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: Delaporte! King Kong! Tarres! von Chenok! Humez! Debusne!

Al Arajo vs. ? 7/26/57

SR: JIP with about 4 minutes shown. Very mysterious match. The fact that these guys look alike doesn't make it easier. This was a technical affair. There was a nice Solar esque pin attempt, cool double leg nelson and a great looking arm throw, but there was also stuff that looked quite blown. The winner takes it with a nice looking victory roll.

MD: Two Spaniards here, as best as I can tell. We just get a few minutes of this and it's not quite as smooth as we're used to. There's a good leg nelson spot full of the usual whacks and a full rotation armdrag which someone should be doing now, plus what I think was our first victory roll pin for a finish, but this wasn't enough to get a real opinion on either guy.

Roger Delaporte vs. King Kong Taverne 7/26/57 - GREAT

PAS: This was an odd match to rate. Taverne had a lot of charisma, and a great look but wasn't very good. He kind of reminded me of Bugsy McGraw, his shots had a lot of windup but not a ton of force, which was disappointing. He looks like a guy who hits hard, and everyone in France hits hard. He did take some fun showy bumps, including one over the top rope. He was a good punching bag for Delaporte though, who kept getting nastier and nastier, until the finish where he just starts punching him in the neck and back of the head, and even smashes the referee. Delaporte is a great heel, and this was a fun performance around a guy who was pretty limited. Kind of what I imagine a Bockwinkle vs. Baron Von Rashke title match might look like.

MD: Very interesting thirty plus minutes of footage. This is our first look at Taverne and he's remarkable. He's a huge lumbering presence, like a George Steele, but somehow more solid. I kept picturing the world's biggest and baddest Ed Asner, just from the put upon looks he'd give Delaporte and the ref (there's a certain Mr. Belvedere thing to Delaporte by the way, but I'll let Eric delve into that someday). Yes, he's lumbering. Yes, he's stocky. He hammers and swipes and bull rushes, but he's also able to do a lot of the typical spots we've seen so far. He's able to headstand out of headscissors, and hit a headscissors takeover out of an armbar. They did a lot of snatching at legs, both a single leg takedown and a double leg from behind, and at one point he was lightning fast at getting his leg around and escaping. One of the biggest spots of the match was them trading dropkicks and doing the big double miss.

Much of this was Delaporte trying to deal with the intellectual problem of King Kong Taverne, which is always a build I love. It meant for a lot of running away and going for cheapshots, of trying a hold, be it a headlock or armbar, and Taverne just out powering (or sometimes as noted, out finessing him). Delaporte would try something cheap and Taverne would respond in kind, twice as hard, and Delaporte would stooge and sell and run. There were some really funny exchanges, like both of them going after the ears at the same time. At one point, after Taverne picked him up and crotched him on the top rope, I was pretty certain the fans were going to get behind Delaporte, but he knew how toxic even a little bit of the fans' adulation could be for his lead heel role and he leaned even harder into being despicable. He had his chance after a dodged Taverne bull charge in the second fall and biggest spot of the match, a huge back body drop bump onto the floor. That led to a nasty king of the mountain segment with some more big Taverne bumps to the floor and Delaporte going all in on Taverne's eyes. The ref repeatedly tried to stop him and Delaporte clocked him for his troubles, drawing a DQ. So far DQs have been very rare (this might be the first we've seen?) and this left both guys looking good (and nasty/vile/bad, of course). Entertaining stuff.

SR: 2/3 Falls match going roughly 25 minutes. Holy lord, King Kong Taverne is a massive, massive man. Big, bald, hairy, built like a gorilla, he had the quintessential look of a guy you don‘t want to piss off. Delaporte, in the span of 7 days, goes from hated prick to almost a comical babyface as he tries not to get squished by the mighty Taverne. Some really amusing cat and mouse play and Delaporte going for clean wrestling holds ensue. This is our first taste of Delaporte in a singles match and he looks like a really good character worker allowing both his charisma and ability to shine. Taverne, despite his size, is quite good both at scurrying out of positions aswell as stooging and working sequences. He also just runs over Delaporte when he tries to get cute and throw punches, then makes sure to forearm him in the face in the ropes. Delaporte soon gets what‘s coming to him as Taverne locks on the mother of all bearhugs before throwing Delaporte like he was 20 pounds for the fall. The match took a drastic turn in the 2nd fall, as an overzealous Taverne misses a few charges, banging his head against the steel post and flying out of the ring. Before soon Delaporte is at him just trying to rip his eye out, biting and attacking a blinded King Kong with nasty forearms and punches to the face. Quite a return to form for Delaporte to go back to being such a violent prick. Before soon he has forearmed the referee and the match is thrown out. I am going to assume that French wrestling was booked like US studio wrestling except the matches were longer, because I can see this setting up the most epic arena brawl ever for Taverne to get his revenge on Delaporte. We don‘t have such a match, and Taverne only shows up once more which seems to be the theme of this French footage, we have hundreds of matches of great forgotten workers going 20-30 minutes and it‘s still not enough. Atleast we‘ll have plenty more Delaporte, maybe we‘ll see him meeting the guy to give him his comeuppance on TV for once. The ultra vicious streak he showed in this match was some of the most intense wrestling I‘ve seen in a while for sure.

Jose Tarres vs. Karl von Chenok 4/2/59 - GREAT

SR: 2/3 Falls match going roughly 30 minutes. Karl von Chenok was another Hungarian wrestler, although he was billed as „the German strangler“ here. His son, Jörg Chenok, was a decent middleweight working the German scene in the 1980s and early 90s adn appeared on British TV at least one time. As far as evil fake-German guys with strangler gimmicks go, von Chenok sure was no Dr. Adolf Kaiser, as he reeeally liked the nerve hold, but he looked a decent grappler and his european uppercuts sure were stiff as hell. Tarres was a Spanish worker with the legend saying he had metal plates implanted in his head, giving him the nickname „Iron Head“. His headbutts in this were tremendous. This was even further removed from typically beautiful French style pro wrestling than the previous match between Debusne and Humez. It was basically scrappy and uncooperative the whole way through and built around von Chenoks nerve hold vs. Tarres‘ headbutts, with both guys having good ways to avoid the other signature moves. Tarres was really brutalizing von Chenok with those, including a spot where he had him in a surfboard and rammed into the back of his head. Tarres also did a great job fighting out of von Chenoks nerve holds and tossing him around by his bald head. Von Chenok ended up busted open and KO‘d losing the first fall. Through this we learn that unlike in a British wrestling, in France a KO doesn‘t end a 2/3 falls match immediately. If the match had continued in the vein of that 1st fall I could have seen this being really great, but instead we were subjected to a lengthy nerve hold routine from von Chenok. Tarres sold like an absolute champ and you could tell he was a superstar quality worker though. If he had mounted some kind of epic comeback against von Chenoks tactics this really would‘ve been awesome, but I guess it wasn‘t in the books that night. At least we get some more matches of Tarres, including one against Dr. Adolf Kaiser who is the rich mans evil German strangler, so that is something to look forward to.

MD: This gives us a look at some of the diversity in late 50s French wrestling. Von Chenok feels a bit like Kaiser with his nerve holds, but with a sense of survival that would make Bernaert jealous. Tarres is a relatively huge guy with an iron skull who spends the entire match going for headbutts. Chenok spends the entire first fall diving to the mat to try to avoid them and then trying to grab a limb or lock in the nervehold. Tarres is just too strong and has too long a reach advantage, however. He can elbow out of the nerveholds, or even grab poor Chenok's ears and just pull him over. Every time Tarres does get a headbutt in, it's a lot of fun, especially if he strings together a combo with one to the gut and one up high or a few to the back before turning Chenok around and Chenok's sense of desperation is palpable. He was very emotive on close-ups, especially when he did lock in the nervehold for more than a second. We haven't seen an act in this footage quite as singularly focused as Tarres and his headbutts; he seemed limited but strong and spry. He used his size and strength well, including throwing some deadlift headlock suplexes. His selling in the nervelocks during the second and third falls when Chenok did manage an advantage was pretty solid too, giving us a sense of cumulative damage. You end up wishing this went the other way with some fireworks at the end. Ultimately, I imagine Tarres would be a great foil to all of the brilliant heels of the day. We have him in another 59 match against Kaiser and I'm looking forward to that as Kaiser is more of a stooge than Chenok.

PAS: I thought this was a blast. It was guy with an iron head (literally) versus a master of the nerve hold. For this kind of simplistic match to work, you need a guy with a great headbutt and a guy with a really nasty nerve hold, and we check both boxes here. Tarres, has a bunch of different cool ways to set up his headbutts, and Chenok was really fun trying to avoid getting cracked, only to fail and eventually get busted up. I also loved those deadlift suplexes, looks like Chenok wasn't feeding him at all and instead Tarres just yanked him over by his neck. Surprised at the finish, as Chenok just nerved him down until the match ended, I kept expecting Tarres to get one more big headbutt flurry, but instead he got put down.

Charles Humez vs. Paul Debusne 4/2/59 - GREAT

MD: Humez was a famous french boxer and Debusne a stooging heel, but this was very different than the Dauthuille match. In that, it was Dauthuille going for punches and Bernaert doing anything he could to avoid them. Here, the goal seemed to be to get Humez over as a capable wrestler. He wasn't nearly as smooth as most of the other technicians we've seen but he had a counter for everything Debusne attempted and the only way Debusne could get one over on him was with a hair pull, generally. Whenever he tried anything else, Humez would put on a full nelson and turn it into a cobra clutch. That's where we saw Debusne's real strength, sticking his tongue out and mugging. Eventually, he had enough and started to lay in cheapshot knees and even a straight on foul, which was when Humez decided that he too had enough and started to unleash forearms, jabs and uppercuts that just demolished Debusne. I'm almost certain I liked the Dauthuille match more but he came out of that feeling more like an attraction that might get old quickly while Humez came out of this looking like a solid wrestler who had a secret weapon in his pocket if you pushed him enough that he'd have to use it. That was an act with more legs.

SR: 1 Fall match going about 15 minutes. Humez is one of the great French boxers. OJ theorized that this may be his debut match, and it had the feel of a debut match. It felt like French pro wrestling, but there was no overlay elaborate stuff. Feels weird to see a middle aged guy with bald spots working a rookie match. Instead the match just turns into this nasty fight with Humez reacting to Debusne's shenanigans by tagging him and Debusne trying to gouge Humez eyes. It wasn‘t a Roger Delaporte level eye gouging, but it served to get Humez sufficiently fired up. Debusne ends up busted open and Humez takes him to the pay window. Humez has these cool left-right european uppercuts and Debusne was really good doing some noodle legged selling. It wasn‘t an epic spectacle, more like a fun way to debut Humez as this no-nonsense hitter, but it was really enjoyable and not having more Humez feels like a big miss.

PAS: It was odd to watch a different style fight where the Boxer is also such a superior wrestler. These matches are cool when they are a clash of styles,  here Humez doesn't even use much boxing until the end of the match, he is too bust tooling Debusne on the mat. I did like Debusne eye gouging and ball kicking to get an advantage, and Humez unloading on him at the end was awesome. I really liked the way he would use footwork and angles to unleash those uppercuts, he would shift his feet and to get perfect position and evade anything firing back, and really twist his waste to get full torque on the shots. Last couple minutes of this were as cool as anything we have seen from this footage, I just wished Humez had shown a little more vulnerability in what should have been Debusne's strength.

ER: Most of this didn't feel like a Different Style fight at all, but I liked it for what it was. Debusne really made this with his pratfall bumps and his endless bag of nasty cheapshots, and it's fun when a guy can be so in charge and shape a match while also getting maybe 5% of the offense. This was Humez beating Debusne at every single skill, never being on his ass for long, coming back and always dominating. He lands every shot, and every fair shot that Debusne tries for sees him whiff by several feet and bump halfway across the ring. I like Debusne's missed punch bump, as it feels like the kind of bump Burt Reynolds would take in movies when his character was drunk. Bandit standing up and doing a forward roll over the corner of the bed is done with a very similar motion as Debusne striking air and power flopping onto his back. The cheapshots are what really sold me on all of this, as the whole thing has been dominated by Humez until Debusne realizes he has another in. There were a few great ones that I've never seen, with my absolute favorite being his single leg takedown followed immediately up with a kick to the hamstring of that same leg. That feels like such a natural progression and so almost obvious for a heel to do, but it felt entirely fresh here. There were some not very sportsmanlike knees and I love how the nut shot was his undoing, stepping too far over that line that leads to his drubbing at the humorless hands of Humez. The Humez final punch out would have been great on its own, but Debusne took it like a man who knew he deserved this punishment, gettin rocked by every uppercut and finishing his extremely generous role in making Humez look like a star.


La Complète et Exacte French Catch

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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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