elliott

Its hard to say how important or memorable something like Brock vs Taker is/will be because we're still so close to it that we lack any sort of perspective. I added it to the master list because somebody mentioned it elsewhere in the thread. Thanks OJ for adding dates on the British matches. I'll fix that now. Also, do you think I got the right 5 Baba matches? Edit: Also, good call on the Santo vs Perro match. I knew there was an obvious Santo match I was missing from his face run. If you had to order the lucha matches in importance, historical significance, whatever, would you have the Santo vs Perro match above or below Solitario vs Wagner? My gut reaction is "always pick the Santo match."

Fixed. Thank you. Weird typo. I'll go back through and add dates on the ones I missed and everyone please keep the suggestions coming.

For the list lovers/OCD crowd, here's everything mentioned so far. Old School US/Canada Frank Gotch beats George Hackenschmidt 4/3/1908 Joe Stecher vs Ed Lewis 07/04/1916 Omaha 5 hr Draw Jim Londos vs Dick Shikat 06/06/1930 Ed Lewis vs Henri Deglane 05/04/31 Jim Londos vs Ed Lewis 09/20/1934 Danno O'Mahoney vs Ed Don George Danno O'Mahoney vs Dick Shikat 3/21/1936 Lou Thesz vs Baron Michele Leone 05/21/52 Buddy Rogers vs Pat O’Connor 06/30/61 Bruno Sammartino vs Buddy Rogers 05/17/63 Lou Thesz vs Buddy Rogers Toronto 63 Bruno vs Koloff 01/18/71 Verne Gagne vs Nick Bockwinkel 11/75 Bruno Sammartino vs Superstar Billy Graham 04/30/77 Modern US/Canada 1. Larry Zbyszko vs Bruno Sammartino at Shea - 8/9/80 2. Ric Flair vs Kerry von Erich 12/25/82 WCCW 3. Ricky Steamboat & Jay Youngblood vs Sgt Slaughter & Don Kernodle (Final Conflict Cage Match) 03/12/83 JCP 4. Hulk Hogan vs Nick BOckwinkel 04/24/83 4. Don Muraco vs Jimmy Snuka 10/17/83 4. Ric Flair vs Harley Race (Cage Match) 11/24/83 Starrcade 5. Hulk Hogan vs iron Sheik - WWF 1/23/84 6. Hulk Hogan & Mr T vs Roddy Piper & Paul Orndorff 3/31/85 WWF WrestleMania I 7. Ricky Steamboat vs Randy Savage WWF WrestleMania III 03/29/87 8. Hulk Hogan vs Andre the Giant (The Main Event) 9. Ric Flair vs Sting - Clash I 10. Terry Funk vs Sabu vs Shane Douglas 11. Shawn Michaels vs Razro Ramon (Ladder Match) WWF WRestleMania X 12. Eddy Guerrero vs Dean Malenko 2/3 Falls 13. Kevin Nash, Scott Hall & Mystery Partner (Hulk Hogan) vs Randy Savage, Sting & Lex Luger 07/07/96 WCW Bash at the Beatch 14. Bret Hart vs Steve Austin (Submission Match) WrestleMania XIII 3/23/97 15. Sabu vs Terry Funk Barbed Wire Match 16. Shawn Michaels vs Undertaker Hell in a Cell 10/97 17. Bret Hart vs Shawn Michaels 11/09/97 WWF Survivor Series 18. Hulk Hogan vs Sting 12/28/97 WCW Starrcade 19. Steve Austin vs Shawn Michaels Wrestlemania XIV 20. Mankind vs Undertaker Hell in a Cell 98 21. Rob Van Dam vs Jerry Lynn Whichever 22. Undertaker vs Lesnar WM30 Japan Rikidozan & Masahiko Kimura vs Mike & Ben Sharpe 2/19/54 Rikidozan vs Lou Thesz 10/6/57 Rikidozan & Toyonobori lost to Jim Wright & Mr X (Bill Miller) 5/6/61 Rikidozan vs Fred Blassie 4/23/62 Rikidozan vs The Destroyer 5/24/63 The Destroyer vs Toyonobori - JWA 02/26/65 Giant Baba vs. Dick the Bruiser (11/24/65) Giant Baba beat Fritz Von Erich 12/3/66 Giant Baba & Antonio Inoki vs Bill Watts & Tarzan Tyler 10/31/67 Antonio Inoki vs Karl Gotch 1972 Giant Baba vs The Destroyer 12/19/72 AJPW Giant Baba vs Jack Brisco 12/2/74 Giant Baba vs Bruno Sammartino 05/09/75 Funk Brothers vs Abby & Sheik 12/15/77 Giant Baba & Antonio Inoki vs Tiger Jeet Singh & Abdullah the Butcher 08/26/79 Giant Baba vs Harley Race 10/31/79 Giant Baba vs Harley Race 09/04/80 Funk Brothers vs Brody & Snuka 1981 Tag League (Hansen Shows up) Funk Brothers vs Hansen & Gordy 8/31/83 Riki Choshu vs Tatsumi Fujinami 04/03/83 Elimination Match 03/26/86 Riki Choshu, Masa Saito & Hiro Saito vs Akira Maeda, Nobuhiko Takada & Osamu Kido 11/19/87 Nobuhiko Takada KO Akira Maeda 11/11/88 Jumbo Tsuruta vs Genichiro Tenryu 06/05/89 AJPW Jumbo Tsuruta vs Mitsuharu Misawa 06/08/90 Nobuhiko Takada vs Keiji Muto x2 Lucha El Bulldog, Lobo Negro, Medico Asesino b Abel Krim, Gorillta Flores, Tonina Jackson Possible first trios match Medico Asensino vs Gardenia Davis 1952 El Santo vs Black Shadow 11/7/52 Mask vs Mask El Santo vs Blue Demon 9/27/53 NWA Welterweight Title Match (Santo loss) El Santo & Henry Pilusso vs Espantos (I & II) 7/5/62 (First Santo match as tecnico) El Santo vs Perro Aguayo (Mask vs Hair) 10/03/75 Dr Wagner Jr vs El Solitario (Mask vs Mask) 12/1/85 EMLL Cien Caras vs Rayo de Jalisco Jr 09/21/90 EMLL Konnan vs Cien Caras (Mask vs Mask) 4/30/93 AAA Atlantis vs Villano III (Mask vs Mask) 03/17/00 EMLL Atlantis vs Ultimo Guerrero (Mask vs Mask) 09/19/2014 CMLL Women 1. Mildred Burke vs June Byers 8/25/54 Atlanta, GA 2. All Japan Women’s Pro Wrestling Championship All Star Shows 9/10/55 and 9/11/55 and on 1/4/56 and 1/5/56 3. Japan Woman's Pro Wrestling Association's first show on 4/29/67 4. Moolah's tour from 3/2 to 4/2 of '68 5. All Japan's first TV show on Fuji TV on 12/1/68 6. Jackie Sato vs Maki Ueda 11/01/77 7. Jaguar Yokota vs Jackie Sato 2/25/81 8. Mami Kumano & Devil Masami vs Ayumi Hori & Nancy Kumi 2/25/81 9. Fabulous Moolah vs Wendi Richter MTV 10. Mimi Hagiwara vs Yumi Ikeshita 2/25/81 11. Lioness vs Jaguar 8/22/85 12. Chigusa vs Devil 8/22/85 13. Dump vs Chigusa Hair vs Hair x2 14. Dump’s Retirement 15. Bull Nakano vs Aja Kong (Cage Match) 11/14/90 16. Hokuto vs Kandori 4/2/93 17. Dream Rush 18. Some Aja Kong vs Kansai Match 19. Kudo vs Toyoda Exploding Barbed Wire Great Britain Francis St Clair Gregory vs Mike Marino (aired 11/9/55) Cliff Beaumont vs Bert Royal (aired 11/9/55) Kendo Nagasaki vs. Count Bartelli mask vs. mask (3/5/66) White Angel vs. Doctor Death mask match (4/4/62) McManus vs. Pallo Cup Final Day match from '62 (5/5/62) Big Daddy vs Giant Haystacks 06/18/81 Wembley Daddy vs. Quinn from Wembley (6/27/79) Don't know what the fuck to do with it: Antonio Inoki vs Muhammad Ali 6/25/76

What are the 5 biggest/most important Giant Baba matches? If I had to guess it would be something like: Giant Baba vs Fritz Von Erich 12/03/66 - Main event of the first ever wrestling show at Budokan Hall Giant Baba vs Gene Kiniski 08/14/67 - NWA International Champ vs NWA Champ in front of 25,000 in Osaka. 65minute draw, Baba said it was his greatest match. Giant Baba vs The Destroyer 12/19/72 - Baba beats Destroyer with the stipulation that if Destroyer loses he commits to All Japan full time as and becomes Baba's tag partner. Instrumental in solidifying All Japan in the early days. Giant Baba vs Jack Brisco 12/2/74 - Baba wins NWA title for the first time. Giant Baba & Antonio Inoki vs Tiger Jeet Singh & Abdullah the Butcher 08/26/79 - Two biggest stars team up for the first time since December 1971 and for the last time against the top foreign monster heels on a rare joint show during the Japanese wrestling war. Does that seem right? I feel pretty good about the first 4. The last one I could be talked out of in favor of one of the following (or something else entirely): Giant Baba & Antonio Inoki vs Bill Watts & Tarzan Tyler 10/31/67 - Baba & Inoki win NWA International Tag Team Titles for first time Giant Baba vs Bruno Sammartino 05/09/75 - PWF Title vs WWWF Title 60 minute draw Am I missing anything obvious or not obvious?

I'm still hoping El Boricua comes in and tells us which Abby vs Colon match is the most important. Same with Khawk and AWA. Hey Grimmas, what about that whole Canada thing? Montreal was an enormous wrestling city for decades. Surely something important happened in Canada at some point other than Survivor Series 97. Asking about everywhere else first? That's what you call Canadian Patriotism. In the meantime, for some reason I feel compelled to ruin the thread by pointing out that only 3 Flair matches have been named: vs Kerry 12/25/82, Starrcade 83 Main Event, and vs Sting from Clash 1. That actually feels about right in terms of Flair matches. Are we missing anything obvious? Its not really a "Flair match" even though he's in it, but what about the first War Games?

This "domestic violence, it ain't no thing" attitude on display is really disgusting.

Wow. this thread.

The Moolah vs Richter pick is actually a good one that I never would have remembered. When I thought to myself "What about women's matches" the thought started with "Well, no Moolah matches, ok what else..." Agree on your 2nd point as well. Something like Rogers vs O'Connor was really elevated in importance in my eyes when I learned it was the first ever closed circuit event. Did anyone mention Hogan vs Iron Sheik while we're thinking about expansion era WWF?

What are the Women's matches to consider? Mildred Burke vs June Byers 8/25/54 Atlanta, GA Dump vs Chigusa Hair vs Hair x2 Bull Nakano vs Aja Kong (Cage Match) 11/14/90 Hokuto vs Kandori 4/2/93 What else? Presumably one of the Chigusa vs Lioness matches (2/87?) What about Jackie Sato matches? The 8/22/85 pair of matches? Anything else from the interpromotional era? DreamRush? DreamSlam II main event? Thunderqueen? One of the Aja vs Kansai matches? Kudo vs Toyoda Exploding Barbed Wire?

I did think about the Douglas vs Scorpio + Douglas promo match as well after Grimmas mentioned triple threat match. But I agree its more about the post match speech. Actually some picks to think about from ECW, and note that I hated these matches when I watched them last, are the Eddy Guerrero vs Dean Malenko 2/3 Falls match and whatever the most famous RVD vs Jerry Lynn match is (Living Dangerously?). They should really be considered just in terms of popularizing the souless workrate matches we all used to think were good and then pushing that to the next step (now with WEAPONZ and a whistle). They are also highly regarded matches/rivalries in circles outside of our own. Just in terms of sheer "fame" I'd argue the most famous ECW match is the Terry Funk vs Sabu barbed wire match. I don't know if its the most important ECW match ever, but there's an argument for it.

Rogers vs O'Connor is a good one. Rogers' first NWA title win. 38,622 fans drawing $148,000. Also, apparently, the first ever closed circuit wrestling event. We also can watch it and see that its a great match. Since Thesz vs Leone was mentioned as the first $100,000 gate, I figured I'd point out NWA & NY State Athletic Commission World Champ Jim Londos beat Ed Lewis 9/20/34 at Wrigley Field in front of 35,265 fans drawing $96, 302 which was the record gate until Thesz vs Leone topped it 18 years later. A couple more old matches that deserve mention are oddly enough a pair of matches from non-WON HOFer Dick Shikat: Jim Londos vs Dick Shikat 6/6/1930. I don't have an attendance figure at the moment but quoting historian Steve Yohe: "Londos wins NY World Title from Dick Shikat when his bosses quit worrying about legitimate wrestlers and realizes it's the money that counts. Londos establishes himself as the greatest draw in the history of the sport. Also becomes the first wrestler to be recognized by a national (well almost) organization the NBA. (No... boxing, not basketball)." Danno O'Mahoney vs Dick Shikat 3/21/1936 MSG drawing 7,000. This is Yohe's pick for the most important match in the history of wrestling. O'Mahoney had beaten Ed Don George (AWA) & Jim Londos (NWA) to become the last ever truly undisputed world heavyweight champion. He was a former football player and was a total performer (meaning, he wasn't a shooter). Shikat was an old school shooter and took the belt from Danno after 7 months. Yohe says "It changed everything. Chaos followed. By the end of the year at least 10 men had laid claim to the "World" title (Shikat, O'Mahoney, Ali Baba, Daniel Boone Savage, David Levin, Everett Marshall, Yvon Robert, Dean Detton, Vincent Lopez & Cliff Olsen) and three major title lines had been formed." That's a match I'd really like to learn more about.

I don't know that there's a single one. But I'd include the 4/3/83 Choshu-Fujinami, the Hogan-Inoki and something to represent the kickoff of the UWF invasion--maybe the 3/26/86 elimination match? Also, probably one of the Dynamite-Tiger Mask matches for the same reason someone recommended Savage-Steamboat. From All-Japan, the Funk "retirement" match, Jumbo-Tenryu 6/5/89 and maybe one of the Choshu-Jumbo tags would all be candidates. All Japan I was also thinking of these two: Funk Brothers vs Abby & Sheik - although, which is the most famous one, the 77 tag league? Funk Brothers vs Brody & Snuka 1981 Tag League (Hansen Shows up) The January 86 Choshu tag feels like it should be there. I kinda wanted to include the formation of the triple crown match, but that match is disappointing and 6/5/89 is right there. No one has mentioned it yet, and I'm having trouble picking between their first and second match together, but Takada vs Muto has to be talked about. Their 10/95 match is more famous, but the 1/96 one is the show BIschoff went too which gave him the NWO vs WCW idea.

Childs, whats the "most important" match in 1980s New Japan? Hogan vs Inoki? One of the Choshu vs Fujinami matches?

Couple of oddball ones for Japan I wanted to mention because there are hugely important matches that didn't take place in giant stadiums and we should talk about those too! Riki Choshu, Masa Saito & Hiro Saito vs Akira Maeda, Nobuhiko Takada & Osamu Kido 11/19/87 - Maeda shoot kicks Choshu in the face shattering his orbital bone which took Maeda from the hottest wrestler in Japan to a guy who could open his own promotion and sell out every show without TV and influence the two major companies to alter their booking styles completely by switching to almost all clean finishes. Piggybacking off of that: Nobuhiko Takada KO Akira Maeda 11/11/88 in Nagoya, Japan Aichi Prefectural Gym drawing 5,000 ($175,000). Maeda makes Takada who would go on to be one of the biggest draws of his generation. Takada was the first guy of the Misawa, Kawada, Hashimoto, Mutoh generation to beat a guy from the Jumbo, Tenryu, Fujinami, Choshu generation clean in the middle of the ring. Someone else can talk about Onita

Japan I think is a little more cut and dry since we know more about Japanese wrestling than Lucha Libre and have some really great and really easy resources. Rikidozan vs Lou Thesz 10/7/57 basically has to be #1. It drew 27,000 fans to Korakuen Stadium and the television rating was 87.5. Eighty-Seven Point Five. Like whoa. Obviously this was during the infancy of television in Japan and so there weren't nearly as many TV sets in circulation. But still. 87.5. Whoa. I found something that says 73million people watched the match with hordes of people crowding around to watch the match through the windows. Rikidozan & Masahiko Kimura vs Mike & Ben Sharpe 2/19/54 (This is from Hisa's site) - "JWA promotes their first cards at Kuramae Kokugikan (old Sumo Hall) for three days. Masahiko Kimura and Yamaguchi also wrestle on the cards. The first day is aired by both NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation, the semi-govermental broadcasting network) and NTV (Nippon Television Network). NTV also aired the second and third days. The tag matches between Rikidozan & Kimura and the Sharp Brothers, main event of the first and the last days, are still talked about today. In front of the "street television" that NTV setup for people who couldn't afford television, there were thousands of people just to watch Rikidozan." So that has to be considered. Rikidozan & Toyonobori lost to Jim Wright & Mr X (Bill Miller) 5/6/61 in 3 falls at the Ayame Pond Amusement Park which drew 36,000 people and was the indoor attendance record for wrestling until....gosh...what other building could hold that many people? I don't have a TV rating or crowd attendance number, but Rikidozan vs Fred Blassie 4/23/62 is the famous bloodbath that caused an elderly fan to die from shock watching on TV. Rikidozan and The Destroyer wrestled to a draw for the first time on 5/24/63 drawing a 64.1 rating and I think is still the largest audience to ever view a match in Japan. Giant Baba beat Fritz Von Erich 12/3/66 in the first ever Budokan Hall main event. Giant Baba beat Destroyer 12/19/72 with the stipulation if Baba won, the Destroyer would join Baba's team and be his partner from then on. This helped solidify All Japan as a major promotion. I don't know what the fuck to do with something like Muhammad Ali vs Antonio Inoki but it really should probably be on the list.

I brought this up in the Beginner's Guide to Lucha thread to try and get a better picture of Mexico. The matches I mentioned were: Santo vs Black Shadow Mask vs Mask 11/7/52 Santo vs Blue Demon 9/27/53 NWA Welterweight TItle Wagner vs Solitario 12/1/85 Rayo vs Cien Caras 9/21/90 Atlantis vs Ultimo Guerrero Mask vs Mask was brought up as it was the first million dollar gate in lucha. OJ added: Medico Asesino vs. Gardenia Davis from 1952 because of the crowd it drew at Plaza de Toro (45,000+) Cien Caras vs. Konnan from Triplemania I, which still holds the record for the biggest crowd in lucha history (48,000) I was curious about El Santo & Henry Pilusso vs Espanto I & II 7/5/62 because it was El Santo's first match as a tecnico. I'm sure there are probably other El Santo matches that deserve recognition. Do we know when or what the first Trios match was? That's a rather ambitious question, but I feel like some trios match would have to be considered given that's probably 85% of lucha matches.

I am delighted by the praise for this match. This would rank obscenely high on a "Favorite matches ever" list for me. Fun story, I convinced MattD to watch this match and he only watched the first part and was like (paraphrasing) "why do you like this 90 second match so much, crazy person?" Kazunari Murakami was the bomb in this era. I feel like you can judge the quality of a person based on how much they love Kazunari Murakami.

What about El Santo's last match? Santo, Gori Guerrero, Solitario & Huracan Ramirez vs Perro and the Death Missionaries? Any other Perro matches to consider or El Canek? I feel like Santo Jr vs Negro Casas matches wouldn't quite rate in a discussion like this but I figured i'd ask. It feels more like flair vs steamer: highly regarded artistically but not as important as we'd assume or like to believe.

What would yall consider to be the 10 "biggest" matches in the history of Lucha and why? Santo vs Black Shadow Mask vs Mask 11/7/52 Santo vs Blue Demon 9/27/53 NWA Welterweight TItle Wagner vs Solitario 12/1/85 Rayo vs Cien Caras 9/21/90 What else? Would something like El Santo & Henry Pilusso vs Espanto I & II 7/5/62 make it for "importance?" (This was Santo's first match as a tecnico). What about Atlantis vs Villano III? What am I missing? What are the super obvious Hogan vs Andre level picks? Edit: Of course I asked for the whys and then listed matches and didn't give my why's. Because I don't feel I know enough about lucha history to answer this properly. I feel like I could come up with decent enough lists for US & Japan but I'm just not there with Lucha. I listed the two Santo matches because they're described as two of the biggest matches in lucha history. I don't know what they drew or anything like that but those are the two matches you see. The Santo tag just feels like something that would be big because its Santo's first match as a tecnico. Wagner vs Solitario we've already got OJ's great write up about that. Rayo & Cien gets listed because it broke Arena Mexico. I mentioned Atlantis vs Villano III because well, I watched that show tonight and it was the reason I posed the question. I know it as an all time classic and obviously a major deal. It feels like its the most important match since Wagner vs Solitario and up through today. Would that be a fair assessment? Would that guarantee it a spot in a "10 biggest lucha matches" list? And again, what am I missing?

Full disclosure, I first saw this match in 2001 and voted it #2 MOTY in the 2001 WON Year End Awards. That tape is long since lost and I assumed I'd probably never see the match again because I don't recall anyone ever talking about it at the time. Well goodness gracious I found a copy of it on buried on a list somewhere and this afternoon it showed up at my apartment. This is the stream consciousness word vomit salad review of my first time rewatching the match in 15 years. La Parka/Halloween/Rey Misterio Sr vs Rey Mysterio Jr/Damian/Vampiro 10/26/01 Tijuana The version I saw back in 2001 was a BB handheld shot at ringside. This version is a handheld from the crowd, but is still excellent quality. My 15 year old memories were slightly off. La Parka doesn't set anything on fire. He is actually working the crowd pissing them off and some dudes in the front row tear a La Parka mask in half and throw it at him. Meanwhile a 3rd fan is setting a La Parka pennant on fire as the crowd goes batshit fucking crazy. So the fan starts the fire, not La Parka. Well Parka is pissed so he starts picking up the ripped mask and shirts getting thrown into the ring and rubs them all over his dick to piss off the dudes in the front row. This is all before and during intros. This entire segment start to finish (intros, match, post match) is 40+ minutes. I'm just about to reach the real start of the match. So excited. ... This begins really as an extension of the pre-match schtick with La Park continuing to rile up the ringside crowd and threatening to walk out shit like that. La Parka & Damian have an issue here as everytime Damian comes in, Parka will run away. Halloween & Vampiro start off against each other and its pretty pretty basic shit to begin with. These guys aren't exactly known for exchanging holds and they're starting off with some basic trading of holds. Fortunately for the viewer, whoever is filming this is paying as much attention as possible to La Parka in the corner fucking with the crowd. Rey Jr is maskless and he pairs off with Rey Sr. They do a quick back and forth segment that is so much more professional in nature than Vamp & Halloween that I can't help but chuckle. Rey Sr escalates it by shoving Jr, so Jr comes back at Sr swinging wildly. Fun little back and forth ending with Rey teasing a dive. This leaves Damian & Parka as the final 2 who haven't matched up yet. Damian hops right in, Parka stallls in the corner until Halloween can come in. This is just classic rudo misdirection bullshit. Love it. Halloween & Damian are pals and everyone knows it, so they actually kiss each other on the mouth and hug to the delight of the crowd and Halloween lariats Damian. BEAUTIFUL. Damian gets to close to the ropes and Parka yanks him down by the hair. NOW Parka comes in and attacks Damian. This is so fun. This breaks down with all 6 men brawling around. There are a ton of stiff chops and it is so nice seeing a chop without a "WOOOOO." Parka, because he is a fucking genius and has GIANT balls, dumps Damian right into the crowd where they guy was setting Parka's merchandise on fire. Parka grabs a chair and starts bashing Damian with it right in front of those dudes. Back in the ring and Parka is just destroying Damian while Halloween & Rey Sr take care of Jr & Vamp on the outside. Damian is already bloodied and Parka takes him back out and knocks him into the other side of the building's ringside fans. Parka rips a giant piece of plywood or something off the floor and slams Damian into it. Parka brings the plywood back into the ring and sets it up in the corner powerbombing Damian through it. Parka taunts the ringside fans inbetween falls to absolutely no one's surprise. 2nd fall starts and Damian is outside the ring bloody with Vampiro tending to him. Rey Jr starts off against Halloween, but Parka sees the opening for a double team as they corner Rey Jr and start double & triple teaming him. Which is ever better since his fucking uncle is part of this mauling. Parka sets more plywood in the corner while Halloween manages to coerce a wounded Damian back into the ring. Parka attempts to irish whip damian into the plunder but Damian manages to reverse it and Parka takes a gnarly bump through the wood to kick off the babyface comeback. Parka immediately goes to begging off and tries to run away before getting caught. Now Damian throws parka into the same section of the ringside seats and start bashing Parka with a chair. Now comes the plywood from ringside. Mysterio Sr takes a HUGE bump into the crowd. Rey JR is babyface apron working GOD as Damian and Parka square off in the ring as the crowd goes bonkers. Damian nails a couple of ranas and finally Parka is able to bail out again to escape. Halloween comes in against Rey jr and they slow it down a bit. Rey Jr gets isolated and double teamed again but makes a comeback putting Vampiro into position for a big dive off the top leading to the tecnico's taking the 2nd fall. 3rd fall La Parka calls out Rey Jr. Mocks him. Shoves him around. Rey Jr responds by using his superior speed to avoid Parka and make him look foolish. Classic spot where Rey Jr comes off the top rope for a cross body, Parka catches him, does his La Parka dance, sets Rey Jr back up on the turnbuckle, then Parka musses Rey's hair and PINCHES HIM ON THE CHEEK LIKE A BABY before turning around to La Parka strut leaving the door open for a top rope rana from Rey. Just perfect. Everything you could possibly want from a Rey Jr and La Parka interaction in a trios. Halloween & Vamp come in and Vamp just destroys Halloween with a superkick and slaps on a chinlock. Halloween's valet comes in to attack Vamp and Vamp no sells her slaps and looks like he's ready to hit her to the crowd's delight before the evil La Parka ran in to save her (we all realize now how stupid that shit was, right?). La Parka comes in and they get Vampiro out of there pretty quickly to continue the La Parka vs Damian stuff. They're just slugging away and trading blows back and forth leading to a big tope by La Parka. The other 4 guys all run in the ring. Sick bump into the post by Halloween. Vampiro hits a dive. Rey Jr hits his baseball slide into a spinning headscissors. Parka & Damian back in the ring and Parka is just killing him. Parka puts a La parka T-Shirt and pennant over Damian leading to a surprise roll up and a tecnico surprise victory! Post match has Rey Sr and Halloween yelling at La Parka on the microphone as Parka walks around like "I blew it." Parka grabs the mic and everyone talks a turn on the mic. So this is a shockingly great match. The third fall honestly could have lasted a little bit longer, it felt kind of abrupt considering how long the first 2 falls were and your typical lucha match structure with the 3rd fall being the longest. But. I mean, this was a near 30minute match and the entire segment was 40+minutes. So they definitely told the story they needed to tell. Saying it ended to early is almost selfish. I didn't want this to end. Vampiro is terrible but he is charismatic in this setting and the crowd was hyped for him. He mostly stayed out of the way and just came in to hit his kicks and do a few dives. Halloween I really enjoyed as the rudo henchman. Rey Jr was inbetween WCW & WWE. I'm not sure if he had started back up in CMLL yet but it was around this time. So he wasn't out there killing himself with insane dives, but everything he did looked really good and he definitely hit some flashy spots. Typical Rey Jr shit really. Great timing on everything and literally everything Rey Jr did looked great. He was just playing a background role in the trios so in some ways, his toned down performance actually was the right way to go. He was invested in the match clearly. He helped build heat on Parka vs Damian and set Vampiro up for his biggest spot of the match all while pumping up the crowd and hitting everything he did attempt cleanly. Damian was really good here as the centerpiece babyface of the match. Good timing with all the bullshit schtick early on with Parka. Bumped like a fucking mad man. When it was time for him to go on offense, everything he did looked solid, flashy when it needed to be and violent when it needed to be. La Parka was on another fucking planet in this match. His interactions with the crowd, his comedy, his violence. I mean, this is great because of his work. You don't mind Rey Mysterio Jr taking a backseat in a match when there's a guy as on fire as Parka. This totally held up as something I love and would consider a strong MOTYC. I couldn't believe how great this was when I first saw it 15 years ago. I cannot believe how great it was when I watched it tonight. You look at those names and you think "No way." Way.

I don't think there was "active disdain" for her necessarily, but she was not particularly highly thought of compared to her peers. I feel like most Joshi fans would have called her average, very few, if anybody, would have called her great and nobody would have called her there favorite wrestler. If you took a poll in 2001 among Joshi fans of "best Joshi wrestler ever" she would struggle to make the top 25. I would actually say part of the "legend" of the Hokuto match for Joshi fans in the late 90s/early 2000s was that "it was amazing that Hokuto had a match that great with someone as average as Kandori." I think it has more to do with ignorance creating a narrative that never got lifted. She didn't work the Go go go style Joshi was known for so that is working against her already. Combine that with how expensive tapes were at the time and you kind of convince yourself she's not worth watching. You'd see the chain match against Bull on a Schneider Comp and think "great carry job by Bull" and go back to skipping past the LLPW tape listings. So not really active disdain. More of an "average" rep and if you were average, you weren't getting watched at 20 bucks a tape. Obviously she was a great wrestler.

Absolutely fantastic stuff. My first thought after reading this is that Hugo seems to be Jimmy Hart AND Lance Russell in Puerto Rico before going on to become the WWE's Spanish Language Jim Ross. Given the importance of the roles he played he seems like a no brainer not just for the ballot but for the hall of fame.