PERRO AGUAYO VS. UNIVERSO 2000, hair vs. mask, CMLL El Jucio Final, 3/30/01
So here's the deal: 2009 is almost over, and I'm no closer to figuring out what the best matches of the decade were, so from now until whenever we drop this project, Raging Noodles and I will search for the likely candidates. Judging by the wrestling this decade, we'll probably watch anything and everything.
First up is a mascara vs. cabellera match from Perro Aguayo's lengthy retirement tour.
RAGING NOODL
Policeman vs. Centella de Oro, hair vs. hair, Arena Puebla 56th Anniversary show, 7/20/09
I only saw the second and third falls of this on Tercera Caida, but from the looks of things it's one of the better matches this year.
It was given about as much build-up as you can possibly get for an Arena Puebla match, starting with Policeman feigning a foul and Centella de Oro being unjustly disqualified. This was followed up by a couple of weeks of legit fouls, and really, there's two thing
Arena Puebla 9/14/09
Asturiano & Centella de Oro vs. Ares & El Bárbaro
Mascara Dorada, Sagrado, Valiente vs. Dragon Rojo Jr., Misterioso II, Sangre Azteca
Most of the sources for Puebla have disappeared lately. I know Alfredo gets a steady supply of Puebla, but unless someone releases a "Best of Arena Puebla" set, I think I'll stick to whatever I can nab. From the little I saw, the locals vs. minis feud was the best idea a CMLL booker has had in years, which naturally means i
Perro Aguayo vs. Gran Hamada, WWF Light Heavyweight Title (UWF 4/17/84 handheld)
When Hisashi Shinma broke away from New Japan with a group of workers to form the original UWF, he really had no idea how to promote it other than christening it as a mini version of New Japan. So on the first tour, he brought in UWA guys Perro Aquayo, Mano Negra, Negro Navarro, El Signo and Texano, Los Misioneros de la Muerte. The idea was to create a juniors division with Gran Hamada as the lynchpin.
So
Cassandro/Rudy Reyna vs. El Matemático/Ninja Sasuke (UWA 1992)
This was from the tour to Mexico where Murakawa Masanori first donned the Great Sasuke ring attire; going by the name Ninja Sasuke.
For a Japanese wrestler in Mexico, he certainly looked the part. It helped that he looked like Octagon or one of the Fantásticos (Blackman, Kung Fu, Kendo, and later Avispón Negro), but he had the agility and suppleness to do similar speed work, and he was working Cassandro, who at just 22 yea
Lizmark/Kung Fu/Siglo XX (The Killer) vs. Los Infernales (El Satanico/MS-1/Masakre), CMLL 1987
I've been in a funk lately and haven't liked anything I've watched. I can't be bothered writing about any of that stuff, since this blog is negative enough as it is, so here's something I know and trust -- Classic Infernales.
At first glance it seemed like the Infernales were taking the night off, but I should've known better. The Infernales knew exactly how to pace a fall. They were masters
El Hijo Del Santo vs. Negro Casas, NWA World Welterweight Championship, 12/1/95
This was the final of a 16-man tournament for the vacant World Welterweight title.
It wasn't a particularly long match (about 10-12 minutes), but felt longer due to how slow it was. I guess the most striking thing about the match was how different it was from the style Santo worked in AAA. Whether that was a conscious decision on the part of the workers or a Japanese influence, I'm not sure. There was a de
August IWRG
Avisman vs. Trauma II, IWRG Intercontinental Lightweight Championship, 8/16/09
This was OK.
They put each other in interesting holds, and the selling was good, particularly from Avisman, who reminds me of this angry little kid I went to school with. The problem with these guys is that every time they work the mat, they put each other in submission holds. When they can't get a submission, they release the hold without being told to break. It doesn't make sense to give
IWRG 8/10/09 (taped 8/6)
We have a new benefactor on youtube!
Los Piratas
Barba Roja - Pirata Morgan Jr - Hijo del Pirata Morgan
vs
Los Terribles Cerebros
Cerebro Negro - Dr. Cerebro - Black Terry
This was the first time I've bothered to watch Los Piratas, and I must say I approve. They've got matching outfits, matching masks, can wrestle on the mat, brawl when they need to, and more importantly, they've got the right build. Thick and stocky, none of this skinny abs crap.
Sergio El Hermoso & El Bello Greco vs. Yoshiaki Fujiwara & Kengo Kimura, New Japan 2/3/89
Oh, man. I'm a huge fan of Fujiwara, so there was no way I could resist watching him work against exoticos.
This got over with the crowd better than I thought it would, since there were nowhere near as many gay entertainers in Japan twenty years ago as there are now. There were a couple of genuine laugh out loud moments, and Sergio El Hermoso in particular was fantastic. They worked a pre
Dr. Wagner Jr. y Espanto Jr. vs. Celestial y Coloso
Man, Espanto Jr. was good.
This match confirms what we already knew from the Santo title match -- Espanto Jr. was in the top handful of workers in 1992. Sadly, this match, a couple of other tags, and the two Santo matches, are the only footage that exists of his UWA work, but there's enough evidence to suggest that he's one of the lost workers of the 80s. I know there's people who point to his AAA work, but I don't think he was anywhe
El Dandy vs. Emilio Charles Jr., hair vs. hair, CMLL 10/23/93
The most obvious thing about this match is that it's a hair match without any blood. Normally, I'd go on a spiel about how you can't have a hair match without any blood, but I never promised to be fair or consistent with these reviews.
This was a great fight and one that carried a bit of extra meaning for me.
The great thing about getting into lucha libre is that you have to want to get into lucha libre. There's not t
Los Infernales (El Satanico/MS-1/Masakre) vs. Rayo de Jalisco Jr./La Fiera/Tony Salazar, CMLL 1987
When I say "Classic Infernales," I really mean older footage of the Infernales in action, since Pirata Morgan had already left the group by this stage. Nevertheless, the Masakre version was a good team in its own right, and this was an awesome Southern style tag match.
The Infernales were fantastic as Southern heels -- backing into the ref when the technicos wanted to duke it out, attack
Lizmark vs. Jerry Estrada, Mexican National Light Heavyweight Championship, AAA 6/18/93
I hate Jerry Estrada.
He's probably my least favourite lucha worker of all time. To me he's like the anti-Sangre Chicana. Sangre Chicana was out of his mind the entire time and took it to surreal heights. Jerry Estrada was out of his mind the entire time and was a train wreck.
But like him or not, this was one hell of a match.
By far the most coherent performance I've seen from Jerry Es
Enrique Vera vs. Dos Caras, UWA World Heavyweight Championship, 2/26/84 (slightly clipped)
Dos Caras is a great wrestler. One of the finest to ever step foot inside a squared circle. But this isn't a great example of his work.
The difference between Caras and workers like Lizmark and Solar is that Caras was a heavyweight, which meant he had to work from a dominant or standing position. Guys like Lizmark could zip around, but Caras had to maintain the illusion that he was difficult to t
Negro Navarro, Trauma I, Trauma II vs. Black Terry, Cerebro Negro, Fantasma de la Opera, 7/9/09
I dunno what's been going on with IWRG lately, but there hasn't been any TV available and this is the first match I've seen in almost a month.
Things got off to the worst start possible really, when Navarro called Fuerza out on the house mic. This led to some group conference over an angle I haven't been following, while the match time became shorter and shorter. Fuerza said his piece, the C
El Hijo del Santo vs. Blue Panther, University of Essex, 10/8/04
Y'know when see a band play and the second night is better than the first? Didn't happen here.
This was a mess of the highest order.
The ring set-up meant that they couldn't dive into the crowd, so they threw in an "over the top" rule as a means of beating your opponent. In the first match, Santo tossed in a dive whenever he needed a highspot; here they tried eliminating each other.
That's a fucked situation.
So about a month ago, I picked up goodhelmet's MOTYC compilations and have begun to work through them in the hopes that I can determine my Match of the Decade. I have not liked to keep a lot of matches on my computer and I don't have access to most of my collection right now, but these comps have basically every really pimped matches from 05-08, I've been keeping up to date with 09, and I have a feeling most of the recommended stuff from 00-04 is available online.
I'm pretty slow at watchi
Atlantis vs. El Faraón, Mexican National Middleweight Championship, 3/22/85
A villainous El Faraón!
I hadn't seen Faraón's rudo work, in fact I've never really seen him in his prime. He was a hell of a vet during the Dandy run, but this was another echelon altogether.
I've always put a great deal of importance in how a guy moves in the ring, since I don't think it's something that can be taught. You can change the way you bump and sell, but movement can only really be aided by t
El Hijo del Santo vs. Blue Panther, Colchester Arts Centre, 10/06/04
This was first of two matches Panther and Santo worked in England, as part of an exhibition of prints by Mexican artist Demián Flores Cortés.
'Flores Cortés' work, which is inspired by Mexican pop culture and in particular lucha libre, was described by the Gallery Director as "full of the raw energy, movement, and the staged drama of the wrestling world." Santo and Panther were invited to "animate" that work and did
Satanico vs. Lizmark, NWA World Middleweight Championship, 4/84
With both these guys retiring on the Luchas 2000 show, I thought I'd pay tribute to two of my all-time favourite workers.
This isn't a great match, and to be honest, I wish it had been much better, but it's as close as we'll ever get to the heart of the Lizmark/Satanico rivalry.
There's a moment towards the beginning of the match that sets the tone for everything that follows. The ref is giving his instructions to L
Zatura vs. Trauma II, IWRG Intercontinental Lightweight Championship, 6/18/09
Somehow we ended up skipping an episode of IWRG. It must've been an eventful one, since this week was all about singles matches and recriminations.
I haven't been as high on Trauma II as other people who watch and write about IWRG on a weekly basis, but I figured this match would showcase one way or another whether the kid's any good. And I'll say it up front -- the kid blew me away.
There were a few th
