[1991-09-05-Hamada's UWF] Heavy Metal & Rey Bucanero & Rey Richard vs Yoshinari Asai & La Pantera & Kendo

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

A very fluid, athletic match, the type of showcase lucha that I really enjoy, even if it's not my favorite thing about lucha libre. There's a nice blend of comedy and highspots here. It's worth pointing out that every lucharesu fed in Japan was less lucha-influenced than the one that came before it. Kendo is still over, but not quite like he was in 1990. I'm not familiar with Rey Richard or La Pantera, and there's not a ton on either of them on Luchawiki. Anyone help me fill in the gaps there?

[PeteF3]

Bucanero is laughably unrecognizable, looking like a mini-Tugboat in blackface. There was some fun stuff here and some of the sequences were incredibly complex, but a lot of this looked excessively choreographed--I particularly groaned at Kendo doing a bunch of kip-ups while the rudos just stood there. Plus lots of flipping around like an old-school kung phooey movie instead of guys hitting each other. And I could have done without the 49th "heel holds opponent for partner to hit and gets hit himself" spot. Still, the highspots we saw were fun and well-executed and the American-style finish was unique to see.

[Kevin Ridge]

I’ve missed Kendo but his antics didn’t seem the same nor was he over as much with crowd. Guys seems to be going from either standing around to then hitting high spots. Too much guys waiting for their cues to me.

[soup23]

This was a fun matchup but nothing I will be able to really remember in a weeks time. I don't know if it was Bucannero and the pirate outfit or what but this felt in some ways like some pre-show entertainment you see before watching a good acrobatic show. Comedy mixed in was a lot of fun.

[garretta]

This one had good work in fits and starts, but nothing consistent. As most of the other posters have mentioned. There was a lot of stopping and starting, almost as if the wrestlers were trying to figure out what to do next. Asai looked like the best worker out of everyone involved, and he was certainly the most realistic. For a match built on athleticism and miscommunication (the rudos must have accidentally hit or run into each other at least ten times), the low kick finish was surprisingly gritty. Asai sold it tremendously, and the brief brawl after the decision was announced had more heat than anything that had gone before it.

 

Maybe if I'd been more familiar with some of the workers, I'd have been more into this one emotionally. As I said, what serious work there was was good, but there wasn't nearly enough of it for my taste.

[dawho5]

Yeah, way too many stops and starts. Half the time it seemed like nobody knew what was coming next. My disdain for Kendo grows with each match I see. Also, it looked as much like a gymnastics exhibition as a wrestling match more often than it looked like a wrestling match. I'll echo Asai looking like the most polished guy in there.