Tuesday is French Catch Day: Mantopolous! Israel! Catanzaro! Lemagourou!

Vassilios Mantopolous/Ischa Israel vs Billy Catanzaro/Gilbert Lemagourou 6/19/66

MD:  This was part of "Télé Dimanche", which was a popular variety show, and it took place in the show's studio. There's a white backdrop behind them and the crowd is all facing them from one side. There's a musical artist (Johnny Hallyday) sitting in on commentary at times and, interestingly enough, Catanzaro's wife and two kids were there as well. They ask her questions now and again but she doesn't seem particularly bothered or interested in any of this, even when he's getting routed. She's used to it. She does note he's also a delivery driver and does weight training every Thursday. His kids don't seem to think he'll win. Considering how often we've seen the stylist win these matches (most of the time really) that doesn't surprise me.

It's a fun setting and there's maybe a slight but only slight exhibition-y feel to it. In general you get the real deal and in 1966 I'm not sure if there were two wrestlers as good in the world as Mantopolous and Catanzaro. It's a welcome blast just seeing Mantopolous scrunch down as he entered the ring before pouncing forth and Catanzaro met him in kind. They did so many acts, so many bits, all sorts of little moments of trickery where Mantopolous would draw him in. It's not just that some of the bits are things I'd never seen before, but it's that they perform it so well. Mantopolous ties up Lemagourou towards the end and while Catanzaro breaks it up, it was the most believable I've ever seen the spot done. Likewise some of the Lady in the Lake bits. 

Lemagourou played his part well, a bit more of an oaf or a stooge. The straight man to Catanzaro's inflamed and put upon character actor. He'll walk right into Mantopololus' traps (or Israel's European Uppercuts) while Catanzaro charges into them, though he was also more apt to take big bumps over the top (including right into the judges which everyone loved). And Israel did well too, hitting hard when it was his turn and getting swept under by illegal doubleteams by the heels, though he was overshadowed by Mantopolous, but then most people would be.

There was real familiarity between Mantopolous and Catanzaro which let them do the bit at the end of the first fall where Catanzaro hit a tombstone position press-up facebuster only for Mantanpolous to reverse the second attempt for a tombstone or when Catanzaro hit his spinout backbreakers twice on Israel only for Israel to tag out and Mantopolous to hit Robinson and Conjuro backbreakers. There was once or twice where things seemed to get off the rails just a bit, but in general, this was meant to entertain and it absolutely did.

SR: Well, it's another 25 minutes of pretty amazing popcorn wrestling from maybe the most reliable crew in all of wrestling when it comes to this stuff. Seeing all these guys again so suddenly after we only got a few glimpses at them a few years ago is kind of a crazy occurrance. But here they are, doing their thing. They probably had this match like 500 times, that's how seamless and never lost they go about their wrestling. This had a cool setup being in a TV studio with a white background, tall referee in a smoking, you just can't have this stuff anymore. This had the typical formula, lots shine from your technicos, some rough moves from the heels, an absolute crap ton of sometimes comedic stooging and bumping to entertain the audience. You get the sense that this was probably a deliberate kind of TV psychology, give the audience something joyful to have a romp with. 

And these guys have endless shit they can do to fill the 25 minutes time. Mantopoulos with his endless bag of George Kidd style tricks, and Catanzaro and Lemagourou with their stooging, bumping and muggig. Catanzaro actually did some brief work reminiscent of his classic with Gilbert Cesca and it was cool to see that he could still do the crazy bridging. You can tell he lived this shit, both the classy gymnastic wrestling and the part when it was time to grab someone by the hair and stomp on their face. Mantopoulos is always made to look nigh invulnerable in these matches and its doesn't annoy me because he is so convincing, amazing how he still appears to treat the match a 100% serious with his body language, he never turns into a grinning clown like some of the british technicians will. I dug Israel as the more straight forward counterpart of Vasilios, he had this really great wrist takedown at one point and threw a sneaky punch that looked great. As far as the wrestling goes there wasn't a ton that we haven't seen in other French tags, but there was one piledriver sequence that was really crazy, and the stuff that lead into the finish was downright insane. 

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Tuesday is French Catch Day: Swimming Pool Matches! Lamarre! Montreal! Mantopolous? Hassouni! Mystery Wrestlers!

3/22/74 (All Matches) - Thanks to the community for helping us identify some of the wrestlers here.

Pierre Bernaert vs Gilbert Wherle

MD: I have to admit, I'm not sure who we're looking at here. If this is a card with three matches televised (even over multiple shows) then this is third from the top which seems to be something we rarely see? There's no announcer. This is a draw with 9 minutes left when we come in. The heel kind of reminds me of Bernaert with his hair and cheating and confidence in movements, but he's a little bit too short (Edit: It was!). Hopefully we can crowdsource some answers. Anyway, they were working towards a draw here, in this swimming pool match, so it was very back and forth. The crowd seemed younger (teenagers and twenty-somethings) than what we usually see. The heel would get mean shots in, the face would come back with some revenge shots of his own. There was a pretty good chinlock in here and the face had great arm-wrenching holds, including something akin to the first cross armbreaker we've seen. The heel's attempts to cheat varied from nefarious to absurd (repeatedly grabbing the ropes on a pin as the ref kicked it off). We've seen in draws that the ref will just decide for someone, generally the face, and when that happened here, the heel complained to the point where the ref just pushed him off of the apron into the water. Any ideas on who these two are?

Ted Lamarre vs Mr. Montreal

MD: This got a decent amount of time, but was overall quite good, especially for a swimming pool match. Lamarre, in some ways, mainly the mustache and the tactics, comes off as a less whinging Delaporte, and I do think this was Delaporte's promotion since last time we saw Montreal, he was up against him. But it was a solid act, especially for this crowd. Montreal controlled with his strength early. It wasn't just tossing Lamarre around either. H

e used the strength to make the holds look great and to counter every escape attempt definitively. They were able to move in and out of things well. When Lamarre took over, it was with a lot of cheating and cheap shots, especially draping Montreal's neck over the top and pulling the rope back. Montreal would try to hammer back at times but Lamarre was quick to get the next bit of cheating in. When Montreal did come back, he often took things too far and the warnings started to pile up. Everything came to a head in the celebratory last five minutes when Lamarre (who had skinned the cat once or twice) finally hit the pool on a huge back body drop. At first Montreal wouldn't let him back in. Then he tied him up in the ropes and kept running into him head first. On the third one, the ref got in the way and ultimately, really got in the way and Montreal picked him up to almost drop him in the pool as well. All this lead to a DQ win for Lamarre but the fans hardly cared. Past the ref getting soaked, they got pretty much everything they wanted out of this one.

Kader Hassouni/Vasilious Mantopolous? vs Bernard Caclard/Albert Sanniez

MD: I wish I could do better on this one. I did a little cross checking. One of the heels is an Elisha Cook Jr. looking guy who I'm sure I've seen before. The other one has a goatee and a buzzcut and I'd believe could be either eastern European or Le Vicomte Joel de Norbreuil by looks alone. Unfortunately, he doesn't actually look like him but he looks like someone he could be NAMED him, monocle and all. If I had time, I'd go back through some more matches to cross-check but hopefully you guys can come through. One of the stylists is definitely Kader Hassouni. The other wrestles like Mantopolous, with the hand behind the back feints and spin kicks and a great roll up at the end, and that confidence that was despite his size but I never get a good enough look to be 100% sure.

The match itself is good though. We come in during the second fall, I think, and the heels manage to do a great job cutting off the ring in between fast exchanges. Someone asked me the other day if the quality of the footage has dropped off yet and I said no, but that it was different. One element of that is that they got better at getting heat in tag matches in a more "southern" style. It didn't always pay off well but it was better than just giving up tags whenever. I wouldn't say we had a lot of long holds here either but all of the ins and outs were good, and when things really picked up in the third fall, there were some great pool bumps that the fans absolutely loved, first Hassouni launching a tope suicida right in and then the heels ending up one after the next, ending with the ref. They did a ton of these shows and the fans really did seem to love them.

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Tuesday is French Catch Day: Catanzaro! Bernaert! Mantopolous! Montreal! Corn! Leduc! Henker!

Billy Catanzaro/Pierre Bernaert vs. Mr. Montreal/Vasilios Mantopolous 6/5/72

MD:  I'm amazed we didn't watch this one before. It could be that we saw it was a swimming pool match and decided against it because the few pool matches we've seen so far just haven't been great. This had a few things going for it though. First, it had Billy Catanzaro who is a singular, once in a century, stooging heel. It had Bernaert who is as professional a put upon bad guy as you'll find. It had Montreal who was one of the biggest positive surprises in all of the footage because even a muscle man, in France, was excellent. And of course, it had Mantopolous, who was imaginative, creative, deft, skilled, very over, whatever word you want to use, just a marvel. Even so, what made this work was that they treated the water like a big deal. The tag setting meant that Bernaert could get knocked out relatively early due to mishaps with his own partner, but they took twenty minutes teasing the reviled Catanzaro going out with any number of close calls. It ended up being a bit like an exploding ring match where they tease it and tease it and then finally pay it off, here with Mantopolous skinning the cat and taking Billy over, except for instead of pain and destruction it was a wet humiliation that Catanzaro was trying to avoid. The tag nature meant that Bernaert could suffer repeatedly and keep the fans happy and the gimmick fulfilled while the tension for Catanzaro finally crashing into the pool rose and rose. Once that happened they were already in the second fall and they could just keep building upon it.

There wasn't going to be much heat here. Some cheapshots, some tandem cheating, but it was almost always to set up immediate comeuppance for the bad guys. This was all about keeping the crowd happy and the interplay between Bernaert and Catanzaro was perfect for that. Catanzaro was a jerk's jerk, so much so that Bernaert, a jerk himself, was getting more and more furious at him. On the other side you had Montreal's strength spots and big hammering blows and Mantopolous flying around the ring, using tricked out takedowns, and lady in the lake turtling to make fools out of his opponents. This wasn't the most dramatic match we've seen but it was wildly entertaining the whole way through.

Gilbert Leduc/Jacky Corn vs. Der Henker 7/5/72

MD: This was actually a tremendous piece of business, maybe the most emotionally resonant match we've seen in the entire set. Corn and Leduc were true stars, wrestlers' wrestlers, absolutely tops on my list of babyfaces and stylists I've seen in this footage. They were heroes. Henker was another in the line of masked headsmen but he had an aura, hard shots, big power moves, believability. We'd seen him face off against Leduc and Corn in singles matches already and I wouldn't say anything in those made it inevitable that he could take on both in a handicap match, but they leaned harder into his power and presence here and laid out a match that caused a near riot and that left everyone looking better than they came in.

Early going here was Henker's power up against Corn or Leduc's skill. They would tag in and out and never double team or cheat. Leduc obviously made good use of his headstand and the Mascaras style headscissors. Corn would go quicker into the strike exchanges. Midway through the match, Henker was able to toss Corn out, to slam his head onto the post as he was trying to come back in, and then to drop him hard with a tombstone. The crowd banded together to carry Corn to the back leaving Leduc alone. Leduc did well at first, taking over and even going for the mask, but the ref held him back allowing for a Henker cheap shot and infuriating the crowd. From there, it was Henker slowly whittling Leduc down with big blows and power moves even as the crowd occasionally tried to storm the ring. Leduc would get pops every time he tried to get up, every time he threw a futile blow but Henker was just too much, or at least he was until, minutes down the line, Corn, head taped up, rushed back to the ring. He got the tag and the tide turned with Corn (one of the best late match sluggers ever) and eventually Leduc getting revenge on both Henker and the ref. From there, it was more about Henker surviving the onslaught and making it to the time limit draw, which, as I said, left everyone looking formidable and respectable by the end. The last shot is Corn and Leduc embracing to the crowd's delight. We've seen many matches that were technically better but maybe none that had more heart.

PAS: This was a blast. Henker is a big beastly dude, and I liked how the match built from more exchanges to big bursts of violence. You don't see much blood in French Catch and to see Corn just dripping after getting smashed by those nasty elbow/forearms and the posting was pretty memorable. Also the mass of people carrying him to the back like a martyred rebel leader was awesome. They had really established Henker as so formidable that LeDuc being one on one with him felt like he was at a big disadvantage. Corn coming from the back was iconic and his fired up comeback was some Lawler Mid-South Coliseum level great stuff. After all that I would have liked a more conclusive ending then a draw, but this was very cool stuff.  

ER: I wasn't sure what to expect from this as the handicap structure felt odd. Der Henker is a big man but not so much bigger than Leduc or Corn that a handicap match feels necessary, but these men had all been feuding for a year or more and this was two of the best babyfaces teaming up to rid France of this asshole Executioner. I'm used to German words sounding more ominous than their American counterparts, but I admittedly think that Executioner sounds much cooler than Der Henker. That said, tell every person in attendance that Der Henker doesn't sound ominous and they'd find you mad, as this man is loathed. I love when a French Catch match has these simmering social situations that just keep getting hotter until they boil over, leading women in their nice coats to charge the ring and yell in Der Henker's face.

Henker did a good job of fending off the fighting babyfaces, but things went up to the next level when he tossed Corn to the floor and posted him, then dropped him with a tombstone. Up to that point it had mostly been Henker defending and clubbing in response (with these weird but also cool elbow strikes that landed the entire inside of his arm and elbow across Corn and Leduc's heads), but this was an actual outright offense! The crowd actually carried the injured Corn to the back and I thought for sure that there was going to be a riot, as Der Henker had the stones to actually get out of the ring and face the crowd, more of them pushing closer to the ring every second. A kid, 12 years old tops, even starts to climb up the ring steps to get in before an adult grabs him! 

The match had given us a lot of holds to work out of and now was the time for the uppercuts to start landing. Henker kept winning exchanges, taking a lot of damage, but not staggering or falling to his knees, into the ropes the way Leduc was. Leduc's best attack was his cool slingshot into the ropes, Der Henker falling back hard - twice! - into the points of Leduc's knees. But Der Henker's excellent press slam gutbuster (a move that might have made me flip out even more than the French acrobatics, had I been alive and in attendance) and tombstone on made it seem like that bad guy was taking this, leading to the bloody and wild Corn returning to save his partner. The finishing stretch to the (admittedly disappointing but understandable) time limit draw was pure joy. Corn threw his closed fists to the side of Henker's head and really let loose with uppercuts. Der Henker got stuck in the ropes, the referee got monkey flipped into Der Henker, total madness leading to our draw. I loved how this kept building and leapt into something huge. 

 

ALL TIME MOTY LIST

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Tuesday is French Catch Day: Kamikazes! Dumez! Cohen! M'Boba! Bernaert! Cohen! Trijo!

Kamikaze 1/2 vs. Maurice Dumez/Georges Cohen 10/4/71

MD: Our list had this listed as Guy Mercier vs Kamikaze but it seems like we don't have that one, which is a shame since Mercier vs Aledo sounded pretty great. That's not to take away from this tag though. If it was just the first fall, it'd be a real classic. Even with all three and the match getting thrown out at the end for the Kamikazes brutally cheating and tossing the ref around, it's still up there. That first fall, though, had the sort of shine/heat/comeback format you often find yourself longing for when watching the French footage and four absolutely game wrestlers.

At any point, I could make at least a healthy guess on which Kamikaze was Aledo. He'd be the one who was rolling around the ring and coming off the top more while the other one leaned more into the strikes and bruising and tossing people out. That's just a guess though. Both could base for Cohen and Dumez and both could rope run when necessary; one just seemed better at the latter than the other. Cohen and Dumez had a lot of the skills you'd expect from turn of the 70s French junior heavyweights, going up and over, or down and around on holds. Dumez was spry, following recent Bordes matches by springing his legs off the ropes while holding a headlock, and having some amazing bounding escapes from headscissors for instance.

They wrestled clean for the first ten minutes or so, but once the Kamikazes started to go dirty, they were great at it. They cut off the ring, used ref distractions now and again (and the ref, who was antagonistic to the stylists, apparently had recently suffered an eye injury, which justified some of it), and came off the top frequently for double teams. Aledo (I imagine) had a great wrenching double arm submission that looked nasty, and both guys used the hangman's noose choke over the shoulder. The quick comeback in the first fall and the more extended celebratory spot-heavy one early in the third were both very good. While the finish sort of stunk, even if it let the Kamikazes keep their heat, this had pretty much everything else you would have wanted from a 71 French tag.

M'boba Les Congolais/Pierre Bernaert vs. Vasilios Mantopolous/Jean Claude Trijo (Trichet/Trigeaud) 10/18/71

MD: This got a lot of time, though it was primarily situated in the first fall. It was probably better as a total package than just one fall though since some of the biggest spots and moments were in the last few minutes. Trichet (or Trijo or Triguad, I'm not sure) was ok in his role and had this one nice little bit where he locked in a hammerlock, leapt over his opponent's head and turned around with a dropkick. Bernaert, a true veteran and master, even countered it late in the match. Otherwise, Trichet was there to get beat on a lot so Mantopolous could make big comebacks. He also had assembly line uppercuts from stooging opponents fairly late that were pretty over. Bernaert was more than happy to stooge throughout, including trying to ape Mantopolous' trademark hand-offering draw-in and turtling for instance. Mantopolous was his usual star self. By this point, he was established and his act was incredibly over with the crowd but he constantly added in new bits, or escapes, or counters. He could do these big sweeping flourishes of headscissors takeovers or bounding through his opponents' legs but also head close-up precise counters to holds. M'Boba's act had advanced quite a bit since his first appearance too. He now took a boa constrictor out to the ring and put it into his mouth repeatedly. Fransizka the handler who discovered him was now his wife. He constantly wore that put upon look on his face but also seemed as likely to be found lounging with a cigar as biting his opponent. Anyway, this had a good balance of the stylists outsmarting and out-maneuvering their opponents and the heels cutting off the ring and drawing heat by working over Trichet's legs with some of those big set piece spots with all four wrestlers at the end. Bernaert is the steadiest hand in all the footage and Mantopolous remains amazing to watch.

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Tuesday is French Catch Day: Peruvians! Chemoul! Bordes! Mantopolous! Bernaert! Lamagoru! Camus! Little bit of Andre!!

Inca Peruano/Anton Tejero vs Rene Ben Chemoul/Walter Bordes 4/12/69

MD: Another great tag between these two teams, albeit one where the reffing was just ridiculous lax. I think the only actual public warning here was after the end of the first fall when Bordes and Ben Chemoul were dancing along to the fan's mocking chants and refused to actually engage. Peruano could well be the very best minute to minute wrestler in the entire collection. He was imaginative, inhabited a dodgy, sullen, wry character at all times, had a bunch of great spots and exchanges, and here utilized the best strikes we've ever seen out of him, including these really nice flurries. The first half of this had just a ton of heat, a lot of it obtained by blatantly cheating in front of the ref, but a lot more by drawing him away or riling the other babyface. The tags were generally earned and comebacks, when scored, were fiery crowd-pleasers, though full of plenty of blatant cheating too. By this point, Ben Chemoul and Bordes were a well oiled machine and the back half of this had tons of big bumps and stooging by the heels. It was one moment to pop the crowd after the next. Chemoul seemed as athletic as ever, especially as he flew across the ring onto a leg Bordes was holding and Bordes bumped huge early and plenty of interesting, complex spots later. You wished that maybe they had cashed in on that heat for a little more drama, but what they bought with it instead was an entertained, happy crowd.

SR: 2/3 falls match going about 30 minutes. The opening exchange of this were just ridiculous - insanely fast. Chemoul was acting hyperactive as if he was on cocaine. He seemed a bit like the Terry to the calmer Bordes' Dory Jr. This had the usual tag structure - faces shine, heels do short isolation segments before faces shine some more leading to a big pay off - but worked at a ridiculously high level. Pretty much as good as you expect from these teams at this point. There were a couple breathtaking sequences and they never let up. Peruvians were great stooging heels, as usual. Especially loved the Incas punch combos. I didn't think it added up to an epic match - perhaps because the faces took it 2:0, although there was some serious peril for a bit when the Peruvians busted out a tombstone piledriver - but it was good shit and went by in a breeze.

PAS: I absolutely loved this, and think it is at the level of the best stuff in this collection. Peruano and Tejero are one of my favorite tags teams in history. Just a masterful pair of bases, bumpers and vicious fuckers. If Peruano wasn't cool enough  he is apparently a Satanico level puncher. Tejero has one of the highest bumps to ring time ratio's in wrestling history, he is just constantly flying violently to the floor or getting thrown high into the air in the ring. Chemoul is a dynamo, he has a couple of exchanges in this match which were as remarkable as the first time you saw Tiger Mask vs. Dynamite Kid or Rey Jr. vs. Psicosis. I thought the finishes to both falls were pretty great, and have no problem with the technicos winning two straight hard fought falls. 


Jean Ferre vs Robert Duranton  10/4/69


MD: Four and a half glorious minutes of Andre humiliating Duranton and his valet. The valet was the single most over heel in 1960s France so obviously the fans loved this. Duranton may have been flamboyant but he was also a hard hitter, and he threw what he had at Andre, but Andre would take it and floor him with one shot and go right back after the valet. He ended up bodyscissoring (and giving the subsequent whack) to both at once and slamming one on the other before pinning both. By this point, he knew how to play to the crowd and milk his moments, an attraction in the making.

SR: JIP. We get about 4 minutes of this. Andre was clearly coming into his own at this stage. He engaged in some nice strike exchanges. Dug Durantons punches. A good chunk of this was about Andre going after Firmin, though. Andre wins quite easily, proving Durantons stardom was nothing to this mythical giant.


Pierre Bernaert/Pierre Lamagoru vs Vasilious Mantopolous/Robert Camus 10/4/69


MD: Another celebratory performance by Mantpolous giving the crowd everything they wanted. There was some real heat from Bernaert and Lamagrou in the first fall, where the controlled the corner with the leg and stomped away and then a ghost of it towards the end with some tandem stuff, but the first was ultimately turned around on them with endless stomps in the face corner as the fans chanted along and the second got reversed quickly, imaginatively but quickly. So the stakes were never high even if the action was quick-moving and full of fun flourishes. Bernaert was a seasoned tag wrestler, of course, and played hard into Mantpolous' act, bounding himself in a mocking way, trying to turtle to draw him in (unsuccessfully), playing to the crowd. Lamagoru was there to get clowned, but I liked how he sold the aftereffects of things more than most wrestlers of this era. Camus held up his end but a lot of times, that was to set the stage for Mantopolous to come in and make fools of everyone around him with is wizardry and verve.

SR: 2/3 falls match going about 30 minutes.Mantopoulos seems like the Golden Boy of French Catch at this point. He always brings a ton of energy and explosiveness to matches and stands out above everyone else. Camus seemed like a young boy. He was solid but didn't add much flash. Heels were solid, too. This was entertaining largely due to the Greek just bouncing around and doing his stuff at a highly energetic level, but was a bit overshadowed by the above tag. Still pretty decent action though.

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Tuesday is French Catch Day: Mantopoulous! Zarpa! Bernaert! N'Boa! Gastel! Delaporte! Zarecki! Guguliemetti

Vasilios Mantopoulos/Armand Zarpa vs Pierre Bernaert/N'Boa Le Congolais 4/5/69

MD: Super enjoyable tag, endlessly entertaining. Bob Elandon was in the (yes, super racist) gimmick of N'Boa for at least four years now and there's much more of a sense that he's in on the joke now than in earlier matches we've seen. He seems to turn it on and off as the situation calls for, doesn't have his German handler with him, and spends a chunk of this looking surly as can be. When he turns it on, the crowd goes absolutely nuts, though, both with the blatant biting and getting outsmarted and outquicked and turned around by Zarpa and Mantopolous. They didn't start with the biting either. They really build to it as Elandon could bump and stooge and work technical spots as well. This one's very creative, with a lot of the double team comedy bits we've seen up til now and some we haven't. They even have the ref miss a hot tag, though they haven't quite worked out the value of actually paying it off with a tag that is hot yet. Zarpa's good, but Mantopolous is one of the best. There's a bit in here where he blocks a bodyslam with his leg that I don't think I've ever seen before and his turtling exchange with both heels popped the crowd huge. Bernaert and N'boa had a great act here. Bernaert was used to working with oddball characters as he spent a chunk of years teaming with Bibi. There's a moment half way where Mantopolis dropkicks N'boa to the floor and dives after him and they fight on top of the crowd more than in it and that represents the wild energy and imagination of this tag in a nutshell.

SR: 2/3 falls match going a bit over 30 minutes.This was the usual fun junior tag. Fast exchanges and bumping tour the force to start, heels cheat and faces get increasingly enraged. As usual with Mantopolous, it seemed there was never a real extended heat section, so the whole thing felt light hearted. I mean, there was still some really impressive stuff going on. Bernaert looked age, but he still looked like an expert stooge and he and N'Boa (Embaba? M'Baba?) bumped extremely well for Mantopolous magic. There was also a crazy bit where Mantopolous jumped on one of the guys when he was outside the ring. Overall, it was a good bout.

PAS: I thought this was a blast. Mantopolous is such a wizard at turning people inside out, and both N'Boa and Bernaert are great at getting flustered. I loved Mantopolous flummoxing N'Boa by curling up into a ball, and his half monkey flip where he drops his opponent on his belly is a very cool spot. We also get the first dive of the footage as Mantopolous jumps off the ring apron onto N'Boa. So much fun to watch a trickster play tricks. 

Robert Gastel/Roger Delaporte vs Warnia de Zarecki/Giacomo Guguliemetti 4/19/69

MD: We come in somewhat JIP here. I doubt it's too much so but we lose some of the early feeling out process. We have that 1961 tag between Delaporte/Bollet and Leduc/Gastel which was some sort of interpromotional battle. I'm not sure how Delaporte and Gastel ended up here together, but I'm happy for it. They make a pretty perfect pair. Most of the first fall is spent with the stylists in control with holds and Delaporte menacing from the outside, doing everything he can to interfere and just blatantly come in. Eventually, they catch on and do a blind switch while the ref is distracted by him. It's all pretty entertaining stuff where Gastel didn't have to do a lot from underneath since Delaporte was creating all of the interest  and excitement. Gastel might have been the best at all time of getting a single leg from a kneeling position, that old mainstay of 50s French bad guys. It wasn't enough here as Zarzecki managed a slick escape from a full nelson into a pin. The second fall was Gastel and Delaporte at their offensive best, as they trapped Guguliemetti in their corner and just mauled him: big, massive forearms and uppercuts from Delaporte and clubbering blasts from Gastel. As much as these two were mugging stooges, they could absolutely crush someone with their strikes. The third fall was pretty academic with Zarzecki and Guguliemetti pinballing Delaporte around the ring with harsh shots to the fans' delight, until Gastel was able to get a shot in out of nowhere as he was getting whipped back and forth across the ring to sneak out the infuriating (for the crowd) win. Constantly entertaining with two absolute master villains and a couple of game good guys. As we've already covered the Van Buyten match and the Williams/Barreto match which are chronologically after this one, I think that's it for us and Gastel, and I'll miss the flat-faced, grisly, clubbering lout. He was a real discovery of this footage.

SR: 2/3 falls match going about 30 minutes. Am I seeing things, or was Delaportes mustache shaved for this!? This is joined in progress about 15 minutes in. The first fall still had some impressively quick worked sequences. I also really liked Zarzecki beating the shit out of Gastel in the corner with fast european uppercuts. This was the stuff as all these tags, fun back and forth in the first fall, then the heels turn up the intensity, in this case by beating the shit out of the faces in the corner. Eventually the faces make their big comeback and all hell breaks lose. I'd say this executed the formula in a fun way, the energy was good and the heat was big. I liked the part where they stuck a mic in Gastels face after he got thrown over the rope.

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Tuesday is French Catch Day: Mantopolous! Delaporte! Plantin! Louis!

Eddy Williams vs Robert Duranton 3/23/68 

MD: We miss the first 18 or so but get the last four of this and Duranton has definitely further honed his act. He was way over the top with his mannerisms, little pats and waves to the crowd, taking a shot at Williams' nose, and some fun interactions with the ref, including positioning him around the ring and hiding behind him. He was nasty and hard hitting despite that. Williams looked as good as usual here, including a cool inner nelson chicken wing hold and some great dropkicks in the post match (one crushing the valet and the crowd hates no one more than the valet). This took a turn when the valet got in a bunch of kidney shots as Duranton was distracting the ref and Duranton was able to hone in from there only to lose his cool when Williams wouldn't stay down and get dqed on his third public warning. The post match had Williams fire back only to eat some nasty cheapshots and a huge slam.


Vasilios Mantopolous vs Roger Delaporte 3/23/68

MD: I was looking forward to this one. You get the sense that Delaporte, who was a promoter after all, relished getting to have this match against a smaller but unique and very over and skilled opponent. He only took about half of it, despite the size advantage, got to do all of his huge facial muggings as Mantopolous was taking him over and twisting him up, and got to play into all of his fun trick bait spots. Meanwhile, he still got to beat him around the ring and keep control of such a skilled wrestler with his underhanded tactics and size advantage. He got to play off the ref and even trick Mantopolous into getting a public warning by keeping the ref in the corner and moving at the last second so Mantopolous dropkicked him (and he was elated by that result). He got tied up in the ropes a couple of times and did a really great job of eating a bunch of rapid fire dropkicks as he was getting up. As the match went on and the public warnings accumulated for both wrestlers, they were more than happy to keep abusing the ref. The chaos kept building until they ended up slugging it out on the floor and the ref just had enough. Pretty satisfying meeting of sizes and styles and personalities.

SR: 1 fall match going about 25 minutes. It feels like a while since we've seen Delaporte. He's greyed out now, but other than that pretty much the same old Roger. This was a basic face/heel match between two guys who just have amazing looking everything. Mantopolous just makes all his tricks look awesome and Delaporte has really good mannerisms falling for said tricks as well as some nasty kicks and punches. Just the way Delaporte flails about hen Mantopolous puts pressure on his wrist is an artform. Like with previous Mantopoulus matches we've seen he dominated most of the match although Delaporte did get to beat the shit out of him here and there. It feels a bit like there was some clipping here or they were really bold announcing a 30 minute time when about 25 minutes in the video had passed. Regardless it was another stupidly entertaining Delaporte singles against a very game opponent.

Bob Plantin vs Francis Louis 4/6/68

MD: At some point it becomes a little hard to talk about these stylist vs stylist matches, even one like this between two smaller guys. This was the usual excellent stuff. There were moments where they messed up a hold early but they were quick to recover naturally. There was a little bit of weird ref attitude towards Plantin which may pay off later down the road but it wasn't a huge part of the match. When they turned up the juice, they could really go with quick near-falls and headscissors takeovers all over the place. There was a nice extended short arm scissors, but also leg nelsons and full nelsons and plenty of other holds. Plantin had a nice neckbreaker. The last few minutes had them really getting chippy with some nasty shots as they worked towards the draw. We've seen tons of matches like this now but I'm always happy to see another.

SR:1 fall match going 30 minutes. This was largely a clean match. They wrestle it out for 20 straight minutes without throwing a forearm. The wrestling was as silky smooth and athletic as you've come to expect from two French technicians. It might as well function as a sample for the style. Plantin drew some ire from the crowd after he cranked up the viciousness when Louis dropped him with some nasty neckbreakers. Other than that the match stayed fair. Pretty beautiful stuff really.

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Tuesday is French Catch Day: Tejero! Bordes! Mantopoulous! Lynch! High Chief!

Anton Tejero vs. Walter Bordes 8/29/67

MD: Phil and Eric reviewed this back in 2014, and thought it was epic and a good addition to the slowly building canon, but we know so much more now and can put this into context. The fact that Tejero is from Peru and teams with Peruano means something. The fact that Bordes is only 20 and a disciple of Ben Chemoul means something. The fact that Marshall is the ref means something. And so on. This was a welterweight match (which generally means something too) and it really felt like a slick, sly guy with a lot of stuff, in Tejero, up against a very game young stylist who was going to do every ambitious spot he had in mind. There was elaboration on some of the chain wrestling reversals and in and outs of holds that were as complex as anything we've seen lately in the footage and it all looked very good. 

Tejero kept it clean for the first ten minutes and even when he started introducing knee shots after that, there was a strong sense of back and forth and quick escapes and kick offs until he really started to get dirty. Once he did, this had a good flow to it, building to a comeback moment of Bordes hefting Tejero over the top, but one he couldn't fully capitalize because of Marshall slowing him down in the ropes or Tejero trying anything he could to ground Bordes (none of which really worked except for an eye rake). They had another transition where Tejero trapped Bordes' neck in the ropes and then took over with grisly neckbreakers and a tombstone and when Bordes came back again, it was the real comeback, firing hard at him with everything, from forearms to sweeping dropkicks to just trapping him again and again and headscissors looking great. Tejero tried to turn the tide again (including a beautiful uppercut to the back of Bordes') head but the tide was against him at that point. This was excellent, made all the better when you keep Bordes' youth in mind. I'm not sure how many 20 year olds in history could have had a match like this, even with a guy like Tejero on the other side. 

ER: I really liked both guys here. Bordes immediately reminded me of Johnny Saint, not only in the way he moves but in specific things he does. It's not too much of a stretch to watch Bordes and assume he had a major influence in how Johnny Saint wrestled. Bordes has all sorts of cool escapes and will occasionally surprise you with some stiff shots. At one point he hits a mean shoulderblock that sends Tejero sprawling into the ropes. Both guys are super athletic, doing all sorts of cool roll ups and escapes that need to be stolen by some non-lousy indy worker. Tejero's athleticism is surprising, as at first glance he looks like my old landlord. Then he does intricate armdrags and takes crazy bumps and he seems nothing like my old landlord (who admittedly was really good at landlording). At one point he flies ass over elbow into the top and middle ropes off a monkey flip, like an absolute lunatic version of the bump Eddy used to take. My favorite thing about their exchanges is how natural they come off. Not necessarily uncooperative, but somehow done without looking like rehearsed-to-death dance recital. Somehow they're able to weave these intricate exchanges and make them look like the natural course of action. I'm not sure how it's possible to move at the speeds these guys do without each guy knowing exactly where the other is supposed to be and how he's supposed to get there, but there's no tell in either guy's face. It really breaks down everything I've experienced in wrestling, as they're able to make silly things like leapfrogs look like something that would believably happen.

PAS: Crazy to think Bordes was that young in this match, that is definitely not something we knew when we watched it the first time. He looks like a super nova here, Jun Akiyama, Rey Mysterio Jr. level of having it all together at his age. Tejero is clearly a maestro, making all of Bordes' offense look great and really getting vicious when he needed to with body shots and a pair of nasty neckbreakers. I am really excited to see how Bordes develops, and how he looks when he isn't opposite such a masterful rudo. 

Peter Maivia vs. Johnny Lynch 10/21/67

MD: This is our one look at Peter Maivia in the footage. He's around 30 here. We have four minutes here and this felt more like an attraction than something more attuned to the style. Maivia looked like Snuka with the hair and patterned Polynesian gear. Lynch was a big bruiser with a lot of heft and hammering blows. This was mostly him bullying Maivia until the headbutts could begin. They quickly led to Lynch being busted open, flying over the top, and eating a bodyslam for a loss. This match could have happened anywhere in the world and the crowds would enjoy it once. Maybe not more than once though. 

ER: Johnny Lynch is a small boulder, a man who appears to be 5'8 or 5'9, but shaped exactly like a rock solid little King Kong Bundy. You can call him Little Daddy or Ding Dong Bundy, but he is a big bumping round man and I love it. Maivia looked pretty simple in the ring here, with a big uppercut his best feature (and even was helped out by Lynch flying hard for it). He had a funny babyface caveman movement to him, which is different from later islanders being more babyface Tarzan. He was explosive enough for his look, but Lynch was the real find. He had a big missed avalanche in the corner that drooped all of the ring ropes as he bounced and hung on them, and his huge over the top bump to the floor was humongous. Think the exact midway point between Jake Milliman and Bundy, flying fast to the floor. That bump was so damaging that I bought him staggering back into the ring to get pinned by a bodyslam. 

Vasilios Mantopolous vs. Anton Tejero 10/21/67     Pt. 2

MD: Mantopolous is amazing to watch. Once they get into the holds and counterholds, he's just endless twisting and torquing, snatching up limbs whenever he can to incredible effect. Tejero's a game opponent, a base that feeds into one holds after the other, that can credibly escape through skill or strength or, more likely, by cheating. Unlike the Bordes match, he never really had a shot at control, but he was always competitive. Mantopolous always just had an extra flourish, an extra hold, an extra counter. He was relentless, always able to slip through the legs or get a monkey flip or kick up or headscissors flip in. When there was distance between them, Mantopolous stooged him all the more, jumping in to causing him to recoil, giving a limb freely only to capture Tejero as he tried to take advantage or turtling so Tejero could do nothing. They went slow, they went fast, Tejero bumped around the ring. Occasionally, rarely, he'd get some shots in, but more likely it would be Mantopolous running a circle around him to get his own shot, and Tejero not even able to sneak up on him. But since Tejero had the size and the persistence, and was so eager to cheat, it never felt like a wasteful mismatch. The fans ate up every moment of it and now, decades later, you sit back and watch this, just glad to see the mastery and imagination and commitment in the next exchange whatever it may be.

PAS: I think if we hadn't had Petit Prince, Mantopolous would be completely brain breaking. Prince is slightly faster and jumps a little higher, but Vasilios is still incredible for this time period. Tejero is a perfect opponent for all of his horseshit. He is a great lucha base, big bumper, hard hitter, sort of like La Fiera or Bestia Salvaje. He's he guy you want on the other end of a phenom. I loved all of the tricks Mantopolous played here, like teasing an arm only to trap Tejero when he goes to grab it, a killer series of straight jacket reversals, big monkey flips and ranas which sent Tejero flying. Tejero never seemed close to solving the puzzle, but it was a blast to watch Mantopolous construct it. 

ER: Tejero is so great, the perfect person to be opposite a wild energy sprite like Mantopolous. Tejero as a La Fiera is a really great comp, as they have a very similar bumping style that is all about the highest backdrop bumps and the farthest distance on monkey flips. Tejero is a master of taking bumps that go past where a normal man's stopping point would be, getting flung into the ropes several times, bouncing off the bottom ropes and recoiling back into the ring. He's really great at utilizing the ropes into his bump physics, and good at keeping Mantopolous's sillier (and be sillier I mean "extravagant and cool") stuff grounded in reality. There is a lot of Mantopolous offense that requires Tejero to get kicked or launched chest first into the ropes and then stumble back into something cool, and Tejero comes off like a skilled guy who is always stumbling into another Vasilios trap. Mantopolous had all of these cool ways to tie Tejero up, grabbing a wristlock and then intertwining his own wrists and arms, getting enough leverage to flip a larger guy like Tejero believably over his back. Tejero is so wary of Mantopolous and has the body language to back it up. It's not easy to get tricked 30-40 times into getting flipped onto your back or splatted onto your stomach, but Tejero has this great foolhardy attitude while also making all of these "why ya gotta flip me again?" faces. 

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Tuesday is French Catch Day: Bordes! Cohen! Mantopolous! Rouxel!

Georges Cohen vs Walter Bordes 2/12/67

MD: This is our second chronological look at Bordes. Last time he was teamed with Ben Chemoul; I think he was billed as his nephew. They said he was 20 here and that makes sense, because we'll be seeing a lot more of him over the rest of the footage, even deep into the 80s. From what we can see here, that's not a bad thing at all. This was a stylist vs stylist matchup with a juniors feel. Lots of holds, a good chunk of rope running, and some chippiness in the last third. For that first half, it really felt like the older, more seasoned Cohen was working Bordes through his paces as they went in and out of holds; there was a long armbar by Cohen, full of lots of interesting escapes and looping back in. Bordes' stuff wasn't quite as interesting, headscissors and full nelson and later a straightjacket hold that led to Cohen starting to get chippy. Also, there was a moment or two where something he tried off the ropes didn't quite work or his footing didn't quite land right, but in general, it was an impressive match for the younger wrestler and the older one who likely led him through it and the crowd was appreciative the whole way through.

PAS: This is more of a chance to see a youngster with potential, then it was a great match. We have seen a bunch of these juniors matches before, and there was nothing here which particularly popped, but the athleticism was there, headscissors looked good and it got a little nasty at the end. This is such a high floor project, this was near that floor but it was still high quality stuff. 

Vasilios Mantopolous vs Jaques Rouxel 6/29/67

MD: This was a blast. Mantopolous was maybe as good as being a diminutive wizard as anyone in wrestling history. Rouxel was bigger and could be defined as a lug. When he finally lost his cool and started hammering, it was with these overwrought jumping stomps and clubbers. He had some cool stuff like a front cobra takeover and was more than eager to go flying over the rope for transitions when Mantopolous was able to get a little distance and get him to charge. Or to feed into dropkicks and armdrags. And his complaining was memorable enough. For the most part though, this was Mantopolous doing his thing, balancing fire and sympathy and underdog cheek with sheer mastery. He'd sucker Rouxel in with a hand behind his back, would use his momentum against him, would snatch a limb out of nowhere or keep a hold despite the size and strength differential. He'd do his little bouncing leap to start an exchange and get Rouxel to beg off in frustration and with the obviously knowledge that when it came to wrestling skill, he was outmatched, and then, to end it all, he'd tie him up in a knot that even the ref couldn't untangle. This was from Puteaux and the crowd seemed to be there more to be amused than to riot, but the lighting is so clear and crisp that you can see Rouxel's every reaction and every iota of Mantopolous' skill.

PAS: Very fun showcase for Mantopolous, he moves so effortlessly, and is really great at dancing his opponent around the ring. It has a very Johnny Saint vibe, although with more athletic explosion. The speed and pop of Mantopolous's headscissors are on another level from the stuff in the earlier match we reviewed. I liked Rouxel too, he had this Anaconda Vice like submission he used to ground Mantopolous, took a couple of big bumps to the floor and laced him up when he needed to. Match ending in a Neblina was a real trip, not a move I knew was around this long ago.

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Tuesday is French Catch Day: BILLY CATANZARO! Duranton! Chaisne! Le Magorou! Mantopoulos! Louis!

 Michel Saulnier vs. Jetty Coster 06/03/60

SR: JIP match where get the last 8 minutes of a time limit draw. Jetty Coster, what a name. Saulnier was young and lean at 24 years old. Coster was bigger, but Saulnier was relentless and seemed to be tiring him out. Some quite amazing fast moving sequences here, including Saulnier backflipping and then popping up with a headbutt, and some neat pin attempts. This about served the point of being a fun scientific wrestling exhibition while folks sat there waiting to throw cigarettes at Robert Duranton.

MD: We get around 8 minutes of this. They'd already gone 22 or so. It's good action with a clever callback or two even in what we have. There's were a couple of great bursts of speed and complex spots, including Saulnier hitting a leap up to a victor roll though he had to grab the rope to do so. My favorite bit was a little later when Coster dodged another Victory roll but sort of shifting himself between the raindrops so Saulnier had nothing to hang on to. I've never quite seen that before. Otherwise, this could have used a little bit more focus. As it went towards the time-limit draw, there was a little bit of escalation with forearms but it was mostly Saulnier containing Coster by hanging onto an arm. This was our first look at Coster and he definitely hung with and based for Saulnier. We won't see him again so that's going to be my only impression of him.

Robert Duranton vs. Michel Chaisne 06/03/60

SR: 1 fall match going about 25 minutes. Last time we saw Duranton he was flamboyant. Now, he has returned with a bleach blonde head, a robe and an equally arrogant male valent. I would say it feels novel compared to his earlier appearance if we hadn‘t seen a murderers row of whacky characters ranging from masked hangmen to literal Quasimodo and motherfucking Spartacus on TV in the last few months. This was another heated match with Chaisne bringing the wrestling and Duranton bringing the cheapshots and swaggering. There were some interesting moments around his valet who had a few audience members going at him and even got into the ring to get thrown around by Chaisne one time. There was also one well executed ref spots that stood out because I am used to ref spots coming across as really fakey. Really liked the backbreakers Duranton would hit followed by those nasty short kicks. Chaisne doesn‘t sell on the level to make this an epic match but we get Duranton finishing him off in a quite brutal way. France sure wasn‘t afraid of having nasty bomb throwing for a finish.

MD: We've seen this exact match up back in 58 and at that point, it was entertaining but Duranton hadn't quite worked it all out. Here, his act was complete. He now had a valet in a tuxedo that he worked into his match as a prop. He was haughty before, but it was turned up a notch or two. And maybe most important of all, the wrestling was smoother and he didn't do anything outside of his physical limits. Chaisne is just an excellent stylist: right place, right time, right moves. He also had a familiarity with Duranton and played into his opponents gimmick: escaping holds by mussing his hair, going tit for tat with revenge spots mimicking Duranton's cheapshots or backbreakers, coming back from Duranton's peppering kicks with a big face twister. This was over 25 minutes over the two falls and through a mix of familiar spots and new ones, through working in the valet and the ref, through Duranton's reactions and general meanness and Chaisne's superior prowess and perseverance, it's entertaining the whole way through. You almost can't imagine it not being so. When the valet is finally most fully involved, as Chaisne whips him into a tied-in-the-ropes Duranton, you can see the delight on the faces of the fans. Duranton gets a lucky reversal towards the end of the first fall, dumping Chaisne over the top on a third monkey flip attempt, and that's basically the match, but it was fun while it lasted.

PAS: Chaisne is a bit Vanilla but a really skilled wrestler who can deliver some pop, which really makes him the perfect opponent for over the top characters like Kaiser or Duranton. Duranton was so great in this match, he was like Adrian Street's daddy, a flamboyant prancer who could turn into a vicious killer at the drop of a bow. There was some great stooge spots, Duranton walking away from a dropkick attempt to pose, only to get dropkicked in the mush, and some really nasty stuff like Duranton sitting on Chaisne's face and smashing him with body shots. I thought the finish felt a bit flat, we have seen some vicious beatdown finishes, and while the exchanges were great the actually moves which put Chaisne down weren't at the level I expect for French Catch KO blows. Still this had a ton to love, and I am all in on Duranton. 

Billy Catanzaro/Gilbert Le Magorou vs. Vasilios Mantopoulos/Francis Louis 8/19/66

SR: 2/3 falls match going about 35 minutes. Billy Catanzaro, baby. Regrettably we only got about 4 more matches of the man who started the craze in the French archive, but Billy Catanzaro is really making every single one count so far. This was right on the awesome match train. It was basically the worlds greatest IWE juniors tag with a bunch of elegant arm lock throws and takeovers interspersed with guys kicking the shit out of each other. Catanzaro was already a grimacing veteran heel here and while you’d love to see him work more straight matches like the Cesca bout, he is fantastic in the Finlay role. He does about a 100 awesome things in this match. The nasty face stomps, the stiff short kicks, the unexpected bitchslaps, a super fast spinning armlock that looked like it would pop your shoulder, some nasty face grinding, the way he got his foot stuck in the ropes when he tried breaking up a pinfall... at one point he just went and punched Louis in the face to break up a pinfall, which is a sure mark of an all time great. I also loved his missed european uppercuts. Gilbert Le Magorou felt a bit like he was Catanzaros trainee, as he looked a bit younger and did similar things to Catanzaro but a bit less extravagant. That said he was extremely solid and never a let up, but this was the Catanzarro show through and through. He looked just great at both the actual wrestling as well as the stooging and bumping for his opponents. 

Mantopoulos and Louis on the other were a great pair of tecnicos. Mantopoulos is of course someone with a million tricks, but I also really liked his elegant wristlock reversals early on. That kind of opening wristlock work is is hard to make compelling when you’ve seen geeks like Zack Sabre Jr. doing it to death but it looked classy here. Mantopoulos also has some of the more esoteric moves you’ll see in this project including that awesome swinging backbreaker that Julien Morice did in a World of Sport match once and  the GIF of it became semi-famous on certain image boards. Francis Louis was the more straight forward side of the technico team and while not as flashy as his partner I really appreciated his dedication to just wrestle and throw brutal European uppercuts when it was needed. The match had a few heat sections that were extremely well done, particularly all the interference spots from Catanzaro/Le Magouru, and a great moment where Catanzaro took a fall with a tombstone piledriver, immediately going for the same move in the next fall with his opponent barely escaping. The match built to some brilliant quick rope running exchanges, and most importantly there was a ton of asskicking going on. I have no idea how these guys just clubbed each other with thudding European uppercuts straight to the jaw and nasty short kicks for +30 minutes and never slowed down but I loved every second. For a fast workrate-like match it got pretty nasty towards the end with Gilbert looking like he was about to get KO’d by Louis. I would’ve liked Louis to finish the match as he was looking like the toughest skinny lightweight on earth as he kept smashing dudes with those uppercuts. But instead he tagged in Mantopoulos and the match ended in a pretty esoteric way. That said the journey is the destination when it comes to European wrestling and this match was a 35 minute monolith of brilliant wrestling. Which begs the question, excluding BattlArts and Futen is France the greatest place for junior tag wrestling of all?

PAS: Damn did this rule. It is such a bummer we have so little of Catanzaro, with almost a decade in between appearances. He is a very different wrestler here, much more of a trick veteran than an athletic marvel, but he is tremendous in every variation we have seen him. Mantopoulos is a fancy dude, his spinning wrist lock reversals, actually looked fast and violent, and that back breaker variation Sebastian mentioned was totally dope looking. Both rudo were great at feeding for the fancy tecnico offense, and would unload when they got a chance.  I loved the different ways the heels would get tied up in the ropes,  great bit of stooging stuff and a great way to for the faces to get their revenge. We get our traditional violent uppercut exchanges, with Le Magouru especially really getting great torque with his hips before throwing them, it was like a Joe Frazier left hook. Finish was a bit silly for a match with such violence with both heels getting tied up in balls and counted out, but this was still an all timer. 

MD: Thirty-five minutes of brilliant pro wrestling. At times, this had some of the fastest, most consistent, most elaborate chained spots we've seen as the heels keep feeding for Mantopoulos and Louis' takedowns and holds. It was often so quick and creative that the camera didn't know what to follow. That sums up the match as well as anything else. The heels weren't in charge much but they made the most of it when they were. Catanzaro was such an amazing jerk, one of the greatest characters in wrestling history, dancing and prancing around with excitement, making elated faces, as he laid in forearms, kicks, and stomps (immediately to beg off if he lost the advantage). He could go from sheer brutality to getting his foot caught in the rope on a dime. Le Magorou had a slightly out of shape junior goon look to him and he made for a great whipping boy for Catanzaro whenever they get foiled or clowned. They hit enough of their cheating and double-teaming to make it all credible and to make it matter all the more when it didn't work out for them. Louis always looks good, but Mantopoulos just goes above and beyond. He possessed great physical awareness in how he ducked a forearm or spun out before a takedown. It's as if the world moved half a step slower than him, which worked not just for wild spots but for seizing a normal advantage. Honestly though, they all went so fast when it was warranted that most exchanges started with a believable little fake out attempt. They went little with the fake-outs or Catanzaro's mean mugging, but they went big too, whether it was Catanzaro hitting two full nelson spins into backbreakers only for Mantopoulos to tag in and reverse the third with a Robinson backbreaker and then hit conjuro style spinning trapping backbreakers on both guys or when they trap both heels in the ropes and hit multiple alley oop body splashes on them. The back half of the match contained more of those elaborate set pieces and the crowd loved all of it, building finally to one of the more unique finishes you'll ever see.

ER: I loved this, and how could you not!? This is just the pinnacle of athleticism and personality through pro wrestling. I genuinely don't think there is any acrobatic wrestling better than this, nothing today compares to this. There are great athletes today, but none of them can work with the unpredictability and creativity of the men here. The unpredictability is the key, as you just never have any real idea of where some of these guys are going with their material, and yet nobody ever seems lost, nobody ever seems to be waiting too long in position, nobody does anything with their face or body to indicate they know what is happening next. Their misdirection skills are incredible, nothing in sight is telegraphed. It's incredible. 

This was such a thrill, with an excellent rudo team and two incredibly fun and capable tecnicos. Catanzaro is a legend of ours at this point, and it's great we now have two matches of his, a decade apart, with such different aspects of his abilities on display. This was like a hyperdrive William Regal house show performance from him, stooging around while throwing uppercuts so hard they looked like Louis and Mantopoulos weren't leaping to sell them, instead being lifted by force. He and Gilbert Le Magorou are such an excellent team of single strap stooges, and it feels like Catanzaro is so magnetic that he kept outshining the also excellent Magorou. Magorou looked and wrestled like the best possible Oliver Platt in Ready to Rumble. He had a belly and great floppy hair and Catanzaro knew a ton of different ways to fall into the ropes. Each seemed like they had cool ways to fall on the bottom, middle, and top rope, and knew a few ways to get tangled in the ropes (two heels both tangled by their ankles in the ropes is the kind of thing I picture a John Tatum/Buddy Rose team doing). Mantopoulos is a tecnico who is impossible to take your eyes off of, with some of the most beautiful step up headscissors, hardest dropkicks, has a few of these incredible pendulum backbreakers (like Norman Smiley's pendulum bodyslam, but ending on a backbreaker), and a killer spot where he vaults off Mantopoulos's knee, kicks over his head, and lands in front of him on his back just to hit a wicked upkick. We haven't really had a disappointing batch of French Catch yet, but getting brilliance like this match is rare. 

Unsurprisingly, we are adding this tag match as the 1966 representative on our All Time MOTY List. 

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Tuesday is French Catch Day: McTiffin! Guettier! Mountourcy! Gastel! Mantopoulos! Ricetti!

Marcel Parmentier vs. Bob Plantain 6/19/59

MD: As always it's a travesty we don't have more Parmentier footage. He was such a nasty striker with a surly face and tons of heat. This is just a minute or two. No one in the footage is quite as big a tease.

James McTiffin vs. Roger Guettier 6/19/59

MD: McTiffin is Gwyn Davies, of the great Veidor match. He was working an affable Scottish giant gimmick here, kilt and bagpiper, and maybe didn't have quite all the pieces together yet. Guettier was mean and frustrated, full of high class comedy as he couldn't deal with McTiffin's size advantage. My favorite bit was a pumphandle armbar where he couldn't get any leverage and just gave up, but there was more. This went pretty short for 50s Catch, just around ten minutes, seeming to surprise everyone. Remember the first time you saw George Steele's flying hammerlock and how painful it looked? That was the finish here which was a flying double inverted knucklelock, which would only work given a size differential like this.

PAS: This was fun stuff, much more of a wacky comedy match then serious Catch. Guettier was flummoxed by the size of McTiffin, and had a bunch of different ways to seem flummoxed. That finishing flying knucklelock was awesome looking and totally redeemed McTiffin from otherwise seeming a bit stiff. Babatunde should steal that shit.


Sergio Reggiori vs Jacques Bernieres 6/19/59

MD: This was the TV time remaining bonus match after McTiffin made short work of Guettier and while it's cut off as they had to give the feed back to the station, what we get is actually very good. I get the sense that these two knew that this was their big chance to shine in front of a television audience and they really went at it hard. This included a few extended hanging-on-to-a-hold sequences, a lot of struggle, some aggressive shots, and at least one dive through the ropes on a missed charge. Unfortunately, I don't know if it did either of these guys any good because we don't see them a ton in the footage.


Claude Montourcy vs. Robert Gastel 6/26/59

MD: We'd seen Montourcy before, both in the Mann match, which was really mostly about Mann, and in the 60 minute match where he had a lot of interesting showcase moves. Here, though, it was all about him, working a judo gimmick with taped up feet instead of shoes. Gastel was the straight man here, throwing his headbutts and big bumps, and hairpulls, and yes, the tombstone. This was about Montourcy using his feet in odd ways (especially to escape) and having big takedowns and contorted stretches, including the one that kayfabe popped Gastel's shoulder out to end it, causing Montourcy's Japanese Professor (?) to come out to fix it. Also of not here was a wrestler at ringside, which, along with an overly exuberant fan, subtly distracted Gastel post-tombstone, which theoretically gave Montourcy time to come back. This was another short one like the week before.


Vasilios Mantopoulos vs. Roberto Ricetti 6/26/59

MD: Yet another high end lightweight match in the late 50s style, where they don't quite go as over the top with acrobatics as we'd see a few years later, but instead did a lot of what we've seen already faster and with more impact. Lots of long holds with reversals jammed (even the ones that might work elsewhere). Ricetti had some really great bridges. We had, I think, our first giant swing too. There were a couple of moments where they were almost going too hard to make things work (and I'm tempted to pin that more on Mantopolous, as great as he'd be later and as good as he still was here, but that may not be fair), but it didn't necessarily feel unnatural, just less smooth than it might have been. They were competing so hard that it didn't hurt the match at all. The finish was really strong, a perfect reversal to the idea of someone going to the well too many times.

SR: 1 fall match that goes a bit over 30 minutes. Mantopoulos is billed as Greek. We are going to see quite a bit of him. Ricetti is billed as Italian and this is about the only time he shows up. This was a clean match, no heel shenanigans, but the crowd was calling for them to throw European uppercuts, so both guys soon did that. They stuck to mostly basic holds, peppered with that French brand of athletic escape attempts. Mantopoulos wasn‘t as flamboyant and flashy as in later clips, but you could tell he was a wrestling machine. Ricetti looked good also, aside from seemingly not knowing how to bump for Mantopoulos headscissors. This was going solid and they worked in some surprisingly hot nearfalls, including an awesome O‘Connor Roll and some plausible rope running exchanges later. Great finish, too. The thing that stands about these guys running the ropes and hitting improbable moves is not the athleticism, but the great sense of timing.

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