Mystico De La Juarez/Silver King/Rubi Gardenia v. Cassandro/Magno/El Hijo Del Santo, 12/9/08

This was by far and away the match of the year. So, alright, it wasn't wrestled in Mexico and didn't have a lucha crowd; in fact the atmosphere was difficult to describe, with the announcer putting it over like a cabaret show and DJs playing between falls, but it was a hell of a trios match and an awesome live show. Hell, it made me wanna fly over to London for the next foray.

As others have noted, Cassandro is an incredible live performer. Rubi Gardenia had a grand entrance, but sorry honey, Cassandro is twice the woman you are, and twice the man. He was promoted as a "lip-locking, transvestite wrestler," and in lesser hands it might've been a sideshow, but he strut his stuff like he was on West End. He completely won the crowd over and someone threw him flowers at the end. It was like that old Cukor film A Star is Born with Judy Garland. But enough of that. His main job here was clueing the crowd into how lucha works. For fans like us, this was a classic lucha trios, but the crowd were mostly unfamiliar with lucha. For them it was a night out. They were a bit iffy on the rudo beatdown and technico comeback, and it was Cassandro who keyed them in to the babyface comeback.

As far as the work goes, when you see a match where the guys you think will be the weakest of the lot turn out to be really fucking good, you know you've got a trios on your hands. I'm talking about Mystico De La Juarez and Magno, who were fantastic in this. There was a classic progression from matwork to dives, and rudo beatdown to technico comeback, and as you'd expect, the falls overlapped each other. Santo saved himself for the finishes and they were AWESOME lucha finishes, just spectacular stuff. I was enamoured with those finishes. And the ending! That was one of the great endings to a lucha trios. The DJ's choice isn't what I'd play, but damn did I wanna get on my feet. I love how Cassandro wept on the turnbuckle.

This was the final match on the December tour, and with the summer shows getting rave reviews, this was another outrageous success. Their website says, "Is it wrestling? Is it theatre? Is it cabaret? Who knows?" I'll tell you what, it might be the best lucha live show around. The crowds might be better in Mexico, but the festivities sure beat half empty arenas.

The only thing I didn't like was Silver King aping his brother, but he made up for it by slapping the shit out of guys. Here's to many more shows. And kudos to the guy who shouted "joint promotions" for no reason.