Gilbert Leduc! The Headsman of Bethune! A very different sort of French Catch!

Gilbert Leduc v Le Bourreau de Bethune (French Catch, 2/5/59)

Well this was very different to everything I've watched so far. It's my first look at Gilbert Leduc, a guy who pops up frequently in this footage. It's also my first look at the Headsman of Bethune! And apparently my last because he doesn't seem to show up again after this. Le Bourreau is a tall stocky guy in a mask, barrel-chested, thick of forearm, an imposing figure that almost dwarfs Leduc (who was 5'10", so hardly a smout). This wasn't an outright squash, but by the end it felt like Leduc had been demolished. Leduc would try and work some wristlocks and armbars, all really swank stuff that has me excited to check out more of him in a regular match. But the Headsman was having very little of it at the best of times and absolutely none of it at the worst of them. He would power out of those armbars and get back to a base unscathed, then when it looked like Leduc might have one sunk in good le Bourreau would just cheat and rip away the advantage. The best example of the latter came when le Bourreau grabbed a handful of Leduc's hair, the sort of blatant cheating I haven't really seen in this footage so far, and the crowd jeers and hisses immediately. It was amazing heatseeking, the way they built to the moment where it looked like Leduc might've put a crack in the armour. Early on Leduc spun out of a headscissor, literally by spinning on his head, possibly a signature spot judging by a) the way the crowd reacted, and b) the way he tried to do it several more times throughout the match. The problem was that he managed it that first time and never again. Whenever he did try it later le Bourreau would just clamp him in place and Leduc would end up cranking his own neck, his body spinning one way while his head went nowhere. Le Bourreau absolutely killing him with a gorilla press slam gutbuster was wild as fuck. You can imagine Rush doing it today and it looking devastating, imagine seeing this thing in fucking 1959! Leduc's selling going into the second fall was perfect, and le Bourreau hitting the same gutbuster for the two straight falls victory must've been astonishing for those in attendance. It's a shame that this is all the Bourreau we have, because seeing someone potentially conquer him would've been amazing.