Spanish catch

[David Mantell]

Quote

By the way, Say Hello To My Little Friend.

I bought it in Salamanca, Spain in late 1995 during the first half of M6 year abroad before I moved to Metz, France at the end of January 1996. It was printed in about the late 50s/early 60s.  It's not an exclusively pro wrestling book but it's got some interesting material I intended to scan up for this thread.

Somewhere I believe Instill have another book from a bit later circa 1964 (stamped <<España - 25 años de Paz>> - the Paz in question being the Carthaginian Paz of 25 years under Franco's rule since the end of the Civil War in 1939) which has a rather funny essay about Kayfabe which concludes that anyone who is desperate to see the boys legit injure each other must be a dreadful sadist! LOL.

I'll put in relevant scans from time to time from the Campo book and the other one too should it resurface.

For starters...

9 hours ago, David Mantell said:

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.

9 hours ago, David Mantell said:

8 hours ago, Phil Lions said:

Javier Ochoa was no amateur - he was the most popular Spanish pro wrestler in the Greco-Roman style and was a big star in Spain. Spain was one of the top European territories for that style for a while, in the 1920s especially.

8 hours ago, David Mantell said:

Well anyway that's what that Valentin bloke wrote.  I've got some other material of the Ochoa family to post as well as another video snippet from Alessio.

Valentin praises Victorious as the first technical wizard of France and so does my other source, once I dig it out from wherever it's hiding.

[Phil Lions]

8 hours ago, David Mantell said:

By the way, Say Hello To My Little Friend.

I bought it in Salamanca, Spain in late 1995 during the first half of M6 year abroad before I moved to Metz, France at the end of January 1996. It was printed in about the late 50s/early 60s.

This book is from 1947. I have a scanned copy of it.

[David Mantell]

5 hours ago, Phil Lions said:

This book is from 1947. I have a scanned copy of it.

Ah well, I've got a REAL one! 😄

There are two sections of interest to pro wrestling fans, the biographies and "Prensas de Lucha Libre Americana (American Wrestling holds).

Plus also there's a group photo of thirties wrestlers in a ring and that shit of Javier Ochoa (although this was clearly him in later life so Spain had gone catch by then.)

[David Mantell]

On 10/20/2025 at 12:49 PM, David Mantell said:

Quote

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.

There are only photos of Javier in this but we get a definite taste of Victoria's style. Irish whipped to the mat, he is able to pick himself upright at arm's length, an ancestor of the British-style roll through. He gets a beautiful slide into a standing Fireman's Carry takedown on one of these whips.  He gets the pin by upturning a long press.  Later we see him get a face bar from behind a dona front somersault into a bridge to wrench on the opponent's neck.

We see more of Ochoa's proto rollout of armlever (albeit in longshot) 

 

Ochoa takes on the headbutt king.  Tarres.  Most of this is already featured in the Leones de Navarra clip. clip but looks out for Victorio doing a toupie out of headscissors well before Gilbert Leduc hit the scene.

 

More source footage for the Leones de Navarra mini docu.

 

See Ochoa neatly kip up after being forearm smashes down by his opponent. He goes for and almost gets a legdive right across the ring, corner to corner.  He rolls back from an arm at on the mat to get a ground dropkick.  He also gets an Indian Deathlock and a double leg nelson pin attempt.

 

[David Mantell]

On 10/15/2025 at 11:25 PM, David Mantell said:

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)

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

Bejar and Adell on a TV chat show some time in the early 90s, possibly to promote the same 90s show I posted but they also discuss the old days and the fad for American wrestling at the time.

A large vintage wrestling poster from the old days is put on display. It says "Catch" on it, by the way. (Although another one I shown which says Lucha.)The boys also say Catch A Cuatro a lot which is a literal French to Spanish translation of Catch À Quatre.

Bejar shows off what looks like blading scars.

At the end, the boys take their tops off to do some moves on each other.

[David Mantell]

4 minutes ago, David Mantell said:

At the end, the boys take their tops off to do some moves on each other.

And here they go

They also offer to try it out on the presenter but he sensibly wimps out.

 

[Phil Lions]

While on the topic of Spanish lucha libre, here's a fun stat that I just randomly came across. According to this Barcelonian article from early 1957, in 1956 there were a total of 243 shows in the Catalonia province. The most out of any Spanish province, according to the article. And keep in mind, either 36 or 37 of those shows were held at the two Barcelona bullrings (a 14,893-seater and a 19,582-seater).

[David Mantell]

4 minutes ago, Phil Lions said:

While on the topic of Spanish lucha libre, here's a fun stat that I just randomly came across. According to this Barcelonian article from early 1957, in 1956 there were a total of 243 shows in the Catalonia province. The most out of any Spanish province, according to the article. And keep in mind, either 36 or 37 of those shows were held at the two Barcelona bullrings (a 14,893-seater and a 19,582-seater).

Mercifully it's in Castilian rather than Catalan ( I expect if it was in Catalan, the Guardia Civil would have paid a visit, funny hats and drawn truncheons aplenty)

According to Wikipedia , as late as 1970 they filled out a 13K venue in Castellón de la Plana in Valencia in the East/Southeast and did pretty well in the 15K capacity Murcia down near the eastern end of Andalusia, the last time in 1975.

[David Mantell]

On 10/22/2025 at 1:53 AM, David Mantell said:

looks out for Victorio doing a toupie out of headscissors well before Gilbert Leduc hit the scene.

Talking of Gilbert, here he is in Madrid against L'Ange Blanc, Fifties French TV's favourite on a homecoming visit. I've posted this to the French thread. The commentator calls Gilbert one of the greatest technical wrestling artists around.

We see Gilbert resisting pin attempts from first a folding press by Ange then a crosspress with his arm trapped in the hammerlock position.  Ange gets an armhank and we all know what Gilbert's counter to that was. And yea verily the Madrid crown get to see a toupie - and mutter to themselves that Victorio Ochoa used to do that.  We see Ange with a headscissors and Gilbert with a side chancery on the mat. Ange rakes Gilbert down with a hammerlock. And scores with a scissor chop which apparently gets him the Knockout win to defend his title.

[David Mantell]

I'm not sure if this guy was at all related to Javier or Victorio but here we go anyway 

 

 

 

 

[David Mantell]

Just now, David Mantell said:

Mariano is the guy with the moustache at 5ge start but that's not a lot of help as most of this is in longshot.  We see a longshot of one guy (hard to tell them apart) taking some high whips very nicely and rolling through on them. One guy gets a backdrop, side headlock into hiptoss, both guys bridge up into rear snapmares. One guy gets a standing full nelson but the other breaks free and rides him tomthe mat.  One guy has an armbar and the other uses a cartwheel to untwist it the a headscissors counter but not in the French style, more like catching it as he goes over with the cartwheel.  We see one guy gets an armhank and I think a submission.

10 minutes ago, David Mantell said:

 

Again, the 'tache is our man but it's hard to pick him out. One guy does a magnificent double underhook suplex. There is a rear arm hank and a headscissors. A top wristlock into armscissors and then rolling to throw him man in the armscissors.  An attempted folding press converted into a Boston Crab attempt and a crawl out counter. A snapmare.  Two bridge ups into snapmares. A throw into an armstrtch pin.

[David Mantell]

Quote

The matches reportedly in this footage are Mariano Garcia Ochoa vs Sepulveda Joaquin, Saludes vs Kary Kupper and Damian vs Joaquin Asensio

Broadcasted on February 3rd, 1947 in Spain.

Source : Filmoteca Espagñola (rtve.es)

Thanks to Phil Lions for finding and sharing this footage.

Joaquin seems to be a bit of a brawler, we see him roughing up Mariano including a knee to the stomach.Mariano still uses crossed bodyscissors to get out of a Boston Crab attempt.  Joaquin still gets the fall with a German suplex then a cross press.

Sadly most of the last two bouts are played too fast to judge them or even to work out who is who.

 

[David Mantell]

A couple of profiles of wrestlers from that last clip.

Quote

The Spanish wrestlers were Joaquin Saludes "The Catalonian Tiger", 

 

[David Mantell]

On 10/22/2025 at 1:53 AM, David Mantell said:

One of Salvador Font too.

Quote

Salvador Font nicknamed "El Oculista" (the oculist) because he used eye rakes very much

[David Mantell]

On 10/15/2025 at 11:25 PM, David Mantell said:

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)

 

Not sure if Luc Bejar was related to Jose Bejar a few decades earlier.

He's in the second of these two matches.

 

In the first (rather murky and filmed from upmin the lights) we see an attempted Boston Crab being foiled and a toehold close to the ropes.

In the second with Bejar facing one Marco, we see a backdrop and missed dropkick, a headscissors, legspread and some good rollouts from armbars. As I've noticed, it's not done QUITE the same as in traditional British Wrestling, they keep their body at a length from the opponent , almost rolling over on their side rather than a clean forward or backwards roll. Otherwise the two just fall into the ropes and run out of mat. Can't match either of them to the photo in the Pablo Campo book.

[David Mantell]

13 minutes ago, David Mantell said:

In the first (rather murky and filmed from upmin the lights) we see an attempted Boston Crab being foiled and a toehold close to the ropes.

This is Julio Antonio Sofia:

I think he Might be the one who tries and fails to get a Boston Crab so makes a Giant Swing of it, and does the leapfrog later.

[David Mantell]

Here is Jose Bejar's opponent Marco  against one Jean Saenan.

 

No audio so we can't tell who's who.  One of them does rolls more like the British style. The younger one gets an armhank on the older moustachioed one.  They both take turns doing the bridge and snapmare out of a front grovit. The older one gets a toe and ankle, switching nicely to another armhank.  He has the double armstretch on the younger one whom manages to kick him off without being folding pressed. One of them gives the other some high whips.  The older one gets tied by the neck in the rope and the ref has to save him from worse damage by the younger one (the older is a heel getting his comeuppance?).  After that there is a brawl with the odd front facelook thrown in an a "comically" speeded up bit.  We don't see a finish, just them heading outside for a ringside brawl.

Neither one in the Bejar/Marco bout looks like the older moustachioed one so .I guess he is Saeanen and the younger one is Marco.

 

[David Mantell]

Okay, that leaves 4 out of 11 personality profiles from Lino de Campo's book and 13 out of 29 clips from Alessio's playlist left to post.

Make that 12 clips. Let's get this bit of nonsense out of the way quickly. Four guys in linen baskets hitting each other with cucumbers. In a pool, just to annoy OJ.

 

[David Mantell]

And let's get it down to 11 with this.  Before Andre, Maurice Tillet flew the flag for acromegaly is wrestling. Inevitably his tours took him south of the Pyrenees.

No idea about the other guy, I presume he is Italian.  Tillet no sells a slam and does on of those weak double underhook suplexes Andre used to do in the late 80s Viz The Main Event finish, almost a side chancery throw. A bit of a brawl until Binacchi gets a full nelson which Tillet rears out of. After the usual crowd shots we have Maurice with a side headlock takedown onto the mat then a cut to a double legs where the Italian appears to be about to punch his way out.  Tillet gets a bearhug and Binacchi does illegally punch his way out of that.  Rudolphe tries a belly to back suplex but Tillet shrugs him off and flops down in more of an overflow than a splash. Cut to some guy at a table and then back to the ring with the Italian selling a losing move and Tillet celebrating victory back in his robe.

(There's a reason wrestlers stopped putting their gowns back in at the end of a match - can you imagine Ax and Smash of Demolition postmatch  putting their studded leather gear back on and replacing their hockey masks before striding intimidatingly to the back?)

[David Mantell]

On 10/15/2025 at 5:39 PM, David Mantell said:

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.  

Here is the talky but from the start of the video with English subtitles.

The bloke from the Castilian Federation interestingly gives that year again 1975 as an end date for "La Desaparición" - if not of the Spanish scene entirely, then certainly its rapid loss of visibility which he puts down to socio-economics and the media shutting wrestling out.  He also gets asked about wrestling being a work and replies that there is as much percentage showmanship in other pro sports as wrestling. He also namechecks a bunch of legendary names including Hercules Cortez. Modesto Aledo, Felix Lamban etc

I think that's Joe Adell in the thumbnail, stomping away.