[1957-05-02-France] Gilbert Cesca vs Billy Catanzaro

[cactus]

Imagine that feeling you got when you first saw Dynamite Kid vs Tiger Mask and multiply that by 10. That's what this 60+ year old French match did for me. Some of these exchanges are so ahead of their time, it makes you think how the crowd back then would have reacted to them. Every hold feels like a struggle and you are left on the edge of your seat wondering how they are going to get out of the hold. They trade some neat uppercuts that get more intense as the match goes on, until one of them gets fed up and starts headbutting like they think they're Zinedine Zidane! We see them bust out hurricanranas, monkey flips, powerbombs and even a motherfuckin' Ganso Bomb! After every big exchange they would shake hands, but you can tell they're each getting frustrated at each other for not being able to score an advantage. I went into this with zero context, I don't know which one was Cesca and which one was Catanzaro, but I was still enthralled with this. ★★★★★

[Mr JMML]

This match goes hard, one of the greatest discoveries I've ever made as a wrestling fan. Ahead of their time.