Posted April 18, 20214 yr comment_5948460 Jetlag said: "If there is one French worker that absolutely everyone should check out, it's the Little Prince. An absolutely mindblowing athletic worker, who did stuff in his matches nobody in the world now could pull off half as cleanly. Makes the most agile luchadores look flat footed. What's more important is that he was also a tremendous babyface who always sells and works hard to have competitive matches. Looks great from the 1960s up to the 80s. Apparently he also had some TV matches in Britain that I'd love to see pop up in the next 5 years."
April 18, 20214 yr comment_5948540 This guy is absolutely phenomenal. Watching his matches was how tape traders must have felt in the 80s watching Tiger Mask and in the 90s watching Rey Mysterio, Jr. Absolutely one of the all-time great juniors, and not only because of his spots. He was a complete worker, a tremendous babyface, a brilliant seller, and he had a fantastic series of tags, six-mans and singles matches that are the high spot of 70s Catch. If he doesn't rocket into the top 100, I will be very surprised.
April 18, 20214 yr comment_5948549 I have quietly watched a lot of French Catch since the footage has become available. Le Petit Prince is the highest-ranked junior on my list at present. For some, that will mean I undervalue Jushin Liger or Rey Mysterio Jr. (and perhaps other juniors) by way of comparison; they're also on my list. But Le Petit Prince is just really special.
June 15, 20214 yr Author comment_5955105 What are the top ten Le Petit Prince matches I can watch to really make their case?
June 17, 20214 yr comment_5955250 How about 7 matches? Le Petit Prince/Francis Louis vs. Daniel Noced/Jacky Richard 2/22/71 Le Petit Prince vs. Albert Sanniez 10/15/77 La Petit Prince vs. Michel Saulnier 10/4/69 La Petit Prince vs. Michel Saulnier 9/30/67 - EPIC LE PETIT PRINCE & CLAUDE ROCCA VS BOB REMY & ANTON TEJERO (08/18/1980; 36:17) Le Petit Prince & Gerard Bouvet vs. Anton Tejero & Albert Sanniez (7/24/1982 or 1/1/1979) - OJ says this is likely from 1982 The French archive has about 17 Prince matches, so that covers about half the available footage.
June 17, 20214 yr Author comment_5955262 5 hours ago, Jetlag said: The French archive has about 17 Prince matches, so that covers about half the available footage. Thank you. I will grapple with if 17 matches is enough to rank someone. Appreciated.
February 4, 20232 yr comment_5998916 I'm going through the Petit Prince footage now and he's truly mind-blowing. The Tiger Mask and Rey Jr. comparisons were the exact ones that came to mind watching the '66 match with Bobby Genele last night. He's ridiculous.
April 27, 20232 yr comment_6003496 That Genele match was my starting point and I think it's a great Petit Prince 101. Having watched a good bit more since it's definitely not his most complete performance on tape but it gave me a very clear first impression of who he is, what is great about him, and what to look for moving forward. As others have mentioned the thing that strikes me immediately about the Prince is that he had no glaring faults. Great on the mat and great at using that skillset to build to his astounding offense. Great bumping and selling that never makes him feel cartoonish or superhuman in his comebacks. Every bit as good of a tag team wrestler as singles. His timing and sense of when to get into, and more importantly out of a tag match were impeccable. From what I've seen so far he was among the most complete generational junior heavyweights ever. I can't wait to dig into everything that's available.
April 27, 20232 yr comment_6003508 It's cool that you're getting into him. He still feels slept on by the majority of folks.
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