Negro Navarro/El Signo/Black Power vs. Silver King/El Texano/El Gran Hamada - 10/17/92, UWA

This wasn't as awesome as it sounds, but it did make me lament that AAA became popular & UWA died out.

(There's perfectly good reasons why that happened, but I'll take vets working a style I like. Even if it's non-drawing Misioneros w/ a bum partner.)

Black Power's a third stringer, but the rest of these guys could work. There's something reassuring about that in this day and age. The physicality surprised me a bit. Hard, fast exchanges. Committed bumps. It was Misioneros vs. their ex-partner, so there was some talk. Mostly it was guys who knew they were pros, finding ways to work as a trio -- a skill that's really waned these days.

El Satanico & MS-1 & Pirata Morgan vs Atlantis & El Faraon & Brazo de Plata, 6.29.92 CMLL

I loved this...

You see, El Faraon was a 44 year-old, 19 year vet, who knew he was a 44 year old, 19 year vet. He was about a week away from a hair match with MS-1 & he worked the match like a vet would. And everybody was tuned to that. They kept it real tight with a tremendous amount of restraint. Atlantis could've torn the house down with Satanico, instead they worked tests of strength. Porky was super-charismatic, but ditched the shtick and looked like he belonged in Faraon's corner. Pirata didn't bump huge, instead he did this great selling where the impact of Porky's gut looked like it took the stuffing out of him, just like Faraon's lariat or elbow might. The effectiveness of narrow offence became a type of reoccuring theme. And MS-1 didn't bump for Faraon like he would for a young guy. He didn't mind looking old at all. I often talk about how there's so many ways to work a trios, but a large part of that is guys knowing their roles & why they're out there.

Like the following match:

Negro Casas & La Fiera & Bestia Salvaje vs El Dandy & Ringo Mendoza & Ultimo Dragon, 7.12.92 CMLL

There's no mistaking who this trios is about. Trios are often used to build-up single matches, but this was especially well done. Dandy & Casas were the two best guys in CMLL at the time and evenly matched. Dandy was the Middleweight champion, but Casas had never played second fiddle to anyone. Bestia and La Fiera were the perfect stooges for Casas to bring to his corner. La Fiera was such class that he didn't take his trainer off the entire match. But they were really there to take care of the mugs on Dandy's team. Casas and Dandy were squarely focused on each other. There was no skirting or avoiding each other. On the mat, it was impossible to separate the better man. And when they couldn't settle anything, the jawing began. And when that wasn't enough, they started slapping each other. They pulled each other's hair and scuffled into the front row. Back in the ring, Dandy wanted less fouling... Casas wound up taking a shot to the jaw; didn't appreciate it, and made no bones about it. He didn't low blow Dandy as much as he punted him. From there on out, Dandy was pissed and Casas couldn't give a fuck. Mendoza and Ultimo pitch in where they can since Dandy and Casas can't always be the legal men, but try telling those two they're not the legal men. Even from the apron they're seething. Casas exploding at the crowd is some of the best acting/selling I've seen. Ever.