ohtani's jacket

There's probably morality play stuff that might resonate with the younger crowd.

Thanks, fellas.

Well, I dunno about that. It has a rich wrestling history. It just needs to be curated better.

I liked the part where Morishima went after the eye, but that was the finish. I wish he'd targeted it from the start. Aside from that it was fairly generic.

Pirata Morgan vs. Jerry Estrada (AAA, 10/29/93) Satanico didn't interfere in this after all. It was a mano a mano, which is a low ceiling to begin with, but for some reason they chose to work painfully slow. The holds weren't bad, but by the end of it, Estrada had been carried off and they just beat up on his mini instead. Ah, who am I kidding, this not what you want from a Pirata Morgan/Estrada match.

Wow, I did not see that coming. Dylan won after all those years. i like that I can’t relate to anyone from any era.

In that case, I would recommend skipping trios matches. You miss some of the build for the singles matches but most of that you can live without. A lot of lucha fans are so familiar with the different trios match variations that I guess they naturally understand that "oh, it's gonna be this type of trios match" and then focus on tiny details like the matchup between wrestlers A and B in the second fall or how the third string storyline plays out. The thing about trios matches is that the majority of them suck. Well, suck is probably too harsh, but it's not like they're constantly pumping out classic trios matches. Even seasoned lucha fans can get frustrated over which trios matches to watch, or are looking for tips from other folks about trios matches that feature a particularly interesting detail. An exciting trios match is a thing of beauty, though.

Cien Caras, Jerry Estrada & Mascara Ano 2000 vs. Fishman, Pirata Morgan & Satanico (AAA, 10/22/93) This started off with Morgan and Estrada brawling, but it was somewhat uninspiring considering they had a match the following week. Things didn't pick up until Masacara Ano 2K and Satanico remembered that they hated each other. That led to a miscue between Morgan and Satanico, planting the seeds for their hair match. To be honest, their scuffle after the bout was more interesting than anything that happened during the match. I was kind of bummed that they dropped the Estrada issue cold. It wouldn't surprise me if their match is used to advance the storyline between Pirata and Satanico.

I read Twitter a bit, but it's hard to follow the discussions. Reddit is easier for this old man to follow.

I would consider the mid-70s to be Funk's prime, at least athletically speaking. The AJPW stuff adds to the volume of footage, but I'm assuming that volume of work refers to the number of great matches we have from a worker. I should really have said one or two more great matches from his prime. A quick glance at cagematch (for argument's sake) tells me that Funk only has around 25 matches rated over 8.00 for his entire career. That doesn't seem like a lot for a top 2 guy of all-time. Quite possibly the lowest of anyone in the top 10. There are other reasons to love Funk, and perhaps a lot of his stuff is underrated, but if Bret isn't a volume guy (as has been stated) then how is Funk any better?

I think Terry Funk is a great wrestler. One of the best ever. However, it would be nice if one or two matches dropped from his prime because when I see people comment that other people aren't volume workers it always makes me wonder why Terry gets a past on this. To me, he's a total performance-based candidate (including promo ability, if I'm being honest.) I know we have great Terry Funk matches on tape, but I wonder if I'm the only one who raises half an eyebrow at this.

I think lucha needs more people involved like cad who offer takes. I might not always agree with the things he says about lucha, but it's always interesting and always thought-provoking. If there was more discourse surrounding the lucha candidates, you could start comparing them to the top guys on the list instead of simply comparing them to other luchadores. In my mind, there's very little that separates Negro Casas and Terry Funk as wrestlers. You should be able to have a discussion about which of them is better, but we're not there yet because I don't think we've full distilled what it is that makes Casas a great wrestler. The other thoughts I have about lucha is that I think because its been dismissed in the past, I think there's a tendency for people to try to shield or protect it. I can understand where that instinct compares from, but I think the mentality of "don't say anything bad about lucha" prevents the discourse from growing. Access wise, it would be great if there was a way for fans to find out that you need to watch these three lead-in matches and the apuestas, or that these half a dozen matches showcase a particular rivalry. I don't think that information is easy to pin down. Just having a quick and easy list of the best matches from 1993 AAA or 1992 CMLL would be helpful. Then, I think you have to acknowledge that lucha, at least the classic lucha that I love, is closer in spirit to the US territories than a lot of modern stuff, and since those workers took a dip, there's nothing to suggest that people would necessarily love old-school lucha. There's also a problem with fans who like to see a laundry list of four star matches and above. That was always a problem with lucha. You had matches that showcased the artistry of lucha and lucha in its purest, most beautiful form, but there wasn't a list of all of the four star matches that El Hijo del Santo had. That said, i don't really know how people consume wrestling these days. This is simply based on what I've seen over the last 20 years.

I’m guessing it’s Funk, Kobashi, Danielson.

Hijo Del Espectro, Jerry Estrada & La Parka vs. El Cobarde, Picudo & Pirata Morgan (AAA, 10/1/93) Fun little clip that sets up Pirata Morgan vs. Estrada. It looks like only the first fall aired on television (unless it was a one fall match.) There was a decent amount of action for a single fall. Pirata spent the entire clip wearing a pirate shirt. His exchanges with Estrada showed promise, but I have no idea how or why Morgan chose Picudo and El Cobarde as his partners. Such an odd trio.

This was a pretty good match. They kept things simple and concentrated on working moment-to-moment. Not sure what the point of Austin was as the guest ref. The finish was clean but strangely anti-climatic. I was expecting something screwy to happen. Usually that wouldn't disappointment me, but I was waiting for some sort of moment and it never came. Not sure how this feud escalated to a HITC match.