Ciclon Ramirez vs. Felino, mask vs. mask, 7/9/93

Ciclon Ramirez was such a great luchador. The key to being a great luchador, I think, is whether you can work the mat. Mat wrestling's not something you can cheat. You can either wrestle or you can't. If you can, it gives you presence far beyond the mask and how well you pose for magazines... It may be the ultimate display of a technico's merit.

This is a good example of luchadors matching each other -- not hold for hold, but moment for moment. The match has a classic lucha structure -- Ramirez dominates the first fall with mat work; in the second fall they pick up the pace & run the ropes; in the concluding fall they pull out the dives and big spots. It's a beautifully worked match in the lucha style, but there's also a lot at stake (being a mask vs. mask match) & the reminder is there in how they sell the falls and near falls. In lucha, a fall can end in the most simplest of fashions, but like any wrestling, it's how you sell it that really counts. In the end, when Felino takes the deciding fall and leaps for joy, inviting his son to the ring while it all sinks in for Ramirez... And the announcer comes to the ring to take down Ramirez' real name and place of birth, while he stalls and delays the unmasking... Those are the moments that tell a story.