ohtani's jacket

You're not getting a sellout out of a hardcore fan base. If 36k paid is true that's a good number, Nobody should have believed the 50k+ predictions just like they shouldn't believe that Akiyama ever drew that much.

It's similar to All Japan Women where every match on the interpromotional cards was four stars or better. I doubt anyone will believe New Japan had such stacked cards in twenty years time. Still, given what spudz25 said the other day about the extent to which Meltzer marks out while watching wrestling, I kind of dig big Dave getting caught up in the heat of the moment.

Johnny Saint vs. Jackie Robinson (Llandudno, taped 1982) Another solid working class bout. I thought Robinson might have gotten more more of a chance to shine, but he was really just along for the ride and the only memorable stuff he contributed were his signature spots. Saint was still Saint, and did plenty of escape holds, but it was more competitive than the usual wink and a grin. Mike Jordan vs. Jackie Robinson (Porthmadog, taped 1982) It figures that the one bout where Robinson looked really good would have half the footage missing. Robinson busted out a bunch of cool holds and finally looked like a lightweight of note. Johnny Saint vs. Jim Breaks (Unknown location, taped 1985) This was years after their primes and not worth watching compared to their 70s stuff, but still kind of fun to see the latter day rendition of their feud. Breaks looked like he could have still been a television regular in '85 and maybe even produced another classic like the Collins bout. The real downside to this was that it was criminally short. Chic Cullen vs. Dave Duran (Unknown location, taped 1985) Dave Duran is so great. I haven't had this much fun watching a jobber to the stars since Studs Lannigan. He had this really great look -- thick stocky guy, hair cut neat, prick-like moustache and a grubby wrestling style. Max Crabtree didn't know what to do with guys like this. He gave Cullen an absolute bruising and even bust out a legit looking choke submission. Awesome stuff. The front row was full of these mischievous looking kids so of course Duran took a bump into the crowd. Neat souvenir. Cullen looked awesome again.

Fuerza Guerrera vs. Misterioso, NWA World Welterweight Championship, CMLL 12/8/91 So let's recap: Misterioso was a modern style worker (great build, pretty athletic, not much in the way of wrestling ability) who was given a mask and a back story and pushed to the moon by Antonio Pena. As with other Pena creations, charismatic rudo Fuerza Guerrera was the go-to guy for a star making tilt. Just about everything in the lead up to the title match was good except for the Fuerza vs. Misterioso exchanges, which didn't instill a lot of confidence in their ability to work a traditional title match. It's doubtful that Pena cared as tradition was the domain of Juan Herrera. When it came to title matches, Pena creations "worked round the gimmick," a turn of phrase coined by our very own Gregor. Fuerza was more than obliging. Could he carry Misterioso through a mat exchange? Could he work the mat himself? It didn't really matter so long as it was entertaining. The only tradition Pena cared about was whatever he could use to make Misterioso more marketable, and in that sense he was clever enough to realise that title match victories still counted for something and that the NWA titles still carried some weight. Misterioso was so ahead of his time even his valet looked like she had implants. Pena was a creative guy whose unused ideas are probably better than half the gimmicks out there today, but the question mark vest plate? Was that the cherry on top? The finishing touch! You've got the brawn, I've got the brains. Let's make lots of... God bless Rangel for going through his pre-fight instructions. This definitely had a big fight feel even if you knew it was going to be smoke and mirrors. I had my eyes glued on Fuerza during the preamble. Watching him shake out the cobwebs and limber up was awesome, and he even went for a legitimate handshake. As expected they didn't stick to the mat for long. There's two ways of looking at that: one is that it's obviously pretty shitty in a lucha title match, the other is that if you can't really mat wrestle then it's probably better to go the story route. That's what they chose to do with a fired up Misterioso looking to expel his nervous energy and the champ looking to lay down a marker. Unfortunately, there were execution issues and Misterioso's nerves looked very real, but they got the first fall under their belts, the finish looked good on replay, and Misterioso continued his rich vein of form from the trios matches, proving to the crowd (at any rate) that he belonged there and that his falls over Fuerza had been no fluke. It was good booking even if the work itself was less than stellar. In between falls there was a cartoonist showing sketches he'd drawn, which reminded me of the 1992 Cricket World Cup. That won't mean much to most of you, but it was devastating for me at thye time as New Zealand lost in the semis. Fuerza was depicted as a mosquito, which had something to do with his nickname, El Mosco de la Merced. I've gotta say it was a pretty crappy sketch. Graham Crackers does a lot better work. Back in the ring, Fuerza gave the crowd a laugh when his second (one of the Espectros) got a little too close with the towel. The second fall was a total beat down. First Misterioso tried beating Fuerza down, then Fuerza beat Misterioso down. Fuerza fouled Misterioso and gave him a little shimmy kick while Rangel wasn't watching. Fouls in title matches; you all know how I feel about that. Fuerza claimed Misterioso did one in the first fall, which he didn't, then feigned innocence on his own indiscretion. It was the same old bull that you get with smoke and mirrors. On nice touch was that Misterioso crawled to the ropes instead of submitting in the scorpion deathlock, which at least signaled he wasn't going to lie down on a foul. Up until now the match had been flimsy as a two bob watch, but the third fall was where Fuerza took over. He guided Misterioso through a steady stream of missed moves, key transitions and dramatic nearfalls. Some of the spots were more benefiting of an apuesta match than a title bout, but it was beautifully paced and washed away any of the bad taste Fuerza had left with his knee to the nether regions. There wasn't really any Fuerza Moment of the Match aside from maybe the missed senton off the crane pose, but that's a spot he liked to do in most of his singles bouts and not a spontaneous moment of genius. Instead it was his selling that was sublime. The way he'd rest on the ropes after Misterioso came close on a pinfall or submission, panting and trying to gather his thoughts. The basic takedowns and transitions he used to fend Misterioso off while still selling the effects of his tope, and the huge gamble he took on a senton to the outside. This is the stuff Fuerza should be known for -- the sell on Misterioso's tope where he had to be lifted back to the ring by his second, and the kick he gave Misterioso after his own dive to the outside even though he was selling some damage to his hand. We didn't see a lot of this in the trios matches, but deep in the title bout were details not seen by even Casas or Emilio Charles Jr during this era. You have to watch it more than once, for example, to pick up on Fuerza biting Misterioso's finger to break up the camel clutch. Fuerza thought he'd won it on a single leg Boston, but Rangel waved it off and no amount of complaining to the commissioner (presumably) was going to overrule the referee's decision. Then, in what was a major upset at the time, he got screwed when his leg touched the rope during a backslide reversal and the ref counted three. Not the most emphatic way to crown a new champion, but a heck of a fall once Fuerza went into overdrive. Proof positive that so long as you finish stronger than you started you're all right. It felt like a colossal waste of Fuerza's talents to begin with and ended up as the best showcase possible, and while it may have snubbed tradition it also felt like a win for Pena and another of his creations. It was smoke and mirrors in terms of Misterioso truly being a good enough welterweight to carry the belt and to that effect the pinfall could have been more decisive, but perhaps it was booked that way to placate Guerrera. In any event, a match that will teach me to be less sarcastic, and a great Fuerza performance (eventually.)

Back to Wales for the best disc of wrestling I've watched in quite some time. Tony St Clair vs. Caswell Martin (Unknown location, taped 1982) St. Clair had filled out quite a bit at this point. It gave him a much more physical presence and made his stuff look better, IMO. He's definitely a guy I feel was missing from Dale Martin and World of Sport at this time. Reslo actually resembled WoS at this point, but something about the style was different. I can't quite put my finger on it, but feels less showy. If this were WoS, you'd expect to see more undressing of holds, but it's more of a straight up bout. It never really kicked into high gear, but any opportunity to see a decent length Martin bout is appreciated. Keith Martinelli vs. Chic Cullen (Aberystwyth, taped 1983) Chic Cullen was the man in Reslo. Of all the guys I've seen work Reslo so far, he's the one who's benefited from working a different territory. He's back in my good graces big time after this Martinelli bout. Martinelli was a veteran middleweight from Bolton whose real name was Keith Williams. I'm guessing he went by "Martinelli" due to Mike Marino and other Italians of dodgy descent. Regardless of how he came about the name, he was allegedly one of the hardest men in professional wrestling and a real nightmare to face. His nickname was "blood boots" and he loved a good scrap apparently. All of that makes him badass, and this was indeed a great journeyman bout. I've seen a couple of his bouts against Johnny Saint and Steve Wright, but I think I liked this more. Early 80s Reslo's the shit. Jon Cortez vs. Keith Haward (Caernarfon, taped 1987) This was really short, but more of the grappling that only these two are capable of. There was a strange lull before the finish, but other than that it was almost RINGS like at times. Kung Fu vs. Jon Cortez (Porthmadog, taped 1987) Several notches down from the Haward bout, but it's almost unfair comparing the two. Cortez looked almost unrecognisable in the Haward fight. I think he'd put on weight, particularly in the face. Maybe you can tell this bout wasn't very interesting. Reslo appears to have suffered the same malaise as the rest of the UK, but booking this kind of stuff in '87 really didn't help. A guy who was a part timer at best against a washed up Kung Fu isn't the greatest look. Jackie Robinson vs. Carl Jason (Anglesey, taped 1982) The elusive Jackie Robinson! Jackie Robinson was the younger cousin of Billy and a lightweight of some repute, but the footage we have of him is usually clipped or compromised in some other way. Reslo probably provides the best look at him. I was actually more taken with his opponent here. Jason was one of those long time pros who'd worked the indies and never gotten in with Dale Martin and the TV, and while this appeared to be a Jackie Robinson showcase, Jason took the bull by the horns and had himself a memorable outing. Neat to see someone get their shit in during a showcase bout. Rollerball Rocco vs. Chic Cullen (Llandudno, taped 1982) This was a typical post-70s Rocco performance. It didn't need to be a typical post-70s Rocco performance because it was a bout with Frank "Chic" Cullen, but the Rocco persona was a bit of a monster at this stage. Not that it was bad or anything, but I'm more interested in watching Cullen take centre stage in this territory.

Watching films from the Sight and Sound list is about as hip as listening to records from The Rolling Stone 500. That little dig aside, either way you miss out. There's a ton of contemporary stuff I might have enjoyed if I'd been paying attention, but the past keeps me fully occupied. Some styles are simply dead, though. Shoot style is dead. Trios wrestling is dead in my opinion. Apuesta matches are dead, at least the old school variety. World of Sport died a long time ago. It's easier to jump off the bandwagon when it leaves you behind.

Delta, Fuego y Guerrero Maya Jr. vs. Hechicero, Hombre sin Nombre y Virus, CMLL 11/11/14 A good trios match is hard to find these days. I don't know if you can expect anything great from a trios match anymore. They're almost like a dead art form. I'd take something with a little rhythm, but even that's a challenge these days. This was praised for its matwork, but honestly the Virus/Maya exchanges weren't on the level of Virus' title match work this year. I won't complain about Virus getting extra minutes on the mat, but a little sobriety is needed before dishing out the praise. You could tell it wasn't that great when they signaled for the stalemate and the atmosphere was less than electric. Hechicero and Delta worked harder at breaking through each other's defences and their exchange ended on a more competitive note than Virus'. It wasn't the prettiest of exchanges, but better than the Virus section. Some of that was on Maya, who was disappointing in this despite being given the chance to shine, but it wasn't top drawer Virus either. Hechicero's not in Virus' league as a mat worker, but he uses his height to great effect and this time round I actually saw a lot of similarities between Fiera and him. Hombre sin Nombre was goofy to say the least. He reminded me of that odd period when Virus was still Damiancito El Guerrero and had just graduated to wrestling normal sized people. Virus was a waif at the time with a similar sort of get-up. He wasn't too bad I guess; Hombre, that is. I've seen worse even in the boom times. Virus injecting himself while Fuego gyrated was a nice touch, but I was perplexed when it didn't signal the finish. I'm so used to synchronized finishes where they all rush in and eat a pin fall or submission that it didn't occur to me the match would continue. A lot of people hate those finishes in lucha; I suppose they've become a comfort to me. The matches lack something in rhythm without them and come across as far less polished. Hechicero took the fall with a nasty looking submission, but it seemed disconnected from the rest of the match. The rudos didn't even set a screen to prevent the tecnicos from interfering. It was as though there was a basic lack of teamwork; the very backbone of trios wrestling. The second fall began with some sharp looking legwork from Virus that didn't really go anywhere before Maya and Hechicero had a spirited exchange. Mechanically it wasn't that great, but again the purpose and intent were clear, and some of Hechicero's takedowns have a shoot like quality to them that you don't see too often in lucha. In another sign that trios wrestling is dead, they tried mixing things up for the finish with one pin canceling out the other, but it was like trying to light a fire with wet matches. The tercera began like a weak primera caida, and ironically when they started working together as tandem like I asked for it was an uncoordinated mess. Virus' work with Delta was fluid, but the rest of the exchanges were unspectacular. They front loaded this match with a long primera caida and a flashy finishing sequence in the second fall, and couldn't do anything to top it in the third fall. That's just limp wrestling. At least the mano a mano showdown between Hechicero and Maya had some bite. Of course it wasn't built to in any sort of meaningful way, but at least you came out of the contest thinking that a singles match between the two would be a decent power contest. Hechicero was the best worker in the match by a country mile, but couldn't right the ship structurally. All of this raises the question of who, or what, killed trios wrestling. On one hand, the workers tried to step outside the box and move away from the generic CMLL style trios work that's plagued Arena Mexico for much of this decade. On the other hand, they stumbled. I've always maintained that you don't need that many cooks to have a great trios match. Just an Atlantis/Lizmark/Solar/Santo type tecnico on one side and at least two great rudos on the other. It would have helped matters considerably if Maya could be that ring general, but he's unfortunately not that talented. That puts the onus on rudos like Hechicero, Virus, Arkangel de la Muerte, and others, to really carry these matches, and I don't think we saw that here. Trim a bit of the fat, put the more spectacular stuff towards the end, make it all about Hechicero vs. Maya, and it would have been much better. The effort wasn't there this year, perhaps synonymous with the downturn in business. When the two most pimped trios matches of the year disappoint that should signal troubling times for lucha fans. Trios are the lifeblood of lucha libre and need to be better than this. Perhaps the lack of great trios wrestling was offset by how much people enjoyed the short one fall matches, but with the old school apuesta match going the way of the dodo, I'd hate to see another tradition lost.

I don't watch new movies or listen to new music, and I pretty much have my head buried in the past when it comes to wrestling too, but I will say it's easier to cherry pick the past than it is to wait for something good to happen. Picking and choosing what you watch can make pretty much anything seem better than it was. Pretty much the worst year I ever had watching wrestling was 1995 and I'm sure I could find matches from that era I think are better than today's stuff, but does that really mean '95 was better? Ease of access also makes things less coveted and therefore less special. Typing into a search engine's not quite the same as reading about all these great matches that only traders had. The standard answer is that wrestling was better when guys came up through the territories, when there were a number of vibrant promotions and legendary trainers breaking guys into the business, and when the crowds were different, the stadiums older and the production values lower, but I think it's actually harder to appreciate matches as they happen as opposed to a decade later. Once people start looking back on this era and doing "best of the 10s" and what not, people will formulate the classics, the hidden gems, and so on. I know a lot of people do that already with ongoing MOTY lists, etc., but if 2014 is given the distance that say 1999 was given with the Yearbook, I expect some fresh ideas about it in the future, especially once you remove people's feelings about the booking and the backstage politics.

Here were last year's: I have a few more discs left on the Lucha History Lessons. It ended up being awfully time consuming for something that didn't have a lot of interest. I did learn a lot, however. I'm in the home stretch with WoS, though that guy has started uploading random stuff I didn't order so it might take me longer than expected. The rest of my resolutions didn't happen. I couldn't keep up to date with the modern stuff, a couple of great channels popped up for lucha, and the time I said I'd spend watching something regularly went to other hobbies. This year, I just want to finish the history lessons, finish watching British wrestling and update my blog more regularly. I'm not participating in any polls so I've eliminated any sort of pressure to watch stuff.

He was hard, but I don't think he was legit. He just liked to do crazy shit like the pig story -- http://ichlugebullets.wordpress.com/2009/07/11/its-les-kellett-140am-on-a-friday-night-on-ichlugebullets/

I don't really see why it's one or the other. Some people are great peak candidates and some people are great career candidates and you weigh them up against each other. It seems odd to me that you would have a list where the top spots were full of one or the other.

I don't know the answer, but I remember that being a real head trip as a kid when our local tabloids revealed it.

Back to the 70s: Kendo Nagasaki vs. Prince Kumali (4/6/76) I'll say this for Nagasaki: he drew an incredible amount of heat. The crowd were right behind Kumali here and I don't think it was because he was a crowd favourite. You won't hear too many bigger pops in British wrestling than the nearfall Kumali got here. It even had me sitting up and taking notice. Nagasaki actually looked good here. Not "all-time great" good, but he was definitely backing his gimmick up with some substance. It helped that the crowd were electric, but there was a clear formula to what he was doing and the whole Nagasaki act went up in my estimation off this one match. Fun stuff. Kendo Nagasaki vs. Lee Bronson (1/25/77) Same Croydon crowd, same hot match. Maybe the Nagasaki act worked well in Croydon, I don't know. These were the days when Bronson was the next young hope, before he lost all his hair and they moved onto the next young heart throb. His attempts at rolling his eyes back into his head on Nasagaki's chokes were almost comical, but apart from that he was perfect babyface material. Nagasaki again looked slicker than in other matches I've seen. He could execute the basic holds all right, he just wasn't that pretty a mover. I absolutely love his finisher. There's no getting up from that unless you're one of the top stars, which Bronson obviously wasn't. Another thumbs up for Kendo. Dynamite Kid vs. Tony Scarlo (7/29/77) This was a neat match between Dynamite Kid and skilled veteran Tony Scarlo. It wasn't particularly long but everything they did was quick and extremely fluid. I said it the other day, but with Dynamite being this good at such a young age and having already taken the British Lightweight title off Breaks, if he'd stayed in England and bought a pub or something (and never done steroids), he would have been every bit as good as Breaks, Grey and Jones in the 80s and possibly the best of the lot Steve Kelly vs. Dino Scarlo (7/29/77) Young "boy match" between two proteges of Mike Marino, one the son of Peter Kelly and the other the nephew of Tony Scarlo. They did their thing for several minutes and the crowd gave them good support. Scarlo kept putting his dukes up, which was amusing. The finish was a bit of an over eager double countout that they were probably nervous about. Scarlo tried to sell how much pain he was in, but it sounded almost obscene. Never underestimate how hard it actually is to sell well. Afterwards, Marino was in the ring with the Kelly and Scarlo Sr., and Walton tripped over himself to shake hands with Marino. Man did he love Mike Marino. Mike Shannon vs. Steve Kelly (10/4/77) Young Kelly got a big win over a second year man here. Not much of a match, but a neat moment. I thought the MC did a superb job of handling the result afterwards without embarrassing Shannon. Wayne Bridges vs. Ed Wensor (10/4/77) Before the match, Bridges was approached by this woman wearing a sort of cheap "I Dream of Jeannie" outfit. She gave Bridges a peck on the cheek and some sort of homemade gift, and Walton could be heard off air telling something that her "racket" was pretending to be a Duchess. Wensor was making his re-debut here, having appeared once before on television according to Walton. He pushed Bridges pretty hard for a couple of rounds. The match was no great shakes, but not as bad as a lot of Bridges' stuff. Wensor would go on to feature sporadically over the next few years and "sporadic" is being generous. Sid Cooper & Joe Murphy vs. Johnny Kwango & Clive Myers (8/15/74) It took me a while to click here that Kwango and Myers were actually called "The Coloured Superstars" and that announcer Bobby Palmer wasn't simply calling them that. This was the usual tag mess. "The Roughnecks" Murphy and Cooper got tremendous heat with the crowd throwing the towel in for them and almost coming unhinged when Cooper threatened to get into a scrap with Bobby Palmer, but Murphy was one of the least talented journeymen I've seen on a television broadcast and there wasn't much super about the Superstars. The Exorcist vs. Bob Kirkwood (12/4/74) This was the supposedly long awaited debut of The Exorcist. I was hoping he'd come to the ring with a bible and cross, maybe a little holy water, but he was just another masked grappler. I think it Clayton Thomson under the mask here. Walton did his best to put the gimmick over, stating repeatedly how The Exorcist had refused to speak to him in the locker room or give any information about himself. There was some awkwardness at first as Thomson did some freestyle moves while Walton was trying to put over that he was a slow mover, but he soon settled into his work with the claw hold. As with most angles on WoS, it could have been done so much better (and probably would have on a Paul Lincoln show, I imagine), but credit to Bob Kirkwood. He may not have looked like much, but he was the consummate pro who did whatever the promoters asked of him, including putting over masked men. Clive Myers & Johnny Kwango vs. Pete & John LaPaque (10/10/74) The LaPaque brothers were awesome. I love Pete LaPaque. One small regret I have is that I didn't order every match he has on tape. This was much better than the Roughnecks tag with the LaPaques operating more like a 60s catch team, cutting off the ring and working more of a Southern style tag. There were a lot of great exchanges between all four men, but this was another tag where Walton saw no drama in the final stanza. With three minutes to go it was anybody's match yet Kent was remarkably subdued. In the end there was a result, but it was another case where the losing partner stood by idly as his teammate was pinned. That's a hard convention to get used to when you're coming from other styles. Apart from that it was an enjoyable tag. Bill Torontos vs. Ivan Penzecoff (5/8//74) It's been a while since I've seen Torontos in full blown comedy mode. I'd forgotten how mad it was. Some of the jokes here were pretty funny actually, and as with most British comedy matches, the timing of the spots was excellent. Torontos had this ongoing bit where he'd try to copy what his opponent had just done to great effect. As a piece of post-modernism, his gimmick was actually quite intriguing given how well conditioned the WoS fans were. I mean these were fans who were so well trained by Walton that they'd cry "that's not wrestling!" at rule benders. They knew their wrestling well and they had to have been in on the work here. Performance-wise, I think the biggest compliment you can pay Torontos is that was an element of the silent film comedians to him. This is the first time I can remember seeing Penzecoff's Indian Rubber Man schtick. or maybe I just never noticed before. The match wasn't as fun when they started taking it seriously and it went a bit long, but surprisingly Penzecoff jobbed. I guess he was just happy to get out of there and hit the bar.

Ultimo Dragon vs. Negro Casas, UWA World Middleweight Title, Los Angeles 7/9/94 This was the house show version of a lucha title match, and a US house show to boot, but it was still a lot of fun. Casas had the Olympic Auditorium in the palm of his hand and it was a great lesson in watching him work a live crowd. There wasn't much mat work to speak of in the primera caida. It was mostly Ultimo getting the upper hand over Casas with some limb work, leading to a beautiful counter to Negro's kip up where Ultimo span and caught him with the arm drag. Ultimo was never the most interesting guy on the mat, so I didn't have a problem with them using counters to set a competitive tone. It wasn't as though they were Atlantis and Panther and forgoing the mat work. But when Ultimo went for a left/right combo with his kicks, Casas feigned that one had drifted too high, and with the ref distracted, delivered a low blow. That got the desired heat, but it was a sign that this wasn't going to be your regular sanctioned title bout. From there they threw title match structure out the window and allowed Casas' natural charisma to take over. He spent much of the second fall hugging the ref and egging on the crowd. In one of those great lucha moments, there was a guy with his own towel helping fan Ultimo. That must have aided him in his recovery as he soon cut loose with a barrage of kicks. Casas was sent flying into an old-school guard rail and lay sprawled out on the floor. Some punk kid ran and whispered something in his ear while another tried to kick him. Back in the ring, Casas tried faking a low blow, which had whole sections of the crowd waving it off to the referee. The referee was this little guy who milked his interactions with the crowd for all they were worth. It would have been annoying in a proper title match, but again this was a house show version. Ultimo took the segunda with another flurry of offence and this likewise began to resemble a 1994 juniors match. There was a whole bunch of shtick between Casas and his second during the toweling off period that the camera man didn't really catch and I didn't really get, but I think the crowd were taunting him with the "ole" chant. Noodles would probably know. He knows everything like that. As for the third fall, it was basically Casas trying to survive an onslaught of Ultimo's Japanese offence by taking out his leg in the guardrail, which is not a very "title match" thing to do, is it? Casas tried getting Ultimo to submit in the scorpion deathlock then Ultimo popped up when Negro went to the top, which won't delight too many people. Casas took a neat bump from a dropkick, though, and then Ultimo followed up with a cool looking tope w/ the cameraman zooming in on Casas' selling to make you forget that egregious pop up. Casas does great work out on the floor, it has to be said. I loved the way he crawled along on all fours before getting up. Back in the ring, the nearfalls came thick and fast and even Casas went to the mid-90s juniors well with a type of powerbomb. Really good selling from Casas down the stretch. You bought that he couldn't withstand the moonsault at the end after almost biting it on a few of the moves prior. Ultimo winning got a big pop even though it was a bit of a blah-ish sequence of 1994 juniors moves, but hey it was 1994. Not really essential, but plenty of fun watching Casas do his thing in front of a receptive crowd.

El Hijo del Santo, Misterioso, Ultimo Dragon vs. Emilio Charles Jr., Fuerza Guerrera, La Fiera, CMLL 11/22/91 This was another match from the Misterioso feud; this one happening the week before the trios match I wrote about last time. The match had tremendous heat but wasn't as fun as the return bout. Fiera took an inordinately long time folding his bandanna and seemed disinterested in his opening exchange with Misterioso. Emilio tried to get something going with Ultimo, but Asai was still quite green in '91 so the stuff Emilio was bumping for didn't look that good. Then Fuerza didn't want to wrestle Santo, which had a payoff later on but sucked in the meantime. The second go through gave us our first real look at Misterioso working a fast paced trios exchange. Not surprisingly, it was the splitting image of modern lucha. 1991 Misterioso could walk straight off the street and fight in in with the current lot. If anything, he was faster than the present mob. Emilio had another go at making Ultimo look good and they actually got into a pretty good groove sprinting between the ropes. Ultimo did that Peking Opera School move of his where he dives over the top of his man, but Emilio outfoxed him with a lariat. He was so pleased with himself that he was celebrating in the ropes like Cota, which led to the Fuerza Moment of the Match w/ Fuerza coming across and ruffling up his hair. The rest of the Ultimo exchange was pretty good as well. They did this neat spot where Emilio caught Ultimo and put him on top turnbuckle. Then as he was going to hit Ultimo, Asai blocked his punch with a kick and countered with a reverse hurricanrana. Emilio went sprawling to the outside and did one of his stock bumps onto his ass. I also loved the way he sold Ultimo's enziguiri as though he'd been shot. He even saluted when catching the leg, which looked brilliant in slow mo. Santo's diving headbutt also looked killer on the replay, but sadly for us taking one to the noggin was about Fuerza's only contribution to the match at that point. The segunda caida was a tidy rudo response. It began with more of the dream match-up, Santo vs. Emilio, and progressed to a lesson from the rudos to Ultimo in how you kick the shit out of someone rudo style. Then a couple of fouls when the refs weren't looking (which Emilio claimed were the inner thigh), and enough right hands to need ice afterwards, and you've got yourself a deciding fall. Fuerza was pretty happy with pinning Santo despite the fact he'd still barely wrestled. I'll say one thing for Fuerza, though: he was extremely good at kick/punch brawling. If you're not good at kick/punch brawling it can be extremely meandering, especially in lucha rudo falls, but Fuerza was a master at it. Fiera flog splashed the crap out of Ultimo at the end of the fall. He crushed him like a bug or a lizard. Whatever works for you. Early on in the tercera caida, there was more quality brawling from Emilio and Fuerza, two of the greats. The tecnico comeback was lively and spirited with the rudos eating plenty of postings. Santo finally got his hands on Fuerza and bulldogged him into the mat. Then he whipped him into the corner and Fuerza took a Psicosis style bump into the ring post and out to the floor. That's another thing Fuerza could do well -- take nutty bumps. It's also where being smaller came in handy as he would take such pastings when the tecnicos finally got their hands on him. The match ended with two big dives and a mano a mano section where Misterioso got a submission victory over Guerrera. Fiera avoided Ultimo's tope only to walk straight into a rocket-like plancha from Santo. That looked so fucking cool. The early 90s truly were Santo's peak. Not to be outclassed, Ultimo followed it up with his Asai moonsault on a helpless Emilio. Bits and pieces of this were good, but as the build-up to Fuerza vs. Misterioso, the actual exchanges between them continued to be underwhelming with Fuerza not really doing enough to push the feud to the forefront of the matches. I'm not sure why he was so big on avoiding Santo here. I guess the switch to Misterioso at the end set up the revancha and title shot. Again a lot of the entertainment was provided by Emilio. Fiera was okay, but not as good as he was in the revancha. Next up is the title match.

I like the pictures, but the numbers are way too arbitrary. Baba gets a 20 for matwork? Bret is an 8 for brawling? I don't get a lot of the stiffness rankings either. Why is Eaton so low for stiffness? I think it would be better if people were about to vote themselves instead of just being presented a bunch of numbers. The numbers as presented don't really make me want to argue the point. They just confuse or surprise me.

You won't find a lot of information on the web. Even in Spanish a lot of the info is sketchy. On top of that, almost all of the footage up until 1989 is missing or was never recorded. You'd be better off going through either the 80s set or starting in a year like 1990. You can follow most of the big feuds in the yearbook threads. The best English resources are Jose (pantherwagner), Robert Bihari from DVDVR, Luchawiki and cubsfan's match database. The best Spanish resources would be the magazines if there were full sets of them.

I think most people would agree that Morton was better at selling than Race or Martel. It seems like you're giving out too many 20s.

I don't see how Brisco, Race or Martel are better than say Ricky Morton, Rey Mysterio or Mayumi Ozaki using your criteria for selling.

Virus vs. Stigma, CMLL World Super Lightweight Championship, CMLL 7/14/14 This was generally regarded as the weakest of Virus' title matches this year, largely because Stigma didn't hold up his end of the bout as well as Virus' other opponents, but it was still a decent title bout. I especially liked the opening fall. It was great seeing Virus back in his element after the somewhat disappointing Navarro bout. Virus was back in the driver's seat where he belongs and guided Stigma through a high quality primera caida. I liked the way Virus rode Stigma here and the force with which he applied his take downs, especially the arm lock. Like most Virus opponents, Stigma was mostly limited to counters, but Virus did a sterling job selling each hold and it never felt like he was leading Stigma by the nose. Stigma's problem wasn't on the mat, but in the standing exchanges. He had one beautiful arm drag in the opening fall, but another instance where he was all at sea figuring out what to do with a hunched over Virus, who really had to feed Stigma a lot of his counters when they were standing. Stigma's the kind of youngster who likes to add a flip to everything to stand out from the pack, but he really needs to work on his transitions. Fortunately, Virus gave him plenty of examples like the little shoulder tackle that led to the power slam and submission. Neat fall that played out well in Arena Puebla. I don't know if you can have a fall like that in Arena Mexico these days as the workers are cordoned off so much from the crowd. The ring looks like it's surrounded by a moat and the atmosphere's not really conductive to title match wrestling. The worst part of Stigma's performance came in the second fall. Virus was dominating the fall and it was time for Stigma to make his comeback, but it didn't seem like he had a cool how to transition back onto offence. There was an awkward pause in the corner where it was almost like they were taking a timeout. Even Virus seemed to be thinking "don't you wanna win this fall, kid?" Then when he did make the transition his offence was less than inspiring and the submission he applied was laboured. Tecnicos are meant to have superior technique to rudos or at least do cool shit. Still, Virus sold it like a champ and the match continued. The third fall was an honest attempt at an old school barn burner. It didn't really work because of how nervous Stigma seemed on offence, but once Virus took over he did his damnedest to make it seem like he was going deep in the pocket to pull out the win. There were some nice nearfalls towards the end, and I thought the selling and pacing were good which meant the effort was there even if the execution wasn't. The only real misstep Virus made was not saving his best stuff for late in the stretch run. Unlike his other title matches this year, he didn't take any bumps to the outside or hit any big moves. Stigma had already tossed out his best dive; the one where he takes off from the second rope. I don't know if it's just me, but it looks like a blown spot in real time. It's kind of ugly and pretty at the same time. Without any big artillery, they ran out of things to do, which is surprising in a match laid out by Virus. I liked the way he took it home w/ the heel hook and elbows that set up the finish (more examples of the transitions Stigma lacked), but the match didn't really end on the right beat. Despite all that, it was the best Virus performance so far during this catch up period and an enjoyable attempt at trying to create something memorable amid the millions of hours of regular programming. Virus vs. Dragon Lee, lightning match, CMLL 9/2/14 This was skippable. I liked the tenacity that Virus showed while they were rolling around on the mat and some of the chippiness later on when neither man had any qualms about kicking the other in the face, but for the most part it was a generic lightning match that was geared towards the finishing stretch. Regrettably, the finishing stretch was unremarkable, and Lee wound up over doing the boot to the face to the point where he seemed to be aping New Japan workers. Not a great Virus performance this one. Wouldn't really bother with it if I were you. Lee brings a lot of energy to his bouts, but I wish he would slow down and stop being so hyperactive. If he picked his spots more, he'd be better to watch. We'll see how good he looks in the title match to cap this year-end review.

Maybe the barber only had those scissors with him. To be honest, I think enough of Estrada's locks came off in the ring to satisfy the crowd.

Continuing with the 1983 theme: Vic Faulkner vs. Johnny Kidd (aired 5/28/83) There's been some talk on here lately about how there are two types of Faulkner, the smart alec prankster and the royally ticked off type (pun intended.) But there was a third variation and that was a straight wrestler. He still had a smart arse grin on his face and pulled a few of his tricks, but for most part he was determined to guide the Ken Joyce protege through a solid bout. It didn't last long, however, as there was a screwy finish a few rounds in. Tom Tyrone vs. King Kong Kirk (4/7/83) Inexplicably bad match as Kirk just did whatever he liked, including laying on top of Tyrone and cutting off his breathing, and yet Rees refused to throw him out. That kind of heel cheating works okay if there's a payoff, but it's boring in a bout like this one where the heel is going over. Pat Patton vs. John Wilkie (11/1/83) I had disc troubles on this one but it looked all right. It was a short bout from a special Haystacks vs. Daddy team event. Wilkie was a journeyman, but solid. In Patton, they not only had a replacement for Kung Fu, but someone who was better. I doubt he drew as well as Kung Fu. though. Jim Breaks vs. Mick McMichael (3/23/83) Pat Patton vs. Sid Cooper (3/23/83) Steve Grey vs. Pat Patton (3/23/83) These were part of a special one night only knockout tournament, which meant that each match had a five minute time limit. The Breaks match was awful from the point of view of those of us who want to see more of his matches as he was DQ'ed after only a few minutes. He had an amusing reaction to being awarded a baby doll with pacifier however. The Cooper match was a flash pin and another nothing bout. The Grey bout went to the time limit, and was good, but you want more than five minutes from those two. I made a mistake and didn't order the final between McMichael and Patton, but surprise, surprise it went to a draw. Mick McMichael vs. Pat Patton (4/7/83) The standard rematch. I thought McMichael looked somewhat stupid trying to do the same comedy spots from his Faulkner bouts in a more serious tournament final. After forcing a replay of this bout, they actually had the nerve to book a screwy finish with Patton going down injured. Marty Jones & Clive Myers vs. John Naylor & King Ben (6/13/83) I think this is the first time I've seen Jones wrestle Ben. It was awesome to see that match-up. Jones vs. Naylor was also good, but a bit more flippy-floppy. What was less impressive were the Myers sections. Myers vs. Ben was okay, but the Naylor stuff was downright sloppy. It seemed to me there was a step up in quality every time Jones was in the ring. Steve McHoy vs. Barry Douglas (4/7/83) Only the last few minutes of this were shown, but the young heart throb Steve McHoy continued to look impressive. He was extremely athletic for a heavyweight and won with a beautiful folding pin move that looked wonderfully executed given the size difference between the two men. John Naylor vs. Kid Chocolate (2/16/83) This may have been the most predictable bout I've ordered. Kid Chocolate always underwhelms and Naylor is Naylor. There was some decent looking stuff, but you knew they were going to potter along until the finish. Dave Duran vs. Jim Moser (3/21/83) Perhaps the most inauspicious World of Sport debut ever as poor Dave Duran was injured only minutes into the opening round. Fuck knows why. He deserved more as he was a solid worker.

I'd also have that #100 on the set.

In fairness, I think only the first 55 minutes are shtick

Whenever a luchadore loses a hair match they end up fully shaven. Some hair matches are the culmination of a heated feud or part of an ongoing rivalry. Others are thrown out there with very little build. Estrada's hair was part of his persona, but that's not important. Hair is hair as far as apuesta matches go. It doesn't really matter whether it's a big part of your look. It's a matter of pride.