[1991-11-01-CMLL] Octagon vs Fuerza Guerrera

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

This match is awesome! Fuerza Guerrera is one of a kind. Octagon blindsiding him at the beginning of the second fall while he's jaw jacking with the stunt granny was great. My favorite spot is Fuerza tying the string on the back of Octagon's mask in such a tight knot that the referee can't even get him free (although the referee seems to be pretty clearly in Fuerza's pocket). Fuerza uses this as his opportunity to take cheapshots. I also really like the spot where he wrapped both legs around the ringpost and tortured him. The mask ripping and biting kicks in during the third fall, and Octagon finally has enough and stages a comeback of his own, even tying Fuerza up in the ropes upside down while striking him. His face is covered in blood and soon Fuerza is too, and the match gets very violent. The visual of Octagon doing the camel clutch while gouging at Fuerza's bloody face is a power. Fuerza never being able to execute top rope moves never gets old. He goes up top and does his fake ninja pose before getting scared and changing his mind, then trying again and losing his balance completely. Even in the context of a violent bloodbath, Fuerza is still Fuerza. The nearfalls toward the end of this are electric and Octagon got a huge pop for the victory. MOTYC, and probably the best lucha match of 1991.

[PeteF3]

It was fun seeing Octagon show some fire and offense in contrast to his earlier singles match, and to see Fuerza do his thing but I wasn't nearly as high on this as I hoped to be. All the stuff with Gran Davies was incredibly distracting and pointless--first he's actively working against Octagon and ignoring Fuerza punting him in the balls, and then he starts enforcing the rules like a normal referee and all the earlier stuff is ignored. Pick a storyline and stick with it, guys. Lots and lots of blood and mask-tearing once we get to the third fall, which goes from a chaotic hateful brawl back to holds and pin attempts. Fuerza bites on Octagon's fingers to get out of a Cavernaria (after he beats a count back into the ring after a big Octagon dive and the bell clearly rings, but whatever), then goes to the top turnbuckle and has to peer out to see that Octagon is 3/4 of the way across the ring in a funny moment that doesn't distract from the fact that this is a blood feud. I wish I didn't hate the Davies stuff as much as I did, and it's probably not entirely rational, but I really, REALLY didn't like it once it was clear that they weren't going to be remotely consistent about what his role was going to be. If that's a normal shtick of his, whatever, but it hasn't come through on any of the other lucha matches yet. Good match and a great showcase for Octagon but no way does it unseat Santo/Brazo as the lucha MOTY and as a MOTYC overall.

[Kevin Ridge]

I'll admit to losing focus watching this one. Probably add it to the rewatch list. Guerrera ties Octagon's headband to the ropes which seems like a spot every opponent should do to him. Guerrera was putting him a nots at this point. The blood and violence really picks up in the third fall to go with the mask ripping. Guerrera doing the soccer goal slide on his knees taunt and then almost getting submitted from behind would have been a great finish to me.

[PeteF3]

Well, now I feel worse for shitting all over the Gran Davies stuff--I'm up to the mid-November Observers where it's reported that he died just two days after this match, after refereeing another match where he was a focal point as a heel ref.

[Zenjo]

I wasn't sure how good this would be beforehand. I'm still not quite sure after watching it. It certainly wasn't run of the mill. You don't often see a mix of comedy and blood. The first two falls were really fun rather than technical quality. They had the Bolshoi Kid tied mask to the rope spot, a heel ref and some awesome fan involvement. First a woman came up and berated the ref for his poor performance. Then you had this amazing stunt granny who started kicking the rudo! I can't confirm whether she was winking or not. They kept going back to her, how could they not?

 

Despite this it also had an intense rivalry with mask ripping and both men bleeding. They ended up going for 30m of action with plenty of drama. Whilst always enjoyable there are times I wonder whether Octagon has a clue. He certainly needs a good rudo to guide him. He was either on the receiving end or attacking in 100mph bursts. He never slowed down because he was hurt, it was always hyper speed. You can see why he was popular as he had a cool image and brought a lot of energy. Despite being a temperamental and flawed worker he brought positive attributes that could be harnessed.

[soup23]

I enjoyed this a great deal but going in this felt like one of the few "all timers" I had never seen before and as a result, I was left a little cold. The first two falls had some good action in them but the awkwardness and pacing of Octagon took me out of the match a little bit. I agree that Fuerza was super as the rudo throughout this whole match and the third caida with the mask ripping and blood really brought the match up to a climax. Great match overall but solidly behind Atlantis vs. Panther and Brazo vs. Santo for lucha in 1991.

[Gregor]

I think that this match may have taken place on February 1, 1991 and that the November airing may have been a re-broadcast. It appears to be from the same show as the Pierroth vs. Mascara Sagrada match that's on YouTube, and it's less likely that the date associated with that match is incorrect (as there would have to be an unrecorded Pierroth title reign for him to be champion in late 1991).

[Zenjo]

February 1 concurs with the results from the Luchablog. Good spot Gregor. It's on the correct Yearbook, so no harm done.

[ohtani's jacket]

Y'know something, I think you may be right. It looks like they re-aired the Atlantis/Lizmark/Rayo vs. Kung Fu/Mascara Ano 2000/Universo 2000 trios as well as the Fuerza/Octagon fight. The Brazos match from the same 11/3 TV show is a different Brazos match from the 2/1 taping and looks like it's clearly from a different show than the Octagon match. Goddammit, lucha.

[DR Ackermann]

This came out of nowhere to shoot near the top of the list for 1991 matches. I don't expect much from Octagon but he held his own here allowing Fuerza to carry him to an awesome match. At first I didn't like that tthey didn't do more straight up brawling in the 3rd fall after things got so violent and bloody, but what they did suited Guerrera's goofy character.

[garretta]

This was a wild one, to say the least. I wasn't aware that these two had a history that would lead to a match worked this way, so it was a bit of a surprise to me.

 

Fuerza made this bout with a first-rate rudo performance. There were too many great spots to list them all, but my favorites were tying Octagon's mask to the top rope and arguing with a ringside patron about ramming Octagon's head into the patron's empty seat while standing on Octagon's neck. He wasn't all heel spots, though; the guy showed solid wrestling skills even as he was hamming it up, plus he really took it to Octagon in the brawling sequences and took as good as he'd given when the time came. He's definitely one of those underrated workers whom the 80s Project and the Yearbooks raise the awareness of so brilliantly.

 

I forgot to say that Fuerza's tactics are so blatant that even the rudo-leaning referee had had enough of him by the early part of the second fall and called the match more fairly from then on. A performance dastardly enough to reform a referee; who'da thunk it?

 

Octagon kept up as well as could be expected, showing fire and breaking the rules when necessary but also outwrestling Fuerza when the chips were down. I loved the ways he won his two falls: a spinning belly-to-belly to take the first and the armdrag off the top rope followed by a short arm scissors to win it all. I'd never seen either of thse finishes before, and they looked fantastic.

 

I've taken so much time to go through this Yearbook that I don't remember all of the candidates for Lucha Match of the Year, but I would definitely put this match in my top two or three.

[JKWebb]

I ultimately thought this was a great match, but it wouldn't make a MOTYC list for me. I would definitely have Santo/Casas and Santo/Brazo over this one. I thought first two falls were decent, but I got the same feeling as soup in regards to some of Octagon's awkward pacing. I did like some of the heel antics from Guerrera, but I don't know that it carried the first two falls to a great level for me. The third fall had me totally sucked in. There was a great bump from Guerrera where he and Octagon were throwing fatigued (but impactful) punches. Octagon nailed him with a punch, and he bumped to the outside. It really knocked the match into gear for me. The third fall is what took it to the next level for me. You could feel the struggle and the mask ripping was suspenseful.

[dawho5]

That stunt granny was amazing. I loved her kicking at Fuerza's shins and Fuerza standing there not knowing what to do. Loved them going back over to her, especially when Octagon brought Fuerza back to be scolded while he rammed Fuerza's head into a seat next to her. Best I've seen Octagon and probably the only time I've really liked him. Fuerza was amazing as always. Both guys bled big, to the point where I don't think they should be as close to the fans as they were. Octagon's tope was pretty insane, going almost all the way over Fuerza even though he was a row back. Really good to borderline great match with a lot of drama at the end and a very good crowd.