[1990-06-01-EMLL] El Dandy vs Angel Azteca

[Chess Knight]

Some of what they do in this match is actually beyond description. I’d have to list where each body part is to try to put into words what is going on at times. Not everything looks entirely unco-operative, but if we cared about it to that extent then none of us would like any match with an Irish whip or arm drag. The first two falls mostly come off to me like Azteca confidently reversing Dandy, and how much mileage Azteca can get out of his holds. He isn’t able to keep on each one for a terribly lengthy amount of time in the first fall especially, but he’s able to slap on several different holds and apply a lot of pressure on each. Every time Dandy stands up, you can see how much of a toll it’s taken on him through his selling (his left arm alone was aching only a handful of minutes in). Dandy getting outdone again and again and resorting to slams, a lariat and a leg drop was more of the fed up, annoyed Dandy that we saw in some of the trios leading to this, but Azteca had just worn him down too much for it to really matter. Each guy had a lengthy leg-based hold in the second fall, which was great, and although I wished there was a little more limping especially from Azteca, it mattered a lot later when Dandy failed a surfboard in a pivotal moment in fall three. I loved how that third fall started. It was small, but Dandy dodging the dropkick felt like Azteca didn’t have the same smooth confidence that had carried him through most of the match. Fall one and two he could have begun with that and nailed Dandy in the chest, but by now he’d been drained from the leg hold and then was flash pinned in a way he didn’t expect (and heavily trying to kick out before the one count was a good way to put it over). Some of the work around the legs to start the third fall is just outstanding. Again I can’t even try to play-by-play where each of the eight limbs are to try to get across some of what they were doing, but I can at least tell you Azteca has a hell of side Russian leg sweep - a move that rarely actually looks good. Dandy’s fatigue selling was completely fantastic, he looked so beat by everything that he struggled to capitalise on the big moves he did get, I particularly loved how he rolled out of the ring for separation. Azteca isn’t as great a seller as Dandy, but taking his time after his own moves landed helped make the your turn-my turn finish stretch feel more justifiable to me, when I often dislike that kind of thing. It’s such an incredibly built match, especially how they get all the use in the world out of grappling - from the simple to the indescribable - to wear each other down, until we hit the peak of tercera caida excitement. People who don’t like lucha, especially the ground work, will get pretty much nothing from this, but I can happily report to myself from over 10 years ago that 2024 you still sees a huge achievement in mat based wrestling.