Tuesday is French Catch Day: Bordes! Bouvet! Payen! Boucard! Ramirez! Menard! Di Santo! Zorba!

Walter Bordes/Gerard Bouvet vs Pierre Payen/ Daniel Boucard 8/28/78 

MD: I missed this one last week (the footage at the end of this decade is a little harder to organize) but it was another match in front of the Breton folk group, pipes and all. Long first fall, short second fall. Not a ton of drama as the stylists took most of it and even when Bordes got trapped in the corner late in the match, for instance, it was just to set up a comeback spot and another tag. That said, there were some really good individual exchanges in here, especially when Boucard or Bouvet were in the ring and especially against each other. That's not to say Bordes or Payen weren't good too but there was just more smoothnesss and imagination from the other two. One standout was Boucard pressing himself up into a very unique dropping headbutt (as opposed to a bridging knee drop for instance) and then immediately missing a dive to the outside. Just that level of imagination and energy. He also had a nice flurry of strikes at one point and stooged later on when it was time to take offense, very complete wrestler from this look at him. Bouvet had more of Ben Chemoul's flare to him, using Leduc's headstand headscissors (and the announcer invoked Leduc by name), and having a number of slick takedowns and spots. So this was enjoyable and probably gif-able but hardly weighty enough to stand against some of the other tags we've seen lately.

Paco Ramirez vs Jean Menard (JIP) 11/12/78

MD: We get the last 9 of this one. It's a swimming pool match but that really doesn't come into play except for Ramirez trying to push Menard out a couple of times. After a brief flurry of dropkicks by Menard earlier in the footage, the rest of this is all Ramirez. His stuff is very credible, but not terribly dynamic. Even when he lifts Menard up, it's really just to press him into the corner and hit him some more. Again, nothing we necessarily have a problem with, and they worked in some more direct and clear hope spots and cutoffs than what we usually get, as matches tend to be more back and forth than this. Ramirez pressed the advantage and ultimately got DQed as he pressed the ref (apparently Bollet's brother) just a bit too much. Post match, he had a staredown with the arriving di Santo, so maybe that was to build to another match.

Michel di Santo vs Zorba 11/12/78

MD: Zorba's sporting quite the look, another masked monster, but this one in blue and red superhero garb (looking a decent amount like Atom Smasher, actually). Michel di Santo, on the other hand, reminds me a bit of Greg Gagne, kind of lanky, not his dad, still perfectly decent. Zorba mostly threw hammering blows and tossed di Santo around the ring, but he had some big strength spots as well, a press up gutbuster, a tombstone. I'm not sure about the look for a monster heel, even in 79, but he had size and presence, very imposing in the ring once he got going. The ref called it after the tombstone but the beating continued and when he tried to get in the way of it, Zorba tossed him in the drink and di Santo soon after. At that point, they made a pretty big deal about him ending up in the water when he had been knocked senseless and the danger of it all. Pretty dominant introduction for the masked man, even if there's nothing particularly Greek about him. I'd have paid to see Bordes try his luck against him, for instance. 

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Tuesday is French Catch Day: Van Buyten! Vladimir! Lola! Brigette! Angelito! Hassouni! Richard! Menard!

Either 5/17/78 or 7/15/78 

MD: The poster below was in the footage itself. I have no idea who Rocco and Zorba are here (Claude Rocca maybe?). I'm also not sure on the date. I've seen both. Note that the second match in the footage is our first women's match, for those who might be curious at what the quality was there (high; the quality of "Combat Feminin" was high).

Le Grand Vladimir vs Franz Van Buyten

MD: The footage starts around twenty minutes in. Delaporte's the ref. There's no commentary but it sure seems like Van Buyten to me. There's no babyface in the history of wrestling quite like him. We get the last ten or so and they're fighting to a draw, though Van Buyten is almost constantly going for the win once he comes back. Lots of hard shots, especially off the ropes from Van Buyten, as well as slams, with Vladimir clubbering as well as anyone ever and using his knee a lot (knee lifts, knee crushers, knees to the gut). Van Buyten was constantly scrambling, avoiding chinlocks after mares with a quick roll out so he can rush to his feet to fire back some more. Delaporte calls him the winner on points at the end. Lots of empty seats relative to previous weeks. I'm not sure if that's just because we're earlier into the card than usual (this was the second match of the night) or what, but they missed some good action here.

Lola Garcia vs Brigette Borne

MD: This was excellent. It stands well next to a lot of the action we've seen in the 70s. It was very much more of the same, long holds well worked, building to big counters, big shots, and transitions into the next hold. Garcia looked to be the more seasoned of the two. Borne was working the stylist role and something of an underdog as well. Garcia had some amazing bridges, including one where she kept a toehold even after Borne had gotten an arm around her chin to try to counter. They were just constantly working for escapes, constantly driving for the next thing. There were moments I wish that they almost let things breathe just a little more, that's how hard they were wrestling. Some of what they did was incredibly slick too, like when Borne shot her into the ropes and followed in to tie her up, I've never seen it done so quickly and smoothly. The ref seemed to be favoring Garcia, and there was a tecnico/rudo sense that we do get sometimes, where the bad guy is expected to take some liberties but the stylist is held to a higher standard. It culminated in the one big comedy spot of the match where Borne kicked the ref into Garcia causing both to tumble over and the ref to go flying out of the ring. Hard-worked, entertaining, full of character. It's a shame we don't have another half dozen Garcia matches.

Jean Menard/Jicky Richard vs Kader Hassouni/Angelito

MD: I keep waiting for the quality to drop. It never does. I'm not sure how many people have been watching these from the start and following along week to week for the last few years during the pandemic, but I know it's been a few of you at least. This stuff is just still really, really good. Another great tag that goes long. It loses a little bit of focus in the second fall during the protracted comeback, but always with very good individual exchanges. Every time these guys lock up, it's just good wrestling.

Here, you had Angelito really showing off. He was able to pause in midair on hold escapes or monkey flips and really let things sink in. His bumps were huge. He just sailed across the ring on slams or biels and the occasional crazy, crazy bump to the floor. The ultimate finish is him not able to meet the ten count after missing a run up twisting moonsault. He had some really fun offense too including a repeated attempt at an elevated half crab and a doctor bomb just for the hell of it. Hassouni was a game partner, with a lot of quick pin exchanges with both Menard and Richard, trading holds with Menard, rope running with Richard. He had a flair for entertaining too, turtling into a lady of the lake for instance, and getting the crowd to sing Mamadou to his bouncing.

The announcer spent the whole match thinking Richard was Menard and vice versa but I at least know the former by sight by now (and you could tell from the public warnings, for instance), though I never know if it's Ricard or Richard. Regardless, Richard is an amazing base and clobberer that could still go when needed. He was announced as the "#1 Bludgeon" which is accurate. He also added press slams (into a gut buster and just a military press forward) into his arsenal. Richard was a clear bad guy here, constantly arguing with Delaporte, but Menard was mostly playing fair. He had endless amounts of cool stuff, slams from a suplex position, a Robinson backbreaker, a conjuro type spin out into a slam. Just a very interesting wrestler to watch. This followed the usual format for the late 70s, long feeling out, cheating leading to heat and a pin, a comeback in the second fall, and then a more entertaining third fall, with the entertainment less about comedy (save for Richard and Delaporte getting into it) than just all out action. The finish was abrupt and striking and a very cool spot for the time. Another great match, even if we know these wrestlers better than the announcer does now.

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Tuesday is French Catch Day: Corne! Falempin! Richard! Menard! Bordes! Rocca! Sanniez! Bernaert!

Jean Corne/Michel Falempin vs Jacky Richard/Jean Menard 8/22/77

MD: I wouldn't call this one balanced, but the actual wrestling was just excellent. They went around twenty minutes of a first fall in and out of holds, with rope running, quick exchanges, some fiery slugging, certain things that were somewhat innovative for the times, like crabs and a backslide takedown and even a doctor bomb sort of takedown. Menard was able to do quicker and more elaborate exchange but Richard had a way of falling like a tree and stooging more and really could keep up on the rope running. Delaporte (announced as the "former licensed villain of wrestling"), as ref, was a non factor for the first fall, just the guy with the best seat in the house. The second fall had the heels cheat to take over, with Delaporte getting frustrated and admonishing one while the other made cheapshots. The last fall had a fairly quick hot tag and both guys tied up with another spot of Delaporte getting stepped on and encouraging the stylists to keep it going. Quick and celebratory. It's not how I'd want this match to have been balanced, but it's the style, and as a match in the style, it was excellent. Just great wrestling all around.  

Walter Bordes/Claude Rocca vs Albert Sanniez/Pierre Bernaert 8/29/77

MD: This was a tale of two matches, or at least of two falls. The first fall felt very complete, had some really nice exchanges, fresh ones too because it wasn't just Bordes but also Sanniez and Rocca, who we've not been able to see much of. Bernaert was a surprise. It'd been a while since we'd seen him and he was certainly up there in age, but he wrestled early on like someone with something left to prove. By this point, Delaporte was old hat as ref. The matches and spots were not based around him. He was able to bluster about when the heels were cheating and worked into the comedy at the end (more on that in a second) but he felt almost like an expectation instead of an attraction. Still, it was nice to see Bernaert in there with him as they knew how to play off of one another. After a lot of wrestling, the heat based on double teaming, and a rousing comeback, the second fall was entirely shtick. Sanniez bumped all over the ring for it, Bernaert begged off like a champ, and Delaporte fed people into the next spots when applicable, but it wasn't quite as imaginative as you might have hoped with the pieces at play. Still, overall this was a good one, a comfortable one. By now we're well aware of the ebbs and the flows and pacing of late 70s tags and matches like this feel right in a way that they might not if you weren't awash in them.

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Tuesday is French Catch Day: Prince! Corne! Mitchell! Noced! Richard! Renault! Mercier! Menard! Fake Mongolians?

Guy Mercier/Jean Menard vs. Abdul Khan/Chang Li 1/5/74

MD: French heroes vs probably fake Mongolians here. Chang Li was taller and thinner and could have passed for a fake Russian a few years later. Mercier is very good at what he does and had been for decades at this point. Menard we've seen once and we'll see again (but as a heel, I think) and he had the crowd behind him, especially the young ladies. They had a bit of Ben Chemoul/Bordes vibe as one was sort of a younger version of the other. Mercier used all the old tricks, the cross-footed Mascaras twist, the bearhug into a backbreaker, the repeated bodyscissors butt crash followed by atomic drops and Menard was game. He especially did well as face in peril building to an actual hot tag, as the ref had missed a tag and Chang Li and Abdul Khan did well cutting off the ring. They were mostly chop and nerve hold based with a decent amount of chinlocks and cheating. Abdul Khan brought the over the top character flourishes, looking like he was all but electrocuted as he reacated at times and Chang Li's strikes looked pretty good for what they were as he went high low high or low high low. After the big comeback in the second fall, it never quite felt like the Mercier and Menard were in much danger but by that point the crowd wanted to see the Mongolians get what was coming to them anyway. Fun stuff if you're in the mood for fake Mongolians, certainly.

Petit Prince/Jean Corne/Alain Mitchell vs. Daniel Noced/Jacky Richard/Guy Renault 2/9/74

MD: Due to a preliminary match (where the heels cheated) Alan Mitchell can't participate in this match for the first fifteen minutes, so it's three on two. For the first ten minutes, that doesn't really come into play as Petit Prince (and to a lesser but still meaningful extent) Jean Corne run circles around the heels and clown them repeatedly, because they're just that good. The heels base well and take everything, with Noced's reactions especially good. Eventually though, Noced has a very mean control on Prince (drawing a public warning and making it worth it) and he knocks Corne off the apron. That means when Prince makes it to the corner, there's no one to tag. By the time he's back the heels distract enough so that the ref misses a hot tag. They really cracked the code on how to get heat, southern tag style, somewhere in the early 70s and here we really see it bear fruit. That means a huge press slam into a gutbuster by Noced gets them the first fall.

Perfectly timed for the end of Mitchell's penalty period is Prince's comeback however, and the fans go nuts for the tag. The rest of the second fall was full of Mitchell showing off some nice matwork tricks, a bit of heat where the heels try to keep things in the corner, but ultimately a lot of big clowning spots, including all of the heels trapped in the face corner with Prince standing on them, and miscommunication spots, before Mitchell lands a pretty unique sunset flip variation. The third fall was more of the same, with plenty of elaborate spots, lightning quick one after the next like an old lucha match's tercera where much of the drama had passed and now it was time for the crowd to celebrate the prowess of their heroes. All in all, this was a great showcase, maybe one of the best, especially given that they were able to successfully milk the drama of the penalty period.

PAS: This was really great stuff. I agree with Matt about how this is one of the first tags we have seen with the more traditional cutting off the ring stuff which is what we expect from tag wrestling. Prince is a perfect babyface for that role, and a perfect babyface for the later section where he just dazzles around turning the heels into stooges and goofs. All the heels were really cool as foils and I liked the idea of a penalty box in a six man tag. So crazy that Le Petit Prince was basically unknown five years ago, and now we have so many chances to see him dazzle us.

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Tuesday is French Catch Day: Ben Chemoul! Bordes! Golden Falcons! Menard! Michel! Celts! Kamizake! Priore!

Rene Ben Chemoul/Walter Bordes vs.  Golden Falcons 5/13/72 

MD: A return match here. It starts exactly the same for the first thirty seconds or so which made me wonder, but it diverges after that. Very good as always when it comes to Ben Chemoul and Bordes, but you want just a little more heat sometimes. That's not to say that what we got in that direction wasn't good as the Falcons were excellent at controlling their corner and laying in clubbing (and clubbering) blows. All of the celebratory stylist stuff was excellent too, of course. Bordes increased his toolkit every match. There were maybe four or five new spots he did here that I'd never seen him do before, as varied as a belly to belly over head toss to more innovative tricked out rope running exchanges and even knife-edge chops which we don't often see in the footage. We have Ben Chemoul footage dating back fifteen years earlier and he could still go at such a high level here. Bordes might have outpaced him when it comes to flash but he still brought so much stylized sizzle and had such a connection with the crowd. And really, the fact that the two of them, 30 minutes into a match like this, could just shoot off 'rana after 'rana and dropkick after dropkick was just amazing.

Jean Menard/Alan Michel vs. Jean Corne/Michel Falempin (Third Fall) 5/22/72

MD: This is the last fall of a 2/3 falls match, and we get about eight minutes overall, plus the Celts celebration with a giant flag after the match. It was stylist vs stylist, mostly clean but occasionally boiling over in that 50s style. A lot of quick exchanges, some pin exchange sequences that were sharp and exciting. Usually when I see a new move in a match, I'll see it again in another with different people soon after. That was the case with the crucifix pin here, which I saw Bordes do recently for the first time in the footage. Really, by the end, this was just exchange after exchange and nothing really resonated too much. The tag setting made it hard for things to build towards a chippier finish because once they finished throwing shots, they'd tag out and go back to holds or pin attempts. The wrestling was all good though. I think we just missed out on not having the first two falls.

Kamikaze vs. Nicolas Priore 5/22/72

MD: I'm going to assume this was Aledo. He had a new deal where he took the mask off and revealed a ghastly bald head with a mustache and probably the eyebrows taped back to go full caricature. The announcer sold it as being worthy of a horror movie. Nothing incredibly spectacular out of him here, but he had a lot of stuff, going all in with the gimmick. That meant nerveholds and neck vices, throat shots and a nice punch to the cheek, chops to the head and stomach in a high/low pattern, skinning the cat by going through the second rope while getting tossed a couple of times, a bound up to the top to hit a diving chop to a prone Priore, a lot of bowing to the ref whenever he cheated, and this great bit where he sprung over the top to the floor like Savage to slam Priore's leg into the apron. He also had a way of sneaking in a quick counter to almost everything. So a lot of stuff and hoping at least some of it stuck. He had heat and they were behind Priore's comebacks so I suppose it did. Best part of this was probably when Priore came back and got his own revenge whack of the leg onto the apron. Kamikaze sold the leg well for a minute or two before deciding he had enough of it. Story of the match after that was Priore's head getting damaged from the chops and he selling the injury more and more until the ref stopped it. He had a few nice flourishes and comebacks including some brawling on the floor and a press slam gutbuster and giant swing, but it was all for naught. It's always interesting to see the Kamikaze act in full force but even with all of those affectations in offense and mannerisms, it only shows half of what we know Aledo could do.

 

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