ohtani's jacket

This was all right. In a month that was dominated by rudo beatdowns, I appreciated the fact that they started off with a tecnico fall and worked a rudo comeback. Solar did a decent job of directing traffic. He was a couple of years away from the beginning of his rivalry with Negro Navarro. A rivalry that would reinvent if not revitalise his career. The first match of theirs I've seen is from around 2002. Navarro still has hair and hadn't adopted his asskicker gimmick yet. Zumbido showed some promise here and would go on to play a bigger role in CMLL in 2003-04.

This was a perfectly fine trios match. I can understand being disappointed with it if you were expecting something special but oftentimes trios matches are more about the workers than the matches themselves. Here I was interested in seeing how Emilio would captain a tecnico team, how effective Scorpio Jr. could remain without a mask, and what, if anything, Lizmark could bring to a match in the year 2000. I expected it to be fairly one-sided, but they gave Lizmark the opportunity to shine here, which I was happy about. I liked Emilio's look here as well. He'd moved away from the Remy-inspired Hunter look to something a bit more suave.

I thought this was a good undercard match. I watched it twice, the first time by itself and the second time after watching the trios that led into it, and I enjoyed it more the second time. The clipping hurt the rhythm of what they were trying to do, but I liked the way that Tigre Blanco picked up where he left off after his strong finish to the trios match and that Arkangel had to draw on his experience to win the segunda caida and take the tercera. Sure, it was a forgettable match in the grand scheme of things, and workers have done better in CMLL in similar positions like Olimpico and Halcon Negro, but I thought this was worth taking the time to watch.

This was a fun undercard match. You know CMLL is humming when the undercard is good. Arkangel de la Muerte is a favourite of the Segunda Caida crew. I've never really viewed him as an elite-level talent but he does have a lot of nice looking offense and I was impressed with his stooging here. He made Tigre Blanco look like a million bucks during the finish, and let's face it, Tigre Blanco wasn't the most outstanding tecnico on the CMLL roster. The most impressive tecnico was Pantera, who contributed a beautiful dive. I couldn't believe that Ringo was still kicking about in Jan 2000. Very Gran Hamada-esque of him. The match was clipped like all of the January TV has been, but it purred nicely.

I thought this was excellent while it lasted. I could have swore I'd had my fill of Casas vs. Bestia & Scorpio over the years, but it's been a while and I dug watching Casas and Bestia trade blows. Panther was excellent in this, which isn't always the case when he's the lead guy in a rudo team. I wasn't sure how legit Olimpico's injury was considering how long Panther kept him in the armbar, and the fact that the rudos kept getting their licks in while the doc checked on him, but the replay looked pretty nasty. They could have had the tecnicos take the next fall a man down and given us a few more thrills, but as a TV match, it had a lot of workers I like and was more than passable.

Just in case you thought the Villano/Atlantis build was living in the shadow of the Satanico/Tarzan Boy feud here is a match to remind you which match-up has the higher stakes. It wasn't until the Villano brothers got involved at ringside that the Villano feud with Atlantis matched the intensity of the hatred between Casas and Bestia, and I do kind of wish that Atlantis would fire up a bit more, but given the gang warfare mentality of the CMLL booking in January 2000 and the fact that it feels like a rudo promotion right now, this was a timely reminder to Atlantis where the power lay. When you take on the Villanos you take on the family. Let's see how Atlantis responds.

Another perfect lead-in match. The Infernales with the Horsemen beatdown in the corridor. Anybody else notice the extra length to Satanico's hair? The Infernales do an absolute number on the tecnicos to start with. I loved the way Satanico's minions took out Rivera and Olimpico with the chairs. Ultimo Guerrero impressed me with the amount of dirty work he got through. He's never been a guy I've warmed to, but he's done an excellent job as Satanico's lieutenant. Tarzan Boy is getting killed in this feud. The only thing keeping his spirit from breaking are the constant disqualifications. Otherwise he'd run off home and never show his face again. Folks keep mentioning how short these matches are, but it's clear that they're clipped. After the Satanico interview there are highlights of a dive train we never saw prior to Satanico bottling Tarzan Boy. They cut large chunks out of the Villano vs. Atlantis trios the week before and it's the same here. Tarzan Boy gets stretchered out and we have ourselves a hell of an apuesta build right here. I'm not sure the hair match can live up to the build as Satanico keeps murdering Tarzan Boy and our pretty young friend doesn't have a lot to come back with, but this is a really memorable lead-in.

#256 God, this was a great fight. Hashimoto absolutely pulverized Yamazaki in this fight. The only thing that kept Yamazaki in the match was Hashimoto's knee injury and didn't he go after it like he may never have a second chance at a G1 yusho? Some folks may argue that they went away from the knee toward the end, but I'd argue that Yamazaki was simply in no condition to go for it. Great match. One of the best in New Japan history and about 200 places too low if not more. This ate Vader vs. Takada's lunch. I don't think there's ever been another wrestler like Shinya Hashimoto and this was one of the biggest moments of his career. Savor it.

The Brazos vs Infernales match came to mind first for me as well when I initially thought about it. There are more than a few of those AAA Rey Jr, Santo, Fuerza & Friends trios that I want to rewatch though. I gotta watch the 97 minis match though. I'm not sure if I've ever seen it. How do you feel about the Space Cadets vs La Ola Lila from the 80s set? That was the highest ranked trios match. I said it was the best trios match we have from the 80s during the nominating period and was later mocked on air for it (kidding), but the result speaks for itself. It's a pure trios match but a pure trios match isn't really a greatest of all-time style match. That said, there's been so many trios matches wrestled in the history of lucha libre that I'm sure there were at least a few GOAT contenders. If we could see the Villanos vs. Brazos mask match without the strobe effect that might be a contender. Wait a minute, I forgot about the Thundercats vs. Trios Fantasia. There's your winner right there! The answer to this question probably lies in Pavilion Azteca. They probably had some crazy trios match that was better than anything that's on tape.

The build for Satanico/Tarzan Boy and Atlantis/Villano was a hell of a one-two punch. This is the kind of thing that CMLL does really well when they bother to do it. This installment was heavily clipped so it's not fair to judge it as a match, but I liked the fact that we got a true blue tecnico fall to start with. I think that's the first time there's been a tecnico fall in this January footage. The clipping sort of ruined the rudo comeback, but they got a nice pose in with the submission. Shocker was in his prime here and it was pretty clear that he and Niebla were the best conditioned of the workers involved. They were heavily involved in the early part of the Atlantis/Villano rivalry, as I'm sure you're all aware, but it wasn't clear from the clipping how much that played into the bout. They did pull a dive on one another, though. Atlantis vs. Villano wasn't as heated as in previous matches, which may be why they shortened this, but Atlantis got a tope in, which was a statement of sorts. The rudos were the ones who mugged the camera in the post-match interview, though, and not for the first time. Villano sure was proud of taking Super Astro's mask. I wonder how he felt about Astro reneging on the deal.

Another great brawl. Gotta love those collars on the Infernales' jackets and how they keep them on when they jump the tecnicos. Tarzan Boy bleeds straight away and the Infernales are rabid. Especially Satanico, who seems to relish the amount of pain they inflict on the helpless Tarzan Boy. Tarzan Boy bleeds like a stuck pig in the opening caida, and even when the referees disqualify the Infernales, they still don't give a shit and keep beating up the poor kid. The doctor comes out to check him and you can almost feel Satanico growing in stature here as he paces about the ring seeking to reclaim his mantle as El Numero Uno. A reversal signals a change in fortunes for the tecnicos, as it so often does, but they have to fight really hard to get back on an even keel. It's anybody's match after the dive train and again Satanico and Tarzan Boy go at it like a matador and a charging bull. Satanico is beyond incensed, though, and even a second disqualification can't stop him from headbutting Tarzan Boy to the point where TB's blood is all over Satanico's face. The Infernales lost the battle here, but they sent Tarzan Boy to the hospital, that's for sure. The apuesta match is being set up beautifully and I can't wait to see whether they can really deliver us a payoff.

This was another strong lead-in match. I'm not a huge fan of trios matches where the wrestlers rip each other's masks off but it wouldn't be much of an apuesta feud if they didn't do it. And to their credit, they didn't spend an eternity doing it. Villano looked badass in his alternative strip and I liked how he used Atlantis' mask to clean the dirt off his boots. Atlantis' comeback was good and he got plenty of mileage out of throwing Villano into a row of chairs and dropping a section on him. The only thing that held this back was that there didn't seem to be much of a personal issue between Casas and Pierroth or Wagner and Niebla and the best trios matches usually have that second and third string story to contrast and illuminate the main feud. The kind of role that an Emilio Charles Jr. or La Fiera played to perfection. The rudos were fairly united but Casas and Niebla felt like they were making up the numbers while we waited for Atlantis and Villano to go at it again. Mind you, it's pretty hard for Casas to play second string to anyone and Pierroth was badly broken down compared with his glory days of '90-92. I haven't checked the match listings but it'll be interesting to see whether they plug anyone better in there.

This was an excellent brawl. It reminded me of the wars that the older Infernales had with Los Intocables and the Brazos in '92-93 before they jumped to AAA. Those were also pared down trios matches with plenty of brawling. Satanico is so good at marshaling these sort of bouts, controlling the action when his team is on top and feeding the tecnicos comebacks. Just another reason why he's one of the greatest of all-time. The sudden victory that the tecnicos score in the second fall is the type of thing that will bug people, but I liked how they had to keep fighting their tails off in the tercera caida and the dive train was fantastic. Tarzan Boy is pretty much Latin Lover plugged into a program with Mocho Cota when it comes to this feud with Satanico but there's nothing like a trios match where the captains are left to duke it out at the end. Tarzan Boy fought fire with fire and justice was done. I'm not expecting Dandy vs. Satanico from the apuesta match, but so far the lead-in is just as good.

This was an effective mano a mano bout. Mano a manos usually have a glass ceiling on how good they can be but this had a bit of meat to it. The double juice helped. Blood is so rare in CMLL these days that it was a surprise to see Bucanero bleed so much. There were a couple of gaffes on the bigger action stuff, like the blatant calling of the flash pin in the segunda caida and Tarzan Boy overshooting his dive, but it was a decent Coliseo bout, and Satanico beating Tarzan Boy down after the bout warmed the cockles of my Satanico-loving heart.

#266 "Well, let me tell you something Tenryu..." Hogan busting out the cross armbreaker from the get-go was a surreal moment. I couldn't help but think of that Larry King interview where he said you had to defend yourself in Japan or they'd break your arm, brutha. In the cold light of day, it's true that Hogan doesn't have much of a clue what to do after he scores a takedown, but it's still a lot more interesting than your average Hogan match. I liked Hogan's reaction to Tenryu's chop, which isn't the sort of move he faced a lot Stateside. Going for the eyes was a bit of a bitch move, though. I half expected him to start doing back rakes and belt whips once he started down that route. The match stalled a bit until the knee injury and from that point there was a bunch of awkward bomb throwing. Tenryu really only got a look in with his powerbomb as he was never going to make Hogan submit. Hulk was pretty obsessed with the enzuigiri and axe bomber, but at least it was more brutal than the big boot. Fun match, but a bit high at #266 and I agree that the Savage match was better.

#275 Man, this was gritty as fuck. It really looked like they were trying to hurt each other as much as possible. Check out how red Misawa's chest is! Even the submission attempts looked like they were actually trying to force a submission. I loved every thing about this -- the slap exchanges out of the corner; the tope, which was a worn out Misawa spot that felt fresh again; Misawa's selling of the wrist; Kawada's selling of the knockout. It almost felt like the Ikeda vs. Ishikawa version of a Kawada/Misawa match and that's an excellent thing. Ditto on the great match call.

Next off the rank was my boy Chief Don Eagle making short work of Don Noble. I've read a lot about what a sensation Billy Two Rivers caused when he showed up in the UK, and I guess this is the closest I'll get to watching a Native American wrestler work at a time when Western films and "Cowboys and Indians" were at the height of the public imagination. Again, the Chief looked good. Riki Starr, Argentina Rocca & Miguel Perez vs. The Fabulous Kangaroos & Dr. Jerry Graham was a comedy reel as you might expect with Starr involved. The star power looked better on paper than the action they produced in the ring, but it as only a short reel. Another short clip saw Mark Lewin's brother, Donn, make short work of Crybaby Bob Corby. Can't beat a good crybaby gimmick. Argentina Rocca vs. Karl Von Hess was the bout that followed the famous Rogers vs. O'Connor title fight. That's a tough act to follow and it was a fairly tepid effort. Mostly a showcase for the ever-popular Rocca, perhaps designed to send the fans home happy after Rogers won the belt? Killer Kowalski vs. Pete Managoff was a slow heavyweight contest with some poor overdubbing that didn't capture the heat (if there was any.) I really want to like Kowalski. He has a few good holds and a few moves I like, but he's not vicious enough and doesn't stay on his man like I want to see from a man named "Killer Kowalski." He's more infamous these days for training Triple H, and I remember Harley Race called him the shits. I'm not convinced that he's "the shits" yet (Harley said the same thing about Gagne, too), but so far I've only seen the one good fight against Rocca. George & Bobby Becker vs. Wild Red Berry & Tony Marelli is one of the better tag matches I've seen from the 50s. The Beckers are no-nonsense, hard-working babyfaces who prefer a good, clean fight but aren't afraid to dish it out if the other team get fresh, and Wild Red Berry and Tony Marelli are a pair of stooge heels par excellence. Think Sid Cooper, Jim Breaks, Tally Ho Kaye... they all belong to the same gentlemen's club for stooge heels. Wild Red Berry is one of the great heel acts of the era in my view. The Los Angeles crowd are almost fanatical toward him and it's just a regular tag bout like any other season. Great heat, great blue-collar faces from Brooklyn providing the foil for the LA razzle dazzle, great comedy spots, neat holds and wonderful commentary from one of the best in the business, Jack Little. Los Angles vs. Chicago is a really interesting comparison in terms of footage. I might give LA the edge at this point, but it's close.

#255 I could only find a clipped version of this. It was okay, but not something that really resonated with me. Loss' soft spot for Hayabusa continues to fascinate me, however.

#269 This is the ultimate pro-wrestling shoot style match. It's all strike exchanges and knockout attempts with none of the beauty of shoot style matwork. I can understand liking it if you're super into Vader (pun intended) and it feels like he's shooting from the hip when he cuts his promos, but I don't think this would make my top 50 shoot style matches of all time. And I don't think it's on the same level as the top stuff from any of the shoot style promotions. Hell, I don't even like it as much as Kawada/Albright or Hashimoto/Fujiwara. And I actually enjoyed their 12/93 match more on this go-through of Loss' picks. So, in case you were still wondering -- not a fan.

I thought the 10/75 match that Bix posted all those years ago was their standout 70s match? It was certainly my gateway drug into WoS.

Mile Zrno vs. Colonal Brody (Eurosport, circa 1990) This was MUCH better than I expected given that the EWF Eurosport matches mostly suck. and Brody is dead weight at the best of times, but Zrno is quickly entering that rare air of a Steve Grey or a Marty Jones where just about every match they work has a chance of being good. This started off on the mat where Zrno made Brody look better (or more competent) than I can remember anyone else achieving, grew stiffer as Brody realized he wasn't going to beat Zrno on the mat, then showcased Zrno's athleticism down the stretch. Pretty much the perfect three-pronged match for this sort of TV taping.

That's a tough question because I don't really think there is a trios match on the level of the matches mentioned here, but my pick would be either the 5/90 trios (I can't remember the date of the better one), the 11/91 Brazos vs. Infernales match, or the 1997 minis match.

First up is a squash match from Buffalo between Bearcat Wright and Cyclone Smith. Can't say I've formed an opinion about Wright one way or another. He does have long, spidery limbs, which gives him the potential to be an interesting submission worker, but we'll see. Nick Lutze & Tiny Roebuck vs. Vincent Lopez & El Pulpo was more chaotic tornado tag wrestling. The more tag wrestling I watch from the past, the more I'm convinced that tag wrestling didn't come into its own until the 80s. Ilio DiPaolo vs Fritz Von Erich was disappointing given the names involved, but I haven't really enjoyed watching most of Fritz' matches a second time. Too often they're slow, plodding affairs instead of the out and out vicious brawls he was capable of. Magnificent Maurice vs. Fritz is another example. It's heel vs. heel, which the Buffalo territory seemed to run a lot of, but instead of being a kickass heel vs. heel bout it drags on forever until the curfew. Mind you, Fritz isn't new for me so maybe I'm bored of rewatching him. And I'm not that high on the Buffalo territory, either. Reggie & Stan Lisowski vs. Bobo Brazil & Yukon Eric was another slow brawl from the same territory. I suppose what I consider slow others would describe as drawing heat. I guess I don't like traditional heel vs. babyface match-ups that lead nowhere. Benito Gardini vs. Bobby Bruins was fun. Gardini was a comedy worker with just enough grappling know-how to remain credible in the ring. Fun worker. Almost like a slimmed down Italian Super Porky who's serious about notching up wins but is outmatched all the time. I really enjoyed Cowboy Karl Davis vs. Terry McGinnis, which was a short film from 1940 (I believe.) Karl Davis would go on to do either a killer or crippler gimmick, but the awesome thing about this was that he was working like a "killer" already while playing a cowboy. Can you imagine how cool it is to see a cowboy work like a killer? And Terry McGinnis played a great fighting mad Irish man. Great finish, and McGinnis did a tremendous job of losing it after the bell. Neat short. Next up was Chief Don Eagle vs. Marquis de Paree. I really like the way that Don Eagle moves in the ring. It's so stylish. de Paree was a great foil for him and helped make him even more mesmerizing. Loved the war dance. LOVED the deathlock finish. I am now a Chief Don Eagle fan. I'll tell you this -- Dick the Bruiser has never been as intense or as vicious as he was in squashing Emile Dupree. Not since his days on the football field was he that mean. If he worked like that all the time, he'd be a legend who lived up to his name. Bad ass.

As of right now, I would go: 30s -- Jim Londos vs. Bronko Nagurski (11/18/38) 40s -- not decided yet 50s -- Lou Thesz vs. Verne Gagne (1/25/52) 60s -- Billy Howes vs. Jacques Lageat (5/5/62) 70s -- Steve Veidor vs. Gwyn Davies (5/26/76) 80s -- Jumbo Tsuruta vs. Genichiro Tenryu (6/5/89) 90s -- Mitsuharu Misawa vs. Toshiaki Kawada (6/3/94) 00s -- not decided yet 10s -- not decided yet

#270 I enjoyed this far more than I expected to. I could never get into Kawada's matches with Kobashi in the past, and I even had a shitty PAL transfer of this match with washed out colours. I know Loss has spoken about how he prefers the Kawada/Kobashi dynamic to Kobashi vs. Misawa. I'm not sure how he'd articulate that dynamic outside of both guys vying to be the number one contender to the Triple Crown ace spot, but this was a match that kept building, and building and they kept doing cool shit on the mat and with their strikes. Great stretch run. Great selling. Great cross cutting between their selling. Great crowd heat. Great finish. As Bill Russell said to Wilt Chamberlain upon the Sixers beating the Celtics in '67: "great, baby. Great."