DISC 6

[goodhelmet]

DISC 6

Americo Rocca, Cacharro Mendoza y Kung Fu vs. El Talisman, El Dandy y Guerrero Negro (September 1986)

Americo Rocca, Ringo Mendoza y Tony Salazar vs. Negro Navarro, El Signo y El Texano (Hair vs. Hair) (9/19/86)

Blue Panther, El Talisman y El Dandy vs. Stuka, America Rocca y Chamaco Valaguez (11/86)

Jerry Estrada, Pirata Morgan y Hombre Bala vs. Atlantis, Alfonso Dantes y Rayo De Jalisco Jr. (Feb 1987)

Lizmark, La Fiera y Kung Fu vs. Pirata Morgan, Hombre Bala y Jerry Estrada (2/27/87)

Americo Rocca, Javier Cruz y Chamaco Valaguez vs. Talisman, El Dandy y Guerrero Negro (3/13/87)

El Satanico, MS-1 y Masakre vs. Rayo de Jalisco Jr., La Fiera y Tony Salazar (3/21/87)

Rayo de Jalisco Jr., Atlantis y Alfonso Dantes vs. MS-1, El Satanico y El Dandy (3/27/87)

Atlantis, El Hijo del Santo y Tony Salazar vs. El Satanico, El Dandy y Espectro Jr. (4/3/87)

Tony Salazar, Mogur y Alfonso Dantes vs. Hombre Bala, Talisman y Tony Bennetto vs. Satanico, MS-1 y Masakre (4/11/87)

[ohtani's jacket]

Americo Rocca, Ringo Mendoza y Tony Salazar vs. Negro Navarro, El Signo y El Texano (Hair vs. Hair) (9/19/86)

 

This was savaged by the World Pro editor and the replays to stop and describe the moves hindered the flow even further, but the Misioneros looked much better here, as you'd hope and expect from a big hair match. Lots of highlights here (and that's all this was really, highlights within a series of highlights), including Signo being an awesome heat merchant, a fantastic double team submission from Navarro and Texano, two superb pairings in Navarro and Ringo and Texano and Rocca and Signo with the best tope in the west. The finish was awesome as well and foreshadowed all those great one-on-one showdowns in modern Negro Navarro matches. I suddenly remembered why I love Ringo Mendoza when he countered into the submission finish. Hot damn, I wonder if the masters of these matches still exist.

[Graham Crackers]

Babyface, Cien Caras y Mascara Ano 2000 vs. Lizmark, Rayo De Jalisco y La Fiera (September 1986)

I thought this was a good trios match that did a nice job of combining two separate feuds. We have more of La Fiera and Babyface feuding and we also get some Rayo de Jalisco Jr. vs Los Hermanos Dinamita which is a classic feud. Throw in another cool brawling Lizmark performance and we've got quite the match. I liked that they changed up the matchups a bit and allowed everybody to have a chance to wrestler their rival and the rest of his team. Yet again, La Fiera's selling was great. I liked that he even cringed when the ref raised his arm after the first fall though Rayo coming over to chastise the ref and the ref just shrugging it off made me laugh. The rudos ran roughshod over the tecnicos for much of this match. There was one moment where Lizmark spills to the floor and just lies there while Rayo is stumbling around in the background, bleeding all over the place, and La Fiera is holding himself up on the apron barely able to use his arm. It was a pretty compelling mauling too with plenty of mask ripping and biting. All hope seemed to be lost when the tecnicos attempted to rally but it was too little too late. I loved the way the rudos soaked up the hatred from the crowd after the match.

 

I think I may have drifted off somewhere in the middle though because I can't remember how the second fall ended.

 

Americo Rocca, Ringo Mendoza y Tony Salazar vs. Negro Navarro, El Signo y El Texano (Hair vs. Hair) (9/19/86)

I saw this in the listings and got excited but after reading tim and OJ's reviews I adjusted my expectations. This is a quick/fun trios match with some interesting spots and not the epic you expect a Misioneros de la Muerte apuestas match to be. The sunset flip by Salazar to block one of the Misioneros applying la tapatia to his teammate was cool and I'm surprised I've never seen that spot before. Americo Rocca looked great trading punches in this match too. The submission counter during the finish was the best part of the match and it's a shame the rest of it didn't feel quite as special.

 

Blue Panther, El Talisman y El Dandy vs. Stuka, America Rocca y Chamaco Valaguez (11/86)

This is the earliest Blue Panther match I've seen and god damn it he looked like he was already the Blue Panther we know and love. The exchanges with Stuka early on were pretty great but he also did some great rudo schtick. El Dandy is looking great as well and I'm really excited to see when he gets more time in the spotlight. As with the last time we saw Talisman and Dandy team up there were some stooging and miscommunication though not as much as against Kung Fu. Americo Rocca turns in another great babyface performance and each rudo was really game to catch and bump for his most athletic moves. In the end this wasn't as one sided as the match with Kung Fu in it but it wasn't as spectacular either. This was yet another good trios match and one that I'd probably rank in the middle of the other 1986 trios matches.

[Graham Crackers]

Jerry Estrada, Pirata Morgan y Hombre Bala vs. Atlantis, Alfonso Dantes y Rayo De Jalisco Jr. (Feb 1987)

I feel like this is better than a mid range trios. This is every bit as good as those Fiera vs Babyface trios matches from 1986. Los Bucaneros are an outrageously good rudo team. Similar to Los Infernales with Pirata Morgan (common thread) they are downright brutal when they are ganging up on one opponent. On top of that their complicated stooging and miscommunication spots were even more impressive than those we recently saw from Los Misioneros de La Muerte. Rayo was the star of the tecnico team to me. I love the stooging built around his fancy footwork as well as how he attempts it one last time towards the end but Los Bucaneros have learned from their mistakes and rip him apart. I'm pretty sure Rayo submitted to La Careta to end the match though the hold wasn't on for too long. The only misstep in this match for me was that I wish the tecnico comeback in the second fall was a bit more nuanced.

 

Lizmark, La Fiera y Kung Fu vs. Pirata Morgan, Hombre Bala y Jerry Estrada (2/27/87)

This is a bit of a disappointment compared to the last match which is mostly because there were a few passages that felt pretty flat. The most memorable moments were still pretty spectacular though and that keeps it closer to midrange than the bottom. I loved all of the Kung Fu exchanges, especially Kung Fu going solo against Morgan and Hombre Bala. I really liked all of the legwork and La Fiera's selling of said legwork during the final fall. That moment where he and Estrada are circling each other, Fiera's leg buckles, and Estrada pounces only for La Fiera to hit some great hope spots on all three Bucaneros before going back to selling the leg was really well done. I could have seen that being a highlight in an even better match.

 

Americo Rocca, Javier Cruz y Chamaco Valaguez vs. Talisman, El Dandy y Guerrero Negro (3/13/87)

So, I watched the rest of disc 6 as well as 7 and the beginning of disc 8 on a long bus ride so some of my thoughts on those matches may be a bit more brief. My notes on this one are pretty sparse and honestly I don't remember all that much about this one. I recall this being solid but unspectacular. I've grown to like this rudo trio and the tecnicos are good even if in some ways they feel like generic 80s tecnicos.

 

El Satanico, MS-1 y Masakre vs. Rayo de Jalisco Jr., La Fiera y Tony Salazar (3/20/87)

Watching this set has given me a better appreciation for some guys I always knew were great (Satanico, La Fiera, Sangre Chicana), introduced me to guys I've never heard of (As Charro), and turned some vaguely familiar names into names I want to seek out (Mocho Cota) but through all of this Rayo De Jalisco Jr. is someone whose stock has risen albeit in very quiet fashion. Sure, I already had a soft spot for him because he has a cool mask, fun dance moves, and Cien Caras vs Rayo De Jalisco Jr. is just as fun as wrestling gets but I still never thought of him as being this great. He's not the most amazing wrestler on the set but he really brings it in these trios matches. He has great timing when rudos stooge for his schtick, great selling when taking a beating, and produces some really hot comebacks like the one in this match. The rest of the tecnico team features La Fiera is great working the same leg injury as the 2/27 trios match and Tony Salazar who I was initially high on but has become really hit and miss in his last few appearances on this set.

 

Which of course brings us to Los Infernales. They are easily one of the best, if not the best heel team in wrestling history. When they are mauling an opponent it is so brutal and so consistent that you can't help but wonder if it will ever let up. This is a tremendous showcase for them. That said, I'm still not sure how I feel about Masakre yet. I thought I remember somebody (Kris?) saying that the Masakre iteration of the team is their best version and Masakre has yet to really impress me. He's good and regardless of what he does he has two all time great rudos working with him so he could really fucking coast and this'd still be great. As great as this is this doesn't feel like quite the classic that some other Infernales matches have been and I don't think it's any better than the first Bucaneros trios match.

 

Rayo de Jalisco Jr., Atlantis y Alfonso Dantes vs. MS-1, El Satanico y El Dandy (3/27/87)

Really good trios match though probably only midrange in the grand scheme of things. I liked Atlantis and Dandy's exchanges which get even better in the next match. I can't remember if they ever had a singles match against each other but that's something I'd like to see.

 

Atlantis, El Hijo del Santo y Tony Salazar vs. El Satanico, El Dandy y Espectro Jr. (4/3/87)

This was so fun! I liked the way they started with competitive matwork and let the heat slowly escalate. The Satanico vs Tony Salazar exchanges really stood out to me. It's the best Salazar has looked on this set though Satanico is a GOAT candidate so that isn't a huge surprise. I love how they teased their tempers flaring during the early matwork by having both men feint kicks and punches after their initial lockup gets broken up. Atlantis vs El Dandy is probably my favorite matchup here and Santito is just so incredible that even after watching a bunch of great matches featuring him in the last month I still find myself impressed with him like it's the first time I've seen him.

 

Tony Salazar, Mogur y Alfonso Dantes vs. Hombre Bala, Talisman y Tony Bennetto vs. Satanico, MS-1 y Masakre (4/10/87)

Tournament lucha often makes me feel really sad as cool looking matches just end up being tasty snacks as opposed to satisfying meals. Lumping those matches together here makes it at least a little more tolerable. The result is way less satisfying than the singles elimination match earlier in the set as with so many people involved this just feels like a collection of spots and highlights. The final trios match is pretty good and that triple team sub Los Infernales uses in the second fall is the best multiman sub I've ever seen. The other notable spot is Los Infernales countering La Estrella which was really cool and unexpected. This is fun but is still a bottom half match because of how disjointed it felt.