Mr JMML

Los Brazos vs. Los Infernales (CMLL - 11/22/1991) What’s left to say about one of the most talked about matches in all of lucha and among the most discussed trios matches of all time, 1991 was packed full of 6-man tags all over the world. AJPW had the famous Super Generation Army vs Tsuruta-gun that are widely regarded as some of the best matches of the year, the April 20th match made the 27th spot on my 2023 GME ballot and I’m pretty sure I wasn’t the high vote so it’s fair to say that 1991 was in many ways a year marked by this match type. The fun isn’t over either there’s still one remarkable match of this kind left in the year for us to enjoy. This is the final of a tournament to decide who was going to be the inaugural CMLL World Trios champion and the two teams left were Los Brazos (Super Porky, Brazo de Oro and El Brazo) and Los Infernales (El Satánico, MS-1 and Pirata Morgan) by far the most decorated teams available considering that Los Bucaneros disbanded a few years earlier. These two teams had something in common, they’re both rudos so an occasion like this was perfect for them to face each other. They work particularly well together because the crowd didn’t care that Los Brazos were heels, they were treated like babyfaces, in fact, the announcers are really aware of it and they commented on it at some point. The match itself is surprisingly clean with both teams going (mostly) by the rulebook except for a few select instances, it shaped my taste on lucha significantly. I have a soft spot for this one in particular because it was my introduction to mexican tag team wrestling as a whole and it works perfectly as that. I’d highly recommend it to anyone with an interest in the style that hasn’t watched it yet and for the uninitiated too, it’s worth your time unless you can’t stand Los Brazos.

Fuerza Guerrera vs Octagón (CMLL - 11/1/1991) I hadn’t forgotten this project, I still plan on reviewing the best matches México ever produced and I can confidently say this is one of them, at the very least one of the greatest individual performances in lucha libre history. Fuerza Guerrera put on an insane heel performance that made the crowd root fiercely for the underdog. Octagón benefited massively from his rival’s brilliance, he had probably the best of his entire career and that’s saying something considering his status as one of lucha libre’s most remarkable técnicos, he was a part of the famous apuesta tag match from When Worlds Collide 1994 his résumé is full of bangers but this one tops them all. His legacy trascends beyond the realm of pro wrestling, he also participated in many films with his mask on like ‘‘Octagón y Atlantis La Revancha’’ none of them come close to being good ( not that it matters). He was liked by the fans and it shows, the people love him and want to see him overcome the many challenges he had to go through to beat Fuerza Guerrera. Like most matches that took place in México around this time it’s best of two out of three falls with the first one going for the heel and the rest going for the babyface but not without suffering many trials and tribulations. If you know spanish you will get even more out of this match, the announcers are genuinely hilarious and I don’t think their commentary can be translated completely to english or any other language, I’m a native speaker and I can barely understand them. This match is without a doubt one of the best of the year but if I remember correctly the best is yet to come. Los Brazos vs Los Infernales still in November. Two of the best trios in lucha libre history face each other in a match that most of you must have seen before.

Atlantis vs Blue Panther (EMLL - 8/9/1991) Another technical classic featuring two of the greatest luchadores to ever do it, it’s a great title match mainly because of its runtime, 25 minutes of awesome action while other matches of that kind go for longer (around 30 minutes) but most of them can’t make a match like that work however these two made the most out of their encounter. We all know Atlantis ‘‘El ídolo de los niños’’ literally the children’s idol was the main babyface of the company (EMLL/CMLL) for many years and the 1990’s were his best years although he was their brightest prospect during the 1980’s so his jump in in-ring ability didn’t surprise anyone and his longevity is also worth highlighting considering that he had fantastic matches during the 2010’s against Último Guerrero or La Sombra. His mask is probably the most valuable in lucha along with El Hijo del Santo’s, he was the face of CMLL for many years so his treatment is understandable and logical as a way to thank his contribution to wrestling as a whole for thirty years. Now the NWA Middleweight championship is on the line, Atlantis is defending his title against Blue Panther ‘‘El Maestro Lagunero’’, the match is as good as you could expect from them the hold to hold action is superb from beginning to end, no restholds here, every move has a purpose and helps to move the action forward something not many matches actually achieve, this is direct and focused the way mat wrestling should be. Atlantis came out of that match on top but Blue Panther lost honourably, no cheapshots or anything that might be considered dirty. This is worse than the last match but I’d still recommend this match to anyone who calls himself lucha fan.

El Hijo del Santo vs Negro Casas (WWA - 5/17/1991) The second chapter of the greatest rivalry in the history of lucha completely delivered, a fantastic mat-based bout capable of holding any lucha fan to their sit for the entirety of their runtime even though it’s an apuesta involving the son of one of the most protected characters (if not the most) in the history of lucha. I know that’s a big compliment but this match absolutely deserves it for everything that these two were capable to achieve in that ring, the hold to hold action was always engaging and genuinely fun to watch it’s a match that more than lived up to expectations. Negro Casas has always been a favourite among the fans of the style (me included) for his ability to make matches like this one work in a way that most luchadores can’t. I’ve already reviewed two matches involving him here, the first apuesta between him and Santito and a tag team match in the same year (1987) but it’s obvious that he has grown as a wrestler since then and he had become a force to be reckoned with during that time. Santito also improved as a wrestler in that time span making this matchup pretty even (ignoring the history of his mask) so this match played out as expected with both men having their respective moments to shine however history repeated itself once again and ‘‘El enmascarado de plata’’ retained his mask after a memorable showing everyone should at least take a look at. The match itself is absolutely worth your time but I must tell you that this apuesta is different to many others I’ve covered this one is mostly technical so you won’t see chairshot or blood like you’d in those.

I felt the exact same way. I liked the match but I didn't like it that much.

Black Terry is in there too.

His run from 1988 to 1993 is absolutely amazing, I don't know why people didn't like him.

La Fiera vs Jerry Estrada (Monterrey - 1991) We don’t have an exact date for this one but it ultimately doesn’t matter, this brawl is so unique and chaotic that I think not having a date plays with the nature of this bout in a genuinely fun way if there’s a date I don’t want to know I’ll live happily in ignorance because it actually makes this match better. Lucha isn’t well-preserved at all but that’s even more apparent when you are searching for match that didn’t happen in any of the two most recognized promotions and that’s what happened here. Monterrey is one of those promotions whose matches we should be grateful for having on tape especially when they are this good. As I mentioned earlier this is one of those crazy lucha brawls I love and I know for a fact that I’m not the only one who feels this way about this particular style, in fact, I think the best way to introduce someone to lucha libre is telling them to watch this match or Sangre Chicana vs MS-1. This is very easy to introduce just by telling you that one of the competitors is called La Fiera (literally The Beast in spanish) you should know what these two men are about to do in that ring (Jerry Estrada is a very cool name too, I love lucha). Jerry Estrada plays the heel as he always does and La Fiera has the whole crowd on his side for the entirety of the match. He enters the ring with a chain and he uses it to whip his opponent to oblivion just fantastic stuff and the whole match is like this too, a back and forth between two of the fiercest personalities in lucha history in front of a crowd that’s just loving every minute of it, a classic that everyone should watch I’m sure this match is universally loved but it isn’t as good as Sangre Chicana vs El Satánico from 1986 for example but I think that if you got 20 minutes to spare you should give this a go. I forgot to mention that this match isn’t two out of three falls, it’s just one fall but what a fall it was.

La Fiera vs Jerry Estrada (Monterrey - 1991) We don’t have an exact date for this one but it ultimately doesn’t matter, this brawl is so unique and chaotic that I think not having a date plays with the nature of this bout in a genuinely fun way if there’s a date I don’t want to know I’ll live happily in ignorance because it actually makes this match better. Lucha isn’t well-preserved at all but that’s even more apparent when you are searching for match that didn’t happen in any of the two most recognized promotions and that’s what happened here. Monterrey is one of those promotions whose matches we should be grateful for having on tape especially when they are this good. As I mentioned earlier this is one of those crazy lucha brawls I love and I know for a fact that I’m not the only one who feels this way about this particular style, in fact, I think the best way to introduce someone to lucha libre is telling them to watch this match or Sangre Chicana vs MS-1. This is very easy to introduce just by telling you that one of the competitors is called La Fiera (literally The Beast in spanish) you should know what these two men are about to do in that ring (Jerry Estrada is a very cool name too, I love lucha). Jerry Estrada plays the heel as he always does and La Fiera has the whole crowd on his side for the entirety of the match. He enters the ring with a chain and he uses it to whip his opponent to oblivion just fantastic stuff and the whole match is like this too, a back and forth between two of the fiercest personalities in lucha history in front of a crowd that’s just loving every minute of it, a classic that everyone should watch I’m sure this match is universally loved but it isn’t as good as Sangre Chicana vs El Satánico from 1986 for example but I think that if you got 20 minutes to spare you should give this a go. I forgot to mention that this match isn’t two out of three falls, it’s just one fall but what a fall it was.

Brazo de Oro vs El Hijo del Santo (Mask vs Hair - UWA - 1/13/1991) This apuesta was great, the last Toreo de 4 Caminos classic. AAA was the next company that called this venue home but it just wasn’t the same (at least that’s the popular opinion among lucha fans especially in Mexico). All apuestas involving El Hijo del Santo have the same problem, you already know the result before the match even starts his mask is way too valuable for him to lose it against anyone except someone with the same name value as him someone like Atlantis maybe. Brazo de Oro isn’t only an underdog, his mission is doomed from the start but the crowd really didn’t care about that they just wanted to witness El Hijo del Santo live and that’s perfectly understandable. Brazo de Oro was always a heel and a fan favourite but today he’s an actual heel thanks to his opponent’s popularity. If you weren’t aware already this matches are two out of three falls with Santito’s mask and Brazo’s hair on the line. I love how weak Santito looks during the first fall if he was any other wrestler I would think that he’s about to lose the match, the crowd also noticed that so they started to chant: ‘‘ Santo, Santo!’’. Santo was the key to the heart of the Toreo 4 Caminos’ crowd so his son was going to receive the same treatment. Remember how was the crowd during El Santo’s retirement match, they weren’t that good today but to be fair that’s really hard to top, in fact, I think that very few crowds in wrestling history can be compared with that, Brazo de Oro won the first fall without much trouble but the last two were another story completely, the second fall consisted of Santito’s comeback and eventual win and the last one while a bit more contested was won easily by El Enmascarado de Plata.

AJPW 1983 04 14 Stan Hansen vs Terry Funk This what comes to mind when someone says great brawling, the intensity here is rarely seen, Stan Hansen is one of the greatest brawlers in professional wrestling, Terry Funk is one of the greatest sellers so we are here for a treat, gaijins hitting each other very hard is one of All Japan’s greatest acts and that’s what happened here, fantastic brawling all around and almost no downtime whatsoever, Hansen was just savage, Terry Funk had an amazing selling performance that I don’t think can be replicated, the fear in his eyes is priceless, Hansen looked like the scariest wrestler in the world, his offense is as stiff as it gets, the roughness in this match can be felt, it’s a great representation of what 80’s AJPW was about, Terry had no chance of winning but he endured through the pain and agony until Dory came in to save him, to be honest the bell alone wasn’t going to stop Stan’s rage and blood thirst, Terry was beaten up badly, he never even hit Hansen throughout what we have of the match, it was cut for tv but I think it’s fair to assume that he didn’t hit Hansen during that commercial break, Terry’s selling masterpiece is legendary, I think this match is one of the greatest brawls I’ve ever seen, it’s got everything I love in wrestling done to perfection, I highly recommend this match to everyone interested in this era of the company, AJPW in the 1980’s it’s so underrated by the greater wrestling community, the main reason for that is the popularity of their 1990’s run that pretty much overshadowed it, no pillar could have replicated what these two did here, this match is that special, Terry Funk had an innate ability to make every brawl memorable and this one is no exception.

The Shield vs. Ryback and Team Hell No (WWE - 12/16/2012) The Shield’s in-ring debut was as great as it gets, they come to this match as the favorites even tough they haven’t wrestled together yet, that’s because their impact in the wrestling landscape was so huge WWE wasn’t going to waste the opportunity to push this new phenomenon to the moon, that’s what they did in a masterclass of WWE style car crash brawling, this match was the beginning of the great run WWE had as company that lasted around two years, their most acclaimed work during the last decade came in this two year span, it includes matches like CM Punk vs Brock Lesnar at SummerSlam 2013, John Cena vs Daniel Bryan at the same event and the most famous of them Daniel Bryan’s crowning as WWE champion at Wrestlemania XXX, as I said before all those things that happened in that span can be traced back to this match, The Shield had heel performance for the ages, every member of the stable had time to shine, each and everyone of the wrestlers involved tried their best to make this match unforgettable and they succeeded, The Shield had potential, I think they could have been the greatest trio in wrestling history if they were given a chance to make that happen, this is a match I couldn’t look away from, there’s always something happening at all times in a compelling way (this isn’t PWG), it all made sense in the context of a TLC 6-man tag team match, it’s a crazy premise but it somehow works, the WWE fanbase also got their first proper taste of The Shield’s offense and they loved it, the crowd is completely into the match and chanting ‘‘ This is awesome!’’ as a way to show their appreciation for what they were doing, just a very special night for the company.

Mariko Yoshida vs Megumi Fujii (ARSION, 2003-05-24) I’m pretty familiar with Megumi Fuiji’s MMA career, in fact, against popular opinion I think she is the women’s MMA GOAT, his wrestling career on the other hand is a mystery to me, I didn’t know she had a stint in pro wrestling, not only in ARSION, her run in the more obscure japanese indie scene is also remarkable, Mariko Yoshida’s wrestling career started in 1988, the year she graduated in the AJW dojo, if you’ve heard of this promotion’s training habits you’ll know it was no easy task especially during the 1980’s considering just how many women competed for a few roster spots, her most acclaimed work came as a part of the ARSION roster from the late 1990’s to the early 2000’s, this match took place in 2003 so we can assume she was in her prime at that time, ARSION is a shoot style promotion but it wasn’t like RINGS, UWF-I or PWFG this one was a joshi promotion that adapted their style to the rules of women’s MMA at that time, this means that the matches consisted of 3 rounds each lasting 3 minutes, if you want to know what was the state of women’s MMA at that time I highly recommend Megumi Fuiji vs Erica Montoya, Megumi dominated her in a grappling masterclass but now let’s go to the wrestling match, Mariko Yoshida was the ace of the company while Fuiji was making her pro wrestling debut, it’s evident she was held at a high regard but it’s still surprising nonetheless, Mariko Yoshida was right, Fuiji looked like the real deal even with the annoying clipping involved (an annoying feature of many ARSION matches), that aside this match was a great experience, it was the kind of match whose predictable ending didn’t take away any enjoyment whatsoever.

Akira Maeda vs Masakatsu Funaki (UWF - 10/25/1990) If the date sounds familiar is because it happened in the same show as the legendary Yoshiaki Fujiwara vs Nobuhiko Takada, this match was actually the main event of that show, in hindsight it wasn’t the right choice but who could blame them having the ace of the company facing off against a young up and coming Masakatsu Funaki, both matches were very good, in fact, I feel like this match is overlooked even by the most hardcore shootstyle fans, Akira Maeda has the ability to look like a jerk in every match he’s in mainly because he is in real life so it’s easier for him, Funaki in the other hand is the outmatched underdog the crowd is rallying behind and he performed pretty well in that circumstance, he’s a striker so Maeda targeted his left leg to limit his movement and efectiveness, that gameplan worked well for him during almost the entirety of the bout there were times where Funaki threatened an armbar but Maeda escaped unscaved every time, Maeda had the counter for everyone of Funaki’s moves, Maeda looked like the most intimidating figure in the UWF roster after such a win, his opponent was helpless, it gave me the impression that the match lasted 18 minutes because Maeda wanted it to last that long, you leave the match thinking that it could have lasted way less time if Maeda just wanted to win but he had higher aspirations he wanted to give everyone in the company a lesson and he did exactly that in a way very few wrestlers can or could ever replicate, Funaki was like one of those Lou Thesz opponents that had no chance of winning but won a fall, Funaki here is basically what Cyclone Anaya was in 1950, a victim of an unstoppable force nobody knows how to stop.

Damon Scythe vs Robby Lance - Ironman Match - ECCW 06/29/02 Are you familiar with these wrestlers? Me neither, they put together a performance for the ages, as compelling and intense as any other Ironman out there, I had heard many people praising this match but I didn’t expect it being this good which is impressive considering that I couldn’t even tell who was who until the halfway point so this match really deserved its status among hardcore wrestling fans, the way the match was filmed was also a big reason why I liked it so much, it feels like we aren’t supposed to be watching it, it’s like one of those found footage movies like Cannibal Holocaust but instead of watching five jerks in the jungle you come across a grappling masterpiece, the only thing that I genuinely dislike of this match is the crowd especifically their lack of engagement, you get the impression that they didn’t know what they were looking at, if the people that were there had any idea about professional wrestling they would’ve cheered throughout the whole match but I guess it wasn’t anyone’s fault certainly not the wrestlers’, the intensity shown and dexterity because having a 30 minute wrestling match is hard and at the pace they were going it’s even harder, I just couldn’t look away from the match, there was no point where they lost my attention, very few wrestlers can do what these two ‘‘no names’’ did that day, both of them surely earned my respect and the respect of the wrestling community as a whole, there was also very little downtime, this match truly deserved the Ironman name, their grappling skills were at full display, they showed how mat wrestling should work, this particular match has a rare quality nowadays, every move really felt like it could result in a fall and that’s so difficult to accomplish.