1997 CMLL was stacked full of lucha libre professionales, and since I've been digging the simplest of trios, I thought it was time to rewatch the ciberneticos from early that year.
Dr. Wagner Jr./El Hijo Del Santo/El Texano/La Fiera/Mascara Magica/Mr. Niebla/Shocker vs Black Warrior/El Dandy/Felino/Mano Negra/Negro Casas/Scorpio Jr./Silver King, 3/28/97 &
Atlantis/Brazo De Oro/El Dandy/Mascara Magica/La Fiera/Negro Casas/Shocker/Ultimo Dragon vs Black Warrior/Dr. Wagner Jr./El Hij
Silver King v. Apolo Dantes, 6/23/95
This is a really good title match between two of the better workers in CMLL at the time. It might not please everyone, since it's kinda small in scope & doesn't bring the drama so necessary to our enjoyment of professional wrestling, but it's well worked & a good example of how you can work in stuff you've picked up from all over the place while still keeping a lucha form. Silver King has always done stuff you don't usually see from a guy his siz
I guess over the next few years, people will start talking about the best matches of the decade. My goal is to find 20 lucha matches that I like. Maybe not the greatest matches, but matches that I like.
So far, I've got Atlantis/Villano, both Santo/Panther Monterrey matches, Santo/Perro 8/04, Misioneros vs. Space Cadets, the Negro Navarro/Solar tags & maybe El Dandy/Negro Navarro.
That leaves about a dozen matches.
La Parka vs Ultimo Guerrero (CMLL Light Heavyweight Title), 0
Atlantis/Emilio Charles Jr./Felino vs Black Warrior/Blue Panther/Dr. Wagner Jr, 1/22/99
This was a really good trios. The heel/face dynamic was a little weak, so it wasn't as good as the stuff from the early 90s. but Atlantis was channeling 1991 in his matwork with Panther & the way he sold and bumped for everyone else.
Apollo Dantes/ Fuerza Guerrera/ Villano 3 vs Brazo de Plata/ Olympico/ Emilio Charles Jr, 2/99 TV
Searching for great lucha is like searching for the perfec
Love Machine, Eddy Guerrero & Hijo Del Santo vs Fuerza Guerrera, Fishman & Blue Panther, AAA - 7/23//93
I've never really liked AAA no matter how many of their workers I like or how good the booking might have been. Something about the style, I guess. That goes double for Gringos Locos. The Panther/Love Machine hair match, the 11/93 45 minute tag, the WWC hair vs. masks match. I don't like any of it.
This, however, is a classic trios. Most people remember it for the double (or is
CMLL June/July 1997
Scorpio/Wagner/Santo vs Fiera/Dragon/Casas, 6/6/97
Scorpio/Wagner/Santo vs Fiera/Dragon/Casas, 6/13/97
Santo/Emilio/Wagner vs Casas/Ultimo Dragon/Felino, 6/20 or 6/27/97
El Hijo del Santo vs. Felino for the WWA Welterweight Title, 7/4/97
A lot of people are familiar with the Santo heel turn & the mask vs. hair match from the 64th Anniversary show, but man was the TV leading into that match great. Here you've got a month's worth of trios building to the
My thought on Disk #3 (Ranked in order of best-to-worst):
Cream of the crop:
1. Ted DiBiase vs. Hacksaw Duggan (No DQ, Loser Leaves Town, Coal Miner's Glove on a Poll, Tuxedo, Cage match ) (3/22/85) [bR-14] - Wow. A short but an awesome, brutal and bloody cage match to cap off their feud. it's bad enough to get your ass kicked but now they have to do it in their best clothes. This easily would've still been #1 for me even without all the history that DVDVR provided. But the inclusion
Man am I ever digging Black Terry, especially now he has a moustache.
Seems daft, but I managed to find his hair match against Cerebro Negro from November, music videos of his feud with Fantasma de la Ópera & February's match against Multifacetico.
The kids aren't up to much, but Terry can still go. He moves incredibly well for a guy his age and can still bump. And he's like this journeyman, who can work the mat lucha style or do all the indie shit that these youngs are into. Plu
Negro Navarro vs. El Dandy, IWRG 11/18/01
I liked this more than I did three or four years ago. At the time I was really into Dandy in his prime, so I found this a bit slow. You're never too old to learn a different kind of rhythm, I guess. Having said that, I'm not gonna pretend I love it because it's Navarro and Dandy working the mat in a longish title match. The match is wrestled at the same pace throughout, since Navarro doesn't really have the stamina to work a longer singles match at
Solar/Mano Negra vs. Negro Navarro/Black Terry, AULL VIP 3/10/07
This was such a great match. I wanted to write about how this is real lucha & how young guys in Mexico don't know how to work anymore, but I'm trying to keep an open mind about that, so instead I'll praise Mexico for being a place where veterans can work a match that's not only "old-school", but as good as any lucha I've seen. I mean, Solar is 51. Mano Negra is 56. Negro Navarro is 50 and Black Terry is 55. It's obvious yo
1993.04.08. CMLL - Corazón de León, Negro Casas & La Fiera vs. Mocho Cota, Emilio Charles Jr. & Bestia Salvaje
1993.07.09. CMLL - Atlantis, Corazón de León & El Dandy vs. Mano Negra, Javier Cruz & Black Magic
The best of a bad bunch of CMLL I watched, including a disappointing 40 min tag between Corazón de León/Ultimo Dragon and Negro Casas/El Dandy (though Casas was typically awesome.)
Trios matches are at the heart of lucha libre wrestling & if you've watched a bit
My thought on Disk #2 (Ranked in order of best-to-worst):
Cream of the crop:
1. Rock N Roll Express & Hacksaw Duggan vs. Midnight Express & Ernie Ladd (6/8/84) [sDM-3] - Really surprised this was my favorite match of the set but it was really fun. Ladd just towered over everybody and the Midnights and Cornette brought their shenanigans to the party. Ricky Morton plays Ricky Morton here. A molten crowd always helps too.
2. Magnum T.A. vs. Ted DiBiase (No DQ) (Tulsa 5/27/8
Ciclon Ramirez vs. Felino, mask vs. mask, 7/9/93
Ciclon Ramirez was such a great luchador. The key to being a great luchador, I think, is whether you can work the mat. Mat wrestling's not something you can cheat. You can either wrestle or you can't. If you can, it gives you presence far beyond the mask and how well you pose for magazines... It may be the ultimate display of a technico's merit.
This is a good example of luchadors matching each other -- not hold for hold, but moment for
Floyd’s Rant for Wrestemania IV
To be honest I wasn’t looking forward to this show for 2 reasons:
1) It’s not really that good.
2) It’s loooonnngggggggggggggggg (~4 hrs.)
This year after Hogan was pinned cleanly by Andre (fuck you Hogan, you lost, the ref counted 3… live with it), Andre gave/sold the World title belt to Ted Dibiase. The WWF wouldn’t allow it so they declared the title vacant and set up a tournament for the title. I thought the tournament was a great idea but unf
CMLL 2007
Mistico vs. Averno, 1/6/07
Mistico vs. Perro Aguayo Jr, 3/2/07
Mistico vs . Dr Wagner Jr, 7/27/07
The formula for Mistico's big matches in 2007 seemed to involve the rudo dominating for long stretches, Mistico taking a beating, having his mask torn or ripped off and even blading. The matches were longer and there was a lot of heat. This was effective against Perro and Wagner, since Perro has the offence and gumption to do nasty things to Mistico and his mascot buddy &
Javier Cruz vs. Ciclón Ramírez, hair vs. hair, 6/10/94
Javier Cruz was a fucking great worker.
As a technico, he could play a fired up babyface without ever being a dick about it. He'd just act pissed the whole time. As a rudo, he was a dick without being showy about it. Man do I love the black studded glove and the whole scattered wasteland of 1994 CMLL. As for Ciclon Ramirez, well life changes after you drop the mask. He was a great flyer in his day, here he's trying to make his way
Rayo de Jalisco Jr. vs. Cien Caras, mask vs. mask, 9/21/90
This has got to be one of my favourite lucha matches of all time.
I don't know if either guy could ever work; the stuff they do here is really simple, but the heat is amazing. One of the greatest things about lucha is that two 40 year old guys can have a mainevent with this much at stake. Where losing the mask really means something. The match is beautifully laid out... Caras attacks Rayo on his way to the ring, smashing him ov
Floyd’s Rant for Wrestlemania III
Attendance for this show is listed at an astonishing 93,173. Most experts place it more around 78,000 nowadays, but the actual number isn’t as important as the fact that a SHITLOAD of people came to see Wrestlemania this year.
Vince McMahon opens the show by welcoming the people. You can practically see the dollar signs in Vince’s eyes. He had to have had a week-long orgasm after seeing the gate and buy rate numbers. America the Beautiful is sung
CMLL 2006
El Hijo del Santo/La Mascara vs. Blue Panther/Tarzan Boy, 1/1/06
Mistico/Negros Casas vs. Averno/Mephisto, 4/14/06
El Hijo del Santo/Negro Casas/Mistico vs. Atlantis/Black Warrior/Ultimo Guerrero, 8/04/2006
El Hijo del Santo vs Perro Aguayo Jr, 8/25/06
Black Warrior vs. Mistico, mask vs. mask, 9/29/06
Negro Navarro/Villano 4/Villano 5 v. Dos Caras Jr./Heavy Metal/Solar 1, AULL 11/2/06
While searching for this stuff, I kept reading that CMLL didn't have a good yea
Floyd’s Rant for Wrestlemania II
Wrestlemania 2 has always been a childhood favorite of mine. IN fact, it’s easily the Wrestlemania event I’ve seen the most times. This year Vince McMahon wanted to do what Jim Crockett did for Starcade and stage a big card in more than one venue. He chose Three, the first being in:
New York:
Ray Charles sings the national anthem. Despite some feedback, does a awesome job on it. Ray Charles > Limp Bisquick any day. Roddy Piper cuts a promo saying
I used to do reviews of shows long ago. Since it's a few months before Wrestlemania I'd figure I'd do a review for every Wrestlemania for those who haven't seen the shows.
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Floyd’s Rant for Wrestlemania I
Show starts off with Mean Gene Oakerlund singing the national anthem. Gov. Jessee da Body says Mean Gene rates right up there with Robert Goulet.
1. Chico Santana Vs. The Executioner – The Executioner is Buddy Rose, which
CMLL 2005
Mistico vs. El Averno, 2/11/05
Mistico vs. Ultimo Guerrero, 2/25/05
Dr. Wagner Jr./Mistico vs. Ultimo Guerrero/Rey Bucanero, 3/12/05
Mistico vs. Perro Aguayo Jr, 5/13/05
El Hijo del Santo/Mistico/Dr. Wagner Jr. vs. Ultimo Guerrero/Averno/Mephisto, 8/26/05
Perro Aguayo Jr, Mr Aguila, Halloween & Damian 666 vs. Pierroth, Apolo Dantes, Mascara 2000 & Universo 2000, 10/14/05
El Hijo del Santo vs. Atlantis, 11/05/05
Halloween vs. Universo 2000, hair vs. hair, 12/0
My thought on Disk #1 (Ranked in order of best-to-worst):
Cream of the crop:
1. Junkyard Dog & Mr. Olympia vs. Ted Dibiase & Matt Borne (Loser Leaves Town) (10/27/82) - Whoever loses the fall must leave town. This was supposed to be Hacksaw defending the belts but he couldn't make it so Portland Matt Bourne took his place. DiBiase/Bourne make a good heel tag team. Really fun tag match with an ending so awesome if made it my #1 for the set.
2. Ted DiBiase vs. Hacksaw Dugg
