Time to check in on the minis...
Bam Bam vs. Pequeño Damian 666, CMLL World Minis Championship, 7/27/08
Bam Bam vs. Pequeño Damian 666, hair vs. hair, 8/17/08
Y'know, I like Pequeño Damian. He might be a modern sort of rudo, but he looks like the bastard love child of Damián 666, so he's alright.
And he argued with his second in a title match, something I've never seen before. Loco Max was urging him not to take risks, but Damian got sick of Loco opening his trap and kicked hi
Black Terry vs. Negro Navarro, Americas Title, NWA Mexico 11/1/08
This is available in various forms on youtube, including one set to Metallica. None of them are complete, but what's shown is EPIC. I kid you not, this is fucking incredible --
xxhttp://nz.youtube.com/watch?v=tFl5O7MYbWg
xxhttp://nz.youtube.com/watch?v=4Nnt_hetpYA
xxhttp://nz.youtube.com/watch?v=fZcFHAYYoNg
Blue Panther vs. Villano V, Arena Puebla, 9/29/08
Revenge match in front of a pretty small crowd and my first look at Panther without the mask.
It takes a bit of getting used to, and looks a hell of a lot like old man brawling, but like I said Panther was never the greatest brawler. At one point he threw a pretty decent right hand, but it hardly matters since Villano won't bump.
This was a lot stiffer than their mask match, with Villano dishing out some nasty shots and not givin
IWRG 10/3/08
Lucha Azteca La Nueva Era
1. Black Terry, Negro Navarro, Hijo de Pierroth vs. Pendulo, Freelance, Fenix
2. Campeones Vs Campeones:
Escuadron del Muerte: Xibalva, Cyborg, Capitan Muerte vs. Los Oficiales: Oficial 911, Oficial Ak 47, Oficial Fierro
This was closer to the type of lucha I like. Guys taking their time, working the mat and getting into a rhythm. The young guys were balls of nervous energy, ready to explode in a shower of highspots, but even when t
Blue Panther vs. Villano V, mask vs. mask, CMLL 75th Anniversary show 9/19/08
Panther losing wasn't the worst thing in the world. It's happened to plenty of workers. Some of them were big names, some small. Some went on to fame, others never got a doggone thing. But this wasn't a great match. It was the same dumbed down shit that makes it difficult to enjoy pro-wrestling these days. I was hoping for something special, and I got it in Panther's topes, but the rest of the match was bullshit.
El Hijo del Santo vs. Negro Casas, UWA 1/12/92
This is the famous "no sound" match that was wrestled almost completely on the mat. (Well, famous to me.)
The more UWA Santo I see, the more I feel like I'm watching a completely different wrestler. This was the absolute peak of Santo's work and the closest he came to wrestling like his father. It's becoming harder to watch latter day Santo knowing he was once like this. The creativity and inventiveness in this match is staggering, such as
Bestia Salvaje vs. Kato Kung Lee, hair vs. hair, 3/13/92
I can't get over what a good worker Bestia Salvaje was in 1992.
This was a minor match, a veteran losing their hair to continue Bestia's push as a top rudo, but it's hard to imagine anyone getting a better match out of Kato Kung Lee this late in the game.
Without the mask Kato looked like a regular Joe. He reminded me of a bit part actor in an old movie, the kinda guy you could cast as a newspaper man in one film and a heav
Sangre Chicana vs. La Fiera, hair vs. hair, CMLL 7/2/93
Ah, 1993 CMLL.
AAA was doing big business at the time, and if this was CMLL's way of rolling with the punches, I have no idea why they ran such slow, plodding matches.
Not that I'm complaining. Sangre Chicana is just about my favourite wrestler for doing absolutely fucking nothing and getting heat for it. He spent the entire match measuring La Fiera with punches & walking off into the crowd to jaw with the public. He had
Fuerza Guerrera vs. Gallo Tapado, hair vs. hair, 3/8/91
Gallo Tapado was a character wrestler from the 70s whose mask was "a rooster's spur around the eyes and a line crossing the mouth to feign a belt from the charro's hat whom made roosters fight in los palenques, making him an excellent character, since sometimes in the ring [he] jumped joining his ankles like sharping his knives as roosters do in a fight." (Credit: lucha wiki)
He was 48 years old here and practically a 30 year vet,
Pierroth vs. El Supremo, mask vs. mask, 12/08/92
This was a return to greatness for PIERROTH.
I fucking loved this.
-- I should note that the version I watched was letterboxed (which it made it seem like a rare piece of lucha footage) and for some reason the sound quality was better than usual. Arena Mexico never sounded so good.
At some point in 1992, Pierroth turned technico and was a huge hit with the crowd.
Supremo was an older luchador with a classic look -- huge
Pirata Morgan vs. Masakre, hair vs. hair, 2/28/92
When I first saw this match I was in awe of Pirata Morgan.
Like most people I saw it as a big time performance from the best wrestler in the world.
This time I'm not so sure.
As awesome as Pirata was, he could've worked the match with one arm tied behind his back. Watching Los Intocables, it's clear that Masakre lacked focus. When you're facing a guy who isn't a great brawler, you've gotta have him fight. You've gotta make h
1. Los Destructores: Tony Arce/Vulcano/Rocco Valente vs. Love Machine (Art Barr)/America/Mano Negra
Los Destructores were really good in this. It's a bit difficult to tell one from the other, but they worked well as a trios. Plenty of good "routine", particularly their two and three man bumping act. The highlight was Mano Negra taking all three on at once in a beautifully coordinated sequence. Los Destructores have a neat trick they do where they sit on someone's lap to dissuade the techni
1. Los Brazos vs. Pierroth Jr./Masakre/Jaque Mate
This was a rehash of their January match. If you were expecting them to kick on and ratchet it up a notch like I was, you'd be greatly disappointed. There was some amusing stuff, like Masakre and Jaque Mate pin pointing the pressure points on Porky's gut, but it was too low on the card to deliver.
2. Ultimo Dragon vs. Blue Panther - Non-Title match
It sucks how much of Blue Panther's prime was wasted on being a fall guy for shitt
1. Ciclon Ramirez/La Pantera II/Aguila Solitaria vs. Arkangel de la Muerte/Guerrero de la Muerte/Guerrero Negro
Fun opener.
It kinda reminded me of those travel shows where they do a feature on lucha libre. They usually focus on lucha as a live show, as though you've got a front row seat. CMLL TV doesn't give you the same pick-ups from ringside, but this felt like a live match. They could probably fall out of bed and have this trios, but it was good stuff from guys I don't usually writ
Atlantis vs. Blue Panther, Arena Mexico 07/11/08
This was a match to mark Atlantis' 25th Anniversary in wrestling.
Atlantis was one of the great technicos, but he doesn't hit the small shows much, so we don't get to see him work an older style. Some of his Guadlajara stuff is alright, but you know the small show mastery I'm talking about. Fitting then that Panther was chosen to be his opponent, since they had the most pure of title matches in 1991, a match which more than any other sh
More of a heads up than a review.
If you've never seen the Villanos/Brazos masks match, it was uploaded onto youtube a few days ago.
It's not that easy to watch, because of the low tape quality and the guy playing with his camera functions, but it's a big match with an incredible atmosphere. The third fall is a great lucha brawl. You don't get a great look at the dive train or the finish since people are standing, but you do get to see the wrestlers leave the ring, which is footage you
Blue Panther/Shu El Guerrero vs Black Terry/Villano III (2004?)
This is the match that Black Terry's son put on youtube for us.
It's thirty minutes of old school lucha, worked entirely on the mat. I've watched it twice now, and of all the mat based lucha that's ever been pimped, this is up there with the best of it. Of all the small show, veteran matches that have been pimped this decade, this is almost certainly the best. You almost have to watch it twice to catch all the subtleties.
Perro Aguayo vs. Villano III, WWF World Light Heavyweight Title (UWA - 12/5/84)
I'd love to say that Perro could go back in the day, but he was a pretty limited worker.
His approach was pretty direct, either going straight for the pin or submission or throwing out a clothesline, piledriver, tope, senton, double footed stomp, that sort of thing. Similar to his son, though the younger Aguayo is far more athletic.
This was essentially a juniors match and had the same flaws as other
Mascarita Dorada/Tzuki vs. Pequeño Damian 666/Pierrothito, 3/30/08 Guadalajara
When I said lucha had lost its charm, I clearly forgot about Tzuki.
I have all the time in the world for these guys, because they work like rudos v technicos.
The rudo work wasn't great here, but the technicos were oustanding. I'm not a fan of modern lucha offence, but it's amazing how much better the minis are at pacing and set-up (or perhaps they just look awesome running the ropes.) I don't even mind
La Sombra, Sagrado, Volador Jr. vs. El Hijo Del Fantasma, La Mascara, Valiente (Mexican National Trios Titles), 04/30/08
There's no way I'm going to criticise this match, since that would be completely dickish.
Instead I'm going to focus on the good points:
* Valiente is awesome. Not since the days of Halcon Negro has there been such a fun guy on the undercard. Rudo Halcon Negro had the shtick and bump spots, but the plumper, rounder Valiente has Super Astro's footwork and agilit
Mano Negra & Negro Navarro vs. Solar I & Super Astro, 10/14/07
Nice.
There was some beautiful lucha in this match. Nothing amazing, just age old pros working a classic lucha style.
Solar was in fine form, particularly in the vintage second fall, and Super Astro got amazing height on his springboard tope. Watching Super Astro float is a sight to behold. I thought the rudos were a little quiet in this, though Navarro was always lurking. Anytime Navarro and Solar square off,
Satanico vs. Jerry Estrada, hair vs. hair, 3/23/90
Jerry Estrada again.
I swear if you can't work a hair match with Satanico then you can't work.
If I didn't have such a huge dislike for the guy, I might be able to appreciate what he did here, but it was crap.
It was Estrada's match from the start, yet it was nothing like an Estrada match. He seemed more sober than usual, perhaps that was the problem. He developed a strange fixation with Satanico's shoulder and you could fee
Satanico vs. Sangre Chicana (Classic Lucha 5/28/1989)
This was mano a mano and these two were men.
Satanico has a buzz cut from losing his hair the month before and right from the start he's hunched over in his grappling stance, fingers stretched, ready to rearrange Chicana's face. The first lock-up is a beauty. In rugby we call it niggle, in wrestling it's a red rag to a bull.
This isn't a great match by any stretch of the imagination, but it's awesome to watch the bout disintegrate
