Mr JMML

El Satánico vs El Gran Cochisse 09-14-1984 EMLL NWA Middleweight Title El Satánico’s 1984 is something else, he’s inspired, he couldn’t have a bad match, if I told you that Cochisse is a bad wrestler after watching this match you wouldn’t believe me, this match is the quintessential carry job, Satánico made him look like a decent wrestler something no other performer ever achieved, I think this match was a career-defining moment for him, every time you think of Cochisse you think of this particular match and that’s because he didn’t have any other match that was nearly as good as this one and that speaks of Satanico’s greatness, I don’t blame anyone for thinking he’s the best wrestler México ever produced, his consistency and longevity are enough to put him in the GOAT conversation, I feel like he is México’s version of Terry Funk, doesn’t matter which style he wrestles he will always make the most out of every opportunity, the last match I reviewed was an all out brawl against a very good wrestler (Shiro Koshinaka) that match couldn’t be more different from the one we’re taking a look today, that’s special, having someone so versatile, it doesn’t happen often, young Satánico was incredible but I personally think that Satanico’s 2001 is even better, the feud against Último Guerrero was the highlight of the whole year not only in lucha but also in the world of professional wrestling, we’ll get into that eventually. The match played out as you expect for a mexican title bout, it’s all strictly technical wrestling, there weren’t any heel tactics, it was as clean as wrestling match can be and that makes this match even more impressive, it would have been much easier to carry him in a brawl setting but Satánico didn’t do that he made Cochisse look good in one of the cleanest lucha matches I’ve ever seen. If you are curious here’s how the match went, the first fall was won comfortably by Satánico, the second fall looked like much of the same until Cochisse rolled him and lastly the third fall was all Satanico, he submitted Cochisse after a dominant performance.

Satánico vs Shiro Koshinaka (EMLL - 7/30/1984) Hair vs Hair Shiro is absolutely wild in this match, this match is notorious for breaking most of lucha’s rules and the explanation for most of those rule-breaking moments is the lack of an NWA commissioner that’s the same thing that usually happened in Puerto Rico, I’m sure you’re at least familiar with the brawls World Wrestling Council was known for, Hugo Savinovich (a terribly obnoxious announcer) used to highlight his presence whenever he showed up to a match, if that happened a brawl was absolutely guaranteed, the commissioner was always upset and Hugo never failed to tell the viewer about it, the most famous instance of that happening was that Carlos Colón vs Abdullah The Butcher, the one where Carlitos poked Abdullah’s eye to such an extent that the match had to be stopped and Savinovich tried his best to maintain Colón’s image as the puerto rican hero. In México this situations are rarer but they can happen once in a while and this match is the prime example of it, Shiro Koshinaka proved himself in front of the mexican crowd against the greatest wrestler of the year and officially the best rudo in EMLL the previous year if you’re curious the best wrestler of EMLL in 1983 was Sangre Chicana, he also had a classic against Satánico that year, that’s how good Satánico is, his work is just different, it’s special and as rough as lucha can get, during this match the announcer said that Satoru Sayama and Mitsuharu Misawa worked in México and that made me think ‘‘if what we have is this good imagine what we don’t have’’ that’s the same thing that happens with the great workers from the 1950’s and before, Lou Thesz debuted in 1929 and we consider him one of the greatest wrestlers in history with what we have since 1950, lucha is very similar, we start to have consistent footage in 1983 so everything before that is a blindspot of the wrestling community. The first fall went to Shiro, he hit Satánico before the introduction and maintained the advantage, the second was won comfortably by Satánico and the third is the funniest part, Shiro hit a piledriver on Satánico and somehow he kicked out, if you are piledrived in lucha you’re supposed to leave the arena stretched off so kicking out is just badass anyway Satánico won because Koshinaka hit a low blow and the referee saw it.

Satánico vs Shiro Koshinaka (EMLL - 7/30/1984) Hair vs Hair Shiro is absolutely wild in this match, this match is notorious for breaking most of lucha’s rules and the explanation for most of those rule-breaking moments is the lack of an NWA commissioner that’s the same thing that usually happened in Puerto Rico, I’m sure you’re at least familiar with the brawls World Wrestling Council was known for, Hugo Savinovich (a terribly obnoxious announcer) used to highlight his presence whenever he showed up to a match, if that happened a brawl was absolutely guaranteed, the commissioner was always upset and Hugo never failed to tell the viewer about it, the most famous instance of that happening was that Carlos Colón vs Abdullah The Butcher, the one where Carlitos poked Abdullah’s eye to such an extent that the match had to be stopped and Savinovich tried his best to maintain Colón’s image as the puerto rican hero. In México this situations are rarer but they can happen once in a while and this match is the prime example of it, Shiro Koshinaka proved himself in front of the mexican crowd against the greatest wrestler of the year and officially the best rudo in EMLL the previous year if you’re curious the best wrestler of EMLL in 1983 was Sangre Chicana, he also had a classic against Satánico that year, that’s how good Satánico is, his work is just different, it’s special and as rough as lucha can get, during this match the announcer said that Satoru Sayama and Mitsuharu Misawa worked in México and that made me think ‘‘if what we have is this good imagine what we don’t have’’ that’s the same thing that happens with the great workers from the 1950’s and before, Lou Thesz debuted in 1929 and we consider him one of the greatest wrestlers in history with what we have since 1950, lucha is very similar, we start to have consistent footage in 1983 so everything before that is a blindspot of the wrestling community. The first fall went to Shiro, he hit Satánico before the introduction and maintained the advantage, the second was won comfortably by Satánico and the third is the funniest part, Shiro hit a piledriver on Satánico and somehow he kicked out, if you are piledrived in lucha you’re supposed to leave the arena stretched off so kicking out is just badass anyway Satánico won because Koshinaka hit a low blow and the referee saw it.

Tony Salazar vs. Herodes 03-02-1984 Hair vs Hair 2/3 Falls A great apuesta that was a part of the Lucha 80’s DVDVR, before the match started Miguel Linares interviewed Tony Salazar, he said that his rivalry with Herodes (by the way, it’s the perfect name for a heel) was something that’s beyond sports, he made it clear that the only way their feud could be settled would be an apuesta, if what Miguel Linares said is true it isn’t the first hair match these two have had against each other, in fact, this match is a rematch but we don’t have the first match or at least I don’t know where it is. The crowd loves Tony Salazar either that or they just hate Herodes’ guts, Herodes is Herod the Great in spanish, in the New Testament he’s the King of Judea and most importantly when it was announced that the King of the Jews ( Jesus) was born he took offense because he considered himself to be that so he ordered to kill the eldest son of every family in the area so he’s considered an antagonist in the Bible but archeological records suggest otherwise, the only thing you really have to know is that Herodes is a badass name for a wrestler, that’s the only thing that matters for today’s match. I personally think that this match is one of lucha’s greatest brawls, from the very beginning with Herodes chasing Salazar around the ring to the strange ending that I’ll try to explain when we get to it with Gran Davis ( the referee) being the main cause of confusion, when the match started Miguel Linares said that Herodes had the intention of finishing his opponent quickly ( spoiler: That didn’t happen). The first fall was surprisingly quick, Tony Salazar won without much trouble, the second fall was all Herodes, he took advantage of Tony’s injured wrist and won via Fujiwara armbar or at least its mexican version, now let’s address the finish, a ref bump happens and Herodes hit a low blow on Tony then he went for the pin and when it looked like Herodes had secured the victory Gran Davis declared a draw, maybe he wasn’t sure about what happened, I don’t know. If you liked Sangre Chicana vs MS-1 you’ll like this one, a bloody brawl full of drama.

Tony Salazar vs. Herodes 03-02-1984 Hair vs Hair 2/3 Falls A great apuesta that was a part of the Lucha 80’s DVDVR, before the match started Miguel Linares interviewed Tony Salazar, he said that his rivalry with Herodes (by the way, it’s the perfect name for a heel) was something that’s beyond sports, he made it clear that the only way their feud could be settled would be an apuesta, if what Miguel Linares said is true it isn’t the first hair match these two have had against each other, in fact, this match is a rematch but we don’t have the first match or at least I don’t know where it is. The crowd loves Tony Salazar either that or they just hate Herodes’ guts, Herodes is Herod the Great in spanish, in the New Testament he’s the King of Judea and most importantly when it was announced that the King of the Jews ( Jesus) was born he took offense because he considered himself to be that so he ordered to kill the eldest son of every family in the area so he’s considered an antagonist in the Bible but archeological records suggest otherwise, the only thing you really have to know is that Herodes is a badass name for a wrestler, that’s the only thing that matters for today’s match. I personally think that this match is one of lucha’s greatest brawls, from the very beginning with Herodes chasing Salazar around the ring to the strange ending that I’ll try to explain when we get to it with Gran Davis ( the referee) being the main cause of confusion, when the match started Miguel Linares said that Herodes had the intention of finishing his opponent quickly ( spoiler: That didn’t happen). The first fall was surprisingly quick, Tony Salazar won without much trouble, the second fall was all Herodes, he took advantage of Tony’s injured wrist and won via Fujiwara armbar or at least its mexican version, now let’s address the finish, a ref bump happens and Herodes hit a low blow on Tony then he went for the pin and when it looked like Herodes had secured the victory Gran Davis declared a draw, maybe he wasn’t sure about what happened, I don’t know. If you liked Sangre Chicana vs MS-1 you’ll like this one, a bloody brawl full of drama.

His 1984 was legendary, this means a lot from you considering that you aren't Satánico's biggest fan.

La Ola Lila vs Los Cadetes del Espacio 02-26-1984 2/3 Falls Rudy Reyna & Sergio el Hermoso & Bello Greco vs Solar #1 & Super Astros & Ultraman This is a trios match, UWA made those matches famous, this company was the most innovative in México at the time, this match isn’t my thing, it’s the opposite of what I consider a great mexican trios match, it has no redeemable qualities, when I reviewed Los Brazos career I highlighted their appeal, how their style of comedy made their matches memorable, there’s nothing in this match that makes it memorable, their offense is just good on a surface level but the more I think about it the more I realise how dumb it is. Michinoku Pro did things even dumber than this match but they were just figuring out what’s lucha, if you are mexican you can’t use that excuse, you can say that they’re trying to do new things and you would be right but they do it without any personality, I didn’t feel like I was watching a pro wrestling match, lucha is made of personalities and this match doesn’t have that, it’s absolutely soulless, I know this match has some fans but I just don’t see what makes this match special I’m happy thinking that some people see in this contest the wrestling they want, as I said in my review of the 3/16 Michinoku Pro trio almost everybody is right in wrestling, there’s no definitive answers in wrestling and that’s amazing, I can’t imagine a world where wrestling is objective, that’s a dystopian reality for me, I’m sure someone loved this match as much as I hated it and that’s the best part about wrestling, everybody can make their case for everything and most probably you’re right, that’s why I still watch wrestling, I watch wrestling because for me it’s the most special medium there is, professional wrestling is unique but this match just for me at all, I hope someone can change my mind.

La Ola Lila vs Los Cadetes del Espacio 02-26-1984 Rudy Reyna & Sergio el Hermoso & Bello Greco vs Solar #1 & Super Astros & Ultraman This is a trios match, UWA made those matches famous, this company was the most innovative in México at the time, this match isn’t my thing, it’s the opposite of what I consider a great mexican trios match, it has no redeemable qualities, when I reviewed Los Brazos career I highlighted their appeal, how their style of comedy made their matches memorable, there’s nothing in this match that makes it memorable, their offense is just good on a surface level but the more I think about it the more I realise how dumb it is. Michinoku Pro did things even dumber than this match but they were just figuring out what’s lucha, if you are mexican you can’t use that excuse, you can say that they’re trying to do new things and you would be right but they do it without any personality, I didn’t feel like I was watching a pro wrestling match, lucha is made of personalities and this match doesn’t have that, it’s absolutely soulless, I know this match has some fans but I just don’t see what makes this match special I’m happy thinking that some people see in this contest the wrestling they want, as I said in my review of the 3/16 Michinoku Pro trio almost everybody is right in wrestling, there’s no definitive answers in wrestling and that’s amazing, I can’t imagine a world where wrestling is objective, that’s a dystopian reality for me, I’m sure someone loved this match as much as I hated it and that’s the best part about wrestling, everybody can make their case for everything and most probably you’re right, that’s why I still watch wrestling, I watch wrestling because for me it’s the most special medium there is, professional wrestling is unique but this match just for me at all, I hope someone can change my mind.

Battlarts adds Bas Rutten to the commentary team.

Americo Rocca vs Mocho Cota EMLL 01-27-1984 2/3 falls NWA Welterweight Title This is the first example of a technical title bout we have, Americo Rocca is the babyface, if what the announcers said is true he was a very prolific Rock ‘n’ Roll singer during his youth, I haven’t researched about it but I’ll take their word for it, the announcers are amazing, they also said that Mocho Cota was a goalkeeper who played for Chivas de Guadalajara one of the best football clubs in Mexico so both of them were quite known before their respective wrestling careers even started, as exhausting and unsufferable as Miguel Linares can be sometimes, he’s also someone that has been watching wrestling for so long, when he talks about lucha libre’s history he becomes the most interesting announcer wrestling has ever had, as I said in a previous review lucha is made of myths, when someone has lived through the history we have romanticized in the last 30 years, I love reading lucha history because it’s such a blindspot for many people, the language barrier makes it even more difficult to put it together, being a native spanish speaker gave me a chance to deep dive on lucha and its history, I love those two minute clips we have from México in the 50’s and 60’s, that’s why I reviewed El Santo’s retirement tag, it’s a piece of lucha history so unique that I had the obligation to highlight it. I love the first match between Mocho Cota and Americo Rocca, it’s a great example of what a title bout should look like, Mocho Cota is a fantastic technical wrestler and an even better heel, I can’t do anything other than like him, Americo Rocca is an amazing babyface, the crowd loves him and rightly so. Americo Rocca won the first fall but the rest of the match was Mocho Cota’s show, he completely dominated the last two falls with help from his second Talisman, Talisman even helped him win the third fall.

Americo Rocca vs Mocho Cota EMLL 01-27-1984 2/3 falls NWA Welterweight Title This is the first example of a technical title bout we have, Americo Rocca is the babyface, if what the announcers said is true he was a very prolific Rock ‘n’ Roll singer during his youth, I haven’t researched about it but I’ll take their word for it, the announcers are amazing, they also said that Mocho Cota was a goalkeeper who played for Chivas de Guadalajara one of the best football clubs in Mexico so both of them were quite known before their respective wrestling careers even started, as exhausting and unsufferable as Miguel Linares can be sometimes, he’s also someone that has been watching wrestling for so long, when he talks about lucha libre’s history he becomes the most interesting announcer wrestling has ever had, as I said in a previous review lucha is made of myths, when someone has lived through the history we have romanticized in the last 30 years, I love reading lucha history because it’s such a blindspot for many people, the language barrier makes it even more difficult to put it together, being a native spanish speaker gave me a chance to deep dive on lucha and its history, I love those two minute clips we have from México in the 50’s and 60’s, that’s why I reviewed El Santo’s retirement tag, it’s a piece of lucha history so unique that I had the obligation to highlight it. I love the first match between Mocho Cota and Americo Rocca, it’s a great example of what a title bout should look like, Mocho Cota is a fantastic technical wrestler and an even better heel, I can’t do anything other than like him, Americo Rocca is an amazing babyface, the crowd loves him and rightly so. Americo Rocca won the first fall but the rest of the match was Mocho Cota’s show, he completely dominated the last two falls with help from his second Talisman, Talisman even helped him win the third fall.

El Santo Retirement tag (UWA - 9/12/1982) El Santo & El Solitario & Gory Guerrero & Huracán Ramírez vs Negro Navarro & El Signo & Texano & Perro Aguayo This is the last match of the biggest star in lucha history ( El Santo), the crowd is as hot as any crowd has ever been, it’s the greatest demonstration of his legacy, we don’t have as much footage as we would have liked but there’s a few minutes of some matches in black & white, his matches against Espanto and Black Shadow are canon lucha that’s talked about a lot in the spanish speaking community, lucha libre is made of myths and there’s no myth as big as El Santo, everybody has heard about La Pareja Atómica the tag team formed by Gory Guerrero and El Santo, considered the biggest draw a tag team has ever been even more than the Crush Gals and it showed, the crowd genuinely cares about the match, a contest that turned out to be an all out brawl, it’s amazing that an almost 65 year old Santo said goodbye to lucha libre with that kind of match, we are accustomed to watch Black Terry wrestle matches way more violent than this one at that age but he’s just built different, one of the highlights of the match in my opinion is 37 year old Perro Aguayo bloodied creating chaos everywhere he went. El Santo’s partners aren’t exactly in their prime either, they are just as old as Santo, the age of the competitors wasn’t an issue for the crowd, they were cheering loudly during the whole affair, they knew how important this moment was and that’s something to appreciate, if they didn’t show any interest the match would have been just a DUD but it wasn’t, the match flies by, it’s very entertaining and a match everyone should check out doesn’t matter if you don’t like lucha this match transcends lucha, it’s one of wrestling’s greatest legends last match, I think that’s special and every wrestling fan has to witness it.

El Santo Retirement tag (UWA - 9/12/1982) El Santo & El Solitario & Gory Guerrero & Huracán Ramírez vs Negro Navarro & El Signo & Texano & Perro Aguayo This is the last match of the biggest star in lucha history ( El Santo), the crowd is as hot as any crowd has ever been, it’s the greatest demonstration of his legacy, we don’t have as much footage as we would have liked but there’s a few minutes of some matches in black & white, his matches against Espanto and Black Shadow are canon lucha that’s talked about a lot in the spanish speaking community, lucha libre is made of myths and there’s no myth as big as El Santo, everybody has heard about La Pareja Atómica the tag team formed by Gory Guerrero and El Santo, considered the biggest draw a tag team has ever been even more than the Crush Gals and it showed, the crowd genuinely cares about the match, a contest that turned out to be an all out brawl, it’s amazing that an almost 65 year old Santo said goodbye to lucha libre with that kind of match, we are accustomed to watch Black Terry wrestle matches way more violent than this one at that age but he’s just built different, one of the highlights of the match in my opinion is 37 year old Perro Aguayo bloodied creating chaos everywhere he went. El Santo’s partners aren’t exactly in their prime either, they are just as old as Santo, the age of the competitors wasn’t an issue for the crowd, they were cheering loudly during the whole affair, they knew how important this moment was and that’s something to appreciate, if they didn’t show any interest the match would have been just a DUD but it wasn’t, the match flies by, it’s very entertaining and a match everyone should check out doesn’t matter if you don’t like lucha this match transcends lucha, it’s one of wrestling’s greatest legends last match, I think that’s special and every wrestling fan has to witness it.

El Satánico’s 1984 is widely regarded as one of the best years by any wrestler ever and matches like this one are the reason why, two well known faces of lucha faced each other for Satánico’s NWA Middleweight Title, Atlantis at this point in his career wasn’t the legend he is today, in fact, he was an up and comer that was just named Rookie of the Year of 1983 along with El Hijo del Santo so he wasn’t ‘‘El ídolo de los niños’’ yet. El Satánico was in a very different position though, he was the hottest heel commodity in México, he had been wrestling since 1973, he wore a mask during his early career but we don’t have any footage of him wearing the mask but the mask itself is still well preserved, his style is rough not only for his strikes but also for his holds, they genuinely look painful, I don’t want to be the guy that’s in the receiving end of any of them, Atlantis’ style is more based on aerial maneuvers and traditional lucha libre holds, at some point during the match he even tries to put Satánico in a camel clutch like the original Santo used to do, Santo retired almost two years earlier so the crowd had quite a ‘‘déjá vu’’, this match was a star-making performance from beginning to end, everybody knew that Atlantis wasn’t supposed to win but it didn’t matter there’s always hope, Atlantis won the first fall but it was Satánico’s show from then on, Satánico was always generous, he sold pretty well Atlantis’ offense and did everything in his power to make him look good, so good that the crowd started believing in Atlantis especially during the third fall, Atlantis got Satánico in an abdominal stretch but he got out of the hold then Satánico submitted his young opponent with his trademark hold ‘‘La cruceta con palancas’’. A thing of beauty if you like lucha you’ll like this match.

Atlantis vs El Satánico EMLL 1-20-1984 2/3 falls El Satánico’s 1984 is widely regarded as one of the best years by any wrestler ever and matches like this one are the reason why, two well known faces of lucha faced each other for Satánico’s NWA Middleweight Title, Atlantis at this point in his career wasn’t the legend he is today, in fact, he was an up and comer that was just named Rookie of the Year of 1983 along with El Hijo del Santo so he wasn’t ‘‘El ídolo de los niños’’ yet. El Satánico was in a very different position though, he was the hottest heel commodity in México, he had been wrestling since 1973, he wore a mask during his early career but we don’t have any footage of him wearing the mask but the mask itself is still well preserved, his style is rough not only for his strikes but also for his holds, they genuinely look painful, I don’t want to be the guy that’s in the receiving end of any of them, Atlantis’ style is more based on aerial maneuvers and traditional lucha libre holds, at some point during the match he even tries to put Satánico in a camel clutch like the original Santo used to do, Santo retired almost two years earlier so the crowd had quite a ‘‘déjá vu’’, this match was a star-making performance from beginning to end, everybody knew that Atlantis wasn’t supposed to win but it didn’t matter there’s always hope, Atlantis won the first fall but it was Satánico’s show from then on, Satánico was always generous, he sold pretty well Atlantis’ offense and did everything in his power to make him look good, so good that the crowd started believing in Atlantis especially during the third fall, Atlantis got Satánico in an abdominal stretch but he got out of the hold then Satánico submitted his young opponent with his trademark hold ‘‘La cruceta con palancas’’. A thing of beauty if you like lucha you’ll like this match.

MS-1 vs. Sangre Chicana (9/23/83) EMLL (Hair vs Hair) 2/3 Falls This match doesn't need much context to be enjoyed, the brutality speaks for itself, that's why it is the match that we use to introduce lucha because almost every wrestling fan will have fun watching it. Sangre Chicana was a big match wrestler, it means that he isn't by any stretch of the imagination a wrestler of the year candidate in any year but he can have a match of the year contender with the right opponent like Shinobu Kandori in joshi. MS-1 was one of the original members of Los Infernales, the most important heel faction of Mexico for many years. There was someone called MS-2 if you were wondering but he wasn't as successful. The match began when MS-1 attacked Sangre Chicana from behind, that move paid off big time because around 3 minutes later he won the first fall. During the first fall Sangre Chicana was lacerated, the cut came from the brutal offense of MS-1 in the early going so he couldn't barely see. The people in the stands were behind him because of it. The match continues and Sangre Chicana makes the comeback of a lifetime thanks to dives between the ropes and merciless ringside action that unlocks his path to victory, it comes in the form of a count out as a result of a successful suicide dive and MS-1 couldn't make it to the ring so that's how the thrilling second fall ends. After two falls both men are exhausted, from here we can see two different ways to approach the rest of the match, Sangre Chicana tries to maintain the advantage and MS-1 desperately needs to hit his moves if he wants to retain his hair. At the end, after an abdominal stretch Sangre Chicana got the pinfall with a victory roll.

MS-1 vs. Sangre Chicana (9/23/83) EMLL (Hair vs Hair) 2/3 Falls This match doesn't need much context to be enjoyed, the brutality speaks for itself, that's why it is the match that we use to introduce lucha because almost every wrestling fan will have fun watching it. Sangre Chicana was a big match wrestler, it means that he isn't by any stretch of the imagination a wrestler of the year candidate in any year but he can have a match of the year contender with the right opponent like Shinobu Kandori in joshi. MS-1 was one of the original members of Los Infernales, the most important heel faction of Mexico for many years. There was someone called MS-2 if you were wondering but he wasn't as successful. The match began when MS-1 attacked Sangre Chicana from behind, that move paid off big time because around 3 minutes later he won the first fall. During the first fall Sangre Chicana was lacerated, the cut came from the brutal offense of MS-1 in the early going so he couldn't barely see. The people in the stands were behind him because of it. The match continues and Sangre Chicana makes the comeback of a lifetime thanks to dives between the ropes and merciless ringside action that unlocks his path to victory, it comes in the form of a count out as a result of a successful suicide dive and MS-1 couldn't make it to the ring so that's how the thrilling second fall ends. After two falls both men are exhausted, from here we can see two different ways to approach the rest of the match, Sangre Chicana tries to maintain the advantage and MS-1 desperately needs to hit his moves if he wants to retain his hair. At the end, after an abdominal stretch Sangre Chicana got the pinfall with a victory roll.

The greatest american tag team feud of the 1980’s goes Crockett, as many of you are aware the feud began in Bill Watts’ Mid-South, yesterday I reviewed their debut against the Russians (Krusher Kruschev and Nikita Koloff) winning the tag team titles in the process, they lost them in October 13th 1985, the Russians regained them but they lost them again at Starrcade 1985 against the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express, this match aired in February 7th 1986, this match is famous for the title change that took place, the Midnight Express won the tag team titles in controversial fashion as expected considering that this tag team in particular wasn’t the cleanest out there, anyway it isn’t as good as the match mentioned previously but it was still a great bout and absolutely must watch, as Arn Anderson said in his podcast they were a tag team every heel wanted to work with and it’s pretty clear why, the crowd is always behind them so as a heel you will always get a reaction out of them, the Midnight Express ( Stan Lane & Dennis Condrey) benefited a lot from this, they were heels that used the dirtiest tactics in the book to win and the people hated them for it everywhere they went, the Midnight Express & the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express are a match made in heaven and they proved it every single time they were together in a wrestling ring, you can’t talk about any of these two teams without bringing up the other one. The match is the classic example of a southern tag formula, the heels cutting off the ring in half while the babyface team tries to make a comeback, the crowd wasn’t as hooked as they were in the last tag team match I reviewed, at some point past the 10 minute mark they knocked out the referee and chaos ensued, the Midnight Express took advantage of the situation and got the pin. It’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Express vs Midnight Express, of course it’s amazing and well worth your time.

So I'm not the only one that liked the minis stuff, Virus' best year.

In the last review I talked about this match being the greatest match in Jim Crockett Promotions in 1985 and I don’t regret saying that, it’s the real main event of Starrcade 1985, the rematch between Dusty Rhodes and Ric Flair wasn’t nearly as good as this match, it’s just way better than any other match of the show and the whole year to be fair, I love how gruesome this match is, most deathmatches aren’t as gruesome as this match, deathmatches usually glorify violence in a way that makes them no longer uncomfortable but this match without being a deathmatch is more difficult to see than most matches that are promoted as bloody and violent but they’re just people bleeding for the sake of bleeding but this match is actually unsettling, there’s real tension between these two, the hate these two have for each other is palpable, they will do everything necessary to win this match, the I Quit stipulation makes it that much sweeter, being able to hear them scream NO! it’s emotional to a point I can’t describe with just words, the most impressive thing about this match especifically is the run time, they made one of the most emotional matches in wrestling history in less than twenty minutes, the level of violence in this match is something else, there’s blood but it isn’t about that, it’s about their willingness to do whatever it takes to make their opponent submit, in a way it’s close to the Trojan War, it’s an all out brawl caused by a woman, if you ask me this rivalry is way more epic and better written than Homer’s books honestly, the US Heavyweight Championship is the least important part of the whole ecuation, I mean it’s a midcard title, Magnum TA made Tully say yes. Just watch it, you’ll love it if you are into brawls from the territory days.

What hasn’t been said about the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express, they’re possibly the greatest tag team in wrestling history and matches like the one I’m reviewing today is one of the reason why they are so highly regarded among wrestling fans, their charisma as babyfaces is absolutely unmatched, they always had the crowd behind them, they were benefited by how their style interprets their role in the action but at the same time they were the best at it, the crowd loved them genuinely and that’s something almost impossible to recreate nowadays, everyone was behind them, doesn’t matter if it’s Mid-South, Jim Crockett Promotions or Smoky Mountain Wrestling in the 1990’s, they were always loved by the people in the stands and that may have something to do with their stellar selling, their struggle is grueling and the people empathized with them in a way only the Crush Gals could replicate with their fanbase of mainly japanese school girls, they screamed their lungs out every time Dump Matsumoto touched either Lioness Asuka or Chigusa Nagayo but The Rock ‘n’ Roll Express is different while they connected with every crowd they worked with the Crush Gals only had that level of success with the japanese crowds, when the Crush Gals went to México in a match I reviewed they didn’t have nearly the same level of success. Nikita Koloff and Krusher Krushchev aren’t the most skilled workers ever, they were just big and untalented men ( at least compared to their opponents) with a racist gimmick but the Rock ‘n’ Roll Express made them look like the greatest heel team in history for thirty minutes on July 13th 1985 in a Worldwide taping, that’s what greatness is if you ask me, watch it if you haven’t doesn’t matter your preferences you’re going to like this, it isn’t as good as Tully vs Magnum but it is a contender for the greatest tag team match of that year (outside AJW).

This match is many things but mainly a cause of contention in the wrestling community as a whole, their style is divisive to say the least, how they sell or most importantly how they don’t sell may infuriate some people in the wrestling business and I see where they are coming from, how they implement comedy in their matches, the wrestling traditionalists the most famous of which being Jim Cornette hated the way they wrestled, there’s a famous clip of Bruce Pritchard talking about the promotion, from Sasuke’s ownership and how they convinced some of their workers to be in that famous 6 man that happened in ECW Barely Legal 97 and I love how opposite to each other their opinions are, that’s something beautiful about wrestling you can have an opinion completely opposite on another person’s and both of you can be right because there’s no right way to watch wrestling, you watch what you think you’re going to like and if you don’t like something it’s because the match just didn’t work for you but it may work for another person, nothing is unanimous in professional wrestling and that’s something to celebrate because it opens the possibility of dialogue and debate, there’s no other art form capable of doing the same thing, in classical music no one is disputing the status of Richard Strauss’ first opera, it’s bad and it’s a widely accepted fact by the general public meanwhile in wrestling almost every match and style has a legion of supporters making the case for it, Michinoku Pro was and still is divisive among the wrestling fandom, some say it’s innovative and exciting while others argue it isn’t proper wrestling ( if such a thing exists) this match is the best version of a Michinoku Pro multi-man from 1996, I personally think that they were the impressionists of the wrestling world and I think that they have to be viewed as such, visionaries for better or for worse, anyway I recommend you check out this match if you are into their work.

Dean Malenko's 1996 is amazing, his matches against Benoit, Rey Mysterio and Último Dragón are phenomenal.

I drafted Tommy Rich for Battlarts. Why is he in the free agents list?

The 1997 rookie class has some great wrestlers for Battlarts.