Tuesday is French Catch Day: Spartacus! Schnabel! de Lasartesse! Gamain! Debuf! Rouxel! Peruano! Daidone! Charret! Frisuk!

Spartacus vs. Hans Schnabel 1/7/61

MD: We went back and found this batch which was on the list but with a labeling issue. This is one of the best five minute matches I've ever seen. Schnabel was just awesome here, super aggressive, unsportsmanlike from the get go: refusing a handshake, refusing to engage, launching kicks from the double knucklelock position, quick to go to the ropes for a break. I loved his little stooging spin sell on Spartacus' uppercuts and forearms. Spartacus was the wrestling specimen that he always is. They had a great, brisk armbar spot where Spartacus kept shrugging off Schnabel's escape attempts, and it was a lot of square-jawed revenge for Schnabel's antics past that. The finish was pretty definitive with Spartacus hitting two of those flip bombs, the second tossing Schnabel across the ring, before KOing him with one of the best shots we've seen. Five minutes of perfect pro wrestling.

PAS: This was great stuff, like an awesome WCW Pro match. You have Schnabel as this honey badger, chewing on the leg of the big boy and getting thrown around. I loved those hard headlock takeovers by Schnabel, and his slappy strike combos. Spartacus just kills him dead with the flip powerbomb, including the second one which looked like Sid killing a jobber. I also liked the one shot uppercut combo, which left Schnabel flopping like a fish on a pier. Good stuff, and I want more of both. 

Jack de Lasartesse vs. Al Gamain 1/7/61

MD: Long, complete, excellent match that leaned into Lasartesse's strengths so well with Gamain a solid and persistant foil for him. Lasartesse was a heat magnet owing to the swagger and the commitment and also to the dissonance of towering over his opponent, of being dangerous enough to cut his opponent off with a single strike at almost every moment, of being able to bully him with constant slams or toss him neck first on the top, but also being so quick to disengage, to hide in the corner, to go for a hairpull, to take over with a punch to the gut that he'd claim was an open hand. They ran a number of spots at the start where Lasartesse would use a hairpull or shortcut repeatedly only for Gamain to show him comeuppance with the same hold, ending with Gamain finally slamming him. This is the sort of heel ace vs local babyface stuff we'd see from Flair or Bockwinkel or Buddy Rose but we haven't seen it quite as much in this footage. As the match went on, it was Lasartesse using his size and scumminess to lean on Gamain and Gamain coming back big. Lasartesse was sure to sell the effects of these comebacks, favoring an arm or leg for a few minutes. Eventually, he started sneaking in the strangleholds, wearing Gamain down and battering him at every opportunity. Due to Lasartesse jawwing with the fans on the apron, Gamain got one last big comeback but rushed in too much and got tossed over the top. The fans, so incensed at Lasartesse, helped him up and tossed him back in, but it was more or less over from there, ending with the bombs away and Gamain unable to answer the count.

Jean Debuf vs. Jack Rouxel 11/10/61

MD: This was a pretty well executed sub-ten minute strongman vs jerk upstart match. All of Debuf's escapes in the first half were fun and definitive with Rouxel flying across the ring for him. He'd be quick to rush in and grab the next hold only for Debuf to completely clown him. Eventually, Rouxel had enough and just unloaded, laying in relentless shots and kicks as the ref screamed and gave him warnings and tried to pull him off. Debuf would try to get the ref out of the way but Rouxel would take advantage of that momentary distraction and hammer down some more. Eventually, Debuf got a huge bearhug out of nowhere and though Rouxel went to the eyes in the most grisly manner possible to escape once, he couldn't the second time. Nice compact, thematic match with Rouxel leaning into his role and definitely getting Debuf over as an attraction, but I disagree with Sebastian that it was better than the Spartacus vs Schnabel one. Still, we have a Rouxel tag vs Ami Sola upcoming and a singles match down the line vs Mantopolous and I'm curious to see both of those.

PAS: Very similar structure to the Spartacus match, and it is a great structure. Debuf is cut up like coke, abs, arm definition big shoulders, and early in the match he rebuffs everything that Rouxel tries, I loved him just flexing his way out of the arm bar attempt. Rouxel tries a bunch of cheap shots to take a little bit of an advantage, including a nasty headbutt and some gross eye rakes, but ends up getting ragdolled by a bearhug for the finish. I think I liked the Spartacus match a bit more too, but they were both very entertaining bits of business.

Inca Peruano/Giuseppe Daidone vs. Michel Charret/Jean Frisuk 11/10/61

MD: Nice, long example of the standard French tag with underhanded heels and fiery faces. Frisuk had more slugging blows and a great spinning toehold, while Charret seemed both more technical and more apt to just throw himself at his opponent. Peruano was, of course, the most talented guy in the world, able to come at you from any angle. In the tag setting he didn't have quite as much flash, but he made up for it with meanness and by being involved in just about everything. The heels cut off the ring and made frequent tags and involved one another in what they were doing. Daidone came off as a mean jerk who would just lean on you. Plenty of double teams and then heel miscommunication leaning to comeuppance. The bombs were big, one literal as Frisuk one the second fall with a straight up power bomb with a flipping bridge and Daidone hitting a pile driver towards the end. When the heels took their falls, it was more due to persistence and grinding down than anything else. This was good, but what you'll generally keep with you was the babyface fire (two variations) and Peruano being a constant presence.

PAS: I really liked this, French tags are of a pretty high average quality, and this had some moments which stood out above that. Peruano is a goddamn wizard one of the slickest most unique wrestlers of all time. This isn't the match you are going to show someone to sell him on Peruano, but he is almost like Negro Casas, even when he isn't a focus you can't keep your eyes off of him. Daidone was a brutal prick of a heel too, at one point he was landing these gross looking forearms to the back of Frisuk's head, and his piledriver was really nasty. Charret had a fun spot where he kept flipping out of armbars, and could also bring the heat when needed, and Frisuk was nearly spinning heads around with his uppercuts. I would have liked to see the match end on the piledriver in the third fall, it was such a huge move that anything after it felt superfluous, but that was a minor quibble in an excellent match.