ohtani's jacket

The Rock 'n' Roll Express as middle-aged heels was inspired. Gibson looked shady and Morton had a wild-eyed Ric Flair thing going on. Really old-school match. It could have easily taken place at Center Stage in 1985. Michaels sold well and the Rock 'n' Rolls worked the match like they'd turned countless times over the years.I guess they had a lot of experience on the receiving end but there was something innately sleazy about them that it fit like a glove. I mean, Christ, that hair style Ricky Morton. The only person who still had hair like that in 2000 was Rod Stewart.

Very good match. Really competitive. I especially liked Amano's ARSION flavoured submission work. I do think she was struggling with her identity a bit. Was she interested in being a Maekawa/AKINO style worker or something else? Hyuga always was a classy worker. She worked the classic Joshi style but instead of being completely Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill! she mixed things up, added new elements to her game and thought things through a bit more. You can see here that she was thinking through the transitions more carefully than the usual Joshi go-to moves. Nice stuff.

This was another excellent juniors match. I love grumpy veteran Ohtani. Can we put to bed the narrative that his peak was short lived? I think it's more the case that we, the viewers, were exhausted on the 90s stuff and couldn't enjoy the 2000 stuff while it as happening. Nearly two decades on it all seems so fresh again. I love it anytime Wagner and Ohtani square off. That's such a great match-up. It feels like a simulated CAW match-up you'd make on one of those old console games. Casas vs. Ohtani was a treat as well. Casas has had an extremely quiet year thus far. It looks as though after Santo left CMLL, Bestia and Scorpio were shifted sideways in the Los Guapos stable but Casas was left with little to do. That will change in the coming years but for now, he's stuck in a holding pattern. I thought his work here was excellent and showed how fundamentally solid he is but for some reason he didn't show any of his natural charisma. I loved Ohtani gesturing for the belt at the end and talking shit. Go get that belt, son!

This was a decent match. It was hard fought, physical, and noisy! Honma must be a graduate of the Chono School for Grunt and Groan. Really noisy worker. It's rare that you see blood on the camera lens too.

Tajiri keeps getting his name misspelt! This was a good match albeit too short. Tajiri continues to throw his name in the hat for Best Wrestler in the World. It took a while at the end but I think I got an idea of what The Network was all about (e_e).

This was a real treat. How great was it seeing Perro Aguayo and Hamada reignite their age-old rivalry? Perro looked better here than in his CMLL matches. He seemed to relish working the stiffer Japanese style. Lots of fun exchanges in this. I got a kick out of watching Casas/Hamada and Ohtani/Wagner, and I thought Perro Jr. looked like an absolute dynamo anytime he stepped through the ropes. 2000 Wagner would have made a great full-time addition to CMLL but he was too busy making Japanese coin. Gotta love Perro's passion at the end. He looked every bit the senior citizen but had lost none of his fire. Great watch.

Okay, he was none-too-subtle about it though. Worked the match with a real chip on his shoulder.

A bit of debate on PWO2K! That's something that's been missing thus far. Naturally, I think both parties are wrong. There's nothing unique about Joshi matwork where one of the workers uses a single leg Boston crab. On the other hand, the bout isn't lousy. There are a ton of transitions. In fact, there are more transitions than you can wave a stick at. You can't complain about a Joshi match where they're able to transition with strike exchanges. The trouble is that Genki is supposed to be the dominant alpha female but it's Ran Yu Yu who consistently looks like the better worker. She outclassed Genki about a half a dozen times probably due to inexperience. It wasn't much of a surprise to me that Ran Yu Yu won because he looked so much more classier than Genki but I don't think that was the narrative they aimed for so I don't think they completely gelled here. Aja vs. KAORU is still my Joshi MOTY.

I thought this was an excellent bout. Nicely paced and well worked. Hidaka isn't your typical shoot style worker but he worked an effective hybrid style in a promotion that promoted and celebrated all types of wrestling and Usuda did a good job of guiding him through the match. It was a nice showcase for Usuda's talents which is cool if you're familiar with him and not just waiting for an unknown worker's charisma to reach out and grab you. Really good match. BattlARTS had a good month.

Shiga was hopelessly outclassed here but took the fight to Akiyama. Akiyama has entered that stage in his career where he's not about to take shit from anybody but I thought he was a bit too dickish here. Isn't he supposed to be the new golden boy? What's he doing beating on a scrub like this? It's the kind of performance you'd associate with Tenryu or Kawada not the future company ace. That said, it was extremely well executed and Akiyama looked world class the entire time he was out there. But world class ain't Ishikawa class and so far he is leading my race for Japanese WOTY.

This was a great BattlARTS match. It had a bit of everything as was their wont but it built beautifully from one exchange to the next. Murakami is a bit loose but that looseness means his exchanges are slightly less cooperative than the work between the other wrestlers which makes him seem dangerous. And of course, he has a similar attitude to the Kameda boxing family in terms of mouthing off. The Ishikawa vs. Murakami exchanges were fantastic. It's pretty much a privilege watching Ishikawa at this point. I can't sing his praises enough. What I loved about the Ishikawa vs. Murakami stuff was even though it was clearly worked it had the same dynamic as when Ishikawa fought in PRIDE. It was a pro-wrestling genius vs. a quasi-shooter and it was pretty grand. Otsuka looked GREAT in this. He was completely on point with everything he did. A huge improvement over his first few fights from the year. Everyone was locked in but I still want to single Otsuka out for praise. Finally, Sano. This was an outstanding performance from Santo. I often whinge about how Sano ditched his awesome shoot style work from PWFG after he hopped leagues but the thing about Sano is that he was constantly changing and metamorphosizing as a worker. More than any other worker I can think of, Sano never stopped tweaking his wrestling style. Here he delivered one of the broadest performances you could imagine from a worker. Think about it this way: you couldn't label it shoot style but you also couldn't label it juniors style. You couldn't call it lucha but there were elements he borrowed from Mexico. When he needed to be stiff with Murakami he was stiff. When he thought the match needed a highspot, he busted out a tope. It's a performance I can see being overlooked in '00 but I thought it was one of the top performances thus far. It's rare that I watch a 30 minute draw without feeling deflated but this great even as a draw.

Decent looking match from what we saw. Greco is one of my favourites and Ishikawa is on another level from anyone in Japan in '00. Truly the heir to Fujiwara and a master craftsman in his own right. The selling he did on the chokehold was sublime. Yone wasn't great but he worked more effectively than in previous bouts.

If these posts mean anything it's that everyone projects their own interpretation onto Japanese wrestling. To a certain extent, the narratives in wrestling are subjective. You can look at things from different angles and come to different conclusions, but I think it's harder when you're watching a movie without the subtitles so to speak. The reason I say this is because the commentary to the 5/98 Misawa vs. Kawada was incredible to listen to. Plenty of folks have dissected that feud over the years and argued that Kawada should have won in '94, etc., and maybe they're right, but there is nothing stoic about the emotion in the matches. I'm not talking about "Kawada WIIIIIINS!" bullshit either. I mean the fact that they clearly draw on how Kawada hadn't been able to beat Misawa in wrestling since they were in high school. It's not about Kawada shifting from tag partner to rival after Jumbo's hepatitis. It's about the relationship between kohai and senpai. Some of it was real and some of it was manufactured but it was far from stoic. For what it's worth, poor commentary hurts the Steamboat vs. Savage WM match. Gorilla and Jesse had no idea what Steamboat and Savage were shooting for and don't give a great call. I remember reading about the houseshow feud on a random Angelfire site and suddenly getting what they were aiming for at WM3 while the doubting Thomases of the world wouldn't believe me until the houseshow matches surfaced.

The idea of a one hour lucha draw intrigues me.

Some British ones: George Kidd won the World Lightweight title in 1951 and held it for 26 years. Apparently, he had 49 title defenses in that time though none of them were on TV. Mike Marino was the World Mid-Heavyweight champ from 1957 up until his death in 1981 but he dropped the belt a few times including once to Lord Alfred Hayes, or Judo Al Hayes as he was known then. The most prestigious championship in Great Britain was the British Heavyweight title held by Bert Assirati and other greats. A few reigns stand out to me -- Assirati from 1955-58, Billy Joyce from 1960-64, Billy Robinson from '67-70 and Albert Wall from '71-74. Of the reigns we have footage from, Marty Jones' (interrupted) run with the World Mid-Heavyweight title from '82-99 is the most prolific.

People were much more hung up on this when I first got onto the internet in the late 90s. I think we've broadened our ideas about structure and storytelling. At the same time, it's easy to forget that matches are a 20-minute ad-lib and some work that was in development for years with a lengthy production phase. Workers get a lot of practice at ad-libbing, and all of them have their "fall out of bed" routines, but they still need to think on their feet and it's a credit to most of them that the matches are as good as they are. I enjoy limbwork if the matwork is excellent. I don't care much for generic limbwork and working a body part as a crutch. I don't mind if it's blown off so long as there's something else I like about the match like the rhythm or pace but of course I prefer intricate selling. It depends on how long the workers spend on limb work and how much of a focus they've turned it into. If you're going limbwork heavy follow it through to a conclusion. If you're dropping it, leave it behind and never look back. Just don't make it generic and half-arsed.

Torneo Cibernetico (CMLL PPV 03/17/00) I thought this was a terrific Cibernetico. The famous Ciberneticos from '97 featured well-known names and high profile feuds. This threw a spotlight on the midcard, showcasing how much depth there was on both the rudo and tecnico sides. The most interesting thing about the bout for me was that even though it felt like a pure lucha libre bout with the rapid-fire exchanges and the off-kilter submission and pin attempts, you could feel how heavy the juniors influence was. Workers like Dr. Wagner Jr. had been working regular dates in Japan and bringing back Japanese moves throughout the late 90s, but Ultimo Guerrero was one of the first workers from his generation to be exposed to those moves and regularly tour Japan. You can see the influence in his offensive set. Instead of the usual armdrags and rolling bumps, he has a barrage of suplexes and other high impact moves. He wasn't the only one, though. This could have easily been a Japanese juniors match with Japanese wrestlers or perhaps an MPro or Toryumon match with a lucha flavour. It managed to keep its identity, though, in large part to Mr. Mexico furthering his feud Rivera. Mr. Mexico vs. Rivera! Let there be blood. Olimpico had a nice run in this, too. But how good was Ultimo Guerrero? I know I'm late to the party, but Ultimo Guerrero was very, very good in 2000. Thus far, he's been biding his time looking solid in Infernales trios but here he got a chance to shine and ran with the ball. Maybe not a game-winning touchdown, but he definitely made some yards. Really solid undercard to this PPV. Brazo de Plata, Emilio Charles Jr. & Mr. Niebla vs. Apolo Dantes, Cien Caras & Universo 2000 (CMLL 03/17/00) If you love Porky then you'll love this match as it was really a showcase for him to entertain the fans. And entertain the fans he did. I was kind of surprised that Los Capos were the rudo foils for Porky's Looney Tunes schtick since they'll be moving onto bigger things soon, but they were good sports. It was nice to see Apolo Dantes too. An underrated pro who had all the tools but lacked the charisma of the upper tier rudos. He did a good job holding this together. Pretty good match for a comedy bout. The humour was good natured and much more enjoyable than the stinkface et al. Still the King of Comedy, i wonder if anyone can top Porky for best comedic performance by year's end? Meanwhile, "The Game" Emilio Charles Jr looks like he is chomping at the bit for someone to feud with. Mascara Ano 2000, Scorpio Jr. & Shocker vs. Rayo de Jalisco Jr., Perro Aguayo & Tarzan Boy (CMLL 03/17/00) This was such a wonderful Arena Mexico crowd. The reverse angle shot of people packed to the rafters made it seem like one of the last truly old-school Arena Mexico crowds, In fact, this entire event feels like the closing chapter of the period of lucha that ran from Atlantis' debut in 1983 through to March 2000, the only real historical period we have footage from and consequently my favourite era of lucha. The match was simple and formulaic but the crowd heat was a treat. Perro was such a beloved legend that all the rudos really had to do was mug for the audience, which I thought they did really well. Tarzan Boy kind of suck (let's be honest), but at least Shocker showed him up wonderfully. I always enjoy it when rudos get the better of chump tecnicos. It makes it seem as though there's a natural balance. Perro's comeback was fun and I loved the throwback to the MA2K match. Best of all, we got to see a complete match for a change which made this seem much more special than the regular Televisa bouts. Nice bout. Arguably the best trios match of the year thus far. Atlantis vs. Villano III (CMLL PPV 03/17/00, Mask vs Mask) I wasn't a huge fan of the buildup to this match. There are countless other apuesta builds I've enjoyed more. But the match itself is incredible. As soon as Villano Tercero enters the arena, you can feel the knot that must have been in his stomach and the goosebumps on his arms. You can feel the magnitude of the stip bearing down on you like a weight. Think of how many matches end with bloodied wrestlers demanding apuesta matches. Tempers flare, torn masks and bloodied foreheads leave wrestlers' enraged and they lose their heads over what they're proposing. Rarely do the matches reach fruition and only a scant few can be called legendary. This is a legendary apuesta match. I don't know if it's the greatest apuesta match of all-time, but it may be the closest thing our generation has come to a wager match on the level of Black Shadow vs. El Santo, Has Atlantis ever been more popular than he was this night? For one evening he was an idol on the level of the great Golden Era stars of lucha libre. The match was built to along strong rudo vs. tecnico lines but transcended those battle lines. There was too much at stake for it to simply be about good vs. evil. They set this up nicely with Villano Tercero agreeing to Atlantis' demands to change the ref. If they had followed their WWF inspired booking to a tee, Baby Richards would have made a run-in at the end and Atlantis would have screwed Atlantis, but this was as traditional a lucha libre mask vs. mask match as you will see with a wonderful Arena Mexico crowd that was in full voice. The ringwork was simple and effective and they squeezed everything they could out of the gigging they did. Atlantis' selling, which is so often hammy and overwrought, was nigh on perfect. The drama with the doctor was outstanding and the rest of the match was awash with amazing visuals and phenomenal nearfalls. People often complain about the referees in lucha but I thought Rafa El Maya was fantastic in this, especially his finger wagging and bobbing from side to side during the submission nearfalls. That added extra drama to whether the combatant would submit. It also illustrated how the quick submissions in regular matches provide a norm that is transcended in important matches where both men refuse to quit. The crowd shots were wonderful. The blood was a gruesome and fantastic visual especially when soaked up by the white of Atlantis' mask and offset by the pink of Villano's attire. I liked the knee strike transitions and I thought Atlantis' plancha was an extremely effective sequence that provided a nice piece of symmetry to the initial VIllano tope. The finishing stretch after the plancha with all of its counters and nearfalls was an inspired passage of work and the finish was a thing of absolute beauty. That may be the best finishing stretch I've seen in lucha. The part where Villano escapes from La Atlantida is an incredible moment in the match and his desperate, lunging clothelines are incredible. The nuanced back sell and Atlantis dropkicking the injury were wonderful details that further illustrated the high level they were working at. Just tremendous lucha. And of course, there was the post-match. Arguably, the most emotional and genuine post match aftermath of any recorded lucha we have. The outpouring of passion and joy and endurance from everyone in attendance was spine tingling. The workers sold the post-match beautifully and the narrative turned to themes of family, pride and time-honored traditions. Villano Tercero gave the speech of his life, the crowd supported him wonderfully and the entire unmasking was magnificent. My favourite moment was a slightly doddery Ray Mendoza overcome by emotion and receiving a kiss from Dr. Morales. That moment transcended any comment anyone could ever make about the silliness of fake fighting. It was a small but touching moment on an incredible night for lucha libre. One of the greatest matches of all-time and a true lucha classic. Match of the Year, Match of the Decade, maybe even the Match of the Century. And now I've run out of words.

Atlantis, Tarzan Boy & Rayo de Jalisco Jr. vs. El Satanico, Cien Caras & Bestia Salvaje (CMLL 03/02/00) Stone Cold! Stone Cold! CMLL is getting more WWF by the second. I liked how you had all these old school luchadores working a classic rudo beatdown and suddenly there were run-ins and shit. That wasn't unprecedented in Mexico but for CMLL it was like reinventing the wheel. A couple of things stood out to me here. The first was that they did a nice job of intertwining the various story threads in the match. You had the eternal feud in Rayo vs. Caras, the recent humiliation of Satanico by the upstart Tarzan Boy and Stone Cold vs. The Rock They also mixed up the pairings which is an underrated aspect of lucha trios matches. I really liked the part where Satanico gave Atlantis a working over. There was no reason for him to have a beef with Atlantis but he was keenly aware of his fellow rudo's vendetta with him and did his best to soften Atlantis up for Villano. In fact, the Satanico vs. Atlantis segment was so good I half-wished it was Satanico taking on Atlantis at the PPV. That wouldn't have been anywhere near as monumental as one of two legends losing their mask but I thought Satanico in this bout looked better than Villano has at any point during the build. Satanico's handprints were all over this and he looked badass with his shaved head. Few workers manage to be a ring general and a superstar but Satanico is right up there with Casas as the cream of the crop. Really fun TV match in this new era of CMLL booking. El Satanico, Rey Bucanero & Ultimo Guerrero vs, Lizmark, Olimpico & Tarzan Boy (CMLL 03/07/00) This was heavily clipped but from what we saw there was a clear throughline. The opening fall was sloppier than we're used to from the Infernales but it established a clear narrative: the Infernales were out to extract revenge and it was up to the tecnicos to prevent themselves from being bullied. Tarzan Boy wasn't a natural aggressor, but fortunately for him, Lizmark and Olimpico managed to fire up in the second caida and Olimpico, in particular, was hellbent on using his skill to outclass the rudos. I liked the part where Tarzan Boy took the fight to Satanico and Lopez shook him off, ready for a fist fight. Unfortunately, it disintegrated into a screwy finish instead of rabid brawling. Still, the tecnicos got the moral victory even if it left Tarzan Boy with sore balls. Pierroth vs. Mascara Ano 2000 (CMLL 03/10/00) This was a fun mano a mano from two broken down gladiatores. The use of plunder and the backstage brawling was arguably the most WWF thing that CMLL has done yet, but a nasty blade job from Pierroth and some gritty ringwork made this feel more like cockfighting than your average WWF bout. This probably would have been pretty bad if the blood hadn't made it so edgy. I guess what this proved was that Satanico vs. Tarzan Boy could have been more like bloodsport if they'd wanted it to be. But then Tarzan Boy is hardly the kind of worker that Pierroth was. In any event, this surprised me. Much more worthwhile than I would have expected and I'm already a certified Capos fan. Atlantis, Perro Aguayo, Mr. Niebla & Rayo de Jalisco Jr. vs. Villano III, Shocker, Bestia Salvaje & Scorpio Jr. (CMLL 03/10/00) I enjoyed what we saw of this. It doesn't get much more emphatic from the rudo side than Villano III pulling off Atlantis' mask while Los Guapos destroy Perro Aguayo Sr. You could feel the WWF influence with the Villano Bros. run-in, but without the pyrotechnics and all of the bells and whistles it really did feel like 1980s Crockett, especially since the Villano Bros appear to shop at the same menswear stores as the Andersons. Honestly speaking, I don't really rate Atlantis as a brawler and I have a problem with how easily he applies the Atlantida at times. He also bounces up and down a bit too much not unlike the overselling he did when he was younger. But I'm expecting the emotion of the mask match to overcome all that. We'll find out shortly. El Fierito & Pierrothito vs. Cicloncito Ramirez & Ultimo Dragoncito (CMLL 03/14/00) All right, minis! This was perhaps the most classical lucha match we've seen thus far. It had mat exchanges, arm drags, ropework and even a little bit of character work. There were multiple dives and some pretty decent back and forth action. It wasn't entirely smooth as Fierito wasn't the most fluid worker but it was a nice holdover from the classic minis period of '96-97 and it was nice to see some of those names again. Plus it had two falls end on a count out which is pretty rare in lucha. Blue Panther, Black Warrior & Mr. Mexico vs. Tony Rivera, Ringo Mendoza & Emilio Charles Jr. (CMLL 03/14/00) CMLL is new school and old school at the same time. The vignette with Rivera judo throwing everyone in the gym and Mr. Mexico disguising himself as the ref was straight out of a WWF quarter hour but an apuesta match every other week is straight up old school booking. This match demonstrated the power of a gripe in lucha. Give two workers a reason to dislike each other and lucha is every bit as easy to follow as Puerto Rico or a Southern territory. Rivera was a bigger version of Tarzan Boy and Mr. Mexico far down the list of marquee lucha heels but it didn't matter. A bladejob from Mexico and some frantic action was enough to carry this to a satisfying conclusion. The best dive train of the year was followed by some classic foul shenanigans and a bout you could have easily cut when scanning match lists turned out to be a bonafide piece of fun. CMLL has been nonstop feuds thus far. Mr. Niebla, Ray de Jalisco Jr. & Tinieblas Jr. vs. Bestia Salvaje, Pierroth Jr. & El Satanico (CMLL 03/14/00) Meanwhile, at the Hall of Justice, Los Campeones de la Justicia meet to discuss the threat of Villano Tercero. Alushe has grave concerns while Atlantis and Niebla prove luchadores can wear a tracksuit anywhere. This was fairly unspectacular given how good the rudo side was but there were some nice moments. I liked the way Bestia interacted with the crowd and the part where he slapped the shit out of Niebla. Tinieblas looked like less of a freak when partnered with Rayo and Niebla and I enjoyed his dust-up with Pierroth at the end. Pierroth continues to be the most unexpected surprise of 2000. This Puerto Rican gimmick sure is doing wonders for him. He almost reminds me of a Mexican Invader 1. I'm keenly awaiting the Los Boricuas vs. Los Capos feud now. That should be a fun series of brawls. Tony Rivera vs. Mr. Mexico (CMLL 03/21/00, Hair Match) This was a solid apuesta match but they clipped a chunk out of the tercera caida which hurt the overall impact of the bout. Instead of building toward the big moment, they cut straight to a submission nearfall for Mr. Mexico and Rivera's match-winning Gori Special. We missed out on the excitement of the tercera caida swinging back and forth but what we did see was solid. Mr. Mexico was a better in-ring talent than I would have ever given him credit for prior to this feud and Rivera was seasoned enough to feed off his rudo charisma and win the people's favour without a stripper gimmick like Tarzan Boy. So long as you don't expect Chicana/MS-1, Chicana/Aguayo or Dandy/Satanico, this delivered a decent standard of work. Villano III, Shocker & Bestia Salvaje vs. Perro Aguayo, Rayo de Jalisco Jr. & Atlantis (CMLL 03/31/00) Coming off an all-time great apuesta match and a strong PPV overall, the question now is whether CMLL can maintain its momentum. This was a storyline match with Villano Tercero refusing to engage in rudoism and frustrating his partners. In typical CMLL fashion, it looks as though they'll draw things out for another couple of Fridays. Less typical of the serious and stable CMLL was the Los Capos run-in. Not exactlly lucha crash TV but I'm not sure it sat that well with all of the CMLL brass. In fact, the situation reminds me of 1990 and the Pena driven changes to the conservative CMLL booking. As far as segments go it was fairly uninspiring but let's see whether the Perrro vs. Capos and VIllano Tercero turns can escalate into feuds worthy of the benchmarks CMLL have put forward this season.

Coming off an all-time great apuesta match and a strong PPV overall, the question now is whether CMLL can maintain its momentum. This was a storyline match with Villano Tercero refusing to engage in rudoism and frustrating his partners. In typical CMLL fashion, it looks as though they'll draw things out for another couple of Fridays. Less typical of the serious and stable CMLL was the Los Capos run-in. Not exactlly lucha crash TV but I'm not sure it sat that well with all of the CMLL brass. In fact, the situation reminds me of 1990 and the Pena driven changes to the conservative CMLL booking. As far as segments go it was fairly uninspiring but let's see whether the Perrro vs. Capos and VIllano Tercero turns can escalate into feuds worthy of the benchmarks CMLL have put forward this season.

I ended up rewatching Hard Boiled Haggerty, El Shereef & The Preacher vs. Mr. Moto, Paul Diamond & Enrique Flores, It was actually quite a fun match. Not so dissimilar from a lucha trios match and with the usual hot LA crowd. The heels were big bruiser types and ran some fun FIP spots with the smaller Enrique Flores. More fun than the usual heel vs. face skullduggery. Next up was another Lord James Blears showcase. This time against Ivan the Terrible. If you wanted any more proof that Lord James Blears was the Lord Steven Regal of his era then look no further than this match. Ivan the Terrible wasn't the most technically skilled opponent that Blears could have faced but Blears worked around Ivan's limitations and ensured they both put their best foot forward. Quite a pro this Blears. Dory Funk Sr. vs. Abe Kashey is apparently the only footage of Dory Sr. there is. He was working heel in the match. Think Dory Funk acting like Terry and you'll have a pretty clear picture of what it was like. The footage of Duke Keomuka vs. Black Guzman was too brief to gain much of an impression but it was interesting to see some Texas stuff. Chief Don Eagle vs. Dan Miller was my boy doing his thing this time against the "Spike Dudley" of the Miller brothers. Match ran for longer than the usual Eagle showcase since Miller had more cred than the usual job boys but the result was the same. Nobody can survive the Indian Deathlock. The Great Togo & Tony Morelli vs. Ernie & Emil Dusek was heel vs. heel. Togo is starting to grow on me. The only thing he's really good at is working aggressively in the clinch and smacking people in the chest with chops but he's hardnosed about it which I like. It worked well against the Duseks, who were hard as nails. There are heels and then there are bad men and the Duseks were a pair of bad men. They enjoyed taking Togo's chops and dishing out their own punishment. The match had a gritty edge to it and nobody calls a strike quite like Jack Little. Originally, it was supposed to be Red Berry with Togo but Morelli was a last minute replacement. Berry would have made the match more comedic, though they did work some miscommunication spots and the match ended with the pair bickering, which is how the Berry version would have played out, I'm sure. Decent bout. Roy Asselin vs. George Temple is a short squash match that's notable for the fact that George Temple was the brother of Shirley Temple. Didn't help him much s he dropped the bout. Finally, Leo Garibaldi vs. Billy McDaniel was a nice clean technical match with some great holds. I particularly enjoyed the second fall which I thought had some excellent wrestling. Some idiot in the crowd kept pretending to be Woody Woodpecker, which was distracting at times, but the work between Garibaldi and McDaniel was pretty classy for a middle of the card type contest. If you like the 50s technical style this is one I'd recommend if you want to see it at the midcard level.

Glad you enjoyed the trip. I've been living in Tokyo for 11 years and never do anything wrestling related. I live nearby Kawada's restaurant so maybe I should visit.

I wasn't a huge fan of the buildup to this match. There are countless other apuesta builds I've enjoyed more. But the match itself is incredible. As soon as Villano Tercero enters the arena, you can feel the knot that must have been in his stomach and the goosebumps on his arms. You can feel the magnitude of the stip bearing down on you like a weight. Think of how many matches end with bloodied wrestlers demanding apuesta matches. Tempers flare, torn masks and bloodied foreheads leave wrestlers' enraged and they lose their heads over what they're proposing. Rarely do the matches reach fruition and only a scant few can be called legendary. This is a legendary apuesta match. I don't know if it's the greatest apuesta match of all-time, but it may be the closest thing our generation has come to a wager match on the level of Black Shadow vs. El Santo, Has Atlantis ever been more popular than he was this night? For one evening he was an idol on the level of the great Golden Era stars of lucha libre. The match was built to along strong rudo vs. tecnico lines but transcended those battle lines. There was too much at stake for it to simply be about good vs. evil. They set this up nicely with Villano Tercero agreeing to Atlantis' demands to change the ref. If they had followed their WWF inspired booking to a tee, Baby Richards would have made a run-in at the end and Atlantis would have screwed Atlantis, but this was as traditional a lucha libre mask vs. mask match as you will see with a wonderful Arena Mexico crowd that was in full voice. The ringwork was simple and effective and they squeezed everything they could out of the gigging they did. Atlantis' selling, which is so often hammy and overwrought, was nigh on perfect. The drama with the doctor was outstanding and the rest of the match was awash with amazing visuals and phenomenal nearfalls. People often complain about the referees in lucha but I thought Rafa El Maya was fantastic in this, especially his finger wagging and bobbing from side to side during the submission nearfalls. That added extra drama to whether the combatant would submit. It also illustrated how the quick submissions in regular matches provide a norm that is transcended in important matches where both men refuse to quit. The crowd shots were wonderful. The blood was a gruesome and fantastic visual especially when soaked up by the white of Atlantis' mask and offset by the pink of Villano's attire. I liked the knee strike transitions and I thought Atlantis' plancha was an extremely effective sequence that provided a nice piece of symmetry to the initial VIllano tope. The finishing stretch after the plancha with all of its counters and nearfalls was an inspired passage of work and the finish was a thing of absolute beauty. That may be the best finishing stretch I've seen in lucha. The part where Villano escapes from La Atlantida is an incredible moment in the match and his desperate, lunging clothelines are incredible. The nuanced back sell and Atlantis dropkicking the injury were wonderful details that further illustrated the high level they were working at. Just tremendous lucha. And of course, there was the post-match. Arguably, the most emotional and genuine post match aftermath of any recorded lucha we have. The outpouring of passion and joy and endurance from everyone in attendance was spine tingling. The workers sold the post-match beautifully and the narrative turned to themes of family, pride and time-honored traditions. Villano Tercero gave the speech of his life, the crowd supported him wonderfully and the entire unmasking was magnificent. My favourite moment was a slightly doddery Ray Mendoza overcome by emotion and receiving a kiss from Dr. Morales. That moment transcended any comment anyone could ever make about the silliness of fake fighting. It was a small but touching moment on an incredible night for lucha libre. One of the greatest matches of all-time and a true lucha classic. Match of the Year, Match of the Decade, maybe even the Match of the Century. And now I've run out of words.