Atlantis/Apolo Dantes/Octagon vs. Blue Panther/Javier Cruz/Emilio Charles Jr. (8/2/91)

It's always exciting when you see a rudo line-up like that. I don't know if they cranked up the pace or it was just edited that way, but this was one lively trios. Under ordinary circumstances, they might have meandered along setting up the Cruz vs. Dantes hair match and Panther vs. Atlantis title match, but in this case there was always something interesting going on. Dantes wore a purple wrestling leotard that made him look like an exotico (lilac even, for those of you who get the reference.) I'm sure his dad could have pulled it off, as dad wasn't the sort you messed with. Still, it's not the colour of your leotard that counts but how hard you pack a punch, and Dantes' fists caused Cruz to blade here. Cruz was good value here as the annoying little jackass alter-ego to his awesome fired up babyface act of 1990. Interesting enough, Atlantis v. Panther brought the violence during the technico's comeback. Their title match may have been a breathtaking display of pure lucha libre, but they beat the tar out of each other here. The finishing stretch was wild with everyone going for broke. Octagon, who I'll defend until the day I sign off from this blog, pulled off a big dive which he sold beautifully, and Panther caught Atlantis in no man's land for the submission finish. As soon as he got the call, he dropped Atlantis like a sack of potatoes and motioned for the title around his waist. I was pumped to say the least. Fun trios.

Pierroth Jr. vs. Mogur, National Light Heavyweight Championship match (1/12/90)

This was surprisingly good. I almost passed up the opportunity to watch it as it didn't seem that interesting, but by the first fall I was hooked. It was a lengthy Arena Coliseo match with a heavy focus on (light) heavyweight style mat work. There was a lot of selling, which gave it a slightly different feel stylistically. One really cool thing they did was sell the impact of such heavy bodies being thrown about and slammed into the canvas. They'd do an armdrag, for example, and sell both the impact and the strain on the person's shoulder. It was probably took long for what these guys are capable of, and being a traditionalist I didn't particularly care for Pierroth cheating during a title match, but there was a lot to like here in terms of details. It's also a side of Pierroth that he didn't show a lot of later on, particularly his mat game. Worth checking out as a match that's well under the radar.

Atlantis/Lizmark/Ultimo Dragon vs. Emilio Charles Jr./Bestia Salvaje/Felino (7/24/92)

I don't know who runs the channel that I'm getting this stuff from, but whoever it is he's a Godsend. I'm hauled up inside with a stuffy nose and my second bout of influenza in a month and this stuff is the perfect tonic. I continue to change my tune on Ultimo Dragon. Sometimes when a guy is flashy it's easy to go off him, but flashy works well in trios matches and his exchanges here were lightning quick. This had a cracking pace. I just sat back and enjoyed this one. I need to reel myself in before I start comparing it to my recent obsession with New York disco funk. What was really cool here was that Atlantis started brawling with Emilio, which is the closest we're ever going to get to an Altantis vs. Emilio apuesta match, and it was awesome. It's a shame that Atlantis didn't work more mask matches in places like Monterrey as he looked as good a brawler as Santo.

Cien Caras/Mascara Ano 2000/Pirata Morgan vs. MS-1/Satanico/Pirata Morgan (7/9/93)

Not as awesome as I imagine some of those rudos contra rudos bouts from the early 80s to be, but still a pretty fun trios. It's debatable how well the Infernales fit with what AAA was going for, but I get the feeling that Pena was like Eric Bischoff with Turner's checkbook just buying up everyone from the competition. The Infernales were still a polished act and had a number of fun moments, but Los Hermanos Dinamita weren't so cohesive and their control segment lacked imagination. Mascara Ano 2000 bled, but having just lost his mask his selling was a little weak. Caras, looking suave with an almost Richard Gere-like hairdo, slipped in here and there to have a neat exchange with MS-1, but it was all too fleeting. Regardless of all that, Satanico looked good with his punch exchanges, and it was still a dream match of sorts.

Espectro Jr./Espectro de Ultratumba/Bestia Salvaje vs. El Dandy/Angel Azteca/El Jalisco (5/1/92)

Ha, Bestia was with his boys the Espectros. This wasn't as smooth as some of the other trios I watched since the workers weren't as good, but Dandy was oozing with confidence and his mat exchange with Espectro de Ultratumba (of all people) is a must-see if you're a Dandy fan. Azteca continued to look like the next in the Lizmark/Atlantis lineage, and I still regret that his rise to that top babyface worker level evaporated after his super push. I dug the rudo comeback here, and I loved the way it continued through to the beginning of the third fall. Trios were so fluid in this era and the action seemed so close to the crowd, not like the current sterile Arena Mexico set-up. Nice babyface ending here. Dandy would've looked cocky if he was anyone but El Dandy.This is a wonderful YouTube channel.