David Mantell

Off Topic I admit but this gives you some idea of the Home Video market in 1980 at the time of the Otto Vs Don Leo bout and gives you scope to consider what motivated the German promoters to take the professional decision of taping these bouts in anticipation of home video releases.

And who were they? Brainstorm of French/France based wrestlers active during/around 1977: Jean Corne, Khader Hassouni, Petit Prince, Albert Sanniez, Jacky Richard, Remy Bayle, Le Grande Vladimir, Marc Mercier, Michel Falempin, Walter Bordes, Claude Rocas, Bob Plantin, Michel diSanto. Michel Chaisne, Fred Magnier. Zarak, Jean Menard, Pierre Bernaet, Pierre Lagache, Bruno Asquini, Daniel Boucard, Daniel Nocoed, Mammouth Siki, Franz Van Buyten, inca Viracocha, Paco Ramirez, Anton Tejero, Gass Doukhan, Rene Ben Chemoul, Rene Cabellec, Angelito, Tomas Trujillo, Jo Gonzales, Ivan Strogoff, Daniel Schmidt, Jean Pierre Momo, Salah Latif, Gerard Bouvet. Pierre Payen , George Cohen, Bob Remy, Guy Renault, Rene/Jack de Lasartesse, Black Shadow, Marcel Montreal, Josef El Arz, Alan Mitchell, Joel De Fremery, Antonio Pedera, Jean Claude Bordeaux I make that 50, not counting visitors from the UK like Pete Roberts, Dave Bond. Marty Jones, Dave Fit Finlay, Ian Gilmour and Rollerball Rocco, visitors from Germany like Karl Schneider, wider scale globetrotters like Jon Guil Don , the Mansour brothers, Yasu Fuji, or indeed the entire ladies' division or any unidentified masked men such as El Demonic Rojo or Le Samurai who might already be on the list. (Zarak is included as we know who it was- Dave Larsen) Clearly the roster was in a healthier state than Delaporte makes out. Also knockoffs of famous masked men were an issue in Britain too - Eddie Hammill jobbed away his Kung Fu mask because he was tired of imposters, Bill Clarke's infamous "King Kendo" impersonator act eventually became a respectable TV gimmick in its own right.

Something we don't know much about is the content of the earlier home video releases and when/how often they came out. I'm sure the earliest Otto tape must have contained a lot more than just 12 mins of the Otto/DLJ match. Were the professionally shot matches complied together into Otto's Greatest Hits Pt 1, 2, 3 etc or were they tapes of full shows including the undercards? It seems extraordinary that they filmed Otto Vs Strongbow in .July 1979 four a home video market that must have scarcely existed. The promotion having the foresight to film the match ready for a few years later when there was a VHS Aor Betamax machine in nearly every home in the Western World?

Actually as we can tell from the INA footage, both TF1 and Antenne 2 were screening wrestling -if anything it feels like it's more the latter whose 11pm news bulletin comes on after the match. Wages were a sore point in Britain also - by 1987 the average purse forca Big Daddy main event was £30 with. £25 for a non Daddy match. (Actually, taking about money van lead to trouble- a discussion just last year on a FB group for British wrestling about pay rates led to a screaming row and the group moderators being forced to hand over the reigns to ex wrestlers. The issue being that pay was nobody's business other than the individual concerned.) It was Guy Mercier who lobbied successfully for the social security and pay for Itinerant Workers (see earlier discussion) for wrestlers and it was a sore point with French promoters and remained so into the C21st. It was a big issue in Guy's son Marc Mercier's dispute with Flesh Gordon and Jacky Richard's Wrestling Superstars promotion with each side accusing the other of being evil swindlers. I'm sure people could work out for themselves that Catch was taped in advance - eg when they saw themselves on TV! Actually I think the houses look pretty respectable by English/French standards - well filled out theatre/civic centre type venues. Unlike America which relied on the big monthly Arena show, Britain and France were built on intensity of touring smaller 300-500 seater venueS like theatres. Shows on this scale still happen in both countries but the schedule is a lot thinner. In the 70s Britain was also going through a dip period which ended in 1977 with Big Daddy and the consequent boom. We have no statistics for how much of an impact Flesh Gordon, Jessy Texas Les Maniaks etc had on boosting houses. Delaporte himself remained part of the business in 1977 having recently gone from infamous Heel to tough enforcer referee.

I forgot I wrote this bit a year ago. Still now you have the short review and the long review. The quick summary and the drilling down into the intricacies of a technical match.

As promised on the German thread. Charlie Verhulst 10.5 years younger. 24:days too late for the sixties but never mind. Actually I 've already done a bit of a review of this before: Wel I got it anyway! It was just a bog standard five rounds no score draw! The "purse"you mention was the Prime some stinkin' rich fan offered to pay each man for a good scientific bout this far. At the end of the fight MC Raymond Poignard (sp?) pauses to check with the ref before confirming it is indeed a draw. Before the clean match starts in this nice rustic looking venue with oak beams visible, the crowd exercise their heat muscles a bit when two Mechants show up in smart suits. Kurt Kaiser, bald Nazi heel in a country that the real Nazis overrun and still ruled 26 years later, plus Switzerland's answer to Sid Rudy, Rene Lataserre. He cruelly shoves Poignard out the way and struts around, shaking both men's hand (as Kaiser did.). Charlie is younger looking. dark cropped hair. Round 1 - armdrags by each man, kip ups by Mercier who gets CV in a headscissors. He turns into the upright position, takes hold of the legs beneath and frees his head then holds the resulting Gotch toehold aiming to get Mercier into the mount. He nearly gets it but Mercier turns it back and pulls on Charley's head to get himself loose. Back to armdrags. They end up on the ropes, ref calls for a break. Verhulst gets a legdive and leglock. Mercier tries a crossface but it breaks. Verhulst with a leg weakeners. Mercier tries again for the crossface and gets it but Verhulst gets the leg again. Mercier puts his other leg in and looks like going for a toupee but instead a rope break. Up and this time Mercier gets the leg into leglock and Charlie tries the crossface. Which becomes a headlock, surviving a Mercier throw. Mercier in in green trunk apparently so maybe this is in colour on Channel 2. Mercier turns round to get another armdrags which this time breaks it Mercier gets a side chancery. Verhulst underhooks his and gets him up for a slam but on the descent Mercier turns it into a reverse snapmares. He gets another side chancery and throw, holding the side chancery. The bell goes. A round is a "Reprise" in French by the way. Round 2- Lataserre is helping with colour commentary, apparently he is having trouble finding opponents as they are scared of him. Mercier gets an armlock, Verhulst gets and underhook, Mercier slams him and comes up with the armbar. Throws him in it twice. Verhulst cross buttocks him off. Reset. Mercier spins before going in for a legdive and leglock. Verhulst sits up so Metcier switches to front chancery then a double held armlock (almost the double wristlock). Verhulst gets a rear waistlock but Runs Out Of Mat in the corner. They get up and he gets a standing front chancery into a vertical suplex into chinlock. Mercier gets a wristlock and throws him in it, keeping hold. Verhulst turns round and has Mercier ready for a fireman's carry but Guy steps back to break. Verhulst gets a drop toehold trip into a Gotch toehold and tries to switch to full nelson but Mercier turns into the guard and bridges up then powers up in a top wristlock. Verhulst tries powering down but it's slow and goes into the corner. The bell goes, they shake hands. Mercier gives Verhulst's hair an affectionate tousle on his way to his corner. Round 3- Verhulst gets a front chancery. Mercier counters with taking a leg. He gets the better of the two but Verhulst twists out. Verhulst takes a leg of his own, develops it into a toehold. Mercier gets a spare arm, turns his man into a cross press for just a 1 count. He gets the better of a two way armlock battle taking Charlie down. Our spectator friend with more money than sense announces his 10K Francs Prime he wil pay the winner. They end up in a standing top wristlock battle, Mercier flips Verhulst who responds with a headscissors. Mercier tries bridging out but Verhulst pulls his feet out under him, easy when he's on his toes like that. Mercier goes into the upright and tries the spinning toupee escape so Verhulst collapsed it to the other side. Another fool and his money are soon parted as another spectator offers 10K francs to the pair. Mercier tries bridging and regains the upper position and again the toupee escape - and again Verhulst topples it sideways. Mercier tries using his knees to unplug the scissors but to no avail. Finally he bridges and rolls backwards unplugging his head and making a seated Gotch toehold. Verhulst pushes up and rolls out. He gets a side chancery takeover. and is poised on the mat for another. They stand and Mercier throws him but Verhulst keeps the hold. Verhulst throws and Mercier tries to grab an arm to counter but it all goes in the ropes. Break and Mercier gets a side chancery but then the bell goes. Round 4 - they lock up and Mercier gets a waistlock, slides it down into a bearhug then makes it a belly to belly suplex (slow and fluid, not snapping like your Magnum TA version.) Mercier tries a cross press, tuns parallel and gets a couple of one counts. Verhulst has a ground top wristlock and turns things over. Mercier tries to kip up then gets a headscissors. Verhulst tries various tricks. Eventually he uncrossed the feet and makes an over the neck leglock but it goes into the ropes. One or two of the public are calling for Manchettes. Instead they get a couple of high whips with bumps forced on Mercier. The last one, he kips up and snatches another headscissors. Now its Verhulst tries the toupee escape but gets it turned sideways onto the mat. Verhulst turns it upright and starts making the seated Gotch toehold from the last round. He moves into standing and Mercier adjusts the legs to a cross headscissor for a possible Toupee throw.- and gets it! Verhulst lands still in the cross scissor. But then the bell goes. During the break the commentator interviews Mercier who says Verhulst is hard work. Round 5 . They lock up and Mercier gets a waistlock, not quite tight enough to be a bearhug. It goes into the ropes but Mercier gets a throw out of it before the ref can intervene. The pace is quickening. Verhulst gets a leg takedown but Mercier kicks him off. It's a Mercier waistlock versus a Verhulst side headlock. They go to the mat and Mercier emerges on to with a standing chinlock. But Verhulst has his legs and brings him down. They break and reset.. Verhulst gets a side chancery and throws Mercier in it. They end in the corner, break and reset. Verhulst gets a cross buttock throw. They both have a two way armlock and Mercier gets a throw of it but it ends in the ropes. Verhulst gets an abdominal stretch and takes his man down with an arm pinned behind. This however impedes pinfall attempts and Verhulst gets up and makes it a standing armlock as Mercier applies counter pressure. He throws Verhulst and finally give the crowd three of the Manchettes they longed for. Verhulst fiesta one then Mercier fires back then Mercier goes for a legdive but Verhulst falls back on the ropes. Hardly any time left. Mercier goes from front chancery to double underhook suplex. He gets a 1 :count as the bell goes like a TV title match in America. Verhulst kips up and helps Mercier up and they shake hands and sling an arm over each others' shoulders. Match A Nul, says the ref, more sportsmanship and cheers. This was a lot like Bert Mychell versus Gilbert LeDuc. Not as flashy as the new young lightweight style people like Saulnier, Petit Prince and Mantopolous were peddling but scientific and logical. Not as ponderous as the old German style of Dieter Sr, Chall, Bock etc. A lot more creative than the Zrno bout a decade later in Austria. I liked it.

Well. having gone and posted the bout, I might as well review it. Yes. It's nice technical 14 min, a Belgian Vs a Yugoslav iAs I mentioned, Orig Williams, doing English commentary of Zrno Vs Finlay, claimed Charlie as Mile's trainer although others on here dispute this. Verhulst works a very French style, I think I shall check out a French TV appearance from the sixties. Here he's an old guy with grey hair and a gut albeit in sprightly form. Pre-match the DJ is playing Queen's We Are The Champions. Two armdrags to Zrno, across buttock throw but Zrno kips up. Zrno gets Charley with a hard whip bumping him. Charley gets a cross buttock into side headlock CV Gets a French style flying bodyscissors takedown . Zrno snaps out. gets standing side chancery & headlock.& Throw Zrno bridges out of a test of strength.Chssdk gets pin attempts in as retaliated to bodyscissors. Zrno rolls and Zrno throws and bodychecks Verhulst, gets a leapfrog and cross buttock for 2. Zrno has a toehold when the bell goes. Round 2 and 3. More of the same. Zrno get toehold, they throw. each other but take it well... A lot of down mat and hold working. Zrno cando a pretty decent toupee and flying bodypress. Verhulst leapfrogs Zrno then gets a powerslam as counter to flying tackle attempt to get the one required pin. They are good sportsman and raise each others hand.

Sounds like the 1978 match does exist, albeit in a ropey format.

There's a Zrno Vs Verhulst match up on YouTube apparently dated 12th July 1980 but the footage looks nothing like the Otto Vs Don Leo match. It's a single shaky handheld job filmed cornerwise on to the ring on knacky low gen tape where the picture keeps breaking up, whereas Otto Vs Don Leo is a professional multicam job. Always assuming there was nothing of note wrestling wise in Graz on 7th December that year and they haven't just gone and put the date the American way round.

July 12 1980 sounds like Otto Wanz Vs Don Leo Johnathan, rematch from 1978 when DLJ originally brought the title to Germany/Austria, jobbing it to Otto to begin Wanz's second reign (he previously had it for a month in South Africa Aug to Sept 1977, winning from Jan Wilkins and losing to Don Leo.) I wonder if that bout was taped. Otto Vs Strongbow July '79 is the earliest we know of for the home video release programme. Bock/Inoki is currently the oldest full/full-ish match we've got.

With this one it's gone altogether but I expect it too was in colour originally. Watching 1982 Stax in monochrome gives me flashbacks to my granddad's house, he never got colour TV until he moved into a hotel in 1983, so now and again I watched the Giant and others in glorious monochrome. Nowak is a big guy but it's your standard Haystacks demolition job that you can see on World of Sport. Takes ten minutes with Stax no selling a whole load of Nowak offence before getting the guillotine elbowsmash for the finish. If this was Britain then Big Daddy would come to the ring and challenge Stax to another singles bout like the one at Wembley Arena a year earlier. (And if this was Germany in 1990 then Daddy would probably have come down in black, red and gold singing Deutschland Deutschland Uber Alles). But Daddy never travelled abroad so no challenge for big Martin this evening in Bremen.

It's been a while since I posted anything relatively Modern on here. Or at least anything more modern than Eurosport New Catch. Last time was on page 43 in mid January when I introduced you all to the delights of Igwe and Mungu. So here goes: In Britain, the only wrestling to take place on British soil between closure of hospitality on 20th March 2020 and Freedom Day 19th July 2021 were some NXT UK tapings held in closed TV studios at the former LWT premises at the South Bank of the Thames in London, also use for similarly closed off championship boxing fights. (Plus a few wrestlers who happened to live together were able to carry on as training partners with their housemates.) Wrestling promotions in France however took the next step and held socially distanced shows like AEW did. Voici one such show by WS from Oct 2020 (just a couple of weeks before we Brits went back into lockdown) . Hence the thin audience (there are more recent clips on that same YouTube channel to show how things have fattened out since the pandemic ended.) and also the masks and the fact that most of the audience are clapping instead of cheering, although a few can't help themselves. The wrestlers, I presume, were in a bubble together. The big surprise here is to find out that Gannon Gray used to be a Bon as in those said later clips he is un Mechant teaming with Hugo Perez El General who owns the channel. Here he faces a heel doing an Arab gimmick (possibly of actual Algerian descent) and wins after the baddy takes a clumsy topple off the corner post. Fair play to WS for finding ways to do things in those troubled times and nice to see business rebuilt after the pandemic. However, not long after this show, on 28th October 2020 France went back into lockdown.

Okay, from the Sublime to the Ridiculous. Otto Wanz's war with the Moondogs. And not just any old Moondogs but Rex and King, the classic WWF World Tag Team Championship winning partnership. December 1985, eight days before the Hansen-Martel title change. Rex by now was teamed with Spot. This trip to Europe was somewhere on route from Memphis and no DQ matches with the Fabulous Ones and WWF jobberdom in 86 after they rejected Vince's plan for a babyface run using material later recycled for the Bushwhackers. Colour signal is really ropey, probably multi generation and well played. I expect most if not all early 80s B/W German tapes were originally in colour before suffering a similar fate. Rex has a bone with him. He also has a bald guy who could be Baron Von Rashcke (also in Germany around this time.) but actually looks a lot like French "Russian" heel Le Grand Vladimir. DJ playlist includes Take On Me by A-Ha, a hit only one year earlier. Unfortunately it goes on for a long long time and is basically a Big Daddy solo match circa 1978 just before Max Crabtree finally banned Daddy from selling for opponents. Most of it is Otto bodychecking Colley. Otto does take a cross buttock press bump at one point but lands rather gently, Rex takes a much heavier one later on. Finish comes with a piledriver where Otto rolls over on his backside so Colley's head couldn't possibly touch the mat, then a few more lockdowns then a slam and pin. Hmmm, let's see what King can do ... King is billed as Sailor White here but dressed totally as a Moondog. In fact this is 1981 Graz and I'm none too sure how this fits into the chronology of the Moondogs. Rex and King won the WWF World Tag Team Championship then King went abroad, tried to come back into the USA via the Canadian border and was turned away. Did this trip happen during that period? In which case the White King is an incumbent tag champion in America during this title shot as I think Sgt Slaughter was (with JCP) a year later. No sign of Captain Lou but he has a guy in a suit, bowler hat and grey beard in his corner as coach and second. Otto is less roly poly here, it's a step back towards the chunkier compact Otto of a year earlier against Don Leo. He's got a whole little team of seconds including Tino Salvatore and Steve Wright, still with hair albeit receding and close cropped. It's all shot professionally on multicam by an OB unit and the colour signal is good. Action is in progress as the video starts. It's no more scientific than the bout with Rex but its quite a wild brawl and I think @ohtani's jacket might like this one. White has no time for round breaks; he launches himself viciously on Otto between one break and his seconds have to help him fend the Dog off - he gets a First Yellow Card. Later when he refuses to release a hold Otto's seconds prise King off. Otto gets in a couple of bonus kicks and is ticked off by the referee. OJ might be a little less happy with the finish as it's a stoppage knockout. King is never the same after he shoulders himself on the corner post and falls out of the ring. He takes various backdrops and is irresponsive until the referee declared him beaten. The audience are quite delighted as is Otto and it does feel like a fight has been decisively won.

Nice recent match between two youngsters we've already seen on the channel. Don't worry about the rather American looking ring. It was borrowed as the normal very Trad Brit Rumble rings would not fit a cage and there was a cage tag match on the bill (blame Nagasaki and Rocco for importing cages to these shores in about 1989)

Okay, here goes. Schuman comes to the ring to a traditional Austrian marching brass band. They shake hands. Round 1: Schuman armdrags Luger who does it back to him. Schumann armbars Liger who rolls then tuns 90 degrees and flips up going over on his head then takes Schumann's wrist. He goes through a similar sequence. The third time while rolling, Liger sneaks in a ground position dropkick but Schumann easily nips up. Liger gets a side headlock and two twists into drop toeholds into Frank Gotch toehold (Satoru Sayama as Sammy Lee would do this at dazzling speed in 1980 on ITV and leave TV audiences agape. ) Liger switches to a side headlock, Schumann breaks it open into top wristlock then armdrag. Liger handstand headscissors Schumann, goes up on his head and perfectly toupees Schumann. Bear in mind (1) he's got a mask with floppy horns on (2) he has probably still never heard of Gilbert LeDuc even now. Finger interlock. Schumann winning at first, bends back Liger who bridges nicely, then takes back advantage. Liger suddenly backdrops Schumann putting an end to that. Schumann gets fireman's carry takedown into armlock.Liger stands up but Schumman armdrags him. He still has an arm so Liger uses a French style headscissor takedown counter. Schumann turns into upright position, rolls forward out and gets a headlock as the bell goes. DJ plays I Feel Love Round 2. Liger gets a leg, turns it over like a single leg Boston Crab and gets an arm too, forming a sort of half surfboard. He lifts up young Franzl for a sub He holds on to the end of the round Cut to climax Round 3 Liger side headlock into camel clutch end of round.Bell rings Round 4: Luger gets wrist lever, progresses to hammerlock, Franz gets another French escape with reverse snapmare. They come off the ropes and Liger's clothesline sends Schumman doing a 360 flip sell. Liger waits for the count Keichi suplexes Franz but only gets 1. He gets a perfect Johnny Saint/George Kidd/Steve Grey Surfboard. I reckon he's been taking lessons. Schumann hangs on and Liger releases and gets an eight count. Schumann Liger drop toeholds Franzl for 6 , slams and rolling splashes him for 9, gets an abdominal stretch then converts to a folding press. for 1. Bell goes. Round 5 Yamada gets a bunch of Sammy Lee kicks to Franzl's legs, German suplexes him. Piledriver, spinning dropkick, Cut to Franzl clothesline and top rope flying shoulderblock . Bell goes Round 6: Franz gets double underhook suplex for 2, Jushin gets middle rope flying bodypress for 2. Liger dropkicks Schumann out of the ring and reverse flying tackles him at ringside. (It's probably got a fancier name than that.).Cut to later -Liger charges and misses Franz who dropkicks Jushin leaning on the corner pad. They come off the ropes and Franz waistlock suplexes Liger for 7 then long suplexes him for a two count pin. Liger reverses a Schuman posting and flying headbutts him in the chest. He posts Schumann again but misses a follow up charge and Schumann belly to back suplexes Liger for 2. Schumann gets an arm but the bell goes Round 7: Liger fells Schumann with 2kicks, powerslams and flying headbutts him from the top for 2. Liger goes up top again but Schumman catches him up and Barry Windham Superplexes him . Liger knees Franz for 7. Liger this time superplexes Franzl and crosspresses him for a pin of 2. Liger belly to back suplex es Schumann. Covers him but the bell goes Round 8: Liger kicks a leg out under Franz. Gets an American figure four like Clay Thomson. Releases and goes to the top but misses an Ivan Koloff kneedrop. Franz gets a full Boston Crab but releases eventually. Liger is selling the leg. But when Franz whips him off the ropes, he comes back with a sunset flip which Franz reverses into a bridging folding press and a beauty! But Liger crawls out and we briefly have a bascule until Franz breaks when he runs out of mat . Schumann gets armlock on the mat but bell goes. Round 9. Liger side headlock, shoulderblock and kick and faceslam. Backbreaker sand moonsault (just like he did to Rocky Moran in Lewisham six years earlier on ITV) for the one required pin! They aboth shake hands with each other and with the referee plus Liger bows a bit. This is now my favourite German match. Ahead of Owen Hart Vs Dave Taylor at Haumarkt in Vienna 1990 and putting Roland Bock Vs Antonio Inoki into third place. A joy. Just discovered a standalone video of that match. Also here is OJ's earlier review: By the way, the Euro Catch Festival has a page on English Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euro_Catch_Festival

Apparently "the kid" was Franz Van Buyten, so says Signsquad.

Not sure if pasting the translated transcript is a great idea, it takes a while to load and is fiddly for editing and I'm not sure I fancy copying and pasting translations from Welsh for Reslo or Japanese for puro company material.

This is a bout we've not reviewed before. Previously we've seen Morowski and the Polish Prince against Axel "Only One Shooter Here" Dieter and the man who told him to "pull the f'n trigger then," Bob UFO Dellaserra but here instead of Bob we get a different fourth man, Tino Salvatore aka Salvatore Belomo, last seen on British TV in the January 1973 Fanfare For Europe beating Sailor Tug Wilson 1-0 and next seen 14 years later in January 1987 losing to Kamala (also a World Of Sport alumnus as the Mississippi Mauler) in the first of six WWF Specials. It's not much of a tag bout to be honest.Dieter starts, gets beaten down, tags Tino who REALLY gets beaten down, eventually makes the hot tag to Axel who gives the villains a right proper pasting except it all gets out of hand with a DQ.for the heels after they bring a chair in the ring and pildrive Tino on it. You know the score.

Signsquad who I think is the same person as @sergeiSem has reuploaded this video with some new German commentary.

Surprised this has never been reviewed on here given the high esteem Terry Rudge is held in. This isn't quite a clean match but the referee stays in control and it most remains technical. Round 1: Rudge breaks opens a headlock into a top wristlock.but Steele regains. Rudge withstands a bodycheck attempt. Steele gets a side chancery and takes Terry down but he comes all the way back up to the top wristlock. Steele gets a side chancery (as discussed in the Ian McGregor bout this is his go to hold) but Rudge straightens it to a wristlever and then front chancery. Each man forces the other into the ropes for a break. Bell goes.Kent hint that Rudge might go heel later. Cut to Round 3: Steele gets front chancery, Rudge counters with toehold takedown. Steele tries to kick Rudge on the head but does not break the hold. Rudge goes up, gets a snapmare the slingshot. Steele gets cross buttock press for 2. Rudge goes from front to side chancery, Steele resist the throw. Steele gets single leg takedown into front open grovit into sleeper . Bell just as Rudge reverses to front chancery. They part exchangeing suspicious glances. Kent runs down Rudge 's International record including Greece and the draw with Inoki. Round 4: Steele wins finger Interlock but can only get the odd 2 with pins. Rudge fight back Hogan/Warrior style. Advantage goes back and forth.Rudge gets a butt to Steele's chest. A break in the corner gets rather needley. Rudge gets standing double wristlock. Ray Steele tries for a bodyslam but to no avail. Bell ends it, Rudge provocatively wipes his forehead on Steele's shoulder. Round 5. Steele gets standing full nelson. Rudge gropes for snapmare counter then tries powering out, eventually breaks it into front then side chancery, then forearm uppercuts. Kent worries it will degenerate in to brawl but luckily it Rudge gets a butt to the stomach then a flying tackle for 2. Steele gets semi Japanese stranglehold into wrist lever, straight arm weakener and hammerlock. Adds a grapevine the switches to rear standing armlock. Rudge gets drop toehold takedown, vaguely tries for a pin, eventually gets chinlock then up for forearm smash exchange with Steele firing back. They are locked in the ropes when the bell goes, Steele gets in a last slap, Rudge is unhappy and sells it long after. Round 6: Rudge tries to come out wet and slipper, ref Jeff Kaye wip noSteele gets front chancery, grapevine, arm lever but Rudge trips for a cross press and 2. Another finger interlock test of strength.Forearm smashes, Steele getting the best of it. Rudge gets a hammerlock takeover and headscissors. Steele tries to snap it open, Judges tries to crank it forward. And then the bell goes. Round 7: Steele gets headlock into side chancery into headlock in the mount from 135 degrees to armlock to cross press pin, Rudges bridges out nicely at 2. Tries to maintain the finger interlock but Rudge gets standing wristlever into rear armlock. Rudge gives a forearm but gets back a flying headbutt. Both up at 8 but Rudge sends Steele back down with a back elbow for another 8. Steele gets a good folding press for two and a front chancery while backed in the corner therefore broken up by the ref. Slap fight briefly breaks out. Happily for Kent (and purists like me, it goes back to science with a Steele headlock, then a Rudge folding press to match Steele's only he Runs Out Of Mat. Less happily, the bell goes again. Neither man can now win by two falls or submissions. The options are knockout, DQ (and they'll have to be quick about throwing it away with still no public warnings) or likeliest of all, a final round opener making it 1-0 at time. So to the final Round 8. They shake hands, temperamentaly but no one takes advantage. Steele gets an abdominal stretch. Rudge tries to make it a cross buttock throw but Steele stays anchored and gets the arm into wristlever while maintaining the leg grapevine element. He switches to double arms from behind (the upper part of a surfboard) Rudge tries a backwards headbutt but can't reach. He breaks it and gets two forearm uppercuts held by front chanceries. Exchange of forearms and bodychecks with Rudge getting the better, flooring Steele with a bodycheck for 9. Ray gets a folding press backslide for 2 in the corner but just Runs Out Of Mat as Rudge's feet curl forward into the ropes. Double bodycheck for eight, Steele flying tackle for 2. A final exchange of forearms but then the bell goes one last time for a 0-0 draw. Ray Steele looks like he's going to shake Rudge's hand at the end but he video cuts off so we don't see how that played out. Skill but not much speed. I found it solid enough but lacking compared to packer lighter weight bouts. The bell endings started to feel slightly cop-out-ish, it feels like they often could have got one more clever counter in but instead they just sat around for the last 10?seconds. I enjoyed it though and referee Ken Joyce came off well for maintaining order. Not a classic but substantial wholefood nonetheless.

One of the later Petit Prince bouts not really reviewed on here. OJ made it 4th in a list of faves 13 years ago but that's about it. Before the bell starts Anton Tejero (who is in for all sorts of fun 6 months down the line from this bout with a name like that) attacking Prince, knocking his spectacle off, not that he'll need them for the match but he's got problems to look forward to afterwards. This turns out to be a trigger for Couderc to come up with all manner of politically incorrect French teams for sight issues - "myope comme un dope" etc. Still the big moustachioed heel has some starter heat. Remy and Rocas'start out, good standard moves from both including a nice Roca's handstanding escape from a side headlock. They tag and LPP is having run running rings around Tejero, making a fool of him to pay back from the specs and for having Couderc dig up every synonym for "blind as a bat" he can come up with. Tejero ends up ejected from the ring. The referee has obviously been watching LPP's old opponent and real life trainer Michel Saulnier in action. It's not actually Saulnier but possibly George Wiesz. Not much actual Danny Davis esque biased calling but he does get cross with Les Bons especially Roca's, for clumsiness and recklessness that causes him to take bumps. Couderc finds the ref bumps hilarious but then he's not the one taking them. One time, the referee decides not to allow Prince out of a submission for getting the ropes and tries to kick his arm free. After a couple of failed attempts, the ref practically dropkicks LPP's hand, still fails and lands in a heap on the mat. Remy reminds me of a heel version of Mick McMichael of Doncaster, same look and build but a bad attitude. Tejero gets his personal heat back by interfering quite a bit while not tagged in. There is a great camera shot for this of him facing the hard cam when obeying tag rules and stepping out of camera facing position to go cheat. Roca's gets a pretty decent surfboard on Remy but no submission. By 21 mins in the ref is getting his first Aux Chiottes Arbitre chant. LPP rolls out of the ring and gets patted on the back and helped up by a kindly fan only for Tejero to knock him off the apron and sending him into La Publique like he is crowd surfing. It's quite a bump! He is helped back this time by a second smoking a cigarette. This could have ended up very badly indeed, not just for the second's long term health but because Tejero is intent on booting LPP out of the ring every time he tries coming back, even when the Chiotte Arbitre orders him off. Eventually the double teaming heat moves back to the ring. In the end it's Remy who gets the opening pin on LPP with a slam after the ref misses a tag to Rocas. Prince eventually gets a double monkey climb and the heels then tags Rocas who goes Manchette Mad, even giving the ref one to much cheers, before aeroplane spinning Remy (and taking out Tejero with the "propeller") for the equalising pin. Les Mechants regain their heat with some double teaming, a LPP/Ref argument ends with him scooting through Monsieur L'Arbitre's legs to make it a foursome. Les Bons have Tejero in a 2 on 1 toehold one on each foot, they lure in Remy and dump him on top, then the referee then themselves to make a pile of five bodies! A similar situation occurs later with Tejero tied in the ring ropes, Les Bons drive Remy into his stomach and the impact sends the referee flying outside. In the end. Prince gets the decider with a sunset flip on Tejero after cornering him and flipping over him into pounce formation. Prince gets a very good superkick at a time when Chris Adams was wrestling in England and possibly visited France. Who knows, perhaps Le Petit Prince and Shawn Michaels are only two links away in a chain of teaching the superkick. Overall, Tejero and Remy were carpenters making two of France's top Bons look hot stuff. Thirty minutes Big Daddy tag minus Daddy. A lot of skilled well executed moves from both sides, not to the point where blow-by-blow is required to convey the spirit of the match but enough to make it a handsome exhibition.

I've dropped Jim and Brian a note about British and French overseas sales of TV Wrestling kinescopes.

Jim Cornette talks about overseas TV sales

https://www.geschichtewiki.wien.gv.at/Georg_Blemenschütz

I think we need to find out more about this Georg Blemenschutz, he was obviously a very important babyface in 70s Germany. This is him doing a training session with two young wrestlers at Heumarkt 1967 (bits of the 1978 match stripped of colour at the start.)