1989 Australasian Wrestling in French New Caledonia.

[David Mantell]

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Tuesday is French Catch Day: Mostly Australians? Tolios! Scott! Williams! Marcello!

 

12/3/89 

 

MD: We're deep in the wilderness here, 1989. The presentation is very different. They start with clips of Wrestlemania, mainly the Can-Am Connection. Both wrestlers in the first match come out to Turn Back Time. I'm pretty sure they have a boxing ring they're repurposing. It's all just odd.

 

John Tolios vs Black Scott

 

MD: Tolios was greek and competent even if he adjusted for the time. Scott had a mask and came out in a black kilt too which was a nice touch. He also had a dagger in his kneepad that the ref had to take away from him. We have footage of them wrestling against each other in 85 Australia I think? And this was... kind of strange. Chinlocks. Clotheslines. It was nominally 2/3 falls with Tolios winning the first one after coming back with an eyepoke and locking in an airplane spin. They went into a second fall with a nice atomic drop over the top. Scott came back by pulling down the top turnbuckle pad but didn't get too far with it. Tolios ended up doing the corner shoulder first bump, going out to the floor and getting counted out, so I guess a countout ends the match automatically? While there were some holds and some technique this didn't feel like something we'd see even earlier in the decade. Just seeing a clothesline, or some rope running where one was dodged was a little unsettling honestly. Between that and the fact the opening montage was all from the WWF, it's clear the infection has set in. But of course, maybe there wouldn't have been wrestling on TV at all without it and you can't say this wasn't competent. It just didn't feel right.

 

Lou Marcello vs Gary Scott

 

MD: Ok, this wasn't a fluke. They've got an Australian/New Zealand touring group here for some reason. The ref is Australian too. Gary Scott is billed from New Zealand as the Kiwi Kid. We're far away from the licensed French wrestlers of the 50s - mid-80s. Kiwi played the heel here. He had facepaint and I was expecting more of an Ultimate Warrior thing, I think. Instead he stooged, played into the three hiptosses then gets hiptossed himself and going for a handshake to try to take over, etc. That sort of stuff. 

 

The first fall was a lot of Marcello in charge and it was simple but effective stuff. The most unique thing was that rear legsplitter where you headbutt the butt which probably should stay in the 80s. Scott would try things and Marcello would just overcome and generally take back over on the arm. Still, Scott was able to get the fall off of a body press. He controlled a bit more in the second fall and then played king of the mountain in the third, letting Marcello come back. All of this was perfectly fine and I'd probably enjoy the exact same match a lot in 2025 but you have to compare it to even the early 80s Catch stuff.

 

Eddie Williams/Bruce Davis vs Vic Murray/Kenny Meglin

 

MD: Eddie Williams is billed from Martinique. Which means he is in fact the Eddie Williams from the 60s, also being Eddie Morrow. Apparently. He could still do a cartwheel. He didn't work a ton of this though. He was mainly there for hot tags. This is another one which was competent and maybe even more than that, because this was the match that got the kids in the crowd going. They'd occasionally cut to them in the other matches and they'd be sitting there bored as could be. This one, they got really into the heat. 

 

Said heat followed a shine where the babyfaces (and that feels more appropriate than stylists here) did quick tags and worked the arm and some ones when the ref wasn't looking (though he turned around too soon). Murray and Meglin took over with sheer brutishness and worked over Davis. He'd get comebacks and tag in Williams who would be dynamic for a short period and then Davis would get dragged back down to chicanery. They cut off the ring and distracted the ref and as noted, the kids really didn't like it in the best way, getting out of their seats and complaining, especially when the ref missed a tag. 

 

Things really broke down in the second fall, literally, as a corner whip destroyed the boxing ring. They tried to fix it but it was hopeless and more double teaming happened while the ref was distracted. They sent out a guy in a black ninja get up to cause even more chaos and things really just fell apart. Overall it was solid stuff while it lasted, just again lacking a lot of the hallmarks of Catch as we knew it. 

 

Labels: Black Scott, Bruce Davis, Eddie Williams, Eddy Williams, French C, Gary Scott, John Tolios, Kenny Meglin, Lou Marcello, Vic Murray

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Apparently this wasn't French Wrestling per se, but rather an Australian promotion on tour in France, therefore about as French as the WWF  Tour De France two months earlier, with Hogan vs Savage headlining. Ring looks to be European..

@Dav'oh any of these guys familiar to you?  This is a decade-plus after Jim Barnett pulled out.

What station was this on?  December 1989 sounds like an odd date- actual French Catch had moved to Eurosport by that point. I'd be interested to know the fuller story behind this getting on TV.

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This wasn't in mainland France. This was a show in Noumea, New Caledonia, and it aired on the local RFO Nouvelle Calédonie channel.

(goes and looks up New Caledonia on Wikipedia). Part of Oceania. Makes sense that a bunch of Aussies and New Zealanders were on the bill then. 

Curioser and Curioser. So even less French Catch than the WWF's French tours -in fact about as French Catch as Montreal Grand Prix wrestling -less even as some Catcheurs, most obviously Jean Ferre, used Montreal instead os Stampede as their foot in the door of North America.

What was the INA doing holding a copy of this if it's not actual France? (EDIT: Apparently NC is constitutionally a part of France like Algeria once was, so that could be why.

New Caledonia was a French territory, and the channel in question was created and owned by ORTF.

Since this is a bit of a category error I've decided to give it its own thread rather than write about it on the French Catch thread.

Reviews of individual bouts to follow.

[David Mantell]

3 hours ago, David Mantell said:

John Tolios vs Black Scott

MD: Tolios was greek and competent even if he adjusted for the time. Scott had a mask and came out in a black kilt too which was a nice touch. He also had a dagger in his kneepad that the ref had to take away from him. We have footage of them wrestling against each other in 85 Australia I think? And this was... kind of strange. Chinlocks. Clotheslines. It was nominally 2/3 falls with Tolios winning the first one after coming back with an eyepoke and locking in an airplane spin. They went into a second fall with a nice atomic drop over the top. Scott came back by pulling down the top turnbuckle pad but didn't get too far with it. Tolios ended up doing the corner shoulder first bump, going out to the floor and getting counted out, so I guess a countout ends the match automatically? While there were some holds and some technique this didn't feel like something we'd see even earlier in the decade. Just seeing a clothesline, or some rope running where one was dodged was a little unsettling honestly. Between that and the fact the opening montage was all from the WWF, it's clear the infection has set in. But of course, maybe there wouldn't have been wrestling on TV at all without it and you can't say this wasn't competent. It just didn't feel right.

Tolios looks a lot like Roland Bock circa 1988. He was Greek, at a time when Kats Eleniki had less than two years to live.  Black Scot looks like Darth Vader's kid nephew. The commentator said he was a former Scottish policeman LOL!!!  I have visions of him with a British police helmet over his mask!

Quite a lot of strength moves and paused for working the crowd like WWF action of the time. Tolios in a headlock complains of a hairpull.  A bit of rope running,

Tolios injured his shoulder on a fall outside the ring and BS starts doing the Bushwhacker March.

[David Mantell]

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Lou Marcello vs Gary Scott

 

MD: Ok, this wasn't a fluke. They've got an Australian/New Zealand touring group here for some reason. The ref is Australian too. Gary Scott is billed from New Zealand as the Kiwi Kid. We're far away from the licensed French wrestlers of the 50s - mid-80s. Kiwi played the heel here. He had facepaint and I was expecting more of an Ultimate Warrior thing, I think. Instead he stooged, played into the three hiptosses then gets hiptossed himself and going for a handshake to try to take over, etc. That sort of stuff. 

The first fall was a lot of Marcello in charge and it was simple but effective stuff. The most unique thing was that rear legsplitter where you headbutt the butt which probably should stay in the 80s. Scott would try things and Marcello would just overcome and generally take back over on the arm. Still, Scott was able to get the fall off of a body press. He controlled a bit more in the second fall and then played king of the mountain in the third, letting Marcello come back. All of this was perfectly fine and I'd probably enjoy the exact same match a lot in 2025 but you have to compare it to even the early 80s Catch stuff.

Another wrestler called Scott. He came to the ring to Simply Irresistible which Jeff Jarrett was using as his music in Memphis at this time. He looks more like Blade Runner Rock than the Ultimate Warrior. He cowers outside the ring, uses the ropes as the first option to break a hold and uses the deceptive handshake trick.  He's the younger and lighter man which makes it a bit counter intuitive that he's the heel.

These wrestlers mostly work an American style, doing nothing to untwist armbars etc on themselves.  In fact there is very little counter wrestling (other than the odd foul when in trouble by Scott.).  I guess this is the lasting cultural impact of 14 years of Americanisation under Jim Barnett.

It's a specifically North East US style too, without the amateur freestyle grappling sequences of Southern US wrestling and quite a lot of the space and gaps in contact of late 80s WWF. Marcello gets thrown out the ring and spends a long time wandering about outside before com8ng back to score a pin for the 2-1 win.

The referee is a lot tougher than most American non-special referees, he is more like Max Ward, Roger Delaporte or Gorilla Monsoon in the 70s as special ref, roughing up and out of line heel.  His name is Ian St John which was also the name of a former Scottish football (soccer) player turned TV sports pundit who had a show"Saint and Greavsie" with another ex-footballer Jimmy Greaves which was on ITV just before the wrestling on Saturday lunchtime in the mid/late 80s.

 

[David Mantell]

42 minutes ago, David Mantell said:

Eddie Williams/Bruce Davis vs Vic Murray/Kenny Meglin

MD: Eddie Williams is billed from Martinique. Which means he is in fact the Eddie Williams from the 60s, also being Eddie Morrow. Apparently. He could still do a cartwheel. He didn't work a ton of this though. He was mainly there for hot tags. This is another one which was competent and maybe even more than that, because this was the match that got the kids in the crowd going. They'd occasionally cut to them in the other matches and they'd be sitting there bored as could be. This one, they got really into the heat. 

Said heat followed a shine where the babyfaces (and that feels more appropriate than stylists here) did quick tags and worked the arm and some ones when the ref wasn't looking (though he turned around too soon). Murray and Meglin took over with sheer brutishness and worked over Davis. He'd get comebacks and tag in Williams who would be dynamic for a short period and then Davis would get dragged back down to chicanery. They cut off the ring and distracted the ref and as noted, the kids really didn't like it in the best way, getting out of their seats and complaining, especially when the ref missed a tag. 

Things really broke down in the second fall, literally, as a corner whip destroyed the boxing ring. They tried to fix it but it was hopeless and more double teaming happened while the ref was distracted. They sent out a guy in a black ninja get up to cause even more chaos and things really just fell apart. Overall it was solid stuff while it lasted, just again lacking a lot of the hallmarks of Catch as we knew it. 

Each team is led to the ring by a lady in a leopardskin party frock. The babyface one looks like Olivia Newton John.

I take it the older burlier looking guys will be the heels.  One of them wears black and red like the pre-pink Hart Foundation. The other has an Aussie flag on his trunks with the Union Jack taking up the front. Together they look like Bulldogs Vs Harts circa 1986.  Everyone in this match and on the show is very much a Heavyweight - another clear American influence.

It's a very slow tag match, holds really are being used as rest holds rather than setups for a clever escape.

The "ninja" if that's what he was meant to be, looks like a middle aged ring announcer in a mask and suit. He gets in the ring, gets hit by one of the heels and toddles out.

As mentioned, the ring falls to bits and it ends up a mess.

[David Mantell]

General observations.  They say the ring is an ex boxing ring.  I thought it was a European ring but there is a gap between the top and middle ropes where a fourth rope once was. I like the white/turquoise colour scheme, it reminded me of Reslo .(or news footage of Orig Williams' BWF on tour in Ireland.

The one thing that is very French Catch about this is the commentary. The commentator uses plenty of French terms like Manchette, Cagoule and Bons/Méchants.

Despite it being a decent size venue, there was very sparse amounts of seating and much of that, even at ringside, was empty. I don't think this show did very well at the box office.