Tuesday is French Catch Day: Gastel! Di Santo! Noebreui! Legache! Edery! Cohen!

Robert Gastel vs Lino Di Santo 10/9/66

MD: Gastel and Di Santo were both exceptional at what they did. Everything was worked well; everything hit hard; everything had struggle. Gastel was cruel and mean and mugging, with compelling, varied, nasty offense. Di Santo came back with skill and fire. Despite all that, this felt a little long in the tooth. It had the feel of a mid-90s Tito vs Greg Valentine (or Wahoo vs Greg Valentine) indy match: two guys who were obviously masters but a little bit older, maybe on a somewhat smaller stage, maybe going through the motions just a bit, even if those motions were the right ones and quality was still high. You're still glad to see it, because you'll watch Gastel headbutt people and Di Santo get revenge forearms all day, but it doesn't quite spark like it might have ten years prior. That said, it's all relative. If this was the only French match we had, we'd rave about the nasty shots and tight holds and how well these two fill thirty minutes. It didn't help that the most interesting thing in the whole match, Gastel tying up Di Santo's head in the ropes and unleashing a barrage of knees from the apron led to the very unsatisfying DQ finish. Still, it's impossible to question just how good these two were and I'm glad we still have a few more Gastel matches ahead of us.

PAS: I agree with Matt that this felt like a pair of guys a bit past their prime, but to me that is a feature not a bug. I love a pair of old guys stiffing each other, I am a Bestia del Ring fan, a Kurisu nut, a Gypsy Joe fanatic, and that is what that felt like. Two old grumps who aren't going to take a step down, they might not have the wind they used to but the have the grit. I thought the finish was pretty great, with Gastel hanging Di Santo in the ropes and just cracking him in the temple with hard knees until the ref threw it out. Totally nasty looking stuff and a great way to end a match. Certainly not an all time Catch classic, but I enjoyed every second.

Le Vicomte Joel de de Norbreuil/Pierre Lagache vs Abraham Edery/George Cohen 10/16/66

MD: Another high end 60s French tag, this one flavored differently by the fact they were all junior heavyweights. It went a little faster, and some of the spots, especially the stylist comeback ones, were snappier. Instead of a body charge when a heel is tied up in the ropes, you'd get a dropkick. That sort of thing. What made this work was just how absolutely vicious the heels were. They were going for heat instead of just builds to triumphant comedy. When they tossed Cohen and Edery out to the floor, that was one thing. When they went out after them, you got the sense they were going for a riot. Beloved rotund referee Mr. Marshall was assigned to this one, but these guys were quite literally running around him. It got so chaotic at the end that we basically miss the finish because there was so much else to see.