ohtani's jacket

Do you agree that lucha commentary is poor?

The Wu Tang Clan watching WWWF isn't as cool as Screamin' Jay Hawkins being a fan of that era.

I only know half a dozen Spanish words, but Alfonso Morales and Arturo Rivera always seem excited to me. I usually listen to music while watching wrestling. The only commentator I make a point of listening to is Walton.

Fuerza Guerrera vs. Octagon vs. Huracán Ramírez II, mask vs. mask, CMLL 12/14/90 This was the main event of CMLL's season ending show for 1990. We all know that triangle matches don't make for the best of apuesta matches, especially with a non-brawler like Octagon, but circumstances here were out of the ordinary. CMLL was coming off a record breaking Anniversary Show and business was hot. Arena Mexico was packed, and anticipation rife. Virginia Aguilera once said that the lucha public were barbaric: "we go to the matches because we like to see Christians killing each other." Having whet their appetite on Dandy/Satanico, the crowd were ready for more slaughter. It took Sevilla literally seconds to prove he was as good as thought, and that it wasn't just Bestia making him look a million bucks. It's rare that a guy working a classic masked luchador gimmick is a good brawler, but Sevilla harkened back to his rudo days at Pavillon Azteca where he used to stomp the shit out of other toy characters. The hardcores knew La Empressa wasn't giving away Fuerza vs. Octagon so soon, so the booking here was that instead of presenting the obvious wager, Fuerza fought his way to freedom and the final contest was a tecnico vs. tecnico showdown. That meant that Fuerza only wrestled half the match, but what a half of wrestling. His mask was ripped at the front so you could pretty much tell what he looked like anyway, which would have pleased the ringsiders who paid top dollar. Using the hole in his mask, he got stuck right in there and hacked the shit out of his forehead. The crazy mother was dripping blood everywhere. He got it over himself, Octagon, the ref, and even his second Gran Cochisse. Then came the Fuerza Moment of the Match, which this time wasn't divine comedy but an insane bump off an Octagon arm drag sequence that sent him crowd surfing into the front three rows. There's no way those people left without blood on them. A word on those arm drags: they were so fucking good. I've lightened up on workers like Super Muneco and Mascara Sagrada and no longer think they're the terrible workers I thought they were when I first started getting tapes, and really I'm starting to care less and less about whether guys are bad workers or not,; but whether you love Octagon or hate him (and I don't think there's anybody who really loves him), you can't tell me those arm drags weren't impressive. It's funny because I was sent this article that Dave Meltzer wrote for his 1990 Yearbook where he talked about how he'd started getting into lucha on Galavison, and how there weren't a lot of what he called "complete" workers. He cited Atlantis as a guy who had great high spots but couldn't work a match. I don't know where he got that idea from, but it fits Octagon to a tee. (Maybe he had his eyes gorged by that shitty Atlantis/Kung Fu feud.) Octagon wasn't a great worker, but he was malleable, and this was, I think, one of his career best bouts with the finishing stretch to the Octagon/Fuerza portion being one of the most legitimately exciting things I've seen in lucha in all my years of watching it. About two or three times, Octagon tried to hook on his La Escalera submission, but Fuerza kept blocking his leg and finally got a counter into a submission of his own. He sort of fell into Cochisse's arms like Shawn Michaels fulfilling his boyhood dream and then gave the most awesome triumphant fist pump. Fuerza Guerrera, your man of the hour. A rudo fan with a cowbell shook his hand, and we should all do the same after that tour de force. Since they weren't planning to turn Sevilla heel, the actual mask vs. mask part was worked cleanly. They went at each other hard and fast and there were some huge collisions in the centre of the ring. The winning falls came a little easily, but it was very much in keeping with the theatrical style of big time apuesta matches. With Octagon being one of the biggest stars in the business, and the most popular tecnico in the new television era, they were never going to have him lose, especially not on the season-ending show and not to a guy who was doing a third rate homage/rip-off to/of a classic gimmick; but like any well booked apuesta match there was a reason why the defeated wrestler lost. In this case, Sevilla missed on two topes and the second appeared to separate his shoulder. I'm not sure if it was a legit injury or a work, but he was attended to by two docs after the match and took some time to unmask. When he finally did, he had amazingly long eyelashes, and I couldn't help but wonder if he had a bit of the old Isiah Thomas eye make-up going on. The best ever triangle apuesta match remains by some distance the Casas vs. Dandy vs. Santo match from 1996, but this was a thoroughly enjoyable match that could have easily been a dud following on the heels of Satanico and Dandy and not delivering on Fuerza vs. Octagon, which was no doubt what everyone wanted to see (except for me, the world's biggest Huracan Sevilla mark.) At the very least, Fuerza's cameo (?) deserved to be talked about more, and you owe it to yourself to watch it if you're a Fuerza fan and you haven't.

I like some of Perro's later stuff for the spectacle, but I don't think he was the most coordinated of workers. Even in the 80s footage, the way he moves about the ring or applies a hold is unaesthetically pleasing to me. He was a tremendous brawler with unbelievable charisma, but even if we had footage from his prime I'm not sure he'd be that much better technique-wise. It's possible that I'm overrating Azteca and Faraon. I like the idea of ranking the luchadores, but when I sit down to do it, I feel like I'm forgetting everybody. Then I figure I'll go through luchawiki so I don't miss somebody, but give up after "A." Azteca I have different expectations for since I regard him as a classic masked tecnico. Faraon I'm not even sure how I feel about as it's been ages since I've watched him. I change my opinion on guys from one match to the next in a very fickle "what have you done for me lately?" kind of a way, but with lucha so much of how you judge a guy is based on what they contribute to trios matches, and I tend to get swayed one way or the other depending on what I've been watching.

A few years ago Dr. Wagner Jr. and LA Park would have fit the bill, but they've worn out their welcome by jerking around promoters. Perro Aguayo Jr. was another guy who had that sort of appeal but pissed it all away.

Ha, I'll probably knock him off the list the next time I see one of his drug fueled train wrecks.

Super Astro, Atlantis y El Faraón vs. Fuerza Guerrera, Blue Panther y Emilio Charles (8/18/89) Atlantis, Mascara Sagrada y Super Astro vs. Hombre Bala, Pirata Morgan y Verdugo (September 1989) These were a pair of standard trios matches. Just like Blue Panther, Super Astro began working for EMLL more frequently in the late 80s. He'd made spot appearances for EMLL in the past (we have one of them on the set, you'll recall), but after Flores' death in '87 there was a real trend in independientes branching out and looking for work in other places. They still worked shows for Carlos Maynes, but it as no longer the case where they'd work the UWA shows each week and fill in their schedules with additional bookings. UWA shows were becoming additional bookings for guys who had moved on to Monterrey or the Tijuana circuit. A lot of guys worked under the tent for Pavillon Azteca while they had TV. Even the big Sunday shows at El Toreo had the thinnest of cards compared to the bullring's heyday. It really was quite disparate from how the decade began. Astro was working all over the show at this point. Los Cadetes Del Espacio had well and truly broken up, and while Astro still traveled the road with Solar, he mostly took his own bookings in either Tijuana or the Federal District. Japan opened up as an option the following year with Hamada's UWF promotion, and unlike a lot of "UWA guys," Astro remained a freelancer for the rest of his career. He was treated pretty well by EMLL despite not being a full-timer. He was over with crowds and brought a lot of novelty value to cards. They even booked him in singles matches from time to time such as his UWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Title match against Gran Cochisse on the undercard of the Popitekus/Blondy hair match. Atlantis y Satanico vs. MS-1 y Tierra Viento y Fuego (Hair/Mask vs. Hair/Mask) (9/22/89) This was the main event of EMLL's 55th Anniversary Show. As mentioned before, EMLL didn't always put a maximum of effort into their Anniversary Show cards. Sometimes the cards would be stacked and sometimes they'd be thrown together. Sometimes they had big plans that didn't eventuate and sometimes they made panic moves, changing the card at the last moment. For a show that's supposed to EMLL's equivalent of WrestleMania, it has a checkered history of delivering memorable main events. To illustrate the contrast from one year to the next, the following year's show would deliver the biggest match in the company's history when 23,000 people packed Arena Mexico to witness Cien Caras drop his mask to Rayo de Jalisco Jr with thousands more watching on giant screens outside the arena. The UWA, for all its struggles, managed to draw 21,000 to its 4/23/89 Palacio de los Deportes show (again headlined by that man Rayo de Jalisco Jr.), but despite business being up, EMLL failed to strike while the iron was hot and delivered an unmasking that nobody wanted to see. To the wrestlers' credit, the show sold out, but there wasn't the crush to enter the building that there had been for other historic main events. Originally, the plan was supposed to be for Atlantis to fight an American, but the plans fell through when there were either visa issues or the American disappeared. Given his hot run the year before with Lizmark, and the fact that they used him in singles matches later in the year (including an IWA title shot against Mil Mascaras at Arena Mexico in November), I think it's safe to say that Blondy is the unnamed wrestler, if in fact the rumour is true. Whether it would have been a mask vs. hair match, I'm not sure, but that seems like a hot main. The plan then changed to the Satanico face turn and the pairing of bitter rivals Satanico and Atlantis against the Infernales. Unlike the Mega Powers explode angle, which was a year in the making, EMLL turned Satanico face a month before the show. The initial plan was to have an Atlantis/Satanico/Faraon vs. MS-1/Masakre/Tierra Viento y Fuego trios apuesta match, but Masakre was injured (I believe) and they slot Faraon back down the card. It's often said that Tierra Viento y Fuego joined the Infernales to replace Satanico, but from the records we have he was plucked out of the midcard at the last moment as a guy who was obviously willing to lose his mask and later tagged with MS-1 on cards where Masare was absent. There wasn't any sort of Summer long feud with Satanico feuding against the Tierra Viento y Fuego Infernales. Tierra Viento y Fuego, whose real name was Alfonso Lira Román, was a midcarder originally from the Ciudad Altamirano area in Guerrero. He'd been an EMLL regular since the early 80s mostly working in the 2nd or 3rd match of a card. After unmasking that's more or less where he returned, but like a lot of midcard vets in the television era, Pena repackaged him with new gimmick: Damián El Guerrero. Along with Guerrero Maya (Black Terry) and Guerrero del Futuro (José Luis Feliciano), he formed the mid card trio act Los Guerreros del Futuro and managed to eke out another 10 years with the company.

The standard answer would probably be Casas or Rush.

I felt like updating this. v2 February 2015 All-Time Greats Satanico, El Dandy, Negro Casas, El Hijo del Santo Great Workers Emilio Charles, Jr., Atlantis, Blue Panther, Pirata Morgan, Solar, Lizmark, Black Terry, Negro Navarro, Virus, Sangre Chicana, Villano III Excellent Workers Cassandro, Espanto Jr., MS-1, La Fiera, Fuerza Guerrera, El Signo, Bestia Salvaje, Mocho Cota Strong Hands Angel Azteca, Perro Aguayo, Dos Caras, Villano IV, Villano V, Dr. Cerebro, Black Man, Herodes, El Faraon, El Texano, Gran Cochise, LA Park, Brazo de Oro, Demus 3:16, Pierrothito Solid Hands Sergio El Hermoso, Ultraman, Jerry Estrada, Super Astro, Freelance, Brazo de Plata, Chico Che, Espectro Jr, Hombre Bala, Masakre, Tony Salazar, Psicosis, Pierroth Jr., Apolo Dantes, Javier Cruz, Ringo Mendoza, Silver King, Dr. Wagner Jr., Felino, Valiente, Los Traumas I y II, Cicloncito Ramirez, Mano Negra, Americo Rocca, Huracan Sevilla, Gran Apache, Charles Lucero, Rambo, Ciclon Ramirez

La Fiera/Espectro Jr./Kahoz vs. El Brazo/Brazo de Oro/Brazo de Plata, CMLL 12/25/92 So, we've established that washed up Fiera (who really wasn't that old) was better than I ever gave him credit for, especially in scummy lowdown trios matches that reflected the shadiness of his character outside the ring, but here he got to show off his comedic talents. Comedy is an important (often misunderstood) element of lucha libre. No matter how great your brawling is, or how bloody your apuesta matches are, to be a top rudo worker you need to master the art of comic timing. All the world loves a clown, and that goes twice for a bumping, stooging heel. What Porky and Fiera did better than most was to escalate from comic playfulness to fierce rage, playing off that old adage "it's all fun and games until someone gets hurt." Fiera was all up in Porky's grill during the intros, poking him in the chest. Porky responded with a slap to Fiera's face, and they launched into an exaggerated circling lock-up before Porky got the better of Fiera on a criss-cross exchange. Fiera was incredulous as he backed away, but when Porky beat him to the punch a second time, he decided he was sick and tired of playing games, and blew Porky off, returning to his corner. No sooner had Porky turned his back when Fiera charged him. Porky span round to face him, and Fiera quickly pretended a handshake was all he was interested in. Porky looked at the out stretched hand and slapped Fiera in the chops. It was a brilliant mix of comedy and underlying tensions. Porky had embarrassed Fiera, and Fiera wasn't the sort of guy you should embarrass. Fiera went right at Porky the next chance he got with shots to the face, but fell victim to one of the Brazos' patented finishing sequences -- a swank two man move that left Fiera wondering whether he was coming or going. Porky was having a great time bumping Fiera off his stomach in the second caida until Fiera grew tried of playing the fool and struck Porky hard. Porky clutched at his head and his lower lip began quivering. Fighting back the tears, he absolutely barreled into Fiera and sent him flying off the apron. Porky was cocky the next time they sparred, but this time there was no fucking about. Espectro held Porky back while Fiera began dishing out the headbutts. Oro made the save with Porky laid out like a Christmas ham, but Fiera was merciless and continued working him over on the outside, throwing aside Rangel and kicking Porky in the gut. The fans called him an asshole, but he just stared them down and posed in their face. Porky struck back with a huge running splash to the corner, which Fiera sold like it had crushed the life out of him, and the usually affable Porky was livid. Twice he tried to use the martinete on Fiera but was talked out of it by his brothers. Oro took over and Fiera's selling of his tilt-a-whirl back breaker was sublime. Part Michael Jackson, part La Parka. Porky claimed the win for his side with a measured splash, and Fiera scampered away like a coward when Porky came after him. The Brazos held Porky back while Fiera goaded and taunted Plata, and they finally got stuck into each other with Porky trying to shoot on Fiera (!) with the one legged take down. Black Magic and an unmasked El Supremo hit the ring for the next match, which Fiera was pulling double duty for, and together they beat the Christmas stuffing out of the Brazos w/ Fiera body slamming the ham. Nothing ever came out of this -- it was just a bit of fluff on a Christmas Day Arena Coliseo show -- but it would have made for a fun apuesta match if they'd gone all the way with it. The rest of the match was okay. Brazo de Oro zipped about in fine form and worked some decent exchanges with Kahoz, whom he was familiar with from the UWA. The trios that followed was rubbish, but Fiera/Porky was a great stocking filler. Atlantis/Rayo de Jalisco Jr./El Dandy vs. Satanico/Emilio Charles Jr./Gigante Kamala, CMLL 3/8/91 Remember that epic Kamala/Black Magic feud from '91? Neither do I, but Smiley was busy cutting promos on him decked out in a top hat and cloak like a two bit Mandrake the Magician. He even had a wand and gloves and disappeared in a cloud of smoke. It's funny because you don't usually see guys doing their full gimmick on TV like they would for the magazines. I have no idea what Smiley was on about when he said "we are one of a kind and then again we're not." What, they're both black? I get the "Black" Magic thing and all, but what was with that? They're both gringos? Masters of magic? Pierroth, on the other hand, cut a bad ass promo in a bad ass jacket and signed it off with the best evil laugh in Mexico. My love for Pierroth knows no bounds. I know I've mocked CMLL vignettes in the past, but the short Kamala one was actually pretty decent with Big Jim Harris doing his best National Geographic impersonation. None of this had much to do with the match in question, but it's best not to question the internal logic of CMLL television when it delivers a trios this good. This was so much fun. It was never going to win Match of the Year honours or anything like that, but as far as the need for fun goes, it was just about perfect. Each of the individual match-ups were great. I hadn't seen Satanico and Dandy go at it for a while, and I realise now why their feud spoiled so much of the lucha to come for folks watching the yearbooks. Their chemistry together was unreal; like capturing lightning in a bottle. That's difficult to replicate if you're looking for a product that delivers more of the same, especially in a promotion as poorly booked as CMLL. They weren't the only ones going off, however. Atlantis and Emilio did their usual routine, we got a throwback to Dandy vs. Charles, and there was even a bit of Emilio/Rayo, which I don't remember seeing before. All of the stuff with Kamala was great; roughly a thousand times better than the Andre match which made the Death Valley Driver set, and this was basically one fun exchange after another in a match of little significance other than to remind people that Kamala was back in town. Kamala had a feud with Mil Mascaras on the Sunday shows that built to a cage match, which was only the third time the gimmick had been used. The TV of course was a mess with Pierroth, and Black Magic, and all sorts of shit that didn't lead anywhere unless you count Gran Davies being splashed by Kamala as the blow off. CMLL was a success despite itself in the television era, and this match was in part entertaining because of how hot the promotion was. Atlantis/Sangre Chicana/Octagon vs. Blue Panther/El Satanico/Jerry Estrada, CMLL 9/13/91 This is the kind of match where you look at the names and immediately start thinking: "Chicana vs. Satanico? They never settled anything in '89. Satanico vs .Atlantis? Classic rivalry. Panther vs. Atlantis just weeks removed from their classic. Chicana vs. Estrada? Don't think I've seen that before. Shit, even Chicana vs. Panther seems interesting." Then you watch the match and it's an angle to turn Chicana heel. Welcome to the kick in the balls that is lucha. Not only do they waste that sort of match-up on an angle, the two matches that could have come out of it (Chicana vs. Atlantis and Chicana vs. Satanico) never materalised MS-1/Masakre/Jerry Estrada vs. Ringo Mendoza/Super Astro/Black Magic, CMLL 10/18/91 I have a lot of respect for the way Smiley was able to adapt to Mexico and become comfortable working the style, but it's fair to say it didn't happen over night. He looked tentative in this bout as though he wasn't sure what to do other than to continue stepping forward and cutting off his opponent's offence. Fortunately everyone else was on point, and this was a brisk trios that like Smiley never took a step back. I was really high on MS-1 when I first started buying tapes then I just sort of forgot about him; but he was really good in this, especially the way he worked with a much smaller man in Super Astro. They had some excellent cat and mouse style exchanges where Astro was zipping about trying to elude the grasp of those lengthy MS-1 arms. Masakre was also solid, though not at Fuentes level. Together they reminded me of why I loved the Masakre version of the Infernales, which even today is underrated in comparison to the Morgan runs. I was also really impressed with Estrada in this, who had a stellar (read "clean") night. He pulled out a great bit of comedy when he bumped to the outside and deliberately walked into a fan who was returning to his seat. He sold that beautifully just as he did Super Astro's wild hay maker, which not only cleaned his clock, but left him checking for loose teeth. Ringo was also solid with a variety of high tempo takedowns that run contrary to the opinion people sometimes him slowing these bouts down. The finish was nuts as Super Astro had some kind of death wish on a springboard plancha. He undershot it so bad that Estrada had to lunge forwards for Astro to even clip him. Mental. Just a word on Astro -- he was balls out here. I haven't always put him over as a worker, but his full throttle bumping and leaping about made this a thousand times more memorable than it would have been otherwise. Coupled with the Chino title match, he's doing well in the "what have you done for me lately? stakes, that's for sure.

Arn and Steamboat were the best workers in WCW in 1992 in my opinion. I would've had them share MVP honours. Arn for the heels and Stramboat for the faces.

Clive Myers vs. Johnny Apollon (7/27/82) The story here was that Apollon had a rib injury but wasn't really experienced enough to threaten Myers anyway. More of an offensive workout for Myers than a truly competitive match, though Apollon did hang with him for five or six rounds. Myers' shit looked great, which isn't always the case with his Iron Fist shtick, and Apollon did a good job bumping and selling for it even though there was an apparent styles clash on the surface with Apollon being a legit amateur type. Worth watching if you're a Myers fan and want to see him do his shit with some extra snap to it. Steve McHoy vs. Jim Moser (8/11/82) Just the finish. Vic Faulkner vs. Kid Chocolate (6/15/82) This was pretty fun from two guys who are pretty hit and miss for me. Kid Chocolate didn't have a ton of personal charisma, but he played along with Faulkner well, and there was a smattering of quality wrestling in there to go along with the smart-aleckry. Wayne Bridges vs. King Kong Kirk (11/9/82) Slow, plodding match that Bridges intended to more dramatic than it actually was. Unless he's working a technical contest against a quality heavyweight, I have no real use for Bridges. The exception is that wild title match against Quinn, but most of the credit should go to Quinn for that one. I don't think this was a title match, but Bridges wore the belt to the ring all the same. Walton was still referring to him as the NWA World Heavyweight Champion, which was an amusing bit of bullshit given how many years had passed since Arion had been in the country and Walton first pushed that line. Tom Tyrone vs. King Kong Kirk (3/9/82) This was joined in progress with the two beating the absolute shit out of each other. It was night and day compared to the Bridges/Kirk match and showed that not only could Kirk go under the right circumstances, but the merits of a young heavyweight who bumped and sold his ass off to make the match exciting. This rocked from beginning to end with only small let ups in the action. Again that growth on the side of Kirk's head creeped the shit out of me, and there was one close-up of it which looked like he didn't have an ear. I think it was actually a patch of hair he wasn't shaving for some reason, but with the grainy VHS transfer footage it takes on a life of its own. At one point he had all this white shit over his face, which Walton explained was a combination of sweat and Tyrone's newly "blancoed" boots (yeah, I had to look it up too.) Kirk was such a mongrel. Tally Ho Kaye vs. Kid Chocolate (1/27/82) Typically sold-to-fun Tally Ho Kaye performance. Nothing to write home about, but enjoyable all the same. He behaved himself fairly well in this bout, though the crowd gave him stick over the MC's description of him as a country gentleman. In a sign of the times, Walton mentioned Chocolate had been having reoccurring problems with a concussion every time he wrestled. I can't see a commentator putting that sort of info out there these days given that it was very likely true that KC had been concussed. Peter & Johnny Wilson vs. Clive Myers & Kwik Kick Lee (11/9/82) Some decent action in this, but a bit flat considering that it was supposed to be the semi-finals of an important knockout tag contest. Myers looked really small mixing it up with the heavyweights, but provided the only real highlights. Perhaps sensing it hadn't been that great a bout, he decided to bow out of the tournament in the most insane way possible by taking a huge bump over the ropes and into the announcing table. That was pretty dramatic and reminiscent of the bump he took into the crowd in his match against McManus. A bit risky, though, as he could have knocked Walton's block off. John Elijah vs. Tom Tyrone (5/11/82) Solid bout that was more along the lines of the quality Tyrone we're familiar with from his bouts against other top heavyweights. It didn't reach any great heights, but I've never really seen Elijah be a poor foil for an opponent. Tyrone and McHoy were exciting heavyweight prospects. Jim Breaks vs. Vic Faulkner (11/3/82) This was a fun 1982 version of what was a fairly typical match between the two. Faulkner stirred the pot, Breaks responded with inside shots, Faulkner got pissed and began throwing punches while Breaks complained to all and sundry. You can fill in the details yourself if you know the wrestlers. A couple of women had a real go at Breaks, and the match finished with Faulkner and Jimmy having a right old scrap. Nothing that will make you forget their bout from '77, but pretty good for a rehash. Ray Steele vs. John Elijah (7/22/82) Another excellent heavyweight contest. There were a number of these low key bouts that punctuated the 1982 landscape. Really great power wrestling with tremendous strength holds and plenty of speed and athleticism from Steele. There were a few hecklers in the back accusing them of being boring, but they picked up the pace a bit and got a warm response from most of the crowd. The entire thing aired on World of Sport back in the day, which was a rarity, and was more proof that the heavyweights decline was slower and less pronounced than the lack of quality light and middle weight work.

I've only discovered Chino recently, but I thought he was awesome in a light trios match against Trio Fantasia and impressive in his title match with Super Astro.

I seem to recall some decent Fishman brawling in a few of those AAA trios. Judging by Arena Mexico cards, MS-1 received a push after losing his mask and was firmly lodged in the upper midcard when the Infernales were formed, but it doesn't seem like he was a huge star. Was he a bigger star than Faraon, for example?

People keep saying that Arn was solid or consistent, but at his peak he was a master performer who could work the full range from comedy to asskickery. If you asked me which I'd rather watch, '91-2 Arn or '85-6 Tully it would be an awfully close call. Tully was more of a leading man, but I think Parv has a fair point about his lack of offence. He was 90% bumping and stooging. Arn had a wider range, but was more suited to multi-man bouts. If you gave Arn something to do he was brilliant whereas Tully in his prime could create something from nothing. Can I cheat and say Tully in singles and Arn in multi-man bouts? I think I'll give the edge to Arn since his brilliance isn't being recognised enough. 1992 Arn is better than just about 90s worker I can think of States-side.

With British wrestling, anything from the 50s or 60s would be a major find, but particularly workers whom we have nothing of like Billy Joyce, George Kidd or Billy Robinson. I'd take that over say 60s McManus or Pallo as I expect they wrestled pretty much the same way they did in the 70s. If we're talking about guys we already have footage of, I'd go with more 70s Breaks, more Adrian Street and maybe more Gwyn Davies. Heel Albert Wall would be up there to. If we're just talking about a new match from any worker in general, I'd be excited to see a new Steve Grey match or a new Jon Cortez bout. Pretty much any new lucha match would be welcomed, but if I had a choice I might actually be tempted to go with a journeyman like Charles Lucero or Leon Chino. Maybe a bit left field, but I think it would be fun. Blue Fish anyone?

Okay, it just seemed like Chicana was feuding with everyone in the early 80s, rudo and tecnico alike, and had feuds that spilled over between Arena Mexico and El Toreo with the likes of Fishman, Aguayo and Villano III. Cien Caras was a babyface at the time and Satanico seldom worked at El Toreo. Morgan seemed to become a bigger star post-Infernales than prior to hooking up with them. No doubt I'm overrating how hot Chicana was in comparison to Canek, Aguayo or Fishman, but he was Box y Lucha's most outstanding wrestler of 1983 so he seemed like a big deal.

I don't see how Okada is aloof. He's not an all-time great worker, but he's hardly what I'd call aloof. Malenko wasn't able to inject any personality into his matches only subtle behaviour. Okada doesn't have that problem.

Engand, 1982 Jim Breaks & John England vs. Pat Patton & Steve Logan (3/9/82) This was super heated proving that Breaks was just as good at getting over in tags as he was in singles. At one point he mooned the audience ala Ric Flair or Greg Valentine, which I'd never seen before on television, though I'm sure it was probably done in the halls. Patton and England provided their usual break neck exchanges (great pairing, that), and this was rocking along until it cut out a few minutes before the end. Apparently, it ended in a draw. Dave Bond vs. Steve McHoy (7/27/82) This was a special 15 minute one fall, no rounds contest that was an excellent heavyweight contest. Bond brought his A-game here, which he didn't really need to do, and truth be told, didn't always manage to do, but the lack of rounds helped him lay out a solid match here, and McHoy continued to look like the future of British heavyweight wrestling. Tom Tyrone vs. Bully Boy Muir (12/7/81) This was typical Ian Muir -- just beating on a guy until either a public warning or a disqualification. You know what you're getting with Muir, a bruising and little else, but the way the falls were laid out made this a bit silly. Bill Bromley vs. Tom Tyrone (2/3/82) Just the scoring here, so it was impossible to gauge how good it truly was, but it was from one of those TV team challenges so it probably wasn't from the top drawer. In any event, it wasn't at Tyrone vs. Roach or Tyrone vs. Rudge levels. Tiger Dalibar Singh vs. Bill Bromley (7/22/82) This was a 20 minute time limit bout with two falls, no rounds, and again it produced a great little heavyweight contest. I know some people think Singh is the most boring motherfucker to ever grace a British ring, but he was at his best here. If you can appreciate the mechanics of British heavyweight wrestling and the subtle shifts in strategy you'll appreciate this. Add to that the little touches with selling and the fact that Bromley really wasn't that great outside of the physical attributes he brought like height, and you'll find that Singh carried this well despite the fact he was no mind blower. I'd list it as one of my favourite Singh bouts for his professionalism and all-round ring leadership. Plus he threw some forearm smashes and there were headbutts and Singh rules at that shit.

Does anybody know why the Satanico/Dandy hair match was booked for the '92 Anniversary Show? Was it covered in the Observer or Sims' newsletter? Right up until the end of August, the build is to Dandy vs. Bestia and then suddenly there's a trios with Dandy vs. the Infernales in September and Bestia is quietly moved into a feud with Love Machine. Bestia was on fire in '92 (arguably the third best worker in the company, IMO), but perhaps they thought the program wouldn't draw? Jose or Noodles care to chip in? While I'm at it, why did Sangre Chicana fall so low in the pecking order? He was arguably the hottest guy in Mexico in the early 80s -- at the very least he was everywhere -- and then by the late 80s he's hardly working the Federal District at all. I know he was suspended a few times, though who knows what the legitimacy of that was. Did he fall out of favour with Paco? Pena never seemed that interested in, not the extent that he saw the value in Perro Aguayo and Cien Caras. Inquiring minds want to know.

Personally, I find him overrated. His rep was that he was difficult to work with. According to Regal, he'd eat guys alive and give them absolutely nothing. Apparently, a lot of guys were afraid to wrestle him. That may have made him a badass, but it's not conducive to quality matches. His best match is his '86 bout against Marty Jones, who was also a bit of a prick. He also has some interesting stuff from the early 70s where he's doing a Wonder Boy gimmick similar to early Alex Wright. I'm not a big fan of his brother Bernie, either.

It's a great match. I had it in my top 50 when I did the Smarkschoice WCW poll. I think it had been uploaded on the Solie's account at that time. I don't know if I'd call it Arn's best singles match, but then I'm not sure what I would call Arn's best match so it's as good a pick as any. It kicks a lot of ass. Did Chad say Windham/Steamboat was better? I can't agree with that at all.

Arthur Psycho uploads fringe Reslo stuff and late period WoS. tellumyort has most of the best stuff that aired on The Wrestling Channel.

El Hijo del Santo/Espanto Jr. vs. Blue Panther/Black Man, UWA 3/25/90 This was discovered by Phil Schneider in the middle of a six hour YouTube video. Don't ask me how he does it; he's like a bloodhound when it comes to these things. The match was billed as the first time rivals Santo and Espanto had tagged together, and could have easily been parejas increibles given Panther had taken Black Man's mask in '86. Santo was swarmed by kids to start with and I swear he wasn't that much taller than the older kids. We forget how short our heroes are. I loved the smaller kid rushing into the ring after everyone had left. That was like something out of Little Rascals. All four of these guys were great workers, so the execution here was top notch; but as far as dream matches go, it's hard to imagine a bigger dud. The falls were ridiculously short, and a missed dropkick from Santo was the excuse Espanto had been looking for to turn on his partner and deliver a beat down. It was hard to see how the beat down advanced any sort of storyline as the two had fought in so many apuesta matches already, and if they were going to run an angle you'd think they'd maybe tease it a little and build to it. Just another example of how half-assed lucha can be a lot of the time. Sangre Chicana/La Fiera/Bestia Salvaje vs. Apolo Dantes/Love Machine/Huracan Sevilla, CMLL 2/7/92 Who takes Apolo Dantes and Love Machine into battle against a rudo lineup like that? I was disappointed with how this turned out for Sevilla, but he was on a hiding to nothing with those sort of partners. The match was one way traffic with the tecnicos not even afforded a comeback. As one sided as it was, there were few rudos better equipped at delivering a beat down than Bestia Salvaje, and Sevilla was not only great at selling but a great target. It's just a pity the match never got out of third gear, particularly with the hair match only a week away. The match with El Hijo del Solitario and Blue Demon Jr had been so hot that you'd think they would have built on it with an even wilder brawl, but this is lucha we're talking about. Bestia vs. Sevilla was a great little feud, but this was the second match in a row that Bestia beat him in straight falls. I only just realised that Sevilla was Darth Vader from Pavilion Azteca fame. He was excellent as Huracan Ramirez II, and a better worker overall than the similarly booked Ciclon Ramirez. Even if he was a stepping stone for Bestia, he needn't have been roadkill. Think of how many times he must have combed his hair to get it to puff out that much!! That's commitment to a cabellera feud. Not giving him a win was a bit rough. While I'm at it, how badly had Chicana fallen from grace? How do you go from being the hottest guy in Mexico to only headlining outside of the Distrito Federal? Did something happen to get him on Paco's shit list? Were his suspensions legit? Was it drugs? It's strange to me that Aguayo was treated like the Godfather of Lucha Libre by CMLL while Chicana rode shot gun with other rudos. El Satanico/Bestia Salvaje/El Supremo vs. El Dandy/Apolo Dantes/Love Machine, CMLL 8/28/92 Were Dandy and Bestia aware that there were other wrestlers in this match? I'm exaggerating of course, but only slightly. I don't think I've seen a match-up dominate a trios to the extent that Dandy and Bestia did. Usually, wrestlers will "tag in" and do their thing until another pair take over, but Dandy and Bestia spilled over to the outside where they kept brawling even though it was another pair's turn to take over. Twice they left the workers standing about wondering what their cue was supposed to be. The second time, Satanico followed suit and began brawling, but if ever there was a trios that was mano a mano this was it. I don't think either of them worked a single hold with another wrestler. They may have been beaten up by them, but they didn't actively engage anyone else. Not that I'm complaining. Bestia was unreal in 1992. If Casas and Dandy are the consensus one and two workers in CMLL (in some order) then Bestia has a strong case for being number three. There was one exchange in this after Dandy had become bleeding that was off the charts in terms of lucha brawling and later on Bestia busted out a bone crushing suplex. Dandy *kind of* popped up on it, which other workers wouldn't get a pass on, but they were going full tilt for the win and it was easy to forgive when Dandy had all that blood streaming down his face. The real question was what the fuck were they doing booking this a few weeks out from the Anniversary Show? It's no wonder Dandy vs. Satanico didn't go over well when all the focus was on Dandy wanting Bestia's hair. I'm wondering if it was a last minute decision to switch the opponent to Lopez as there really didn't seem to be much build to Dandy/Satanico. Dandy flat out ignored Satanico in this bout. Bestia continued to run rough shot over everyone with straight fall wins, and Dandy was pissed at the end, clutching at his hair and demanding an opportunity to put up a wager. I wonder if they got cold feet over whether Bestia could draw? One thing's for sure, it would have been a better match. Bestia was quietly moved to Love Machine after the Anniversary Show and ended up cooling off for real, which sucks, but for the first eight months of the year he was in beast mode. Just unstoppable one-on-one in trios. They should have ran with Bestia. Atlantis/El Dandy/Konnan vs. El Brazo/Brazo de Oro/Brazo de Plata, CMLL 12/20/91 I hadn't seen a Brazos match in donkey's years. I'm still not sure people get the Brazos. There's hardly any of their 80s footage available, and they show up really late on the DVDVR set, so it's no surprise that people don't realise what a big act they were in the 80s and 90s; but when they finally show up in CMLL the attitude seems to be that they detract from how great 1990 had been when in fact I can't think of anything more lucha than the Brazo brothers. This isn't a match that argues their case as it's mainly just a half-assed tecnico vs. tecnico contest, but it does feature a lot of Dandy vs. Brazo de Oro exchanges, which should get your antennas twitching if you're a hardcore fan. The early parts of this were worked like an exhibition-y show of respect. The exchanges were fun but worked at half speed compared to truly great trios wrestling. Later on they picked up the pace a bit, but it was late December, the end of the season and four days to the holidays. They didn't even take a swing at knocking it out of the park. Amusingly, Konnan had some solid exchanges in this. Scrolling through the match lists, you'd take one look at those names and think Konnan was the weak link holding them back from a Match of the Year Candidate, but you never can tell with lucha. Let it be known that Super Porky was one of the better Konnan match-ups, Jack. Bestia Salvaje/Mano Negra/Titan vs. Apolo Dantes/Oro/Lassertron, CMLL 2/5/93 Watch this for Bestia, stay for Titan... I really only checked this out because I wanted to see how Bestia fared being transitioned back into a secondary role after his killer run in '92, but he got stuck working with Lassertron. The main feuds here were Mano Negra and Oro and Titan and Apolo Dantes. Someone at Televisa was obsessed with filming vignettes of luchadores training. This time it was Oro training under blue lights. Not sure what the blue light was for? Ambiance? The menacing presence of Mano Negra? The match proper was a rudo beat down. I'm fairly convinced that Mano Negra wasn't as good masked as he was during his Dave Finlay run. He did a tremendous job wrenching the shit out of Oro's arm, but it would have been better with that mullet and nefarious grin. There was an element of Cota or Arandu to unmasked Negra. They were nutters; the three of them. You get some character stuff with masked Negra, but it's not as compelling. I'll tell you what was compelling, though -- motherfuckin' Titan. He beat the shit out of Dantes in this match and it was riveting. Looking him up afterwards, I should have known he was a Diablo Velazco trained journeyman. Please tell me we have the Titan/Dantes singles match on tape. There's nothing quite like a lucha vet getting the three week rub off a singles program. More often than not, they take their money earning chance and run with it, and you get these fun feuds that nobody ever told you about. I've seen Fiera beat on Dante of late, as well as Satanico, and neither of them did it with the verve of the former Comando Ruso. I hope there's a blue light Titan training video, Televisa!