I really liked this 50-year-old French Tag Team match on YouTube. I’ve watched it all the way through 3 or 4 times now.
No, it’s not filmed in hi-def (or even in color) and no, I can’t understand the French commentary, but I really dig the action anyway. It is the gear choices, the ring psychology, the relaxed pacing, and the classic moves that really trip my trigger.
The Baby-Faces are these two cuties in gay little matching ring jackets with their team name printed proudly on the back: “Les Copains” [pronounced “Lay koh-PAHN” in French] means “The Pals” or “The Buddies.”
Aubriot [“OH-bree-oh“] is the leaner, taller, and perhaps more handsome partner and Plantin [“PLEHN-tan”] is the stockier hunk with the darker hair. We can’t determine the color of their little jackets or their trunks, but I’m picturing a light peachy color like the background of these images.
These two pretty-boys are so darn innocent, gullible, and charismatic — the classic model of the Baby-Face Team — you’ll soon find yourself head over heels in love with them.
The match opens with a bang as the two men in the ring trade a ton of flips and throws while their partners watch: two Bodyslams, three Snapmares, a Hiptoss, another Snapmare, then a Sunset Flip.
These fast knock-down moves don’t greatly harm the opponent, but they are flashy and intimidating: If I can flip you, I can whip you. We will also see many Scissors in this match, such as a Plantin leg squeeze at 5:42.
At 8:27 into the video, Plantin treats us to a Short-Arm Scissor, the other man’s bent arm clamped between his thighs. He then performs a classic and flamboyant Baby-Face spot: a forward roll, maintaining his arm scissor and flipping the opponent onto his back. He then rolls over again, tossing the victim repeatedly while holding onto the Arm Scissor.
The Buddies then trade places and Aubriot proceeds to lock on a Short Arm Scissor of his own. He too rolls all around the ring, flip-flopping the dizzy victim some more — I love this spot. It just seems so degrading to be tossed around by the arm against your will with your arm permanently trapped in another man’s crotch. And you just know the humiliated Heels will be giving these lads a receipt for their cocky move later in the fight…
The Heel Team are called “Les Blousons Noirs” [“Lay BLEW-zon NEW-ah” in French]. That means “The Black Jackets” — and that’s exactly what they wear to the ring, the uniform worn by all bad-ass motorcycle thugs back in the 1960’s.
Not only are their jackets black but so are their trunks, their little ankle-high boots, and probably their souls. I would’ve grown up with a major fear and obsession for these baddies if I had been born about 15 year earlier in France.
Manneveau [“MANN-eh-voh“] is the mustached meanie and Gessat [“JEH-ssah“] is his sadistic, stocky partner. These villains look permanently angry, like they want to beat you up and would enjoy doing it. And they are thicker and stockier than their lean young opponents, looking like a threat to inflict some serious bodily damage.
So why do I love this 50-year-old, highly predictable match in which I can’t even understand the language? Let me count the ways:
- I love their team names
- I love how the “Black Jackets” cheat when they can, pulling hair, sneaking in sucker punches
- I love how they lean with their boots on the ropes — a weird hot button for me
- I love all the scissoring
- I love how they take their time, letting the drama play out over a full half hour
I had never heard of Les Copains or Les Blousons Noirs before I saw this match, but I did some Googling and it seems both teams were very famous in Europe a few generations ago.
Les Blousons Noirs were the ones who introduced Tag Team wrestling to Spain — probably acting like arrogant French bastards, busting up all the cute young Spanish heroes as the locals screamed in outrage.
Of all the Headscissors in this match (and there are quite a few), the longest, tightest Figure 4 Headscissor is applied by Manneveau at 12:44.
Each time Plantin struggles out of Manneveau’s scissor, sadistic Gessat kicks him from outside the ropes, which sends poor Plantin right back into Manneveau’s waiting thighs. So hot!
The climax occurs at 22:54 when Aubriot tries for a Flying Headscissor but big Manneveau catches him and drops him across a knee. OUCH! Poor Aubriot is now injured! The Heels then begin to pick apart, you guessed it, Aubriot’s spine! He sells the pain by clutching one hand on his lower back.
After the Buddies win the first fall, they embrace with Plantin concerned about his partner’s back pain. Suddenly dick-head Manneveau sneaks over and Forearm Smashes poor Aubriot across his damaged spine, knocking him to the mat! What a cruel, sadistic sneak attack — VERY outrageous and inappropriate for 1964 France (and very arousing for the audience…)
I recommend you check out this classic skirmish between the icons of European Heels in Les Blousons Noirs and the very model of heroic Baby-Face Buddies in Les Copains. The dramatic tension and expressions of agony are surely entertaining if you’re into pro wrestling suffering. The bastards use their little black booties as lethal weapons, forever stomping and kicking the pretty-boys’ faces and bodies. Les Copains come off seeming dextrous and graceful and elegant, and Les Blousons Noirs seem like a pair of bulls turned loose and wreaking havoc in the Louvre. The camera work is ahead of its time — the action filmed from multiple angles with plenty of nice close-ups. Check it out and let me know if I’m crazy for enjoying a match filmed in France a half-century ago…