[1996-10-11-WAR-Osaka Crush Night] Rey Misterio Jr vs Psicosis

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[shoe]

This was a really good match between the 2. I still prefer their bouts from Mexico though. Misterio busts out quite a few amazing highspots. Psicosis was great at covering for all of Misterio's stuff. At least they dropped the chairs out of their matches. I liked how Psicosis brought structure. I thought his arm work was well done. Overall it had a feel of your turn my turn. Plus it was booked to make Rey the star.

[Loss]

Rey/Psicosis with a handshake at the beginning loses something. Rey screaming out "ICHIBAN!" cracked me up. Psicosis doing the same thing later after he gets the better of Rey is even funnier. Like shoe said, their showcase matches are generally good, but they don't compare to the Mexico matches. I will just say that Psicosis is every bit as good as Rey, but doesn't get the credit that Rey and Juventud do. I think he's usually considered to be in the upper echelon, so I won't call him ignored, but Psicosis is one of the best wrestlers in the world in a pretty crowded year. I plan on doing a mock WON ballot for 1996 when I finish this yearbook, going through every award, walking through all the candidates, and then explaining my final pick. Psicosis will be discussed in the Most Outstanding Wrestler category for sure. Rey will also, but he has his fans and tends to get lots of praise anyway, which is why I'm focusing on Psicosis more.

[Eduardo]

Was Juventud really given much more credit than Psicosis?

 

EDIT: To elaborate more, I should ask what criteria is being used to determine how much credit these guys were getting, like from hardcore fans of the era, newsletters, etc. From that time period, I thought his shtick, his bumping, and his look made him stand out and get more credit than Juventud. I may be remembering wrong, but didn't the Observer pimp Psicosis more in 1994-1996 than Juventud? The sort of hyperbumping style and shtick he was using was stuff that I think more people would have eaten up from that era than what Juventud was serving.

Edited January 29, 2011 by Raging Noodles

[Loss]

My view is probably colored by Juventud becoming a bigger star in WCW.

[Eduardo]

Ah okay, makes sense. Yeah, I think 1998 was maybe the turning point in Juventud being talked more than Psicosis, because of the feud with Jericho and the three title reigns.

[jdw]

Psic was pimped more than Juve. I don't have the 1995 Poll handy, but I'm confident he was above Juve, and might have been above Rey. He was above Rey in 1994 (11 to 15) and 1993 (22 to 37). Crazy bumping heel... that's what people loved.

 

I was one of the few banging the drum for Juve in 1995. A chunk of that was from watching them live.

 

My thoughts on Psic at the time are probably close to what I think when seeing spot-fu indy guys these days. There are those spot-fu guys who get the "This Is Awesome!" chant by throwing a ton of shit at the wall. Then there are things like Generico-Ricochet that while having plenty of spots kind of get across a storyline as well.

 

Juve did stuff like the Perro Jr. debut that I just didn't see Psic being able to do. Or the pre-run in part of the Rey-Juve in TJ in early 1996. I loved some of the Rey-Psic matches in Mexico, especially the one we're they slow built with some watchable mat stuff early. Just thought that Rey-Juve laid stuff out better.

 

Of course Rey-Psic could do their 1994-96 "fall out of bed" match pretty much anywhere and get it over. If you've got it, pop in the Rey-Psic match form the 1995 J-Cup. Actually it should be in people's minds *before* they watch the Rey matches in 1996. My recollection is that it sets out the state of the spot-art for Rey heading into 1996, and is a useful baseline/contrast to his praised matches of 1996.

 

John

[Tim Evans]

I didn't even know Rey and Psicosis wrestled for WAR after they went to WCW? The first match was better but I liked this one. It felt more like a WCW crusierweight match on Saturday Night than a exhibition.

[PeteF3]

This felt like that Rock 'n Rolls-Midnights Clash match where they decided to do all new spots, just to push themselves. There's some familiar stuff here but there's a lot of new stuff too--some of it successful, some of it not. It's rare to see Rey and Psic not on the same page, but that actually happens at times--particularly with that weird deal on the ring apron with one of the two audibly swearing at the timing. Actually getting raw audio of these two in the ring is one of the big highlights. Rey wins with a lucha-ized variation of a Billy Robinson/Johnny Saint/Dory Funk spot, and thank God for changing that, at least. This isn't a high watermark of the feud by any means but it was a good change of pace just when one may have been starting to adopt a "seen it" mentality to this series.

[soup23]

Good touring style match for these two. Not everything hit with perfection but the work was ambitious and it kept me entertained throughout the duration. Psicosis is able to use his size advantage well throughout this match and Rey was having to duck and move and hit some great counters to even the odds. He picks up the upset victory that feels well earned. ***1/4

[tim]

Fun match. Nothing special within their series, though the springboard hurricanrana on the apron was an awesome spot. The crowd was really appreciative and found it all very novel, which was cool.