Tuesday is French Catch Day: Rene Ben! Bordes! Falcons! Cesca! Noirs!

Rene Ben Chemoul/Walter Bordes vs Golden Falcons 1/2/71

MD: Another notch in the belt for Ben Chemoul and Bordes. Another match with game opponents that goes 30, keeps the fans constantly entertained, and is one fun sequence after the next. Their opponents here were the Golden Falcons, billed from America and looking quite a bit like Halcon de Oro I and II. While they got clowned for most of the match, they did have some fun offense, inverted headlock backbreakers, these big whacks to the top of the head, and a nice rope running cheapshot sequence to win the first fall, plus good use of ref distraction for double teams to cut off the ring later on. They took the first fall in around ten minutes, which feels sort of rare in these matches and helped keep at least a little bit of drama while the stylists kept winning exchanges. Bordes was 24 here and continues to show more and more every match. He had these running-up-the-ropes armdrags I don't think I've seen much in the French footage so far, for instance, and they did the old waistlock-takedown-bodyscissors-posterior bump sequence in stereo which the fans loved. It's hard to explain Ben Chemoul to someone who hasn't seen him. Every movement was stylized and punctuated, with an acrobat's athleticism but this incredibly precise timing to draw the attention of every eye. He conducted the crowd and they chanted and sang for him more than any other wrestler in the footage. I'd liken it to Dusty's punches and atomic elbow except for it was just about everything Ben Chemoul did and he could do a lot. This had a few wrinkles and some very game, big bumping heels and was a good time had by all.

PAS: Really cool to see the Falcons, who maybe legendary luchadores considering how little 70s lucha footage we have. They were very solid rudos, kind of a lesser Oficial's team, who were there to serve as foils for the more spectacular babyfaces. Matt did a great job of describing Rene Ben, I think it is almost Wrestling 2ish, with just spice on every blow. Bordes is a great young babyface, a little bigger then your real juniors, but with that level of athleticism. We know what we get from these French tags at this point and it is great stuff. 


Gilber Cesca/Bruno Asquini vs Les Blousons Noirs 1/25/71

MD: Another year, some more Blousons Noirs. Top guys. Cesca and Asquini were definitely game opponents here. The Blousons looked a little older, especially Gessat but they were still great at stooging (especially Mannevau), at being absolutely mean (Gessat's face ripping in a nelson position), and especially at controlling things (love the body manipulation, especially full nelson spinouts into mares) in the second and first half of the third fall. Yeah, this actually settled down after the stylists took the first fall (long and mostly back and forth but with a definitely stylist advantage on exchanges and some clowning), into real, substantial heat. That's not always or maybe even often the case in these tags. Cesca and Asquini would get a tag and maybe a shot in but the Blousons would hammer them right down again. It wasn't until a missed double team and some chaos on the floor that Cesca and Asquini were able to comeback. Once they did, they never looked back with great looking strikes and energy down the stretch, right to the back flip off the top by Cesca and leapfrog to set up an Asquini missile dropkick that was the finish. We've seen the Blousons fairly steadily but Cesca really drops in and out of the footage. You see him back now and again with the same confidence and pin point accuracy and skill and wonder what he was up to during these gaps. This was a cut above due to the greater dedication to a more familiar structure if nothing else.

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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: Blouson Noirs! Rene Ben! Bordes! Ragot! Boucard!

 Rene Ben Chemoul/Walter Bordes vs Blousons Noirs  9/6/66

MD: This isn't the best match we've seen, but it was still so, so, so good. Exceptionally good. Great. Exceptional, except for that it wasn't at all an exception. This is just how good the high end tag matches in this footage get. But it is so good. It has less prolonged heat, maybe, but that's not replaced by meaningless excess but instead by a constant pressure. The Blousons Noirs never stop trying to get an advantage, never hesitate to cheat, always work towards their side of the ring and the cheapshot, complain about low blows, try to sneak in a grab or a trip out of nowhere, even use the ring rope as a battering weapon. Ben Chemoul and Bordes are always trying to escape and press an advantage and get revenge. There's not a moment in the entire match where it feels like they're just killing time or not somehow actively competing with each other, and that's insane considering some of the great, imaginative comeuppance spots. They called Ben Chemoul the acrobat of the ring, but he feels more like a jester, not just in how he amuses, and his agility and humor, but in how he shows the the heels to be frauds and fools under their swagger, as dangerous as they might be. He did a double turtle draw-in spot that I've never seen before and it felt like exactly what these characters would do. We've seen enough footage by this point to call the Blousons Noirs one of the best heel units of all time. Bordes was young and game (willing to bump hard out of the ring and to fire back from underneath) and the match might have been a little hotter if there was a few more minutes of him being beaten upon somewhere in there, but the fans still went up for whenever he came back, just like there was a buzz whenever Ben Chemoul came in and did his little initial bound to one knee to intimidate an opponent. Matches like this are just pure joy to watch.

PAS: This was tremendous stuff, on the level of the best Midnight Express vs. Rock and Roll Express tags, really an all time classic. Love the Noirs, they have the entire package, viciousness, stooging, bumping, basing, truly a five tool heel tag team. Borders and Chemoul are a great face team too, Chemoul was so slippery and would draw the heels in and evaded them with such skill. Bordes was great too he takes a huge head first bump into the crowd which really need to be giffed, and had one of the nastiest front face locks I have ever seen, one of the great things about all of this footage is how incredible the little things looked, which makes the big things look even better.

Daniel Boucard vs Francis Ragot (Le Legionnaire) 9/20/66

MD: This was a fun look at a couple of guys we haven't seen or haven't seen much of. Ragot was thin as a rail, tattooed, goateed, mean, scrappy, stoogy. Boucard was young and game, though a little rough around the edges at times. His comebacks were fun, full of chops and forearms and nice dropkicks. The first half of the match had Ragot grinding him down with holds and Bouchard building to big escapes but there was a more prolonged beatdown later on and it ended fairly back-and-forth with some big spots (like Boucard lifting Ragot out of a hold by his goatee). It seemed like they were building to a draw, including a top wristlock that came way too late in the match if they weren't, but they twisted it for a nice finish. Nothing hugely memorable in the grand scheme of the footage but definitely a fun little match. 

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