Tuesday is French Catch Day: Drapp! Delaporte! von Chenok! von Kramer! Calderon! Straub!

Andre Drapp vs. Roger Delaporte 9/22/60

SR:1 Fall match going 30 minutes. This was the first match in the collection I was underwhelmed with. Delaporte has been entertaining so far, but his methods came across as extremely basic in this. They were wrestling in front of a large, hot crowd, you’d think they’d deliver something special, but the work up to a certain point felt rudimentary. Drapp is clearly an awesome wrestler and I want him to grapple with the likes of Blue Panther, so seeing him going along with Delaportes by the numbers heel routine was a letdown. There were still some cool holds and pin attempts from Drapp and I liked all the parts where they started beating the shit out of each other. Even though Delaportes holds weren’t up to snuff here he still throws great stomps. To complete the match, they rang the bell about 3 minutes before the actual time limit just as both guys exchanged in a heated strike exchange. All that said, the crowd loved all of this, so I guess it’s just my miserable opinion.

MD: I'm higher than Sebastian on this one. To me this was just the classic, baseline French Catch stylist vs mechant match and while nothing totally wowed, it really highlighted the style and just how good everything can be even if they travel straight down the middle. If I had to show someone one match that shows off the exact center point of everything we've been watching, this might be it. It doesn't really go far in any one direction and never spends too long doing any one thing, but it keeps things moving and is constantly entertaining, heated, and spirited. The big spots aren't as big as in other matches. The slugfest towards the end isn't as mean or focused. It just hangs out in the middle but gives you a little bit of everything. Delaporte had some sort of trophy here. He also had put his mustache on the line, I think. After some early wrestling (where he shows a bit more along those lines than we usually see out of him), it turns into the usual antics. Delaporte gets clowned for a bit. He cheats and controls for a bit with brutal credible offense, getting the ire of the ref and the crowd. Drapp comes back with some harsh but justified revenge, and repeat. He's quick to snatch a leg and take every opportunity. His facial expressions are brilliant. His tantrums and antics are entertaining. His blows are just crushing. Despite all that, my favorite thing about Delaporte is that moment of tension on a break or when he's begging off, where you just don't know when he's going to make a move. It's palpable and builds throughout the match and while we've seen it in other wrestlers both in and out of this footage, he makes it work as much as anyone. This ended in a draw and the way he sold congenial relief over his mustache with Drapp (who wanted nothing to do with it) was almost as good as anything within the match itself.

PAS: Yeah I really enjoyed this too, Delaporte is clowning for a lot of this, but he is great at that, and is obviously going to take any shortcuts he can to save that stache. Drapp had a bunch of fun babyface mat spots, really working over Delaporte's arm, doing all kinds of cool shit around a body scissors, breaking out this awesome bear hug counter. He also at one point ties Delaporte up in the ropes and just tortures him tightening the ropes on his arms, kneeing him in the spine, it would have come off sadistic if Delaporte wasn't such a bumbling oafish heel, put different music on Home Alone and it is basically Saw. I liked Delaporte getting nasty at the end, he had some big hard shots including some punishing hooks to the body. Could have used a finish, but that is par for the course. This isn't elite, but man I think we are getting spoiled if this gets criticism, I can't imagine how high this would finish on a 2020 MOTY list, but I couldn't see it landing out of the top 15.

Karl von Chenok/Karl von Kramer vs. Gaby Calderon/Luc Straub 9/29/60

MD: This was sort of a perfect storm of being not so great. You had two nerve-hold wielding bald "Germans" vs the judo stylists. It went long ~40 minutes but we don't actually have the finish. The judo guys against better stooging heels could work. The nerve pinchers vs more fiery stylists could work. This was just an unfortunate combination. Nothing was done poorly. Nothing was blown. Everything felt competitive. The Germans more or less controlled the ring well. They were able to snap that nerve hold on consistently and from a lot of different angles. Everything was logical. Calderon had some good revenge shots and Straub had some ok flashier stuff. Von Kramer is really just an excellent pro wrestler when it comes to the fundamentals and timing. Even if I didn't love this match, I can't deny that. Von Chenok is a fine single-minded stooge. They worked a nice comedy heel clowning spot or two towards the end. It was just too much of what I rarely want to watch in the best circumstances, lacking in heat, lacking conclusion.

SR: I liked this more than Matt. A pair of carny martial artists terrorizing heels with judo throws and nerve pinches is a fun change of pace, and the fake Germans are an excellent heel tandem. Calderon even busts out a proto-flying armbar. Von Chenok was solid here using his nerve holds to set up elbowing people in the backs of their heads and there was some nasty throat work. Karl von Kramer  always looks like a great, tricked out wrestler and it’s a pity another match of his ended without a finish. Really looking forward to checking out more von Kramer.