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ohtani's jacket

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  1. ohtani's jacket
    "El Ninja", Kato Kung Lee & Super Astro vs. Black Shadow Jr, Invasor II & Espanto Jr, Monterrey 11/91
     
    Great to see Espanto again, one of the most underrated luchadores of this era. Unfortunately, he didn't do anything truly outstanding, even in his exchanges with Super Astro, but Monterrey was a bit of a holiday for the workers at times and this was one of those nights off. The focus was really on the upcoming mask match between El Ninja and Invasor, but Monterrey has always been this hodgepodge of great workers and heavily gimmicked shit. The good workers were only there to make up the numbers, but it was all right. The highlight was probably Super Astro doing his dance routine followed by Kato Kung Lee doing a pretty outstanding imitation of it, but when Astro's dance number is the highlight you might want to skip it.
     
    Negro Casas/Espanto Jr vs. Super Pinocho/Halcon 78, Arena Neza 1992
     
    I doubt anyone will agree with me, but to me Casas was so much more creative in the earlier part of his recorded career than he is now. He wasn't at his sublime best here, but he worked at least one exchange with Super Pinocho where you thought "only Casas would think to do that." This was your typically solid early 90s UWA television match. They never reach great heights, but the wrestling is always worth watching.
     
    Espanto Jr/Dr. Wagner Jr vs. Villano IV & V, UWA 1992
     
    The Villanos are broken down warhorses these days. Villano III could barely string his sentences together when interviewed on his brother's retirement show. The younger brothers can still brawl with the best of them, but if you're ever in need of a reminder of how good Los Villanos were these UWA matches are the best footage we have of prime IV & V. This was an excellent lucha tag match. It didn't have an epic enough third caida to make it onto a yearbook or anything like that, but it had a bit of everything and there was plenty to like if you're an aficionado. Espanto and Villano IV had a swank opening mat exchange that was the best you'll see from Espanto in these three matches, the Villano family provided their usual blend of scientific wrestling and roughhousing and I loved Wagner's clumsy enthusiasm. The finish was one of the more brutal looking, Perro Aquayo style La Sillas I've seen. A Villano taking out Wagner like that is a ton of beef colliding.
     
    Mario Segura "El Ninja", El Dandy, Tigre Canadiense vs. Los Misioneros de la Muerte "Negro Navarro, Signo y Black Power," Monterrey 1992
     
    This was a surprising long trios match with a lengthy El Dandy face-in-peril section. My eyes light up when I saw this was Dandy vs. Misioneros thinking we might get a Dandy/Navarro section, but to be brutally honest Navarro wasn't much chop at this point. He focused a lot of his schtick on his physique and being the "strength guy" in the Misioneros. The real worker of the group was Signo and the Signo/Dandy exchanges we got were actually better than if Dandy had squared off against Navarro. Throughout the match, it was noticeable how much better Dandy and Signo were than everyone else, even when doing simple exchanges like clearing workers from the ring. Their ability to make every exchange a flurry of activity made them continually stand out. Signo was a really good worker and it's worth watching this to see him go toe-to-toe with Dandy even if the other workers aren't so inspiring. Tigre seemed high on something, Segura did some goofy shit that was vaguely amusing, Navarro was disappointing and Black Power was his usual journeyman-esque self, but Dandy vs. Signo was really, really good.
     
    Centurion Negro, Los Matematicos II & IV vs. Pirata de la Muerte, Black Terry & Jose Luis Feliciano, Arena Coliseo Monterrey early 90s
     
    In the annals of lucha libre history there is a hatred that's gone unrecorded and that hatred is the hatred between Jose Luis Feliciano and Centurion Negro. This was some of the coolest shit I've seen in a while as these guys didn't care that there was a match going on with rules and purses and other guys involved. Terry was awesome here as well. He was a bit part to Feliciano, a role I guess he's always been comfortable playing, but he did the cockiest facial expressions this side of Ric Flair cutting a promo in the TBS studios. What a legend. This was all about Feliciano though, who looked like the sixth member of The Blue Oyster Cult. The fact that Feliciano and Negro never had a documented hair vs. mask match is a huge disappointment to me as few luchadores have ever had such antagonistic hair as Feliciano. Fun match.
  2. ohtani's jacket
    Hijo Del Centurion Negro, Rey Hechicero, Simbolo vs. Black Spirit, Charles Lucero, Golden Boy, Monterrey 7/21/13
     
    Monterrey has kind of snuck up on me as a good place to watching wrestling from. This was my first look at maestro Charles Lucero, who's supposed to be cut from the same cloth as Mexico's other maestro greats, but for me this was all about Rey Hechicero, who continues to impress. The other guys were there to make up the numbers and aside from the Hechicero/Lucero exchanges this wasn't very good.
     
    El Angel vs. Trauma II vs. Oficial 911, IWRG 3/3/13
     
    This as nowhere near as good as the three way the week before and the mascara contra mascara section was nothing special. I liked the finish, though, and it got a good pop from the Naucalpan faithful. You've got to love those Naucalpan-goers, from the kids trying to do come off the ropes and do rolling bumps in the ring to the guys who refuse to leave their seats during brawls and are terrible bases for the workers who come flying at them.
     
    Ruleta de la Muerta Rd 1, La Última de un Villano 3/16/13
     
    Okay, so the whole thing was put up by the Tercera Caída guys and no-one seems to have gone through it, so I thought I would. Worst case scenario I get to see two more Cassandro matches.
     
    1a. Cien Caras & Dr. Wagner, Jr. vs. Solar & Toscano
     
    -- Match started out with quite a lengthy exchange between Wagner and Solar. That's a match I'd quite like to see, free from all the bullshit, although it's probably five or six years too late given that Solar is approaching 60. The next few years is a bit of a concern if you like the maestros as they really are on the wrong side of 55. Still, the exchanges were pretty good. This was the longest of the first round matches as Mendoza had to get his money's worth out of Wagner, I suppose. Caras was Caras; Wagner did his usual schtick. Women in the crowd argued with him. He took plunder into the ring. Decent opener to the tournament.
     
    1b. Máscara Año 2000 & Rayo de Jalisco Jr. vs. Cassandro & Hijo de Pirata Morgan
     
    -- Much shorter bout, no qualms about presenting this as lopsided. Highlights were Cassandro whaling away on the much larger Rayo and his nutty, Psicosis-style ringpost bump. Los Dinamitas beat Rayo up after the match for old times' sake.
     
    1c. El Mesías & Mil Mascaras vs. Ray Mendoza Jr. & Villano IV
     
    -- Mesias and Villano IV were okay on the mat as long as things kept moving. When they were stationary, it was pretty lame. Mascaras must be about 80 now. I liked seeing him tie Mendoza up on the mat, but he can't do his signature spots very well. Not a great match-up for the Villanos, but they showed Mascaras the usual respect.
     
    1d. LA Park & Universo 2000 vs. Súper Nova & Texano Jr.
     
    -- This also went long, again presumably because of Park's booking fee. Universo has lost a step since that CMLL run that Raging Noodles and I were so fond of, but I still like him. He gave Texano, Jr. a whipping but good with the bull rope. Super Nova and Texano provided, perhaps unsurprisingly, the most highspots in the opening round.
     
    Charles Lucero vs. Rey Hechicero, Monterrey 7/28/13
     
    This was a sweet match. Lucero wasn't exactly Picasso on the mat, but he was pretty good. He had a different style from a lot of the other maestros. It was almost like traditional NWA style matwork in the vein of Ray Mendoza or Enrique Vera, whereas Hechicero provided more of the "lucha" touches. Nice little narrative here with Lucero getting tired of trading holds and throwing a punch. Having watched far too much British and European wrestling of late the first strike from a frustrated rudo is quite familiar. Hechicero could have perhaps retaliated a bit more, but when he took back the reins I thought his swinging moves were really cool. This served its purpose well for the title match which followed.
     
    Solar & Toscano vs. Cassandro & Hijo de Pirata Morgan, Ruleta de la Muerta 3/16/13
     
    Back to the Villano show. I was hoping for an epic Solar/Cassandro match-up here, but they went the more sensible route and had Solar/Morgan and Cassandro/Toscano pairings. The work was pretty solid and what you'd expect from trio matches where they've gone once round the horn with matwork and are squaring off for running rope exchanges. Cassandro's injury was legit. Toscano drop kicked him off the turnbuckle and he took a nasty bump to the outside. The match was rushed a bit after that, though that may simply have been the nature of the beast since it was Ruleta, but there as plenty of flash in the finishing sequence and for this type of thing it wasn't a bad match.
     
    For those of you keeping record at home, there's nothing missing from the earlier YouTube clip I wrote about that showed the next two Villanos matches back-to-back. As for the overall show, it was an easy watch. Ruleta de la Muerta is what it is in terms of match quality, but there was a lot of star value here. It's just too bad it wrecked Mendoza, Jr.
     
    Charles Lucero vs. Rey Hechicero, Monterrey 8/4/13
     
    The big title match. This was cranking along nicely with the same mix of matwork and inside shots from Lucero, and wasn't any better or worse than the match that proceeded it, until what was probably the spot of the year. In the third caida, they decided to go epic in classic lucha title match fashion and they did a tope spot where Rey Hechicero missed Lucero completely and dived head first into an empty chair. This was executed fantastically and looked great each time they showed it on a replay (which was numerous times.) From there, they teased the doc calling off the fight, and Lucero stepped in and tried beating Hechicero up some more. Hechicero fought on and they cranked things up an extra notch with nearfalls and the like, including Lucero missing a dive on the outside and having the doc check on him. The finish was a really classic lucha style submission finish that had me pretty pumped. Really nice win.
  3. ohtani's jacket
    Chico Che/Freelance/Hijo del Pantera vs. Apolo Estrada Jr./Avisman/Eita, IWRG 2/18/13
     
    I really wanted to like this as it had Freelance, Avisman and Chico Che in it, but there wasn't a single exchange I thought was special. Freelance, in particular, seemed really off and nothing like the worker who used to dice with death every time his feet left the ground. It kind of meandered along in a very old-school way, which may appeal to some people, but there was none of the overlapping of falls or clever touches that make trios matches special, and even Che failed to charm me.
     
    Blue Panther/Sagrado vs. Rey Hechicero/Califan, ACM 4/14/13
     
    I sometimes wonder if the reason I don't enjoy old man Panther as much as others is because he lost his mask, as though I sometimes resent him for unmasking. Then I watch matches like this and I realise it's because CMLL doesn't let him work to the best of his ability. This was an excellent match. Panther wasn't even the star, as Rey Hechicero and Sagrado had one of, if not the most outstanding opening exchanges of the year. Hechicero also worked superbly with Panther in the second caida. This was a match I was incredibly excited by despite being a tag and would have been my favourite match of the year if the finishing stretch hadn't been quite so sloppy.
     
    Oficial 911 vs. El Angel vs. Trauma II, IWRG 2/18/13
     
    This had some of the usual three-way bullshit, but they tried really hard to minimalise it by finding logical ways to take one guy out of the action. Unfortunately, that's not always possible and there was a bit of dead time as a result, but for the most part this was a decent brawl that maintained its energy. I was quite impressed with El Angel, who for a kind of low rent technico packed a decent punch and the right amount of starch behind his offence for this kind of fight. Match was good enough that I should probably watch the apuestas.
     
    Super Nova/Texano Jr vs. Ray Mendoza Jr/Villano IV vs. Casandro/Hijo del Pirata Morgan, V5 Retirement Show 3/16/13
     
    This was the tail end of a ruleta de la muerte tournament on what was supposed to be Villano V's retirement show. Mendoza promoted the show himself, paid for some expensive indie talent, drew a poor crowd and lost about forty grand on the deal, which has forced him to keep wrestling and promoting. But as a YouTube video clip it was quite the spectacle. The crowd may have been poor, but they filled up the floor and were in good voice. The match was basically the kind of hard hitting, violent brawling that's been Villano IV's living for the past few years. It was solid stuff, but the highlight was seeing Casandro again. I'm not sure whether he was selling or if he had real problems with his reconstructed knee, but if that was selling then it was selling of a rare class. Casandro simply put is one of the standout performers of the modern era. He should be held in the same regard as Panther, Casas, Terry or Navarro, but we just don't have the footage to elevate him to that level. His performance here was notable not only for what he did in the ring, but the range he showed during the lengthy post-match, a blend of staunch, dignified yet emotional reaction to the ignominy of having his hair cut. An interesting contrast to the more manufactured Villanos/Morgan family issues sans-mask, though that feud has continued on Mendoza's indie shows and is probably quite fun. All in all, maybe top 5 for Mexico this year if viewed as a spectacle.
  4. ohtani's jacket
    Virus vs. Blue Panther, CMLL 5/12/13
     
    Ten minutes? They were only getting warmed up. I don't have a problem with ten minute matches, but CMLL workers generally aren't that clever at working lightning matches and I don't really like the gimmick of an enforced time limit. Still, this was all about the matwork, which, while not life changing, was pretty at times. Virus is pretty clearly the best guy in the company, in my opinion, but I couldn't help but think if it was Demus against a mini it would have been more of a match and less of an exhibition.
     
    Terrible vs. Rush, CMLL 1/22/13
     
    I liked this a lot. It strikes me as kind of being like WWE influenced CMLL main event wrestling, which usually I'd be against, but this is the most fun "CMLL is where the big boys play" wrestling since the Aguayos vs. Los Capos feud. It went on a bit too long and they stretched the limits of what they can do, but it was generally positive.
     
    Black Metal (Guadalajara), Pegasso, Triton vs. Barbaro Cavernario, Espiritu Maligno, Skandalo - CMLL Puebla 6/24/13
     
    This was a fun match. It reminded me of the glory days of the Puebla locals, which like all good things in lucha was far too short. Cavernario, Maligno and Skandalo were an awesome rudos trio. They brought back memories of being a kid, having a couple of dollars in my pocket after doing a half-assed job cleaning my dad's car, and going down to the local bookshop to discover three of the coolest bad guys were taking on my favourite superhero that month. The great thing about the trio was that they brought a proper rudos structure to the match where you wanted to see the technicos clean house and there was the right balance of exchanges before the third fall dives. The third fall finish was badass and one for the bad guys. Really classic lucha and the best trios I've seen this year.
     
    Astral & Shockercito vs. Demus 3:16 & Pierrothito, CMLL 3/29/13
     
    I always forget about the minis. How can I forget about the minis? This was awesome. Demus and Pierrothito are every bit the murder's row of Arkangel de la Muerte, Hooligan and Skandalo. The finishing stretch where they destroyed the technico minis prompted me to listen to Vince McMahon's theme music for some inexplicable reason, but it really was a devastating combo of finishers. Demus has always been great at putting the exclamation mark on matches and it was awesome seeing him tear up shit again. I really dug Shockercito too, more than I ever dug Shocker. He has the look down pat. It's kind of lame that he's aping Mascarita Dorada's spots, but I guess nothing's sacred in wrestling.
     
    Magnus, Starman & Stigma vs. Cancerbero, Raziel & Virus, CMLL 2/18/13
     
    This had the best opening matwork fall of the year. And it wasn't simply because of Virus either, I thought each of the pairings were outstanding. They lost me after that and I didn't enjoy the next two falls that much, but it was a heck of an opening fall and something I haven't seen from CMLL for many years.
  5. ohtani's jacket
    Negro Casas vs. Valiente, CMLL 2/4/13
     
    Dream match for workrate fans as Casas and Valiente are two of the best in the business, but this was a disappointment. I'm not so sure it was a case of the chemistry being off between the two as much as it was a case of them not bothering to do anything creative. In fact, I was kind of annoyed that Casas put in such a cookie cutter performance against someone as talented as Valiente. Some of the early exchanges were okay, but the third fall in particular was a bore.
     
    Negro Casas vs. Mascara Dorada, CMLL 6/2/13
     
    This is the kind of match Casas seems to prefer, where he's clearly the better guy and carries a younger guy through a career best match. The amount of thought and effort put into the match layout was telling. Personally, I didn't find it as compelling as Casas intended, but if you can get into the rhythm of what was basically a spotfest then there's no reason why you won't enjoy it. The third fall was grossly excessive and it seemed to me that if they'd done just one of their dives with the right build and execution it would've been far more effective than the half a dozen dives they did, but that's the modern style I guess and it's better not to get too cranky about it. Can't say I'm a big fan of Casas' telegraphed transition based offence, though.
     
    Negro Casas/Valiente/Stuka Jr. vs. Virus/Vangellys/Fuego, CMLL 6/14/13
     
    Virus and Valiente are just about the only pairing that can do proper old-school trios exchanges anymore so it's always a pleasure watching them perform. Their work here was nothing they haven't done in trios before, but head and shoulders above anybody else in regular trios matches. Valiente also did a solitary dive that reminded me of the effectiveness of the one or two dives a match that El Hijo del Santo used to do. Everybody else was average.
     
    Black Terry/Negro Navarro/Villano IV vs. Averno/Blue Panther/Shocker, CMLL 4/7/13
     
    Terry looked slick in his exchanges against Averno and on the surface I'd argue that Terry and Navarro are better than Panther and Casas, but Terry and Navarro footage seems to have dried up a bit. For as much as I've complained in the past about "your turn/my turn" IWRG matwork, it's still superior to your standard CMLL exchanges. I liked the first two falls in this match mainly because of Terry. Navarro/Panther was pretty good, but not mind blowing or anything. Villano is only really capable of brawling these days and this was always going to be sanitised compared to the matches he's shined in, while Shocker is only halfway decent when he takes a direct approach of punching people instead of working real exchanges. Still, the differences between this and your run-of-the-mill Arena Mexico trios were obvious as this was actually fleshed out over two falls. Unfortunately, they tried to work a really old-school third fall and it fell considerably flat. Match didn't really break my general apathy towards what's going on in Mexico right now, but it was a nice try.
     
    Negro Navarro vs. Negro Casas, Chilanga Mask 5/19/13
     
    Not technically CMLL, but I'll chuck it in here. This was cool and all until the finish which was just bullshit. I mean, c'mon, if you're going to work a maestros exhibition just do a double pin and shake hands or something lame, but what's the point of a low blow DQ finish? That made the match instantly forgettable.
  6. ohtani's jacket
    Rush/Rey Escorpion/Maximo vs. Negro Casas/Terrible/Shocker, CMLL 6/28/13
    Negro Casas, Mr. Aguila & Rey Bucanero vs. Blue Panther, Rush & Maximo, CMLL 7/14/13
     
    So, this is the best thing going today or so I've been told. I like Rush a lot so I'm excited to see these. He kind of reminds me of the true, modern day heir to Perro Aquayo, since Perro's own kid hasn't been any good since about 2007 as far as I can tell, and he's learnt the value of having a great head of hair.
     
    True to others' word, the Rush vs. Casas exchanges do not disappoint. They're kind of similar in tone to the famous Dandy/Casas exchanges, but Casas isn't quite the sublime genius he was back then and that had a different sort of vibe to it in that Casas and Dandy were two all-time greats squaring off. The other difference is that in those trios matches, Casas and Dandy worked with much more talented partners as that was the greatest collection of talent in the TV footage era. Their partners were able to work exchanges that were like mini subplots that informed and supported the main plot. What you got here was some great modern day brawling, which has a greater emphasis on striking than in days gone by. In terms of everybody else, I thought Shocker and Terrible got it the most in terms of how they should complement the main feud that was going on and Maximo added the necessary variety for a lucha trios match.
     
    The 6/28 trios is getting a lot of MOTY talk. I wouldn't go anywhere near that far as it doesn't have a complete enough narrative to really deserve that kind of praise and I thought there have been plenty of Black Terry driven trios in recent years that were better, but don't let MOTY expectations get in the way of enjoying a good match. There's still too much (bad) bullshit in modern day CMLL, but while it lasted it was about as violent as you're going to get in this era. The 7/14 match was nothing special and more a continuation of the feud, I thought. I assume there's going to a hair match at some point this year. I'm not getting too excited about that as I think Casas' offence is suspect in big matches these days and there's been weaknesses in his singles formula of late, but the brawling exchanges have been great so far and Rush is a special talent.
  7. ohtani's jacket
    Thanks as always to Black Terry Jr for making these reviews possible.
     
    I thought both the 8/1 and 10/13 Black Terry/Negro Navarro vs Super Astro/Solar maestro tags were excellent. In fact, I thought they were the most balanced, best worked maestro tags since Black Terry Jr began filming their matches. That may be time and distance talking since I was so wildly out of the loop last year, but I watched these matches more than once before commenting and enjoyed them immensely each time. They're not story matches and they don't even have much of a narrative, but what I liked about them was that they captured the spirit of pure lucha exchanges. I don't have much time these days and I've been trying to multi-task, so I've been watching these matches while listening to 60s jazz, and while 60s jazz and lucha libre may not have a lot in common, I've been able to get into the groove of these matches. The Solar/Navarrro stuff in particular cranks, but the stories of Super Astro's demise have been greatly exaggerated. He's not the worker he once was, but he rollled around on the mat with Black Terry in cracking fashion and was able to do his tope. I can see folks wishing they'd do more -- perhaps more Terry/Solar or Terry and Navarro being the murders' row tag team that we know they can be -- but when you see some of the counters and reversals that Solar and Navarro can do you can understand why the others clear out of the way and let them do their thing. When I first got into lucha, one of the things I loved most was watching a guy like El Dandy hit the ring. When Dandy stepped through those ropes it didn't matter whether the guy on the other side of the ring was Emilio or Casas or Super Muneco, you knew the exchange was going to be amazing, and that's the feeling I get from these matches. To tie it back into music, it's like this cool bar I went to recently that was stacked with wall to wall soul records. The barman would drop another record while you slipped on your drink of choice and you just kicked back and enjoyed the music. Watching these matches, I kicked back and enjoyed the lucha.
     
    I have no idea when Cerebro Negro returned to IWRG and why he was feuding with Dr. Cerebro. I'm not sure I could even recognise him with the look he's sporting at the moment, but I thought their 12/16 match wasn't too bad. Better than a kick in the pants at any rate. There wasn't much to the falls, but the work was direct and physical and the finishes were cool. I could have done without the weapon shots, but they weren't too bad. The match stalled a bit in the third caida and the lightbulbs weren't really necessary, but there was more good than bad on show here. I really dug the spot where Dr. Cerebro was draped over the ropes from the apron in and Negro dropkicked him in the face. That was badass. The doctor turning his submission finish into some form of sitdown driver was ultimate badass too. I always forget that the good doctor is out there being probably a top 10 luchador at any given time. I've got to keep tabs of his work.
  8. ohtani's jacket
    First off, thanks to Black Terry Jr for shooting these matches and making them available. Terry is selling his videos here from now on -- http://tvluchadelpasado.wordpress.com/
     
    Solar vs. Navarro is still the best mat wrestling on the planet as evidenced by their 8/17 match. The excitement of seeing this match crop up isn't the same as when we only got to see it once a year (or not at all), but that's the funny thing: as lucha fans, we're always wishing we could see more -- more from a worker, more from a specific match-up, more TV from the 80s, most of which we'll never see. It's something you have to come to terms with if you become a serious lucha fan otherwise you'll be sorely disappointed. Yet when we get more than we bargained for, such as with Solar and Navarro, we tend to get all analytical and go into critique mode. I've done it many times in the past and am by far the worst offender, but if you'd told me five years ago that we'd get to see this match-up on a regular basis and people would get fed up with it, I'd have told you they were looking a gift horse in the mouth.
     
    That's not to say that this match-up is perfect. Despite the fact that they're able to organise the events in the match into a reasonable narrative structure and that there are clear stretches of one worker in control and the other selling well, they don't make much of an effort to create the same sort of drama as Casas/Panther or the Santo tag. If you were to label their bouts as exhibition matches you wouldn't be too far off the mark. I tend to prefer their work in trios because of the speed they work at, and I'm still hoping that one day (just one day) we'll see a Black Terry vs. Navarro match in full, but... this is still the best mat wrestling on the planet. Casas and Panther are nowhere near as quick with their holds. Virus and Valiente are slicker, but don't have the same submission knowledge. Navarro still looks like the best worker in Mexico to me and I don't think Solar gets enough credit as a worker, a mat wrestler or for being one of the three or four best masked technico workers in modern, taped, lucha libre history. The familiarity that people have with Santo or Atlantis should be extended to Solar, in my opinion. The lifeblood of lucha is its masked technicos and few have been better for longer than Solar I.
     
    The 4/9 Gran Apache/Trauma I/Mari Apache vs. Negro Navarro/Trauma II/Fabi Apache trios was a blast. One of the things I love about lucha the most is that it can be so off the cuff and fun. This was only a single fall, but it was a great ensemble piece. Loved the quick exchanges between Gran Apache and Trauma II, thought the father and son stuff was really good without being overbearing and that Fabi and Mari's stuff was a nice change up. To my mind, rhythm is the most important thing when watching wrestling. If you can't get into the rhythm of what the workers are trying to do or the rhythm of a particular style, you're going to struggle. You often hear people say that a lucha fall was rushed because it wasn't long enough or shorter than the falls surrounding it, but I sometimes wonder if those people haven't gotten into the rhythm of lucha libre yet. This match had rhythm. The exchanges built on top of each other and it was worked at a fun pace. The ending was the kind of mano-a-mano showdown that I love in IWRG matches and I came out of the whole thing as satisfied as I would've been had it been three falls. Gran Apache is so underrated. I always forget him when it comes to judging the best workers in Mexico. If you asked me tomorrow who the ten best workers in Mexico are, he'd probably slip my mind. I don't even know how active he is these days, but man is he good. Those opening exchanges I mentioned were so much snappier than the usual IWRG matwork and like the match in general made a nice change from the norm.
     
    I went into the 12/20 Fuerza Guerrera vs. Black Terry match with low expectations as I'd read it wasn't the type of match they could have had if they'd put their minds to it and that it was basically an angle to further the hostilities between their two wrestling schools, but it was Fuerza and Terry in a singles match. It wasn't a Black Terry special like some of the carry jobs he's done in the past, but there was plenty to like from the point of view of it being two of the biggest legends of my time taking off the gloves. Would've been nice to see them settle it like men, but the interference was what it was. Can't say I blame them for trying to give the rub to their students.
     
    Another match I really enjoyed was the 4/28 Black Terry/Negro Navarro vs. Solar I/Super Astro maestros tag. I'm not sure if it's because I haven't watched a maestros tag for a while and was watching with fresher eyes, but this seemed to have a better flow to it than the last round of maestro tags I watched. The Navarro/Solar exchanges were excellent without being overbearing, they changed dance partners more often and the match had more of a three part rhythm than usual. I'd read all the comments about Super Astro's decline and while he does have trouble doing his signature spots these days, the fact that I'd braced myself for it made it less jarring than I expected. He's the guy I'd most like to see everyone in the lucha world wrestle and for that reason takes my top spot.
     
    This was all pretty fun stuff, and again, thanks to Black Terry Jr for making it possible.
  9. ohtani's jacket
    I'm hopeless at keeping up to date with lucha, so I thought I'd throw out some thoughts on what I watched over the holidays.
     
    Apparently, CMLL had an awful year business-wise. Personally I enjoyed the in-ring product more than I have in years.
     
    Virus vs. Fuego, 10/1 was an excellent, old-school style title match. The matwork wasn't as fluid as classic lucha, but it was similar to IWRG matwork in that both guys seemed to be laying down a challenge. I thought Fuego's bridging spots were a fantastic response to that challenge, and although many of the holds were static, I was impressed that they managed to avoid the pitfalls of "your turn/my turn" through natural athleticism. Fuego impressed me in general. I thought he hung with Virus tremendously well and even added plenty of his own touches. The transition on the outside where Fuego pulled Virus from the apron after the big tope spot was clever stuff. I think that's what I've noticed most about CMLL this year: instead of the same telegraphed transitions in every match, the work has been tighter and the rhythm a whole lot better. I'd probably put this third behind Panther/Casas and that Santo tag at this stage.
     
    Casas/Oro, 9/2 was also good. Someone once joked that Casas sleeps upside down in the CMLL booking office like a vampire bat, but I think the key to his longevity is the way he's tweaked and adjusted his offense over the last decade or more. There was a period where I hated watching Casas work these modern matches, but I've got to admit he's really good at the tit-for-tat modern style. This was counterrific and extremely even. Casas gave Oro a hell of a lot, and while I don't watch many Oro matches, I assume he looked better than usual. So it was a job well done. Casas/Maya Jr, 12/25 was soft, though. Some of the spots were okay, but Maya didn't seem up for it. You know it's a bad sign when I'm looking at the grey in Casas' hair and thinking how distinguished he looks.
     
    Hijo del Fantasma/Rey Cometa/Valiente vs. Niebla Roja/Puma King/Virus, 9/21 had a typically excellent opening exchange between Virus and Valiente who arguably work together better than any other pair in lucha. The rest of the match was "there" and I had a hard time giving a fuck about what anybody else did.
     
    Shigeo Okumura vs. Valiente, 5/1 was a cool showcase for Valiente, who is still obscenely underrated. He's such a fantastic worker. I really have no idea who Shigeo Okumura is, but considering how I usually dislike watching non-luchadores in lucha I thought he did a pretty good job. Match was far from a Match of the Year contender, and I lost interest in the street run partially because the sound was out of sync, but a Valiente singles match is always worth watching.
     
    Lastly, the Rush vs. El Terrible, 9/14 hair match. I didn't know anything about the storyline going into this match. I'd never seen either guy and I didn't know this was the main event of the Anniversary Show as I wasn't aware of anything that was going on over the summer. The Rush guy seemed significantly better than El Terrible, but Terrible got better as the match wore on. Usually, I'd have a quiet bitch about how there's no-one who knows how to work a hair match properly anymore and how much it pisses me off, but this was like watching something like Rayo de Jalisco, Jr vs. Universo 2000 on speed and how a cool "CMLL is where the big boys play" vibe to it. And there was even blood, lo and behold. Some cool spots in this one, especially Rush's dropkick off the apron and both men's use of the barricade. The finish confused the fuck out of me as I was expecting all of the bullshit that's surrounded CMLL hair match in recent years and instead it ended clean as a whistle. Had to "rewind" it as I didn't know what was going on. Fun match, but neither guy has quite mastered the type of Perro Aguayo/Los Hermanos Dinamita flair for the dramatics in this sort of big match setting.
  10. ohtani's jacket
    Emilio Charles, Jr vs. Atlantis, NWA World Middleweight Championship, 8/14/92
     
    Emilio Charles, Jr was one of the first luchadores I became a fan of. In fact, it was Dean or one of the other playa's review of the 12/89 Charles/Dandy title match that sparked my interest in lucha in the first place. After I saw that match, I tracked down the rest of their '89 feud, kick starting one of the more satisfying love affairs with any style in my wrestling fandom history. I was shocked to hear of his passing the other day, as I'm sure everyone was, and decided to watch one of his matches.
     
    Having read about Charles before I ever saw him, the first thing that stood out about him was his name. In a world filled with Satanicos and Villanos, Emilio Charles, Jr seemed a tad bit ordinary for a heel. It reminded me of a cross between Emilio Estevez and Charles in Charge, but it had a certain ring to it, and sure enough if there's anything to be said about Charles it's that the man had personality. He was as entertaining doing apron work as he was in showcase matches, and even in the smallest of bit parts his trios work was always memorable. He had a face only his mother could love and hair that practically goaded opponents into wager matches. And above all, like every great heel, he had a shit-eating grin the size of the gulf of Mexico. He was a great worker, as equally adept at grappling as he was brawling, and he was a fantastic bumper, rivalling at times even Pirata Morgan. Like all the great bumpers, his body eventually broken down, as I've mentioned a thousand times on this blog, but he was always savvy even if it was a slippery slope down from his late 80s peak.
     
    This was a much better match than I remembered. I think I was turned off it the first time because people had praised it as a mat classic. I don't think some arm work and a couple of cool submissions from Emilio make for a mat classic, but this match is something different. You don't often see the type of sustained armwork that Emilio works here or the long term limb selling that Atlantis exhibits, and luchadores usually tap instantaneously rather than fight for all death like Atlantis does here. I don't know what prompted them to work the match like this. Emilio wasn't Atlantis' best opponent (that would be Blue Panther) and Atlantis wasn't Emilio's best opponent (that would be Dandy), but they had a certain chemistry together which is best evidenced in their match from '88, which is sometimes confused as being from '84 and is really fast paced, cutting edge lucha. Rather than being great on the mat together, they were awesome at fast paced rope work, slick counters and exciting nearfalls. All of those trademarks can be found in this match, but there's also the narrative of Atlantis surviving a ton of work on his injured arm. It's actually quite a superhuman effort if you look at it from a technical viewpoint of what Emilio actually did his arm, and I suppose there has to be question marks over how believable it was, but I kind of looked at it from the perspective that Atlantis had held the belt for over two years and defended it at least twenty times (with a worked, possibly real number that was even higher) and they really wanted to put Emilio's challenge over out of respect or some other reason. That's what I'd like to believe anyway as they really went out of their way to make it seem like Emilio could win. I didn't think it was one of the truly epic lucha title matches, but it was rock solid. I've never had a problem with the rapid fire, equalising fall as I think it's a great storytelling tool and helps turn the momentum, and the finish didn't bother me other than the fact that the rhythm could've been better. All told it was a fine defence and Emilio looked good for 1992 Emilio.
     
    It's hard to believe he's gone, but y'know, I was having this conversation with my co-worker the other day about how weird it is when you're watching an old movie and you suddenly realise that everyone in this movie is dead, and I guess that Emilio's career will keep playing out on youtube and grainy VHS tapes for decades to come. Always young, always great, always one of the very best. Emilio Charles, Jr.
  11. ohtani's jacket

    Random CMLL

    By ohtani's jacket,

    Mascara Año 2000, Fuerza Guerrera y Herodes vs. MS-1, El Dandy y Astro de Oro, circa '89
     
    For some reason El Dandy and MS-1 were on the same side here. That didn't last long. Match was pretty much an angle to set up Dandy vs. MS-1 and Mascara Año 2000 vs. Astro de Oro matches. Wouldn't mind seeing that Dandy/MS-1 match if it ever took place.
     
    Satanico, Apolo Dantes y Dr.Wagner Jr vs. The Head Hunters y Emilio Charles Jr., circa '98
     
    This was a lot of fun. Satanico was sporting a skinhead here and I'm guessing this was after Emilio took his hair as the rudos paid Emilio plenty of attention. Broken down Emilio was pretty spry here. The rudo side was really solid and he had to fight his way out of a number of predicaments. It's times like these you need a pair of fat men in your corner. The Head Hunters slotted into lucha well, which isn't usually the case with foreigners but these guys got a lot of mileage out of their girth. The rudos had a field day with the sight gags they were able to create but there was also some good hard hitting action. Most of all I was impressed with the amount of effort Emilio and Satanico put in to this midcard spot. Once a pro always a pro.
     
    Javier Monarca Cruz, Eddie y Mando Guerrero vs. Cachorro Mendoza, Apolo Dantes y Mano Negra, circa '91
     
    This was a pretty standard trios. The match-ups were mostly good but nobody really stood out. I enjoyed watching Apolo Dantes. He was really young here and there was a real fire to everything he did. Watching him here I would have picked him to be a headliner in the mold of Cien Caras. I'm not sure he ever lived up to his potential, but I'm equally unsure that he was given the chance. The highlight of the match was Mando getting right in Apolo's face. He looked like somebody's dad who coaches the local football team, but he sure as hell didn't have any time for snot assed punks. Also worth tracking was Mano Negra, who was always a quietly solid worker. Eddie had a night to forget, including possibly the worst botch of his career. He tried leaping onto the top rope from the apron and fell over face first. I was always under the impression that when this happens in lucha the other worker (in this case Dantes) lays in some stiffer than usual shots to recover, but Dantes went for a rolling cradle where they came out looking even.
     
    Negro Casas vs. El Hijo del Santo, circa '95
     
    I'm guessing this is their September '95 match. This was a really brilliant mano a mano bout. Neither guy could take the upper hand so it descended into this niggly, underhanded brawl with a lot of cheap shots. It was actually the worst I've seen Santo behave as a technico, which laid the seeds for his heel turn presumably. If you like Casas' stuff with Panther you'll love this as his brawling was even better here. He almost had Santo in a mount position and was pummeling him with great looking punches. I don't know if Casas bleed hardway or not, but he wound up with one of the most realistic looking cuts I've seen in wrestling. It was like a boxing cut and provided some great visuals. The finish was this wonderful mass of confusion as the ref caught an elbow from Casas flush in the face, then Santo gave Casas a sunset flip powerbomb off the apron. Somehow there was a DQ in all this and Santo wandered around with his mask torn to shit asking a member of the public whether he thought it was a DQ while Alfonso Morales tried to interview the ref. I need to watch this again.
     
    Pierroth, Satanico y Kung Fu vs. El Dandy, Mogur y Kato Kung Lee, circa '91
     
    I'm not sure what the deal was with this match. There was some sort of karate exhibition before it began, which was embarrasing in how little it resembled karate, and then Satanico cut a promo. By the time all that was over there was only time for one fall. Whether this was a one fall match or the rest of the match is missing or the uploader made a mistake, I'm not sure, but they went through the pairs once and then a second time and that was all that was uploaded. The action was fantastic, though. Even Mogur looked good in this.
     
    Blue Panther, Black Panther y Fuerza Guerrera vs. Hector Garza, El Dandy y El Hijo del Santo, circa '95/96
     
    This was the best of the lot. I don't know if Black Panther was the Puebla worker or not, but he was pretty damn good and led Garza through some pretty decent grappling exchanges to start this. That freed Dandy up to partner Panther and allowed Santo to pair off with Fuerza, two match-ups you don't see enough of. Hardcore fans may be disappointed that they brawl instead of having classic exchanges, but their brawling is every bit as good as you'd expect and the match is packed with wild spots. This was in that period where Garza did insane shit every match and I swear he takes this bump to the outside where his head bounces off the top rope. Deep into the third, Panther's mask is all torn up and it's amusing how easily you can recognise him now with half his face showing. Fuerza also has a torn mask and it never really occurred to me how much hair he has packed under that thing. Match ends with a sensational dive train: Garza's corkscrew plancha, Santo's plancha suicida and a double topes from Santo and Dandy that made them look like the greatest tag team that ever lived. Excellent match.
  12. ohtani's jacket
    Ultraman, Stuka & Kung Fu vs. Herodes, Masakre & El Satanico, Arena Coliseo 80s
     
    This seemed like an exciting match on paper, but it was very much a houseshow match. That wasn't so bad, however, as there were a couple of good laughs. The first half of the match featured a bunch of physical comedy designed to make the rudos look foolish while the second half was a beatdown where the technicos paid for their cheekiness. I love how rudos from this generation could switch from comedy to asskickery without missing a beat, and of course they were led by Satanico, one of the all-time great workers at leading an ass kicking. Satanico's range never ceases to amaze me. He had a comical exchange with Kung Fu that was Shaw Brothers in its choreography then during the beatdown he paraded around like the joke was on the technicos only to lay in the type of shots that showed how pissed he was at being humiliated. I also dug watching Herodes in this match. He's a guy who there's not a lot of footage of but who deserves his rep. Some funky stuff as a base for Stuka, great barrel roll bumps to the outside and cool immovable object spots. Masakre was better later on with the Infernales and Ultraman and Kung Fu weren't at their best here, but for a regular night out at Coliseo it was a nice little slice of 80s lucha.
  13. ohtani's jacket
    La Fiera vs. Babe Face, hair vs. hair, 8/15/86
     
    This was a good match. It didn't really deliver like a great hair match does, but still worth a look.
     
    The first time I watched it I thought the first two falls were a bit innocuous looking. I always get defensive when people say the first two falls in lucha are nothing falls as most of the time I think they work within the rhythm of a lucha libre match, but with these 80s matches the crowds are so poorly mic'ed that it's difficult to get a feel for the rhythm at times. Watching it again, Fiera gave a slightly more nuanced performance in the opening falls than I realised but there were still a few things I had a problem with. One of those problems was Fiera's offense: I'm not a big fan of Fiera's high kick offense to begin with, but I thought it looked particularly strange with the size difference between the workers and Babe Face not being a big bumper. I also thought he used too much high end offense for the first fall of a hair match. I prefer hair matches to be straight out brawling; if they use big moves to try to win the match in the final caida then that's understandable, but I think the matches should start with some haymakers. These guys had some pretty good trash talking/finger pointing going on before the bell, and this was the 80s where a worker would show up for a hair match in some kind of awesome jacket and cut a promo at ringside directed at his opponent; but they went with a slow burning, smouldering start to this match and although there was blood I thought Babe Face's transition back onto offense and his winning submission was weak by hair match standards.
     
    Where this match got good was in the third caida. There wasn't any major catalyst for the improvement in the match; they just started brawling in earnest. Fiera's selling was top notch. I loved the slight delay on his flailing bump anytime Babe Face delivered a headbutt or knockdown punch. He was also excellent at pacing his way through the opening section of the fall. He had his back to the canvas a lot and was in danger of succumbing to a second straight submission, and his first comeback attempt was for naught as his arm was too weakened to punch properly. The rest of the match was filled with lots of great little details as that big Fiera offense I mentioned left him increasingly groggy every time he tried to land a knockout blow. The highlight of the match was a face plant he took off a missed plancha from the apron. True dedication to his art. I was just getting into this match and there had just been a moment of typically great controversy in a match like this when all of a sudden it ended. That was a real buzz killer. I thought they could have gone a few minutes longer, though it was pretty obvious that it was Fiera doing all the work. I'm not sure that Babe Face had much chops, at least at this point in his career. Still for what this was I enjoyed it and it was good to see some prime Fiera.
  14. ohtani's jacket
    El Hijo del Santo vs. El Hijo del Solitario vs. Angel Blanco Jr., Triangular de la Muerte, 3/31/12
     
    There are about three or four handhelds of this available on youtube. The handheld with the best angle is broken down into half a dozen parts. It's also the most complete, from entrances to post match unmasking and celebrations. A couple of the other versions are clipped.
     
    This was fairly typical for a Triangular de la Muerte match. As soon as a three-way match was announced I had an inkling that it would be along these lines rather than a classic. The early falls are perfunctory, but there's always the hope that the mascara contra mascara section will be something special. In this case it was the standard Santo singles match. After such a bloody and violent feud, I was disappointed by the lack of blood. The heat, on the other hand, was fantastic and something which won't be captured in the televised version. If you ever want to hear Santo draw huge heat for his signature spots then this is the match for you. Blanco did the long lineage of unmasking rudos proud by kicking the bottom rope a couple of times and attacking Santo after he was given Blanco's mask and the post-match celebration was enjoyable, but nothing about this was great.
     
    I thought it would've been far cooler to do Santo and Villano vs. Solitario and Blanco Jr. masks vs. masks match.
  15. ohtani's jacket
    El Hijo del Santo & Villano IV vs. El Hijo del Solitario & Angel Blanco Jr., Todo X El Todo La Venganza, 3/23/12
     
    This was nowhere near as good as their first match, but as the middle part in the feud it was still pretty good.
     
    The February tag defied a lot of lucha libre conventions, whereas this was more along the lines of a traditional pre-apuestas match. The rudos milled about drawing heat while the technicos bled, then they switched roles. The rudos didn't care so much about winning this time round and just wanted to rub salt into the wound. The technicos gained a measure of revenge by winning the match, but were denied a total victory and will have to sit and stew for longer. The difference between the two matches is that this one didn't go the distance. The third fall was short and as with most matches pre-apuestas they held back on the big stuff. That said, there was still plenty of cool shit. I really liked Santo in this match. I thought he took a tremendous back against the ropes beating and bleed so much his mask looked burgundy. The highlight of the match was the set-up for his tope, which looked like it was cut and paste from 1986. There aren't too many people who do a better tope than Santo, but this one was particularly nasty. Blanco took an awesome backflip over the ring barrier and looked like he'd been knocked into next week. He looked like the off-stump after a West Indian fast delivery for those of you who understand cricket. Other highlights included Solitario playing Fuerza-like rudo tricks with a kid and folks shielding themselves from Villano's blood which splattered with each blow. Like I said, the rudos won't have minded losing this match, and for that reason this was a bit of a slow burner to build more heat for the mask match, but it was another chapter in what just might be the feud of the year and well recommended.
  16. ohtani's jacket
    Virus vs. Guerrero Maya Jr., CMLL World Super Lightweight Championship, 7/6/11
     
    This was a great match. It was almost assuredly the Match of the Year for 2011 and hasn't been topped since.
     
    The early part of the match was a clinic from Virus. There's plenty of matwork where you get a more even contribution from both participants, be it Navarro and Solar, Casas and Panther or even Virus and Valiente, but in terms of carrying a guy this had as much rhythm as any of those match-ups and was a testament to what a great worker Virus has been for the past fifteen years or so. He spent most of the first fall circling Maya, applying one hold while all the while thinking two or three holds ahead. At one point he clung to Maya's back like a parasite trying to worm its way into a submission opening. When nothing came of it, he tried a different route, probing and circling and all the while waiting... Recently, there was some criticism on this site that lucha matwork rarely plays into the finish. I'd argue that you're much more likely to see a submission finish in a lucha match than the NWA style it was patterned after; but in this match, after a cool looking segment where Maya had to bridge his way out of a head scissors, sure enough they took to the ropes. Now the argument goes that this usually leads to one guy missing a move and the other guy scoring either an instant tap-out or flash pin. And to be fair, it's true that this happens a lot in the most uninspiring of lucha. But let's take a look at this match: instead of Maya scoring a flash pin from taking it to the ropes, Virus went in for the kill. And what a kill. When I said he was waiting, it was like a shark waiting for the right time to strike. Objectively speaking, I don't see how anyone can say that Virus didn't set that finish up. And when people say the grappling wasn't as good as the IWRG style, that may be true but you don't see the same psychology in those matches.
     
    The second half of the match was an offensive showcase for Guerrero Maya Jr. I haven't seen much of Maya so I don't know how good he really is, but it's difficult to imagine that he's the former Multifacético. What really made this match was how great the tercera caída was. Maya reminded me of 1984 Atlantis in his second fall comeback, but in the third caida he took it up a notch with all sorts of nasty modern offence. The third caida was a really modern CMLL fall, but these can be exciting with the right rhythm and plenty of cool spots. The difference between this and so many other matches like it is that they got the timing right on every single spot. From the dropkick from behind to the senton to the outside to the armdrag takedowns, the match kept building and building; and for the first time since probably Sombra's match against Ephesto I found myself actively rooting for a technico to win. You can't beat that sort of drama in a wrestling match and that's why they haven't been topped since last summer. Probably the Match of the Decade thus far.
  17. ohtani's jacket
    Blue Panther vs. Negro Casas, hair vs hair, CMLL 3/2/12
     
    This was the match that pretty much everyone expected it would be. I won't go into too much detail about it as I assume everyone's seen it by now, but I'll share a few thoughts:
     
    There wasn't any blood and it wasn't a hair match. You're not going to see blood at Arena Mexico, but it's still worth mentioning that it wasn't a hair match. The workers lost their hair but that was about all it had in common with classic lucha. It was a tightly worked affair with a lot of holds applied, and the tercera caida was notable for the lack of big moves and nearfalls that you usually see in a hair match. In other words, there was a hell of a lot more wrestling. The upside of all that wrestling was that the match had a ton of psychology; the downside was that it was short on storytelling. People can always come up with a story if they want to, that's a trait of any match that people like, but I don't think this match had the level of selling that you'd expect from a performer like Negro Casas and the tercera caida wasn't dramatic enough to compare it with a Sangre Chicana hair match or a Pirata Morgan hair match. They made up for that by having a keen contest, but it was a different sort of match. The best parts were similar to their lightning match and involved plenty of invention and skill, but I was disappointed in the tercera caida which I thought dragged and was more suited to a title match than a brawl. The match was geared more towards a technical brawl than biting each other's foreheads and spraying blood everywhere, but it slowed down in the final fall and there wasn't the same level of intensity. It didn't stop me from appreciating what an excellent match it was, but I watched it three times and it never got any better. I did think it was a better match than they could've had in their primes, since their collective age and experience has played such a big part in it being a maestros feud and Panther was never that great at apuestas matches, but at the same time I thought it exposed some of the weaknesses in Panther's work since he unmasked. No matter how hard he tries, he's just not that expressive. To really excel at these matches you have to be charismatic. The deranged old man act and the biting through the boot bit are fine but not enough to carry a match. I liked the Fujiwara armbar in the opening fall, though it seemed to me that they blew the spot later in the match. But again, it wasn't enough. Not to make this a truly great match. I actually liked the Black Terry/Chico Che hair match more than this as I thought Terry outperformed both Casas and Panther. The wrestling might have been better here, but I thought Terry captured what a hair match is all about.
     
    Still, Casas/Panther, it's stupid to complain. Sticking these two together has been great and dream match-ups like this are something you rarely ever see in lucha. Therefore, it'll be in the reckoning come Match of the Year time.
  18. ohtani's jacket
    Angel Blanco Jr./El Hijo del Solitario vs. El Hijo Del Santo/Villano IV, TXT 2/25/12
     
    This was an excellent match and a vintage Santo brawl. I guess the surprising thing about that is that Santo didn't feature prominently. With the focus squarely on El Hijo del Solitario and Villano IV and an excellent performance from Angel Blanco Jr, Santo was left to do his bits. Santo being Santo it was all very crowd pleasing.
     
    The most outstanding thing about the match was the amount of blood. All four guys bled buckets and by the end of the match both Santo and Blanco's masked were stained red. It was an authentic lucha brawl, perhaps the most authentic we've seen in a while. You could've taken any number of still shots, printed them in grainy black and white and imagined you were reading an old-school lucha libre magazine. But it also had a clever structure. What seemed like it would be an easy first up fall for the technicos was cut off and turned into a long beatdown. El Hijo del Solitario and Angel Blanco Jr, neither of whom is a worker of note, spent a long period working the technicos over, and you know it's not easy to make ripping a guy's mask open interesting. They actually spent longer working a cut than a rudo typically would in one of these matches and the fact that they could keep it from being dull was commendable. I watched the match twice and the second time I was tracking Angel Blanco Jr during the rudo control segment and I really felt that he contributed some excellent spots, including my favourite spot where both he and El Hijo del Solitario began punching Villano IV simultaneously on the mat. El Hijo del Solitario is a tall, sort of thinnish worker, who reminds me of how Cien Caras used to move in the 80s. His stuff doesn't look that good and he has these sort of swiping punches that almost look like open handed strikes (only his fist is closed), but either he was hitting Villano for real or Villano was selling them like a champ because it was all pretty effective. After so much abuse, the technicos' comeback was super hot. The Villano boys know how to brawl and there was plenty of swinging chair shots and sweet payback. A lot of people moan about lucha structure, and in truth the technicos probably took over too easily in this fall, but it's the heat for the comeback that really matters. The third fall is always a back and forth slugfest, but the point of the second caida is to give the technicos momentum heading into the final fall and show that they can deliver later on in the match. That momentum came in the form of Santo's famous plancha to the outside, which is one of the most perfect spots in all of wrestling and still breathtaking after all this years. The twist here, however, was that the technicos couldn't take the fall and so that momentum eventually whittled away. The rudos winning in straight falls was a smart piece of booking, I thought. The finish was great and the post-match wet everyone's appetite for the mask match at the end of this month. The rudos definitely came of this looking stronger than anyone could have possibly imagined. It also showed, from a structural point of view, that those easy falls that people complain about in lucha are only small windows of opportunity much the same as any other sport. You don't see that type of psychology in lucha often, but it exists.
     
    I will say this, though: it didn't grab me as the Match of the Year. The latest in a run of excellent matches coming out of Mexico, but not the Match of the Year. We'll have to wait and see about that.
  19. ohtani's jacket
    Blue Panther vs. Negro Casas, lightning match, CMLL 1/27/12
     
    -- for a lightning match this was extremely good. Ten minutes can either be too short or too long in a lightning match, and many workers struggle to deliver something substantial, but this was as close to a proper match as you'll get with this stip. It wasn't perfect as they couldn't transition into the finish very well and the finish itself was contrived, but what shone through was how good these guys are at keeping things interesting. Panther was especially good with his selling and transitions, but both guys dug into their bag of tricks and the time simply wasn't an issue. It wasn't a MOTYC or anything like that (that's a bit of an overreaction), but as far as setting up a hair match goes it was as good as anything I can remember.
     
    Atlantis vs. Ultimo Guerrero, CMLL 2/3/12
     
    -- this is the sort of match I'd usually give a wide berth, but I was impressed with both these guys in that January trios so I thought I'd give them a chance. Ah, I thought it was all right. They tried to have a physical match with mask ripping and punch combos and plenty of body shots. A few people commented that it was indicative of the modern CMLL main event style, but there's nothing special about trying to have a huge tercera caída in a lucha libre match. Atlantis has been working this way his entire career. Things petered out on this occasion, but at least they tried to add something extra to each transition. It wasn't Casas vs. Panther, but it wasn't exactly spotty either. Atlantis is looking good this year, but I was kind of shocked by how grey he is.
     
    Negro Casas vs. La Sombra, NWA World Welterweight Championship, CMLL 2/20/12
     
    This was an excellent match. I'm struggling to think of any Casas matches I enjoyed more than this in the past 14 years. I don't know why everyone's working so hard lately, is it because business is down? I don't know what it is, but my opinion of CMLL has changed dramatically in the past few weeks. I haven't had this positive a vibe about the promotion since I first started this blog. This wasn't the classic lucha of 20 years ago, but it was smart and provided the perfect framework for how to have a modern match with a little bit of thought put into it. Sombra's been in more exciting matches than this, but I doubt he's been in anything as well worked. Casas was fantastic in this. His selling has always been his stock and trade, but what really stood out to me were the clever transitions. I'm starting to sound like Herb Kunze in this entry, but in the transitions in CMLL (and all wrestling really) have been so telegraphed for so long now that the work I'm seeing of late is exciting. Really smart use of a striking game against a bigger man and two big counters in the third caida that were sold about as well as the guy on offense can sell. Suddenly, I'm looking forward to CMLL matches.
     
    Fuego/Valiente vs. Arkangel de la Muerte/Virus, CMLL 2/21/12
     
    Here's another excellent match. What is in the water? This was fabulous. Just pure lucha. The opening exchanges between Arkangel and Fuego weren't the greatest, but I'm not sure everyone appeciates the beauty of cooperative lucha holds. They didn't get the rhythm right here but it's a beautiful thing when they start flipping holds. The closest comparison I can make is a "veronica" in bullfighting. Valiente and Virus were outstanding. They're such a natural pairing and their opening exchange was gorgeous. I've never really made the connection before, but Virus reminds me of Dandy in a way. One thing that was really noticeable was how much better Arkangel's exchanges were with Valiente than Fuego. The monkey flips were awesome as was the begging off. Those are the moments to savour in lucha and a good example of what I'd like to see more of in those maestro tags where Navarro and Solar never wrestle anybody else. I know I've been saying this a lot, but I can't remember the last time I saw a rudo comeback this good. Perhaps it's because I didn't watch lucha much last year, but that karate chop foul was brilliant. And how much fun was the third fall? It was a bit short, but the rudo beatdown, the technico comeback, the fast paced exchanges, tope and the all in finish were fantastic. I feel like I'm being spoilt.
  20. ohtani's jacket
    Pierroth vs. Mascara Sagrada, Mexican National Light Heavyweight title, 2/1/91
     
    If ever there was a test of how good Pierroth was during this time frame then this is it. Mascara Sagrada was not... very good... After a while, you accept him as part of the crew and sometimes you're impressed with what a rudo can do with him in trios, but we talking about trios. This was a twenty minute, two out of three falls title match. It wasn't exactly a miracle match, but it could've easily been a disaster. It was more of a heel vs. face match than a true title match, partially because Pierroth wasn't good enough on the mat to carry Sagrada but also because his strengths lay in being a "character worker," which he'd use to great effect the following year when his charisma exploded. The work is outrageously bad when Sagrada is on offense as you'd expect, but pretty entertaining when Pierroth is in control. Pierroth was sort of a second tier worker (as much as I like him), but he pulled this off. Would've loved to have seen him against Octagon, who was the best possible Mascara Sagrada on the roster.
  21. ohtani's jacket

    January 2012

    By ohtani's jacket,

    Hoping to keep more up to date with lucha this year.
     
    Black Terry/El Hijo Del Pirata Morgan/Skyde vs. Negro Navarro/Trauma 1/Trauma 2 Arena Neza 1/1/12
     
    -- This was ok. I read some criticism of the Terry/Trauma II matwork but it was nowhere near as frustrating as it can be. Navarro vs. Skyde was a nice change of pace but they could've done more. The best parts were the Terry/Navarro exchanges. Ever since those clips of Terry and Navarro fighting each other cut to Metallica's Unforgiven I've been clamouring for a singles match between the two. I could quit watching and die a happy man if it ever happens. El Hijo Del Pirata Morgan was a bit disappointing in this and played an odd role as fall guy.
     
    El Hijo Del Santo vs. Angel Mortal Jr., Arena Neza 1/1/12
     
    -- This was boring as shit. The same match Santo's been working for twenty years against a bad worker.
     
    Blue Panther/Atlantis/Solar vs. Ultimo Guerrero/Felino/Negro Navarro, 1/14/12
     
    -- This was a good match. Panther and Felino were awful on the mat, but the Solar/Navarro exchanges were amazing. I'm one of those people who think they wrestle too often, especially in matches like these, but I was floored by their work here. More surprising, though, were the Atlantis/Ultimo Guerrero exchanges. Atlantis looked great, but Ultimo Guerrero was fantastic. I don't want to get carried away and call it the best match he's ever had, but it was certainly the most I've enjoyed him.
     
    Atlantis, Delta, Guerrero Maya Jr. vs. Morphosis, Psicosis, Volador Jr. [MEX TRIOS] CMLL GDL 1/17/12
     
    -- This seemed okay. I think you have to be in rhythm with the match to enjoy this type of wrestling as there's no breathing space between moves. Prefer the darkened arenas to the usual CMLL lighting.
     
    Chico Che vs. Black Terry, IWRG 1/22/12
    Chico Che vs. Black Terry, hair vs. hair, IWRG 1/29/12
     
    -- This is what I'm talking about when I say Terry is better at working brawls than maestro tags or IWRG matwork. Both these matches deserve their own posts, but let me just say that the first match is an excellent mano a mano bout and the second is best Terry match I've seen. You should all go watch it now instead of reading any more, but long time IWRG viewers will be pleased to know that it takes the best aspects of Terry's feuds from '06-08 and pits them against a legitimately good worker in Che. Both guys bleed buckets, the strikes are great and the headbutts legendary. The key spots in the hair match work really well, especially the stuff lifted from Terry's match against Multifacético that Raging Noodles and I reviewed a few years ago. Loved all the involvement with the seconds and thought Alan Extreme's tope was sensational (and extremely well caught by BTJr.) The opening falls were fleshed out, the decider was dramatic while still being appropriate for the size of the arena, and the bullshit with the ref was fun. Terry was in his element bleeding and selling and these matches ruled.
  22. ohtani's jacket
    Black Terry/Negro Navarro vs. Trauma I/Trauma II, LUCHA POP 8/27/11
     
    This was a fairly typical match between these workers. It was bare bones in terms of layout and structure; Navarro dominated, Terry played second fiddle, and yet it was still pretty good. When Black Terry Jr's videos first started appearing it was Trauma II who showed the most potential among Dinastía Navarro, but for the past year or so Trauma I has been beastly. I don't know if he's overtaken Trauma II, but it sure looks that way. Mind you, everyone gets relegated to secondary status when Negro Navarro is in the ring. That's what happened to Terry & Trauma II, who worked the usual "my turn/your turn" pattern. The selling was decent, but Terry's a stronger character than Navarro and I don't really like seeing him in this environment. Sure he can work holds, but his forte are those Terribles Cerebros brawls where he does his best character work. Here Terry and Trauma II spent most of their time trying to hook each other, but it's obvious who's hookin' who if you keep taking turns. Not only that, but they always manage to go too long. I don't know if I've ever seen a Terry/Trauma exchange that ended on an upbeat. Navarro vs. Trauma I was outstanding, however. They worked this tiny little story where Trauma slapped the old man, and talk about teaching your boy a lesson. Trauma did a fantastic job of screaming basically, as Navarro taught his ever-improving son that he still doesn't know squat. Trauma I vs. Navarro has tremendous potential as the younger Trauma has the size to fight back against his old man, whereas big brother would have to work from underneath and probably get mauled. Navarro eased up on his boy after the armlock and ended up giving him the bout, but the signs were there that Navarro vs. Trauma could develop into one of wrestling's better match-ups. Here's hoping they wrestle each other more often than Navarro and Terry do.
  23. ohtani's jacket
    Blue Panther vs. Super Astro, Mexican National Middleweight Championship, AAA 10/9/92
     
    I've always thought this match was a disappointment and still do. The matwork in the first caida is nothing special and actually pretty weak by lucha title match standards. When you consider that it's a Blue Panther title match it's even more frustrating. Worse still is the second caida. I'm sure we've all made concessions for a weak caida in the past, but a soft fall is not what you'd expect from an oft-cited classic. I'm not against short falls by any stretch of the imagination, but a pinfall or submission shouldn't just fall into your lap. They do some good things in the third fall but it doesn't happen in rhythm with the rest of the match so it's hard to get excited about. It does salvage the match to a fair extent, but not to the point where it's a classic. Panther vs. Angel Azteca was better than this and that's hardly a classic either. When I think about what's missing from this match it's difficult to imagine what people see in it. There's none of the beauty and struggle of Panther's matwork against Atlantis or the breathtaking work of Super Astro in trios. I'm not sure what causes people to elevate this match beyond its proper station, but at least their impression is favourable. Hopefully, they use it as a gateway to the better stuff because I just don't see this as a high point in either guy's work.
  24. ohtani's jacket
    Virus vs. Stuka Jr., Arena Coliseo de Guadalajara, 8/30/11
     
    Wow, after crying out for CMLL to give Virus more time to work they finally went and did it. Thank you, CMLL.
     
    This was a wonderfully old-school match. The matwork was short and not much more than a feeling out process, but the rope exchanges and transitions were classic lucha and the slower, more deliberate pace had a strong resonance with me. The match didn't have a big arc, but in this particular case the simplity of the match outweighed the need to make it dramatic and I liked the fact that Virus was able to end the match cleanly and simply from a series of moves that Stuka should have kicked out from. You could probably argue that it made Stuka seem like more of a jobber than is usually portrayed in lucha, but it was worth it to be free from the trappings of the modern day style. I didn't really follow lucha last year, but more matches like this and I think I'll enjoy catching up on it over the New Year period.
  25. ohtani's jacket
    La Fiera v. Jerry Estrada, chain match, Monterrey, early 90s
     
    This is the first time I can remember seeing a chain match in lucha. I've got to say it's one of the better borrowed gimmicks I've seen in Mexican wrestling. The thing I liked about this most was how random the match-up was. One of the great things about lucha is that when you think of a chain match in Monterrey, there's probably a hundred different match-ups it would suit, but you look at the billing -- Jerry Estrada and La Fiera in a chain match -- and you think, "yeah, that works." Totally random, totally great. I can't think of another style of wrestling where there's so many match-ups you have to watch in case the match is great. This is a case in point, as long time readers will know how I feel about Jerry Estrada, but there's no way a sane man can resist watching this. I'll give Estrada his props now -- he was badass in this. They both were, really. It was basically a mano a mano match with a prop, but they did a lot of cool things with that prop and there was all of the blood and violence and selling that you'd expect. Brutality aside, I don't know if I'd call it a truly great match as it lacked the type of big finish that kicks the nearfalls into overdrive, but I kind of liked the finish they came up with for the sheer goofiness of it. After the tope and big spill to the outside, the idea was basically that the match was too violent to have any sort of resolution so they threw down the chain and did a double clothesline spot. Estrada barely connected with his clothesline, but it was one of those "only in lucha" moments where throwing down the chain and doing a double clothesline seems like a good idea. Yeah, it would've been better if one of them had tortured the other into submission but the match ran out of gas as a whole. Still, these matches are about atmosphere more than anything else and this definitely had its share, from the torn canvas to the workers bringing extra objects to the fight (for no other reason than they were scheduled to fight that night.) Plenty to dig even if it's incomplete.
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