Brazo de Oro vs. Pirata Morgan, NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship, 11/17/89

This was a long match with a slower rhythm than usual. I had to watch it twice to catch all the subtleties, and in the end I decided it was a match I had to think about too much.

Sometimes a slower rhythm is beguiling, but here it was a little too much. As a match, it was like watching the game of human chess. Oro was weary of Morgan's illegal holds, which frustrated Morgan into using illegal holds, until finally he pushed the laws of decency in a title match. Oro wound up selling his leg as a result, which jeopardised his title shot, but Morgan still had to fight off the challenge. The problem was that it was all one tone. Right now I've got the kind of cold Tokyo folk get from commuting with too many fuckers, so I wasn't in the mood for something so cerebral. It might not be as cerebral as I'm making out, but it was slow and didn't hit me in the gut. A lot of the stuff I've been watching lately has been visceral; here I couldn't connect with whatever space Brazo de Oro was in and it was a match that seemed to go on and on.

I'm a firm believer of the importance of rhythm in wrestling, not only for the work, but for one's enjoyment of a match. If you can get into the rhythm, you might find this is a heady match. I don't think it was dull. I was just on the outside looking in.