasartesse throws a mean punch and Van Buyten is fantastic at getting the fans into the match and making Lasartesse look credible.

 

19. Franz van Buyten vs. Indio Guajaro (18/10/1989)

After his bout with Lasartesse, Franz is tasked with working a long match against another nearly decrepit guy. Guajaro is over the hill, but he can still do his type of match and van Buyten holds this together excellently and once again protects his opponent from getting exposed. Quite a long match, but a worthwhile tournament finale.

 

20. Franz van Buyten vs. Terry Rudge (Hamburg 11/9/1990)

Velocity version of their brilliant 1987 match. Hamburg in 1990 was a pretty dire scene with lots of subpar talent, but these two were comfortably in their old groove and produced a bright little spot.

 

21. Flesh Gordon & Franz Van Buyten vs. Carl Wallace & Rick Crawford (Eurosport 1992)

This wrestling show on Eurosport was really bad. Franz was one of the few bright spots and it as he could still go in the 90s and this is a pretty fun tag vs. PCO.

 

22. Franz van Buyten vs. Giant Haystacks (Eurosport, 1994?)

European wrestling was dying and Franz was stuck here with Giant Haystacks. And yet the man gives it his all and manages to have the most entertaining match possible in this situation. A fighter through and through, that Franz.

 

Summary: So that's about it for Franz. It's worth noting that he was paralyzed after an accident in 1975 and it's a near miracle that he was able to get back on his feet, let alone produce such a run of quality stuff through the 80s. Overall I'd put his best matches up against almost any other guy, and his consistency is remarkable as he improves every match that you can find him in.

[Matt D]

If I was going to put someone on for just one match it would be him. I love him so much in that IWE six-man.

[Dylan Waco]

If you upload the stuff I will watch it an consider him even at this late moment, though by no means can I promise I'd include him on what would be a small sample size. That said the Rudge match is brilliant

[Phil Schneider]

I will also watch it and give him a shot at my list

[Matt D]

Any chance that any more IWE with him from 71-72 exists?

[Moonsault Marvin]

I thought both Van Buyten and Lasartesse looked like really good wrestlers, but some of that '80s European footage was the most difficult watching in all of this project. The extreme closeups and weird repeating effects that were edited in made my head hurt.

[Jetlag]

I had almost all this stuff uploded before. Maybe someone else saved it and can assist with the re-uploading, because I'm right now staying with my family over easter and probably won't get back to my discs before next week.

 

Here is some stuff that I had on my hard drive. Not the most high end stuff but good for now.

 

 

 
1. Hassan Ali Bey, Monster Rousimoff & Franz Van Buyten vs. Rusher Kimura, Isamu Teranishi & Thunder Sugiyama (Japan, 2/5/1972)
http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?wiw259yi0zol3eo (thanks Ditch)
 
4. Franz van Buyten vs. Rene Lasartesse (Hamburg 18/9/1984)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U69SLMH3F3c
 
5. Franz van Buyten vs. Rene Lasartesse, Chain Match (Hamburg 11/10/1984)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzfADT2d9GE
 
 
15. Franz van Buyten vs. Frank Merckx (Herne, 11/6/1988)
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TswXsloyPo
 
16. Franz van Buyten vs. Mike Shaw (7/10/1988)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5SF_IIAx0k
 
17. Franz van Buyten vs. Mike Shaw (22/10/1988)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DesIhaGYKv8
 
 

 

I thought both Van Buyten and Lasartesse looked like really good wrestlers, but some of that '80s European footage was the most difficult watching in all of this project. The extreme closeups and weird repeating effects that were edited in made my head hurt.

 

Ha! A medal to you for actually watching the stuff while it was all there. Off-topic, but going through the source material for some of the Hamburg and Recklinghausen stuff was an incredibly bizarre experience. Apparently the matches were initially sold commercially on VHS and later transferred to VCD format. These CDs are a mess full of random clips, footage that seems like it's not even supposed to be there, weird color and music choices and just plain oddness all around. The audio commentary is great, though. Most germans are really bad at talking about wrestling and selling it but the guy who made these videos is a tremendous bullshitter. There also seem to be multiple versions of the same matches around - I just checked one of the Lynch Germany DVDs, which has the Van Buyten/Taylor chain match - and I noticed it's about 10 minutes shorter than the version I've got. Must be from the original VHS tapes.

 

Also, I emailed another german collector and he said he can upload some more Franz stuff, which I haven't seen before and apparently isn't available anywhere else. So, hooray!

[Jetlag]

The last 5 years have been good to Franz in terms of new footage. We get a small stack of French TV appearances and some handhelds that I had never seen listed before. The highlights are obviously the chain matches, his match against Andre which is a real treasure, and an excellent performance against Robert Gastel (another name who probably should be nominated).

 

New French material:

JEAN FERRE VS FRANZ VAN BUYTEN (01/20/1968; 16:42)

ANDRE BOLLET VS FRANZ VAN BUYTEN (01/01/1969; 38:42)

FRANZ VAN BUYTEN VS JACQUES DE LASARTESSE (01/17/1972; 34:42)

FRANZ VAN BUYTEN VS KARL SCHNEIDER (08/07/1977; 7:54)

FRANZ VAN BUYTEN VS IVAN STROGOFF (08/08/1977; 25:51)

IVAN STROGOFF & LE GRAND VLADIMIR VS FRANZ VAN BUYTEN & DANIEL VAN BUYTEN (08/14/1978; 48:15)

FRANZ VAN BUYTEN VS BOB UFO (07/28/1984; 20:46)

There is also another French 80s tag in that google drive. We got two chain matches, one against an ancient Lasartesse, and another against PCO of all people, both really good. My friend was also kind enough to upload nearly all the Hamburg handhelds. For someone with scarcely any footage available, Franz has a strong body of great matches to him.

[Clayton Jones]

I am really glad I've held a few spots back for my late considerations because after just watching the Andre match Van Buyten is someone I'm so excited to dig into over the next few years.

[Mr JMML]

His match against Andre in 1968 is great, his longevity is the main reason why I considered him, his chain match against Dave Taylor in 1986 amazed me and his match against Terry Rudge in Hamburg in 1987 is awesome. A lot of good stuff in a 20 year span.

[HowtobeaMark]

Dunno if these been shared before but I thought they were pretty cool. Poster and promo still from when Van Buyten worked in Montreal billed as Ricco Garcia from Spain

[Matt D]

He was probably the perfect Kowalski opponent.

[Robert S]

That's a pretty stacked card too, being in one of the main events (getting billing above Carpentier, Mad Dog Vachon, the LeDucs, the Hollywood Blonds, Mulligan ...) means he got a pretty good push here.