Vintage Classic

If you're a fan of the old-timey, vintage classic wrestling matches of the 1950s-1960s, you may enjoy this televised bout from 1961. It features a wrestler with a muscular physique that's more the norm in wrestling today than it was fifty years ago (most wrestlers back then had thick, stocky builds; think Bruno Sammartino or  Cowboy Bob Ellis). I can't speak French so I don't know if this wrestler's name is Rouxel, but the commentator mentions it a lot so I'm assuming that's who he is. (UPDATE: A friend of mine wrote to tell me that the muscular wrestler in white is Mr. Montreal, a Canadian bodybuilder and that Rouxel is the heel in dark trunks. Thanks for the info!) Early on in the match, the heel, a much leaner guy, goes to work on the hero punishing him with kicks, stomps, and punches. This is the part I like to watch over and over again. Thanks to Bob Alpra for uploading this match (and many other great matches) on his YouTube channel. (Sorry for the grainy quality of the screen caps below.)