Tuesday is French Catch Day: Delaporte! Bollet! LeDuc! Gastel! Montreal! Sola! Bernaert! Rouxel!

Roger Delaporte/Andre Bollet vs Gilbert Leduc/Robert Gastel 12/14/61

MD: Great tag with four great guys. I have no idea why Gastel was on the side of the angels here but he came off as a folk hero and the fans loved to cheer for him. He would just mow everyone down with forearms and headbutts and the crowd ate it up. Leduc took a nasty bump on a fireman's carry into the heel turnbuckle early on and they just unleashed the most brutal, long beating on him with quick tags, slams and backbreakers, stomps, and even a somersault senton by Bollet that spelled his doom in the first fall. Eventually, in the second, Gastel had enough (they had done a good job goading him while in control) and rushed in to a big pop. From there it was fairly back and forth. Leduc sold his back for the rest of the match but had moments of fire. They built to a few big comeuppance spots like usual. Gastel had a way of taking the crowd back down after comebacks to set up the heels taking back over which were well and fine but he held one armbar for over four minutes without them working in and out of it and that was a bit much. Still, past that, these guys were masters and the match was masterful.

SR: 2/3 falls match. We JIP about 20 minutes into a 60 match. This is one of those matches which is heated as we join, and it stays heated for almost a full 40 minutes from that point forward. This was all about Delaporte and Bollet throwing hard punches and stomps, and our man Gastel being a real one and helping poor gentleman Leduc through the match by fighting fire with fire. Gastel being excepted wholly as a babyface by the audience is heartwarming. Bollet was doing those flip sentons to peoples backs like Tenryu being in a funny mood. This had quite a bit of back work, which didn‘t pay off in a major way. In fact the match had some unusual restholds and may have suffered a bit from being nothing but all these guys beating the hell out of eachother for 40 minutes, but these guys are great at beating the hell out of each other. The last 10 minutes or so are great though with Gastel throwing some awesome looking headbutts. I would‘ve liked to see the full thing, as these kinda heatfests suffer a bit when you don‘t get the early build. But knowing these guys, they may have gone for full on heat from the get go.

PAS: This was great stuff, it is really impressive the pace these guys can set in a 60 minute draw, we tend to mentally think of 20th century 60 minutes draws having long rest hold sections, but this was a go go pace. All of what we got were hard exchanges. Liked the contrast on the face team, with Gastel working like a third heel, and LeDuc being more of a technician (although in French catch even the technicians throw heat). We got two classic LeDuc headspins,  one the Santo style headscissors, one a spin out of a arm stretch, which was especially awesome. I loved Gastel's final heat segment, tying both heels up in the ropes and wailing on them with forearms. No real finish, and long matches suffer if they don't build to anything, although the work her was super strong. 

Monsieur Montreal/Ami Sola vs Pierre Bernaert/Jack Rouxel 1/12/62

MD: Another week, another show, another great tag. This is our second or third match with Rouxel and I really like him so far. He had this upstart attitude in how he'd disengage or lay shots in or interact with the ref or the crowd. Montreal leaned hard into the strongman gimmick (using the bear hug and a lot of his opponents making him look good by flying around the ring on normal exchanges) and at one point, he picked up Rouxel out of a headlock, deposited him on the apron, and knocked him off. Rouxel made sure to land in a woman's lap which popped her and the crowd. I like the guy. Bernaert (who wasn't teaming with Bibi here since Cheri was in training for another match apparently) was a perfect partner, a smarmy mentor in cheating and underhandedness. Yes, he managed a fake handshake into a forearm once here. Sola was as savvy as we've ever seen him, delighting in Montreal's strength spots, working the apron well, orchestrating a lot of the revenge spots; the best of those was probably a series of arm stretchers in the heel corner where they kept kicking Sola down when he tried to work to his feet. When he got an arm of his own, he yanked it back to the face corner and they repeated the spot on the heels in an over the top manner. It's interesting to watch things develop over the years. By this stage, limbwork/bodypart work is 100% a thing. It really wasn't a couple of years earlier. The first fall ended with the heels really targeting Sola's back. That led to a fun little moment (again showing Sola's presence and experience) when he rushed in to touch his opponent so that he could immediately tag back out to start the second fall, as you can't tag until you touched at least once. Good moment in a match full of good moments. Everything really came together here to make for yet another good tag. Others might disagree with me but I think the overall quality of the tag scene is better than a few years earlier, where there would be heat and intensity and big moments, but less tricks and narrative shortcuts, like the heels cutting off the ring or stopping babyface reversals from the apron or using the ref being distracted. In 61-62, there was just a great balance of the two elements.

SR: 2/3 Falls match going about 35 minutes. The Montreal/Sola team is pretty fun. Sola is pure technique, and Montreal is all about strength. Rouxel on the other hand looked like a slightly less blonde version of Bernaert. A classy guy who could wrestle but was simply more interested in cheapshotting guys. This built for quite a bit and there was some nice skill on display from Rouxel and Bernaert. Of course, their bread and butter is cheapshotting guys hard, and when it got to that they looked great. Especially liked Beraneaert loosening Solas jaw with a knee only to get giant swung seconds later. And well, Mr. Montreal and Ami Sola are great pair of faces to play off those vicious tactics. This wasn‘t as heated as the other tag but it felt more complete (not just in terms of how much we got to see) and well rounded.

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Tuesday is French Catch Day: Marquez! Sola! Bollet! L'Ange Blanc

Pepe Marquez vs. Ami Sola 10/28/60

SR: 1 fall match going 30 minutes. This was some good old French pro wrestling built around two guys in trunks working some holds and beating the living hell out of each other with european uppercuts and sometimes upkicks. It was a nice change of pace to the spectacle matches of the last few weeks. Pepe Marquez was another Spanish worker and he has some sweet stuff up his sleeve here. Ami Sola had a shaved head here which made him look a bit meaner than usual and he played the aggressor throughout the match, although they made sure to shake hands so everyone knew they were cool trading beatings. Some of Solas holds were a bit more hardfought, a bit tighter than usual, including a great armbar that lead to a gnarly battle over pin attempts and some great body scissors work. They also threw some bigger bombs than usual in these matches as the time limit ran out, with Sola uncorking a nasty piledriver and Marquez using the swinging backbreaker several times before catching Sola in a surfboard hold as the time ran out.

PAS: This was a a classic technico vs. technico match which we have seen a lot of, and is almost always very good. Marquez had this cool swinging backbreaker which he used as both an attack and a counter. Sola kept using this bodyscissors as a counter, Marquez would dive for a pin and get scissored into this nasty bodyscissors which looked rib cracking. Of course it breaks down into a series of big stiff uppercuts. It is always surprising how much better the back and forth striking in your average 50s and 60s French match is then your big time Japan and Indy matches are now. Would love to see more of Marquez, he had some really nifty attacks, seems like the Spanish guys may have even been cooler then the French wrestlers. 

MD: Excellent stylist vs stylist match. I'm not sure just how prevalent these will be as we get deeper into the 60s and later so I'm glad to get one every now and again here. Marques is, I think, a Spaniard, Jose Enrico Marques who worked in the UK as well. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. He's very good here, with lots of quick spots, some creative holds, our first chronological conjuro (swinging bearhug backbreaker) and tapitia as signature spots. Sola we know well by now and this match is another feather in his cap. He's more aggressive, quicker to throw uppercuts, and we see his amazing tombstone here even if not his running 'rana. Some of the hold exchanges are very strong: the bodyscissors sequence we've seen before and is always good as they move out of it with spots and abruptly back in but there was a top wristlock struggle here where Sola was using his shoulder for leverage on the elbow and it was probably the best fight over this basic hold I've ever seen. They went to a draw but while Marques was holding the tapitia in the center of the ring, which made for one of the more dramatic time-limit draws we've seen. Good stuff all around with the right mix of spots, holds, and fisticuffs.

Antonio Montoro vs. Inca Peruano 11/18/60

SR: JIP with only the last 3 or so minutes shown. Montoro looked better here than in the Bernaert match, but he was facing the Inca, so he had to. From what I can tell Montoro wasn’t up there with the likes of Pepe Marquez let alone Modesto Aledo when it comes to Spanish workrate machines, but we’ve seen so little of Montoro that I won’t judge him yet.

MD: It feels like forever since we saw Inca Peruano but he's instantly exciting. We only get two minutes of this but it starts with a huge rana and dropkick from Montoro and never lets up. Constant action here, with Montoro unleashing this great sweeping Victory Roll and utilizing a unique wind up to his uppercuts. Peruano is the usual combination of flashy (his abrupt jump up monkey flip in the middle of the ring) and vicious (just tossing Montoro headfirst out of the ring and trying to keep him there). This is the last we'll see of Montoro but at least we have a spattering of Inca throughout the 60s. I'd hate to see that guy go.

L'Ange Blanc vs. Andre Bollet 11/18/60

SR:1 fall match going about 40 minutes. French TV has been on a roll putting the biggest stars in major singles matches. This was another spectacle match where the masked avenger takes Bollet to the pay window. I thought Bollet pretty much carried this, not only will he break every single rule in the book to get an advantage, but he will look surprisingly athletic in doing. The way such a pudgy guy busts out a spinning headscissor or flying escape is fascinating. As far as the match gos, I liked all the parts where Bollet  beat the crap out of the Angel, especially the part where he kept dropping knees on his throat. The Angel is not as interesting a wrestler as Drapp, but the crowd loved him, including a classy lady in the front row that got up cheering whenever the Angel was taking it to Bollet. It got really heated in the last few minutes with the Angel busting out his nerve hold and Bollet fighting hard not to have his lights put out, with even Delaporte being at ringside trying to build his man up after taking beatings. In the end it wasn’t enough though as Bollet succumbed to the Angel special and failed to answer the count. A sweet triumph for L’Ange Blanc and this crowd, but it didn’t last long as Delaporte in his suit jumped in the ring and he and Bollet proceeded to stomp the shit out of the Angel. The match was really long and almost all back and forth which is a bit rough, but that ending felt a pretty epic moment that most people in that audience would remember fondly for a while.

MD: This, more than almost any match we've seen so far, really depicts the clear divide between good and evil, between someone who was upright and heroic and someone who was a despicable cheater. L'Ange Blanc had been off TV for a couple of years for some reason but he'd certainly found himself within that time. The act was absolute. His posture was straight. His appeals of frustration to the crowd when his opponent wasn't acting on the up-and-up were believable and sympathetic. His righteous fire in return reminded you of Sting or Atlantis. He was an ace babyface hero, strong and brave and true. Bollet on the other hand hid in the ropes, whined, grabbed at the leg at every opportunity, snuck in punches whenever he could, demanded clean breaks but refused to grant them, and even worse, tried to take advantage of the clean ones L'Ange Blanc gave him. He hit hard but landed even harder when his attempts at chicanery fell short. So this was unquestionably primal, down to the wrestlers ' posture, and it certainly ended well with Delaporte getting involved and them setting up any number of future matches we unfortunately don't have. It was the unquestionable meeting of two absolute stars, right down the middle. It just wasn't nearly as compelling as I wanted it to be. So much of that was because it could never be one thing for long. L'Ange Blanc would sell, quite well in fact, but would always come back after a few blows. Bollet was so good at sneaking out of holds and finding those opportunities. Against almost any other opponent, one force or another would dominate and thereby create a narrative. It would have led to a constantly stooging heel or a babyface that sold and sold building to big comebacks. These two, however, so equally matched and such dominant, definitional, forces of good and evil, never allowed the other to build up enough momentum to actually make the match interesting for what actually was happening as opposed to the sheer clash of these two elemental forces.

PAS: This felt like a big deal of a match. The kind of thing which would headline 60s French Wrestlemania. Blanc isn't as skilled as most of the wrestlers we have seen, but he knows how to conduct himself like a star which matters more. It's why the Rock is the Rock and say Cesaro isn't. Bollet is a hell of a villain and lands the big shots you needed. Out of context this doesn't work as well as some of the other stuff, although I think I enjoyed it as much as the Sola vs. Marquez match, although it was clearly very different. It is funny how similar the Angel special is to Santo's finishing move for such similar wrestlers. The angle at the end also felt like a big deal, I am sure they filled arenas with Blanc getting his revenge on Bollet and Delaporte.

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Tuesday is French Catch Day: Robin! Rene Ben! Cesca! Saulnier! Marconville!

Guy Robin vs Al Araujo 11/27/59

MD: This show was out there but I don't think we've covered it. It's our last look at a personal favorite of this footage in Guy Robin. He didn't disappoint. Robin's constant motion in his matches, one of the most hyper wrestlers I can think of. He's always sneaking a shot in (especially a kneedrop to the throat), always arguing with the ref or the crowd, always stooging back. Pure entertainment, this guy. Araujo, who we've only seen briefly and won't see again, had this great rolling leg pick takedown, a really fun seesaw leverage submission that's hard to explain and which he turned into a catapult late in the match, and a cavernaria. He was working from underneath for a lot of this though. I'm glad that my last image of Robin is going to be him missing a knee drop off the rope and getting DQed for having a violent hissy fit over it as people throw trash at him. That's probably how he'd want to go out.

Rene Ben Chemoul vs. Gilbert Cesca 11/27/59

MD: This was out before, but no one who had watched it previously could compare it to the Arroyo vs Chaisne match from a week prior, and that is 100% the natural point of comparison. Both are stylist vs stylist. Both go about 30 minutes. The match from the week before was more clever in its spots and escalated to something that was harder hitting, but this one might have had a bit more energy and verve at times, with a few more spectacular spots and dives. Both Cesca and Ben Chemoul wiped out big at times. Ben Chemoul went sailing through the ropes to nowhere to start the last third of the match. Before that, they worked long hold sequences with frequent escape attempts (including an absolutely beautiful flying entrance into a short arm scissors from a top wristlock that I had to go back and watch three times). After that, the match really took off with some great back focus by Cesca and subsequent revenge by Ben Chemoul. The end sequence, likewise, had Cesca totally wipe out and clothesline himself on the bottom rope. Post match, Ben Chemoul talked up Cesca and the fans were very appreciative of what they just saw.

PAS: Man was this great. This wasn't at the level of Cesca vs. Cantanzarro, but it was in the neighborhood. I imagine if this was the first French singles to show up, it would have achieved a similar level of acclaim. Some of the counters and twists and turns were as cool here as anything we have seen. Cesca had some really nastiness to his attack, grinding the spine with his knuckles in a way which felt a little past the congenial level of the rest of the match. This also had two of the crazier bumps in all of the footage. Chemoul takes a bump to the floor which was functionally a tope to nowhere, and Cesca massacres himself on the bottom rope before getting pinned. These guys show up later as a cool tag team, but it is awesome we get to see them matched up in a top flight singles match. 

Cheri Bibi/Pierre Bernaert vs. Warnia de Zarzecki/Ami Sola 12/11/59

MD: We get about 11 minutes that constitutes the last fall of this match. It gives us a concise unit with a lot of action up front as de Zarzecki and Sola make quick tags and beat on the heels. Best spot in this was Bibi shrugging off a Sola dropkick only to miss a charge and go diving through the ropes and eat a bunch of dropkicks (with Bernaert eating them as well) after he made it back in. I like Bibi more in these last few appearances than in the early ones. I don't know if he's gotten better of I've just gotten more used to him. He's just a bruiser and a goon, but he has a pretty good sense of when to give and when not to. At one point, Zarzecki tried to slip behind into a hammerlock from a headlock, and Bibi just jammed him and fell backwards with a quasi-German. Despite that, he was still able to work the style and hit an up and over headscissors out of a top wristlock. He was also a looming presence with his ever-present grin and a lot of bits of interference from the outside, especially on pins. Bernaert was a cheapshot artist as always, and he and Bibi made a good unit. We'll see them again. Zarzecki seemed off once or twice but hit more than he missed, including a giant swing, and catapulting Bernaert into Bibi in the corner. Sola didn't get to do his 'rana in this fall, but he had great strikes and maybe the first 10-count punch in the corner we've seen (which in this case was just three nasty elbows but you get the idea). He also did a tombstone which seems more prolific as a move at this point than it was half a year prior. Good stuff but we miss something for not having the whole match.

Michel Saulnier vs. Jo Marconville 12/11/59

MD: It's our first chronological look at Saulnier, trainer of Petit Prince and Andre and just an excellent junior all around. It's our last match of the 50s. This feels a little transitional. I don't know if that'll play out in 60, but this match felt like an evolutionary step from French juniors wrestling being the same as the heavyweight style, just quicker, to having more of the complex spots and acrobatic flourishes we'd see later into the century. Little things chained together that we hadn't really seen earlier like following up a monkey flip with an immediate dropkick or some new bits of athleticism like Saulner's victory roll late or one of his up and over escapes having a few extra bits of mid-air hooking and turning. He was a little clunky about 10% of the time, but what he hit made it worth it and his selling, which really stood out in the era, absolutely made you look past it. There was definitely a sense of general damage and weight as the match went on. Marconville more than kept up with him but he was forced into the role of base, whether he wanted it or not, just by Saulnier's skill. It would take him three kip ups to get out of a hold (normal for the era) and Saulnier just one. Occasionally he'd get frustrated and a little violent or tease something untoward, but he never dipped far in that direction. When he got a solid advantage, he might show largess with a handshake. It all came off as very human given the situation. Good match but it felt more a preview of what was to come than anything else.

PAS:  This was full of feats of skill, but never really came together as a match, kind of like a neat Nitro match which didn't come together but had three cool Super Calo things. Saulnier was slick as seal shit in here, flying all around the ring, constantly looking for headscissors and victory rolls. The only thing which will stand the test of time here, was the finish with Saulnier kipping up directly into a vicious headbutt for the win. Totally awesome spot, and something that an indy wrestler should totally jack. We have seen and assuredly will see better Saulnier and this was a nice tease. 

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Tuesday is French Catch Day: Bibi! Bernaert! Sola! Labat! Stein! Allary!

Cheri Bibi/Pierre Bernaert vs. Ami Sola/Jo Labat 9/6/59

MD: I really enjoyed this. If it was just a tiny bit tighter and had a little more heat (not to say there wasn't heat), it'd be towards the 1959 for me. This is definitely the best Bibi match we've seen so far and the perfect role for him, a looming menacing goon in a tag match who is going to cheat any chance he gets. The cheating here actually felt quite different from the roughish and almost playful Delaporte sort. Here it was unrelenting and uncaring. Rules didn't matter. Labat and Sola are guys we've seen wrestle each other and really just a perfect team. Bernaert is a cheapshot artist himself and complemented Bibi (they even had matching prison ring jackets). After a solid technical shine, the heels took over due to Bernaert launching a sneak attack out of a handshake (his second), and they kept control for a lot of this. It was primarily when the faces could incapacitate one or both wrestlers for a time (either due to Sola's crazy jumping tombstones or wrapping them up in the ropes) that they could beat the numbers game and the blatant cheating. Otherwise even fiery moments of comeback would get cut off the second they were driven too close to the heel corner. There was definitely heat, with trash occasionally thrown in at Bibi and he drew a reaction every time he menaced in the corner and the fans were into the comebacks, but it didn't boil over like in some of the other tags we've seen. Both heel falls were due to the faces getting too into their comebacks and slipping on a banana peel. Just really solid and highly accessible tag team wrestling.

SR: 2/3 falls match going about 35 minutes. JIP, but it seems like we join right at the start. At this point, we know exactly what we are gonna get from this match up. Bibi & Bernaert are a cheating superteam, and Sola/Labat have rocked the TV screens with their technical matchups. This was very much an A+ face team against a solid C heel team. Bibi & Bernaert are pretty effective at what they do, but they aren't going to surprise you, while Sola & Labat where always mixing all kinds of neat stuff. The highlight of the 1st fall was easily Sola just randomly launching Bernaert around with an out of nowhere Giant Swing. I also liked all the evaded stomps. Evading basic moves is always cool and they always neatly time these things. The 2nd fall felt like it should've ended earlier as both Bernaert & Bibi ate some nasty piledrivers and after some pretty good selling kind of moved on to a pretty standard finish. The same can be said for the 3rd fall which had Bibi taking a pretty cool spill to the outside and things heating up good before a banana peel kind of finish, which I guess was the usual way to have a pair of heels going over on TV. That being said when they started throwing hands this got surely as fuck and everyone here is such a honest to god competent pro wrestler so despite the structural nitpickings this was another highly entertaining romp.

PAS: I am higher on the heels then Matt and Sebastian. I thought they were really nasty jerks who didn't come off as genial or roguish, but just like cheap shotting bastards. Punches to the kidney's, stomps to the head, chokes, not really stooging selling, but getting dropped and stunned when the babyface teams fired back. I loved the final run, with both heels getting flipped into the ropes and getting the heck beat out of them, just a tremendous payoff. The big dropkicks by Labat near the end looked great and the fall on the missed one felt like enough of concussive force to lose a fall.  Labat and Sola are both solid skilled wrestlers, but I thought the goons carried this.


Johnny Stein vs. Michel Allary 9/21/59

MD: Stein is a guy who does everything right but still comes off as fairly dry to me. He engages the crowd, interacts with the ref. His stuff looks brutal. He tends to have compelling holds. He'll feed into bit fiery comebacks. He draws big heat (including getting swiped at from the outside here). I think there's just a limit to the ceiling of a stalking German heel in 50s France when you had so many other different interesting heels. I liked Allary here. Some of his comebacks seemed to come out of nowhere. He just grabbed on and got a neckbreaker at one point and he took the first fall with a lightning power bomb that seemed more like luck than anything else. He was great at fighting from underneath in general though, and he had some of the best selling we've seen in the footage so far, including an extended bit of selling his back after two big corner whips and some focus by Stein at the end of the first fall, even into the break between falls, and excellent selling on the floor and the apron after a fairly low blow towards the end of the match. The finish was, I think, our first tree of woe, leading to a DQ, but the most memorable scene here was Stein going deep on a STF after pulling the hair multiple times and the ref trying to pull him off making for a mass of bodies. Unquestionably good wrestling but maybe not what I was looking for this week.

SR: 2/3 falls match going about 30 minutes. This match was like a classical painting. Michel Allary looks like a Greek statue. Johnny Stein has a brow that makes Brock Lesnar look like a normal person. Allary is loved. Stein is hated. Although Steins act has all the subtlety of an anvil dropping on your head, he is quite effective. This was quite simple with lots of tight upper body holds and Stein looking like he would just screw Allarys head off. Dug the nasty chokeholds both guys did here. Stein was a German worker and you wonder if his simplistic wrestling was the result of the language and cultural barrier or if that was simply the style he was used to. Anyway, he was a physical freak who had no problem clubbing and getting clubbed which entertains me just fine, but what do ya know, he got himself DQ'd again.

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Tuesday is French Catch Day: Sola! Bibi! Labat! Duranton! Debusne! Asselin! MOISE BESCH!

Jo Labat vs. Ami Sola 7/31/58

PAS: This is our second Jo Labat rematch, and it is fun to see how he varies his game a bit against the same opponent. This was a little chippier then their first match, as they broke into slugfests earlier, and the matwork was similarly nasty, with some manipulations of knee joints, and Sola grinding Labat's face into the mat with a arm scissors crucifix. We had some really moments of incongruous athleticism (although at this point it isn't really incongruous anymore) headscissors, ranas, a kip up missed double dropkick spot, and even an incubatory code red. The slugfest section near the end was harrowing, there were a couple of direct forearm bone shots to the jaw which looked like they crossed eyes. Great stuff.

SR:1 Fall match going a bit over 20 minutes. We get pretty much two main events on this episode of catch, which is good. This wasn‘t as good as their first match, but that is a high bar. For most workers, going 20 minutes would be challenging, but these guys just roll it out. The wrestling wasn‘t a ton different from their first match, they didn‘t grind out the holds as much, but these guys will do enough neat stuff to keep it interesting. In this case there were some nasty kicks from unexpected angles and some back rakes that makes this kind of match different from your typical scientific context. Once again, when it was time to do the forearms they just clubbed the living hell out of eachother with some of these forearms landing square in the face. Add another neat finish to make this a really satisfying matchup.

MD: When last we saw Labat face Sola, it was a technical spectacle, with holds and escape attempts, with Labat sneaking out a win by turning Sola's running 'rana attempt into a twisting powerbomb. In 1958. This was a few months later and more of the same. Just excellent stuff. By this point, we're more than familiar with the style, but you can still be impressed by the amount of effort that goes into the holds and into the prevention of escapes. They were so equally matched here, which was evident in the holds but even more so in the bits of escalation. They'd trade dropkicks or throw them both at the same time. When things did get more heated (something only really teased in the last match and more paid off here) you never knew who'd win a strike exchange. As always, Labat had those amazing shoulder blasts out of a cravate postion while Sola had both a bit more flash and athleticism and generally was the first to get mean (much to Labat's frustration). Another great finish and another win for Labat. Is there was a third match where Sola finally gets his day, we don't have it. The next time we see these two, it'll be tagging, and that should be something to see.


Robert Duranton vs. Michel Chaisne 7/31/58

SR:1 Fall match going about 25 minutes. I get the sense Duranton was perfecting his arrogant dipshit act here. It‘s really entertaining, he is not quite flamboyant, but he will make sure to let everyone know that he thinks of his opponent as less than him, that he is very concerned with his appearance, and that he generally thinks he is above all this. This was one of those crowd pleasing romps. Not a ton of hold for hold work and a surprising amount of impact moves, made interesting by the fact that something like a backbreaker is a nearfall in 1958. Chaisne is solid at his role of fired up guy who won‘t let this snob step on him, although I would‘ve liked to see him unwind and kick ass some more. Duranton pretty much carried this for the most part, even when doing holds he kick at Chaisne like a dipshit or try to sucker Chaisne in. One of the things I like in these old french matches is that they will almost always do another basic hold right before the finish, I guess to condition the crowd to keep paying attention.

MD: So, Duranton was very effective. He was super over. He helped Chaisne get over. But compared to almost every other wrestler we've seen in this project, he wasn't smooth all the time. There was a moment right at the start where Chaisne just had to linger for a few meaningful seconds before Duranton locked headscissors on and it was like nothing we've seen in 50s Catch so far. It was the first moment where we really, really saw the strings. And you know what? It probably didn't matter in the grand scheme of things, because Duranton was so haughty, so strong, and so quick to react or look to the crowd or muss his hair or step over his opponent, that the fans were a constant buzz here. There was even a "Michel" chant which was certainly rare for the 50s, from what we've seen, with Duranton (currently in a hold) making sure to pantomime a mouth with his hand to try to tamper it down to the crowd's delight. Everyone else in France may have been on holiday but these folk got their kicks from watching Chaisne lock in a rear stranglehold and elbow Duranton on the skull. 

One thing we've seen so far is that it doesn't matter if you're a former boxer or King Kong Taverne: you had to work the style, and Duranton has to work the style, even if, on sheer effectiveness alone, he was fine without it. And he hits about 2/3rds of what he's going for smoothly enough, which is less than average, certainly, but it's enough to not lose the crowd. Chaisne wasn't the most memorable guy we've seen but in the two occasions, he had these great kneelifts, so I was waiting for them, and they came after the ref pulled Duranton off him for blatantly choking. They, followed by double sledges and uppercuts, were worth the wait. Though Duranton, in his usual style, immediately went through the legs, scored a trip, and shoved his foot in Chaisne's face; when they ended up tied up together shortly thereafter, he managed to feign sporstmanship and break it again and again until Chaisne tripped him from for a big pop. Later on, after another ref break (this time for hanging onto the ropes while on top of Chaisne), Duranton snuck in a quick kick and then decided to just leave. Chaisne caught him. Just a few examples. He may have only been partially accurate, but he was always on, and thus a perfect foil to anyone who could manage everything smoothly.

PAS: I loved Duranton in this match, he had so much sauce. At one point he slams Chaisne and steps right over him like Iverson after crossing up Ty Lue. Chaisne is a good foil for these kind of flamboyant heels, he isn't super colorful himself,  but has great fire and isn't afraid to bang on someone or choke them out. I didn't mind the lack of smoothness, in a promotion where everyone is smooth, it is good to be rough sometimes.


Cheri Bibi vs. Paul Debusne 8/16/58

SR: 1 Fall match going about 25 minutes. This was a brutal fight. Debusne wasn‘t exactly a twig, but he looked like a child next to Cheri Bibi. And what do I know, Debusne looked damn great here crafting a match around Bibi. I can‘t tell if Bibi is actually good aside from being an absolute crowbar, if his detached mannerisms are intentional or not. But Debusne looks fantastic working holds and takedowns and selling the physical challenge. He was bending the fuck out of Bibis fingers and wrist, which is exactly how you would try to fight a physical freak like this, and at one point they did a test of strength which was sold as well as any test of strength in wrestling history. By the end Debusne was trying everything to beat down the bald guy, eye gouging, throwing punches, punt kicks, ground and pound, and Bibi responded with the kind of forearms, punts and headbutts you‘d expect in FUTEN or WAR. The match ends up being thrown out, which feels like a waste as this is the last full length from Debusne we got outside of the Humez match. But damn, what a show.

MD: I always feel like they put Bibi against the wrong guys. He always needs to just be up again an Ami Sola type guy, or more accurately, a Van Buyten. Someone who can take a beating and then come back big. They just don't really have that formula (your Tito Santana style shine-heat-comeback) in 50s French Catch though, so it probably doesn't matter anyway. But, on paper, Debusne really wasn't that guy. Last we saw him, he was a mugging heel trying to survive Humez with hairpulls. Here, he started out a lot the same, though he maintained more control with finger manipuation and wristlocks. Bibi's not the most dynamic guy in the world but he did put a lot of struggle into getting out of these holds and often sold a bit afterwards which I generally credit. He'd go to cheapshots during and after. The problem for him there was that Debusne would come right back with shots of his own. Therefore, they built and built, with more meanness and more shots and both guys getting shoved out, finally building this serene, beautiful moment of Debusne on top of Bibi, giving a thumbs down to the overjoyed crowd before hitting Bibi again and again and again. Bibi returned the favor by headbutting and hairpulling and choking his way back for more. It devolved into an outright brawl at that point, with the ref getting in the way. Debusne and his reactions and high emotion drove this but Bibi, like a moving brick wall with some deep suppressed feelings, played his part as well. In the end, it was all quite entertaining.

PAS: I thought this was a pretty great opponent for Bibi, I like contrast matches a lot, but I also appreciate mean motherfuckers beating on each other, and this was almost like a French version of Killer Karl Kox versus Dick Murdoch. I loved how Debusne tried to crack and break fingers early, but eventually just had to dispense with the trickery and just come straight at him. The finish run was about as brutal and awesome as you are going to see in wrestling, and Debusne giving the thumbs down before pounding on Bibi was a pretty iconic moment, some real Stone Cold Steve Austin shit. I have no problem with the match being thrown out, what the hell was the ref supposed to do?

Rene Asselin vs Moise Besch 8/16/58

SR: 1 Fall match going something between 15 and 20 minutes. We‘ve seen Moise Besch before, and he still looks weird as hell with his big head, bony body and teeth gap. He actually has his wife and kids watching this and kisses the kids before the match. Then goes on to be a total ham in the bout. What a mad bugger. This had some of the fast exchanges you‘d associate with the French lightweights, and Moise looks like an insect when he scrambles around landing on his feet or pulling his opponent into a sleeper. Asselin looked like a competent worker here but you‘ll be too busy gawking at Beschs eye gouging, dick punching lunacy.

MD:  Besch was a real character, the sort of guy the fans obviously loved to hate. He had his kids in the crowd and kissed them before the match and then went right on to utilizing strangleholds, goozles, and hairpulls a'plenty while complaining whenever a break didn't go his way or the ref stopped him from cheating. He also really threw himself into Asselin's offense, both the forearms and the takeovers, all of which generally looked great. He was opportunist but without being quite as cowardly and craven as some others we've seen. While this match did have its share of holds and escapes, I liked how a number of the counters were preemptive, things like Asselin ducking under another stranglehold chinlock attempt or Besch hanging on to the rope to prevent a throw. Honestly, Besch looked good enough to anchor a small-late 70s territory against various cycled-in babyfaces. He was engaging the crowd, the announcer, the ref, and his opponent that much. It's a shame we don't have more of him. I honestly wouldn't mind seeing Asselin pummel and throw guys either. This is it for both though. Ships in the night on our Catch journey, but at least they beat the hell out of each other.

PAS: This was a blast. I am bummed we don't have more Besch because he feels like an all time great wrestling oddball. He looks like a War Boy in Fury Road, and shows shocking athleticism for such a mutant. I loved the huge bump he took into the ring ropes trying to dive on Asselin, and there were several escapes where he just spun around the ring like a top. Asselin was another in the line of touch guy French babyfaces and he definitely took umbrage to Besch's horseshit and kicked his ass around the ring.

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Tuesday is French Catch Day: Inca Peruano! Jacky Corne! Jo Labat! Ami Sola!

Jose Arroyo vs. Pierre Bernaert  2/11/58

SR: JIP with about 5 minutes shown. It seems like Arroyo is getting a push, as he makes short work of Bernaert. Bernaert did his usual spiel throwing underhand punches but gets what‘s coming to him as Arroyo rains punches from mount and uncorks some jaw loosening uppercuts. Exactly what you‘d expect.

MD: We have about five minutes out of over thirty of this and what it really has me looking forward to is the Arroyo vs Peruano match from 1960 that's still a ways ahead of us. Arroyo is definitely the same guy we saw last week, in with the crowd and prone to fits of violence. The clearest moment of that here was when he took a bit of abuse from Bernaert who was trying to prevent him from exiting a hold (including a grab to his ears), finally turned him over, and just paintbrushed him brutally. There was a fun revenge spot where both guys used a full nelson to slam the other's head repeatedly into the top turnbuckle and a neat little moment of Bernaert unlacing Arroyo's boot to exit a headscissors and get an advantage afterwards. Just a taste but a good one.

Jo Labat vs. Ami Sola 2/11/58

SR: 1 Fall match going a bit under 25 minutes. This was what the announcer called a „combat de gentlemen“. Ami Sola is building a really solid rep in this style of wrestling, and what a style it is. Some ultra tight armlocks and headscissors in this, the kind of zit-popping, grinding stuff that you watch old wrestling for. I love the throws these guys do, they look just legit enough for me to appreciate their beauty, and I‘m a sucker for guys getting chucked to the mat hard for a wristlock. Labat has a cool charisma, a really rugged looking technician. The match heated up when Labat knee dropped Solas shoulder at an awkward angle and really grinded his shoulder and wrist. After that it was nasty upkicks and both guys clubbing each other with uppercuts that sounded like hammers coming down. They never got downright evil, but there was the vibe that these gentlement were damn well gonna club the snot out of each other in the name of civilized combat. Downright ridiculous finish.

MD: Very good stylist (which is even what the announcer calls them) match. Sola is spry, able to use his reach advantage, quick to kip up or occasionally dodge out of the way to get ahead. Labat is stockier, but able to dart through the legs or even occasionally overpower Sola on a top wristlock battle. It's hold and escape, with some building into spots or shots. Sola has an amazingly broad European uppercut. Labat's are shorter and closer but he also has that unique short shoulder whack too. It's a lot of hanging on to holds through counters and escapes but there's certainly a visceral sense of reaction here. The escalation comes from somewhere. It has meaning and weight. For instance, there's a great extended section which began with Labat driving a knee down onto Sola's arm to get an armbar, which became finger manipulation. Sola scored a headscissors out of it and continuously jammed Labat's head onto the mat as he tried to headstand out or otherwise escape. Therefore, when he got out, it was with uppercuts flying, until things settled back to holds once again. Just excellent wrestling.

PAS: This was tremendous, excellent hard hitting mat wrestling which even got a little nasty at the end. Really impressed with how nasty both guys made the grappling. Sola's headscissors was incredible looking. If this footage was in color I imagine we would see Labat's face turning Brock Lesnar purple. Similarly Labat twisted and torqued Sola's wrist and arm in really violent and painful looking ways. There was also a lot of flipping out of holds and spinning into things, which looked even better when the holds they were flipping out of looked so forceful. Loved when it picked up too, every French wrestler in the 1950s throws better forearms then any wrestler in the 2020s, and the finish with Sola turning a Labat rana attempt into a folding pin was a total time machine move.

ER: I don't have much to add, and my opinions don't differ from the guys. These kind of French grappling matches are so cool, a masterclass in snug holds and not letting your opponent have any openings. You won't see any daylight on anything here, and the headscissors are among the greatest I've seen. I loved all of the work around full nelsons, both men keeping each other so tight they could have had these standing exchanges inside a phone booth. The way they'd whip through full nelsons, swing into a wheelbarrow but get dragged back to their feet, spin around and wind up back in the same full nelson was spectacular. This had a lot of flipping and twisting to gain leverage, but it never felt flowery, always felt necessary to advance position. It's no shock that several things felt decades ahead of their time, as "Ahead of Its Time" is on the French Catch masthead at this point, but the finish and a couple of the pins felt like a couple more examples of execution ripe for the stealing.

Jacky Corne vs. Inca Peruano 2/21/58

SR: 2/3 Falls going about 20 minutes. This was JIP to right after the first fall, which I‘m a bit salty about as I‘m sure the opening matwork between these two was great. This was another nifty match which was largely a mix of two guys doing some nifty wrestling and also cracking each other really hard. I thought Inca Peruano stood out head and shoulders above Corne here. Not that Corne is bad as he has no problem trading holds and handing out jaw cracking uppercuts, but Peruano was doing one cool thing after another. There was some great indian deathlock work including a Negro Navarroesque submission, and when it was time do play rough he had some great uses of a hammerlock too. I also really enjoyed his headscissors which Corne initially blocked but then he did a fast crawl and threw Corne anyways. Really fun inventive work. The finish could‘ve been bigger but it worked.

MD: Of all the matches for us to only get two out of the three falls of, why this one? What we got was a total war, seeping with animosity. There was about two minutes of the match where Corn had a leglock cinched in and Peruano was kicking him in the face (and doing that clap to the knee to drive a foot into the face) every chance he had to try to get out, with Corne peppering in punches to the knee. That was what this match was all about. After every major advantage, the other wrestler made it up to uppercut the hell out of his opponent. There were big moves (our first real atomic drop, a gutbuster, a Robinson backbreaker, a rope assist headscissors takedown, knee crushers), tricked out holds (Corne with some nasty arbars, Peruano with a standing Navarro style scorpion deathlock and a great bridging leglock that he was using as a pin), but what the crowd the most into was a simple exchange where Peruano kept trying to pin Corne and Corne kept bridging up. There was even familiarity as Peruano was able to jam Corne's attempt at a catapult back onto the knees, which we've seen him use before, and Corne was able to stop Peruano's second go-behind hammerlock with the aforementioned Robinson backbreaker. Finish was great, full of build and payoff as they basically did the Bret/Piper WM8/Bret/Austin SS finish, which felt novel in 1992 let alone 1958. These two were made for each other.

PAS: This really felt like a war, even the opening shot of both guys sitting on the stools exhausted looked like something out of a 80s middleweight boxing match. Peruano is one of the most unique Catch wrestlers, and this is a cool chance to see him add those unique touches to a big time fight.  There was some really cool work around a knucklelock and bridges which still felt gritty. It is hard to do a bridge out of a knucklelock and have it look like a fight, but they did it. I also loved Peruano slipping into a full nelson and driving Corne's head into the turnbuckle before punching him in the back of the neck, only to have him try it again and get rolled up for the pin. Really looking forward to what 1958 brings, as these were a pair of classics.

ER: What a fight, a match that forced me to let out nearly a dozen guttural grunts just because of all of the brutal strikes. Corne was so punishing, coming off like Drew Gulak's bad tempered grandfather. Peruano was crafty, and Corne would put a quick stop to that craftiness by making him see stars. I loved the whole sequence around Peruano trying to slyly headscissor Corne over the top to the floor. Peruano got backed into the ropes and had his feet crossed around Corne's neck in an instant, but Corne blocks it and Peruano has to grip the ropes and accept his fate. Peruano manages to run on his hands and get an in ring headscissors, but it is a small victory as Corne bends Peruano's legs into a damn tight Indian deathlock, and fires a concussive blast down on the back of his neck. The uppercuts here are as stiff as any pro wrestling strikes you've seen, and a lot of their work would stand out as notably violent in Futen. Corne drops Peruano with an awesome short atomic drop, and Peruano's selling of it looks like a guy surprised at how badly his tailbone suddenly hurts. Everything here landed as if there was no such concept of pro wrestling, and these guys were just doing all of these moves as legitimately as possible. That legitimacy elevated this to great, memorable heights.

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Tuesday is French Catch Day: Chaisne!, Labat!, Couderc! Sola!

Cheri Bibi vs. Andre Cheauveau 8/2/57

MD: This was a lot of fun. The last ten minutes of an almost thirty minute match, apparently. At first glance I thought Cheauveau was a pure coward, another in the recent string of outmatched heels, and he was outmatched here, but he was more craven than cowardly, with a defiant streak that cost him. If you want to watch Bibi just maul and overpower some poor bastard, this is the match for you. I don't know what happened in the first sixteen minutes, but there's enough here to guess, and whatever it was, it certainly made the crowd WANT to see Bibi clobber him. Cheauveau would hide behind the ref, would go for those quick, desperate leg dives, would use the tights and sneak out of and engagement by dodging past Bibi in the ropes, but he also had the gall to spit in Bibi's face and to toss him out and then kick him on the way back in. When tossed out himself, he'd go for a chair. Bibi had such a credible act, between the mean, clubbering blows, the hulking, stalking presence, and those beady eyes, just a once in a generation wrestling look to him, so that every time Cheauveau showed mind-boggling hubris, you had the sense that Bibi just hungered to get his hands on him again.

SR: JIP match with about 10 minutes shown. Not that you get a ton out of this as it was the kind of bout that kept spilling but not really building. Cheauveau seems some kind of joker. He was begging off and neck chopping Bibi amongst other things. Cheri Bibi was on form here and pretty much waltzed through Cheauveau like Stone Cold and this had enough nasty forearms and head stomps for me to give this a pass.

Michel Chaisne vs. Jo Labat 8/2/57

MD: Very good technical match. Both Labat (who is new to the project) and Chaisne (who we've seen before against villains like Kasier and Bernaert) wrestled clean though things got heated in the end. Labat was smaller but had a strength advantage and took the initiative for most of the match. Chaisne was taller and imaginative in his holds and counters. They worked everything extremely hard, lots of long in and out holds including the extended short arm scissors with probably the earliest chronological "through the ropes" hang on out of a deadlift that we've seen. Things really picked up in the last few minutes after Chaisne took offense to Labat using a foot clap repeatedly to escape a hold but Labat fired back with a headbutt and these cool short shoulder bursts. It led to rope running and an amazing dropkick for the finish. I'll be happy to see Labat again (and if I'm not mistaken we have him vs Chaisne once, Sola twice, Peruano once, and with Sola in a tag against the awesome sounding team of Bernaert and Bibi). 

SR: 1 Fall match going about 25 minutes. This was a clean match. The first time we see Labat and he played nice. The technical work here won‘t blow you away if you‘ve seen a lot of French stuff but it was good. I like how rugged some of the flying headscissors felt, some would miss their targets and for others the guys would fall weirdly like in a real fight. The crowd comes alive when they finally start throwing forearms about 20 minutes in. Labat has this really cool thing where he locks on a cravate and than just rams the guy with an uppercut. Absolutely loved the finish.

PAS: Really cool slow burn match. Started on the mat, with some very cool technical wrestling. I am in the bag for cool short arm scissors spots, and they really had some neat variations on that hold including the cool spot in the ropes Matt mentioned. The last couple minutes were as heated as anything we have seen from this footage. The knee strikes by Chaisne leading into those crazy shoulder strikes, into a Meiko Satomura in GAEA Girls level dropkick. That is the way you put an exclamation point on a match, and turned it into something truly memorable.


Moise Besch vs. Jo Benardo 8/8/57

MD: Whew, this was a pretty nasty seven minutes of footage. Lots of hair pulling and cheapshots and face grinding and headbutts, with a few huge high spots (piledrivers and dropkicks, and Besch tossing Bernado over the top rope). Just a real sense of animosity that lasted even after the match ended.

SR: JIP 10 minutes in with about as much shown. These are two weird looking guys. Moise Besch was the kind of guy to make Billy Catanzarro look normal. You don‘t see people with faces and body shapes like that these days. As far as the match goes, it was some kind of lightweight contest that had a fair bit of niggle. There were some piledrivers that ended up kind of no sold which is enough to get a match on my bad side. Gotta love how tight the finishing pinfall was, though.


Jacques Couderc vs. Ami Sola 8/8/57

PAS: This was worked like a lucha maestros match, with both guys working technical exchanges to show their skill. There was a ton of skill to, with Sola continuing his run as the master of the rana, he uses the rana as less of a throw and more of application of a headscissors submission. It is cool shit and they work a bunch of cool counter spots around that rana, with Couderc trying to pin Sola's shoulders only to get flipped back around with the rana, and finally ending with Courdec hitting a powerbomb to break. Couderc also sidestepped a Sola rana, causing him to rana the referee, which is a spot I am shocked I haven't seen in lucha matches. There was also an incredibly cool spot with Sola putting Couderc in a leg stretch, and all of the ways they had to work out of that. There was a little chippiness at the end with Couderc breaking a bear hug with some chops to the ears and the ribs and big uppercut. This 1957 footage just keeps delivering huge, I love all of it.

MD: Excellent match that combined a sportsmanlike technical nature with a lot of flash, the best version of some exchanges that we've seen, and some things we hadn't seen at all yet. There was so much to see here that it's hard to pin it all down. They'd escalate into strikes (and Sola's were really good) and then bring things back down with a handshake. Despite being very sound, there's a theatricality to Sola, the kip up headbutts, the running 'ranas. They worked an extended 'rana into headscissors/pin attempt counter spot that we've seen before, but really laid into both the subsequent bridge up 'ranas, and the jamming deadlift powerbombs. Definitely the best of its type and I doubt we see better. The match was full of grinding holds and tricky counters and desperate persistence to escape. There was also an amazing comedy spot of Couderc leaping out of the way so that Sola 'rana'd the ref. Plus Couderc doing a waistlock takedown into an amazing flipping grounded crucifix that we've definitely never seen before. They nailed the small details too, those little elbow grinds to the knee or rakes to the back to stop a wrestler from getting out of a hold. Just top notch stuff that stands up to anything we've seen in the footage so far.

SR: 1 fall match with about 20 minutes shown. There seems to be some clipping, but nothing too annoying. This was like the French version of a bomb throwing sprint. I could see this exact match happening in Korakuen Hall and the crowd going bonkers for all the ultra stiff european uppercuts and upkicks they did. It also helps that Ami Sola is a gentleman looking dude with a classy mustache and Couderc is balding and cleary muscular but a long way from having visible abs. There wasn‘t a ton of hold for hold work here, but the bits they did were great and felt really fresh. There was an awesome body scissors spot, a great wrist stretch from Couderc and some nifty leg trips amongst other things. Couderc also turned a headscissor sequence into a series of deadlift powerbombs that would make Takaiwa wince. Couderc may have been the man of the match but Sola held up. He uncorked some brutal headbutts and what may very well be the nastiest leg stretch I‘ve seen in any match ever. He looked like he was about to pop Coudercs hip with that. And, I feel compelled to say that these guys were bumping hard as motherfuckers. The ending crescendo was also damn great with these guys eating upkicks and bumping around like mad. The upkick is such a basic spot that nobody remembers these days but hot damn it looks awesome in these matches and these guys will fly face first into it. It was nice to see that the crowd seemingly filled up to watch this match. True to form, Couderc does not show up again, but it‘s save to say he made his mark in this sole appearance. This was a mix of high end technical work, brutally stiff and with a sense of classy athleticism. Exactly the kind of awesome unexpected match to remind us all that French pro wrestling was fucking awesome.

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Tuesday is French Catch Day: Andre Drapp! Jack Laskin! Pierre Bernaert! Laurent Dauthuille!

MD: A couple of programming notes. I was on the Winter Palace podcast last week, a rare appearance from me, where I stumbled over french names for twenty minutes: https://winterpalacepodcast.squarespace.com/podcast/2020/4/8/episode-eighty-three-splendid-isolation-number-2

Also, I don't think we ever promoted it, but Phil was on Wrestling is Gross last month talking at length with them about a few of the matches in depth, and people should listen to that: http://wrestlingisgross.libsyn.com/wrestling-is-gross-31-moon-wrestling


Andre Drapp vs. Jack Laskin 6/21/57

SR: JIP 2/3 falls match with about 25 minutes shown. Jack Laskin wrote a pretty interesting book on his experiences as a wrestler. He also told a somewhat disturbing story about befriending a wrestler who worked in a death camp during the war. So, having him on film is a nice historic achievement. And this was a really cool match. Drapp was another really formidable wrestler. He came around quite a bit, one or two of his US matches are even online already. Drapp was a physical specimen with a bodybuilder look, but he could go like a motherfucker. He did one escape out of a leglock that was like something Virus would do. Later he dodged an attack from Laskin and dove underneath fast as lightning for a freestyle takedown. It‘s that kind of wrestling ability I really appreciate. Laskin looked like a fun US pro. His US style made for a nice stylistic difference compared to the euro heels. He was throwing punches and had some fun ways to hurt his opponent, such as scraping his knees across his face, or throwing weird high kicks. Of course, Laskin would also bump and stooge, and show ass in just a slightly more comical way than what we saw from most of the euro guys. Drapp had some freaky moves, such as a like a standing shiranui into a pin. Finish was pretty spectacular as well with Drapp busting out several bulldogs which Laskin takes right on his head before eating a big piledriver for the KO.

PAS: I thought this was tremendous. Drapp reminded me of a super skilled Bruno Sammartino, he had that same swarthy body builder look, and hard charging style, but then he breaks out a crazy leg lock reversal or those flying snap mares and standing Shiranui. We get a bunch more of him, and I am very excited. Laskin was fun too, kind of reminded me of John Tatum, really over the top, but in credible way. He had some cool offense too, I loved this headlock he put on where he grabbed the back of his thigh to put on more pressure, the piledriver he finished the first fall with was really nasty too, and he took a bunch of Drapp's offense right on the top of his head. He bumped for those bulldogs like he was Jack Evans. Some of these matches have had a bunch of cool stuff in them, but weak or unsatisfying finishes, this had all of the killer shit in the body and great endings to all three falls.

MD: I agree that this one felt very, very complete. Fun heeling who got his comeuppance. An electric babyface with a lot of neat stuff. Some moves (and bumps) that were ages before their time. The Martian! And yes, good finishes to all three falls. From what I've read about Laskin, it sounded like he worked babyface more in the states, but he seemed to be reveling his heel role here, utilizing a prototype version of the Mongolian Stomper gimmick of the boos hurting his ears (which he really leaned into after the Shiranui). We've seen different volume of the heels, and where a guy like Gerber was able to get a lot more heat out of slightly less stooging and volume and Oliver was just constant, constant cheating, Laskin was a lot of fun to watch. The revenge piledriver at the end was a picture perfect way to end this, especially combined with Laskin complaining about not understanding the count.

Laskin sounds like a very interesting guy and I should make an effort to track down his book. You sort of wish this footage could have appeared ten or fifteen years earlier so he would have been able to have this one. I hope it somehow ends up on his family's radar.

ER: Loved his. I got the same vibes as Phil from Drapp, a wildly athletic Bruno Sammartino. If you look at Hollywood and athletes at the time, outside of some incredible hulk like Clint Walker, the muscular guys were lean gymnast or acrobat types like Burt Lancaster. Drapp looked like an acrobatic Don Muraco. I was flipping for the ways he would use his limb crooks to crank in a hold, someone today really needs to steal bouncing a guys head like a bobble while it's trapped in their knee pit. Later he had Laskin in a kind of rear naked choke and vigorously rubs his forearm across Laskin's face. The matwork from both was real right, a bunch of cool escapes that felt like modern US catch grapplers like Thatcher or Ohno than the more Euro stuff we've seen from catch. There were also several sharp kicks, and big US pro moves like the two perfect piledrivers that win a fall for each man. Drapp also had a bunch of really innovative things, like what has to be the earliest version of the shiranui. Either Marufuji or Spanky started using this 20 odd years ago, and people flipped for it at the time, and here's some guy doing it over 60 years ago in its best possible form. It didn't even look like Laskin was throwing him with any weight, just looked like Drapp used leg springs to fly up and over him, showing off that he could not only do a wonderful snapmare, but he could hit rewind and do the same thing backwards. The bulldog into piledriver finish was spectacular, and Laskin looked like he was aiming to break his own face on the mat. Another classic.


Paul Debusne vs. Ami Sola 6/21/57

SR: We get about 7 minutes shown from a time limit draw. Looked to be bread and butter european stuff as they worked some pin attempts and then got chippy, although there were some nice looking strike exchanges.

MD: I'd use the word catty instead of chippy maybe, but either works. You got the sense of familiarity and disdain. I liked some of the specific spots, especially the exchange where Debusne ran Sola into the corner, Sola bulldoged Debusne into the corner in revenge, and then finally, Debusne got shrugged off and bumped himself hard when he attempted to get him back with the same move. That Sola followed it up with a straight up foul sort of spoke to the nature of this though. Fun but not enough there to really grab on to.


Pierre Bernaert vs. Laurent Dauthuille 6/26/57

SR: 2/3 Falls match at about 20 minutes. Pierre Bernaert is a heel we are going to a see a lot from now on. Laurent Dauthuille is a former world class boxer whose most famous achievement is getting knocked out in the 15th round of a world title match by Jake La Motta. It wasn‘t unusual for boxers to become catchers at this time. Instead of the „Which martial art is stronger?“ theme that would be exploited in mixed fights, these matches were more about how the boxer was going to adapt to wrestling. Dauthuille did the usual French holds and moves, but also made it clear that he damn well was gonna punch Bernaert if he was gonna get too cute, which made Dauthuille a bit more interesting than your usual French babyfaces. The whole match had this Memphisesque 20 minute long build to Dauthuille throwing the first punch. Meanwhile was Bernaert was throwing cheapshots and taking shortcuts like mad. It builds to the eventual explosion when Bernaert gets cocky open hand striking Dauthuille and the boxer fires back with a flury of punches. With Bernaert kneeing his opponent in the balls a bunch and Dauthuille really taking him to the pay window this felt really intense. The problem was that it ended almost too early with the match ending on a technicality instead of the epic showdown that it deserved. That setup def feels like something Mexican or US territory workers would‘ve turned into an amazing last round. Still, it‘s to these guys credit that they could work a 20 minute match and it still was far from enough.

MD: Dauthuille's end of life seemed pretty sad. After losing to La Motta, he fell into Catch and then ultimately circuses reliving his loss, before dying destitute at 47. This was a fun performance though. He came off as more than a puncher here, including landing on his feet with the monkey flip. Bernaert was very competent, stalling more than what we're used to, earning his licks by being a jerk off handshakes, and constantly going to a leg dive in order to avoid having to stand toe-to-toe with Dauthuille. It was very believable as the heel version of Inoki-kicks-the-puncher-in-the-leg-repeatedly. When Dauthuille had enough and did trap him in the corner, the blows, forearms and punches both, were great. This ended up feeling like a first encounter that would lead to a match where the heel couldn't escape so easily, but I don't think they were doing that sort of thing in 1957 France. Dauthuille is a guy known outside of our circles (he scored a New York Times obituary, for instance) so this was historically important.

PAS: I thought this was dope. I love a mixed match, and Dauthuille has got to be up there with the greatest boxer turned wrestler ever. I mean could you imagine FMW Leon Spinks landing on his feet on a monkey flip like that? It is also really hard for legitimate punchers to throw good looking worked punches, but I thought Dauthuille's looked great.  Bernaert is a guy we saw in an awesome match agains Dan Aubriot in the pre motherload footage, and was great here too. Just a nasty cheap shot artist I really enjoyed him punching Dauthuille in the kidneys and showing his open hand. I actually liked the finish, with Bernaert getting pounded around the ring and just deciding to fire back with nutshots and cheapshots, getting DQed and bailing out. Feels like the appropriate response to getting pounded on by a world class boxer.

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Tuesday is French Catch Day: Luis El Gayo! Rene Gerber! Inca Peruano! DR. ADOLF KAISER! Cheri Bibi!

Luis El Gayo vs. Rene Gerber 5/11/57

SR:2/3 Falls match over about 25 minutes. We see Luis El Gayo again. Rene Gerber is introduced as Swiss, but not a champion. After using some foul tactics against Jacky Corne, Luis El Gayo gets to play face in this match as Gerber pretty much foregoes the usual hold for hold work and goes for brawling almost immediately, landing tough looking kicks and knees and it‘s a big hit and get hit contest from there. The bar for heels working France in 1957 was pretty high, Gerber had nice kneelifts and I liked the spot where he did a chinlock and kept switching around so he could punch Luis in the kidney, and he also does the amazing „pretend to tie your shoelaces but go for the attack“ spot. Luis is veritable in the babyface role and provides some slick wrestling moves. Most notable here were the fan reactions with excited teenagers and working class joes threatening to storm the ring when Gerber got too cute. We understand this kind of match is bread and butter French material by now, although it is really fun to watch, basically a 25 minute sprint with lots of violent shots and moments.

MD:  My compatriots rightly noted that Tony Oliver was one of the best one-off match heels that we might have on tape. I'd argue that Gerber's another. We have a JIP match later, but this is basically it. El Gayo, he of the cool Rainmaker set up into moves, we saw earlier as a heel. When you get foreigner vs foreigner, a guy who might be a heel vs a Frenchman can go face. There's a lot going on with this one, but the general premise, like a lot of what we've seen so far, is that Gerber gets outwrestled early and goes dirty, very dirty. El Gayo manages to come back by outslicking and outquicking him and fires back with a ton of big shots until Gerber does something else unexpected and then they repeat. The most memorable moment here is Gerber hitting a foul punt out of a double knucklelock set up, and the crowd just absolutely going nuts. We're talking first-row trying to fight him and getting some shots in nuts. I watched a recent match the other day, one of the very few I've seen as I'm neck deep in this footage, and it had a great little heel-takes-over-due-to-shoelace shenanigans transition would have absolutely fit into 1957 France (hell, in this very match, Gerber gets a leg dive out of pretending to mess with his own laces). How do the 2019 fans respond? They cheer for the heel. The past is lost to us, yet this book has been pried open for us once again. How lucky are we. Anyway, what made the riot even better in the moment? It's the distraction of fighting with the fans that lets el Gayo come back with a fury here. Wrestling does not get better than that.

El Gayo has some really slick stuff early, including an escape where he detatched Gerber's arm from a hold, brought his own legs up to encase it, and then rolled forward. Gerber's heeling was so good once showed his true colors. On a handshake, he dove forward and tackled el Gayo, rushing in after with stomps and kicks and never looking back. It was the sort of multifaceted, giving and taking heeling that had him both almost getting into fisticuffs with the ref because he wanted to stomp el Gayo instead of breaking clean and happily trying to ambush el Gayo, only to dive headlong into a shoulder throw (that happened a few times).

El Gayo has lots of great-looking, potent offense whenever he took back over, solid forearms and uppercuts and knees, all coming from fun directions. He'd flip Gerber over and trap him in the ropes so he could wallop him. He'd tap him on the shoulder and nail him when he turned around. He picked up Gerber's hand and drove it into his knee. And sometimes he'd just wail away and look to the crowd for support. There's a little late match arm-bar work that seemed a little out of place, but you're not going to remember that. You'll remember Gerber tossing el Gayo around by his ears, the close-ups of el Gayo's revenge-laden forearms, the fact that towards the end of the match, Gerber was ballsy enough to brawl with el Gayo on the floor right in the midst of that riotous crowd, and yeah, the 1957 slingshot-from-the-outside finish. In a crystal sea of matches with great heels and fiery, super technical babyfaces, this one stood out to me.

PAS: You have to love a guy like Gerber who can walk into a ring and within five minutes have people in the crowd trying to jump him. Most of the matches we have seen will start with the heel trying to wrestle with the babyface before losing their cool and going to shortcuts. Gerber forgoes the preface and just starts banging away. El Gayo is a really great expressive babyface too and they match up perfectly. I loved the spot where Gerber ties up El Gayo in the ropes and goes to jump on the turnbuckles to crank in the hold, only to get waylaid by a freed up El Gayo. Felt like an unseen Midnight Express spot. Gerber seemed to get such joy in the fury of the fans, he wanted to fight the entire arena and that totally made this one stand out


Dr. Adolf Kaiser vs. Inca Peruano 5/17/57

SR:JIP with 6 minutes shown. I would‘ve liked to see this in full, because these are two of the more unique workers showing up on French TV at the time. Inca Peruano has been a heel in other matches but easily becomes the babyface against the nefarious Doctor of Philosophy, Adolf Kaiser. This was a fun match up with Kaiser having cool ways to lock in his dreaded Dragon Sleeper and Inca having cool ways to escape from it. Peruano works some submission nearfalls of his own, and there are some cool hold escapes. I also really like Kaiser diving all over the ring trying to catch his opponent like an animal, and Peruano really gives him the business with fast uppercuts and kicks.

MD: Now without me understanding a lick of French and thus potentially lacking context, this felt straight on heel vs heel. For the six minutes we get, these two beat the crap out of each other with full on abandon. What was striking about this was how much it felt like a modern finishing stretch. Kaiser tried to lock in his dragon sleeper choke out multiple times; Peruano had clever escapes that would have seemed novel in a 1997 Ultino Dragon match, flipping over or climbing up the ropes, to lock in a hold of his own. Meanwhile, Peruano actually hit the elaborate arm-trap sunset flip (without the flip) pin he used to beat Comache but too close to the ropes, and a lot of the last couple of minutes were centered around his attempts to hit Kaiser with a monkey flip. Once he finally hit it (and a superkick for good measure), he went back to the well once too often, got jammed and meanly concussed for his trouble, and Kaiser choked the life out of him. If we're just going to get a 6 minute burst of action, this is the stuff we want.

PAS: I adore both of these guys, and was pretty bummed we didn't get more of this. The bit we get is pretty great though. I agree with Matt that the finish run did feel super modern, with multiple finisher teases before Kaiser finally locked on his Dragon sleeper. The rope assisted flip up by Peruano was especially cool, this is the first time Kaiser didn't lay his opponent completely out, although he remains unbeaten, I wonder if we get the match where he receives his commupance.


Ami Sola vs. "Cheri Bibi" Roger Trigeaud 5/17/57

SR: Roger Trigeaud is Cheri Bibi. A stumpy legged bald guy with a massive upper body. Roland Barthes was right when he wrote that at most 1 in 5 wrestling matches is „fair“. This followed the same formula as usual, wrestling to start, Cheri Bibi would start throwing, and they would keep the heat up until the finish, but it was a very good match with both guys adding to it. Ami Sola is a bulky looking guy with a mustache and wrestles similar to what we saw Gilbert Cesca and Billy Catanzaro do – cool flying headscissors, solid european uppercuts and kip-up headbutts. Cheri Bibi would do a spot where Solas dropkicks were bouncing off of his massive chest, and he also found an answer to some of the stuff Sola did. They didn‘t go for an all out european uppercutfest and went back to the wrestling. At about 20 minutes, this was pretty lean as well with a neat finish.

MD:  It's tricky to talk about this the same week we have Gerber vs el Gayo. In a different week, I think this would stand out more. It had a few things going for it. Bibi (and we'll go with that name since we'll be seeing a lot of him in this project) was more clearly defined than a lot of the heels we'd been seeing, deeper instead of wider. He was a big muscleman goon, the sort that can shrug off two of Sola's dropkicks like they were nothing but that would still turn to jaw with the crowd afterwards so that Sola could dropkick him a third time from behind and knock him out of the ring. I'd say he felt a little more like a base than we're used to in this footage. We do have a good deal more Sola and I'm glad for that; I'd like to see him more. He had some fun tricked out takedowns and a great 'rana which he followed with an even more novel bridge up sort of 'rana. There were some memorable callbacks in the match, the sort that again, makes the narrative feel more complete and meaningful: Bibi has this front facelock necktwist that we don't really see come to fruition because Sola pops back up with a headbutt the two times he tries it; the second time though, Bibi's ready and he clocks him. Then, the finish is all about the dropkicks, with Bibi catching Sola again in yet another really good finish. It should be noted that as opposed to a lot of the other heels we've seen Bibi raises Sola's hand after the match. You get the sense that he, like Bollet, will be more of a lovable scamp to the crowd over the years than some of the foreign heels we've seen.

PAS: I just love this stuff, I don't think this is high end French Catch but the floor on this footage is so high. Bibi is a blast, I loved how he used his barrel chest as a weapon, the spot that Matt described where he shrugged off the dropkicks, only to stooge on the third was great, but he also used it as a battering ram to Sola's face. There was some super nifty mat exchanged here too, one long section built around a short arm scissors, including some real wrenching of the arm, and one section built around a reverse leg stretch. Sola had some fun arial stuff including a cool rana, which he hung onto almost a triangle choke and some nice drop kicks (which Bibi bumped huge for) and was perfectly game when it got time to start throwing. Cool finish too, with Bibi hitting a nasty powerbomb out of a rana attempt. If this was the first Catch thing we ever saw, we would be losing our shit, but after seeing a bunch, it is just an example of how great the baseline was.

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