L'Ange Blanc

The original "Angle Blanc" ("The White Angel") was a well-known masked wrestler in France during the 1950's and 60's.

While he was from Spain, French wrestling fans claimed him as their own.

To date, he is still the biggest star French wrestling has ever had, much bigger than André the Giant. He was almost as popular in France as Santo was in Mexico.

"L'Ange Blanc" was enigmatic and one of the first aerial wrestlers during the heyday of French wrestling.

He had tremendous televised fights against "Le Dragon de Bagnolet", "Le Bourreau de Béthune", "Roger Delaporte" or "Robert Duranton".

Most of his matches were commentated by famous French journalist "Roger Couderc" which helped the promotion of his wrestling role.

By the end of the 60's, the ratings started to drop so promoters decided to unmask "L'Ange Blanc" which ultimately killed the gimmick.

Other wrestlers continued to emulate him, each pretending to be the "real" "Ange Blanc" such as one of Jean-Marie Le Pen's bodyguards or Dijon's citizen and sportsman François Chambelland.

"L'Ange Blanc" was often mentioned on French TV by Guy Hauray and still is every time wrestling is discussed.

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