[1991-03-24-CMLL] Atlantis vs Emilio Charles Jr

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

Previously at PWO:

 

Atlantis vs. Emilio Charles Jr. from the March 24 show is also really good. The first fall is outstanding - good matwork that seamlessly turns into rope-running and flying. The match drops off a bit from there, but it's Atlantis and Emilio, so it's still good. The finish stinks, though.

 

I wrote about that Emilio Charles/Atlantis match in my latest blog entry:

 

Atlantis vs. Emilio Charles Jr., NWA World Middleweight Championship match, CMLL 3/22/91

 

This was a good title match, but not a great one. It was notable for a performance from Emilio Charles, Jr. that was pretty close to prime Charles. It wasn't one of Atlantis' better performances, however, though this was offset somewhat by him doing a lot of long term selling which fit into the narrative of his title being at risk. The first fall had some typically good Atlantis/Charles matwork as these two had a good working chemistry. I liked the way that Charles was able to out fox Atlantis, keep him at arm's distance and finally work his way towards the standing submission he wanted. Intelligent heel workers is one of the things that really endears me to lucha and title matches are obviously where they get to showcase their ability most. Unfortunately, Atlantis' comebacks in the match weren't timed as well as you'd expect. That's an issue as said comebacks are important turning points in lucha libre title matches. Charles covered for the first comeback by producing some of his classic bumping and selling, but things stalled a bit in the third caida. There were some good dives, but Atlantis actually blew the spot he was supposed to make his comeback on. Charles was able to lay into him a bit and cover for the mistake and Atlantis sold the slip like it was a result of match fatigue, but it took me out of the match a bit. And unfortunately, the finish was not so much poor conceived as poorly timed. None of this should take away from a top performance from Emilio, but it's a match that could've been a lot better.