27 February 1958

Michel Chaisne vs Jo Labat, 27 February 1958

I love love love the handclasp in the first GIF. However, the brotherly sportsmanship wears down as the wrestlers wear each other down. Only near the end do the wrestlers resort to fisticuffs, and a clean three count crotch-in-the-ear pin settles the matter. Labat started his career in 1950, a year before Chaisne, so by the time of this match both men had solid creds and topnotch ring psychology. The thirty-minute clench-fest slows down both men by the midpoint, but there's terrific stuff all the way to the very hot finish. This is a match I would love to have seen live. This one is a crowd and crotch pleaser.