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79. Dr. Cerebro vs Multifacetico (part two here) (June 2 2011, WWS welterweight title) PWO thread Halfway point between Cerebro's match with Santo in 2000 and his maestros work, as this three goes falls and features moonsaults and drivers but still features long exchanges of pointedly complex holds. Cerebro is an interesting worker. Whereas most wrestlers tend towards long dramatic finishing stretches to really amp up the drama and cement the match as a memorable one, Cerebro always looks like he wants to get it over with as quickly as possible and instead puts most of his thought into the body of the match. Here that meant a lot of technical work that you could get from very few other wrestlers in 2011. 80. Hijo de Lizmark, Dos Caras Jr. and Dr. Wagner Jr. vs Johnny Stamboli, LA Park and Marco Corleone (May 19 2006) Cagematch page (it has an empty PWO thread too) Wow, you mean I get to watch Lizmark Jr. AND Alberto del Rio in the same match? Some of these lower picks probably made it because I remembered how much they exceeded my expectations, and when Dos Jr. is looking awesome doing agile tecnico spots, the crowd is chanting for Lizmark Jr. and Mark Jindrak is looking like a good rudo, well, then I'm getting a lot more than I thought I would. This is my favorite thing I've seen from the Park-Wagner rivalry, in part because Arena Mexico is actually in tune with what they were doing. It's weird how Wagner's charisma played such a part in their turning on Atlantis but not too long after they happily cheered Park over him. 81. Comando Ruso, Corsario Negro and Negro Casas vs Gran Hamada, Panterita del Ring and Super Astro (1991) No pages Not sure if the structure of a wrestling match has ever mattered less. Casas and Panterita keep brawling during the end of each fall, to the point that even the cameraman misses the end of the second. It's 3v3 but I'm not sure either man acknowledges any of his teammates. And the match ends after three falls, as they do, but the fight doesn't stop until Negro Casas disappears behind that clubhouse door, leaving Panterita outside, furious that the war had reached its end for the day. 82. Danny Boy, Lasser and Robin Hood vs Leono, Panthro and Tigro (August 17 1990, national trios title) No pages A UWA team and a team from Monterrey come down to the capital's Arena Coliseo and work a title match complete with a breakup angle. It's wrestled cleanly, tecnico vs tecnico, and part of the fun is watching these journeymen in outlandish cartoon gimmicks show some legitimate skills. It's also astonishing that they had a such a strong match while they were running a breakup angle. Those tend to dominate and sink a match, as everything becomes about one guy standing there refusing to tag in. I dunno what set Danny Boy off against his partners, but he was working here. 83. Fiera, Emilio Charles Jr. and Fuerza Guerrera vs Hijo del Santo, Mascara Sagrada and Misterioso (November 29 1991) It has a Cagematch page but no one's rated it. This is how Fuerza Guerrera sets up a big match. Yes, there's brawling and the ripping of masks, but he also slugs his own partners and falls on his ass when Charles gets angry about something. His rudo backup was outstanding and Fiera's frogsplash on Mascara Sagrada is cemented in my head as the defining execution of that move. 84. Felino, Shocker and Tony Rivera vs Hijo del Santo, Karloff Lagarde Jr. and Violencia (June 19 1998) No pages Both teams work tecnico, and it's cool seeing guys like Lagarde and Rivera portrayed as equals to the big stars like Santo and Felino. I hope anyone who stumbles across this post at any point has someone in their life who is as excited about them as Alfonso Morales is about Tony Rivera. 85. Felino vs Hijo del Santo (1998, WWA welterweight title) PWO thread, Cagematch page 1, Cagematch page 2 (they both refer to the same match) I've never been the biggest fan of this matchup (despite listing back to back iterations of it here). I don't like how Santo dominates a capable technician like Felino on the mat, but here they sort of play into that and have Felino use his speed and cunning (and legwork) to take control of the match. Amusingly, Luchawiki has a potential date for this match that's different from either of the ones posited on Cagematch, just to demonstrate how hard it can be to pin some of this stuff down.

There were two refs for some reason, one regular and one rudo. I think both wrestlers were tecnicos but Santo was kind of the de facto rudo for this match, so the rudo ref favored him. At the end the regular ref got bumped and Santo fouled Parka. The rudo ref ignored the foul and counted the pinfall, the regular ref recovered and stopped him from counting, the regular ref made a count just to get Santo off Parka, and the regular ref disqualified Santo either for the foul or for the innocuous collision that bumped him. Even for people who watch this stuff regularly it was a convoluted finish. Par for the course for Monterrey (or for Parka).

72. Arkangel, Mogur and Scorpio Jr. vs Mascara Magica, Olimpico and Super Astro (October 4 1996) No pages Maybe the least defensible pick on the list. There's no feud here, and other than Astro these guys aren't exactly considered great workers. But the tecnicos all looked great on offense and all three parts of the match were exciting. I dunno. Maybe I overrated it because I wasn't expecting a 1996 Mogur match to be so good. 73. Black Terry vs Wotan (August 21 2016) PWO, Cagematch Wrestlers had to work a lot harder to make the fans believe in 2016 than they did for most of the other matches on this list. Terry and Wotan were just as convincing as, if not more convincing than, any other match by lighting each other up and taking bumps on gravel. Someone in the comments said this reminded him of the classics from El Toreo. 74. Bestia Salvaje, Fiera and Negro Casas vs Dandy, Ringo Mendoza and Ultimo Dragon (July 10 1992) No pages The week after Dandy vs Casas. In some ways this match exemplifies what that rivalry was all about even better than the famous classic. Dandy refuses to let Casas look like the better man for even a second, so they go from wrestling to slaps to punches to brawling until finally the only way to settle it is to go back to wrestling. 75. MS-1, Espectro Jr. and Satanico vs Fiera, Mocho Cota and Sangre Chicana (September 30 1983) Cagematch page Chaotic, heated brawl from the week after Chicana vs MS-1 (or maybe two weeks after). Insanely hot crowd too. I've never quite understood why MS-1 didn't try to kill Chicana, but I guess Satanico wanted his shot. 76. Americo Rocca vs Kid Guzman (April 27 1999, hair vs hair) No pages A washed up '80 star takes on the haggard looking Kid and his glorious '90s dance music. He shoot busts open Guzman's nose, and Mogur beams with pride as the rudo fans go nuts. Somewhere in here there's a story about a high flying youngster vs a punishing, cerebral vet, but this makes my list because it's the quintessential Arena Coliseo experience. Guzman's selling is phenomenal, no doubt helped by the actual injury he suffered. 77. Eddy Guerrero, Psicosis and Santo Negro vs Hijo del Santo, Octagon and Parka (February 19 1995) PWO, Cagematch Santo finds himself up against his three greatest rivals of the time and gets destroyed in the first fall before losing his mask and running to the back. Espanto Jr. makes the list under a third gimmick. I think Virus had a Piratita Morgan match on an early draft, which would have given him the same achievement. 78. Bestia Salvaje, Fiera and Jerry Estrada vs Hijo del Solitario, Blue Demon Jr. and Huracan Sevilla (January 24 1992) No pages Not the most dramatic match you'll ever see, as it went just two falls and was pretty much a prolonged beatdown, but these were some guys who know how to perpetrate a beatdown. Bestia wanted a piece of Sevilla, Estrada was there to make sure Bestia got his shots in unabated, and Fiera got to roam around inventing ways to hurt the two juniors. Bestia did an incredible drop toehold at some point. It looked like a throw rather than just a takedown. The match ran a little short so the rudos came up with a reason to have a third fall of sorts.

65. Baby Face, Cien Caras and Pirata Morgan vs Fiera, Lizmark and Rayo de Jalisco Jr. (August 1 1986) No pages Part of the bloody feud between Fiera and Baby Face, who was visiting from the UWA. Baby Face was a very direct rudo, a hard hitter with no need for finesse. I don't know if rudos like that exist anymore. These two teams had a rematch the week after (with Mascara Año 2000 taking Pirata Morgan's place) that was good too, but Fiera came in with an arm injury so Baby Face punched Fiera in the arm a lot rather than in the face. This is a match I'd point to if someone wanted an example of good Rayo work. You also get to see how cards flowed from match to match, with Pirata and company charging the ring to beat up the Infernales. 66. Bestia Salvaje, Black Warrior and Satanico vs Bronco, Lizmark and Shocker (July 12 1996) Between Cagematch and PWO, all it has is one post here, and it's by me. Similar match to the one above. Two workers who didn't have much of a profile in 1996 tore into each other on the way to a mask match that would be the start of Warrior's push. In the third fall Lizmark and Satanico decided that their matchup was gonna be almost as heated as the main one, and Bestia Salvaje continued a trend on this list with another one of his excellent background performances in these Arena Mexico brawls. 67. Hijo del Santo vs Negro Casas (July 17 1987, mask vs hair) PWO, Cagematch It's in Los Angeles, but like with When Worlds Collide I count it as a Mexican match because it was wrestled for a Mexican based promotion. The action is good and competitive, but it's not the allout bloody war you'd expect from a Santo mask match. I might have given this one a bit of a boost because of its reputation. Casas does another one of his third fall slips. He's not a natural bumbler like Fuerza, so those always come off as a great talent coming THIS close to shocking humiliation on a big stage. I have no idea if that's what he was going for though. 68. Black Terry, Cerebro Negro and Dr. Cerebro vs Bombero Infernal, Maldito Jr. and Samot (parts two and three here) (October 14 2010) No pages This is more of a wild brawl like the first two matches in today's post, but I don't think there was any particular rivalry between two of the workers. These were just a couple of IWRG teams that didn't like each other. Terry looked like a hero selling on the outside and the Terribles Cerebros were one of the best units in Mexico around this time. I think their best matches are considered to be their ones against Negro Navarro and the Traumas or against Gringos VIP, but this was my favorite. 69. Masakre vs Pirata Morgan (February 28 1992, hair vs hair) No pages, really? I thought this one was fairly well known. This could have been the definitive Pirata Morgan bloodbath, but there were a couple of things taking it down a peg. The rudo ref interference felt out of place without any tecnicos in the match, and there wasn't any payoff to it. And the third fall was almost all Masakre on offense until Pirata just hit a spinebuster and submission to end it. I can live with all that when the match is as bloody and dramatic as this, though. And Masakre really made him fight to get that final hold on. 70. Blue Panther, Fuerza Guerrera and Psicosis vs Hijo del Santo, Octagon and Rey Misterio Jr. (March 17 1995) PWO, Cagematch This is one of the typical candidates for best AAA match from the early years of the promotion when it was hot with tape traders and fans alike. I was thinking that maybe it was another match that I'd maybe put a little higher than I should have because of its reputation, but I'm trying to think about what separates it from that 1988 Bucaneros match that I ranked in the thirties and I can't think of much. I guess that the pirates were a slightly more cohesive unit and maybe a little funnier. This one is probably too low if anything. 71. Mascarita Magica vs Damiancito el Guerrero (February 27 1996, CMLL minis title) PWO thread An underrated companion to Damiancito vs Cicloncito match from 1997. The technical work is strong, the athleticism is insane and Damiancito wipes out some poor vendor on a bump. If that was intentional then it was pure genius, because how do you time that? This is the first match on video in which Virus works like the Virus we know today.

58. Dandy vs Javier Llanes (February 22 1994, CMLL middleweight title) PWO, Cagematch Title match with a focus on getting the most out of basic holds through selling and tight application. The camera crew does a great job of getting closeups on each guy's face as they really cinch one in or strain to escape. In a way the wrestling in the first twenty minutes has the same goals that a maestros match does, but they get there by placing emphasis on how much each hold hurts than on how skilled either man is. 59. Comando Negro vs Pollo (December 26 2010, mask vs mask) Cagematch page Some guy in a chicken suit (accompanied by a guy in a smaller chicken suit) puts his chicken suit up against a pot leaf mask or something. It's probably not a pot leaf mask. Did you know? When oldtime hardcore fans reference "El Super Clasico," it's this match that they're talking about. 60. Bestia Salvage, Felino and Negro Casas vs Ciclon Ramirez, Oro and Ultimo Dragon (March 12 1993) PWO, Cagematch One of those matches with a little bit of everything. Technical work, brawling, flying, drama, you name it. It's mostly about Casas vs Dragon, with a little bit of Felino vs Ciclon as well, but the highlight is Bestia taking maybe the highest bump over the top I've ever seen and then immediately eating the best tope in the business. 61. Psicosis vs Rey Misterio Jr. (September 22 1995, WWA welterweight title) PWO, Cagematch '90s classic with two rising stars trying to mix their revolutionary flying with the classic title match style. Two watches ago (which was before I started making this), I really appreciated how they worked the first two falls in that traditional style, so on my first draft this ended up in the twenties or thirties somewhere. On a rewatch it was noticeable how much smoother the third fall was. I still respect what they did for the first two. 62. Dandy vs Black Warrior (October 15 1996, NWA lightheavyweight title) PWO thread Dandy finds himself up against a younger, more athletic wrestler and has to use guile and heart to keep his title as his body starts breaking down in the third fall. One of the most impressive things about Dandy to me is that he has four title matches on here and they're all distinct from each other. Not all wrestlers take advantage of the dramatic or stylistic opportunities these matches present, but he relished doing things with both. 63. Rambo vs Villano III (September 24 1993, hair vs mask) PWO thread Bloody brawl that no one seems to talk about anymore. You know what? I'm not going to talk about it either. 64. Atlantis vs Emilio Charles Jr. (August 14 1992, NWA middleweight title) PWO thread These two could have a good match in their sleep and sometimes it seemed like that was what they set out to do. This time out they lacked their characteristic smoothness and actually had a couple of awkward spots in the first fall, but they worked a much more dramatic contest than usual. Charles worked the arm, and the armwork informed every move Atlantis made in the third fall. The first time I watched this I didn't quite get why Charles stopped targeting the arm, but I've come around to agreeing with the assessment on commentary and in the PWO thread that Charles started to crack under the pressure and went for the win instead of sticking with what had worked to that point.

51. Cibernetico (April 18 1997) PWO, Cagematch Of course this is the definitive cibernetico canonically. They build to a superhero finish, and after forty-plus minutes it feels like the conclusion of an epic event, like a Royal Rumble. For this match to hold up instead of feeling like a slog, it needs to be full of strong work, and consequently it has no shortage of MVP candidates. 52. Atlantis, Faraon and Super Astro vs Blue Panther, Emilio Charles Jr. and Fuerza Guerrera (August 18 1989) PWO, Cagematch Earlier I listed the workers who had four matches in a single year on this list, and I forgot about 1989 Emilio Charles (and 1997 Cicloncito Ramirez). That tracks, as Emilio's 89 is one of my favorite years a wrestler ever had. Anyway, there's nothing special about this match, other than how good it is and that you get to see Charles with a buzz. He wouldn't lose his hair again until 2001. 53. Halcon Negro, Virus and Zumbido vs Olimpico, Oriental and Super Kendo (June 23 1998) PWO thread Compared to the match listed just above it, this one isn't as smooth and doesn't get as much time to work with, but it has a clear purpose. Every exchange is excellent and they hit every note that you'd hope for from a midcard build to a mask match. 54. Atlantis, Dandy and Sangre Chicana vs Satanico, Ulises and Universo 2000 (December 7 1990) PWO thread Psychology based buildup to the Dandy-Satanico hair match the week after, with Satanico getting deeper and deeper under Dandy's skin until Dandy finally snaps and can hardly wait the seven days to get his revenge. It also provides the motivation for Dandy's unorthodox winning strategy in the hair match in a nice display of week to week storytelling. 55. Atlantis vs Dr. Wagner Jr. (January 19 2001) PWO thread The thing that stands out the most to me is actually the vignette beforehand. It's a great match, but I LOVED Atlantis playing mind games with Wagner ahead of their encounter. That's a nice personality touch from someone who usually feels like a gullible Sting type. Wagner counters with his own mental warfare to kick off the match. Was the ending a continuation of that? I can't tell if the idea was that Atlantis played Wagner for a sucker or if he just got lucky. 56. Hijo del Santo vs Negro Casas (May 17 1991, WWA welterweight title) PWO, Cagematch I guess this is my pick for the best Santo-Casas match. The midmatch kick to the groin and the third fall comedy bump mark are spots Casas loved for this kind of match and reused for his 1993 defense against Ultimo Dragon. Interesting if you like seeing a worker develop his ideas over time. 57. Dr. Cerebro vs Erik Ortiz (August 11 2019) No pages Cerebro goes to Monterrey and challenges one of the city's best technical workers to a duel on the mat. It's amazing to me to see how workers just know how to keep the crowd engaged in matches like this, where it's a modern audience watching an antiquated style that doesn't have big swings in momentum. It probably helped that they Ortiz was a hometown guy. It's not quite as good as Cerebro-Virus, in part because Cerebro had aged just a tiny bit and because the final stretch wasn't as fleshed out or arrived at quite as organically, but I thought Ortiz performed about as well as you'd expect Virus to in this spot.

43. Guerrero Maya Jr. vs Virus (June 7 2011, CMLL super lightweight title) PWO, Cagematch Virus's coming out party as a maestro. This match was the impetus for this thread, as for a time it was Cagematch's #1 rated CMLL match, which got me thinking about where I'd have it on a similar list. 44. Dandy vs Emilio Charles Jr. (July 28 1989, hair vs hair) Cagematch page When I first watched this, I thought the last two falls were great but wished they'd done without all of the referee involvement in the first. Some ten years later, I'm not going to say that it wouldn't have been better as more of a straightforward brawl, but I can appreciate the way that they worked the ref stuff and how it made the finish feel controversial rather than flat. Davis had his ideas about closed fists and, as a rudo ref, was a lot stricter on the tecnico than on the rudo. Charles saw what was going on and used it to his advantage. Dandy let his emotions get the best of him until he accepted Davis's rules and found a way to come back without punching. A lot of times rudo ref spots just seem like a lazy way to build heat, but here it was less about ridiculous favoritism and more about how each wrestler reacted to it. 45. Hijo del Santo vs Espanto Jr. (May 14 1992, UWA welterweight title) PWO, Cagematch I don't think there's a consensus about which is the better of the two Santo-Espanto title matches. They're basically two versions of the same match. My favorite thing about this one is that it's a ringside handheld that I believe ended up on a DVD that Espanto himself was selling. I guess that he was excited enough about this match that he had someone film it for him. I can't think of any other great matches that were sourced by one of the participants. 46. Dandy vs Pirata Morgan (September 23 1988, hair vs hair) PWO, Cagematch Pirata Morgan matches are almost their own genre of hair match. He gets more out of and does more with blood than anyone else. This has a lot of similarities to Dandy's hair match with Charles from 1989 and there's not much between them. This one has more violence, more raw hatred and more enduring images than the 1989 match, but I thought that the various elements of the Charles match (like the referee involvement and the way they moved from brawling to nearfalls) fit together better. 47. Atlantis, Perro Aguayo and Villano III vs Mascara Año 2000, Pierroth Jr. and Shocker (April 28 2000) PWO thread Pierroth works Villano over with an aluminum bat before he is painfully reminded that Villano used to be a rudo himself and knows how to dish it out. The ending plays into that as well, with Shocker complaining while Villano laughs right in his face. Shocker and Atlantis are great together for what's kind of a tertiary matchup. 48. Dandy and Satanico vs Masakre and MS-1 (August 11 1989) Cagematch page The Infernales turned on Satanico for insisting on clean wrestling the week before, so he brings Dandy with him and gives the rudos a street brawl. The finish is the most brilliant fake foul I've ever seen. As a tecnico, Satanico's scheming ways work as a form of justice, ensuring that the rudos get the disqualification that their actions fully merit. 49. Dandy, Mogur and Popitekus vs MS-1, Pierroth Jr. and Ulises (January 5 1990) PWO thread This was the setup for the title match between Mogur and Pierroth, and every time they matched up in the first fall it was just a little bit more intense than the time before, with a sense that things were getting closer and closer to boiling over. At one point MS-1 was dusting his hands off with a wicked smile on his face, and Pedro Septien ominously noted, "The match is beginning to degenerate." It finally happened when Pierroth erupted on Mogur with a barrage of kicks to the spine that sent him rolling to the floor. They paid that off on the comeback about as well as they possibly could have and really laid into each other. 50. Dr. Cerebro vs Hijo del Santo (December 21 2000, IWRG intercontinental welterweight title) PWO thread The Santo-Cerebro feud is kind of a slightly lesser Santo-Espanto feud in my book, but the actual technical skill here, especially in the first fall, probably eclipsed that of any of Santo's matches with Espanto. I really liked when a fan ran in and protested that the referee wasn't counting when Santo's shoulders were down, and the ref agreed with the fan's interpretation and gave Santo a count. The only online video of this is posted in Dr. Cerebro's nominee thread, but the user has it as unlisted, so I don't know if he'd want me linking to it directly.

36. LA Park vs Rush (March 11 2017) PWO, Cagematch I thought the Park-Rush matches were like a WWF rivalry from the '80s, where they hit different arenas and you know what spots you're gonna get, and there's that one match where everything comes together the best. For me that was this one, wrestled for some fly by night promotion in one of Mexico City's bigger non-CMLL venues. I really liked how Park hit his tope right at the start of his comeback. That's a great way to turn the tide and yet it doesn't seem like the tope is used that way very often. The finish was screwy but I get the impression their matches are more about the action than about the result. 37. Blue Panther vs Negro Casas (March 2 2012, hair vs hair) PWO, Cagematch The most I've liked any CMLL apuestas match since...I guess Atlantis vs Villano III. That was another one that deviated from the typical apuestas match style and instead felt almost like a high stakes maestros match. This isn't as big and theatrical as Atlantis-V3, but I'm not sure I'd want it to be. 38. Perro Aguayo vs Sangre Chicana (February 28 1986, hair vs hair) Cagematch page A combination of #2 and #3, the second handheld on the list and the second Chicana hair match on the list. I wonder if it would have felt as magical as Chicana vs MS-1 with a proshot video, or if that was just something in the air for that one match. 39. Eddy Guerrero and Love Machine vs Hijo del Santo and Octagon (November 6 1994, hair vs masks) PWO, Cagematch I compared this to Warrior vs Savage at some point before, and now looking at the PWO thread I see where I stole that idea from. I've said some uncomplimentary things about both Art Barr and Octagon, so let me point out that they were both really, really good in this, maybe even better than Santo and Guerrero. I remember at one point Octagon just walks over and punts Barr in the ribs. Why didn't you punt people more often, Octagon? It's not like it was that much more demanding than rolling around holding your groin, or standing on the apron waving the crowd on. I guess I've slipped back into insulting him again. Sorry. 40. Cibernetico (March 22 1996) PWO thread This had eight excellent workers and no filler or down time, so pretty much every moment featured a really good exchange happening. It wasn't as dramatic as the famous April 1997 cibernetico, but at the same time there was nothing as hard to believe as a 1v5 comeback, and in fact most of the eliminations were built up quite well. I liked the inclusion of Lizmark. 41. Fiera vs Jerry Estrada (1991, chain match) PWO thread In some kind of strange social experiment, Fiera and Estrada are tied together with a chain and commanded to beat each other senseless for no discernible reward, producing a spiritual predecessor to Park-Rush and other brawls like that. 42. Fuerza Guerrera, Jerry Estrada, Pentagon and Psicosis vs Hijo del Santo, Octagon, Parka, and Rey Misterio Jr. (July 8 1995) PWO thread This is the kind of pick that would make me look like an asshole if anyone happened to read it. Really, your best match from 1995 and it's not Misterio-Psicosis, or the 3v3 from March? You didn't even pick the right 4v4 for crying out loud. But if I had to choose, Blue Panther and whatever it is that Blue Panther brings to a match like this, or Jerry Estrada pressing Misterio Jr. over his head like five different times to show off what a big strong man he is, well, I'm taking Estrada. Also, if I'm gonna praise Negro Casas earlier for working a comedy spot into a dramatic third fall, then I have to give Fuerza his credit when he makes like a blinded Hulk Hogan and runs wild on the wrong team during the final stretch.

29. Espanto Jr. vs Hijo del Santo (August 31 1986, mask vs mask) PWO, Cagematch One of a few matches in today's post that I think are great and that other people who watch this stuff think are great, but beyond that don't really leave me with much to say. I like how much more direct the violence is in Santo vs Brazo de Oro. Here Espanto looks like he's outwrestling Satno and then decides he wants to ram him into the ringposts. There's nothing wrong with that. I just like how Brazo de Oro made it a fight almost right from the go. 30. Virus vs Fuego (June 15 2014, CMLL super lightweight title) No pages I wasn't enthusiastic about watching this one going in. They had a match a year or two before this that was just okay, and it's hard to get excited about watching a twenty-five minute that's likely to be just okay. Plus, you know, when it's a guy like Virus, you sometimes feel pressure to like his big matches, because if you don't then you're either missing something or turning up your nose. But this turned out to be one of my favorite of his title matches and exceeded my expectations more than any of them. Fuego seemed to have learned a lot from that first match. If this one feels like it's overrated at number thirty, that's why I put it that high. 31. Mocho Cota vs Americo Rocca (February 3 1984, NWA welterweight title) Cagematch page It's cool that they ran this match in back to back weeks. I assume it was to play off the first match's controversial finish, but maybe it went down such a storm in Arena Coliseo that the programmers wanted to bring it to Arena Mexico. My recollection is that the submission work and finishing move are better in the first fall of this version, the second fall is more or less the same, and the third fall in this one is extremely short, giving the Coliseo match the overall win by a nose. 32. Hijo del Santo vs Parka (December 23 2001) PWO, Cagematch Famous bloodbath featuring Parka's briefly all white outfit. I think the announcer at one point calls this a battle between tecnicos but it sure didn't seem like it. Santo jumped him right away and seemed a little too comfortable working as the de facto rudo. One of those matches where the action's so good that the crummy ending doesn't even matter. 33. Mogur vs Pierroth Jr. (January 12 1990, national lightheavyweight title) PWO, Cagematch These two complemented each other so well. Mogur was famously uncharismatic, but Pierroth had enough charisma for the both of them and got the crowd more and more on Mogur's side as the match went on. Pierroth wasn't a guy who embraced the dramatic opportunities that technical wrestling presented, but that was right up Mogur's alley. Mogur grabbed control of the first fall with a brilliant reversal and took Pierroth apart in the second, to the extent that it was hard to see how the match could make it to a third fall. Finding himself backed into a corner, Pierroth had a brilliant gambit of his own, one that didn't sell out the characterization established over the first two falls, of Mogur the superior technician and Pierroth the schemer. Mogur's selling over the course of the match was really, really good, perfectly straddling the line between realistic and dramatic. 34. Fuerza Guerrera vs Octagon (February 1 1991) PWO, Cagematch Fuerza Guerrera interacts with everything at his disposal--the ropes, the ringpost, Octagon, the audience--as part of probably the most famous match of his career. He pulls pointless comedy spots that don't go anywhere and the match never falls off track. It's an incredible performance. PWO, Cagematch and I each have a different date listed. Somehow it's fitting to me that Fuerza's best matches could never be listed by date only a la the AJPW classics. 35. Angel Azteca, Atlantis and Ringo Mendoza vs Hombre Bala, Pirata Morgan and Verdugo (1988) No pages, in part because it hasn't been determined exactly when this took place This match blew Dave Meltzer's mind when he saw it back in 1988. It's just a standard 3v3, no incredible technical work or wild brawling, but the Bucaneros are one of most coordinated and well rounded units I've ever seen, and Atlantis puts on an amazing aerial display. VQ is bad even by the standards of 1980s stuff but I recall the crowd being mic'd more loudly than usual.

22. Atlantis vs Satanico (January 20 1984) PWO, Cagematch To me this is Satanico's finest hour. He puts over his fear of the young kid without making himself look like anything less than the favorite to win. He makes sure that everyone can see Atlantis's ability but still outwrestles him in the end. And because Satanico sells but doesn't really stooge, there's a real ominous presence in the air the whole time, like Atlantis might be biting off more than he can chew with this one. 23. Atlantis, Dandy and Pierroth Jr. vs Fiera, Emilio Charles Jr. and Satanico (November 13 1992) All it has is a PWO thread with one post in it, by me, gack. Fiera must have asked himself, "Who around here wants to hurt Dandy the most?" when picking teammates for this one. The brawling isn't as frenetic as in that match with Chicana and Cien Caras, but with the sneak attack and the presence of Fiera's chain there's always the sense of danger lurking for the tecnicos, even when they're dropping a row of chairs on the rudos. The Observer gave this only 2.5 stars, so this might qualify as the first outright revisionist pick on the list. 24. Atlantis vs Faraon (March 22 1985, national middleweight title) PWO, Cagematch Faraon is probably most known for his brawls, especially the one with Pirata Morgan, but I thought he looked even better working a technical match against Atlantis. I couldn't tell if he was truly gassed in the third fall, but if he was just selling then it was the best selling of fatigue I've ever seen. He couldn't even run the ropes anymore. Atlantis was blasting him with dives and the announcer put it over as the advantages of youth coming to the forefront, which made for a nice explanation. Don't be put off by the forty-minute Youtube video. The action is probably more like twenty-five. 25. Americo Rocca vs Mocho Cota (January 27 1984, NWA welterweight title) PWO, Cagematch I don't find myself with a whole lot to say about the Rocca vs Cota matches except that there's a lot of good technical wrestling in them. I think this one turned a lot of people on to Cota. 26. Fuerza Guerrera vs Pantera (May 11 1990, NWA welterweight title) PWO, Cagematch Take a peek into the alternate universe in which Fuerza Guerrera is a serious (85% serious) wrestler and a technical wizard. They cranked on some of the picturesque submissions from old '60s and '70s magazines that would make you wonder how anyone could work that into a standard wrestling match. This might not be the truest Fuerza has ever been to his persona, but I'd rate it as his best work nonetheless. 27. Damiancito el Guerrero and Pierrothito vs Cicloncito Ramirez and Ultimo Dragoncito (March 14 1997) PWO, Cagematch I know about the title match in January and I know about the 3v3 in autumn. THIS is the premier version of Virus vs Cicloncito working holds. Pierrothito and Dragoncito have some mindblowing spots as well. At one point Leobardo Magadan compares Virus to Michael Jordan, and in the context of this match it doesn't even sound ridiculous. 28. Negro Casas vs Ultimo Dragon (March 26 1993, UWA middleweight title) PWO thread Ultimo Dragon gets his leg worked over and nosells it. I don't have a comeback for that. I can accept a babyface surge of adrenaline but this went beyond that. But there's so much that this match does right. Casas gradually gets more and more people behind Dragon instead of him. The false comeback off the missed plancha. The third fall is a spectacular combination of momentum shifts, fatigue selling, athleticism, and big moves. It feels like ten years ahead of Fuerza vs Pantera instead of less than three. The big ovation at the end. And somewhere in all of those nearfalls Casas has the nerve to work in a comedy spot. You could say that blowing off a long stretch of legwork is the opposite of thinking man's wrestling, and I still wouldn't have a comeback, but there was a lot of thought put into the match as a whole.

15. Atlantis vs Villano III (March 17 2000, mask vs mask) PWO, Cagematch This extremely famous match might have the most emotional crowd you'll ever see. One thing no one ever mentions is that it's probably much better for being just one fall, as Villano III rarely got the most out of the three fall structure. 16. Dandy, Hector Garza and Negro Casas vs Bestia Salvaje, Hijo del Santo and Scorpio Jr. (November 29 1996) PWO thread This has to be one of the most heated Arena Mexico matches with no stakes. The crowd noise just never died down. Even though Santo changed sides the week before out of hatred for Casas, Dandy's the one who ends up bleeding and catching a row of chairs to the head. A lot of times it's the secondary performances that cement these manic brawls as true classics. On that front, Bestia Salvaje always had something going on, flying all over and inventing reasons to take shots at Casas. 17. Lizmark vs Jerry Estrada (June 18 1993, national lightheavyweight title) PWO thread Title matches are often about how talented you have to be to hold a championship. This one touched on that but was more about what you have to go through. They made very good use of the three falls. The first fall established that Lizmark was the more skilled of the two. The second saw Estrada find his opening. That set up a third fall that asked whether Lizmark's ability would be enough to survive Estrada's swarming assault. There were a few sloppy spots, but Lizmark was over forty and Jerry Estrada was Jerry Estrada. There are workers who are inconsistent from year to year or even week to week. Estrada struggled to maintain his form over the course of a single match. 18. Brazo, Brazo de Oro and Brazo de Plata vs Hombre Bala, Pirata Morgan and Verdugo (November 3 1989) No pages Three pirate brothers wrestle three cartoon character brothers. The cartoon characters play their Bugs Bunny tricks and have the crowd laughing, so the pirates bloody them up and show them what the real world's like. 19. Escudero Rojo and Reyes Veloz vs Gran Apache and Mestizo (August 31 1993) It has a PWO thread but I'm the only one in there. For some reason the shackles came off these veterans of Arena Coliseo opening matches and they got to have the same kind of brawl that the guys at the top of the card did, complete with double juice and dramatic comebacks. If you ever wanted to argue that the difference between undercarders and headliners is booking rather than ability, this is a match to point to. The audience certainly treated them like heroes after the match. For anyone who has trouble telling the rudos apart in the grainy old video, Escudero Rojo is the one with white stars on his boots. 20. Dr. Cerebro vs Virus (August 16 2015) No pages In general I prefer mat based matches with more ups and downs to them, but in some ways it's more impressive to wrestle a match this good without any of that. When workers have plot points they need to hit, they know the kind of things that they need to do, and it's easy stuff for the crowd to sink their teeth into. In a match like this they don't have anything. They just have to sense when they need to hook in a big hold, how long to stay in a hold, when to go for the big sell, and when to move on. This is my favorite maestros match, between a master of that style (Cerebro) and one of the geniuses of technical wrestling (Virus). 21. Damiancito el Guerrero vs Cicloncito Ramirez (January 7 1997, CMLL minis title) PWO, Cagematch I guess you could make a sliding scale for title matches. Something like Lizmark vs Estrada would be on one end, where form takes a backseat to plot points, and then matches like this and Virus vs Cerebro (not a title match, but wrestled in that style) would be on the other end, where how the wrestlers do it is the most memorable part of the match. The ideal for me is somewhere in the middle, but you can find greatness on both ends as well. This match was competitive all the way, but it's the mystifying spots, not just on the mat but off the ropes, that stuck out more than anything else.

What's your number one apuestas? Santo/Casas was wrestled so differently from a big blowoff apuestas match that I could never get into it, but almost everyone else loves that match. I'm almost objectively wrong on that one. Santo/Dandy/Casas was on the list at one point but got bumped off. I'm not the biggest fan of legwork in a bloody brawl, but more than anything it's that if one of the wrestlers ends up grousing after the match about the fans not reacting properly then it's probably not an alltime classic. But I like the match a lot. I can't believe all this time there was someone else out there who loved that match. That makes me so happy. To me it's not just a brilliant match but proof that Emilio Charles had it in him to be a Casas or Satanico type of performer. I guess that just wasn't how he liked to do business. Here's Hechicero vs Caifan. I don't know Hechicero's era as well as I know the '90s and haven't really started looking at all of his praised matches yet. So far it's just a couple of Caifan matches, the Charles Lucero matches and a Dr. Cerebro match. That Dandy/Santo match is astonishing for how hard they work in a match contested outside of their home promotions and that they knew going in would have a bunch of ref bullshit and a run in finish. Of course given what Dandy was doing in WCW I'm sure he was excited just to cut loose again.

8. Ciclon Ramirez vs Javier Cruz (June 10 1994, hair vs hair) PWO thread Two guys on the downside of their careers hurl themselves at each other for not much more than pride. Ciclon's dives in this match combine high flying and violent intent better than any aerial performance I've ever seen. The only thing keeping this out of GOAT discussion for me is that the second fall lasts less than a minute. I have this ranked eighth on this list, though, so maybe it is as a GOAT contender after all. 9. Felino vs Mascara Magica (May 21 1996, CMLL welterweight title) PWO thread A good companion match to the much more famous Dandy vs Casas. Two very long title matches that stay on the mat for a while, with first falls that work as their own little matches, before building to a tecnico comeback and big throws in the final fall. Hard to separate. Dandy-Casas isn't as counter crazy down the stretch, but I just like the story of this one a bit more, with Mascara Magica having to overcome every different strategy and tactic that the veteran Felino throws at him in his welcome to the big time. I also prefer Felino's more desperate foul to Casas's. It would be one of the great starmaking performances of all time if Mascara Magica had become a star. 10. Gran Cochisse vs Satanico (September 14 1984, NWA middleweight title) PWO, Cagematch An interesting comparison to the two matches surrounding it. It's another long title match with a lot of submission work, but instead of building to big suplexes in the third they built to even more submissions. The matwork in the third fall was even better than in the first. There was always a threat that Satanico would pull some devious trick, and I'm not sure if I was supposed to interpret some of those third fall spots as fouls, but the postmatch made it look like pure sporting effort from him. 11. Dandy vs Negro Casas (July 3 1992, CMLL middleweight title) PWO, Cagematch This feels like a very 1990s match, with big bombs and shocking kickouts, but it's Dandy and Casas. They managed to keep this rooted in the classic title match style, as they still had to use their ground game to break through each other's defenses before they could get to the big moves. The first fall is maybe the hardest fought opening fall I've seen. 12. Virus vs Guerrero Maya Jr. (October 6 2013, CMLL super lightweight title) Cagematch page (it has a PWO thread but there are no reviews) Virus's title matches from this era were generally worked like 1990s title matches, but with highspots that could thrill 2010s fans. Most people seem to prefer when he fought Guerrero Maya in 2011, but I thought this was the closest any of his challengers came to looking like his equal as a technician. It took more than one fall for them to force each other off the mat, and the finish here was much more fitting for Virus than the one from 2011. 13. Cien Caras, Mascara Año 2000 and Sangre Chicana vs Konnan, Perro Aguayo and Rayo de Jalisco Jr. (March 6 1992) PWO thread One of the great things about these wild brawls is that the fans can actually become part of the match, like here when Chicana tries to drag one back into the match with him. The ring isn't quite as much of an inaccessible alternate universe when that happens. There were a lot of excellent performances, but Chicana was the standout. I still have no idea if that slip off the apron was legitimate. 14. Hijo del Santo vs Blue Panther (April 9 2000, WWA welterweight title) PWO, Cagematch The first two falls felt very complete for as short as they were. Panther actually used his technical ability to seem threatening in this match. I can't understand why he didn't wrestle like that more often. The video appears to come from someone filming their TV. I could see that being a turnoff but for me that just makes this stuff feel like unearthed treasure.

1. Angel Azteca vs El Dandy (June 1 1990, NWA middleweight title) PWO thread, Cagematch page I can't imagine anything knocking this out of the top spot. I was in my early twenties when I first saw it and I'm in my mid-thirties now. Things just don't move you the same at this age. Even if I did see something as good as this, that new match would have to overcome over ten years of goodwill that this one has built up as my personal number one. It seems like it had its time, back when Loss was calling it possibly the best match he'd ever seen, so maybe I'm dating myself a bit by ranking it at the top. This much matwork, and this much lucha matwork especially, might be too much for some to bear. For me, this was completely unlike anything I'd ever seen, even within the subgenre of Mexican title matches, and I can't think of another match that's really similar to it. 2. Espanto Jr. vs Hijo del Santo (April 10 1988, UWA lightweight title) PWO, Cagematch When I was a kid, probably back in middle school, my friend used to drag me to the neighborhood basketball court on the weekends. Sometimes there would be like eight or ten Asian guys, grown men, playing fullcourt pickup, but there were no other adult height rims around so we had to sort of sneak on while they were at the other end, jack up some quick shots and scurry off once the action came back down to our side. They seemed understanding when we (read: I) would miss and fail to retrieve the ball in time, leaving it bouncing in the middle of their game, but they weren't speaking English so they may have been cursing me. Anyway, if pressed, I'd say that I prefer this Santo-Espanto match to the very similar 1992 one because the handshake at the start of the third fall in '92 took some of the edge off Espanto's attack to begin the fall, and the finish in this one is much more of a dagger. But deep down it probably has just as much to do with those little kids trying to be part of something bigger than them and then scrambling back to their seats before it actually happened. 3. MS-1 vs Sangre Chicana (September 23 1983, hair vs hair) PWO, Cagematch One of the few Mexican matches well known enough that there's nothing really to say about it. Chicana's selling is transfixing, something out of a war movie. 4. Brazo de Oro vs Hijo del Santo (January 13 1991, hair vs mask) PWO, Cagematch The preeminent Santo apuestas match in my mind. Maybe it's because the first one I saw. Maybe it's because it's the one that most closely adhered to the formula (hey, it's a good formula). They gave up wrestling for fisticuffs after just a minute or so, which I appreciated. Brazo de Plata running around ringside shrieking hysterically as his brother got busted up by Santo added a lot. 5. Fiera vs Negro Casas (October 1, 1993, hair vs hair) PWO, Cagematch Casas tries to play rough with Fiera and soon finds himself needing to dig deep for a comeback against someone even more well versed in the rudo arts. I remember buying this from a guy in Mexico and then walking to the post office on a beautiful spring day, passing kids chattering on a school playground and people in their stores, their lives in perfect order as I took two or three hours to complete a trip that would have been ten minutes there and ten minutes back if I'd had a car. When I got home I watched old wrestling videos until I passed out at like 5:30 in the afternoon. 6. Atlantis, Dandy and Mascara Sagrada vs MS-1, Emilio Charles Jr. and Tierra Viento y Fuego (November 24 1989) Doesn't have a Cagematch page, and the only post in its PWO thread is by me. You can just read this instead. This match has four really good workers in it, and it's a bloody match from a CMLL hot period. That means that it probably hasn't been overlooked as much as it's been outright rejected as anything special. It's not full of synchronized teamwork or breathtaking offense, and it's not even a wild brawl around the arena, which I assume people hope for from 3v3 classics. For me, I've never seen a match that does as much with the simple concept of pride. Dandy humiliates Charles and runs him right out of Arena Mexico. Charles comes back and you know that he's gotta be thinking vengeance. The announcer chuckles when the crowd laughs at Charles, and when Dandy's blood turns them quiet he somberly admits that Dandy did go looking for this. Soon enough Charles himself has to reckon with the fact that he started a war with Dandy. Eventually Charles finds himself alone with Dandy, the same situation that worked out so poorly for him earlier, and has to answer some questions that he couldn't in the first fall. I can't think of a lot of matches, even 1v1s, with such a well crafted story for one of its wrestlers. 7. Lola Gonzalez vs Pantera Sureña (December 9 1988, hair vs hair) No pages Gonzalez and Pantera tore into each other just like you'd expect from a classic hair match, but with women's wrestling still trying to find its footing in the capital city they worked a third fall where they also showed off what talented wrestlers they were. They put in so much effort that eventually Septien on commentary was calling for both heads of hair to be spared, which you know isn't going to happen. If there's another women's match from Mexico that's anywhere near this, I don't know of it, but I don't think I saw this until like 2017, so it's more than possible that I've overlooked something.

I don't know where to put a thread like this or if the board even does this sort of post anymore. This is something I started last year when I was trying to make top tens for the 1990s, and that ended up evolving into this list. It's pretty biased towards 1990s matches and CMLL matches, but, well, that's all I got. If, for whatever reason, anyone tried to use this as a stepping stone to getting into lucha, most of the top fifty have been vetted by other people, whereas the second fifty are more personal picks plus some stragglers. So maybe take the first fifty more seriously. I'll try to provide links and say something brief about each one over the next few weeks. 1. Angel Azteca vs Dandy (June 1 1990) 2. Espanto Jr. vs Hijo del Santo (April 10 1988) 3. MS-1 vs Sangre Chicana (September 23 1983) 4. Brazo de Oro vs Hijo del Santo (January 13 1991) 5. Fiera vs Negro Casas (September 1 1993) 6. Atlantis, Dandy and Mascara Sagrada vs MS-1, Emilio Charles Jr. and Tierra Viento y Fuego (November 24 1989) 7. Lola Gonzalez vs Pantera Sureña (December 9 1988) 8. Ciclon Ramirez vs Javier Cruz (June 10 1994) 9. Felino vs Mascara Magica (May 21 1996) 10. Gran Cochisse vs Satanico (September 14 1984) 11. Dandy vs Negro Casas (July 3 1992) 12. Virus vs Guerrero Maya Jr. (October 6 2013) 13. Cien Caras, Mascara Año 2000 and Sangre Chicana vs Konnan, Perro Aguayo and Rayo de Jalisco Jr. (March 6 1992) 14. Hijo del Santo vs Blue Panther (April 9 2000) 15. Atlantis vs Villano III (March 17 2000) 16. Dandy, Hector Garza and Negro Casas vs Bestia Salvaje, Hijo del Santo and Scorpio Jr. (November 29 1996) 17. Lizmark vs Jerry Estrada (June 18 1993) 18. Brazo, Brazo de Oro and Brazo de Plata vs Hombre Bala, Pirata Morgan and Verdugo (November 3 1989) 19. Escudero Rojo and Reyes Veloz vs Gran Apache and Mestizo (August 31 1993) 20. Dr. Cerebro vs Virus (August 16 2015) 21. Damiancito el Guerrero vs Cicloncito Ramirez (January 7 1997) 22. Atlantis vs Satanico (January 20 1984) 23. Atlantis, Dandy and Pierroth Jr. vs Fiera, Emilio Charles Jr. and Satanico (November 13 1992) 24. Atlantis vs Faraon (March 22 1985) 25. Americo Rocca vs Mocho Cota (January 27 1984) 26. Fuerza Guerrera vs Pantera (May 11 1990) 27. Damiancito el Guerrero and Pierrothito vs Cicloncito Ramirez and Ultimo Dragoncito (March 14 1997) 28. Negro Casas vs Ultimo Dragon (March 26 1993) 29. Espanto Jr. vs Hijo del Santo (August 31 1986) 30. Virus vs Fuego (June 15 2014) 31. Mocho Cota vs Americo Rocca (February 3 1984) 32. Hijo del Santo vs Parka (December 23 2001) 33. Mogur vs Pierroth Jr. (January 12 1990) 34. Fuerza Guerrera vs Octagon (February 1 1991) 35. Angel Azteca, Atlantis and Ringo Mendoza vs Hombre Bala, Pirata Morgan and Verdugo (1988) 36. LA Park vs Rush (March 11 2017) 37. Blue Panther vs Negro Casas (March 2 2012) 38. Perro Aguayo vs Sangre Chicana (February 28 1986) 39. Art Barr and Eddy Guerrero vs Hijo del Santo and Octagon (November 6 1994) 40. Cibernetico (March 22 1996) 41. Fiera vs Jerry Estrada (1991) 42. Fuerza Guerrera, Jerry Estrada, Espanto Jr. and Psicosis vs Hijo del Santo, Octagon, Parka, and Rey Misterio Jr. (July 8 1995) 43. Guerrero Maya Jr. vs Virus (June 7 2011) 44. Dandy vs Emilio Charles Jr. (July 28 1989) 45. Hijo del Santo vs Espanto Jr. (May 14 1992) 46. Dandy vs Pirata Morgan (September 23 1988) 47. Atlantis, Perro Aguayo and Villano III vs Mascara Año 2000, Pierroth Jr. and Shocker (April 28 2000) 48. Dandy and Satanico vs Masakre and MS-1 (August 11 1989) 49. Dandy, Mogur and Popitekus vs MS-1, Pierroth Jr. and Ulises (January 5 1990) 50. Hijo del Santo vs Dr. Cerebro (December 21 2000) 51. Cibernetico (April 18 1997) 52. Atlantis, Faraon and Super Astro vs Blue Panther, Emilio Charles Jr. and Fuerza Guerrera (August 18 1989) 53. Halcon Negro, Virus and Zumbido vs Olimpico, Oriental and Super Kendo (June 23 1998) 54. Atlantis, Dandy and Sangre Chicana vs Satanico, Ulises and Universo 2000 (December 7 1990) 55. Atlantis vs Dr. Wagner Jr. (January 19 2001) 56. Hijo del Santo vs Negro Casas (May 17 1991) 57. Dr. Cerebro vs Erik Ortiz (August 11 2019) 58. Dandy vs Javier Llanes (February 22 1994) 59. Comando Negro vs Pollo (December 26 2010) 60. Bestia, Felino and Negro Casas vs Ciclon Ramirez, Oro and Ultimo Dragon (March 12 1993) 61. Psicosis vs Rey Misterio Jr. (September 22 1995) 62. Dandy vs Black Warrior (October 15 1996) 63. Rambo vs Villano III (September 24 1993) 64. Atlantis vs Emilio Charles Jr. (August 14 1992) 65. Baby Face, Cien Caras and Pirata Morgan vs Fiera, Lizmark and Rayo de Jalisco Jr. (August 1 1986) 66. Bestia Salvaje, Black Warrior and Satanico vs Bronco, Lizmark and Shocker (July 12 1996) 67. Hijo del Santo vs Negro Casas (July 17 1987) 68. Black Terry, Cerebro Negro and Dr. Cerebro vs Bombero Infernal, Maldito Jr. and Samot (October 14 2010) 69. Masakre vs Pirata Morgan (February 28 1992) 70. Blue Panther, Fuerza Guerrera and Psicosis vs Hijo del Santo, Octagon and Rey Misterio Jr. (March 17 1995) 71. Mascarita Magica vs Damiancito el Guerrero (February 27 1996) 72. Arkangel, Mogur and Scorpio Jr. vs Mascara Magica, Olimpico and Super Astro (October 4 1996) 73. Black Terry vs Wotan (August 21 2016) 74. Bestia Salvaje, Fiera and Negro Casas vs Dandy, Ringo Mendoza and Ultimo Dragon (July 10 1992) 75. MS-1, Espectro Jr. and Satanico vs Fiera, Mocho Cota and Sangre Chicana (September 30 1983) 76. Americo Rocca vs Kid Guzman (April 27 1999) 77. Eddy Guerrero, Psicosis and Santo Negro vs Hijo del Santo, Octagon and Parka (February 19 1995) 78. Bestia Salvaje, Fiera and Jerry Estrada vs Hijo del Solitario, Blue Demon Jr. and Huracan Sevilla (January 24 1992) 79. Dr. Cerebro vs Multifacetico (June 2 2011) 80. Hijo de Lizmark, Dr. Wagner Jr. and Dos Caras Jr. vs Johnny Stamboli, LA Park, and Marco Corleone (May 19 2006) 81. Comando Ruso, Corsario and Negro Casas vs Gran Hamada, Panterita del Ring and Super Astro (1991) 82. Danny Boy, Lasser and Robin Hood vs Leono, Panthro and Tigro (August 17 1990) 83. Fiera, Emilio Charles Jr. and Fuerza Guerrera vs Hijo del Santo, Mascara Sagrada and Misterioso (November 29 1991) 84. Felino, Shocker and Tony Rivera vs Hijo del Santo, Karloff Lagarde Jr. and Violencia (June 19 1998) 85. Felino vs Hijo del Santo (1998) 86. Cien Caras vs Rayo de Jalisco Jr. (September 21 1990) 87. Americo Rocca, Angel Azteca and Javier Cruz vs Dandy, Chavo Guerrero Jr. and Texano (March 16 1990) 88. Atlantis, Emilio Charles Jr. and Felino vs Black Warrior, Blue Panther and Dr. Wagner Jr. (January 1999) 89. Caifan vs Hechicero (January 31 2009) 90. Bestia Salvaje and Scorpio Jr. vs Hijo del Santo and Negro Casas (March 19 1999) 91. Fuerza Guerrera vs Misterioso (December 6 1991) 92. Atlantis vs Blue Panther (December 5 1997) 93. Ciclon Mackey, Especto de Ultratumba and Fiera vs Ciclon Ramirez, Huracan Sevilla and Jinete (1992) 94. Jerry Estrada, Espanto Jr. and Parka vs Lizmark, Rey Misterio and Rey Misterio Jr. (January 27 1994) 95. Bracito de Oro, Cicloncito Ramirez and Mascarita Magica vs Damiancito el Guerrero, Fierito and Pierrothito (October 3 1997) 96. Power Raiders Azul, Blanco, Negro, Rojo and Verde vs Duende, Halloween, Hijo del Espectro, Karis la Momia and Manicomio (June 30 1995) 97. Gran Hamada, Silver King and Texano vs Negro Casas, Dr. Wagner Jr. and Rambo (February 23 1992) 98. Atlantis, Blue Demon Jr. and Huracan Ramirez II vs Pirata Morgan, Emilio Charles Jr. and Pierroth Jr. (March 17 1989) 99. Cibernetico (December 30 1997) 100. Hijo del Gladiador, Jaque Mate and Tierra Viento y Fuego vs Supremo, Pierroth Jr. and Ulises (April 21 1989) - The only hard and solid rule was that it had to take place in Mexico or be promoted by a Mexican organization. I think there are two matches on the list that happened in the US. - The most represented year is 1992, with ten matches. - Six wrestlers made it onto the list ten times each. Hijo del Santo (twenty), Atlantis (sixteen), Dandy (sixteen), Negro Casas (fourteen), Fiera (ten) and Virus (ten). It doesn't reflect well on me that one guy ended up in twenty percent of the entries. That's hard to take as realistic. - As best as I can tell, the most matches on the list by a wrestler in one year is four, by 1990 Dandy, 1992 Fiera, 1995 Psicosis and 1997 Virus. 1992 Fiera is a big fluke (well...) but the others check out I think. - I counted fifty-six 1v1s and three ciberneticos (I don't know how to categorize them), and then the rest are team matches. That's pretty close to my ideal ratio actually. - Twenty-nine title matches and nineteen apuestas matches? I already forgot what the totals were.

When I think of Eric Bischoff's style of leadership, I think of stuff like taking someone off TV for half a year because they noshowed a TV taping. Firing a worker to stick it to that guy's friends. Keeping someone off PPV for months at a time because they were agitating for a higher spot. Breaking up a tag team to make them less over, for the purpose of diluting their power backstage. Those morale sapping locker room speeches when he would tell the wrestlers that none of them had ever drawn money (Hogan/Savage/Piper excluded), or that whoever wanted to quit was free to do so. Throwing or spilling coffee on a guy, whatever the story was there. Keeping the wrestlers in the dark on storylines as his way of working the boys. Telling someone that if they didn't re-sign right there on the spot that they were losing their title that night. Most of the stories about Bischoff paint him as an imperious leader who had no desire to treat be seen as his employees' equal. He was tight with Hogan, DDP and Ernest Miller, probably some other guys, but I don't know how many ex-WCW workers would cross the street for him today.

El Signo passed away yesterday. He's most famous as a member of the Misioneros de la Muerte, the superstar team that more or less made 3v3 the standard format for multiman matches in Mexico. During the prime of the original group (Signo, Negro Navarro, Texano), he was probably the biggest star of the three, but he's also the least remembered among English speaking wrestling fans today. Texano split off from the group early and had CMLL runs and a memorable team with Silver King, and Navarro had his renaissance as an indy legend, but Signo's career didn't have that kind of second act. Almost none of his prime exists on video (if any does at all), so the clearest representation of his wrestling style comes from the 1992 UWA TV program. He was in the latter half of his thirties by then but he looked like he still ranked with the best guys in the country. Of the founding Misioneros, now only Navarro remains. RIP.

For me it was the tope that made me think that Charles was losing the plot. Even though it landed, commentator Andres Maroñas seized on it as an error, just because it deviated so wildly from the match that the challenger had made to that point. He seemed to think that Charles started to get desperate once Atlantis escaped that long armbar, which I liked as an explanation. Atlantis had defended the belt some thirty times by this point, several against Charles, and eventually it has to take its toll when you can't put the champion away. You start to doubt yourself and your gameplan, and you start to push things more than you need to. For all I know Charles just wanted to transition the match to the finishing stretch, but the way he started taking gambles when he had things under control gave his character the air of a man unsure if he was good enough. I've said that I don't think that Mexican wrestling does the Ric Flair just barely escape with the belt finish well, but after Charles's armbar the only offense Atlantis got was a shoulder to the gut and the winning rollup, and it worked, even as the babyface. Charles had sold how exhausting it was just applying that much pressure, so the fall was more than believable, and Atlantis came off as a true champion. He took everything his challenger threw at him, and he was the one who capitalized when he got an opening. After the match Maroñas said that it had been some time since Atlantis had given such a good match, which I thought was an interesting comment.

Guessing that the Duggan reference is to this.

Sounds like the finish of their match at King of the Ring 1997.

For a long time Mascara Sagrada's reputation was that he was about as bad as it got save for stiffs who were barely trained. In 1989 he was spectacularly awkward and seemed to have no grasp whatsoever of what his limits were. I've complained about Octagon paring his repertoire down to the same stuff every time, but Mascara Sagrada was a guy who probably did need to sit down and figure out what he could do and what was beyond him, and by 1991 he seemed to better understand who he was. In general I think he ended up showing a lot more creativity and effort than Octagon overall. Take a look at his title match with Pirata Morgan, where he hits moves like a perfect moonsault and a soaring plancha. Maybe that was Pirata laying out the match to make sure MS looked good, but I couldn't imagine Octagon trying stuff like that or even attempting to work the mat as long as they did. That clipped mask match with Black Cat got 4.75 stars in the Observer. Anyway, Mascara Sagrada isn't one of the first guys I'd think when naming good tecnico workers but he has a surprising amount of quality matches, especially for someone long considered an outright bad wrestler. For example: Hecatombe and Bestia Salvaje vs Mantuz and Mogur (rare chance to see him working rudo and in his old character) Mascara Sagrada vs Pirata Morgan MS, Heavy Metal and Hijo del Santo vs Jerry Estrada, Parka and Psicosis Haven't done an ordered ranking for a while:

Pros: physical thrill, a beautiful smile, and wonderful muscles too Cons: don't want close calls, don't want dives, just give your matches a body tonight

Thanks, I worry about these things. It's a message board in the year 2024. Sometimes people go away and don't say anything, you know?

Ciclon's story is a lot like Angel Azteca's, wouldn't you say? He started winning belts and moving up the cards in 1992, and then everything went splat when he lost his mask. Unless you think he just didn't have the ability of the other guys. Mogur, Mascara Magica... like you said, a lot of workers like this got a big push before the office (rightly or wrongly) lost interest, and they couldn't stay relevant afterwards. You could group Santo and Solar in with the rest, although to me Solar was more of a mat specialist with a strange career trajectory, and Santo with his bloody brawls and tribute spots feels like a unique entity. I don't know if these guys still have a lineage or if the typical masked tecnico is more inspired by Misterio Jr. nowadays.

I like the comparison to Rocky a lot. I like it because they can both brawl, but when you think of an emotional bloodsoaked war like Chicana vs MS-1 or Santo vs Parka, it's hard to imagine either one in that kind of match. And they're both gifted athletes who can do workrate matches, but when you think of two guys trying to prove who's the most talented wrestler in the world you wouldn't really envision Wags or Rocky working that kind of match either. With both of them I'll watch a match and like it, but afterwards I'll have a hard time remembering any individual sequence of moves that they did. Eventually, though, it becomes hard to overlook that Wagner really did have a lot of really good matches. He doing good work on 1992 UWA TV and as late as 2006 (almost certainly later than that). And it's not like he was being carried. Wagner was too bombastic to let anyone else do the bulk of the work and possibly overshadow him. I'm closer to El McKell here. Wagner's easy to criticize but hard to write off just like that. Wagner matches: Wagner and Espanto Jr. vs Villanos IV and V (one of those matches where you get everything from technical wrestling to brawling) Wagner, Blue Panther and Black Warrior vs Atlantis, Felino and Emilio Charles (one of the last times Charles looked great) Dr. Wagner Jr. vs Atlantis (brawling mano a mano in which Atlantis and Wagner exchange mind games) Dr. Wagner Jr. vs Shocker (2/3 of an excellent title match, with a weak third fall, but Wagner looked like the better worker) Dr. Wagner Jr. vs Shocker (better overall match, and if you stick this third fall onto the 2002 match you have an alltime classic) Dr. Wagner Jr. vs LA Park (more or less what you'd think)