Graham Crackers

Blue Panther, Emilio Charles Jr. y Hombre Bala vs. Blue Demon, Javier Cruz y Hombre Sin Nombre (8/4/89) This match follows a standard trios formula. First two pairings work the mat, third pairing runs the ropes, flashy first fall victory for tecnicos, rudos come back with cheating and brawling to win second fall, rudos control the ring in the third fall, a tecnico comeback with dives, and the finish (in this case a low blow). It's a solid formula and this is a solid match but it isn't much more than solid either. The rudos looks good but this tecnico trio is lacking. Cruz is miles better than his partners but we don't see him in the ring nearly as much as we see them. MS-1 y Maskare vs. El Dandy y El Satanico, (8/11/89) This is as awesome as it looks on paper. This is a brawl though not a bloody one until the final fall. El Dandy and Satanico mesh really well and MS-1 makes just as great an opponent for Satanico as he did a partner. I loved Dandy's variation on the running around the ring to confuse the rudos spot. Here it was used to separate the rudos to put an end to their double teaming and lead directly to Dandy and Satanico's comeback after being mugged for much of the match so far. The MS-1 vs Satanico brawling during the next two falls is pretty awesome and makes me really want to see a hair vs hair match between these two. Finally we get one of the best low blow finishes of the entire set. Perhaps even the best low blow finish on the set. Nobody has more tricks up their sleeve than Satanico. Super Astro, Atlantis y El Faraón vs. Fuerza Guerrera, Blue Panther y Emilio Charles (8/18/89) Fuerza fucking Guerrera. THAT is an awesome Fuerza Guerrera performance. Fuerza is such a fucking goof. I always love the Fuerza bump, especially when it gets used as a miscommunication spot. I love Atlantis teasing a dive against Blue Panther then turning and slapping Fuerza right off the apron. I love Fuerza eating a punch from Faraon, spinning around, and accidentally posting himself. I love Fuerza's spaghetti legged selling of all of Faraon's punches. I loved Fuerza selling his frustration at the victory roll getting blocked before the finish and selling the pain in his nose after it gets countered. I love Fuerza Guerrera. But like a great rudo he never steals the show. It's the spectacular tecnico offense that makes most of the list of highlights in this match. There is tons of graceful high flying from Atlantis and Super Astro while Faraon keeps it simple with good matwork and great punches. The rudo team does a great job with their miscommunication spots and stooging and it makes an already great batch of tecnicos look better. I'm not sure if the "Atlantis hits the quebradora on all of his opponents" spot has ever looked better and I thought the fake out with Blue Panther almost blocking it at the end made it even better. The dives at the end were amazing too. Atlantis has a great fast tope and Super Astro's tope en reversa to the outside was insane. This is a high end trios match. Atlantis, Mascara Sagrada y Super Astro vs. Hombre Bala, Pirata Morgan y Verdugo) (September 1989) Originally I said: This is merely a glimpse of great lucha. It looks great but we don't get to see much. Los Bucaneros are some of the best rudo bases ever and they excel in a sprinty environment like this one. Atlantis and Super Astro are great again. Duh. It was weird to see a babyface miscommunication spot. I'm not sure where to rank this. On a second viewing this was really fun. I wish it felt more like a full match but this is a more entertaining whole than a number of three fall trios matches on this set and features tons of crisp/cool offense. It's hard to argue with fun so I could even see this somewhere near the middle of my ballot. Atlantis y Satanico vs. MS-1 y Tierra Viento y Fuego (Hair/Mask vs. Hair/Mask) (9/22/89) Good brawl with a great finishing stretch. tim really nailed it when he said the intensity really blows up after those dives. Satanico crawling back into the ring to counter the double sub on Atlantis was a great comeback and that's when the false finishes really began. I loved the space between eliminations as well. Still, this wasn't as great throughout as the tag with Dandy and Masakre from earlier on this disc. El Dandy, Apolo Dantes y Eddy Guerrero vs. Emilio Charles Jr., Pirata Morgan y Ary Romero (October 1989) This was nothing special. Ari Romero was amusing and young Eddy made this feel unique but everything else was merely solid. To be honest I'm having trouble remembering more than a couple spots from this match.The only other thing that is standing out to me is some of the limbwork which I thought was pretty boring. This isn't an absolute bottom match but it isn't going to be too much higher than that either. Blue Demon Jr., Super Astro y Mascara Sagrada vs. El Supremo, Espectro Jr. y Blue Panther (10/6/89) This was kind of fun but is still a match that'll rank lowish. Blue Panther and Super Astro are pretty awesome in this and when either of them are in the ring you get the kind of breathtaking lucha that reminds you why you love wrestling. The rest of the match isn't like that but it's not complete shit either. When they aren't in the ring it's more goofy fun with guys in wacky and colorful outfits making big theatrical movements. Outside of Astro and Panther this isn't very crisp and it has some weak stretches but this isn't an absolute bottom of the barrel match either. Jerry Estrada, Ary Romero y Rick Patterson vs. Javier Cruz, Eddy Guerrero y El Dandy (10/6/89) The rudos were pretty easy to hate here which is really the best thing this match has going for it. They were pretty entertaining when soaking in the crowd's hatred or engaging in any schtick. Unfortunately that didn't add up to a compelling match. I'm still not sold on Jerry Estrada. His taunting and punches in this match were among the best things I've ever seen him contribute to a match but for most of this he looked as out of it as usual and with him being one of the main focuses of this match that ended up dragging the whole thing down. All Star, El Dandy y El Texano vs. Espectro Jr., Jerry Estrada y Rocky Star (10/13/89) The first fall was fun but felt pretty standard. The chaos of the second rope coming off and Jerry Estrada selling his ass were pretty entertaining. it felt like they were building up some kind of rivalry between All Star and Rocky Star. Their exchanges were decent fun but not something that is going to blow anybody's mind. The match as a whole is mediocre to solid and is something that'll probably end up finishing close to the bottom. Chavo Guerrero, Cien Caras y Mascara Ano Dos Mil vs. Lizmark, El Satanico y Rayo De Jalisco Jr. (10/20/89) Everybody throws some hard shots in this one and especially Lizmark, Satanico, and Chavo. This isn't the best Rayo vs Capos stuff you'll see but it's something I find myself getting a kick out of more often than not these days. I'll take Rayo doing cat and mouse comedy spots over main eventers trying to have an epic and failing. The third fall has a fun exchange of trios spots. This didn't have the kind of arc or interesting transitions that hold together a great match and that hurt it but this was still a match that had enough fun spots to keep it away from the bottom. Jerry Estrada vs. Javier Cruz (Hair vs. Hair) (10/20/89) So, going into this I'm not a fan of Jerry Estrada from everything I've seen but I've heard people speak highly of this match. I've also read OJ and tim's reviews so I'm not exactly expecting to be sold on him either. The first two falls feature some solid brawling though there are moments that hint at just how fucked up Estrada is. As this thing goes on it just gets so fucking weird. That does lead to some crazy moments and images. I like how gross and violent and fucked up wrestling can be and those images definitely make this match worth watching. Jerry accidentally posting himself is kind of funny but kind of tragic as well. The way he just stands around every time he's knocked to the floor is kind of creepy. He does some really dangerous stuff too like that nasty victory roll counter. On the other hand some of those dangerous moments take away from the match like how he ends up in the wrong position for dives and flying moves but corrects himself at the last minute or doesn't even capitalize on his opponent's "mistake." So in the end the most memorable images are not enough to save this one. I'm going to watch this again but this feels like a bottom half match at best. At the same time this is a unique spectacle and I'm glad I watched it.

The awesome thing about the Brazos is that they are already an impressive unit when you are just thinking about the main trio but even the tertiary family members are pretty good from everything I've seen. I wish we had more footage of Robin Hood and I remember digging the other super fat Brazo from the UWF Hamada atomicos match.

An ex girlfriend actually bought me a few of those Ikki Kajiwara wrestling comics off of ebay. I have the Stan Hansen, Abdullah the Butcher, Bruiser Brody, and Tiger Jeet Singh books by him. They're in Japanese but they're filled awesomely weird kayfabe origin stories for each of those wrestlers.

http://deathvalleydriver.com/forum/index.p...ha-set/?p=38751

Super Halcon, Satanico y Masakre vs. El Texano, Lizmark y Rayo De Jalisco Jr. (3/19/89) This got better and better as it went along. Rayo vs Halcon was a major thread throughout this match as they were building to an apuestas match. Rayo can be such a charismatic and enjoyable performer that the brawling between those two, while not as spectacular as the best brawling on this set, was still really fun. Los Infernales are obviously the most fun guys to watch in this match. They both worked really well with El Texano who looked like a great brawling babyface although most of those moments happened opposite Satanico who I honestly think could make anyone look like a great babyface. Lizmark had some of the most impressive flashes in this match. Every time I see him he has such good timing and is as good throwing hands as he is flying around. He looks like an all time great but I keep feeling like we are only getting brief glimpses of how great he is as he hasn't been the main focus of any of any top tier trios matches and the Satanico vs Lizmark match was a bit of a disappointment to me. He's an incredible supporting actor but I'm still waiting for that great Lizmark starring role and I really want to believe it's out there. Angel Azteca, Atlantis y Blue Demon Jr. vs. El Dandy, Super Muneco y El Texano (3/24/89) A conversation that totally could have happened (but probably didn't): "Hey Texano, it's me, El Dandy. I just got some New Japan tapes from Jeff Lynch and there's a fucking awesome Choshu vs Fujiwara match. We'll watch it after we drink and fuck some rats. Did you hear Fujiwara is going back to UWF? Maybe we'll get another Fujiwara vs Yamazaki match!" So Atlantis vs Texano was pretty cool. Their matwork was a little more UWF-ish than some of the other matwork on the set. Outside of a couple flashy Atlantis counters this was more about attempting armbars and cool amateur wrestling. As a guy with a Super Muñeco avatar and signature I'm obligated to say that he's not as bad as tim says but I'll admit that his exchanges with Azteca weren't anything special. Blue Demon Jr. is pretty shitty though. he's pretty much only capable of a decent match when Hijo Del Santo is in the ring. Dandy tries really hard though and that's gotta be entertaining. Dandy vs Azteca is much better (that ends up being MOTY just a year later so that's no surprise). This is bottom half stuff but it has it's moments. Sangre Chicana vs. Satanico (5/26/89) Wow, this is incredible. It's an interesting match on paper before we even get to the ring. Sangre Chicana is an artist who paints in broad strokes while Satanico brings little details to his best matches and that's part of what makes them so memorable. This is some of the best standup fighting I've ever seen in a wrestling match. First of all, they throw some brutal punches. Not only are these punches nasty looking but even with the poor sound quality there are still a few punches that are really really loud. Satanico, being more of a grappler than Sangre Chicana controls the first moments of the match with clinches but shit gets real when Sangre Chicana is backed into the ropes and resorts to using a headbutt to defend himself. Both wrestlers throw a variety of punches as well as some varied defense. They make great use of bobbing, weaving, and blocking. I especially liked when Chicana used the ringpost to evade a few strikes. Neither man is afraid of fighting dirty either. I love Satanico coming back with a chop block followed by biting his opponent's forehead. Satanico is the master of those nasty bar fight techniques as he also hooks Sangre Chicana's eye to control his movements. Chicana's dirty techniques are a bit more psychological. He slowly approaches Satanico with his arms up as if comes in peace before throwing a cheap shot. This all comes to an end with the best double count out ever. Obviously, if there is a double count out both guys better be fighting around ringside or else I will be pretty pissed off. This isn't a wild brawl causing a double count out but it is a really intense showdown where neither man is willing to give up. This is the kind of match that could only have a decisive finish with their hair and their pride on the line and unfortunately we never got to see that. As it stands this is one of the best matches in one of the best years in wrestling history. It's one of the best matches on the set and I could see it as a dark horse number 1 pick. Atlantis, El Dandy y Popitekus vs. Gran Markus Jr., Pirata Morgan y Ulises (5/26/89) This match has two big fat fucks doing athletic lucha spots so it's definitely staying in the top half. You rarely get to see David vs Goliath stuff in lucha so watching the smaller guys taking down the big boys with all kinds of cool armdrags and flying techniques (including Morgan hitting the best tope en reversa) was pretty cool. One of the most fun matches on the set. Popitekus, Angel Azteca y Steve Nelson vs. Emilio Charles Jr., Gran Markus Jr. y Masakre (6/9/89) The Charles vs Nelson matwork was interesting but kind of dry. Masakre was pretty great in this, especially when selling for Popitekus or working with Angel Azteca. Azteca hits a fantastic tope with so much momentum that he bounces off of Masakre and lands 10 feet away. The Popitekus vs Gran Markus stuff was fun again but was based more around tecnico vs rudo stuff as opposed to the athletic exchanges of the last match. I think I'd like to see them in a singles match. The second two falls were pretty fast. This was nothing special but it had some entertaining moments. Javier Cruz vs. Hombre Bala (Hair vs. Hair) (7/2/89) Y'know, I've liked Javier Cruz in the other matches on this set but this is his breakout performance to this point. He had some tremendous selling that pushed this match over the top. He was so fired up and seemed so determined to win this match. This looked like the fight of his life. This was also a match with a lot of workrate and a lot of cool spots and Hombre Bala kind of shines in that sort of match. The big bombs and huge bumps were paced very nicely during the third fall and gave this an epic finishing run. This isn't an amazing upper tier match but this feels like it isn't too far outside of that spectrum. Maybe top 40? Emilio Charles, Fabuloso Blondy y Pirata Morgan vs. El Dandy, Atlantis & El Faraón (7/21/89) This might just be a top 5 match right now. I even like it better than the Satanico vs Sangre Chicana match I was just raving about. This match is all about building the El Dandy vs Emilio Charles Jr. feud and it does a better job of setting up that feud than any other trios match on this set has done setting up any other feud. It's not just that I want to see these two square off, I'm worried my expectations are now too high. They are intense when they are going after each other but those athletic spots tell me that as much as they may hate each other they are still both determined to be the best. At this point El Dandy has really put everything together. He showed flashes before and had some interesting ideas but now he really looks like the best. In this match he has that perfect balance of great execution, great timing, and great selling. I'm mainly familiar with El Dandy's 90s output which is incredible but in this match I really feel like I've seen the turning point in his career. Emilio Charles vs. El Dandy (Hair v. Hair) (7/28/89) I'm fucking loving this feud and I'm pretty excited just knowing that it ain't over yet. This was a step below that last trios match but still incredible. They redid the finish of the Dandy vs Cruz match but this was executed so much better as we had a few really great false finishes just before the brawl on the floor which also looked much more out of control in this match. tim really hit the nail on the head about how this felt like both guys had unleashed everything they had and they still couldn't finish their opponent off. I wasn't bothered by the ref stuff in the first fall all that much and I'm not sure if that was a rudo ref as much as it was the ref distracting Dandy and Charles taking advantage.

I just got back from the WUW show in Queens with the luchadores on it. Most of the card was made up of Johnny Rodz students and none of that stuff was any good. It wasn't stereotypical Japanese tape watching indy wrestling which was refreshing but if a match wasn't sloppy it just ended up feeling kind of flat. The luchadores all appeared in the last three matches. Marcela vs Amapola was actually a pretty fun one fall sprint. Cassandro & Bufalo Azteca vs Skayde & Coco Naranja was a little disjointed. Cassandro is still a blast to see but Skayde looked off and the other guys in the match were just kind of there. The crowd was mostly latino but there were more white folks than I usually see at these kind of indy lucha shows. Unfortunately a lot of said white folks weren't very respectful. I was stuck sitting next to a batch of them and anytime a wrestler spoke Spanish or an announcement was made in Spanish it seemed to make them uncomfortable. Initially I tried to accommodate them by providing rough translations but they just seemed to get angrier and angrier as the last chunk of the show progressed. Eventually they started heckling luchadores and demanding that they speak English. Thankfully most of them left right before the main event. Seriously, about 1/8 of the audience left before the main event. It was for the best because the main event was filled with schtick and audience participation that would have probably gone right over their heads. The main event was Atlantis vs Ultimo Guerrero and I have to admit that I was pretty fucking excited to see Atlantis in person. The first fall was one of those annoying quick CMLL opening falls. The second and third falls on the other hand were dominated by schtick. This was definitely a case of two wrestlers taking a night off and I bet this is the kind of match they have on untelevised cards in small arenas all the time. Maybe that would bother me if I experienced that all of the time but being a part of a now much more receptive crowd made that stuff really fun to play along with. Ultimo Guerrero tore off a fan's Atlantis mask and ripped it in half and then he hid behind the same fan when Atlantis came after him. Atlantis would frequently stop and ask the crowd if he should shake Guerrero's hand or tear off his mask. Guerrero would do something shifty and Atlantis would appeal to the ref leading to the referee asking the audience what happened. I was recently annoyed by a bunch of heel ref spots on the lucha set and heel refs can be pretty annoying but it was kind of fun getting to participate in the argument about poor officiating. The finish was a double DQ after Ultimo Guerrero hit a lowblow and Atlantis quickly follows up by pulling UG's mask right off (and I got a pretty clear view of his face). They argued on the mic and Atlantis said they should have their mask vs mask match in New York City. Yeah, sure.

Shibata is pretty overrated and I think a lot of that has to do with people associating him with the direction New Japan could have gone had he stuck around. He's better in a brawling setting than when he does his imitation shoot style stuff. I think people regard his match against Jun Akiyama as his best match and there's nothing shoot style about that match. Tanahashi vs Fujita is a much better match against a guy with a shooter rep.

1987 1.) El Hijo del Santo vs. Negro Casas (Mask vs. Hair) (7/18/87) 2.) Jerry Estrada, Pirata Morgan y Hombre Bala vs. Atlantis, Alfonso Dantes y Rayo De Jalisco Jr. (Feb 1987) 3.) El Satanico, MS-1 y Masakre vs. Rayo de Jalisco Jr., La Fiera y Tony Salazar (3/20/87) 4.) Blue Panther/Sergio El Hermosa v. Super Astro/Solar (10/17/87) 5.) Atlantis, El Hijo del Santo y Tony Salazar vs. El Satanico, El Dandy y Espectro Jr. (4/3/87) 6.) Mogur vs. As Charro (Mask vs. Mask) (9/18/87) 7.) Cien Caras vs. Siglo XX (4/10/87) 8.) Rayo de Jalisco Jr., Atlantis y Alfonso Dantes vs. MS-1, El Satanico y El Dandy (3/27/87) 9.) Lizmark, La Fiera y Kung Fu vs. Pirata Morgan, Hombre Bala y Jerry Estrada (2/27/87) 10.) Americo Rocca, Javier Cruz y Chamaco Valaguez vs. Talisman, El Dandy y Guerrero Negro (3/13/87) 11.) Tony Salazar, Mogur y Alfonso Dantes vs. Hombre Bala, Talisman y Tony Bennetto vs. Satanico, MS-1 y Masakre (4/10/87) 12.) El Dandy, Magico y Super Astro vs. Gran Cochise, Javier Cruz y Javier Rocca (11/11/87) 1988 1.) Pirata Morgan, Hombre Bala y Verdugo vs. Atlantis, Angel Azteca y Ringo Mendoza (3/88) 2.) Pirata Morgan vs. El Dandy (Hair vs. Hair) (9/23/88) 3.) El Hijo Del Santo vs. Espanto Jr. (4/10/88) 4.) Atlantis vs. Emilio Charles Jr. (8/12/88) 5.) Arandu vs. Guerrero Negro (Hair vs. Hair) (1988) 6.) Kung Fu v. Javier Cruz (3/88) 7.) Mogur vs. Mascara Ano 2000 (Mask vs. Mask) (9/23/88) 8.) Blue Demon, Blue Demon Jr. y Ringo Mendoza vs. Emilio Charles Jr., Pirata Morgan y Satanico (11/25/88) 9.) Kato Kung Lee vs. Kung Fu (Mask vs. Hair) (4/29/88) This is going to be really hard to rank in the end. A lot of these rankings feel like they could change when I go back and organize my ballot.

Pirata Morgan vs. El Dandy (Hair vs. Hair) (9/23/88) Blood. So much blood. Pirata Morgan is the master of pro wrestling as Grand Guignol spectacle. Those terrifying images I associate with Pirata Morgan like spitting out a mist of blood or licking his opponent's blood off his hand are all here. The strikes are brutal too. I never really thought about it before now but Morgan probably works extra stiff to compensate for a lack of depth perception, kind of like Hansen being blind as a bat. Well, there are some really cringe inducing strikes in this one. Then there is El Dandy. He takes a huge beating in the early portions of this match and if Morgan doesn't cut him off the referee does. When he finally makes his comeback he gives Morgan a taste of his own medicine and Morgan becomes a pretty gruesome sight on his own. The finishing stretch is weird. They hit some huge moves and have a ton of nearfalls which is tricky territory for me when I'm watching lucha. This probably would have been just as good without as many nearfalls but they were sold well and they do feel unique in the context of this set so it worked for me. Mogur vs. Mascara Ano 2000 (Mask vs. Mask) (9/23/88) This is another fun heavyweight match but probably not at the same level as Rayo vs 2000 or even Cien Caras vs Siglo. Mogur is really good at working the mask ripping. I love how he tears 2000's mask and proceeds to hit him with brutal crossfaces. I thought Dos Mil was the third best member of Los Hermanos Dinamitas but he has impressed me on this set so I may have to reassess that opinion. Blue Demon, Blue Demon Jr. y Ringo Mendoza vs. Emilio Charles Jr., Pirata Morgan y Satanico (11/25/88) I thought this was really enjoyable but I'm a sucker for younger guys working really hard to put over a legend. These guys took such big bumps for every Blue Demon armdrag and headscissors takedown. That is a great rudo trio and with those guys holding down the fort this couldn't be that bad, even with a wrestler as lame as Blue Demon Jr. standing right there. This may be a bottom half match but I don't think it's a bottom 10 match.

Cien Caras vs. Siglo XX (4/12/87) I love Siglo XX's mask and I've been wanting to see him in action since I saw him Lourdes Grobet's book. For the most part this was a solid heavyweight lucha spectacle but MAN did they kick it into gear for that last fall and especially the last few minutes which were pretty awesome with all of the blood and dives. El Hijo del Santo vs. Negro Casas (Mask vs. Hair) (7/18/87) Tim already touched on the reputation of this match but that's important to think about going in. I will add that I've probably watched this match more times than any match on this set. Now, the last time I watched this match I was a little disappointed. I had already been exposed to the later iterations of the legendary Santo/Casas rivalry which I thought were so much better and on top of that I was watching it soon after Santo/Espanto and I didn't think this held up favorably compared to that one. This doesn't have the hatred of the later matches in this series and it doesn't have the physicality of the Espanto Jr. match and for whatever reason that really bothered me. Those problems seem silly now. I still prefer the Espanto match and the later Casas/Santo matches but this is still a great match on it's own. It makes for an interesting early chapter in both men's careers. This feels more like two men who respect one another trying to one-up each other than it does a match between bitter rivals and that's because that bitterness isn't there. There's no hatred. Casas is a rudo because he's cocky and he's not afraid to get rough but for much of this match he is still focusing on matwork and athleticism, just like Santo. That hubris is important to the match and directly leads to some of the exchanges where Casas finds himself on the losing end like when Casas slips off the ropes Fuerza Guerrera style and gets flattened by the tope de cristo. It's impressive just how good both men are at projecting those aspects of their personality. Even in the cleanest exchanges it's clear who is the rudo even without any context. Outside of the way both men carry themselves and sell both the action and the story this features some incredible execution. I mean, if you know who these guys are you probably know that but it's hard to talk about a match like this without mentioning it. This feels like a top 20 match but with the amount of amazing stuff on this set I can't say where this will end up just yet. That doesn't make this any less of a classic either. This match just represents another aspect of what makes lucha such great wrestling. Mogur vs. As Charro (Mask vs. Mask) (9/18/87) Oh man, can I please please please see every As Charro match ever. His offense is sooooooo fucking awesome. He's got awesome punches, a bicycle kick, what looks like a rider kick to the floor, and he tops it all off with a Tamon Honda style delayed german suplex!? I wish he was a bit more subtle about getting his blade ready but that's just one misstep and a rather subtle one at that. The match itself was good but not amazing. I feel like some of this may have been clipped but I can't tell. Blue Panther/Sergio El Hermosa v. Super Astro/Solar (10/17/87) The first fall of this match is probably one of my favorite individual falls on the whole set. The Solar vs Blue Panther matwork is every bit as good as it looks on paper. Not only does it feature long sections of uninterrupted chain grappling I also liked the way their matwork works in some aspects of amateur riding and mounts into what is some very distinctly lucha matwork. Super Astro vs Sergio El Hermoso is also what you expect it to be and pretty damn good as well. Honestly, I liked the rudo control stuff too but it's that rudo ref shit that is way too distracting. Sigh... El Dandy, Magico y Super Astro vs. Gran Cochise, Javier Cruz y Javier Rocca (11/11/87) So I guess El Dandy had started watching Japanese wrestling at this point. He had on his best Kazuo Yamazaki tights and was throwing kicks like a UWF guy. It was cool how he and Javier Cruz kept getting really heated when they matched up, especially given their history. Otherwise this is all babyfaces having a good clean wrestling match. Really, almost everyone looks good here. Everyone except Magico (who is wearing Mascara Sagrada gear). Magico's kind of awkward and a few of his really athletic moves don't hit very clean which forces Rocca to overcompensate and it just looks really goofy. It's not a good goofy either. Unfortunately those moments are really distracting, even with so much good stuff happening around them. Arandu vs. Guerrero Negro (Hair vs. Hair) (1988) Whoa, get a load of Arandu's Rush-tastic hair. That alone has me excited for this hair vs hair match without knowing who he is. I love his whole look with the leopard print and matching valet. The match itself is a fun brawl around ringside and it's made better by a pretty crazy atmosphere. The best part is the finish with one of the best fouls n the set. Arandu gets away with it too! And somehow he got out of the building without the crowd killing him. Kung Fu v. Javier Cruz (3/88) I like rudo Kung Fu. I'd seen a few of his matches without the mask where he uses the nunchucks as weapons (like he does to Cruz at the start) and remember enjoying them even if I don't remember one of them being especially great. Similarly, while this isn't the most amazing brawl on the set it was still pretty entertaining. Cruz is a bit dry and I feel like he could have done more to make this feel like a big fight but mechanically he brought a lot to this match. Probably a bottom half match but really fun and I'm glad it was on this set. Pirata Morgan, Hombre Bala y Verdugo vs. Atlantis, Angel Azteca y Ringo Mendoza (3/88) Now this is a fucking great trios match right here. Los Bucaneros strike again with their brutal triple teams and intricate stooging/miscommunication but this time against an even more spectacular tecnico trio. Angel Azteca was a pretty spectacular young high flyer at this point but Atlantis really shines here in what is one of his absolute best matches. That over the top rope tope he hits is superhuman as are those breathtaking midair armdrags where he leaps and spins before coming down and grabbing his opponents in midair. Those are spots that require cooperation from all parties but they are so perfectly executed here with such good timing that it's easy to forget how the magicians really perform their tricks. When I first watched this I missed the low blow and thought we completely missed the finish. Seeing the lowblow doesn't prove to me that we didn't miss anything but it does at least give me a sense of where the match went from there. Still, with a full picture of the finish or a truly decisive finish we could have had the best trios match on the whole set right here. This is still pretty close and is going to be very high on my ballot when all is said and done. El Hijo Del Santo vs. Espanto Jr. (4/10/88) This isn't the spectacular matwork of their 1992 title match but this is still another great match in a great rivalry. We have had better matwork in individual falls of other matches but there haven't been many matches with this much matwork throughout that have been this consistent or had a finish this fantastic. I love watching these guys work together and I still think this is a potential top 20 contender but I'm not married to that ranking yet. Kato Kung Lee vs. Kung Fu (Mask vs. Hair) (4/29/88) Yeah, tim hit the nail on the head for me. This had cool moments but didn't add up to a great match. As someone who is a bit of a mark for Los Fantasticos (and martial arts gimmicks in general as they make me think of my love of Steve Blackman when I was younger) I was surprised we didn't see more of them on the set but I'm assuming that had a lot to do with the footage we did have not being full matches. It's a shame because I was curious about seeing these guys team up with Blackman (not Steve this time) who OJ has made sound like a pretty interesting wrestler. Atlantis vs. Emilio Charles Jr. (8/12/88) I really like Emilio Charles Jr. and I'm really excited about all of the Emilio Charles Jr. coming up on this set. It's crazy to see him so young and not nearly as hideous as he would one day become. This isn't the best match he ever had with Atlantis but it is still pretty spectacular. The early matwork is simple but worked really well. I love their standoff after one of the faster early exchanges when Atlantis flips to his feet and Charles quickly stumbles to his own feet. That's a cool visual to demonstrate a rudo being momentarily outclassed by a tecnico. Emphasis on momentarily as Charles is right there with Atlantis for most of this match. We get to see more of the spectacular Atlantis offense that made up his arsenal at that time and not to be outdone Charles has some beautiful looking offense of his own including a great looking tope con giro. This is one of the most satisfying matches on the set and one that I think will do pretty well with a lot of people even if it's not an top tier match.

Jerry Estrada, Pirata Morgan y Hombre Bala vs. Atlantis, Alfonso Dantes y Rayo De Jalisco Jr. (Feb 1987) I feel like this is better than a mid range trios. This is every bit as good as those Fiera vs Babyface trios matches from 1986. Los Bucaneros are an outrageously good rudo team. Similar to Los Infernales with Pirata Morgan (common thread) they are downright brutal when they are ganging up on one opponent. On top of that their complicated stooging and miscommunication spots were even more impressive than those we recently saw from Los Misioneros de La Muerte. Rayo was the star of the tecnico team to me. I love the stooging built around his fancy footwork as well as how he attempts it one last time towards the end but Los Bucaneros have learned from their mistakes and rip him apart. I'm pretty sure Rayo submitted to La Careta to end the match though the hold wasn't on for too long. The only misstep in this match for me was that I wish the tecnico comeback in the second fall was a bit more nuanced. Lizmark, La Fiera y Kung Fu vs. Pirata Morgan, Hombre Bala y Jerry Estrada (2/27/87) This is a bit of a disappointment compared to the last match which is mostly because there were a few passages that felt pretty flat. The most memorable moments were still pretty spectacular though and that keeps it closer to midrange than the bottom. I loved all of the Kung Fu exchanges, especially Kung Fu going solo against Morgan and Hombre Bala. I really liked all of the legwork and La Fiera's selling of said legwork during the final fall. That moment where he and Estrada are circling each other, Fiera's leg buckles, and Estrada pounces only for La Fiera to hit some great hope spots on all three Bucaneros before going back to selling the leg was really well done. I could have seen that being a highlight in an even better match. Americo Rocca, Javier Cruz y Chamaco Valaguez vs. Talisman, El Dandy y Guerrero Negro (3/13/87) So, I watched the rest of disc 6 as well as 7 and the beginning of disc 8 on a long bus ride so some of my thoughts on those matches may be a bit more brief. My notes on this one are pretty sparse and honestly I don't remember all that much about this one. I recall this being solid but unspectacular. I've grown to like this rudo trio and the tecnicos are good even if in some ways they feel like generic 80s tecnicos. El Satanico, MS-1 y Masakre vs. Rayo de Jalisco Jr., La Fiera y Tony Salazar (3/20/87) Watching this set has given me a better appreciation for some guys I always knew were great (Satanico, La Fiera, Sangre Chicana), introduced me to guys I've never heard of (As Charro), and turned some vaguely familiar names into names I want to seek out (Mocho Cota) but through all of this Rayo De Jalisco Jr. is someone whose stock has risen albeit in very quiet fashion. Sure, I already had a soft spot for him because he has a cool mask, fun dance moves, and Cien Caras vs Rayo De Jalisco Jr. is just as fun as wrestling gets but I still never thought of him as being this great. He's not the most amazing wrestler on the set but he really brings it in these trios matches. He has great timing when rudos stooge for his schtick, great selling when taking a beating, and produces some really hot comebacks like the one in this match. The rest of the tecnico team features La Fiera is great working the same leg injury as the 2/27 trios match and Tony Salazar who I was initially high on but has become really hit and miss in his last few appearances on this set. Which of course brings us to Los Infernales. They are easily one of the best, if not the best heel team in wrestling history. When they are mauling an opponent it is so brutal and so consistent that you can't help but wonder if it will ever let up. This is a tremendous showcase for them. That said, I'm still not sure how I feel about Masakre yet. I thought I remember somebody (Kris?) saying that the Masakre iteration of the team is their best version and Masakre has yet to really impress me. He's good and regardless of what he does he has two all time great rudos working with him so he could really fucking coast and this'd still be great. As great as this is this doesn't feel like quite the classic that some other Infernales matches have been and I don't think it's any better than the first Bucaneros trios match. Rayo de Jalisco Jr., Atlantis y Alfonso Dantes vs. MS-1, El Satanico y El Dandy (3/27/87) Really good trios match though probably only midrange in the grand scheme of things. I liked Atlantis and Dandy's exchanges which get even better in the next match. I can't remember if they ever had a singles match against each other but that's something I'd like to see. Atlantis, El Hijo del Santo y Tony Salazar vs. El Satanico, El Dandy y Espectro Jr. (4/3/87) This was so fun! I liked the way they started with competitive matwork and let the heat slowly escalate. The Satanico vs Tony Salazar exchanges really stood out to me. It's the best Salazar has looked on this set though Satanico is a GOAT candidate so that isn't a huge surprise. I love how they teased their tempers flaring during the early matwork by having both men feint kicks and punches after their initial lockup gets broken up. Atlantis vs El Dandy is probably my favorite matchup here and Santito is just so incredible that even after watching a bunch of great matches featuring him in the last month I still find myself impressed with him like it's the first time I've seen him. Tony Salazar, Mogur y Alfonso Dantes vs. Hombre Bala, Talisman y Tony Bennetto vs. Satanico, MS-1 y Masakre (4/10/87) Tournament lucha often makes me feel really sad as cool looking matches just end up being tasty snacks as opposed to satisfying meals. Lumping those matches together here makes it at least a little more tolerable. The result is way less satisfying than the singles elimination match earlier in the set as with so many people involved this just feels like a collection of spots and highlights. The final trios match is pretty good and that triple team sub Los Infernales uses in the second fall is the best multiman sub I've ever seen. The other notable spot is Los Infernales countering La Estrella which was really cool and unexpected. This is fun but is still a bottom half match because of how disjointed it felt.

I'd take Joe over Dean anyday.

It'd probably be in the low 20s. Maybe even 21. I really like that series but I don't love it. In general I think what we have of 1980 from the 80s sets so far is rather lean. To put that in perspective, Hamada vs Babyface which was my number 6 for 1980 was number 40 on my NJPW ballot. I think every one of these matches is good but only the top 12 are really great. Numbers 1 and 2 were both hovering around number 20 on their respective ballots and are the only matches from 1980 that I've seen that feel like classics or real MOTYCs. I hope that future sets can flesh out 1980-81 a little better. It sounds like Portland will at least. Also, you and I obviously like/appreciate different things in wrestling. Off the top of my head remember that you didn't really like that Kimura vs Fujinami match that I had at number 1 and you panned Morton vs Sonny King which I thought was a cool matwork showcase that just felt like it needed a little something else to make it actually great. Maybe watching the lucha set and more New Japan will change some of your expectations because not only is 1986 NJPW the best thing about the New Japan set but it's one of my favorite promotional runs in wrestling ever. I hope that when you get up to it you will be able to appreciate how awesome it is.

I've been making MOTY lists for the 80s that I've been updating after every set. Ultimately I'd like to make some kind of countdown of the best matches of the 80s when this whole thing is done and I feel like having these as a reference will make that a lot easier. Here's my MOTY list for 1980 so far: 1.) Tatsumi Fujinami vs Kengo Kimura (NJPW, 9/25/80) 2.) Bill Dundee vs Tommy Rich (CWA, 8/23/80) 3.) Carlos Plata, El Doberman & Goro Tsurumi vs Animal Hamaguchi, Isamu Teranishi & Mach Hayato (IWE, 11/22/80) 4.) Mighty Inoue & Animal Hamaguchi vs Carlos Plata & El Doberman (IWE, 11/27/80) 5.) Antonio Inoki vs Stan Hansen (NJPW, 4/3/80) 6.) Gran Hamada vs Babyface (NJPW, 4/3/80) 7.) Billy Robinson vs Nick Bockwinkel (AJPW, 12/11/80) 8.) Jumbo Tsuruta vs Dick Slater (AJPW, 5/1/80) 9.) Antonio Inoki vs Stan Hansen (NJPW, 9/11/80) 10.) Tatsumi Fujinami vs Johnny Londos (NJPW, 9/19/80) 11.) Tatsumi Fujinami vs Dynamite Kid (NJPW, 2/5/80) 12.) Tatsumi Fujinami vs Tony Rocco (NJPW, 9/11/80) 13.) Giant Baba vs Harley Race (AJPW, 9/9/80) 14.) Ricky Morton vs Sonny King (CWA, 4/26/80) 15.) Strong Kobayashi & Haruka Eigen vs Mighty Inoue & Isamu Teranishi (IWE, 6/29/80) 16.) Mighty Inoue & Animal Hamaguchi vs Spike Huber & Rocky Brewer (Steel Cage Match) (IWE, 7/25/80) 17.) Greg Gagne & Super Destroyer Mark II vs Nick Bockwinkel & Bobby Heenan (AWA, 10/3/80) 18.) Bill Dundee vs Larry Latham (CWA, 4/19/80) 19.) Bob Backlund vs Stan Hansen (NJPW, 9/30/80) 20.) Antonio Inoki vs Stan Hansen (NJPW, 2/8/80)

This sounds like my girlfriend talking to my best friend's girlfriend about wrestling. My friend's girlfriend posted a facebook status after Big Show did something heelish (can't remember what) that pretty much said "Big Show is my favorite wrestler but I don't know why he's been acting so mean lately." My girlfriend (who was a big WWF fan growing up because of her dad) quickly responded to rationalize why she preferred heels without ever breaking kayfabe. The whole thing was pretty weird. My friends and I have fun with it though. We'll occasionally watch wrestling DVDs or order a PPV when we're hanging out and sometimes their reactions, particularly the ones that come from my friend's lady, are hilarious. I remember her getting visibly upset at some match result and we made fun of her for the rest of the night. This will probably be the only time this story will be relevant: I was once at dinner with my girlfriend, her brother, and her dad. We talked about wrestling and her dad is actually one of those guys who likes Shawn Michaels, Edge, and Triple H which is mind boggling to me but he's a big tough looking corrections officer so I don't really feel compelled to mock his taste in wrestling. My girlfriend on the other hand doesn't hesitate to belittle any of those guys. She specifically told her dad that Shawn Michaels hits like a girl. I was so proud.

1986 1.) Espanto Jr. vs El Hijo Del Santo (Mask vs. Mask) (8/31/86) 2.) La Fiera vs. Babyface (8/15/86) 3.) Sangre Chicana vs. Perro Aguayo (Hair vs. Hair) (2/28/86) 4.) Americo Rocca, Cacharro Mendoza y Kung Fu vs. El Talisman, El Dandy y Guerrero Negro (September 1986) 5.) Babyface, Cien Caras y Mascara Ano 2000 vs. Lizmark, Rayo De Jalisco y La Fiera (September 1986) 6.) Pirata Morgan, BabyFace y Cien Caras vs. La Fiera, Lizmark y Rayo De Jalisco Jr. (September 1986) 7.) Rayo De Jalisco Jr. vs. Mascara Ano 2000 (8/15/86) 8.) Blue Panther, El Talisman y El Dandy vs. Stuka, America Rocca y Chamaco Valaguez (11/86) 9.) Ringo Mendoza, Atlantis y Ultraman vs. Satanico, Masakre y MS-1, (September 1986) 10.) Lizmark, Alfonso Dantes y Tony Salazar vs. El Signo, El Texano y Negro Navarro) (8/15/86) 11.) Americo Rocca, Ringo Mendoza y Tony Salazar vs. Negro Navarro, El Signo y El Texano (Hair vs. Hair) (9/19/86)

Babyface, Cien Caras y Mascara Ano 2000 vs. Lizmark, Rayo De Jalisco y La Fiera (September 1986) I thought this was a good trios match that did a nice job of combining two separate feuds. We have more of La Fiera and Babyface feuding and we also get some Rayo de Jalisco Jr. vs Los Hermanos Dinamita which is a classic feud. Throw in another cool brawling Lizmark performance and we've got quite the match. I liked that they changed up the matchups a bit and allowed everybody to have a chance to wrestler their rival and the rest of his team. Yet again, La Fiera's selling was great. I liked that he even cringed when the ref raised his arm after the first fall though Rayo coming over to chastise the ref and the ref just shrugging it off made me laugh. The rudos ran roughshod over the tecnicos for much of this match. There was one moment where Lizmark spills to the floor and just lies there while Rayo is stumbling around in the background, bleeding all over the place, and La Fiera is holding himself up on the apron barely able to use his arm. It was a pretty compelling mauling too with plenty of mask ripping and biting. All hope seemed to be lost when the tecnicos attempted to rally but it was too little too late. I loved the way the rudos soaked up the hatred from the crowd after the match. I think I may have drifted off somewhere in the middle though because I can't remember how the second fall ended. Americo Rocca, Ringo Mendoza y Tony Salazar vs. Negro Navarro, El Signo y El Texano (Hair vs. Hair) (9/19/86) I saw this in the listings and got excited but after reading tim and OJ's reviews I adjusted my expectations. This is a quick/fun trios match with some interesting spots and not the epic you expect a Misioneros de la Muerte apuestas match to be. The sunset flip by Salazar to block one of the Misioneros applying la tapatia to his teammate was cool and I'm surprised I've never seen that spot before. Americo Rocca looked great trading punches in this match too. The submission counter during the finish was the best part of the match and it's a shame the rest of it didn't feel quite as special. Blue Panther, El Talisman y El Dandy vs. Stuka, America Rocca y Chamaco Valaguez (11/86) This is the earliest Blue Panther match I've seen and god damn it he looked like he was already the Blue Panther we know and love. The exchanges with Stuka early on were pretty great but he also did some great rudo schtick. El Dandy is looking great as well and I'm really excited to see when he gets more time in the spotlight. As with the last time we saw Talisman and Dandy team up there were some stooging and miscommunication though not as much as against Kung Fu. Americo Rocca turns in another great babyface performance and each rudo was really game to catch and bump for his most athletic moves. In the end this wasn't as one sided as the match with Kung Fu in it but it wasn't as spectacular either. This was yet another good trios match and one that I'd probably rank in the middle of the other 1986 trios matches.

Espanto Jr. vs El Hijo Del Santo (Mask vs. Mask) (8/31/86) I love the structure of this match. This isn't a wild brawl with lots of punches but it is a fiercely competitive wrestling match where both competitors give everything they have to hold on to the masks that represent their family's honor. Espanto Jr. is a beast and he just dominates throughout much of this match with his very physical grappling. Every throw looks like he's trying to put Santo right through the mat and he may have the best snapmare ever. Santito has a major hope spot before he ultimately succumbs to Espanto's brute force and loses the first fall. That image of the children coming to console Santo between falls is one of those classic pro wrestling images. As it turns out staying outside the ring is the only place Santo can rest and regroup as Espanto is on quite the roll. I love that Santo is completely dominated before the comeback that wins the second fall for him. In addition to his always incredible dives he throws some awesome kneelifts to get himself back into the match. Espanto also has one of the best Fuerza bumps I've ever seen. The third floor is just a war with perfect revenge spots. Espanto tears Santo's mask so Santo tears his. Espanto posts Santo and beats him with a chair so Santo slams Espanto into the turnbuckle until it is a bloody mess. It's only after Espanto's tope when both of them are recovering on the arena floor that we really get to see just how much punishment both have taken. The VQ gets funky so we don't get to see one of Santo's dives but we still hear the crowd losing it and how often has Santo fucked up one of his flying moves? Santo eventually sinks in the deepest camel clutch in wrestling history for a hard earned victory. This is a classic. This is probably my MOTY for 1986 which is my favorite year for wrestling. I also think this is one of the greatest matches of all time so it says something about how great this set is that there is a chance this could end up being number 2 or number 3. I'm probably going to end up watching the top matches again because I can't commit myself to putting my top 5 in order at the moment. On the right day this could end up being number 1. Ringo Mendoza, Atlantis y Ultraman vs. Satanico, Masakre y MS-1, (September 1986) Are we sure this was September 1986? Masakre is wearing his mask but according to luchawiki he lost his mask 8/29/1986. This is a fun match though it'll probably be on the bottom half of my list. It's probably around the same level as that Los Misioneros match. Los Infernales are great as usual. I'm not familiar with the Masakre iteration of that group and I didn't get much of a sense of him watching this but he certainly wasn't bad. Ultraman appears to have added some martial arts to his gimmick. Damn it, I just want to see him throw punches and not all of these kicks. Atlantis has clearly grown a lot at this point. He looks really confident and all of that awkwardness appears to be gone. He looks like a classic tecnico now. His flashy stuff looked great, especially his springboard somersault senton. Where he really shined though was in that moment where he is cornered by all three Infernales and he just runs around dodging their advances and laying in some nice punches here and there. Ringo and Satanico trading punches is the best thing Ringo Mendoza has ever done. Pirata Morgan, BabyFace y Cien Caras vs. La Fiera, Lizmark y Rayo De Jalisco Jr. (September 1986) Really really fun trios brawl that's better than the other 1986 trios matches so far. Like tim said, this is all about La Fiera vs Babyface and we get the same hatred and gore that made their hair vs hair match so great. Everyone else feels like a supporting player but they look good whenever the camera makes it's way toward them. Cien Caras vs Rayo De Jalisco is always fun at this point just due to the big personalities clashing. We get to see some huge dives from Rayo and Cien Caras takes a few pretty good bumps. Pirata Morgan does his thing but he used up most of his hatred on beating up Satanico before the match. Lizmark looks surprisingly good in a gritty story like this one. Still, Fiera vs Babyface. Man. I can't help but wonder that if this show isn't actually from September 1986 then maybe this match is part of the build up to their hair vs hair match. Americo Rocca, Cacharro Mendoza y Kung Fu vs. El Talisman, El Dandy y Guerrero Negro (September 1986) I love a good trios match with great comedy spots. I often feel like good lucha comedy can fit in very nicely next to traditional pantomime comedy. A lot of the rudo stooging in this match, especially when going up against Kung Fu doesn't feel too far off from Charlie Chaplin's boxing scenes from movies like City Lights. The nunchuk stuff is pretty hilarious as well. The rudos do kick some ass when they have to but it's not an epic ass kicking and in the end this is just a really good comedy match.

Sangre Chicana vs. Perro Aguayo (2/28/86) First of all, this is a great handheld. There's a great view of the action all around ringside and oh boy, they use the area around the ring really well. The noise from the crowd is pretty clear as well which helps the big match atmosphere. Plus, there are one or two clips but they don't seem to cut out much. This feels like a huge match. Part of it is the crowd which is pretty loud throughout this match. That kid at ringside is a blast to watch as well. Not only does he have a great post match celebration of his own but he has a few moments during the match where he can't contain how much he hates Perro and it is hilarious. The other reason this feels huge is that these are two of the most expressive and charismatic wrestlers ever. Their physical charisma is still palpable from our bird's eye view in the stands. Their singles match as part of that 4 way elimination match only hints at this one. There are some incredible strike exchanges that work because they are simple and drawn out so that every strike is milked for ever bit of drama they could possibly hold. The dives were all really impressive and each one was better than the last. The sequence after that final dive where they are brawling in the seats is epic. Epic is probably the best word to describe this one, from the amount of ground they cover brawling around the ringside area and in the crowd to the huge nearfalls during the final fall. I think with a few minutes trimmed off of this match we may have had a contender for the top spot. There were brief moments sprinkled throughout this match that felt a tad repetitive but it's still a great match and one that will probably still finish super high on my ballot. Lizmark, Alfonso Dantes y Tony Salazar vs. El Signo, El Texano y Negro Navarro (8/15/86) Los Misioneros aren't as frighteningly brutal in this one as Los Infernales were the last time we saw them but that's because Infernales set that bar pretty high. The beatdowns dished out by Los Misioneros de la Muerte were still pretty awesome. All three members throw great punches and had some great double and triple team moves. Where they really excelled though was in their miscommunication spots some of which were pretty complex in addition to being perfectly executed. Lizmark's crispness makes him the perfect foil for those spots. This match may be the best showcase of Lizmark's skills we've seen on this set so far. Tony Salazar, who I have been really high on every other time I've seen him, may have been the weakest worker here. A few of his bumps looked really off and I was a bit disappointed that we didn't get to see many of his punches, especially given how many the rudos were throwing. That being said, he was good during the finish and post match controversy. It was a pretty well done screwy finish that makes you want to see the rematch or subsequent hair match. The match as a whole was good but not great. Rayo De Jalisco Jr. vs. Mascara Ano 2000 (8/15/86) I think I liked this more than tim and Curt though it's not like I think it's a really high ranking match either. The way they made those first two falls sound I thought they'd be really rushed. They are short but they still manage to work in some simple feeling out matwork in the first fall. Then the second fall has a nice and simple transition where Rayo, who has been controlling the match since his first fall victory, misses a falling headbutt and Mascara Ano 2000 begins to take control. These aren't the first two falls you may want from other workers but it worked to both of these wrestlers' strengths. This is a title match but neither is known for their matwork so some short falls, simple exchanges, nice transitions, and Rayo dancing schtick is going to be the best path for them to choose. The third fall is all about big bombs and it's really fun to watch. I didn't expect so many dives but they all looked good. This isn't anything deep but it makes for really fun junk food. La Fiera vs. Babyface (8/15/86) This was a match I was excited about because I liked the participants and I've wanted to see more from both of them. I didn't expect it to be one of the best matches on the set but it totally is. Before this set I had only seen Babyface on the NJPW set. he was good there but I never thought he had a performance like this in him. His selling is unbelievably good. He looks as if he's out on his feet during the start of the second fall but manages to believably come to and get back into the match . As for La Fiera, this is a career performance right here. He is possibly the craziest bumper I have ever seen. He takes one of the nastiest looking postings I've ever seen and proceeds to fall off the apron and faceplant on the wooden planks on the floor. That's not his only faceplant on the floor as later in the match we see him pushed through the ropes and landing face first then he faceplants on a missed dive off of the apron. His selling is amazing and as the match goes on it becomes a greater struggle for him to get up from the progressively crazier bumps. This is every bit as brutal as the most violent matches on this set but the violence here seems more calculated than chaotic which makes it really stand out. Probably a top 5 match right now and I can't see this leaving the top 10.

His biggest problem was laziness. When I watch something like that horrible Inoki vs Brody match where Inoki works his ass off and Brody doesn't seem willing to cooperate I find myself wishing he'd just put that effort into something worthwhile. That said he has shown up and worked with the right people enough times to have plenty of great matches and it's hard for me to hate someone with so many great matches. His charisma is definitely one of the factors in those 80s NJPW elimination matches being so memorable (of course, having guys like Fujinami, Fujiwara, Maeda, Choshu, Hoshino, Saito, etc helped too). Outside of those I really like: Inoki vs Fujiawar 2/6/86 Inoki vs Choshu 2/22/89 Inoki vs Vader 7/29/88 Fujiwara/Inoki vs Fujinami/Maeda 9/7/87 Inoki vs Hogan IWGP finals Inoki vs Saito 4/27/87 The Inoki vs Hansen series (can't remember which I liked best)

1985 rankings: 1.) La Fiera, El Faraón y El Egipico vs. MS-1, Satanico y Pirata Morgan (3/29/85) 2.) El Solitario vs. Dr. Wagner (Mask vs. Mask) (12/1/85) 3.) El Hijo del Santo & Black Shadow Jr. vs. Espanto Jr. & Eskeletor (12/1/85) 4.) Atlantis vs. El Faraón (3/22/85) 5.) Raul Reyes Jr. & Climax vs Mocho Cota & Loco Zavala Sonora 1985 6.) Americo Rocca vs. El Talisman (3/29/85) 7.) Lizmark, Mil Mascaras & Valente Fernandez vs. Sangre Chicana, Angel Blanco & Angel Blanco Jr. (12/1/85) The top match here is in my top 4 or 5 so far. Number 2 is close to the middle and everything else is scattered around the bottom half.

I think everyone is on a different page about what this "emotional connection" thing actually means. Maybe I'm the one on a different page. I don't know. I don't really care about who wins or loses. When I say I've got an emotional investment in a character it doesn't mean I'll be crushed when they don't win. It means I really want to see how their "story" develops and a loss can be just as compelling as a win. When I watch a movie where I care about a character and the film has a sad ending it doesn't make me hate the movie. Maybe this is just you being confused about my tone when my words are written down. "Mathematical criteria" was meant to be a hypothetical process that I would imagine someone who wasn't experiencing the emotional aspects of comedy might have to use to attempt to evaluate comedy. I would have hoped that my phrasing was kind of funny to someone but it seems to have fallen flat. Oh well. People like a lot of stupid shit and they also get attached to stupid shit. I care about lots of stupid shit! No, being able to experience something on an emotional level doesn't automatically give that thing depth but a lack of depth doesn't mean you can't also care about it. I'm sure we all know somebody who has an emotional connection to a dumb pop song from their youth (that is if we don't have a connection like that ourselves). Then there's this wrestling thing that you and I obviously care about because we're talking about it on prowrestlingonly.com. It may be kitsch and some (many, actually most) people think it's pretty stupid but I love it. It's fun, charmingly lowbrow and a little sleazy. Now because I enjoy it so much I feel an emotional connection to my favorite performers and their best performances. It's similar to how I feel about my favorite writers, musicians, artists, cartoonists, or directors and their best works. If I watch a wrestling match or a feud and I liked it enough that I'm going to want to watch it again then I obviously care about it, regardless of how silly pro wrestling is. I may not be moved by it the same way I'm moved by great works of art but there is still some sort of connection. Wrestling is too raw for me to actually find it stimulating on a purely intellectual level. Fujiwara vs Yamazaki from 1989 is one of my favorite matches and part of what I like about it is the careful strategies of both wrestlers. For most of the match it is slowly building on the mat and that definitely keeps my brain interested but if I didn't also care about a great storyteller like Fujiwara and I couldn't get emotionally invested in the match before it gets really heated during the headbutt section I probably wouldn't like it all that much.

El Solitario vs. Dr. Wagner (12/1/85) This was an interesting look at two guys with great reputations but not a lot of footage. I had seen both of them wrestle before but only in Japan so I still felt like I was coming in with a clean slate. This is clipped and like the other matches from this show it's not smooth and can be kind of distracting. We definitely missed some stuff that could have given changed this match's ranking but I think we do see enough to get a strong sense of how good it really was. This resembles the UWA heavyweight matches we saw earlier in the set but it's better than any of those. They were still working holds more than they were grappling but there was some chain wrestling that looked pretty nice. They definitely threw their weight around when they were grappling. There was a lot of force behind every takedown and that abdominal stretch into a pin sequence looked like a real struggle. This was a lucha de apuestas though so they did much more than grapple which may be another thing that pushes this ahead of those heavyweight matches from earlier. Wagner looks like a seriously bad mother fucker and I love that we can clearly make out some of his shit talk as if this were a Black Terry Jr. handheld. He throws some nasty strikes too and just generally moves around the ring like a brute. Solitario is more graceful but still looks like he is in a fight and knows it. He mixes some of his athletic takedowns with some good brawling. His selling is also pretty engaging when he's really getting beaten down. It's a shame that we still don't get much of a picture of him as a worker here because his reputation is pretty huge. He looks good but Wagner's contributions seemed much more apparent while watching this. I think this was really good but not a top tier match. It was also pretty cool to see Ray Mendoza as a ref. I think we also had Shadito Cruz as a referee in one of the earlier matches but I can't remember which one at the moment.

Okay, I'll clarify. Just because you felt something for a moment doesn't mean you "made a connection." You don't have an emotional connection every time you laugh. John might not remember that anecdote years from now. You'll probably forget about that dog poop too. But maybe you heard a great routine by Richard Pryor many years ago. It was really funny and to this day you still think about it and laugh. Hmm, sounds like that really stuck with you. Maybe it still makes you laugh or smile. Sounds like it might even make you happy. And if anyone just remember jokes based upon some mathematical criteria for what makes them funny as opposed to how it makes them feel then I feel bad for them.

Yeah, I think some of the posters here are taking "emotional connection" to mean something extreme. If you laugh at a comedy spot or get excited when someone is making a comeback then you're feeling something.