Perro Aguayo vs. Sangre Chicana, 3/20/92
Ha, this was awesome!
Easily the best Perro Aguayo match I've seen and probably the best thing Konnan's ever been involved in. There was so much bullshit going on in this match and it all worked beautifully. They couldn't have booked or executed it any better.
It started off on the perfect note with Chicana beating Aguayo over the head with the charro hat he wore to the ring, and was filled with hokey shit from La Fiera, Konnan and the hee
Back to work for these guys.
Oficiales 911, AK47 y Fierro vs. Zatura, Chico Ché & Freelance, 5/14/09
This is the first Oficiales match I've seen all year. A decent hit out, I suppose, but largely forgettable. It was the type of trios where they pause in the middle for the Freelance show; he hits a bunch of cool spots and then it's back to the same old, same old. The beatdowns were mildly interesting, but it's difficult to care about technicos like Zatura and Chico Ché.
Fuerza
I just watched Buzz Sawyer & Bam Bam Bigelow vs. Antonio Inoki & Tatsumi Fujinami from sometime in February of 87 from New Japan. I was immediately excited for this because Bigelow comes in without his flame attire and is instead rocking the black gear from Memphis with the "I am a monster" t-shirt, and so I can see that he is going to be a complete bad ass in this.
Bigelow and Buzz attack before the bell and the ref looks legitimately scared of Bigelow and starts calling Buddy Ros
Dandy/Faraon/Lizmark v Casas/Pierroth/Brazo de Oro, 6/22/92
Casas v. Dandy; whoever booked this feud had a rare stroke of genius.
It only just occurred to me how early this was in Casas' run. By booking Dandy as his first opponent, it brought Dandy out of a slump and saw Casas leapfrog his way to the top.
The booking itself was fairly simple. Casas and Dandy had a bunch of exchanges where neither guy came out on top, and therefore a singles match was a must; but it was remarkably
Mascarita Dorada vs Pequeño Damian 666, Lucha Fiesta, 3/20/09
I've never been a big fan of lucha in Japan, aside from the 70s when Baba would bring in guys like Mil Máscaras, Dos Caras and Dr. Wagner. The UWF stuff I could never get into. The crowds always felt the need to do something, whether it was booing or cheering, and the hardcores were more interested in the masks, which still fetch a price if they were actually worn. But I was surprised by how well this got over.
I haven't se
Valiente vs. Virus, Match Relámpago, 4/3/09
These two guys have gotta be the best workers in CMLL right now.
I've been thinking lately about why their match-up is so good, and I wanna say that it's the old adage that styles make fights. Virus has bulked up a lot since he became a regular sized worker and likes to lead with the shoulder; Valiente prefers the armdrag. Virus uses his strength to lift guys off the mat; Valiente works counters and reversals. Virus is an excellent rudo foil
Black Terry, Cerebro Negro y Dr Cerebro vs Negro Navarro, Trauma I y Trauma II, 4/23/09
There's been a lot of "lost lucha" over the years, but not this feud...
Chapter four started off with a lengthy mat sequence between Black Terry and one of the Trauma kids. It wasn't a bad mat sequence, but it was fairly typical of IWRG matwork in that the guy applying the hold allowed for a reset, which to me isn't much of a mat contest. I realise that it's largely about machismo and letting the ot
Black Terry, Cerebro Negro y Dr Cerebro vs Negro Navarro, Trauma I y Trauma II, Distrito Federal Trios Championship, 4/16/09
This is the third Terribles Cerebros/Dinastía Navarro match to find its way onto youtube in the past few weeks and lo and behold there were multiple versions of it. Watching the handheld copy, I wasn't that impressed, but the televised version ended up being far more enjoyable.
In a longer, mat-based match like this, there are a lot of details which you can only
Centella de Oro, Sensei & Starman vs. Espíritu Maligno, Inquisidor & Pólvora, 4/6/09
Spirited Puebla opener, this time in front of a full house. Centella de Oro and Espíritu Maligno are two guys you need to check out whenever they make TV. The match wasn't overly special, but the work was smooth and the larger attandence helped.
Blue Panther/Maximo/El Hijo Del Fantasma v. Negro Casas, Felino & Heavy Metal, 4/10/09
This was entertaining. I dunno if I'll ever get used t
Satanico vs. Super Astro, mano a mano, 1984
Satanico's hair was awesome in this.
I wasn't digging his work to begin with. It was good, but not the genius you'd expect from Satanico. And I thought they made a mistake giving the first fall to Super Astro, especially since he turned on a dime to make his comeback, instead of fighting his way out of a corner. They went straight back to the beatdown, which isn't the overlap you'd expect, but the third fall was really good. Super Astro made
Black Terry, Cerebro Negro y Dr Cerebro vs Negro Navarro, Trauma I y Trauma II, 3/28/09
There was something a bit off about Terry's matwork in this match and even Navarro was a bit skew-whiff. I'm not sure that he should out and out dominate Dr.Cerebro like that. The match stayed on an even keel, but the only explosive moments where when Terry and Navarro brawled and even that wasn't outstanding. I think they're building to a title match, so we can live in hope, but shorter mat sequences wi
Mascara Dorada, Metro, Valiente vs Euforia, Nosferatu, Virus, 4/10/09
This was really good. It started off with an extended mat sequence between Valiente and Virus, which is a hell of a match-up, but what made this match was the rhythm. The timing on the dives was perfect and I think the crowd picked up on that. A tidy match with good, clean progressions. Nobody overplayed their hand and the bumping & catching was strong. Valiente might just be prettier than Super Astro.
Atlantis/El Hijo del Santo/Tony Salazar vs. El Satanico/El Dandy/Espectro Jr., mid-80s
This was pretty cool. Not the three fall classic you're looking for; in fact the technicos ran away with it, but if you're into your technicos then this was irresistable.
Santo did the kind of things you've seen him do a million times before, but at three times the speed. Even though he's Santo, it was staggerly how cleanly he hit everything. Whenever a match pops up from his UWA period, it always s
Dos Caras Sr. vs. Dr. Wagner Sr., All Japan Pro-Wrestling
I remember Jose telling me about this match when we hung out one time.
Now that I've seen it, I can honestly say it's one of the high points of my lucha fandom.
Caras was mobbed on his way to the ring. The crowd were on their feet, trying to get a glimpse of him, and kids rushed from everywhere to touch him. And there, waiting for him, was the Doctor. In full attire.
The TV producers cut to the body of each fall, but
LOS TEMERARIOS (Shu el Guerrero, Black Terry y Jose Luis Feliciano) vs LOS FANTASTICOS (Kato Kung Lee, Kendo y Blackman), 3/16/02
This was from some UWA tribute show back in '02.
It was a typical Fantasticos match, with a bunch of dueling takedowns leading into Space Cadets type spots, and Blackman in particular was really good at that shit, but what impressed me were the Los Temerarios. It was like they hadn't skipped a beat. Terry had this really awesome slap exchange with Kato Kung
Floyd’s Rant for Wrestlemania XXV
Hell yeah WM back in Texas! Houston's less than an hour away but I'm such a poor bastard I didn't go. Should've at least gone to ROH. All well I'm a dumbass. :-( Poor Tazz got the ax right before this show. Released or fired? I doubt he'd choose losing a Wrestlemania paycheck. So were stuck with the JR/Lawler/Cole trifecta.
1. Money-In-The-Bank Ladder Match V: (Kane Vs. Mark Henry Vs. Shelton Benjamin Vs. C.M. Punk Vs. MVP Vs. Kofi Kingston Vs. Fit
IWRG 3/26/09
Freelance, Turbo & Chico Che vs. Black Thunder, Black Terry & Capitán Muerte
IWRG is back and it'll only take a few seconds of matwork to make you realise what you've missed.
The match itself was low-key. There wasn't much of a crowd and they didn't bite on the switch-up in the first fall, which, considering the technicos snuck a fall they should've lost, kinda killed the tone for the rest of the match. The rudos played it a bit loose after that, but the work
El Signo vs. Villano V, UWA World Light Heavyweight Championship, 4/3/92
Signo really was a fantastic worker. Not only was he ridiculously smooth with his rolling bumps, he was also quick on the mat. And he could sell too. Which no matter what people say is the art to professional wrestling.
This match was unique in a lucha sense in that Villano spent a lot of time targeting a body part. Often times, you'll see a guy work a body part for a finish or perhaps even a fall, but Villano wa
Signo, Negro Navarro y Black Power vs. Solar, Fantasma y Psicodelico, early 90s
This was really cool. Hard-hitting, fast-paced lucha, with more action than you see these days. Guys kept hitting the ring and working cool exchanges. Clipping may have sped it up, but the Misioneros were going flat tack. Signo was motoring and must've been a dynamo in his prime. He led with the headbutt and Psicodelico got so pissed with the smash mouth tactics that he started grabbing people by the ears and fi
Valiente vs. Rey Hechicero, WWA World Middleweight Championship, 1/27/08
This was good stuff. If I'd seen it earlier, I would've voted for it in the Tapatía Awards.
It was a genuine attempt at a lucha title match, with Valiente showing how skillful and competent he is on the mat. I'm sick of sounding like a broken record, but I can't understand why CMLL don't give us matches like this. With the numerous TV shows they have, you'd think they could throw out something authentic from tim
Black Tiger, Blue Center, Tigre Rojo vs Espiritu Maligno, Mr. Rafaga, Toro Bill Sr., Arena Puebla 3/2/09
After two years of marriage, I finally decided to have a wedding. That was a blast and so was this match.
This was a bunch of older guys doing stuff they're not capable of anymore and pulling it off. It was fantastically old-school; the kind of lucha you can hang your hat on. The last thing I expected the first thing this morning was a great match, but this was instantly recognisabl
Los Oficiales vs. Freelance, Marco Rivera, Veneno, 8/9/2007
With no new IWRG, I figured it's worth checking out the back catalogue. I dunno if it was the low bit-resolution or the fact the Oficiales were only a few months into their run, but they seemed fresher here. They were a well-oiled machine in this, cutting off the ring and working slick triple teams. Their brawling had a real snap to it and it was great to see them working as a unit.
As for Freelance -- the first chance he got
Ric Flair Vs. Jake Roberts (Mid-South - 11/24/85)
Match history:
Not much that I know about. Ric Flair was the perennial NWA World champ throughout the 80’s and he traveled from territory to defending the belt against all comers. Here he takes on the up and coming Jake the Snake Roberts in Mid-South.
The Match:
Jake's the clear fan favorite here. Before the match Flair makes fun of Jake’s trailer-park-trash hand-me-down outfit. What is this XPW? This is a NWA World
