''Telecatch'' was a Brazilian

professional wrestling Professional wrestling, often shortened to either pro wrestling or wrestling,The term "wrestling" is most often widely used to specifically refer to modern scripted professional wrestling, though it is also used to refer to Real life, real- ...

TV program originally called ''Telecatch Montilla''. It was broadcast by

TV Globo TV Globo (stylized as tvglobo; , ), formerly known as Rede Globo de Televisão (; shortened to Rede Globo) or simply known as Globo, is a Brazilian free-to-air Television broadcasting, television network, launched by media proprietor Roberto M ...

from 1967 to 1969. The name of the program would later be changed to ''Os Reis do Ringue'' in the 1970s by

RecordTV Record (stylized in uppercase; ), formerly known as Rede Record and RecordTV, is a Brazilian free-to-air television network. It is currently the second largest commercial TV station in Brazil, and the 28th largest in the 2012 world ranking. In ...

, which translates literally to "The Kings of the Ring". In 1965, TV Excelsior premiered the program with the name ''Telecatch Vulcan''. For reasons of economy the chain of stores Imperatriz das Sedas (the main sponsor) and associated companies decided not to finance ''Telecatch'' and to definitively finish the program. It was similar to American professional wrestling with its diverse and colorful ring performers and predetermined outcomes. The formation of the show was the direct result of the public's shock at the brutality of

vale tudo Vale Tudo or vale-tudo (; ), also known as No Holds Barred (NHB) in the United States, is an unarmed, full-contact combat sport with relatively few Regulation of sport, rules. It became popular in Brazil during the 20th century and would eventua ...

, which used to air on a TV show that originally aired in the time slot of ''Telecatch Montila''. It was decided by the TV executives that a show with predetermined outcomes should replace the unpredictable and brutal vale tudo show, thus the creation of televised professional wrestling in Brazil. Due to the popularity of the program, even today ''Telecatch'' is sometimes used as a synonym for pro wrestling. An Italian-born Argentinian pro wrestler who went by the name of Ted Boy Marino signed on in 1967 and became the promotion's biggest star as a baby face. The show was a big success on the

TV Excelsior TV Excelsior was a Brazilian television network founded by Mário Wallace Simonsen on July 9, 1960, in São Paulo, São Paulo. Its last broadcast happened on September 30, 1970, when the Brazilian military dictatorship put an abrupt end to i ...

and its run lasted until 1980. In 2012, ''Telecatch'' was revived by the Brazilian Wrestling Federation (BWF) as the "BWF Telecatch" in attempts to revive professional wrestling in Brazil. A few years later, others companies such as FILL (International Luta Livre Federation), EWF (Extreme Wrestling Force), Action Pro Wrestling (APW) started to bring a similar product to the table. The most recent promotion is Dungeon Pro Wrestling (DPW), founded in 2019 but started their activities in 2024 with the objective to bring international learnings to the ''Telecatch'' tradition. Of those, only BWF and APW are broadcast by local television channels such as ''TV Garulhos''.

References

Professional wrestling in Brazil Professional wrestling television series {{wrestling-stub

See also

References