[1992-01-31-CMLL] Fuerza Guerrera vs Octagon

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

I used to think this was a really great match. I still thought it was really good, but it did lose a little something for me, even if I still love it. It remains a great showcase for Fuerza, who has so much schtick and is one of my favorite rudos. He's also one of the best at looking like a bumbling idiot, despite not really being one at all. In one great spot, he tries to run into the audience to get away from an Octagon dive and can't get through and ends up getting hit anyway. He takes the bump through the middle ropes to the outside with Octagon's assistance, which is one of my favorite lucha bumps.

 

He also awesomely stands on the top rope in the final fall and decides to balance himself on one foot while doing a bird pose. He ends up losing his balance and crashing. Octagon tries to apply the same submission that won him the first fall, Fuerza quickly counters and thinks he has the hold locked in, only to be out of position.

 

Octagon does a spectacular dive to Fuerza, who has his back turned, pushing his head into a ringside chair.

 

I also have to mention Cien Caras being awesome at ringside. Konnan even sucks as a second. Near the end of the match, Konnan and Caras are brawling inside the ring while Fuerza and Octagon are outside, and Konnan hits him with some terrible looking stuff, which Caras sells anyway. Not sure what the decision on the final fall was, as it seems to be in dispute since Fuerza never got beaten and the ref declared Octagon the winner anyway, but it was all very entertaining.

[Tim Evans]

This had some Larry Z style stalling in the beginning. Good match but I like the AAA matches they had better. Shame we will never see a mask vs mask between the two. The finish looked like it was a DQ.

[shoe]

I thought this was a cool bout that seemed more like a set up for Cien Caras and Konnan. Fuerza has been a favorite of mine for a while. I always thought he was like the Arn Anderson of Mexico. In the sense that he could do comedy, get heat , can work on top in the right dynamic, and is a hell of a worker. I loved Fuerza's doing the Karate Kid pose on the top rope to mock Octagon, and takes a bump to make himself look the fool. I mean that is just a great spot. The dive from Octagon to the outside onto a backwards Fuerza where Fuerza takes a face first bump onto the chair in the front row was tremendous.

 

Something when it comes to Lucha I always have a problem watching it cold watching it side by side of other styles. I prefer watching my Lucha while watching a couple of hrs of Lucha where I can get accustomed to the style.

[MikeCampbell]

This was pretty choice stuff, Fuerza was awesome here. I could have done without the Konnan/Caras stuff, but even that led to a bad ass moment of Fuerza choking Octagon with Konnan's hideous shirt.

[Zenjo]

I loved how the crowd booed the bizarre martial arts demo during the introductions. But even better was when a female fan got up and confronted Cien Caras after he delivered a low blow on the outside. She had to be held back by fellow members of the audience. You tell him girl!

 

First couple of falls were a mixture of slow pace with flurries of action. It hit it's stride in the third. Octagon is flaky. A main eventer in terms of stature but not a top level worker. His offense here lacked focus. Aside from one blown spot Guerrera gave a decent rudo performance. Though there were issues with the technical quality it had the feel of an important title match. At the end there was an awesome Tope, but then unfortunately the 2nds interfered so no finish.

[WingedEagle]

Cien Caras is a dead ringer for Mark Cuban. Its remarkable. He's also got great presence and performs admirably in his role as Fuerza's second, even if Konnan isn't up to the task. Liked the submissions, liked the crazy plancha in the 3rd fall. Would've liked a finish but fun lucha nonetheless.

 

*** 1/2

[PeteF3]

I think the work in the 11/1 match was quite a bit better, but the extracurricular bullshit here with Konnan and Cien Caras was far, far better than the extracurricular bullshit with Gran Davis. Honestly, when watching this I really felt like this was something Pat Patterson would have laid out if he were a lucha worker/booker--big broad move, pause to work the crowd, repeat. Plus long sequences with one guy as a punching bag for the other, also a WWF staple. It doesn't really come across as a lucha title match at all, with lots of blatant cheating from Fuerza and big dives. Konnan and Caras' tempers escalate between falls, and things come to a head after a big dive from Octagon leaves both guys out on the floor. Caras takes the opportunity to foul Octagon. Loved the teenage female fan leaving her seat to confront him for that. Konnan finally has enough and they end up in the ring with Konnan fending off a double-team to take out Caras to a huge reaction. The dude had an effect on crowds, there's no denying that. While that's going on, Fuerza grabs the shirt that Konnan had ripped off and chokes out Octagon with it. The match is thrown out, and regardless of the actual result a DQ victory for Octagon seems like it would make the most sense. The Box y Lucha commission gets involved after the match and there's speculation over a mask vs. mask rematch (which would have ruled the world) and a tag match, which would be the proper Southern territory booking move. Good work and even better booking, assuming it did lead to a decisive finale in the rivalry. Also plants the seeds for the big Konnan/Caras feud that would become a huge deal for AAA.

[PeteF3]

I think the work in the 11/1 match was quite a bit better, but the extracurricular bullshit here with Konnan and Cien Caras was far, far better than the extracurricular bullshit with Gran Davis. Honestly, when watching this I really felt like this was something Pat Patterson would have laid out if he were a lucha worker/booker--big broad move, pause to work the crowd, repeat. Plus long sequences with one guy as a punching bag for the other, also a WWF staple. It doesn't really come across as a lucha title match at all, with lots of blatant cheating from Fuerza and big dives. Konnan and Caras' tempers escalate between falls, and things come to a head after a big dive from Octagon leaves both guys out on the floor. Caras takes the opportunity to foul Octagon. Loved the teenage female fan leaving her seat to confront him for that. Konnan finally has enough and they end up in the ring with Konnan fending off a double-team to take out Caras to a huge reaction. The dude had an effect on crowds, there's no denying that. While that's going on, Fuerza grabs the shirt that Konnan had ripped off and chokes out Octagon with it. The match is thrown out, and regardless of the actual result a DQ victory for Octagon seems like it would make the most sense. The Box y Lucha commission gets involved after the match and there's speculation over a mask vs. mask rematch (which would have ruled the world) and a tag match, which would be the proper Southern territory booking move. Good work and even better booking, assuming it did lead to a decisive finale in the rivalry. Also plants the seeds for the big Konnan/Caras feud that would become a huge deal for AAA.

[Loss]

Previously at PWO:

 

Fuerza Guerrera v Octagon 1/31/92

Fuerza Guerrera is so awesome. In terms of making an opponent look good and shamelessly selling/bumping his ass off to get his opponent over, I think he's peerless, and is probably better at that aspect of wrestling than anyone I've ever seen. He's always bewildered, always surprised, always stunned by his opponent's offense, he's never as smart as he thinks he is, he's constantly outmatched when things are kept clean and his schtick is amazing. Most of the Fuerza I've seen prior to now has been confined to trios matches, and that aspect of his persona has definitely shined there, but this is really a showcase match for Fuerza to show what kind of match he can lay out, what kind of bumps he can take and what kind of ridiculous lengths he'll go to to get something over. Getting in screaming matches with the audience in between sneaking in groin shots mid air on spinebusters, attempting to cheapshot Octagon between falls, arrogantly attempting top rope moves that are beyond his capabilities and stalling as much as possible make sure he gets heat for being a jerk, and peripheral heat for slowing down the pace of the match so much. And because he can't seem to execute a highspot to save his life, Octagon's insane dives and high-flying stuff seems all the more impressive. Fuerza's desperate attempts to make sure he has no redeeming qualities whatsoever to the audience need to be seen to be fully appreciated, and the post-match stuff where he takes every bump in the book for Konnan, tries to hang Octagon and sucks up to the referee only puts an exclamation point on everything. Great match!

 

 

I loved Fuerza. Came across as a total pro in the ring. John

 

 

Fuerza still rules in AAA in 2007.

[garretta]

The first two falls of this one were sluggish, and the third ended up a mess because of the interference of Caras and Konnan, who truth be told had more energy than Fuerza and Octagon did outside of a few spots. It was almost as if Fuerza and Octagon knew this would end inconclusively and decided to just grind it out until it was time for the seconds to get involved.

 

I liked Fuerza trying to hide from Octagon in the crowd but getting leveled anyway, the "birdman" stuff when Fuerza flapped his wings, then tried a move off the top but missed by a mile, and the spot where Octagon bulldogged Fuerza literally on the front row seats. Other than that, this was too blah for me. Thank heaven they replayed the third fall finish or I wouldn't have understood what was going on there either, which would have made this a total dud,

[dawho5]

I could tell from the get-go that this match was about the seconds. Which absolutely killed it for me. Fuerza saves it in the third caida with his crane kick oops off the top and then they did that insane dive to a backwards Fuerza that looked like both piled into the seats in painful ways. Fuerza gave a good rudo performance here, but Octagon sucks and the seconds being on camera for at least one third of the match took me out of this. Oh yeah, and Konnan really, really, really sucks. I'm not entirely sure I can express that enough.