Tuesday is French Catch Day: Cohen! Boucard! Calderon! Siki! Bordes! Bouvet! Viracocha! Shadow!

Georges Cohen vs Daniel Boucard (JIP) 3/3/79 

MD: Last eight and a half minutes of a thirty minute draw here and it's good stuff and our loss that we don't have more. Cohen, is, of course, as good as anyone really. Boucard we've seen a bit more lately and he was an hard-hitting, agile, imaginative heel, able to do a Tajiri style handspring off the ropes, but also sporting an amazing one-two European Uppercut/gut shot. They worked some fun spots using more of those armdrag-into-a-slam that ended so many falls and matches on the set but here having a kickout cause the person who hit the move to crash onto the ref. They also went to the floor to brawl at one point only to have a fan try to intervene. Things built to one of those 1950s style of draw finishes where they just threw fists until the bell. Talented wrestlers, good action. Unfortunately, less than ten minutes of it.

Gaby Calderon vs Mammoth Siki 3/3/79

MD: I was kind of dreading this one. Calderon is very hit or miss throughout the footage, which isn't entirely fair to him because he's only there a few times and our first look at him was twenty years before this, but it is what it is. The judo gimmick he worked depended on the opponent. I hadn't liked Siki much at all in the last match against Schmid so this one had me worried.

I was mistaken. It was actually quite good as they worked every hold about as hard as it could be worked. Siki didn't do much fancy, but he was strong and could grind someone down. Calderon was smart working from underneath and pretty nasty when locking in holds of his own. This became a fight of strength vs skill, of precise judo vs bursting power and well-placed headbutts. It only went around twenty and there were signs in the back half that they weren't quite as sharp as they started, but in general, it was just good, solid wrestling that played to both men's strengths instead of falling into a messy contrast.

Walter Bordes & Gerard Bouvet vs Inca Viracocha & Black Shadow 3/3/79 (possibly 6/79?)

MD: Thirty minute tag that gets two falls, with some drama in the middle but a fairly celebratory last ten minutes. Bouvet is a guy who has looked great in the late 70s, one of the slickest and smoothest wrestlers we've seen in the footage, but we just don't quite have enough of him. Bordes, on the other hand, we have as much of as anyone, and he was such a complete ace by this point, a real star who could do almost everything. He might not have been quite as slick as Bouvet in his holds, but he was slick enough and here we got to see him slug and have imaginative spots, and work the apron, and play the crowd. Shadow was with Viracocha which made for a bit of an odd couple as Viracocha was usually with the Peruvians or the Spaniards and Shadow with Josef el Arz, but they worked well together, both in feeding and stooging (and Shadow bumping to the floor, a specialty) and in bullying when it was time to take over. Viracocha was such an expert in sneaking is foot in from the corner to stop a comeback attempt. This is typical for the time period in France, so there was just a bit too much heat on the ref (not wildly so, just a bit), but you could slug him and just draw a public warning and not a DQ, which Bouvet did after taking the hot tag from Bordes. Some very imaginative tandem spots at the end. Another good tag in the almost endless string of them.

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Tuesday is French Catch Day: Kurt Kaiser! Lasartesse! Calderon! Mercier! Kiyomigawa

Kurt Kaiser vs. Remy Bayle 2/21/70

MD: I was wondering when this episode was only 27 minutes and this match wasn't joined in progress. This was one minute and twenty-seconds of outright murder. Even when they've debuted monsters in the past, whether they were the cerebral sort like the good Dr. Kaiser or outright monsters like Quasimodo, it was usually in extended matches where they got to show a lot and their opponents at least tried to fight back. Here, it was a series of haymaker forearms, a series of slams, and one double underhook suplex. They certainly built him up for a big match against some stylist or another.

Rene Lasartesse vs. Gaby Calderon 2/21/70

MD: On paper, I didn't love the look of this as a little bit of the judokas goes a long way, but it was actually a great matchup. Lasartesse supplied the contrast and force required and Calderon went at him with a different intensity and less of a spirit of exhibition than usual. It was a contest between Lasartesse's size, strength, and unrelenting underhandeness and Calderon's skill. Lasartesse would strike down upon him, would go for slams and backbreakers, and would sneak in eyerakes, chokes (most especially while in the backbreaker position), and would even undo the corner ring guards, and Calderon would come back by catching or redirecting the arm, laying in shots like knees, and unleashing varied submissions, including a great stretching double armbar and a 1970 Crippler Crossface of all things. Ultimately, Lasartesse chipped away at him by going after the throat, but drew the ref's ire in the process and earned himself a DQ by launching his signature bomb's away kneedrop straight down upon Calderon's windpipe. This was absolutely the matchup Calderon needed.

Guy Mercier vs. Kiyomigawa 4/11/70

MD: They'd introduced rounds matches earlier with Mercier vs Le Foudre early in 70 and this is the second match in the footage that follows the style. They still announce it as new and try to explain Kiyomigawa refusing to break in that he's unfamiliar with it. Before the match, he has a plate breaking demonstration and he has a couple of Japanese valets or observers at ringside but there's a communication gap between them and the announcers. This ends up being six rounds of around five minutes and the pacing works out better than the Le Foudre match. Kiyomigawa was as stereotypical worker as you might with chops and nerve holds, but I like the chops generally. They look good and he has some combos with them. Mercier is quick to get a leg pick and work a toehold but there's never any selling from Kiyomigawa to give it any weight. Kiyomigawa's always able to go to the eyes or the ropes and get a break so he can chop and choke again. Mercier tries for a bearhug and maybe a belly to belly a couple of times and usually pays for it; even when he gets it late in the match, it's without weight (back to the eyes, back to the nerve hold and chop). There are a couple of rounds I liked a lot, 3 where Mercier really got to fight back from the chops and 4 where there was a bit of a role reversal with Kiyomigawa going for the toehold and Mercier the chinlock but this was all quite a bit of the same, even if the same was generally good. If you're going to have a fairly repetitive match instead of push for an escalating boiling over, the rounds probably do more good than harm.

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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.

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Tuesday is French Catch Day: Bout! Stein! Leduc! LE BOURREAU de BETHUNE!!

Guy Mercier vs.  Robert le Boulch (JIP) - Leduc Profile - Robert Gastel vs. Gaby Calderon 2/5/59  

MD: This show was formatted a bit differently than usual. We came in at the very last seconds of Mercier vs le Boulch. There wasn't enough to say anything about Le Boulch but we'll see him a couple of times later. Mercier won with a clunky but still impressive float-over fall away slam. Then they were supposed to go to Leduc vs Le Bourreau de Bethune and showed us a Leduc profile piece to set it up. We've gotten a few of these so far and they're always a nice surprise. Here he was driving a small chariot of horses as part of his training and then had a little interview where he talked about his favorite authors and what not. When they cut back to the ring an impromptu Gastel vs Calderon match was going because they claimed the fans were preventing Le Bourreau from entering the ring/arena. This is what google translate is telling me at least. It's the most Memphis studio TV I've ever seen French catch. Anyway, this went just just a few minutes and was anchored by Gastel being his usual cheapshot clubbering jerk self. This was our first look at Calderon and he had no shoes and long pants and maybe had a martial arts thing going? He had one neat reversal of an arm wringer into an armbar and won with some chops and a stepover armbar which led to a great post-match moment where Calderon had to put Gastel's arm back into joint, which I'm not sure I've ever seen before. We'll see more of him later too. After the match, they asked Gastel about how he felt, which got over the hold even more, but also felt like another weird departure.

SR: We get about one minute of Mercier vs. Le Boulch. Le Boulch does a somewhat elaborate bumping and rope running routine before Mercier hits him with a nice overhead suplex.We get about 5 minutes of Gastel vs Calderon. It‘s Robert Gastel, baby, and every second of him is a treasure. Gaby Calderons barefoot look with the cut off tights is questionable, but he did seem like a competent catcheur. And young Gastel will club the shit out of anyone. It is telling how awesome he makes a simple punch to the jaw look. Calderon seemed to be doing a martial artist gimmick, which can be tough to pull off, but when it was time to chop and arm lock Gastel he did chop and armlock the shit out of him. Wouldn‘t mind seeing more of that fellow.


Gilbert Leduc vs. Le Bourreau de Bethune 2/5/59

MD: What an amazing debut. I was a little hesitant on us covering this one because it had been out there for a bit, but seeing this in context, following from L'Ange Blanc's debut, knowing LeDuc as we do by now, just having a sense of what French Catch of this period is like, this is a puzzle piece that just fits into the broader tapestry. LeDuc is masterful here, a wonderful counterpart to Villars in L'Ange Blanc's debut. There, Villars took holds and let his opponent escape. Here, LeDuc let himself get overpowered again and again, and had to really work for his escapes. When LeDuc takes a punch, he sells it like he's been hit with a hammer. I don't think we've seen anyone who wasn't a giant portrayed as such a powerhouse like this. Moreover, almost immediately after the escape Le Bourreau was right back in to try to get an unfair, bullying advantage. When LeDuc finally has him down, Le Bourreau goes to the hair to escape a hold and the crowd, ready for this moment, jeers wildly. Ultimately, Le Bourreau locks in a cobra and won't break it in the ropes, which lets him really unload with clubbering blows and headbutts. LeDuc mounts a big comeback, ducking a blow and firing back, only to get tossed over the top. He's weakened and vulnerable and this allows Le Bourreau to unleash his killer blow, a press slam gutbuster, which is definitely something we haven't seen before. LeDuc sells it like death, taking a ten count, but demands to fight on into the second round. Le Bourreau swallows him up immediately, hitting two more gutbusters for the brutal win. Great debut, following another great debut, and if I was part of that crowd, I'd have been chomping at the bit to see L'Ange Blanc vs Le Bourreau de Bethune. This may have been the most effective match we've seen so far at accomplishing what it set out to do.

SR:  2/3 falls match going a bit over 20 minutes. It‘s the Hangman of Bethune, baby. Really cool how we get masked guys who look like straight up luchadores by now. Match wise the Hangman didn‘t do much out of the extraordinary, though he did a good job looking like a menacing masked evil dude, complete with a signature pose and all. I liked how he powered out of Leducs arm holds and when it was time to deliver a beating, he got pretty violent hitting Leduc in the face with headbutts and forearms. I always enjoy watching Leduc so the match was easily enjoyable, although it ended in a rush when the Hangman finished off Leduc 2:0 with his military press into a gutbuster which is a hell of a finisher in 1959. Apparently the Hangman doesn‘t show up again, which feels like a bummer as we just got a taste of him here. 

PAS: This was a heck of debut. We have seen LeDuc eat up his opponents before, so it is was something to see him dominated like this. He tried to use his patented headspin several times but it was mostly stymied by Bethune. The hangman really wore him down with his headscissors, and cracked him with nasty headbutts and overhead forearms.  LeDuc took a big bump over the top rope and fell hard with that press slam stomach buster. It is a shame we don't have anymore Bethune, because after debut like that you really want to see how someone could stand up to him. 

ER: One of the joys of French Catch is that, nearly every week, I get to write some variation of "this was not what I was expecting, but in a good way" and mean it. LeDuc is not a site favorite, and just a few weeks ago we made LeDuc's showcase match against Rocco Lamban our MOTY for 1958. This LeDuc match is just a few months later, and it was wild seeing LeDuc massacred by this masked executioner. The early match headscissor blocks and attempts were enough to sell me on this one, as LeDuc's Santo-esque head spins have been a highlight of French Catch, and every time Bourreau would block them I could feel muscles straining and backs and necks getting tweaked. It's like when you have to crack your neck, and really lean into the attempt, but nothing actually cracks and you just end up making your neck feel worse, only times five. Bourreau was bulkier in the arms and shoulders than most men we've seen from the era, looking more like a shorter Clint Walker than any of the wrestlers we've seen, but he amusingly minces around the ring like Mil Mascaras. He takes little short steps with his toes pointing inward, butt clenched, waist sucked in. You'd expect him to stomp around, but I was endlessly entertained watching him draw heat just by walking around the ring constantly flexing, taking those little steps. He uses small heat tactics to maximum efficiency, and hearing the crowd erupt in rage after a hair pull is pure joy. His brazen cheating is something to behold, made more special when placed in context of just how uncommon it was during this era. The press slam gutbuster was a real shock, something that would absolutely hold up as a finisher 60 years later, and at the time (and with the help of LeDuc's expert selling) it must have felt like LeDuc was dying in the ring. The straight falls finish was handled brilliantly, LeDuc coming off like an ultimate babyface for demanding to continue, only to get wasted with the same gutbuster. I can only imagine how molten the rematch must have been, and we can only imagine how LeDuc would have handled that. At least we got this, but it's cruel knowing how fired up the rematch would have been. 

Johnny Stein vs. Jean Bout 2/27/59

MD: Long, but very good, albeit quite straightforward, match. Stein is the future Kurt von Stroheim and the second Kurt von Brauner. Bout is a real meat and potatoes guy for this footage. Could take a beating. Could hit a running 'rana. Expert technician. Cound mount fiery comebacks. He did all of that and more here, but it really was the Stein show. He was completely immersed in his character, a lumbering stormtrooper, one of the prototypes of a dozen post-war German heels, mixing style and substance. He had any number of holds working over the head, the arm, the back, the legs, and sometimes multiples at once, including a nasty STF. He had a way of moving from one to another after cutting off a bit of hope. On defense, he was quick to try for a rope break, though he'd never give a clean break himself. One one of the big spots of the match, Bout had enough of that and flipped him over while he was in the ropes. This had a ton of time and after a more technical beginning, flipped between holds and clubbers by Stein and big comebacks and revenge holds by Bout. Bout had a great variety of strikes, including knife-edge chops that we actually don't see a lot in this footage. And yes, as per the French way, they were trying some new things in this episode, starting by playing Witch Doctor, with some weird lighting throughout that really deemphasized the crowd (though it's hard to do that when they're chanting or throwing orange peels at Stein after a heel tactic), and with piano occasionally highlighting a moment in the background.

SR: 1 Fall Match a little over 40 minutes. For some reason, they kept playing piano solos over this. Johnny Stein is a bald headed German with a massive physique. You can tell he is hated right from the get go, and this was a niggly bout where they do some tough, simplistic hip throws and headscissors wrestling and lots of beating on eachother. It doesn‘t add anything new to this common formula of French wrestling, but I enjoyed myself. One thing that stood out is how dark this was, like the ring was basically this claustrophobic bright chamber in a dark hall. You basically never get a look at either guys face, and Steins hunched over stance gave him a sinister aura. The only time you see the audience is when Stein goes to throw Bout over the top rope and a bunch of people rise up to catch his fall. One of those examples of how invested fans were into the babyfaces then. Bout seemed to have the upper hand, being fired up and blasting away at Stein with big chops and forearm blows. The match seemed to ramp up the intensity at the 30 minute mark with Stein starting to pick apart his opponent, but after some heated back and forth (including a great rope running sequence that lead to Stein eating a sick dropkick) the match deflated with a lame DQ finish. Not a great way to end a 40 minute long match to say the least.

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