David Mantell

https://www.patrickwreed.com/blog/ywi3yijbus8ga9w6tqlfh56isokwpp Apparently the bout was 25th November 1978 in Stuttgart. People think it's a shoot but I'm not so sure. Too many dropkicks and suchlike. THIS is what a shoot looks like.

Okay, over on the British and German threads I promised you all something special. AND HERE IT IS!!! Roland Bock Vs Antonio Inoki 1977. In full. With absolutely no awful thrash metal on the audio. Three years before Otto Wanz Vs Don Leo Johnathan, two years before Otto Vs a heel Chief Jay Strongbow. As deep a dive into Seventies German Catch as Clay Thompson Vs Tony StClair 1967 was into Sixties British Wrestling, This match seems to be regarded as legendary among Japanese fans. For us, it's a chance to really get stuck into the old slow methodical style of German Catch before Steve Wright changed everything. I don't believe, as some Japanese fans seem to do, that this is a shoot. There are too many dropkicks and forearms for that. It's just an old style very earnest Teutonic bout such as Dieter Senior and Chall would work. Ring is the same design as in the Hoover camcordings 1980-1981 and a lot of later footage. Only advert on the ring is something on the ring apron about Schwaben Brau.(Swabian Brew? Beer, I suppose.). No other commentary audible beneath the Japar. I guess Inoki's camp did a Reslo and brought their own OB crew over to shoot this. Bit of a longer journey though. Cardiff Vs Tokyo. Inoki has a nice purple robe, Bock a hooded jogging suit decades before the Hoodie Fad. National anthems are played. The Japanese one sounds a lot nicer than when that bloke sung it at Summerslam 93. I guess he deliberately sang it badly to get Yoko some heat. So down to business. The referee gives instructions, then they shake hands, go back to their corners and the bell rings. After stalking each other they lock up and Boch backs Inoki into the ropes. They breaks abd try for armlocks, hands adjusting positions on forearms like chess pieces until it hits a corner, They try again and Bock gets and armbars plus a leg grapevine, takes Inoki down into a cross press and gets a series of one counts. Fans are noisily chanting for Bock. Inoki gets his leg on the ropes, so break. Inoki goes for the leg, Bock counters by going for Inoki's hip and throws him down into a leglock position. They breaks and Inoki gets Bock in a left hand front chancery, switching to a side headlock and then riding him down to the mat in a rear chinlock. Bock maintains height off the mat, topples Inoki and gets a leglock but it goes into the ropes. Inoki gets in a quick kick to the thigh to make all the fans of his Ali fight happy. Bock gets a fantastic double underhook belly to belly suplex on Inoki, sending him flying! Inoki catches Back with an upward kick to the jaw as Bock was backing off for the count. Bock takes down Inoki in the mount and turns him into the guard. Inoki gets a foot under Bock's jaw but can't push off with it. Inoki gets a headscissors and twists to get the pressure. It's going to be very interesting to see Bock's escape but sadly the bell goes. Sadly no disco between rounds. Was it not invented yet or was this too solemn an occasion? Or maybe the Japanese TV crew were worried about copyright issues. Nice split screen of each man in their corner being tended to buy their seconds. (just like Britain and France ) Round 2: they stalk each other, Inoki drops to the mat and kicks Bockmin the shins like in the Ali Fight, Bock gives Inoki a football kick back in retaliation. Bock rear waistlocks Inoki and gets a fantastic belly to back suplex which could have been a great pin attempt but Bock instead rides Inoki into the mount. Inoki gets an armlock on the behind Roland. He tries to develop it into a hammerlock but Bock has the muscle strength to resist. Bock doesn't try to roll out. Inoki gets on top with the hammerlock, turns it into a ground full nelson then further nelson, the ref checks shoulders but it doesn't reach even a one count. Bock gets back in the mount but Inoki still has the hammerlock on top, developing to a double wristlock. Bock forces it to the ropes and has Inoki's leg, ready to pitch him to riingside but the ref breaks it up. Bock gets a slap and two forearm smashes but Inoki gets the leg and pulls Bock down ... right into the ropes! Break (eventually) and reset. Bock gets a standing toehold. Inoki gets the ropes, break and reset. They start to feel for a lockup but the round apparently ends (can't hear a bell.) Round 3: as they lockup, Inoki fires a dropkick but Bock no-sells it. Inoki legdives and standing toeholds Bock. Bock tries to push off with the foot but Inoki makes it a double leglock. Bock goes on his head and toupees Inoki into a headscissors, converts to armhank, pulls Inoki upright and toupees him again into another headscissor, gets a few one counts, converts to armhank, lets him up and pulls him down. Inoki rolls inwards ito get a mat side headlock on, convert to cross press, gets a one before Bock rolls him off. Break and a fists/chops brawl, a brief down trying to catch an armlock and collar and elbow into the corner for another break. Bock grabs Inoki's throat holding a closed fist menacingly (Michel Saulnier in France would have roasted Bock for this) but another inaudible round bell. Round 4: Bock considers fisticuffs but gets a grovit instead. Inoki hiptosses Bock down but he gets headscissors. Inoki gets into the front kneeling position for a rollout, Bock pulls him up and gives him a mini piledriver. Inoki recovers and turns into the guardand bridges until the headscissor is dislodges and folded into a Frank Gotch toehold but it's in the ropes. Bit of a slap fight into a Bock full nelson but into the ropes again. German audience starting to behave more like typical German audience singing songs in support of Bock like on 80s/90s videos. Bock gets a belly to belly suplex on Inoki and cross press for a one, then a two! Inoki gets kneeling front chancery on Bock but it goes into the ropes. Inoki gets a legdrive but it's not a clean break so the ref has none of it- Inoki gets a quick toehold and kick in before breaking, getting some heat (the bird, mostly) from the crowd, he glares angrily at them. Bock front chanceries Inoki who degdives him but the bell apparently goes again. They snap at each other on the way back to their corners. Needle. Round 5 Inoki gets a front chancery, tries for a snapmare, Bock resists, tries again and takes Bock over into a kneeling front chinlock. Crowd are rallying Bock for a jawbreaker escape so Inoki switches to side chinlock. Bock struggles and gets Inoki into a fireman's carry takedown but Inoki gets another upwards kick from the mat. Inoki fires a dropkick and cross presses Bockmfor one, gets another dropkick but has to stand back for a knockout count. Confused and frustrated at the German rules, Inoki stomps Bock which gets him a private warning and more heat from the crowd (the British fans would be LIVID over this.) The count resumes and Bock is up at eight. Inoki gets a side chancery into snapmares into chinlock. The crowd forgives and claps this. Inoki converts to headscissors and has it on for some time when the bell goes (first time since Round 2 I can actually hear it.) MC goes "Stop, break. Interval" and Inoki gets the idea and releases. Bock still sells in the mat before heading back to his corner. Round 6 Inoki takes down Bockmin a chinlock. Bock tries to twist Inoki's leg to Inoki switches for a crosspress for 2 then 1 then Bock bridges out but collapsed and Inoki gets another couple on 1s then switches to an armscissor. Bock rolls Inoki into a folding press then lifts him in a non comedy version of British C21st midget wrestler Mark "Little Legs" Sealy's Human glove before dumping him in the ropes for a 7 count. Bock gets a standing full nelson and giant swings Inoki into the mount on the mat. Inoki pushes up but Bock maintains the hold until Inoki reaches the ropes. Up and they both try for a cross buttock but the bell goes. Round 7 and Inoki goes for the legs and misses. Bock gets double legs and secures a Boston Crab but Inoki makes the ropes. Break. Inoki gets a headlock, Bock tries for a legdrive but Inoki gets the hammerlock as he goes down. Bock gets the head and pulls round into a grovit cum shoulder press on the mat which gets a couple of 2 counts. Bock pulls up into the hub side chancery and back down into the shoulder press. Inoki escapes and Brock gets a front chancery and tries for a leg but it doesn't work out and he breaks. Inoki gets a side headlock. Bock takes him down and breaks it open into a top wristlock but Inoki turns himself on top. He gets a couple of 1s then so does Brock and they break. They lock up, go into the ropes but break bad tenperedly and Inoki is getting another private warning when the bell goes. Round 8 . Bock gets a wrist lever, Irish whips Inoki down for a soft bump, briefly put a knee on Inoki's chest then tries again for the whip and this time forces Inoki to take a harder louder bump. Bock puts the footin then armdrags Inoki whom comes back with a headscissors to which he adds a wristlock. Bock tries a headscissor of his own then briefly considers an armlock before returning to the scissor. Two way headscissors. Referee reckons it's a stalemate and calls for a break but Inoki puts on a headlock and keeps reapplying. Referee has finally had enough and gives Inoki a first yellow card! Crowd gives Inoki the bird again. He seems to be the subtle heels who doesn't get the European rules. Bock is angry too, goes for three forearm smashes, bodyslams and posts Inoki. Crowd are behind Bock the babyface. Brock goes for double legs into a Boston Crab. Inoki makes it to the ropes but Bock is slow to release. Kent Walton would call it allowed-for retaliation by Brock. Inoki legdives but Brock turns it into a loose side folding press for a few ones. The bell goes and it almost looks like Brock has got the fall but it's just he end of the round. Crowd is singing, Bock is pacing around like a bull waiting to charge Round 9. Inoki gets the leg but Bock turns him over into a pinning position. He gets a one. Inoki kicks out but then completely misses a dropkick. The crowd pop but Inoki doesn't sell it that much. They slap around then Inoki gets tangled in the ropes. Bock goes for him but Inoki hauls him out the ring before following him out. Bock slugs Inoki a couple of times in a ringside brawl Kent would NOT have approved of (or the IBA). Referee does at least exert authority and pull them apart. Bock marches back into the ring, Inoki follows. Bock lays in FIVE headbutts before throttling Inoki. He modifies to an open grovit but the ref still isn't happy and orders a break. Enough retaliation says the ref. Inoki gets in a headbutt of his own and some chops against the ropes. Ref calls break and gives a stern private warning to Inoki. Bock delivers a standard front piledriver and side chanceries Inoki to the ropes and ties him up to pummel him but the ref says no. Gives Bock a definite private warning too. They lock up but the bell goes. Into a music package of highlights so far with some late 80s synth music in top. Very Jim Crockett Promotions - think Starrcade 85 or 86. Not the end. Round 10 and Boch is hammering Inoki with headbutts before pitching him out of the ring. A visibly angry Inoki returns to the ring. They lock up and Bock clobbers Inoki in the back three times before Inoki dumps Bock over the ropes at point blank range. In Britain this would have been a second Public Warning for Inoki but the ref is trying to be lenient over a heated contest. Bock gets a belly to belly suplex on Inoki. He holds off a crosspress with one arm but Bock still gets the odd one count. Inoki rolls in top but into the ropes for a break. Despite this, he keeps chopping away on the fallen Bock and finally gets a Second And Final Yellow Card. They breaks and lock up. Bock gets a front chancery, Inoki tries for a slam, Bock tries for a double underhook suplex. Neither succeeds and they break and re-engage. Bock batters Inoki with five forearm smashes flooring him on the third and fifth and getting a 6 count on the latter. He twice slams and splashes and covers Inoki for a 2 count. Inoki fires back with a dropkick. They lock up and fall into the ropes when the final bell goes. Three ringside judges give their score (see also old Spanish Catch, 1930s British All In and JCP Clash of the Champions part one although none of the judges look like pet of the month - this being Germany. pet of the month would be a large Alsatian dog!) First judge scores for Inoki to catcalls. Second and third to Bock. Clearly those two Yellow Cards cost Inoki dearly. So Bock is the winner on points. A big celebration breaks out, people run the ring, they try to lift Bock on their shoulders but he is too heavy for them. I think Bock gets a belt - he certainly gets a cup from a dignitary and a big bunch of flowers from a pretty blond girl. Inoki watches it all in disgust from his corner but chills out when the blond girl gives him flowers too plus a smaller cup. Bear in mind Kent Walton forgave Bret Hart for a lot worse in his match with Marty Jones in 1981. So that was the German style pre 1980s. Look at what Bock does in this match with the slower more protracted more worked on holds and the styles of Axel Dieter, Achim Chall. Mile Zrno and others of the pre-Steve Wright era. I wish we had more full bouts from this far back but this is where the German scene was back in 1977 contemporary with Dynamite Kid's rise, Big Daddy's establishment as People's Champion and starting his feud with Giant Haystacks, Kendo Nagasaki 's unmasking, TF1 going colour, Albert Sanniez turning heel and Michel Saulnier starting to become can Arbitre Chiotte. And if course Otto Wanz coming back from South Africa with the CWA belt in his paws. THIS IS SEVENTIES GERMAN WRESTLING. And I could do with some more. Where is the raw footage of Inoki-Lasaterre?

Been to Dudley Town Hall for All Star this evening. Good crowd 250-300 ISH. Sadly no clean bout this time, in fact only 4 bouts in the show. On the plus side, good old. Lee Bamber was MC. Star attraction was ex WWFer Gangrel who teamed with Jim Diehard of the Henchmen (see post a year or back about current superheavies) to lose to Jack Stars and Nathan Cruz. Starz had a good clean match in Dudley a year or two back with Elmar Stone who was in the bill today against a comedy heel Chocolate. Lee announced it as a Britain Vs American show but the two other Americans on the show, both NWA Power guys, faced off against each other - Silas "no relation to James nor Crusher. Vs Alex Taylor. Here's a video snippet of a couple of nights ago in Aldershot. https://www.facebook.com/allstarwrestlinguk/videos/645587201318918/ I've still got a nice surprise for the German thread tomorrow. Will look through it tomorrow..

Okay, here goes: All four participants went on to appear on New Catch. LaMotta we've just dealt with. Herve is the future Flesh Gordon and the Falcons faced TBWs TBWs Yann Caradec and Patrice Martineau (with Flesh mentoring the kids) on a 1988 episode, see page 32. Everyone 's looking pretty Glam - the Falcs in their star studded glittery capes with silver lining and masks like the Conquistadors at Survivor Series 1988, Les Bons in spangly white trunks, LaMotta in a white jacket nicked from Blake's 7, Herve in the same purple jacket as against Ramirez in 1979. I want one for nightclubbing. A large trophy is brought into the ring for the winner. Saulnier stands back to the camera - his ears poking out make him and the cup lok alike, Fast paced affair, credit due to Herve and the smaller Falcon who have some great exchanges. Dropkicks, sunset flips, toupees out of headscissors, the lot. Hot tempered too as Herve is constantly making fists at the heels and getting reprimanded by Saulnier until eventually he thumps him and gets a Premier Avertisement. Saulnier and Herve continue to bicker throughout the bout, Saulnier telling Herve off for not holding his tag rope while ignoring the Falcons. When he knocks Herve off the ropes after the Falcons have been choking him, the crowd goes mad and Saulnier goes even madder, breaking out intom The younger (less bald) LaMotta is no slouch either. His opening pin on a Falcon is fantastic - waistlock into rear folding press held by bridge - and he pulls off some snappy flying headscissors too. The bigger Falcon stomps Tony then slams and splashes him for the equaliser less than 4 minutes from the end of the clip. It's quite a cliffhanger Les Bons suddenly losing their lead like that. A ringside family of Pere, Mere et les petits gosses look suitably worried. Herve tries to take over for La Belle, Saulnier will have none of it and Herve throws a most un-Bon-like Cry Baby Jim Breaks stroppy! But fear not, the Falcons screw up a double team spot with Small dropkicking big. Herve tags in and goes on a cross buttock throwing spree on both masked men, eventually cross pressing one of them for the pin and the trophy from the start. Okay, I'm off to Dudley for All Star, will report back soon on the British thread. Rumble should soon be posting their first videos of the new year soon too. Oh and I've found something REALLY SPECIAL for the German thread which I'm looking forward to watching in full.

Another New Catch bout, this time featuring two survivors of Old Catch. Jacky Richard you should all know about, there's plenty enough on this thread 1970s-C21st. LaMotta (no relation to Marcello Motta in the last bout) had at least one previous French TV appearance reviewed by OJ on page 11 where he and a pre Flesh Gordon taken on the Golden Falcons/Halcones de Oro in 1980 (I may well dig that one out myself.) This is in the early Maxi Cuisine sponsored ring so filmed in 1988 and originally screened that year -not Kong before The Final Bell in the UK - on French Catch's now privatised ancestral home TF1 before being repeated on Eurosport early the following year. German commentary presumably by Peter Wilhelm. Richard is in the full Marquis getup with wig, tricorn and velvet greatcoat. LaMotta has a red sequin jacket. Call it New Romantic Vs Glam Rock. Coats off. LaMotta is a baldy old guy like Axel Dieter Senior but Richard swaps his old black tights for purple and pink Jerry Lawler leotard. Possibly the beginnings of his morph into the Travesti Man. The butler Paul Butin De Luchard is in full effect, combing Richard's also balding locks. The referee is also dressed for the occasion in a shiny silver smoking jacket. Down to business: they go into the ropes and Paul trips Tony. Richard tries for a quick pin but Tony kicks out and goes on the rampage. Despite their age, Tony gets a bunch of good fast moves off the Marquis - two snapmares, full nelson into another snapmares, double legs and neatly spins out of whatever response Richard is trying. More hiptosses and the Marquiss rolls out. Once back, Richard gets a standing full nelson. LaMotta slips down to escape but rolls over and Richard gets the hold back so LaMotta reverses it. The Marquis powers the hold open, comes off the ropes and is legflipped He bodychecks La Motta but is caught coming off the ropes in a crosspress for 2, saved by Paul running in and flipping La Motta off. Tony tries an armbar and forces the Marquis to take a bump. He maintains the wristlock on the mat for some whille. dragging him up to force another bump. Richard does the same back and gets a straight headscissor. He pulls the tights the first escape attempt but LaMotta gets out on the second try. A round break and Paul the butler prompts Richard who walks into a dropkick early in Round 2. LaMotta forearms Richard and ties him in the ropes and flings out Paul when he tries to free his master. He goes for a second charge but Paul trips and backdrops him and Jacky who has freed himself splashes him for the one required fall. Short and to the point from two veterans of Old Catch. A good crossover bout between one era and the next. Watch it if you have issues accept hat New Catch was the rightful continuation of classic French Catch.

Morning all. Right, the final: Kent Walton makes a silly pun about Valentine having had a little more time to re-cooper-ate than Cooper. For a hated crumb heel. Cooper is in a merry mood shaking hands with loads of people including MC Brian Crabtree but not Valentine whom he shoved and gets dropkicked. And we're off... This leads to another dropkick and a Powerslam and Greg getting the opening pin in only 15 seconds. Round two and after a couple of armdrags, Cooper tries to flee the ring but Valentine drags him back and pumps up the crowd. Cooper throws Greg in the hammerlock position but Greg takes it as a cartwheel, pinioned arm and all. He then throws Cooper who takes the bump. Cooper gets his heat back with a concealed stomach punch and another punch covered by a headlock. Cooper goes for another headlock on the taller Valentine but gets lifted into a fireman's carry and has to foul by pulling hair to free himself. Cooper gets two good legal forearm smashes and posts Valentine who comes back with double legs into a flip outside the ring. He gets back at 8 but is still selling his head and offering a handshake. Valentine accepts and gets a knee to the stomach for his pains. Cooper follows up with a snapmares into headlock but the bell goes. Cooper ignores it and slams Valentine's head into the corner and is threatened with summary DQ by referee Ken Joyce. Round 3 and Cooper attacks the base of Valentine's spine. Cooper the switches to headlock which again leads to a Greg fireman's carry and Cooper hair foul. Copper slips in one last kick before leaving Greg for the count - Greg is up at five but Cooper swiftly smashes him down then flings him through the ropes. When Greg gets back, Cooper corners him for and over the shoulder leg lock but Valetbashed him over the head with his free leg. Valentine misses a dropkick and lands in his arm with Sid following in with an armhank (legal, he just catches Greg coming off he floor) for an equalising submission. During the interval a second throws Valentine a towel which Cooper thinks was thrown in to concede the bout. He makes a speech calling Greg yellow which enrages the good guy. Round 4 rings and Greg is a flurry, leapfrogging Cooper. Flinging him out of the ring. Cooper slips up on re-entry and Greg side folding presses him to make it 2-1. And he is ecstatic, leaping around. Greg gets his cup and a wreath of flowers round his neck to make him look like he's on holiday in Tahiti and is mobbed by fans. He was a promoter's son with a name filched from a top American star and it was ultimately he and his brother who killed off RWS, the former Joint Promotions, by refusing to take over from his dad in February 1995 but Steve "Greg Valentine" Crabtree was a fine young technician and blue-eye who deserved his push.

Andy Blair in full Highland getup.was from the same English Midlands training camp as superheavyweight Scrubber Daly. He did some tagging with Big Daddy and got squashed by mega heels like Red Ivan. Here he's in against the great carpenter heel. Let's see what Sid can do to make Andy look good before beating him. Blair levers out of Cooper's side headlock and breaks open a sleeper into an arm lever. Cooper doesn't roll. He just takes the whip bump to make the kid look good. Blair leapfrogs and dropkicks Copper who starts attacking Andy on the mat. Cooper goes full nelson to side chancery to backslide but Blair bridges out.Odlybthey shake hands. Blair .egdives into a full Boston Crab but Cooper resists so Greg releases. Cooper spends the rest of the round being privately warned about something - Kent isn't sure what either. Round 2. Sid knocks down Andy with a few forearmd and the odd dirty blow. Eventually Blair gets a Great Muta reverse shoulder drive (apprmore a female move in the C21st. Bodycheck and flying tackle for the cross press equaliser. Cut to Round 4. Cooper has Blair in a single leglock, having lost the other half. He tries for the surfboard regardless, the gives up, bashes his knee into canvas then takes down Blair and tries again for the surfboardbut only gets one side (an arm and a leg.) He puts pressure of the leg then gives up and smashes the knees down one more time. He tries for double legs but instead splashes the leg. He gets a leg again . Collins gets a near KO tthough a forearm smash then gets the a KNOCKOUT , yes OJ, with a reverse piledriver. Apart from getting rescued by Daddy for tag wins, Blair doesn't seem to have got much done, but he hung around the business u til the end of the Nineties and has been seen at wrestlers reunions eg 2016. I shall review the final tomorrow. I need my sleep.

This was Rex Lane's only Saturday ITV appearance. He was in dark marches on two 1987 tapings (against Valentine and Little Prince!) and appeared on quite a bit on Joint's early 90s Scottish TV tapings in 1990 Vs Greg and 1993 Vs Ian McGregor. Between times he was IIRC on the 1992 Battle of the Brits video getting unmasked from under the hood of Dr Death by Tony Stewart. He's a journeyman villain against Max Crabtree's kid. The babyface gets the best of it, forcing a hard bump from a whip, taking two throws with cartwheels, giving one back (Lane takes it well rollingly) then dropkicking Lane to ringside.Lane gets a hammerlock but Greg backdrops him. They run the ropes, Lane tries for a trip , gets booted in the behind, hiptossed a couple of times and runs for cover to ringside as Greg leads the crowd like his uncle. Greg legdives hisway out of a side headlock and gets a Frank Gotch toehold (Figure 4 leglock Kent calls it. but not me to avoid confusion with the American style hold) He crawls to the ropes and gets the break just before the bell. Round 2 Rex Lane gets and armbars, converts to a hammerlock and tries to throw Greg but he cartwheels to a stand and fires a good dropkick. He gets an opening fall with a backdrop and cross press. But Lanevhas a headlock in the new round and uses a punch to earn himself a public warning. He regains the headlock, is slow to release on the ropes and spins Lane out of a legdive. He gets Greg by the hair but the ref warns him off. Round break and Kent tells us about Rex's amateur background at Stockport YMCA. Round 4.and Rex punches Valentine in a headlock but only gets a private warning. Greg elbows Lane in the stomach, gets a double legdives the villain to ringside. Flips him back in, long suplex and cross press for the second straight. Technical vehicle for Greg, Rex either plays carpenter or is more of a dirty wrestling specialist. He'll meet another of those in the final.

Nice to get back to an older bout. Unfortunately 1980 seems to be the start off point for German footage beginning with the professionally filmed Wanz Vs Don Leo CWA title fight in Julyand before that reports of Wanz/Strongbow in '79, highlights of about 5 Roland Bock fights for the mid/late 70s and two early 70s cinema mini docus in B/W plus a few similar going back into the 60s. Hanover in September 1980 is the first real explosion of Germany footage. Chris Colt in Europe 1980. A phrase which brings about visions of druggy chaos, of an ITV match not being screened due to being - says Kent Walton- "nothing whatsoever to do with wrestling," a Big Daddy tag match at the Royal Albert Hall which he spends wandering around at ringside and is later mythologised to have him actually shooting on and exposing Daddy. None of that is really in evidence here. He shakes his head as he gets in the ring like an old biker hippy- think a heel version of Boogie Woogie Man Jimmy Valiant (but strictly a heel BWM, not the earlier Handsome Jimmy) being the usual American playing heel in Europe here against aging Axel "Only One Shooter Here" Dieter Senior. Axel snapmares Colt who complains his hair was pulled. Bodychecks. Lots of playing for time/working the crowd. Axel take the bump several times to undo Colt armbars. Axel does a decent toupee on Colt which explains his balding head. Colt resists further attempts before getting a kick in the head. Colt gets a good legdive on Dieter when the round bell goes. Dieter gets in one badly done toupee before retiring to his corner. DJ plays bluesy 60s powerr pop with a Hammond Organ audibly on it. Round 2. Some more crowd play including Colt crouching in the corner at an "Axel, Axel" chant. Colt gets a standing full nelson. Dieter, in the rigorous old German style half tries a few options before going for a hiptoss into armbar like a British armlift position but prone on the mat. Colt pulls him into a headscissor, Axel tries an underneath lever out, then flipping up into a Boston Crab before finally going for a Frank Gotch toehold. He tries for the cross face, Colt tries for the ropes. The referee refuses him but accepts when he starts grabbing at the ring apron. Dieter chokes Colt on a rope (but why? How much had Colt done to justify the ref allowing that much retaliation?). He armdrags and armhanks Colt more to get some kicks and stomps on. They shave hands and Colt gets a full nelson which he converts to a rear waistlock. Axel counters with a hiptoss but Colt has yet another headscissor ready. Axel uncorks himself in the guard position and gives Colt a cheeky kick to the head. It becomes more brawling and dirty wrestling in the corner, carrying onto and beyond the end of the round. More sixties beat music on the disco. Round 3 and Colt carries straight on with the dirties and gets a yellow card, the MC translates it to English for Colt as First Public Warning. I expect Coltvwas familiar with the phrase from England. Axel posts Colt who lands upside down like Flair, flips to the apron like Flair but then lands ringside and gets a long near KO count, coming back only to get a backdrop and cross press for the winning fall One was an aged oldstyle German, the other was a druggy American. I didn't expect to write so much about this bout. Clearly pre-Steve Wright German Catch and Seventies American heel work meshes nicely as styles.

Gary Clwyd/ Welsh in France! For a guy with one ITV match against fellow TBW Peter Bainbridge, he certainly got about a bit. I make that 16;TV bouts in a career. Cullen at this stage is still a blue-eye (he started going heel during his World Heavy Middleweight title feud with Robbie Brookside in 1991-1992) . As far as the live French audience is concerned, the most familiar figure would be faux Cowboy Jessy Texas who has been knocking around the FFCP turning up on TV to feud with young Flesh Gordon since as far back as 1983. Another familiar face would be referee Charley Bollet, kid brother of legendary heel Andre Bollet and another survivor of Old Catch on A2/FR3. Fourth participant Jörg Schrage is a German doing a gimmick as a heel truck driver. In England this would be a truly sinister thing - lorry driver sadly have a bad reputation for being unmasked as serial killers and sex murderers over here. Fear not however, he's just a curmudgeonly German truckie. He and Jessy do a really strange promo with Jessy hanging out the cabin door of Jorg's truck. Match itself is not a lot to write home about, one fall after ten minutes of action. Gary pays homage to the local flavour with a nifty Scisseaux Volees takedown which unfortunately crashes into the ropes, not in a Kent Walton "Ran out of Mat"kind of way but rather as if the ropes were an unexpected obstacle the wrestlers collided with that mucked up their big spot. Cullen pulls off a neat monkey flip and the heels get the win with a rather badly done low flying version of the LOD's Doomsday Device off the middle turnbuckle on poor old Gary. The rest is the heels doing their dirty work (Bollet gives them a Premier Avertisement) and the blue eyes retaliating. Reasonably action packed but technically nothing that you couldn't have seen on WWF or particularly WCW TV at the time.

Another good tag. Bit unclear on what station it was broadcast, the end credits say FR3 Dijon but the notes (and this is the INA's own channel) say Antenne 2. My guess is that this was repeated on A2 from an earlier FR3 screening and that there was a longer overlap between the FR3 and A2 phases. perhaps going back to La Derniere Manchette the previous year. It looks like the same ring as Les Maniaks Vs Bordes and Gordon so it might be the same TV taping. Angelito and Jacky's TV feud ran for about 20 years (short-lived Mechant tag team notwithstanding) from the 1971 bout where Angelito unmasks mid match to the Eurosport New Catch bout between Angelito El Vigilante and Travesti Man (both previously reviewed on here.) Paul Butin Fluchard the butler inherited from the original Marquis. beardy Eduardo is allowed up on the ring apron as he later would as Travesti Man's "Best Boy" Jean Claude Blanchette. Why he was allowed up is something a native fan will have to explain to us - even if aristocrats do believe they are above the law, referees and Les Flics should surely not agree? ) but I'm coming to think of him as an update of Robert Duranton's hapless manservant Firmin back in the Sixties. Virgil, basically. Black Shadow is apparently Moroccan not American as 70s commentators claimed. Things grind to a halt after Angelito breaks Shadow 's full nelson and a man in a sub Gobbly Gooker sports mascot costume charges to ringside. Angelito is in a very bouncy mood slingshotting himself into the ring, snapmaring Shadow. He and Richard lock up. He gets a sunset flip which becomes a double leg nelson "bascule" (back and forth double leg exchange) which becomes a flying headscissors, quite the combination Shadow and Motta threaten to have a boxing match before both heels keep an armlock/top wristlock going for a while until Motta breaks free with a Planchette Japonaise (Monkey Climb). Richard finds various ways to keep hold of a full nelson. Angelito nicely converts a rear armhank to a sunset flip but Shadow double ankles him to escape at 2. Paul BF interferes to help Richard beat up la Motta, missed by referee Otto Weiss who took over the miserable quasi heel Arbitre Chiotte role from Saulnier after 1983. (again this negativity towards the ref is something we really need a native fan to explain. I think it's to do with a traditional French hatred of jumped up petty officials and pesky bylaws.) He gives Angelito a first Avertisement and even commentator Daniel Cazal doesn't know why. I think it was that one extra kick on a downed opponent but usually you had to persistently attack a fallen opponent to earn an Avertisement/public warning/yellow card. Richard forces Angelito to his knees but Angelito cartwheels out and chops down Richard for a 2 count after Paul runs in and pulls him off. Angelito gets a folding press on Shadow but Runs Out Of Mat as Kent Walton would say. He gets the opening fall on le Marquis with a Victory roll. Paul fans off Richard and Weiss with his towel during the falls break Deuxieme Manche: Richard gets Angelito down with a hammerlock in the heels corner but Angelito counters with a headscissor. Paul pulls him off and for his pains is nearly yanked off the ring apron by the ankle by an irate fan. Angelito uses the top rope to reverse snapmares himself behind Richard, rear legdive him and switch to a side headlock but Paul punches him down as he makes his escape. Angelito spends a good long while on the floor selling hellish dirty wrestling . The heels both get an Avertisement for it. Angelito eventually dropkicks Paul to ringside and makes the hot tag to Motta who goes on a Manchette rampage on both heels plus the butler. A somewhat sloppy sunset flip on Shadow only gets a two but the followup powerslam gets a second straight fall and the win for Les Bons. A fine action packed Catch A Quatre, I agree with OJ.

I don't know if YouTube's algorithms know about Butcher/Crusher Mason and Mighty Chang being one and the same, but this popped up. Now I'm not saying Chang/Yamada was good apart from a few good little spots but this is far more deserving of the "Absolutely horrific" moniker. Billy Samson was no Jushin Liger and never would be although he would have made a good WWF Superstar, a sort of 80s update of Sailor Art Thomas. He's the same sort of streetwise black babyface character as Mammouth Siki in French Catch or Junkyard Dog/Rufus R Jones/ Thunderbolt Patterson/Koko B Ware in America and was VERY over with German audiences but he not only looked but wrestled like a 1980s muscleman. I think (don't quote me) it was him who wrestled in Britain as Samson Ubo in 86 and is not generally well regarded for it. So we have a Muscle Man versus a Fat Man who can work a bit. Eight minutes of this would have been like Hulk Hogan Vs King Kong Bundy. This October 1987 tournament final bout runs for half an hour of slow leverage and some slug and punch. As I said, Samson was VERY over and there is a massive celebration when he wins the 1987 European Catch Cup. Other things of interest - they play national anthems at the start and God Save The Queen is played for Mason despite him being in full Mighty Chang getup complete with moustache, flip flops and satin Dragon jacket. Terry Rudge is Mason's second and I think Samson's is Franz Van Buyten.

Claude Rocas was somewhere in the middle of a procession of high flying tag partners Walter Bordes has from the mid 60s to the mid 80s (I wonder if Bordes was ever on New Catch) starting with 50s legend Rene Ben Chemouel and ending with a young skinny Flesh Gordon. This falls somewhere between these periods. Sanniez is making his slow jump from clean lighter weight to a French version of Jim Breaks. Bernaert was by now an old greying guy, a hardened heel from 15 years earlier, not unlike the character Delaporte was playing a few years earlier. His scruffy grey beard makes him look suspiciously like Jeremy Corbyn. Both the two Rogers are in evidence - Delaporte the former heel now honest sheriff of the ring, Delaporte back in the commentary position now the Gaullists are out of office and his support for the students in 1968 is forgotten. Roca and Sanniez start it with a Roca Plex. Both bump around, Sanniez neatly unplugs a headscissors with his feet then saunters back to his corner to Bordes to taunt him.. Bernaert, being older is somewhat clumsier, bumping sloppily from a flip from the feet by Bordes. Crowd are going for Bordes " Mama Doux Mais Mais". Bordez whips Sanniez who does a Breaks/Grey horizontal spin on the mat to take Albert down. Roca handstands out of a Bernaert headscissor and old man Pierre reverse cartwheels back upright - the old by still has it. He also fires off a lean back dropkick despite his years. Another bumping session from Bordes and Sanniez including a vicious blockbuster horizontal suplex. Sanniez and Delaporte get into a brief argument. Bordez surfboards Sanniez but Sanniez whips him overhead with a double arm whip, Bordes kicks him as he moves in for the kill. Bordes has Bernaert covered but Delaporte is distracted by Sanniez. He makes it back for a 1 count, Bordes drops a leg on Pierre's aging bicep and outs on a spinning toehold - Couderc at 10:30 uses that same "chewing gum" word I was asking @El-P about before. Roca does the old bridge into flip into monkey climb sequence on Sanniez, finishing it off nicely with a bodyscissors, but Albert converts it to a blockbuster suplex sending Roca flying. Sanniez and Rocco have a great time avoiding each others charges and drops. Bordes gets out of a Bernaert headscissor by concertinaing his legs, old grey PB kicks Bordes into the ropes but he cartwheels out of harms way. Bernaert is getting annoyed with Bordes's prancing and has an angry little prance himself. Sanniez and Rica reverse full Nelsons and exchange flips until Roca cross buttocks and presses Sanniez for a 2. Les Mechants go on an extended beatdown on Bordes which ends only when Sanniez mistakenly fires a missile dropkick at his own partner Bernaert, allowing Bordes to make the hot tag. Sanniez eventually gets a couple of dropkicks but misses a third and is nearly pinned for his pains. Roca eventually backwards leapfrogs Sanniez and rolls him up in a folding press for the opening pinfall. The heels protest but Delaporte will have none of it. 25 mins in we get our first Scisseaux Volees takedown as counter to wrist lever, the standard French chain sequence gambit as compared to the rolling escape from armbars preferred in British Wrestling. Sanniez oversells Bordes's forearm smashes, spinning through the air on a first and going over the ropes on the second - "Ah la manchette de Bordes, C'est quelque chose!" quips Couderc. Bordes cartwheels out of a Bernaet fling bodyscissors and fires off two quick headscissors of his own. He foils a double team with a Ricky Morton headlock/ headscissor combo on both heels. Les Bons spend a long while battering Les Mechants with Manchettes and anything else. Sanniez leapfrogs Bordes to avoid a dropkick and brags about how his brains saved him until Bordes hits with another dropkick. Sanniez gets 2 on Roca with a flying tackle. He tries again but Claude gets him in a tombstone piledriver. Sanniez puts his hands on Roca's chest to block and possibly reverse the piledriver. After a couple of attempts to dislodge the blocking hands, Roca drops Sanniez hard on his chest. Both teams tag but Bernaert does not want in with Bordes. He argued with Delaporte who drags him in by the arm. Bernaert tries for a leglock but ends up in a bodyscissors, Roca does the same to Sanniez. Both heels get the traditional "Ah Ouais" atomic drops spot. Walter twice slingshots Pierre into Albert then finishes him with another flying tackle to make it a two straight win for Les Bons. Good action packed French Catch A Quatre, fine example of the genre and a good one for beginners to watch to get the idea of the territory. (This isn't an INA copy, it's unwatermarked from ABCCatch's channel, but Matt has posted the INA's copy too.)

Anyway: The real deal Vs the gimmick. The future Jushin Liger, fresh off having lost the World Heavy Middleweight title back to Rocco a second time, gets fed to Chang/Crusher Mason mere months before his one and only ITV appearance (see page 37) during a decades long career with opposition promoters. It's a pretty grotty squash match, I'll grant you, but at least Yamada doesn't take it lying down. He does get some good moments amid the clobberings, throws to ringside, bearhug, the attempt to drill a hole in his back with the belt peg and the opening backbreaker submission. Referee Chico Roberts doesn't come off that badly either - at the end of round 1 after the big man took forever to stop for the round break, Roberts sternly follows Chang all the way back to his corner, with the camera tracking them all the way to show the referee in control! For his pains, Yamada manages to get in some good moments against the big man. He breaks a rear waistlock and forces a hard bump from a whip.He fires off a powerful missile dropkick on Chang to the corner post. He scores the equaliser with a neat Sunset flip on the bigger man. He fires another dropkick followed by a snapmare on the bigger man! He throws Chang to ringside and then flying bodypresses him from the top of the post to the ringside floor. Throughout the bout the crowd are actively rooting for a DQ for Chang, chanting OUT! OUT! OUT! (One kid waves his flag in time to the chant like it's an axe for beheading Chang!). And they get their wish but with a sting in the tail - Yamada wallops Chang with a chair, getting himself DQd on top of Chang's own well earned DQ. So DDQ it is. At least Fuji won the fight. Actually quite a few of Yamada's high spots in the match are worked in to title graphics, the two dropkicks in the ring, the dropkick to ringside and the chair shot.

A nice live poster from the FR3 era, 1986, filched from Bob Plantin's page. All your favourite soon to be stars of Eurosport New Catch (well the French "home team" ones anyway) and plenty of future stars of the IWSF.

Ha, I belong to the Commonwealth so technically I can say whatever I want. Amen. That's how it works here as well. For now! It's not really about where you're from. It's about what wrestling you were reared on as a novice fan.

Well I know of two Marty/Caswell rematches and my favourite Saint/Faulkner 1-1 draw was a rematch from an earlier NC. Faulkner and Mick McMichael got about 8 bouts out of a variety of finishes. I'm fine with that as long as they don't then turn round and say that for decades the combined UK (or even European) wrestling industry and its public were Getting It All Wrong.

Like I said, the alternative would have been a 1-1 draw which possibly shut the door on a potential rematch. To be honest though, I get so engrossed by the action in that bout that the finish doesn't feel that important to me. It's just how it was brought to a halt.

They don't have to be British, they just have to open their minds to how other fans have other definitions of good or bad.

It's a way of curtailing what would otherwise be a 1-1 Broadway. But the "oh what a pity, it was all going so splendidly" aspect really meant something to these fans and would have them calling out for a rematch ASAP, whereas a straight up draw would just leave fans accepting them as equals, end of story.

Can they? Or are they just applying their own preconceptions to a style that doesn't fit them?

This is the issue- I don't agree that there is a one size fits all approach to analysing and grading different pro wrestling styles from across the globe. Re. "Pallette" my point there was that certain finishes that you dismiss as awful. (Knockout, DQ, No Contest) fans of those other wrestling cultures may regard as highly effective and therefore should not be condemned out of hand when they occur in those other styles of pro wrestling.

How to do DQs effectively. (Even better than the Cool Cat Vs Buffalo bout) Ulf Herman is in a handicap against former enemies Jones and Murphy. Actually less of a handicap tag and more of a Four Horsemen beatdown angle with the two English constantly kicking Herman while the ringside MC calls on them to SCHTOP! SCHTOP!! Heman does occasionally get an advantage but double teZming brings him down again. Gradually the referee and MCs -and the audience's patience is worn thin by this and when the ref DQ the team after they give him an extended ringside beatdown, the MC gives them a LONG lecture in his broken English about what an utterly disgraceful shameful pair of naughty boys they are! "JONES! MURPHY!! YOU ARE DISQUALIFIED!! YOU ARE DISQUALIFIED!!" Felling as well be hung for a sheep than a lamb, they then beat down the ref. "YOU WILL GET NO WAGES!!!" shouts the MC so they thump him too and go backstage to no doubt grab their money and make it a police issue. The audience are left in no doubt that these two are a disgrace to wrestling and deserve absolutely nothing and have gotten what they deserve (unless they have since resorted beyond ring villainy to actual civil crime.) A badly beaten up referee raises the hand of a badly beaten up Ulf. Referee and babyface have won the match but lost the fight but at least have the public support to hold their bashed-in heads up and celebrate common decency and honest citizenry. ****†************* By the way, at the start Herman cuts a promo at what appears to be Haumarkt in Vienna prior to a show. I wish we could have had a promo from Jones and Murphy also - Jones became a much better talker after his UK heel turn in 1992.

Well to be fair I've come across plenty of Americans who accept and enjoy European, especially British wrestling and accept that it is a different beast. And I've met many fellow Brits who treat "old school" as some sort of crime against Smartness on a par with Bob Backlund getting the WWWF title in 1978 If a long haired Led Zeppelin fan were criticizing it for the lack of virtuoso guitar pyrotechnics and the songs only being 3:minutes long then yeah that would be unreasonable. Calling CTC a poor reheat of the Clash's first album without the spirit or chemistry of the original (less still the original 1977 UK Vinyl tracklisting before Epic watered it down for Americans by chopping out Deny, Cheat, Protex Blue, 48 Hours and the original White Riot) is however a fair cop. Better analogy - using Corporate, sorry, Combat Rock as stick to beat CTC is unreasonable since CTC was intended as a backlash against Combat Rock (Such was the intention of the horrible production, an attempt to do punk lo fi). However. using the original UK 1977 vinyl version of the first Clash album as a stick to beat CTC is fair game since CTC is a poor attempt at doing another punk album.

See, this was one of my favourite bouts ever, but would you write it off on account of the No Contest (Refused TKO) finish?