Grimmas Posted April 18, 2021 Report Share Posted April 18, 2021 Jetlag said: "If there is one French worker that absolutely everyone should check out, it's the Little Prince. An absolutely mindblowing athletic worker, who did stuff in his matches nobody in the world now could pull off half as cleanly. Makes the most agile luchadores look flat footed. What's more important is that he was also a tremendous babyface who always sells and works hard to have competitive matches. Looks great from the 1960s up to the 80s. Apparently he also had some TV matches in Britain that I'd love to see pop up in the next 5 years." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohtani's jacket Posted April 18, 2021 Report Share Posted April 18, 2021 This guy is absolutely phenomenal. Watching his matches was how tape traders must have felt in the 80s watching Tiger Mask and in the 90s watching Rey Mysterio, Jr. Absolutely one of the all-time great juniors, and not only because of his spots. He was a complete worker, a tremendous babyface, a brilliant seller, and he had a fantastic series of tags, six-mans and singles matches that are the high spot of 70s Catch. If he doesn't rocket into the top 100, I will be very surprised. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shrike02 Posted April 18, 2021 Report Share Posted April 18, 2021 I have quietly watched a lot of French Catch since the footage has become available. Le Petit Prince is the highest-ranked junior on my list at present. For some, that will mean I undervalue Jushin Liger or Rey Mysterio Jr. (and perhaps other juniors) by way of comparison; they're also on my list. But Le Petit Prince is just really special. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimmas Posted June 15, 2021 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2021 What are the top ten Le Petit Prince matches I can watch to really make their case? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jetlag Posted June 17, 2021 Report Share Posted June 17, 2021 How about 7 matches? Le Petit Prince/Francis Louis vs. Daniel Noced/Jacky Richard 2/22/71 Le Petit Prince vs. Albert Sanniez 10/15/77 La Petit Prince vs. Michel Saulnier 10/4/69 La Petit Prince vs. Michel Saulnier 9/30/67 - EPIC LE PETIT PRINCE & CLAUDE ROCCA VS BOB REMY & ANTON TEJERO (08/18/1980; 36:17) Le Petit Prince & Gerard Bouvet vs. Anton Tejero & Albert Sanniez (7/24/1982 or 1/1/1979) - OJ says this is likely from 1982 The French archive has about 17 Prince matches, so that covers about half the available footage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grimmas Posted June 17, 2021 Author Report Share Posted June 17, 2021 5 hours ago, Jetlag said: The French archive has about 17 Prince matches, so that covers about half the available footage. Thank you. I will grapple with if 17 matches is enough to rank someone. Appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KB8 Posted February 4, 2023 Report Share Posted February 4, 2023 I'm going through the Petit Prince footage now and he's truly mind-blowing. The Tiger Mask and Rey Jr. comparisons were the exact ones that came to mind watching the '66 match with Bobby Genele last night. He's ridiculous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clayton Jones Posted April 27, 2023 Report Share Posted April 27, 2023 That Genele match was my starting point and I think it's a great Petit Prince 101. Having watched a good bit more since it's definitely not his most complete performance on tape but it gave me a very clear first impression of who he is, what is great about him, and what to look for moving forward. As others have mentioned the thing that strikes me immediately about the Prince is that he had no glaring faults. Great on the mat and great at using that skillset to build to his astounding offense. Great bumping and selling that never makes him feel cartoonish or superhuman in his comebacks. Every bit as good of a tag team wrestler as singles. His timing and sense of when to get into, and more importantly out of a tag match were impeccable. From what I've seen so far he was among the most complete generational junior heavyweights ever. I can't wait to dig into everything that's available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ohtani's jacket Posted April 27, 2023 Report Share Posted April 27, 2023 It's cool that you're getting into him. He still feels slept on by the majority of folks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.thumb.jpg.00c68798e2502c92a7da65280cf7def4.jpg)
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.