Spanish catch

[David Mantell]

Okay, I think we have enough odd bits of footage to warrant its own thread like the Greek and Egyptian ones.

I'll look in depth at the Rico Vs Acapulco match later and then we can go through the clips Alessio has compiled but here is a slideshow about the times Jean Ferre took his car southwards across the Pyrenees and toured Spain.

 

[David Mantell]

This is an early 90s promotion but it looks a bit Americanised- possibly Luchadores Independents de Europa which was formed in response to the WWF's success in Spain.

[David Mantell]

Quote

 contrary to what one might read online elsewhere

Presumably a reference to this:

Quote

"History of Pro Wrestling in Spain"

Written by Valentin Maldonado

Translated by Jose Luis Fernandez

Wrestling entered in Europe in the '20s. The first European country that celebrated wrestling matches was Switzerland, maybe because at that time, a style of fight called "schwinger" (swinging) was very popular in that country. In a few years wrestling arrived to other countries like UK, Austria, Germany, France...Wrestling collectiblesWrestling training equipment

In France wrestling became very popular because their Olympic champion, Henry DeGlane turned pro (in the '30s DeGlane became AWA heavyweight champ).

Wrestling arrived to Spain in the late '20s, thanks to the French influence. In my country, wrestling was called "catch as catch can," but in the '50s it was shortened to "catch," but it also was named "lucha libre" by Mexican influence ("lucha libre" means "free fight" in Spanish).

In the first wrestling tour that was held in Spain, all the wrestlers were foreign. The first tour included stars Karol Nowina, Martin Zikoff, Rex Gable (from Canada), Wladek Zbyszko (Poland), Maximo Botincelli (Italy), Kisko, Strasnaer (Belgium) and others. Wrestling became very popular in a short time, and many Olympic and Graeco-Roman wrestlers, as well as boxers turned pro wrestlers.

The two most important cities from Spain, Madrid and Barcelona, headed the Spanish wrestling movement, but many of the other cities had their own circuit. Also was created a committee called "Corporación Internacional de Catch" (Catch's International Corporation) that grouped the Spanish, North African and Portuguese wrestlers. The first Spanish wrestlers were Jorge Alos, Ares, Ballesteros, Bejar, Bordons, Calpe, Garcia Ochoa, Legido, Mendez, Mendieta II, Cheo Morejon (former pro boxer), Otaola, Romero, Salvador, Sola, Urtasun and Villaescusa. From 1933 to 1936 a Civil War broke in Spain and wrestling was inactive during war times.Wrestling training equipmentWrestling collectibles

But in the early '40s the circuits Madrid and Barcelona re-opened and both circuits had the total control of the other cities. In the restart of the wrestling in Spain, the active wrestlers were Saturio, Jarque, Tomas Grau (former Spanish heavyweight champ), Karter, Tabola, Salvador Font nicknamed "El Oculista" (the oculist) because he used eye rakes very much, Eugenio Gonzalez aka "Gorila Espá'ol" (the Spanish gorilla) also a former Spanish heavyweight champ, and the best of that generation, Jose "Maciste" Pons, that started as a pro boxer in Barcelona, but thentraveled to Canada when he entered pro wrestling (he was in Canada during the Spanish war years) and years later returned to Europe, but retired when the 2nd World War started. He lived in Palma de Mallorca, and in 1945 (when "catch" started in this city) he returned to the sport. He retired in 1950 but not left the lucha andbecame a referee.

I'll make a stop and after continuing I'll describe how wrestling was in Spain. In Spain, wrestling rules had many points in common with boxing rules. Wrestlers came to the ring with their seconds, that gave them water in the intermissions. The matches were split in 3-to-5 minute rounds, and the wrestlers were separated in weight categories (lightweight, mid-middleweight, middleweight, mid-heavyweight, light heavyweight and heavyweight)and each category had three titles (national/Spanish title, European title and World title -European version-). Sometimes were promoted matches with wrestlers with very different weight, but it was because the wrestler with less had a great technique. The wrestlers were divided into other two categories, the estilistas (stylists, faces) and the violentos (violent wrestlers, heels). Almost all the matches faced estilistas with violentos, but in tourneys there were mixed matches.Wrestling training equipment

In Spain wrestling had a very strict rules. If a wrestler hit or insulted the referee, the wrestler immediately got DQed by the referee and fined by the Spanish lucha federation. Also the "fault" (low blow) was penalized with DQ.

Wrestlers were able to win by pinfall, submission, technical KO, count-out (a 10 count, but if a belt holder loses by count-out, the belt changes hands), double DQ or no-contest (time limit expires). In Spain there were only two managers ever, so any match ended with a "screwjob". In the late 60's a wrestler called "El hombre salvaje de Borneo" (The savage from Borneo) aka Sabu in the US (no relationship with Sheik's nephew) had a manager that was a British wrestler later known as "Society Boy". Also a black wrestler from Congo called M'Boaba had a white valet that distracted M'Boaba's opponents.

The wrestling cards usually were held in theaters, Bullfighting squares, and Soccer stadiums, but later matches were held in stadiums like "Salon Iris" and "Gran Price" in Barcelona and "Campo del Gas" and "Fronton de Recoletos" in Madrid.Wrestling training equipment

Well, let's continue the Spanish wrestling history, decade by decade. The late '40s were the greatest moment of lucha, and we were visited by great wrestlers like the French Henry Coogan, Letertrois, Félix Clody, Freymond, Joe Baratte, Marcel Manuel, Andre Drapp (later wrestled in USA), Lino Ventura (later film star), Robert Ruaux and Gilbert LeDuc (many times Mid-HW and Light HW champ in both European and World versions) ; from Portugal Joe Luis and Kid Zamboa ; from Belgium Van Dyk, Saenen, Jo Soulon and Bert Auwera (former Belgium HW champ) ; from USA Cher Johnsonm Mike "American Tiger" Brendel and Don Carver ; from UK Lew Britton, Cab Cashford, Vic Hesselen and Jack Dale (former European champ, but I don't know in which weight) ; Peltonin from Estonia ; Brossatti from Italy ; and the Hungarian Karl Pirok (former European champion) and Stanislaus Karolyi . Karolyi was the best foreign wrestler of this decade. He had a very skillful technical style and finished his matches with a variant of the actual Scorpion Death Lock.

The Spanish wrestlers were Joaquin Saludes "The Catalonian Tiger", Julio Soria "Captain Marvels", the very technical Juan Salesa, Pablo Bernaus, Fermos, Bonada, Moncho and Rubio and Ignacio Ara (former boxing champion in Spain), but the best wrestlers of this breed, were Jose Tarres , Félix Lamban aka Lamban I and Victorio Ochoa by far.Wrestling training equipment

Tarres, which real name was Jose Roses Ibañez (in Spain, as well as in Mexico, we have TWO surnames) was nicknamed "Iron Head" because some said that his head was reconstructed with several iron plaques after an accident. He wasn't very technical, but very strong and he landed terrific headbutts. One time he broke a big table of marble with only a headbutt (!), and it wasn't an angle or a fake, because he did it in his free time. He won the European HW championship in Barcelona the 28th of August of 1948 against UK's Jack Dale (web admin's note: it was actually for "Campeonato de Europa del peso medio", middleweight title). He was a very popular wrestler and the card in which he successful defended the title against the French Freymond drew a crowd of 22,000.

Victorio Ochoa , the Navarrese lion, was born on 1919. His father, Javier Ochoa was a great amateur wrestler, and was one of the wrestlers that introduced wrestler to Mexico. Victorio was a very technical wrestler and won the World and European HW titles, but in the prime of his career, he was killed in a familiar quarrel.

And last but not least, Félix Lamban , also known as Lamban I and "El Estrangulador" (Strangler) because he made submit his opponents with a variant of the headlock that received the name of "la corbata" (the tie). He was many times Spanish, European and World champion in the Light HW and HW divisions and had a good international reputation, specially on Paris, France. He also wrestled in the US, but returned to Spain and retired in the mid '60s.

In the first years of the '50s, wrestling continued its good moment. In the first five years we were visited by foreign wrestlers with the quality of Maurice Tillet, the French Angel ("El Angel" in Spain) that had a huge success in the US. Angel's paid was so big that he only wrestled a few bouts in Barcelona. Other good French wrestlers were Jean Bout, L'Henaff, Jourlain, Andre Gasnier, Rene Ben Chemoul (former World Light champ, he was nicknamed Hawk because of his 3rd rope planchas), Claude Montourcy , Pierre Boss, Michael Chaisne, Jules Delmee (good technician and former Mid-HW European champ), Rene Bukovac (also MID-HW Euro champ) and his brother Ray Bukovac, Roger "The French Ace" Guettier (former Light HW European champ), Claude Guilloton, Félix Miquet , Jacques Ducrez (LHW European champ), Roberts Gastel and Robert "Mr. Europe" Duranton ; British wrestlers Mike Marino, Lombardo, John Mornhy, Tony Mann, Gerry De Jagger and Al Hayes (later WWF color-commentator) ; US wrestlers Bolo Hakawa (from Hawaii), Suni War Cloud, Pat Curry and former World HW champion Frank Sexton ; Belgian wrestlers Van DerVeken, Joss Husberg and "Strangler" Dr. Grailet ; Finnish wrestler Eric Husberg "The Nordic Marvel" ; Bob Nilson from Canada ; Juanito Olaguibel from Argentina also known as "The man of the cloak" because he wore one in his way to the ring ; the Swiss Lucien Fleurot ; Brazilian wrestler Black Green "The ebony giant" ; Leon Mansini from Italy ; Krigor Koperanian from Armenia ; David from Israel ; Paul Lincoln from Australia ; Negro Badu from Cuba ; Eddy Wiecz (later known as Ed Carpentier) from Poland ; Charro Montes from Mexico, Iska Khan from the Orient and Black Kwango "the black marvel" from Parts Unknown.

In the Spanish national roster there were good wrestlers like Zuazua (who wrestled many years in Venezuela), Artola, Flaviano, Urteaga, J. Ochando aka "El Legionario" (legionnaire), Hoyos, Julian Pizarro , Aranda, Campo, Celso Sotelo (former European champ), Echevarria (former Spanish MW champ), Ricardo Moyan (aka King Ricardo, he was very popular in Angola), Boccio, Juan Bengoechea aka Bengoechea II, German, Emilio Lamban aka Lamban II, Brunet (many times European MW and mid-MW champ), Navarro, Manuel Rillos "The Adonis" (former European MW champ), Moza, Félix Uzcudun, Buch, Victor Castilla (who wrestled many years as Quasimodo and the Hunchback) and the top-four Spanish wrestlers of the decade, Jim Oliver , Jesús Chausson , Eduardo Castillo and Pedro Bengoechea aka Bengoechea I.

Jim Oliver was a former amateur boxer. He boxed in 1948's Olympic Games and a few pro boxing matches with bad luck, but he turned pro wrestler after a promoter and former wrestler named Salvador convinced him. In only a year he was European Mid-HW champion, he beat "Iron Man" Jose Tarres the 30th of May, 1951 inBarcelona to become the champion. He was a wrestler with a very bad temperament, and one time in 1952 he had an altercation with a referee causing six broken teeth to the poor ref. He was banned from wrestling in Spain for a year, but he wrestled in the whole Europe, mainly in London and Paris. In 1964 he retired.Wrestling training equipment

Jesús Chausson , son of a French and a Spanish, alternated his wrestling career with his dentist profession, like Mexican wrestler Villano IV. He was many years European Mid-Heavyweight champion, and was a master inthe execution of a submission hold called "el patinete". This hold is known as "la tapatia" in Mexico, "Romero Special" in Japan and "Bow and Arrow" in the US.

Eduardo Castillo was very technician and brave, and he was World Light Heavyweight champion during a brief time. He didn't wrestle many matches abroad, he was almost all of his career wrestling in Spain.

And for last, Pedro Bengoechea , nicknamed "Leg of Steel" because of his immense leg strength, weighted 100 kg (about 220 pounds) but often he won 140 kg (about 311 pounds) mastodons. He was European Light HW champ during many time, until he retired in the early 70's.

The next 5 years of the '50s (1955-59) was the start of the decadence of "catch" in Spain. People lost interest, but promoters introduced new kinds of matches like the "torneo relámpago" (flash tourney) that were 4 men tourneys like AJPW's Championship Carnival (all wrestlers wrestle all wrestlers in singles matches), but the difference is that the flash tourneys were held in one night, so the final matches were bad matches. The promoters also introduced the "catch a cuatro" (tag team matches) and masked wrestlers that helped to the survival of wrestling in my country.Wrestling training equipment

In this period of time the foreign wrestlers that wrestled here were the French Andre Bollet, Max Deghom, former European MW champion Roger LaRoche , Lucien Straub, Roger Delaporte  (later promoter) and Pierre Boye ; the Germans Karl Von Chenok, Rudy Satursky, Alex Dieter nicknamed "the Lord of the Ring" and the very violent Dr. Adolf Kaiser ; UK's Black Apollo, Julien Morris (formerly European Lightweight champ) and Tony Vallon ; Italian stars Conde Daidone, Gasparini, Wally Catanzaro, Liano Pellacani "The Italian Cyclone" and Primo Carnera , a former World Heavyweight Boxing champion that turned wrestler in 1952 and was World HW champ in Wrestling (he won its European version in 1957), and was nicknamed "The Kindly Giant". Other foreign wrestlers were Kin Max and Kid Rocha from Portugal, King Kong from the Lebanon, Nikolai Zigulinoff aka "the Bulgarian sheepherd", Ivan Ivanovitch from the old URSS, Bob Martin from Belgium, Tupac Amaru aka "Magnetic Fingers" and Indio Mapuche aka "Electric Fingers" both from South America (both wrestlers had a very unusual ability, they were experts on the human body and knew the locations of the nerves of their opponents, so with their bare hands, they pressed the nervous zones of their opponents and made them feel a sort of electric charge), North European wrestler Ivars Martisson who was European HW champ, Gran Amenaza (Great Menace) from the US, Captain Whitos and Black Shadow. Black Shadow was a very violent wrestler, that many believe that was the 1st masked wrestler to compete in Spain. The promoters said that he was from Mexico and that he wrestled in the MSG, but I'm well informed that he isn't the original Black Shadow from Mexico. Anyway, he made a immediate impact because of his mysterious personality.Wrestling collectibles

The new faces in the Spanish scene were Tony Oliver (Jim's brother, very good wrestler too, he was European Light HW champ), Cebrian, Lacoma, Henry Plata, Caretecha I (Spanish and World Lightweight champion), Antonio Morlans , Peral, Gabriel Laguna (former European Mid-HW champ), Guillen, Llacer, Guti, Font II, Viñeira, Joe Garcia Arroyo (that debuted in South America and then came to Spain), Vicente Febrer (A very violent wrestler, he was very violent in real life too. My father knew him and joking, Febrer put a hammerlock to my father and almost broke his arm. He was also very known because he had a lion as a pet. He was European HW champion.), Abelli (that wrestled in South America under a mask and other name, but I don't know which), Valero I, Benny (that also wrestled as the Kamikaze #2, later I'll talk more about the Kamikazes saga), Aguilar, Rafael Blasco (former European Light HW champ), Gustavo (he wrestled in the US), Antonio Montoro nicknamed "the master of masters" because of his great wrestling knowledge and Modesto Aledo, that later wrested as the Kamikaze.

The top Spanish wrestlers of the era were Hercules Cortes, Oscar Verdu and Rafvela.Wrestling training equipment

Cortes (real name Jose Alfonso Cortes Chicarro), was the World HW champion in 1964. After winning that title promoters from the whole Europe, Asia, Australia, Canada and the USA wanted him to wrestle for them. As a youngster he practiced athleticism, he was specially good throwing the javelin (he ranked second in Spain). He became pro wrestler in the mid '50s, as Pepe Cortes. He had an impressing intestinal fortitude and weighed about 310 pounds of pure muscle. He wasn't a technical wrestler, but a terrific brawler, and in the US scored impressive victories over legends "Killer" Kowalski and "Crippler" Ray Stevens . After these victories he signed with the AWA when he became tag team champion with the legendary Red Bastien , but destiny cut Hercules' path to glory, and he was killed in a fatal car accident.

Oscar Verdu (Ricardo Ferrara) nicknamed "The Spanish Hercules", like Cortes, was a great brawler and wrestled in the rings of the US. He had big success in the US independent scene, but he wasn't so lucky in the WWWF rings, when he wrestled as Crusher Verdu "The Spaniard" and was managed by Lou Albano.

And last, Rafvela, who was born in 1925 in Arcilla, located in the Spanish part of Morocco. He was known as "The Arcilla Strangler" and "Misantropos". Started his career in France as an amateur boxer. As a boxer held the French Welterweight championship, but later became a Graeco-Roman wrestler before becoming a professional wrestler. He wrestled in America, Africa and Asia before arriving to Spain in the mid 50's. He won many of his matches after applying "la corbata" (the tie).

The first years of the '60s were a really good ones, because "catch" in Spain had like a rebirth with the introduction of the "catch a cuatro" or tag team matches and the masked wrestlers, but later people started to lose interest, and the wrestling circuits of all the cities (except Barcelona and Madrid and other important cities like Zaragoza, Valencia or Bilbao) disappeared and in those small cities wrestling cards were only held in summer. But was in the late 60's when wrestling began to "die".Wrestling training equipment

In the 1st 5 years of the '60s the following wrestlers showed in the Spanish rings: from Britain, John Foley, Chic Purvey, Michael Gale, Ian Campbell, ClayThompson, Bill Robinson (years later became a tag team champ in the AWA), Lord B. Tophan, Bob Anthony, Vick Faulkner, Jackie "Mr. TV" Pallo, Tony Cassio, Lindey Caulder, Peter Berg, Dave Larsen, Society Boy, Leonarras and Paul Luty ; from Germany Hans Schnabel , Karl Von Kramer and Achin Chall ; US wrestlers like Memo Diaz, Jack Lassartesse, Vega-Dingo (a Cherokee Indian), King Black, Ken Ackles "El Vaquero" (The Cowboy) and Sky-Hi Lee ; many wrestlers from Peru like Boby Olson, Inca Peruano, Inca Wiracocha, Kid Lotario, Pantera Negra (Black Panther), El Zingaro and Conde Maximiliano ; Colombian wrestlers Bill Patiño, Angel Grey, Rudo Martin and Lucho Melo ; Mexican stars Charro Ventura, El Bulldog, Tomas Riand and El Estudiante (the Student) ; French wrestlers Gilbert Cesca, Marcel Goulier and the first regular tag team that wrestled in Spain "Les Blouson Noirs" (Claude Gessat and Marcel Manneveau) ; Japanese wrestlers like scientific mat masters Akio Yoshihara, Teizo Okada and Sikichi Yokouichi and the super heavyweight Kiyomigawa ; the Portuguese brothers Jack and Carlos Rocha ; El Greco (The Greek) and Vassilios Mantopoulos (former mid-Middleweight European champ) both from Greece ; Italian wrestlers Bruno Asquini and the Guiusto brothers, and other wrestlers from Parts Unknown like Black Man, Genghis Khan and Professor Jenkings.

The masked wrestlers that appeared in Spain were the next. L'Ange Blanc (White Angel in French) was a very technician wrestler, that never broke the rules. He lost his mask in a mask vs. mask match, and then wrestled without it and changing his name to El Angel Blanco (the same but in Spanish). He was said that he wrestled with a mask because he was son of a very important French diplomatic, but the truth was that he was a wrestler from Madrid named Angelo Pinos.

Kamikaze, without doubt, has been the greatest gimmick in the Spanish Catch history. He came to the ring completely dressed in black. He was a lightweight, but he faced wrestlers of all the weights. He had an unusual agility, and when his opponent wanted to throw him over the top rope, he did a flip in the air to reach the ropes and return to the ring. He wrestled with a very violent and unorthodox style, mixing cheating, martial arts, mat wrestling and an incredible aerial ability. Because his style he was nicknamed "the suicide wrestler" and "the black demon". He lost his mask the 6th of July, 1965 against Conde Maximiliano, but he quit his mask very fast and covered his face with a towel, so anybody could see his face. His identity was a secret, but I knew his identity thanks to a friend of the promoter, he was Modesto Aledo, a very respected veteran that decided to put on a mask to increase his 

When Kamikaze retired he was succeed by Kamikaze #2 (Benny), from 1965 to 1970. K#2 also lost his mask, this time against Fred Turner, but he did the same that K#1 did and no one could see his face. These two were the main wrestlers that played the role of Kamikaze, but it's known to me that other wrestlers like Valero I and Guy Robin also wrestled as the Kamikaze.

The other masked wrestlers were Sumaraj "El diablo rojo" (Red Demon) and Sumac "La sombra negra del Perú" or "El Terror Peruano" (Peru's Black Shadow or the Peruvian Terror). Sumac lost his mask to Bill Robinson the 1st of August of 1961, later wrestling unmasked as Tamayo. In this five years, Spain hadn't a superstar like Cortes, Verdu or others, but we had wrestlers like Lucon (former Spanish Mid-Middleweight Champ), Mathias (the Spanish version of Goldust), Marques (former European Mid-HW champ), Arnau, Benny Galan (that wrestled many years in Mexico), Carlos Moll aka "El Apolo Sevillano", Galarza (former Spanish Light HW champ), Estevez-Landro, Manuel Polman, Milo Millan, "El Gato" Tony Martin, Willy Roy, Tino Cubota, Valero II (brother of Valero I), Pons, La Barba, Fermen and the best wrestler of the generation, Nino Pizarro aka Pizarro II.

Like I said before, from 1965 to 1970 were the years in which people lost the interest to "catch". Many and many top class foreign wrestlers worked in Spain, but that wrestlers couldn't stop the end of out sport in my country, so in the early '70s wrestling in Spain disappeared.

In those years the foreign wrestlers that visited us were: (from Britain) Peter Malistere, Barry Bassil, Roy and Tony St. Clair, Alf Cadman, Tony Ordford, Steve Clemens, Brian Hunter, Mick MacMichel, Danny Lynch (former World HW title holder), Reg Trood, Larry Coulson, The Hell Angels (I and II, were Adrian Street and Bobby Barnes), Kevin Coneely, Karl Arons, Terry Rudge and Terry Jowert ; from the US, Vikingo de Oro (Golden Viking), Cowboy Thompson, midget stars Billy The Kid, Cowboy Bradley, Joe Russell and the legendary Sky Low Low, and also Harold Sakata better known as "Tosh Togo " (a Hawaiian that had a huge success in Japan and that is known for co-starring in James Bond's "Goldfinger" as a bodyguard) ; from Argentina, Tito Kopa (Kopa also wrestled in the US and Mexico), heavyweights El Caruso and El Romano, the very violent Oscar Lago, and Nino Mercury ; French wrestlers Remy ayle, Pierre Roger, Johnny El Corso and Jean Coorn (World MW champ) ; Austrian wrestlers Karl Wenzel, Erik Kolschaik and Joseph Katich ; Freddy Robert from Belgium ; Inca Casqui, Inca Soberano and Halcon Peruano (Peruvian Hawk) from Peru ; Mexican luchadores Roberto Negrete, Rick Medrano, Buddy Montes (Charro Montes' brother) and El Azteca ; Joe Fica and Mr. Chile, both from Chile ; Joe Panther (a half of the tag team "Los Beatles Americanos" along with Celso Sotelo) and Robert Brown ; other South American wrestlers like Ruben Dario, Luc Barreto (later a pop music singer), Hernan Solano, Tomas Trujillo and Rudy Lara ; Khan-Fu and Abdul Khan from the Orient ; Taras Bulba from Mongolia ; Amet Chong from China ; Mustapha Sikhane from Turkey ; Joseph El-Arz from the Lebanon ; Gran Jacobo from Israel ; Scomparyn from Italy ; Canadian superstar Frank Valois ; Czech wrestler Joseph Kovacs (former Olympic Champion) ; former European Light HW champ and very scientific wrestler Fernando Descamps (from Portugal) ; Hans Streiger from Germany ; Laszlo Arpad from Hungary ; Prince Kumali from Nigeria ; M'Boaba from Parts Unknown ; Mark Anthony from Australia ; Klaus Kauroff from Russia (he was a regular headliner for Otto Wanz's CWA in the 80's) ; and Dorrell Dixon from Jamaica, but Mexican nationalized, who wrestled many years in the US and had a big feud with "Tough" Tony Borne.

Many masked wrestlers wrestled in the rings from Spain, like the Halcones Dorados I and II (Golden Hawks), The Red Demon (that was a Spanish wrestler called Milo Millan), Torbellino Blanco (White Whirlwind, the man under the mask was the Spaniard Mariano Yugueros. He wrestled many years in the South West of the US), El Condor that was rumored to be from South America, Los Dragones Chinos I and II (Chinese Dragons) and the legendary Santo "El enmascarado de plata". Santo (Rodolfo Guzman) toured Spain after the great success that had his films in the Spanish cinemas, but he deceived many people when he lost to Jose Tarres with only two "iron" headbutts.

In this period of time, we hadn't got any Spanish superstar, but good wrestlers like Luis Alime, Lobo de Galicia (Wolf of Galicia), Guanche Canario "El Noqueador" (The Kayoer [sp?]), Joe Rodri (former Mid-HW European champ), Fred Turner, Salvador Vento (Spanish and European MW champ), Tudela, El Latino (The Latin), Joe Adell (the Spanish version of John Tenta) and the best of them all, Luc Bejar , then a promising star that years later became European champ in his weight.

But, what happened in the '70s? In the 70's wrestling disappeared in all the Spanish cities, but it remained for 4 or 5 years more in Madrid and Barcelona. In fact, wrestling lost its interest in all Europe except Austria, Germany and the UK.

The new faces of the '70s were Pep Peyron, Rayo Blanco (White Lightning), Fer-Penin, Brumont, Antonio Asensio, El Samurai (not Osamu Matsuda), Charro Tapia, Quique Villa, Tarzan Vasco and King Caracuel. In 1977-78 a French promoter called Pierre Neale tried to revive "catch" in Spain with mixed matches and new and unknown wrestlers like Mario Bastiani, Roky Jo and ladies like Danny Pigal, Anne De Montis, Blanche Brown and Jennifer Mick, but it was a total flop. Also a German promoter named Dietmar Dickreuter joined his wrestlers (George Burgens, Johnny Kinkaid, K. Kauroff, "Lord of the Rings" Steve Taylor, Steve Young, Danny Lynch and Roland Bock [Bock was the World HW champion, and he beat Inoki in Japan in 1977 or 1978]) with the Spanish wrestlers of the 70's (Adell, Caracuel, El Bulldog, Bejar, Millan and Villa), but that tour was also a flop.

In the '80s there was no wrestling, but in 1990, a brand-new TV channel aired matches of the WWF and the GLOW (ladies) and wrestling had his rebirth in Spain. The WWF made a huge impact, and other brand-new channel aired matches of the UWF (Herb Abrams UWF not Mid-South) while other channel broadcasted the NWA. We even had a wrestling magazine in our own language

In 1991 and 1993 we were visited by the WWF crew, and both cards had a huge attendance (17000 and 15000 screaming fans). A indie promotion called WWS (World Wrestling Superstars) visited many Spanish cities with his crew of Mike Lane, Tony Atlas , Kamala, Nikolai Volkoff , Cheetah Kid (Ted Petty aka Rocco Rock of PE), Iron Mike Sharpe Jr., midgets, females and others

The old Spanish wrestlers returned to the rings, and a promotion called LIE (Luchadores Independientes de Europa; European Independent Wrestlers) ran cards with new wrestlers like Rolo Aguirre (from Brazil), the Killer Brothers (from UK), Hercules Bermudo , Rocky Nelson, San Millan, Dani Ostenero, Indio Amazonico and veterans like Joe Adell, Antonio Asensio, Dragon Chino I and Julio Sotelo.

Wrestling programs quit all in 1993 and 1994 and the Spanish wrestling mag folded in 1993, so the fans lost interest of wrestling.

Without a wrestling program there can't be wrestling fans, and the few cards that were ran in Spain in 1995 (15th of December) and 1996 (17th of July) with new wrestlers like Furia Azul (Blue Fury), Kid Man, Los Fachas and a few others, were a total flop. Almost nobody attended this cards due to bad promoting. A friend of me said to me that in the first card the promoter couldn't pay the wrestlers and they wrestled for free. This is sad but true.

And well, that's been the history on Spanish wrestling. Hope that you liked it... and who knows, maybe someday wrestling in Spain will return to its golden days.

 

[Phil Lions]

I don't know if "Spanish catch" is the most accurate term here. It was definitely called that too, but lucha libre or just lucha was the more common term during the peak years of Spanish pro wrestling.

If we're talking Spanish footage, we also have to mention the "Los Héroes del X'ondo" show. It was Spain's attempt at a "Titanes en el Ring" type of show. It aired on Spanish national TV from December 1978 until April 1979. This channel has some matches from the show:

https://www.youtube.com/@misterfiera/videos

After the show got cancelled, they did some live events throughout Spain and then by the end of 1979 "Los Héroes del X'ondo" went away completely.

[David Mantell]

54 minutes ago, Phil Lions said:

don't know if "Spanish catch" is the most accurate term here. It was definitely called that too, but lucha libre or just lucha was the more common term during the peak years of Spanish pro wrestling.

I did Spanish and French up to University level. WWF was definitely calling itself "Catch" in the early 90s. "PRESSING CATCH" it would say in the TV listings for Telecinco on Saturday/Sunday morning.

[David Mantell]

1 hour ago, Phil Lions said:

.If we're talking Spanish footage, we also have to mention the "Los Héroes del X'ondo" show. It was Spain's attempt at a "Titanes en el Ring" type of show. It aired on Spanish national TV from December 1978 until April 1979. This channel has some matches from the show:

https://www.youtube.com/@misterfiera/videos

After the show got cancelled, they did some live events throughout Spain and then by the end of 1979 "Los Héroes del X'ondo" went away completely.

Yes, I think you posted a video of that before to the French thread.

I was a bit suspicious when I saw the yellow ring ropes on Rico Vs Acapulco.

[David Mantell]

https://www.wrestling-titles.com/europe/spain/sp-h.html

According to Hisaru Tenabe here, Vincente Febrer was the final Spanish Heavyweight Champion, he retired and then had a comeback title match in Barcelona, February 1978, against Conde Maximiliano where he came out of retirement to regai/.defend/whatever his old title.

Who actually promoted both that and the RIico/Acapulco TV bout? A local promoter or an invader from France?

[Phil Lions]

3 hours ago, David Mantell said:

WWF was definitely calling itself "Catch" in the early 90s. "PRESSING CATCH" it would say in the TV listings for Telecinco on Saturday/Sunday morning.

I know. That's why I said during the peak years of Spanish pro wrestling, i.e. before WWF came to Spanish TV. Notice in the Rico/Acapulco match they call it "lucha libre profesional" too.
 

3 hours ago, David Mantell said:

Who actually promoted both that and the RIico/Acapulco TV bout? A local promoter or an invader from France?

There's no promoter per se. The match aired as part of the "Estudio abierto" talk show and most likely it was just a one-off novelty thing. All the introductory pre-match talk by the president of the local Castellón federation (i.e. governing body) certainly points to wrestling airing on the show for the first time. Bobby Deglané is on commentary (and he's excellent at it). That said, Victor Castilla is right there too and I know Rico was working for his "Los Colosos del Ring" promotion so most likely that promotion was involved.

[David Mantell]

18 minutes ago, Phil Lions said:

Quote

I did Spanish and French up to University level. WWF was definitely calling itself "Catch" in the early 90s. "PRESSING CATCH" it would say in the TV listings for Telecinco on Saturday/Sunday morning.

I know. That's why I said during the peak years of Spanish pro wrestling, i.e. before WWF came to Spanish TV. Notice in the Rico/Acapulco match they call it "lucha libre profesional" too.

https://www.planetawrestling.com/pressing-catch-en-espana-por-que-utilizamos-este-termino/

Quote

Pressing Catch in Spain, why do we use this term?

By Pablo Ortiz-03/12/20190

Press catching in Spain

Offhand, the answer is quite simple . In Spain, the bulk of wrestling fans (especially WWE fans) are still the generation born between the mid-70s and mid-80s. A generation that grew up and discovered wrestling with the first broadcasts of the old WWF on Tele 5, whose program took the name Pressing Catch .

This name has remained the same over the years, as those of us from that generation emotionally and positively remember those exciting broadcasts featuring legendary wrestlers, broadcasts that captivated us and have maintained our interest over the years. To put it mildly, those of us who were children and preteens in those years know perfectly well that " Pink Panther " cupcakes tasted better back then than they do today... well, that's it.

But... is it correct to say Pressing Catch when talking about wrestling in Spain?

Let's go back in history: Wrestling first entered Europe in the 1920s in Switzerland, where a wrestling style called "Schwinger" or "Schwingen" was very popular in that country. Within a few years, it crossed borders and reached the United Kingdom, Austria, Germany, and France, where the sport became very popular thanks to its Olympic champion, Henry Deglane , who turned professional and, years later, became the AWA heavyweight champion.

In the late 1920s, thanks to the influence of the neighboring country, it arrived in Spain. Here, it was called " Catch as Catch Can" in those early years, but by the 1950s, it was simply called " Catch ," although it was also known as " Lucha Libre " due to the cultural and linguistic influence of Mexico.

In the first " Catch" tour that took place in Spain, all the fighters were foreigners ( Karol Nowina, Martin Zikoff, Rex Gable from Canada, Wladek Zbyszko from Poland, Maximo Botincelli from Italy), Kisko and Strasnaer from Belgium among others ). Catch became very popular in a short time, and many fighters from the Greco-Roman Olympic specialty and boxing, saw a new professional opportunity, and became professional wrestlers.

Madrid and Barcelona, capitals of Spanish Catch

Madrid and Barcelona spearheaded the Spanish Catch movement, although other cities had their own circuit in the style of the early territories in the USA. A committee (a kind of union) called the " Catch International Corporation" was created, which brought together Spanish, African, and Portuguese wrestlers. At that time, the following stood out with the immense honor of being the true precursors: Jorge Alos, Ares, Ballesteros, Bejar, Bordons, Calpe, García Ochoa, Legido, Méndez, Mendieta II, Cheo Morejón, Otaola, Romero, Salvador, Sola, Urtasun, and Villaescusa . From 1933 to 1936, during the Spanish Civil War, Catch was inactive and on the verge of disappearing as a discipline, as it was not a mainstream sport, nor rooted in tradition.

Once the war was over, in the early 1940s, the circuits reopened in Madrid and Barcelona, and both took over complete control of other cities (does that sound familiar?). José “Maciste” Pons was the best of that second generation of Spanish Catch.

What was the Spanish Catch like?

The rules of those early years were very similar to those of boxing, from which they drank. Fighters arrived at the ring with their assistants, who gave them water during breaks. The bouts were divided into three- to five-minute rounds, and wrestlers were divided into weight categories (lightweight, middle-middleweight, middleweight, middle-heavyweight, light-heavyweight, and heavyweight). Each category had three titles (Spanish Champion, European Champion, and the European version of the World Champion).

Wrestlers were divided into stylists (faces) and violent ones (heels ). Furthermore, as in boxing or the Olympic discipline, the rules were very strict. If a wrestler hit or insulted the referee, they were immediately disqualified and fined by the Spanish Wrestling Federation. Bouts could be won by pinfall, submission, technical knockout, count-out (a 10-count, but if the belt holder lost by count-out, the championship changed hands), double DQ, or no-contest.

These early Catch shows took place in theaters, bullrings, and football stadiums, but later shows took place in stadiums such as the “Salón Iris” and the “Gran Price” in Barcelona and the “Campo del Gas” and the “Frontón de Recoletos” in Madrid.

In the 1950s, considered the best wrestling in our country, unlike today, wrestling, or Catch, was considered a sport in Spain, and therefore there was a Spanish Wrestling Federation that depended on the Spanish Olympic Committee. All Spanish wrestlers were required to be federated; if they weren't, they couldn't wrestle.

Special mention to Kamikaze

In the 1960s, the first masked wrestlers appeared on the Spanish circuit, which was a major innovation and the first update to the international scene. Kamikaze stands out above all of them, undoubtedly the greatest gimmick in the history of Spanish Catch . He came to the ring dressed entirely in black and, as a lightweight, faced wrestlers of all weights thanks to his unusual agility and a very violent and unorthodox style, combining cheating, martial arts, wrestling on the mat, and incredible aerial ability.

His identity remained a secret for many years, and although he sometimes lost his mask, he never let his face show, covering it with towels or whatever was at hand. His real name was Modesto Aledo , a highly respected veteran who decided to wear a mask to earn more money. These words serve as a tribute to him.

The descent into hell and the redemption of Pressing Catch

What happened in the 1970s? Catch wrestling disappeared in all Spanish cities in the 1970s, but it remained for another four or five years in Madrid and Barcelona. In fact, wrestling lost interest among fans throughout Europe, except in Austria, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Between 1977 and 1978, a French promoter named Pierre Neale tried to revive "Catch" wrestling in Spain with tours featuring a mix of Spanish and foreign wrestlers, although that attempt was a complete failure.

In the 1980s, there was absolutely no wrestling, Lucha Libre, or Catch in Spain. In the late 1990s (before private television channels in Spain) there were several attempts to broadcast wrestling, specifically two from Canal 10 and TV3 with José Luís Ibáñez in Catalan. However, it didn't become popular until 1991 (the year private television channels were first launched in Spain), when Tele 5 bought broadcast rights to almost anything broadcast in the rest of the world with a sizable audience to fill its schedule. Contrary to popular belief, this network didn't "bet" on wrestling as such, but limited itself to broadcasting WWF matches (highlights and the four major pay-per-view programs) and also GLOW as part of a larger program package, unaware of the success it would have.

Catch had its rebirth in Spain and was so impactful that the old term "Catch" was kept (instead of wrestling) but adding the word "Pressing" to give it a technical touch and because in those years, it was very common to add this word to any sports program broadcast on that channel.

This is when the “ Pressing Catch Español ” was really born, giving its name to the broadcasts of that time in the voices of José Luís Ibáñez and Héctor del Mar , and lasting to this day (despite the fact that the current WWE does not like it at all and its bet is for the disappearance of this term in everything related to its brand for Spain) WWF had a great impact, and another television channel, taking advantage of the pull, broadcast UWF fights ( Herb Abrams UWF, not Mid-South), and a third channel broadcast NWA , although these two did not have the same hook as the first one among viewers. Between 1991 and 1993 we were visited by the WWF roster, and both shows had a great attendance (17,000 and 15,000 fans).

The era of Cuatro and Marca TV, until the arrival of Atresmedia

When the private channel Cuatro bought the WWE rights to broadcast in Spain, wrestling, or Catch, had experienced a significant drop in interest. Television society in 2000 operated on television impulses. If something wasn't on TV, it didn't generate interest. And that happened with Catch and with WWE after its run on Tele 5. Cuatro needed to attract viewers, and a name change wouldn't bring back the old fans, so they asked to keep the name " Pressing Catch ," instead of RAW or WWE SmackDown .

The first few years weren't great , but interest grew again, and starting in 2008, we enjoyed a second golden age. After Cuatro, the rights were acquired by Marca TV . The channel's lack of rigor in broadcasting and its lack of interest in this sport (showcasing every sport under the sun, above Catch) again dampened interest to the point of near extinction.

WWE is now, as you know, broadcast in Spain on Atresmedia (first it was NEOX and now MEGA ). No one mentions the term "Pressing Catch " on the broadcasts anymore (or anywhere else) because it's inevitably associated with Tele 5 and Cuatro (now Mediaset, a company in conflict with Atresmedia). It's still a matter between networks, because as you've read, Spanish Catch has nothing to do with the ratings wars, but everything to do with the history of this sport in our country.

For a generation of Spaniards, including myself, Pressing Catch will always be associated with wrestling, regardless of whether it's WWE, All Elite Wrestling , TNA or any other, or the network that broadcasts it... so:

Long live Pressing Catch!

 

To be fair, a lot of this is obviously cribbed from the Valentin Maldonado piece (Maldonado seems to have been unaware of continuing TV Wrestling in France, something I noticed two decades ago when contemplating ordering classic French Catch videotapes from the FFCP's website and pondering how much the PAL > SECAM conversion would cost once I had the tapes..)

[David Mantell]

9 hours ago, David Mantell said:

I'll look in depth at the Rico Vs Acapulco match later

Okay here it is.

There is a LONG talky but at the start.  Social context: The presenter has one of those big moustaches that in Spain meant the hardline Francoist right wing. Franco has one (he shaved it off in the early 70s when he tried to rebrand as a kindly old man playing on the beach with his granddaughter) Antonio Tejero had one (both Terejo the Lieutenant Colonel and Anton Tejero the wrestler on French TV). Jose Maria Aznar who won power with the Partido Popular in 1996 after 14 years socialist rule, combined one of those moustaches with a Tony Blair haircut and suit. The local PP mayor in  Salamanca where I did the first half of my ERASMUS year abroad had one. Hell, even Saddam Hussein had one.  So that's the buttons that look pushed in the context of late C20th Spain.

The wrestlers come in and the jazzy Mexican national anthem for the challenger and the Spanish Matcha Real ("...because his wife/Washes it with Ariel" - if you know, you know!)  Acapulco looks like Steve Grey in his silver boots.  Rico looks halfway between Tiger Dalbir Singh and Pedro Morales.  An old man in a fur hat makes a long boring speech and we are off.

1'ero Salto.  They lock up and Santi gets an early advantage with a rear snapmare.  This draws a pop. Acapulco gets a standing full nelson, but Santi broke free and went to reverse it only for Manuel to get a rear snapmare on him.  He gets a legdive into sitting leglock only for Rico to turn into the guard, pulling Acapulco sideways and escaping (hard to see how as the camera was very zoomed in). Rico gets a front chancery, unlike in Britain or France, Acapulco has to turn him sideways to extract the arm for a armlock and even then, Rico turns him into an over the shoulder backbreaker and gives him a powerbomb like move but Acapulco lands feet first and is up.  Another big pop from the audience. I think Kent Walton would like this crowd.  Acapulco gets a standing side headlock and cross buttocks Rico into a mat one. Rico tries to force Acapulco's head away and eventually gets a headscissors. Acapulco turns it upright and rolls beautifully across Rico into his own side headlock again.  Rico tries the headscissor counter again but can't get the grip and has to let Acapulco up - so the No Follow Downs rule is in force like Britain and France.  Another big pop.  The Mexican gets a drop toehold - across BOTH feet! - and folds his man into a Frank Gotch toehold.  Rico turns into the guard and Acapulco cross presses him, but no count.  Rico kicks out. This time it's Rico who gets the drop toehold into Gotch toehold. He gets Acapulco's chin and makes a crossways surfboard of it.  Acapulco gets the ropes and then rolls off (in Britain, going for a rope break would get jeering heat, so only heels did it unless at the end of a whole load of effort.). Acapulco gets a double underhook but makes a slam rather than a suplex of it.  Rico gets a curious double armlock, takes Acapulco down and rolls him in it. Acapulco gets a straight headscissor on Rico but flips him into the ropes - he Runs Out Of Mat!  Rico rear snapmares Acapulco who bridges up and does it back to Rico who bridges up and does it to Acapulco.  They both roll out the ring in front facelocks and seconds (YAY they have seconds!) come round to help them both as the bell goes.

Ring card girl wearing shiny multi tone satin short we all wore as kids.  Blokes in the audience exchange last purpose (that - and mildly lewd comments - was considered good manners and chivalrous appreciation back then in Spain. Don't ask.)

2'ndo Salto: Acapulco gets a standing armlock - Commentator says it's a Japanese hold  (news to Kent Walton, I bet) - and takes  Rico down into a cross press.  He doesn't get a pin count (second time this has happened) so switches to a side Headlock.  Rico turns him over but breaks away rather than trying for a side folding press.  Acapulco gets a cross armed grovit (the commentator calls it a Stranglehold) and forces Rico to the ropes. Acapulco takes his time releasing despite repeated whistle blows from the ref but gets no heat from this from the audience -like they don't know it's a heat spot.  Which perhaps they indeed don't. Perhaps, as a Mexican , Acapulco was expecting a 5 count.  When he does come off the ropes, Acapulco throws Rico off the cross arm grovit and gets a polite clap. The Mexican goes for the same move on the ropes, Rico double chops and twice armdrags him, huracanranas him and twice gets the flying headscissors on him.  A third headscissor fails, both men tumble to the ground. Rico is up first. The challenger takes his time.  Acapulco gets a rear snapmare then a side chancery (briefly in a long press) then an inverted front chancery.  Rocco pushes him off, almost getting DDTd in the process and gets a standing toe and ankle.  He tosses Acapulco to onecside so that he inadvertently ends up upright but then side Chancery throws him. Rico catches his man with a dropkick just as he is nearly up, firing Acapulco out of the ring.  Acapulco cartwheels into a headscissors and takes Rico down into the ropes.  Again he is tardy in releasing, again there is no heat.  Acapulco gets a legdive into a folding press but he Runs Out of Mat. This time, he releases promptly. He obviously realises he is wasting his time trying to get heat out of this crowd.  Just to emphasize it, the two shake hands, which gets a couple of claps. They finger Interlock and Rico forces Acapulco to his knees.  He kicks away his grip on the Mexican's hands and dropkicks him but Manuelo lands upright against the ropes.  Acapulco gets a kneeling rear snapmare (his go to move in this bout). Rico tries a shoulderblock but Acapulco steps back and sort of no sells it. Bell goes. They shake hands. Ring card girl gets in- cue more vile sexism, or gentlemanly appreciation - or just a bloody annoying high pitched sound - depending on your cultural perspective.

3'ero Salto. Crowd starts to get behind Santi.  Still not giving Acapulco heat when he headlocks the champagne delivers a concealed closed fist punch.  Even Rico selling it a bit, clutching his chin and looking at the Mexican in mikd disappointment, doesn't get the boos.  This crowd doesn't know how to boo. Maybe we should be grateful they don't know how to  Give The Bird either, given that they Gave The Bird a whole load of 'orrible high pitched wolf whistles between rounds, poor lass.   Acapulco gets two side chancery throws, pulling Rico up by the hair each time. He gets his "Llave Japonesa" (top armlock ) from earlier. He armdrags Rico and does something nasty with his fist to keep him down.  The bout is getting rougher, he gets a couple of kneelifts and Rico  gets three karate kicks and threatens a closed fist making Acapulco wave with one hand to signal pleading for mercy (had there been heat, this would be the face retaliation I guess). The crowd don't really get this stuff, so back to scientific wrestling for now. Rico gets a rear waistlock, rides Acapulco down and gets a curious reverse arm hank with Manuelo in the guard and the banking legs almost underneath him.  He turns the Mexican in the hold twice, the second time nearly losing grip.  I smell a BOTCH! Or maybe a transition as he comes out of it with a headscissors.  Acapulco bridges and twists this way and that until he lands, feet in the ropes in the mount, and Rico has to release.  Acapulco gets a high rear waistlock and transitions it to a full nelson (I think it was meant to be this originally - another botch?) and thence into a side chancery throw.  He can't follow down so instead he gets a dropkick the moment Rico is up.  A second one oddly clamps on Rico's neck, a third leaves him draped over the middle rope.  Acapulco starts slapping Rico around, flooring him. He chops Rico twice in the neck (commentator calls it a "Rabbit Punch" in English) and lands a Legdrop of Doom (this from when Hogan was still in the AWA.). He gets in another chop and kneelift. Crowd don't boo Acapulco but they do cheer their man Santi. Santi kicks Acapulco into the corner where he legs the rope and begs for mercy.  Rico goes ahead with several forearm smashes in the corner plus a heart punch and gets the first public warning of the bout (sadly the commentator talks over the announcement and I can't hear what a Public Warning is called in Spanish) Rico gets a double underhook suplex and turns Acapulco into the mount in the underhooks. He turns round and round but can't get th3 shoulders down in that position. He armdrags the challenger and grabs his hair on the mat while making a fist. The referee and the bell stop him.  Acapulco has to be retrieved by his seconds. Ring Card Girl either endures gross cultural sexism or badly in the glory of male admiration - take your pick.  

4'ero Salto.and Acapulco gets loco with a bunch of headbutts.  More headbutts and punches, even the odd kneelift, clearly OJ's preferred stage of a bout.  Is that a bite?  A whip and a back elbowsmash on the rebound, then again. Acapulco misses a third and gets chopped down and stomped.  He recovers and twice bulldogs Rico into the corner.  He whips and chops him down. whips and tries something that doesn't really work, knees his man and goes for a flying bodypress but misses badly.  Rico gets a kick, back kick, chop, axehandle and finally Camel Clutch (someone has been watching tapes of the Iron Sheik in Mid Atlantic!) for the one submission required. He has to be wrenched off.  Acapulco is flat on the floor and his second in yellow gets a bit panicky, dashing for something to revive him. Rico gets presented with the belts and he and Acapulco are quite sporting despite all the dirties earlier. Kind of like in Sixties France, even the heels shake hands.  Ring girl who has changed into a white miniskirt, presents a trophy to Rico and steals kisses off both wrestlers, an official and anyone else she can get her hands on.  Clearly she gives as good as she gets. (Correction - it's a different girl. But the original does return and get a piece of both wrestlers)

Jackie Pallo - and I shall dig out the exact quote later - said (either in his own book or in Simon Garfield's, possibly both)that the Spanish style was very quick fire, "like comedians" and I can see his point from this bout, especially the earlier scientific stages.  The audience were frankly an odd lot, they probably mostly didn't have much if any experience of wrestling shows, much less of watching it on TV. they didn't recognise fouls when they saw them and didn't give heat when intended. (An experienced live crowd might have been a different story.) But I think they enjoyed what they saw.  

 

 

[David Mantell]

3 hours ago, David Mantell said:

Jackie Pallo - and I shall dig out the exact quote later - said (either in his own book or in Simon Garfield's, possibly both)that the Spanish style was very quick fire, "like comedians" and I can see his point from this bout, especially the earlier scientific stages. 

I stand corrected, it was Pat Roach.

[David Mantell]

20 hours ago, David Mantell said:

This is an early 90s promotion but it looks a bit Americanised- possibly Luchadores Independents de Europa which was formed in response to the WWF's success in Spain.

Had a watch through of all this, not widely exciting. Most of it felt like a Spanish version of the American Wrestling Academy in Britain that same year. Obviously the WWF TV taping in Barcelona headlined between Bret Hart and Bam Bam Bigelow earlier that year had been a massive success and someone felt like cashing in.

Only wrestler I knew at all was Luc Bejar who MIGHT be the same one who was European Heavy Middleweight Champion in 1973 (but I wouldn't swear to it)

 

On a related note, I'm pretty sure Rambo was not Luc Poirier but then again, neither was Greg Gagne).

The masked Rey Nustria had one or two good moves. They had a Ringerparade at the start (to the tune of, of all bloody things, "Music Was My First Love by Barry Manilow) and one wrestler Joe Adell (who I thought might be either Terry Rudge or the Grim Rocker/Rocky Du Ring but on second thoughts, too heavy for either.) chose to pick a fight with some dignitary on hand. 

P.S. apparently Joe Adell was also a survivor of early 70s Spain

[David Mantell]

15 hours ago, David Mantell said:

 

20 hours ago, David Mantell said:

Kamikaze, without doubt, has been the greatest gimmick in the Spanish Catch history. He came to the ring completely dressed in black. He was a lightweight, but he faced wrestlers of all the weights. He had an unusual agility, and when his opponent wanted to throw him over the top rope, he did a flip in the air to reach the ropes and return to the ring. He wrestled with a very violent and unorthodox style, mixing cheating, martial arts, mat wrestling and an incredible aerial ability. Because his style he was nicknamed "the suicide wrestler" and "the black demon". He lost his mask the 6th of July, 1965 against Conde Maximiliano, but he quit his mask very fast and covered his face with a towel, so anybody could see his face. His identity was a secret, but I knew his identity thanks to a friend of the promoter, he was Modesto Aledo, a very respected veteran that decided to put on a mask to increase his 

When Kamikaze retired he was succeed by Kamikaze #2 (Benny), from 1965 to 1970. K#2 also lost his mask, this time against Fred Turner, but he did the same that K#1 did and no one could see his face. These two were the main wrestlers that played the role of Kamikaze, but it's known to me that other wrestlers like Valero I and Guy Robin also wrestled as the Kamikaze.

15 hours ago, David Mantell said:

Special mention to Kamikaze

In the 1960s, the first masked wrestlers appeared on the Spanish circuit, which was a major innovation and the first update to the international scene. Kamikaze stands out above all of them, undoubtedly the greatest gimmick in the history of Spanish Catch . He came to the ring dressed entirely in black and, as a lightweight, faced wrestlers of all weights thanks to his unusual agility and a very violent and unorthodox style, combining cheating, martial arts, wrestling on the mat, and incredible aerial ability.

His identity remained a secret for many years, and although he sometimes lost his mask, he never let his face show, covering it with towels or whatever was at hand. His real name was Modesto Aledo , a highly respected veteran who decided to wear a mask to earn more money. These words serve as a tribute to him.

One great thing about Alessio's playlist is that we have samplers of pretty much all the big stars of Old School Spanish Wrestling. Here is Kamikaze MK2 (not Modesto Aldeo, although we have footage of him with and without a mask, but Benny the second Kamikaze.

We get to see his famous flip back in the ring but it's not like a Ricky Steamboat slingshot back in the ring., more a horizontal slide under the bottom rope.  This Kamikaze has a different darker costume than the ones on French TV but he does the same sinister kneel in the corner.  

Caratecha  was an important figure too, apparently he once held a version of the World Lightweight Championship before losing it in a unification match to  George Kidd.

Of course in England, the name Benny brings up other connotations:

[David Mantell]

Some more Modesto Aldeo. With no hood and without the whole Leatherface face face thing we've seen on the French thread.

 

Just a short clip from 1961.  Akio his Japanese opponent comes up with some good moves, rolling nicely from a throw and turning 180' Ron front facing to side headlock and from there transitioning to back hammerlock and then when Aledo tries to go behind, gets him with a rear rear snapmare . I wouldn't mind seeing more of Akio Yoshihara. Moledo gets a cross buttock, legdive and leg weakener.  Akio backrolls out of an armbar (not the British front roll.) Aledo appears to get a Gotch toehold submission although the commentator says he pins Akio'sxshouldrs. Possibly this refers to the longshot at the end which looks like a folding press.

Suggestion - watch these shooter clips using the YouTube slot mo function. You'll pick up on a lot of smaller detail (plus it makes the jaunty jazz music sound dark and bluesy.)

[David Mantell]

 

More Modesto.  Apart from that 1983 bout and Los Heroes del X'Ondo, this is the only Spanish footage I've seen with full length corner pads.

Julien Morice spent quite a bit of the 60s in the UK. Some background from Wrestling Heritage:

Quote

French lightweight champion from Toulouse but largely domiciled in Britain from 1961. Real name Pierre Maurice Julien. He had been lightweight weightlifting record holder of France 1950 to 1952 and went on in 1955 to defeat Modesto Aledo for the European lightweight wrestling championship. Lost and regained his national and European titles, only to have to relinquish them when called up for the French army during the Algerian campaign in the late fifties. A great success rate during his early sixties peak in the UK and a credible opponent for George Kidd in many lightweight classics. His sapping backbreaker was legendary.  

Feuded for a while with Mick McManus. Tagged for a short while with Al Miquet as the Entente Cordiale. His main tag claim to fame was participation alongside Zoltan Boscik in the first ever tag match at the Royal Albert Hall, where the international pairing went down to the Cortez Brothers.

Approachable to fans in his horn-rimmed glasses, we were always assured of stylish technique when this tiniest of wrestlers was on the bill. Slipped noticeably in stature in the seventies, losing at the bottom of a Royal Albert Hall bill to Al Nicol. Stoutly championed by a proud son-in-law on current day forums, who calls into doubt Morice’s alleged interest in the occult.

Very like th3 French style, lots of flip moves. Aledo gets a leapfrog into rear snapmare.  Aledo backrolls to take Morice down into a wristlock in the guard.  Aledo on the receiving end of a rear snapmare himself but keeps hold of a back hammerlock through it. Aledo backrolls to get in for a legdive but Morice spins him off.  Aledo gets dumped on the top rope while doing a human glove type move. Sadly also a forearm smash battle.

[David Mantell]

On 10/15/2025 at 10:43 AM, David Mantell said:

The top Spanish wrestlers of the era were Hercules Cortes, Oscar Verdu and Rafvela.Wrestling training equipment

Cortes (real name Jose Alfonso Cortes Chicarro), was the World HW champion in 1964. After winning that title promoters from the whole Europe, Asia, Australia, Canada and the USA wanted him to wrestle for them. As a youngster he practiced athleticism, he was specially good throwing the javelin (he ranked second in Spain). He became pro wrestler in the mid '50s, as Pepe Cortes. He had an impressing intestinal fortitude and weighed about 310 pounds of pure muscle. He wasn't a technical wrestler, but a terrific brawler, and in the US scored impressive victories over legends "Killer" Kowalski and "Crippler" Ray Stevens . After these victories he signed with the AWA when he became tag team champion with the legendary Red Bastien , but destiny cut Hercules' path to glory, and he was killed in a fatal car accident.

Herc certainly looks the part with his huge physique.  He doesn't do much scientific wrestling but he absolutely destroys Sakata.  Afterwards he does a Hulk Must Pose deal.

 

[David Mantell]

On 10/15/2025 at 10:43 AM, David Mantell said:

Tarres, which real name was Jose Roses Ibañez (in Spain, as well as in Mexico, we have TWO surnames) was nicknamed "Iron Head" because some said that his head was reconstructed with several iron plaques after an accident. He wasn't very technical, but very strong and he landed terrific headbutts. One time he broke a big table of marble with only a headbutt (!), and it wasn't an angle or a fake, because he did it in his free time. He won the European HW championship in Barcelona the 28th of August of 1948 against UK's Jack Dale (web admin's note: it was actually for "Campeonato de Europa del peso medio", middleweight title). He was a very popular wrestler and the card in which he successful defended the title against the French Freymond drew a crowd of 22,000.

You can see Cortez's physique just from the thumbnail.  He was a big star with TV adverts and film appearances but if the 1971 car crash hadn't got him, the cocaine bust would have done. Otherwise he could have been a star perhaps up to the 80s.  He does seem to have inspired quite a few other strongman top stars- Blond Adonis Shirley Crabtree on the UK opposition scene, Otto Wanz in Austria/Germany (before he got fat), George Tromaras in 80s Greece. 

Tarres has a large scar on his forehead which may or may not have anything to do with metal plate implants.  W.e.do see a few of his famous headbutts but Cortes just gets straight up. He gets the submission win with a single leg Boston Crab and Tarres looks as good as crippled afterwards.

Herc does another Hulk Must Pose at the end.

There is a silly moany sound effects on the clip whenever anyone sells. It sounds like two elephants mating.

[David Mantell]

On 10/15/2025 at 1:46 PM, David Mantell said:

I was a bit suspicious when I saw the yellow ring ropes on Rico Vs Acapulco.

Penny drops- the red and yellow on both Los Heroes and the 1983 Rico/Acapulco TV bout are because of the Spanish flag.

The 1983 ring actually looks very French - quite similar to the ring for the 1978 Pete Roberts Vs Dave Bond French TV bout. (No middle string though).

[David Mantell]

23 minutes ago, David Mantell said:

(Tarres) won the European HW championship in Barcelona the 28th of August of 1948 against UK's Jack Dale (web admin's note: it was actually for "Campeonato de Europa del peso medio", middleweight title).

Not sure about the date discrepancy 20th Vs 28th August.

Dale, of course was one of the Dale (Abbey)Brothers who had set up Dale Martin Promotions the previous year in England with Les Martin. His brother John was still turning up as an MC on World of Sport as late as circa 1980 and helped sign off the 1986 sale of Joint from William Hill PL.

Until the headbutts broke out, it was hard to work out who was who.  Tarres gets Dale in a standing hammerlock, bounces him off the ropes and headbutts the bent arm, getting some way through a knockout count.  Tarres continues to batter Dale with his headbutts until missing one. Dale tries various arm submissions on Tarres. It's not clear how he got the win but we see a shot of a referee making a KO count followed by Tarres celebrating.

[David Mantell]

Documentary on Cortez. Mostly just one talking head. I thought there was some colour footage but it's just the match Vs Jose Tarres with a green tint.  On 5he positive side there are som3 good photos of various Spanish stars including on3 of Les Kellett on the receiving end.