Policeman vs. Centella de Oro, hair vs. hair, Arena Puebla 56th Anniversary show, 7/20/09

I only saw the second and third falls of this on Tercera Caida, but from the looks of things it's one of the better matches this year.

It was given about as much build-up as you can possibly get for an Arena Puebla match, starting with Policeman feigning a foul and Centella de Oro being unjustly disqualified. This was followed up by a couple of weeks of legit fouls, and really, there's two things that lead to a wager match. One is a bunch of mask ripping and the other is a kick to the balls.

Of course this was a modern hair match, so there was no blood. Tercera Caida showed footage of their match from last year where Policeman bladed, but I guess you can't do that shit on TV anymore. So what you're left with is a little bit of brawling and selling and a greater focus on moves. This is a trend that began in the mid-90s, so I won't go on my usual rant about how shitty this decade has been, but the problem with a bloodless hair match is that it takes away all the hate and animosity and leaves you with a high stakes singles match. There's two ways to look at that, I suppose. You can either say it's not a great brawl, there's no blood, it's not a real hair match, or you can give up caring.

Personally, I thought they did a pretty good job for two guys who are usually part of the opening card attractions. The match was heated and reasonably well paced. It was kinda obvious that they're fun trios workers and not exactly great at singles matches, but this was a legit attempt at an epic Puebla match. To make a CMLL match epic these days, you need a whole bunch of bullshit happening at ringside. The bullshit here was pretty good. Espíritu Maligno was Policeman's second and spent the entire match trying to cost Centella de Oro his hair, which is the booker's way of stirring up controversy without anyone getting the shit beaten out of them. The contrast between this and the eventual DVDVR Lucha set, where guys bladed at the drop of a hat in dimly hit, smoke filled arenas probably says something about the difference between the 80s and the 00s. One of the most annoying things about lucha these days is that the fans closest to the ring are self-aware that they're on TV. The fans who'd lose their shit over rudo interference are in the cheap seats, fenced off like they're at an ice hockey game.

Anyway, the coolest thing about this match (and the coolest thing I've seen in lucha all year) is that after it was over, Centella de Oro put Policeman in a bunch of holds to make sure he had his hair cut. Amusingly enough, it was the best work they did all match.