History of Pro Wrestling #55 (August-December 1966)

[Loss]

History of Pro Wrestling #55 (04:19:50)
Matches from August-December 1966

• GILBERT LE MAGOUROUX & BILLY CATANZARO vs VASILIOS MANTOPOULOS & FRANCIS LOUIS (08/29/1966; French Catch; 00:37:41)
  Segunda Caida review of the match.

• GILBERT CESCA vs CHERI BIBI (09/02/1966; French Catch; 00:29:25)
  Segunda Caida review of the match.

• RENE BEN CHEMOUL & WALTER BORDES vs MANUEL MANNEVEAU & CLAUDE GESSAT (09/06/1966; French Catch; 00:33:44)

• DANIEL BOUCARD vs FRANCIS RAGOT LE LEGIONARE (09/20/1966; French Catch; 00:31:45)
  Segunda Caida review of the above two matches.

• LOU THESZ vs JOE WALCOTT-WRESTLER vs BOXER (09/29/1966; CWF House Jacksonville, FL; 00:07:50)
  Lou Thesz argued on Wrestling Classics that this was a shoot, although wrestling historian Steve Yohe strongly disagreed with that assessment. The match goes five rounds, which suggests the historian point of view is the correct one.

• ROBERT GASTEL vs LINO DI SANTO (10/09/1966; French Catch; 00:29:11)

• LE VICOMTE JOEL DE NORBREUIL & PIERRE LAGACHE vs ABRAHAM EDERY & GEORGES COHEN (10/16/1966; French Catch; 00:33:13)
  Segunda Caida reviews of the above two matches.

• SHOHEI BABA vs GORILLA MONSOON (10/28/1966; JWA; 00:03:17)

• FRITZ VON ERICH vs JOE BLANCHARD (11/21/1966; Southwest Sports; Dallas Sportatorium; 00:06:55)

• RIP MILLER vs EL BANDITO (11/23/1966; WWA TV Taping Los Angeles, CA; 00:15:35)
  Miller also wrestled as Bob Stanlee and Mighty Joe Thunder. Judo Gene Lebell is the referee here. An interesting match wrestled in “Australian rounds”.

• SHOHEI BABA vs FRITZ VON ERICH (12/03/1966; JWA; 00:31:10)
  This is an outstanding match that really demonstrates how great Fritz Von Erich was in his prime maybe more than any other piece of footage that we have of him. He’s an excellent heel in this, both for his own tactics and for making Baba look like a world beater. Match goes three falls and is a master’s class. 4 1/2* Also check out the Handwerk review of the match, along with the one linked from Superstar Sleeze.
  
  Addition from Lee Cameren: “Baba vs Fritz from 12/3/66 was the first Budokan main event in puroresu history. The venue was two years old but the JWA hadn't been bold enough to book it until then, as a show of force against Tokyo Pro. (It's a shame that we have none of the buildup, because they clearly worked hard to get Fritz over as a heel if he was getting reactions like that on his first tour.)”