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 giving a fuck about Panther in general. Panther tried to fish hook him and rip the mask, but Villano's tougher than Blue Panther. In fact, Villano could pretty much kill Panther. I dunno if it's such a great idea to have an unmasked, 48 year-old Panther getting swamped.

Anyway, Panther took a beating but saw some daylight and hooked Villano's arm. The Villanos hit the ring, broke Panther's leg and crippled him for life. Panther's a double loser, I mean there he was going for an armbar when the Villanos wanna retire him. Let's say Panther got the submission, what does Villano care? He never quit. Villano has a thick skull and nothing Panther does can hurt him. He tried the tope, but it was terrible by comparison. He needs to work on that right hand, because the mask was more forgiving.

There's talk going round that Panther is wrestler of the year. The way I see it, Panther's got a struggle on his hands to stay credible. Watching Ruleta de la Muerte, Panther could've gone on for years, dumbing down his shit, staying charismatic. Everybody loved that mask.