Mike Quackenbush/Kendo/Solar v Negro Navarro/Mr. Ferrari/Claudio Castegnoli, Invasion Azteca, 3/08/09
Well, for the second year running, it looks like my match of the year will come from outside Mexico.
Perhaps this wouldn't have been a MOTY in years gone by, but these days you have to search every nook and cranny. It's a bit like diggin' in the crates.
I won't deny that finding lucha in Delaware is half the fun, but the important thing is that it was lucha through and through.
Blue Panther vs. Averno, CMLL World Middleweight Championship, 5/29/09 (clipped)
This was a difficult match to judge since it was clipped, but it made me wanna throw in the towel.
The opening matwork was there or thereabouts, with Panther making it look more spectacular than it really was. Averno is an average worker, but he at least brought his A game and Panther has enough credibility to work an opening caida along traditional lines.
The third fall is where my apathy grew, espe
El Dandy vs. Javier Cruz, hair vs. hair, 10/26/84
This was just a bad match.
Way too much offence for a hair match and not enough selling. That should come as no surprise. Dandy was only 22 here and Cruz 25. Collectively, they didn't know shit yet. It kind of reminded me of Kiyoshi Tamura's early fights, where he's all limbs and no control. Sadly, we'll probably never seen their '86 feud and won't be able to pinpoint when Dandy entered his prime or if Cruz was ever a good singles work
IWRG 5/21/09
Freelance, Miss Gaviota & Diva Salvaje vs. Xibalba, Carta Brava & Avisman
Usually I'd skip a match like this, since you have to sit through so much crap to get to the Freelance parts, but it was worth it this week. From the opening matwork with Avisman to all of his rope work and bumps, it was a really solid outing from the world's foremost technico. There were a few hiccups on the mat, but they worked through it and I liked how pissed Avisman was at himself.
Black Terry vs. Fantasma de la Ópera, IWRG Intercontinental Welterweight Championship, 7/19/07
Black Terry is a guy who's more or less had a second career in IWRG, and you'd have to say 2007 was the peak of that career.
He was tearing shit up in this feud. In one trios, they did a huge old school bladejob, where both guys worked the cut until Fantasma looked like something out of a Dario Argento film. Terry's brawling was fantastic. It wasn't the strikes or the DQ for excessive rudoing
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
