ohtani's jacket

Gaining weight affects wrestlers' performances. Buddy Rose seemed much better to me when he trimmed down in the early 80s, and as for the pictures Matt posted we've seen what gaining weight did to Super Astro and Super Porky. If Dick Murcoch had gained another twenty or thirty kilos it would have affected his work.

Les Celtes (Jean Corne/Michel Falempin) vs. Inca Wiracocha et José Gonzales ('68?) This wasn't as good as some of the other tags that have been uploaded, but it still amazes me how much better French tag wrestling is than anywhere else in Europe. This was all about the arm drag exchanges and how well Gonzales bumped for them. Those armdrags into a headscissors was straight out of lucha and should be aped along with a bunch of other stuff.

Yeah, his run from '72-84 after he developed the crybaby persona is one of the all-time great runs. I'm glad you're enjoying it. Steve Grey is another guy who I think might be a legit top 20 guy ever and perhaps even the greatest babyface worker of all-time. I can't get over the amount of great matches Grey had.

Keith Haward vs. Mal Sanders (5/10/83) I didn't realise until this was over and I checked my notes that I'd seen it before. That's an increasing problem now that I've watched just about everything. Looking back on my comments, it seems I was nonplussed with the lack of charisma from Haward and the lack of any spark from the match. This time I thought it was pretty damn good. It might even be the best Sanders match I've seen. Haward outclassed him severely, but it was still an enjoyable contest. It was interesting that after taking a long break from Haward, I was more excited by his wrestling than the last time I saw a bunch of him. He's a wrestling machine, and that's all you get -- just relentless wrestling -- but it's cool if you're in the mood for it. Steve Grey vs. Jackie Turpin (8/11/82) This was a sensational match. Turpin troubled Grey more than anybody had in a while, so much so that Grey began losing his cool. I don't think I've ever seen Grey lose his cool because an opponent is getting the better of him. Turpin pushed him so hard that when Jackie injured himself, Grey went after it with an almost frenzied desperation. Great match that made me want to see every other Jackie Turpin match despite the fact I know they won't be as good. Call it the Steve Grey effect. King Kong Mal Kirk vs. Johnny Wilson (1/13/81) I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but this had the most heat I've seen outside of the Caribbean Sunshine Boys. I'm not sure poor old Mal Kirk enjoyed this period of his career, but he was ugly as sin and over as hell and the people wanted to see Daddy squash him. Catweazle vs. Steve Peacock (1/9/80) Steve Regal says this match is better than McManus vs. Catweazle. Can't say I agree with you there, Steve. Catweazle taking the lead was bloated and not particularly funny. It didn't help that 'Gaylord' Steve Peacock didn't seem to do his gay gimmick on debut, and Walton was putting over his black belt credentials and the fact he was a defensive man in ice hockey instead of the usual fair with Bobby Barnes and Adrian Street. But still, Catweazle is better when he's playing off a guy like McManus than when he's calling the bout. Giant Haystacks vs. Wayne Bridges (7/26/78) This was what you'd expect -- Haystacks stalled and jawed with the crowd, threw some cheap shots and used his tremendous weight advantage to crush Bridge's leg, and Bridges then made a comeback with flying shoulder blocks -- but Haystacks again proved he was about a trillion times better than Dandy. The match finished with a floor board popping up, which they sold as people the result of 50 stone falling on it, but the planned finish would have been some sort of schmoz anyway.

Cien Caras vs. Siglo XX (4/10/87) Luchawiki has a 4/12/87 date for this, which is itself a typo as the match actually took place on 12/4/87. EMLL would usually have a double bill of apuestas matches on the first Friday in December, which more or less served as their year end show. In 1987, they ran a hair match between Irma Aguilar and Rossy Moreno and a mask match beween Caras and Siglo XX. The women's match was actually quite significant as women's wrestling had been banned in the Federal District from the early 50s until the end of 1986. In the early 1980s, the Nacional de Luchadores, Referís and Retirados (National Association of Wrestlers, Referees, and Retirees) began working on a repeal on the ban on luchadoras, which they were able to push through when the Comisión de Box y Lucha Libre Mexico D.F was restructured following the death of Luis Spota, who had been president of the commission since 1957. Apparently, during the course of the repeal, the NLRR union discovered that the commission had never been granted legal authority and that lucha libre had no binding regulations. That greatly loosened the commission's control over lucha libre and by the turn of the decade lucha would be back on television in the Federal District and essentially under the control of Televisa. From all accounts, women's wrestling enjoyed a surge in popularity with its return to the capital and there were several apuestas matches at Arena Mexico in the late 80s starting with Pantera Surena vs. Chela Salazar in June of '87. Anyway, back to the match. Siglo XX was the brother of Enrique Vera and had a reputation for being a terrible worker, kind of like the Sicodelico to Vera's Mil Mascara/Dos Caras. He'd come up through Guadalajara and won a couple of local workers' masks, but really hadn't done anything special. The match was set uo in the usual way with trios matches such as La Fiera/Siglo XX/Villano III vs. Caras/Mascara Ano 2000/Sangre Chicana the week before. More noteworthy than the match itself was that a month after he unmasked, Siglo was back under a hood at El Toreo, this time as 'El Asesino de Bronx' The Killer. Luchadores aren't supposed to change masks quite that quickly, but as I mentioned the commission had lost a lot of power by this stage. Billed as two meters tall, to hide his identity he dyed his hair blonde and rumours spread that he was American. The Killer was a regular with the UWA until they closed and was a three time UWA World Junior Heavyweight champion. He feuded extensively with his brother and for a number of years the UWA teased a hair vs. mask match between the two. Later, he had runs in both AAA and CMLL and he continues to work the independent circuit even now.

Nick Bockwinkel vs. Curt Hennig (12/25/86) Another great Hennig/Bockwinkel match. They were pretty blatant with the way they used a mirror-like structure to show that the two were equals, or that Hennig was closing the gap, but it was fairly well done and I accepted it as a trope. Hennig looked great working from the top in this match and Bockwinkel of course was an excellent cagey vet. Stylistically, this was such a good match-up. The finish was the only kind of finish we were going to get in this stage of Hennig's rise, but Bockwinkel cut a great promo afterwards about Hennig having to learn from these sort of situations, and of course it was paid off with the heel turn, which is tremendous long term booking by wrestling standards.

The greatest masked wrestler in terms of persona is El Santo and next would probably be Blue Demon. As far as workers go, El Hijo del Santo, Blue Panther and Villano III would rank as the best of our lifetime.

Steve Grey vs. Jackie Turpin (5/22/85) This was shaping up to be a truly excellent bout until they pulled an injury finish. To Turpin's credit, he took a committed tumble through the ropes and sold the injury about as well as you'll see in British wrestling, but it was still an injury finish. The meat and potatoes was great tho. Turpin had an unnatural build for wrestling because of his boxing background, and didn't seem like he'd be much chop, but he was extremely quick and matched up well with Grey. Mind you, everyone matches up well with Grey. Jackie Turpin vs. Steve Grey (12/15/82) This was a gimmick match similar to the German tiebreakers, where you'd get a point every time you threw your man to canvas. It was the final of a knockout tournament and Walton raved about how this new format was going to really take off. Suffice to say, it didn't. It was interesting to see them see something different, but I was hoping for more of the same re: the above. Brian Crabtree also bugged me by not counting the first point. That bugged me for the entire duration. Davey Boy Smith vs. Bernie Wright (2/9/83) This has to be seen to be believed. Davey had been away for a few years and clearly he's been saying his prayers and taking his vitamins. The difference between Davey Boy here and his Young David days is staggering. He uses his new found strength to pretty good effect against Bernie Wright if you can get past how roided he is. Unbelievable. Colonel Brody vs. Steve Logan (1/9/86) Steve Logan was rocking the new wave hair style. Brody's gimmick was pretty watered down on British television. I don't think Walton acknowledged that he was South African military. The match was okay, I guess, but without the edge to Brody's character his work isn't all that compelling.

Do you mean the best worker who wore a mask or the best masked persona?

Tony Salazar, Mogur y Alfonso Dantes vs. Hombre Bala, Talisman y Tony Bennetto vs. Satanico, MS-1 y Masakre (4/10/87) This was a one night only Cuadrangular de Tercias tournament. The teams were: Tony Salazar/Mogur/Alfonso Dantes Hombre Bala/Talisman/Tony Bennetto Satanico/MS1/Masakre (Los Infernales) Javier Llanes/Atlantis/Cachorro Mendoza The first two matches are single fall semi-finals. The final is 2/3 falls. The only new wrestler here is Mogur, who we'll get to in more detail with the Anniversary Show match. He had some heat here with Talisman, who he'd vanquished for the National Middleweight title, and Satanico, who was trying to take it off him. There was also long standing heat between Satanico and Dantes with the pair of them having been in a hair match in '85.

Atlantis, El Hijo del Santo y Tony Salazar vs. El Satanico, El Dandy y Espectro Jr. (4/3/87) The only real significance to this match was that it was another of Santo's Arena Mexico appearances. EMLL brought him in again in June where he worked a similar match w/ Lizmark subbing for Tony Salazar. Then they used him on the Anniversary Show where he tagged with Eddy Guerrero against Dandy and El Hijo Del Gladiador (aka Talisman.) But the real stuff took place in the independents where Santo had another bumper year taking a pair of masks and half a dozen scalps. The list of names he faced is salivating, such was the strength of the lightweight division even after the Misioneros and other trios had broken up. In the span of a few months, he took on Black Terry, Ray Richard, Lobo Rubio, Negro Cass and Espanto Jr. His long reign as UWA World Lightweight champion came to an end, however, when he fell to Espanto Jr. in Coahuila. Eventually, he would win back the title on the big stage at El Toreo and hold on to it until 1991 when he elected to no longer wrestle as a lightweight. He also took the mask of a very young Silver King, who was dejected afterwards:

What's the deal with New Zealand?

El Satanico, MS-1 y Masakre vs. Rayo de Jalisco Jr., La Fiera y Tony Salazar (3/20/87) Rayo de Jalisco Jr., Atlantis y Alfonso Dantes vs. MS-1, El Satanico y El Dandy (3/27/87) These were a pair of matches centered around MS-1's title shot against Rayo on 3/20 (making the first date almost assuredly wrong.) Rayo had defeated MS-1 almost two years earlier to claim the NWA World Light Heavyweight Championship, and if Fuentes needed any additional reason to hate Rayo then don't forget it was Jalisco who unmasked him in '82. These matches either book-ended the title shot or occurred before the match. Rayo had managed to fend off the challenge of Los Hermanos Dinamita throughout his title reign, but his luck ran out against the Infernales. MS-1 dethroned Rayo in the title match, ending Jalisco's 21 month run as NWA champ and capping off a tremendous start to the '87 season where he also took El Egipcio's hair and won the National Tag Team Titles with Masakre. In fact, the only thing that really alluded MS-1 in the first part of '87 was the National Trios Titles. Tony Salazar had one last major run in '87 before being repackaged as Ulises. On the 54th Anniversary Show, he was booked in an apuestas match against Pirata Morgan. Not quite his last hurrah, but certainly the end of an era in his career.

Lizmark, La Fiera y Kung Fu vs. Pirata Morgan, Hombre Bala y Jerry Estrada (2/27/87) Another Bucaneros trios. Fairly run-of-the-mill stuff. I don't believe any of the participants were feuding with each other. It was your standard sort of Arena Coliseo trios. Kung Fu was enjoying a run as the World Middleweight champion. He took the title from Gran Cochisse the previous October and would feud with El Dandy later in the year. Americo Rocca, Javier Cruz y Chamaco Valaguez vs. Talisman, El Dandy y Guerrero Negro (3/13/87) Los Xavieres vs. Los Bravos. I have a 3/6 date for this match-up, but it's possible that there was a return match as it was part of the build to a Guerrero Negro/Chamaco Valaguez hair match. The great thing about this match-up is that not only were Valaguez and Negro feuding, but they were also tagging with fierce rivals in Dandy & Cruz and Rocca & Talisman. Dandy and Cruz had been involved in a bloodbath in August of '86 and Rocca and Talisman would have yet another hair match in the Distrito Federal in '87. Los Xavieres, who alternated between Javier Llanes and Javier Cruz as their third member, spent the latter half of '87 feuding with the original Los Destructores (Tony Arce, Vulcano and Emilio Charles, Jr.) The feud and immediate aftermath was built around a triple hair match on 7/31 and would extend to a series of individual apuestas matches the following year (Emilio vs. Cruz, Cruz vs. Arce, and Llanes vs. Arce.)

They should have had the refs act tougher. Commissioner Ueda was useless as well. I think that was part of the show, though. That these bungling Japanese men couldn't stop such strong willed Japanese women.

70s and 80s Joshi, obviously, though it's fairly monotonous. M-Pro? You've probably seen all that.

One of the more underrated big men has to be Bomber Pat Roach. He was a huge man but could work the mat in the Euro style. You don't see too many big men with that sort of agility and co-ordination.

Clive Myers vs. Keith Haward (7/15/81) Beautiful bout between these two. Everything you could possibly want from two skilled athletes. The great thing about the match-up is that on the surface it seemed as though Haward had the strength advantage while Myers was the quicker of the two, but Myers was every bit as strong being an arm wrestling champion, and Haward had all the speed of a world class athlete. Lots of slick work in this one and some tremendous highspots (especially from Myers), but also some terrific strength holds and counters. Just a fantastic contest with both guys forced to rethink their strategy between rounds. One of the best Euro matches of the 80s.

Jerry Estrada, Pirata Morgan y Hombre Bala vs. Atlantis, Alfonso Dantes y Rayo De Jalisco Jr. (Feb 1987) I believe the date on this match is 2/13/87. This marks the first appearance on the set of Los Bucaneros, the trio that was formed in the wake of Morgan's falling out with Satanico. Joining Morgan were Jerry Estrada, the young rudo whom Herodes brought in from Monclova and who was able to foot in Mexico City, and Morgan's older brother Hombre Bala. Bala was nine years older than his brother and had been wrestling for nearly a decade when Morgan made his debut. He was never a big star like his brother, but enjoyed a 40 year career where he managed to successfully wrestle under several different aliases. He began his career as 'Chamaco Ortiz' and drew comparisons to Raul Mata as a chubby worker who was extremely fast and spectacular, as well as effective. As a young man he was involved in a number of apuestas matches, mostly notably against the popular midcard worker Dr. O'Borman Sr and was a noted bleeder. Hombre Bala was his second pirate gimmick having previously worked as Rey Pirata. He adopted the Bala gimmick some time in the early 80s and worked under a mask for a good five or six years. He lost the mask to Atlantis on the 12/5/86 Arena Mexico show, which was one of Atlantis' big apuestas triumphs along with Talisman's mask at the 1984 Anniversary Show. After his unmasking, it was acknowledged that he was the older brother of Pirata Morgan and the two joined forces in his struggles against the Infernales. Estrada would eventually leave the Bucaneros and be replaced by another Morgan brother, Verdugo, but the original incarnation enjoyed a barnstorming 1987. On 8/30/87, they took the Mexican National Trios Championship from the team of Kiss, Ringo Mendoza and Rayo de Jalisco Jr. and ruled the roost for the final part of the 1987 season. Bala also had an extremely bloody hair match with El Dandy in August of '87, which I'm sure we all wish we could see. After Morgan's run with the Bucaneros was over, and he re-united with the Infernales, Bala shifted gimmicks to Cromagnon in the fun undercard trio 'Los Cavernicolas' (w/ Popitekus and Verdugo) and then enjoyed a successful late career run under the AAA gimmick of Monsther, forming a comedy duo with a mini version of Chucky from the Child's Play movies. Bala injured his knee training young wrestlers and was forced to retire in 2010. He had a benefit show in September that year in an effort to pay for his surgery. His son currently wrestles in the CMLL midcard as Hombre Bala Jr. Alfonso Dantes, Atlantis and Rayo were regular trios partners either with each other or in combination with other technicos. It was Dantes and Rayo who were Atlantis' partners in the trios matches that built to the Atlantis vs. Bala mask match, and Atlantis had also partnered Dantes and Rayo in their feud against Cien Caras and Mascara Ano 2000. Dantes was the reigning Mexican National Heavyweight Champion at this time having defeated Caras for the title on 8/20/86 and had successfully defended the crown against Herodes a few days prior. He would lose the title to Super Halcon in September, aka Danny Ortiz, aka El Halcon/Halcon Ortiz. That wasn't the end of Dantes though, as he took the title again in '88 from Gran Markus Jr. despite the fact he was inching towards retirement. Atlantis had a quiet '87 as his push cooled off, and Rayo dropped the NWA World Light Heavyweight Title to MS-1 a month after this trios and also had a quiet year, losing all of his titles and dropping down the card slightly in favour of other workers. Both workers would enjoy renewed pushes as the television era approached.

I go in cycles like Bill and my wrestling cycle is closing hard. I'm on a bout a match a week right now.

CMLL TV from 1990 and 1997, JWP from 1996 and World of Sport from '74-85 are my favourites.

Some of the early Attitude era comedy was good. I remember enjoying the Vince/Mankind stuff like when Mankind went to visit him in the hospital.

To me a great wrestler is a wrestler who has consistently good performances. As simple as that. Determining whether the performance was any good is where it gets more difficult.

Satanico vs. Pierroth Jr, CMLL World Light Heavyweight Championship, '92/93 This was from sometime during Pierroth's year long reign as CMLL World Light Heavyweight champion, which began in March of '92 and ended in April of '93. Pierroth's Los Intocables group feuded extensively with the Infernales during this period. Pierroth had several title defences against Pirata Morgan, a match against MS-1 in Puebla, and this match which appears to have been broadcast on some sort of local Tijuana television station. The match is a far cry from some of the classics from this era, but it's an interesting look at a title match outside of the usual TV arenas. The grainy washed out footage and single camera shoot make it look like it could have taken place in the 80s, and there's a definite house show feel to it. Satanico is unashamedly my favourite lucha worker. As regular readers will know, I put a lot of stock in the intros. Most of my favourite workers are 'details guys;' workers who put effort into things like ring introductions. What set Satanico apart was a commitment to characterisation. The ref is going through the pre-match formalities, and Satanico walks around like he owns the place. He issues all sorts of warnings to the champion and goes through his pre-match stretch routines as though he's primed to take the title. There's a natural cockiness to Satanico that comes from supreme confidence in his abilities, but with that confidence comes vanity. When the ring announcer calls his name, you can see him bask in his greatness before the bell has even sounded. The match is slower than you might expect. It's worked as a heavyweight mat contest. There's a traditional lock-up to start and most of the opening fall involves Satanico putting Pierroth in simple holds. As entertaining as Pierroth could be, he wasn't much of a mat worker and so the bout lacks the brilliant counters you'd see in a high-end match. It's psychologically sound, but Pierroth's counters are a touch sloppy. Satanico continues to the be the aggressor in the second fall. Perhaps too much so, but a worker like Satanico can't help working like the champion even when he's not the champion. Pierroth finally uses his strength to good effect. He also starts getting under Satanico's skin by using open handed strikes to batter Lopez' nose, but they don't really go anywhere with it as it's not a match that's heavily built on narrative. The third caida lacks the urgency you'd expect from a title match and is a slow burner. It's not bad per se, but it doesn't take you to the kind of places that a championship deciding fall ought to. And it ends in the dreaded double pin, which keys you in to the amount of energy they were willing to expend on this one. Still, it's not a bad match and like I said it gives you a taste of what title matches where like on the different circuits around Mexico. Just lower your expectations to "house show expectations" and you'l be fine.