El Satanico

[elliott]

Just watched this Satanico/Blue Panther/? vs Hijo del Sano/?/? 9/9/06.

 

 

 

No idea who the other 3 guys are but with those 3, I don't need to know who the other 50% of the match is to watch it. This was a nice little trios by the numbers match. Tecnico's dominate the first fall, rudo's cheat and dominate the 2nd, and tecnico's comeback in the 3rd. This isn't earth shattering but it is a perfectly good match. Santo and Panther tend to be matched up together but we do get some Santo/Satanico interactions. And there's a good deal of Santo/Panther/Satanico in the ring working spots all together. Satanico is good in this and is really the main guy trying to build heat and getting the crowd riled up so it's a good example of smart old Satanico. Someone watch this and tell me who the other guys are.

[elliott]

Watched Satanico/Blue Panther/Negro Navarro vs Sangre Chicana/Charles Lucero/Pantro from 11/13/15

 

 

 

I actually dug this. Short match with lots of really good tricked out mat work and Satanico and Chicana rekindling their 30 year old feud and Sangre getting bloodied. Chicana looks ollllllld and actually kinda sad in this but everyone else looks really good.

[Microstatistics]

Completely agree with all the praise here and in other places on the site. He just might be the most universally accessible wrestler ever (except maybe for people who just don't get/like Lucha) mainly because he is absolutely amazing at literally every facet of pro wrestling. My highest ranked luchador and a lock for Top 3.

[GOTNW]

I'd completely disagree regarding his accessibility, it's been thrown around here and I would say it was definitely the case with me that Satanico took a while to click and I'm still not sold on him as a top 3/5 luchador.

[DR Ackermann]

Going through the 1990 Yearbook, Satanico clicked with me much faster than El Dandy, and that is supposed to be El Dandy's prime year on tape. Before I saw what people saw in Dandy, I was saying to myself that this guy was a GOAT candidate if he had more on his resume like that year.

[Rah]

Just watched this Satanico/Blue Panther/? vs Hijo del Sano/?/? 9/9/06.

 

 

 

No idea who the other 3 guys are but with those 3, I don't need to know who the other 50% of the match is to watch it. This was a nice little trios by the numbers match. Tecnico's dominate the first fall, rudo's cheat and dominate the 2nd, and tecnico's comeback in the 3rd. This isn't earth shattering but it is a perfectly good match. Santo and Panther tend to be matched up together but we do get some Santo/Satanico interactions. And there's a good deal of Santo/Panther/Satanico in the ring working spots all together. Satanico is good in this and is really the main guy trying to build heat and getting the crowd riled up so it's a good example of smart old Satanico. Someone watch this and tell me who the other guys are.

 

Angeluz, Divino & El Hijo Del Santo vs Blue Panther, El Satanico & Cerebro Negro**

 

 

**there's a promotional poster with Dr Cerebro advertised instead of Negro, but the lack of tattoo makes me question it.

[Exposer]

I've seen all the great Satanico from 84 and 90. That put him on ballot right there. I'd love to see more stuff though. He's someone who could finish very high on my ballot.

[Parties]

His longevity is absolutely unreal. Having performances at his age as good as the ones he had with Dandy in 2014 is crazy. As Elliott notes in that great list he put together, to understand the idea of how well Satanico has aged, you'd need to picture a world where Flair, Backlund, Hansen, and Fujiwara were still showing up a few times per year to have MOTYCs.

[Microstatistics]

Just wanted to add that him going into a frenzy after realizing his opponent has bloodied him and going nuts on his opponent to exact revenge is the greatest pro wrestling trope ever.

[elliott]

Just wanted to add that him going into a frenzy after realizing his opponent has bloodied him and going nuts on his opponent to exact revenge is the greatest pro wrestling trope ever.

 

Totally agree with this. When he wipes his bloody face, sees his own blood on his hands and snaps is one of my favorite things in wrestling. Satanico was wrestling's best actor.

[elliott]

His longevity is absolutely unreal. Having performances at his age as good as the ones he had with Dandy in 2014 is crazy. As Elliott notes in that great list he put together, to understand the idea of how well Satanico has aged, you'd need to picture a world where Flair, Backlund, Hansen, and Fujiwara were still showing up a few times per year to have MOTYCs.

 

This.

 

Imagine if the first glimpse of Ric Flair on tape was 2 months before the first Starrcade.

[Childs]

I love Satanico. He will be my highest ranked luchadore. But I think it's an exaggeration to say he's been cranking out a few MOTYCs a year. Those Dandy matches were fine, but they very much struck me as exhibitions between old men who used to be great wrestlers.

[elliott]

Yeah, that's true. The only post 2000 MOTYC I saw from Satanico was the 2001 Infierno en el Ring match. There are quite a few solid to good matches from the past 15 years but nothing really earth shattering post Infernales vs Nuevos Infernales feud. The past few years have actually been really good for Satanico working matches with guys like Panther, Navarro, Solar, Dandy, etc. I don't watch much modern wrestling but with things like Brock/Reigns, Cena/Bryan, Wyatts/Shield all happening in the last 3 years, I can't really call any of the Satanico matches MOTYCs.

 

It is certainly an impressive old man run. But I honestly don't think it adds much to his case as a GOAT. I just think it is important to keep in mind who his peers really are.

[JimArg]

Satanico vs Blue Panther from CaraLucha is in my top 5-10 of 2015.

[Childs]

I hadn't seen that match but just went and watched it. Hard to deny that Satanico can still work an effective match after 40+years, and that's impressive in its own right. The matwork was crisp and hardfought. They didn't really escalate in the way I'd want from a MOTYC, but it was tight, engaging work. Panther has more left in the tank than Dandy.

 

I guess I could see praising it at the MOTY level if maestros lucha is your favorite style.

 

Anyway, I'm going to stop picking at Satanico now, because he was a masterful worker in his prime, has aged well and can comfortably stand with any wrestler in history.

[elliott]

I wish I had hunkered down and written this up a year ago so people had more time to watch the matches. Life, other wrestling projects/watching, my own damn procrastination etc kept getting in the way and I’m doing this last minute even though it has been written in my head for months and months.

El Satanico is a strong contender for Greatest Wrestler of All Time.

The battle for #1 is always going to be the most interesting in a poll like PWO’s Greatest Wrestler Ever project. Everyone has tons of candidates to make their top 100 list, but everyone has only a few #1 candidates (if they have more than 1). Some of the names are familiar long time favorites like Ric Flair or Terry Funk while others like Jerry Lawler or Yoshiaki Fujiwara are more recent discoveries as potential GOATs. El Satanico is on my short list of candidates for the Greatest Wrestler Ever. He has an inherent disadvantage in a list like this because he is a luchadore and some people just don’t/can’t/won’t “get” lucha libre. But if you are a fan of Lucha Libre, then El Satanico has a very strong case to be considered the greatest wrestler of all time. I will examine different aspects of his case including: Peak, Longevity, Singles Work, Trios Work, Title Match Work, Brawling/Hair Match Work, Heel Work, Babyface Work, Post Prime Work, Memorable Feuds, Criticisms, Odds & Ends, and I will finish with a ton of match recommendations.

But before we get into the thick of everything I wanted to first put El Satanico in more general context by reposting the list of wrestler birthdays and how old they are compared to Satanico. When you’re watching a random match it is sometimes easy to forget how old he is and it is important to consider who his immediate peers are. I will then discuss the “lack of footage” knee jerk criticism people have.

El Satanico Born 10/26/1949

Also born in 1949:

Ric Flair 2/25/49 – 8 Months older than Satanico

Yoshiaki Fujiwara 4/27/49 – 6 Months older than Satanico

Bob Backlund 8/14/49 – 2 Months older than Satanico

Stan Hansen 8/29/49 – 2 Months older than Satanico

Lizmark 9/18/49 – 1 Month older than Satanico

Jerry Lawler 11/29/49 – 1 Month younger than Satanico

Wrestlers born within 5 years of Satanico:

Terry Funk 6/30/44 – 5 Years Older than Satanico

Vince McMahon 8/24/45 – 4 Years Older than Satanico

Perro Aguayo 1/1846 – 4 Years Older than Satanico

Andre the Giant 5/19/46 – 3 Years older than Satanico

Dick Murdoch 8/16/46 – 3 Years older than Satanico

Genichiro Tenryu 2/2/50 – 3 Months Younger than Satanico

Jumbo Tsuruta 3/25/51 – 2 Years younger than Satanico

Greg Valentine 9/20/51 – 2 years younger than Satanico

Riki Choshu 12/3/51 – 2 years younger than Satanico

Villano III 3/23/52 or 1/21/53 (luchawiki had both) 3 or 4 years younger than Satanico

Randy Savage 11/15/52 – 3 years younger than Satanico

Buddy Rose 11/15/52 – 3 years younger than Satanico

Ricky Steamboat 2/28/53 – 4 years younger than Satanico

Hulk Hogan 8/11/53 – 4 years younger than Satanico

Tatsumi Fujinami 11/28/53 – 4 years younger than Satanico

Ted Dibiase 1/18/54 – 4 years younger than Satanico

So those guys are his direct peers.

Lack of Footage Discussion

Perhaps the most frequent criticism of Satanico is a lack of footage from his 1980s athletic peak. So I wanted to address that first and see if there is enough on film.

I believe there is definitely enough footage for El Satanico to be considered a #1 GOAT Contender. He is at an obvious disadvantage compared to his peers when it comes to prime footage. The earliest complete Satanico match I’ve seen took place on 9/24/83 against Sangre Chicana at which time Satanico was already 33 years old. Even though we don’t have footage of a “young & growing up” Satanico, the sampling of matches from 9/83-10/84 gives us a terrific glimpse of what Satanico looked like at his athletic peak. This time period has great examples of Satanico working brawls, technical matches, and trios matches. It is a bummer that we don’t have week in and week out lucha footage from the early-mid 80s, but we are lucky to have some truly great Satanico matches against some really different wrestlers. I’ll discuss his 9/83-10/84 athletic peak later in more detail.

After this period there is another gap in lucha footage before it picks back up in 88/89. El Satanico is still clearly one of the best wrestlers in Mexico when CMLL starts airing on TV. He is a featured player in 88-90 and has the opportunity to add an all time classic feud and several classic matches to his resume.’

From this late 80s/early 90s period till present day there are a shit ton of Satanico matches that made tape against probably hundreds of different wrestlers. Yes, most of them are trios matches (he is a luchadore after all), but there are singles matches as well. You might also say “yeah but it is post prime so it isn’t top of the line Satanico” but you’d be wrong in a lot of ways. Yes, time passes and he ages. But if you look at the footage the only clear dropoffs in quality are mostly due to opportunity/booking and when he gets the opportunity he almost always delivers.

In summary, no, the lack of 80s footage does not dissuade me from viewing Satanico as a #1 candidate. There is enough variety in the sampling of footage from his 83/84 “Athletic Peak” and more than enough footage from 1988-Present to know Satanico as well as just about any other wrestler. If all we had was the matches from late 83-1984 only, he wouldn’t be a contender for greatest of all time because of lack of footage. He would be one of the great “lost” workers. But if all we had was 89-present, he probably wouldn’t be a clear top contender for me. Those early matches, though few in number, are crucial to Satanico’s case.

Three Separate Peaks: 9/83-12/84, 89-90, and 2001

I think there are 3 specific runs that best highlight Satanico’s strengths as a worker. You could watch just these 3 runs and get a great idea of what Satanico is all about as a worker.

The gaps in 80s lucha footage simply makes it impossible to say Satanico’s peak was 9/83-12/90. I hate the idea of calling something a “peak year” when we only have one or two matches (at best) from that year and so I look at those 3 runs as the most important 3 runs of Satanico’s career. Lets look at each specific run:

September 1983 – December 1984

This run gives us an excellent view of “Athletic Prime” Satanico. His is 33-35 years old during this run. He is just old enough that he has tons of experience and ring savy and just old enough that his body hasn’t broken down and he (theoretically) hasn’t lost a step as an “athlete.” I wanted to briefly comment on each match from this run because there are only 9. I won’t go match by match for the other runs. The matches from this run are:

vs Sangre Chicana 9/24/83

w/ MS-1 & Espectro Jr vs Sangre Chicana, La Fiera & El Faraon 9/30/83

vs Atlantis 1984

vs Lizmark April 1984

vs Shiro Koshinaka 7/30/84

w/ Espectro Jr vs El Faraon & La Fiera 8/12/84

vs Gran Cochise 9/14/84

w/ MS-1 & Especto Jr vs Atlantis, Tony Salazar & Ringo Mendoza 9/28/84

vs Super Astro 10/26/84

There are only 9 matches in this run but each one tells an important story.

The Chicana match is a gritty title match the day after Chicana worked arguably the best match of all time in an incredibly bloody brawl. This match highlights Satanico’s ability to build drama through mat work, selling and possibly the best facial expressions in all of wrestling.

The 9/30 trios is a short wild brawl with several feuds intertwining. The match highlights Satanico’s ability to standout in a crazy environment and shows him in his role as leader of Los Infernales.

The Atlantis match shows Satanico’s ability to take a green worker with obvious talents and build a terrific match where the young green wrestler looks like a world beater.

The Lizmark match, while somewhere disappointing in my opinion still offers glimpses of Satanico’s brilliance working fast back and forth mat exchanges.

The Koshinaka match shows Satanico’s ability to have a classic match with not only a young green worker but an unfamiliar foreign opponent who had far less obvious talent than Atlantis.

The tag match looks really good and has Satanico selling a beatdown, but I found the VQ made the match pretty hard to assess overall

The 9/28 Trios match is a terrific example of Satanico working in the focal point of a trios match role as the match is worked so Satanico vs Atlantis is the key matchup. It is terrific because he uses the back and forth mat wrestling exchanges to make Atlantis look good after using blood and guts to make him shine in their singles match together.

The Super Astro singles match is similar to the Atlantis match but top rudo working against up and coming high flying masked tecnico is a very important role so it is great to have multiple examples. Like the Atlantis match, this is a great match.

I saved the Gran Cochise match for last because it is the most important match of this particular run and quite possibly of Satanico’s entire career. It is his Flair/Steamboat from WrestleWar or Misawa/Kawada 6/3/94 or Jumbo/Tenryu 6/5/89, only instead of a bunch of matches building up to it, we only get the all time classic. It was just two wrestlers having an absolutely perfect match with no dives, no blood, no gimmicks.

There aren’t 100 matches in this run but Satanico shows so much in the matches we do have. He shows an ability to work quick sprints, slow epics, bloody brawls, title matches with slow gritty mat work and matches with fast paced back and forth tumbling exchanges. You couldn’t ask for more out of 9 matches. I don’t really do star ratings but the Cochise match would have to be 5 stars and I would say the Chicana, Atlantis, Astro, Koshinaka, Mocho Cota Trios match and Tony Salazar trios match are all 4star or above. The tag match looks like it probably is but its hard to tell and the Lizmark match is just a notch below everything. So I don’t think he “just” shows variety in these matches I think he is showing variety in great matches.

January 1989 – December 1990

When CMLL started airing weekly on TV in 88/89 Satanico was a featured player teaming with El Dandy. This is a really interesting run to watch because Satanico is working as a babyface for a large portion of this run before turning on El Dandy. Satanico adapts beautifully to working as a babyface and excels at the fast paced tumbling/rope running mat work exchanges that are a tecnico staple in trios matches. He even mixes in more highspots as tecnico’s typically hit the majority of the “WOW” spots in lucha. . You’ll see the very rare Satanico tope during this run and he does more 2^nd rope and apron senton’s than he would as a heel.

Another fun aspect of this run teaming with Dandy is that Satanico really comes across like a mentor to him which makes sense. Dandy had the sort of all around brilliance and technique that Satanico did while being a younger/flashier version. Satanico would set Dandy up for spots, lead double teams and put Dandy in position to be successful. You got the sense that Satanico was grooming El Dandy which made the turn that much more effective. I like to describe Satanico as a “Leader of Men” and you really see that in trios matches where he is guiding all of the action. This run with Dandy is a twist on that. Usually he’s leading men to the darkside, but with Dandy it seems like Satanico is trying to help him grow up and solidify himself as the new number 1 wrestler.

The heel turn on Dandy leads to some absolutely classic matches. The 10/90 Super Libre and 12/90 Hair match are two of the best lucha brawls ever.

This run is mostly about Satanico’s work with El Dandy, but there is some good stuff outside of that. Satanico has a classic all over the arena wild brawl with Sangre Chicana in May 1989 that is a great companion to their title match from 83 because they are two great matches worked completely differently.

There is also a match with Jerry Estrada that I’ve gone back and forth on several times. The first time I watched it I didn’t like it at all, but the second time I watched it I absolutely loved it. The 3^rd time I watched it I thought it was great match but not quite a MOTYC. If you’ve read this far you’ve either seen it and have your own opinion or you should go watch it yourself and decide. I lean towards thinking it was a great match. Regardless it is an example of a long match against a hit or miss opponent who has some clear positives.

There are also the two tag matches with Satanico teaming with El Dandy & Atlantis respectively against MS-1 teaming with Masakre & Tierra Viento y Fuega. Those two matches are all about Satanico getting his ass kicked by MS-1 and having the double team/cheating tactics he perfected used against him by his greatest partner. People who hated the Flair vs Arn Anderson match from 95 would love the way MS-1 treats Satanico in those two matches. Satanico essentially plays Ricky Morton and is unbelievable in the role.

This run overall is important because it shows Satanico working as a babyface in both brawls and technical trios matches before turning heel and churning out more absolutely epic matches. The partnership and turn on El Dandy sparked what became the feud of Satanico’s career (at least what we have on film) and produced some of the best matches in wrestling history.

January 2001 – December 2001

This run is all about Satanico vs Ultimo Guerrero, Tarzan Boy, Rey Bucanero & eventually Mascara Magica. Satanico feuded with Tarzan Boy in 2000 and had been teaming with Ultimo Guerrero & Rey Bucanero as the new version of Satanico’s Los Infernales. Eventually Guerrero & Bucanero turned on Satanico and joined up with Tarzan Boy. This led to an absolutely fantastic series of weekly trios matches with Satanico and friends against the New Infernales. Really this run bleeds into 2002 as there are some awesome 2002 trios matches but I’ve always considered the Infierno en el Ring from 9/28/01 the real blowoff of the feud so I decided to split the difference. Satanico is still working at an extremely high level in 2002 but as 2001 comes to a close he starts to take a back seat as La Familia de Tijuana (Juvy, Nicho, Halloween, Damian 666 & eventually Rey Jr) came into CMLL and became the focus.

This run was really all about Old Man Satanico getting beat up & pushed around by a bunch of young punks who thought they were hot shit. The matches were a series of fast paced hate filled brawls. They typically didn’t last very long but they were always a lot of fun. Even when Satanico was in matches not involving Guerrero, Tarzan Boy, etc, inevitably those guys would run in and have a hot brawl with Satanico. This all built to the Infierno en el Ring match that I’ve always thought was an absolute classic and one of the most brilliantly booked and worked storytelling matches of all time with the focus 100% on Satanico. Tenryu’s run in late 2000-01 was talked about at the time as a great “Old Man Run” but Satanico was an even older man having matches just as good if not better and that were just as athletically impressive (if not more so) than what Tenryu was doing.

The great thing about this run was the consistency. You could pick any trios match from 2001-02 with Satanico & Friends against Ultimo Guerrero, Tarzan Boy & Rey Bucanero & eventually Mascar Magica and get you’re going to get at worst a “really fun short match” and more often than not a great TV match which built to an obvious MOTYC.

I wanted to take some time to look at what was happening outside of these 3 peak Satanico runs.

Pre September 1983

This is obviously the great unknown. I just wanted to point out that when Satanico shows up on tape in late September of 1983, he is already clearly a great worker. He is completely comfortable with his character and a master brawler, mat worker, seller etc. I have no doubt he had been great for years but there’s no way to prove it. There is no doubt in my mind that something like:

El Satanico vs Sangre Chicana Hair vs Hair 6/82 (Satanico Wins)

was a bonkers great match. There are probably dozens of matches like that. You don’t just wake up and be as good as Satanico was on 9/24/83.

Between January 1991 and December 2000

After watching a ton of random stuff from this time period, I would highly encourage people to seek out 90s Satanico. When I was writing up the 89/90 run, I really thought about including 1991. 1991 has the all time classic Infernales vs Brazos trios match that is a traditional lucha title match style. An excellent match against the Guerreros which feels almost more like a US-Style territory tag match which makes sense given the Gurreros background. And then there is an Infernales vs Konnan/Rayo de Jalisco/El Dandy trios building to a Satanico/Dandy trios match that is an unbelievably great brawling trios match with Satanico playing leader of men ordering double teams and strutting around talking shit. 1991 also has a singles match against Octagon that is worth watching because Octagon is an absolutely dogshit worker who did nothing to add to the match and Satanico busts his ass and makes it good match with his brawling and charisma.

The 1991 and 1992 Hair vs Hair matches against El Dandy are often viewed as a letdowns because they had such great matches in 1990. But if you watch 91 and 92 on their own, they’re both excellent matches and a feather in Satanicos’ cap.

There are several other great Satanico singles matches during this time period. The 1993 match against Pirata Morgan is a classic bloodbath and easily one of the best brawls of the 90s. He has a title match against Pierroth from 92 or 93 (youtube isn’t sure) that is an absolutely classic mat based match with tremendous drama built around near submissions. It is a match basically worked to show Satanico is the ultimate mat wrestler because he took over every time Pierroth got too close. There is a fantastic title match against Lizmark from 9/17/93 that is more “exciting” and “spectacular” than the Pierroth one although they’re both MOTYCs. There is a really fun match from 2000 against Tarzan Boy that isn’t a MOYTC or even a great match but it is great to see Satanico building a match around a young worker’s athleticism and highspots as a 50 year old like he was doing in his prime against Atlantis and Super Astro.

This period has a lot of fun, good, solid, very good, great, classic trios matches. There are several other classic Infernales matches from the early 90s in addition to the 3 mentioned previously (Well, I wouldn’t call the Guerreros match a classic, but it was very very good). Matches like Infernales vs Atlantis, Mascara Sagrada, & Lizmark from 3/13/92 or Infernales vs Los Hermans Dinamitas from 7/9/93 or Infernales vs Konnan, Dos Caras & Atlantis 12/91.

There aren’t 25 classic Satanico’s singles matches in the 90s. But if you’re interested in watching his matches and focusing on his performances, he’s someone who will stand up to scrutiny. He will disappear at times when not the central point in trios matches like literally every luchadore ever…but it is was actually extremely rare that Satanico added nothing to the match. He was always either working the crowd or running interference and setting up double teams or a quick fast paced mat exchange etc. Any drop off in “quality” has 100% to do with booking./opportunity. If he was in the position to be the center piece of the match, he would step up and look like he was as good as ever. If he needed to be a backgournd player and let two other wrestlers advance their storyline, Satanico would always find a way to add substance to the match without going so overboard that he takes attention away from the other wrestlers who are the focus of the match.

January 2002 – Present Day

In 2002 Satanico really does continue his great run from 2001. Any time he pops up in trios matches he is still working at a high level. The promotion was just focusing on other things as opposed to 2001 when he was part of the major feud of the year. As the 2000s wear on and Satanico ages, he clearly starts to slow down which is understandable given his age. He continues to add substance and since his style was never really predicated on athleticism, his decline is much more gradual than many wrestlers. And honestly when given the opportunity to wrestle his style against great wrestlers like Solar, Black Terry, Negro Navarro and Blue Panther, Satanico was having very good matches in his early-mid 60s which is RIDICULOUS. Satanico even managed to have several good-very good matches with old man El Dandy in 2014 which is especially impressive because I don’t think Dandy aged as well as Black Terry, Navarro, Solar, & Panther. The super old man Satanico stuff doesn’t mean a lot in his case for GOAT, but there is actually some truly fun stuff from the guy as a 60+year old that is not only worth mentioning but is absolutely worth carving out time to watch.

Versatility & Variety

Discussion of the versatility of Satanico’s in ring work and character work as well as the variety of his opponents and settings.

We have footage of Satanico in basically every setting possible in Lucha Libre. Brawls, technical matches, sprints, singles matches, trios matches, multi mans, gimmick matches, etc etc.

In terms of his actual work in matches, El Satanico is a Nick Bockwinkel, Terry Funk, Buddy Rose, Barry Windham, Jushin Liger, Tatsumi Fujinami type that is able to be great at seemingly every single thing you could be great at. I suppose someone could say he didn’t do dives because Lucha is the land of dives, and even though I know it happened in more than one match, I could only name one match with absolute certainty that has Satanico doing a tope outside of the ring (The Estrada hair match from 1990 for those wondering). I could also only tell you one time off the top of my head that he jumped off the top rope (the 2001 Infierno en el Ring match). But he did have some big spots like his awesome senton from the 2^nd rope or from the apron to the floor that always looked great. He could also had a really awesome headscissor take over he would do during back and forth tumbling exchanges. So the “he didn’t have great highspots” criticism doesn’t wreally work for me. I think he had great offense in general. And he was primarily a heel and heels in lucha shouldn’t really have a bunch of super flashy highspots so I would consider that potential criticism misguided anyway.

Anyway, Satanico could genuinely do anything you could ask of him.

Versatility of Singles Matches

In spite of the obvious footage limitations, we actually have examples of Satanico in a pretty wide variety of great singles matches not only worked against different opponents but worked in different styles. He has a slick back and forth title match against Lizmark. There’s the gritty and intense mat work title matches against Chicana & Pierroth. There’s the beautiful mat epic against Gran Cochise. There’s a ton of variety in his brawls. There are examples of Satanico playing it straight at first and the match getting heated and escalating into a bloody hate filled match. There are matches were Stanico starts off smug and gloating only to get his comeuppance. There are matches were Satanico attacks his opponent before the bell and has to carry the majority of the match with his offense. There are matches where Satanico is working primarily from underneath. He has epic blade jobs and is also one of the most brutal “Working over a cut” wrestlers ever. He can even have a heated hair match without blood and find a way to make it great. He had very good to great singles matches against:

Gran Cochise, Atlantis, Lizmark, Pirata Morgan, El Dandy, Shiro Koshinaka, Sangre Chicana, Super Astro, Pierroth, Jerry Estrada, Ultimo Guerrero, Blue Panther, and Tarzan Boy at a minimum with some people I’m probably forgetting.

Versatility of Trios matches

Really you can take everything said about the singles matches and it holds true in trios matches. You could add that he is great as the centerpiece of a trios match as a rudo and the centerpiece of a trios match as a tecnico. He is great at “directing traffic” and acting as “leader of men” as both rudo and tecnico either setting up double teams or setting up younger partners to succeed. Satanico also excelled as a background player in trios. He could easily slip into the role of guy #5 in a trios match who is primarily there to be a warm body while guys #1 & 2 work the storyline the match exists to advance. Since he could do everything, Satanico can play this role in brawls or technical trios matches and because he was so smart he could always find ways to add character and substance to his participation without stealing the spotlight from the main storyline.

I specifically wanted to mention again the 3 trios matches from 1991 with the Infernales against Los Brazos, The Guerreros & Konnan/Rayo/El Dandy being 3 really great examples of Satanico having awesome trios mach performances in really differently worked matches.

Standout Qualities

What are some things El Satanico was great at?

I wanted to mention a few things I think Satanico is really great at and if we were having a “Best wrestler at quality x” discussion Satanico would rank very high in several categories including:

1. Selling/Acting/Facial Expressions: I thought about separating these out, but they are really all tied together. Satanico is probably the best actor in all of wrestling. His interactions with his opponent, crowd, ref, teammates, etc are always just so perfect and on point. The Sangre Chicana match from 1983 is a must watch if only for Satanico’s unbelievably great facial expressions. He is a master at selling physical pain but also emotion, confidence, disdain, fear, relief, etc etc. He was a master at emoting clearly but not being ridiculously over the top with it.

2. Brawling: Satanico is unquestionably one of the best brawlers ever. He has the “great matches” in this category to match practically anybody not to mention variety of opponents, and when you start to consider 6 mans just a general variety of brawling matches. He was great in long slow paced brawls built on drama and emotion or quick fast paced balls to the walls insane brawls. He wasn’t just excellent at projecting hate and intensity through aggression (though he was AWESOME at that), but he was able to work his overconfident “best in the world/el numero uno” character into his brawls as well giving them more substance and character.

3. Mat Wrestling: Fuck was Satanico a great mat wrestler. Similar to “brawling” Satanico could do a lot with mat work. He could work super fast paced smooth lightening exchanges or work gritty hard hitting almost William Regal with a lucha twist mat work matches that were slower paced but high on drama. Satanico was great at leading younger workers like Atlantis in the 80s through these fast paced exchanges and he was awesome against a peer like Sangre Chicana.

4. Bleeding: Satanico was a great bleeder. Maybe no the all time best bleeder, but he was great at working his opponents cut and he was willing to bleed buckets. He also had one of the best blood related spots in wrestling when he was busted open he would wipe his hands on his bloody face, get enraged that his opponent made him bleed and wildly attack them. It is such a great spot it almost single handedly gets Satanico on my “best bleeders” list. But when you combine little small touches like that to his already incredible selling and facial expressions, he’s an easy “best bleeder” pick.

Projection of Character

How did Satanico project himself through his work as a rudo, aging tecnico and a leader of men?

Satanico was excellent as projecting his character. He called himself “El Numero Uno” and that referred to him being the best wrestler “number one.” He would back this claim up with his incredibly polished mat wrestling. It was obvious he knew every hold and reversal, but he also knew every dirty trick in the book. He was known not only for dishing out low-blows but faking low-blows to get his opponent disqualified.

As a tecnico he would do many of the same things he did as a rudo only to cheers. The main difference is that he was using them as comeback spots while working from underneath instead of using his cheapshots as a rudo working over a beloved young flashy babyface. He would often allow himself to get double-teamed and have the crap kicked out of him in ways very similar to what he had been doing to tecnicos for years. He was getting a taste of his own medicine finally only the crowd didn’t want it to happen.

Aside from being a rudo or tecnico, Satanico was also a Leader of Men. He was always the leader of the stable Los Infernales, but this role carried on even when he wasn’t working with regular tag team partners. Satanico had a knack for projecting himself as the leader of his group which was impressive because he was usually teaming with great workers like Pirata Morgan or MS-1 but Satanico still managed to stand out. He was always the one calling the shots encouraging double teams, keeping the other opponents at bay, jaw jacking at the crowd while his underlings did the dirty work only for Satanico to turn around and get in some slaps and punches. This makes you hate MS-1 and Pirata for being soliders but it really makes you want to see Satanico get his ass kicked.

He carries this over as a tecnico also. I talked a little bit about how he seemed to be mentoring El Dandy before the big turn & feud in 1990, and you can see that especially in the brilliant Infierno en el Ring match when he passes up an opportunity to save his own hair when he realizes he needs to save one of his young boys from losing his mask.

What are some Criticisms of Satanico’s #1 Case?

There are some criticisms I wanted to at least bring up in the sake of fairness.

1. Lack of footage from his athletic peak: I can understand this if you are someone that HAS to have week in week out matches but I think the quality of matches, variety of opponents, and variety of work is enough that it overcomes that sheer lack of volume. If the argument is “it isn’t enough matches to see how good he is” when there is that much variety within the few matches we do have than it seems like to me the implication is that there is no way to prove he had any other good matches other than those and I just find that to be pretty preposterous.

2. Lack of all time great feuds outside of El Dandy & Ultimo Guerreo & Friends: This is a very real criticism and I get it actually. Part of this is footage as looking at his hair match list, it is pretty obvious to me that Sangre Chicana is probably on par with El Dandy as a great Satanico opponent. But we don’t have those early 80s hair matches. I do think the El Dandy feud is arguably a top 10 feud of all time and while the Ultimo Guerrero feud isn’t on that level, it is definitely a great feud and a crowning achievement for Satanico. But the lack of all time great feuds/rivalries is a definite disadvantage compared to people like Flair, Tenryu, Funk, Hansen, aka the other GOAT contenders.

3. Not as flashy/dynamic as other luchadores: I guess I get it as a criticism but it is pretty weak. Satanico is more about substance. I’ve never actually seen anyone say this, but I can see how someone might say it or think it so I did feel it was worth addressing.

4. Only ever “got over” in Mexico: Not something that matters to me.

5. Disappointing series with Lizmark besides the great 9/93 match. It feels like these two should have had a better series of matches, but they did manage to hit it out of the park once. People often cite HBK/Bret Hart “rivalry” as a plus for both guys even though all their matches sucked. Satanico and Lizmark actually had a great match once so that’s something. But yeah, definitely should have been a better series here.

6. Dog shit match against Kato Kung Lee that was so bad I won’t look up the date or my notes which are in this very thread. But it was baaaaaaaad.

7. OJ once said Satanico doesn’t really work hard against wrestlers he doesn’t respect and considers bad wrestlers. Maybe that’s what was happening in the Kato Kung Lee match, but I honestly don’t ever recall seeing this happen. The most obvious “oh it’ll be in this match” example I figured was going to be that Octagon match from 91 and that match was really good because Satanico went out of his way to make it really good. I respect OJ’s opinion and wanted to mention that critique I’ve seen him make, but I’m not sure I’ve seen the matches he’s referring to when he says that, unless hat Kato Kung Lee match is one of them.

Odds and Ends

This is just going to be last minute quick hitting things that help make El Satanico totally fucking awesome that I wanted to be sure to mention. Some of these will be silly but wrestling is silly

His name is El Satanico. That is cool by itself.

His nickname is “El Numero Uno.”

His signature standing figure 4 leglock pin is called “El Nudo”

If you go to luchawiki and look at his page some of his signature moves are Low Blows and Faking Low Blows.

He LOOKS like a Mexican Drug Lord.

He will come to the ring with a valet dressed up in a devil costume carrying a pitchfork for big matches.

There is a video online of him possessing a pretty lady to freak out Ultimo Guerrero in 2001.

During the 10/90 Super Libre (No DQ) match against El Dandy, Satanico, rips out El Dandy’s armpit hair and blows the hair up into the air. It is amazing.

Essential Matches

What are the 10 El Satanico matches to get a decent overview of his career? What are the best hair matches, title matches, trios matches?

10 Essential Matches

1. El Satanico vs Gran Cochisse 9/14/84

2. El Satanico vs El Dandy Hair vs Hair 12/14/90

3. El Satanico vs Pirata Morgan Hair vs Hair 11/26/93

4. El Satanico, Mephisto, and Averno vs Ultimo Guerrero, Tarzan Boy, Rey Bucanero, and Masara Magica “Infierno en el Ring” 9/28/01

5. El Satanico vs El Dandy 10/26/90

6. Los Infernales vs Los Brazos 11/22/91

7. El Satanico & Atlantis vs MS-1 & Tierra Viento y Fuego Hair/Mask vs Hair/Mask 9/22/89

8. El Satanico vs Atlantis 1984

9. El Satanico vs Pierroth 1992

10. El Satanico vs Sangre Chicana 9/24/83

5 Absolute Best Singles Matches

1. El Satanico vs Gran Cochisse

2. El Satanico vs El Dandy Hair vs Hair 12/14/90

3. El Satanico vs Pirata Morgan Hair vs Hair 11/26/93

4. El Satanico vs Sangre Chicana 5/26/89

5. El Satanico vs El Dandy 10/26/90

5 Essential Trios Matches

1. Los Infernales vs Los Brazos 11/22/91

2. El Satanico, MS-1 & Ken Timbs vs El Dandy, Sangre Chicana, & Ringo Mendoza 11/16/90

3. El Satanico, MS-1, Espectro Jr vs Sangre Chicana, La Fiera, El Faraon 9/30/83

4. El Satanico, Pirata Morgan & MS-1 vs La Fiera, El Faraon & El Egipico

5. El Satanico, Pirata Morgan & MS-1 vs Atlantis, Lizmark & Mascara Sagrada 3/13/92

5 Essential Multi Man Matches

1. Infierno en el Ring 9/28/01

2. Satanico & Atlantis vs MS-1 & Tierra Viento y Fuego Hair/Mask vs Hair/Mask

3. El Satanico & El Dandy vs MS-1 & Masakre

4. El Satanico & El Dandy vs Atlantis & Angel Azteca 6/15/90

5. El Satanico & Solar vs Negro Navarro & Black Terry 3/5/11

5 Essential Hair Matches/Brawls That Aren’t On the 5 Best Singles Match List

1. El Satanico vs Super Astro 10/26/84

2. El Satanico vs Atlantis 1984

3. El Satanico vs Shiro Koshinaka 7/30/84

4. El Satanico vs Jerry Estrada 3/23/90

5. El Satanico vs El Dandy 12/6/91 & 9/92

5 Essential Title Matches That Aren’t on the 5 Best Singles Matches List

1. El Satanico vs Sangre Chicana 9/24/83

2. El Satanico vs Pierroth 1992 or 93

3. El Satanico vs El Dandy 3/2014

4. El Satanico vs Lizmark 9/17/83

5. El Satanico vs Blue Panther 7/25/15

Hidden Gems

What are some great less talked about Satanico matches?

1. El Satanico, Negro Navarro & Black Terry vs Blue Panther, Solar & Super Astro 11/27/13

2. El Satanico, Psicosis, & La Parkavs El Hijo del Santo, Angel Azteca & Super Muneco (No date, on youtube)

3. El Satanico, Emilio Charles Jr & Kamala vs Atlantis, El Dandy & Rayo de Jalisco Jr 8/3/91

4. El Satanico, MS-1 & Pirata Morgan vs Los Hermanos Dinamitas 7/9/93

5. El Satanico, Pirata Morgan, Mascara Ano 2000 vs El Dandy, Sangre Chicana, El Faraon 11/12/90

6. El Satanico, Emilio Charles & Black Warrior vs Atlantis, Lizmark & El Dandy 3/15/97

7. El Satanico, MS-1 & Pirata Morgan vs Konnan, Dos Caras & Atlantis 12/91

8. El Satanico, Apollo Dantes & Dr Wagner Jr vs Perro Aguayo, Ringo Mendoza & Emilio Charles Jr 2000

9. El Satanico, MS-1 & Espectro Jr vs Atlantis, Ringo Mendoza & Tony Salazar 9/28/84

10. El Satanico vs Ultimo Guerrero 2001

So in summary, watch this motherfucker!

[cad]

Satanico's obviously a great wrestler, but my reactions to him are usually of the "Yes, that IS the correct thing to do in that situation" variety. I rarely see in him the brilliance and cleverness that others do or that I do in Negro Casas, who's probably his best comp. He's not a guy who's great just to watch in action either, not a good enough athlete for that. In the end his early '80s matches generally hold up for me, his '90s classics I don't enjoy as much. I don't like the layout of the 1990 hair match with Dandy, I've never gotten the Pirata match, and the Brazos and Chicana matches I appreciate more than love. Like I'm sure if I watched that stuff everything he did would check out, so I'm less comfortable calling him overrated than I am for Blue Panther. Part of it's probably me. In the back of my mind I'm always thinking about how the guy's perpetually looking out for numero uno, which is the sort of thing that'll give rise to cynical views of his performances.

 

I could go on, but instead I'll just say that I really like his match from the week before the Dandy hair vs hair in 1990, and that I thought he had a spot in there that was one of the best individual things I've seen from him.

[Eegah]

What a post, Elliot. You are one of the most thoughtful and provoking figures on the board. Keep up the good work.

 

Side note: Satanico rules, he better be on your list people!

[Matt D]

Hell of a post, Elliott.

[ohtani's jacket]

Now that I've officially given the mantle of number one Satanico fan away, I thought I'd point out that EMLL had weekly TV from 1983-1989. It didn't air in the capital state (at least not on terrestrial TV), but it was available outside of the state, and on cable in the US, which is mostly how we have that '83-84 footage. Somewhere in the Televisa vaults they have all the footage and earlier stuff too like the match where Chicana lost his mask. There is some bridging footage between '84 and '89 Satanico featuring a run of Infernales matches w/ Masakre. They're mostly from '87.

[goodhelmet]

Great summary of El Satanico!!! I don't have him #1 but he is in my Top 5 Luchadors.

[elliott]

Thanks for the kind words guys! I'm back in SC for the week but when I get back home i'll write up At least a satanico vs flair comparison and maybe some comps with other big name candidates. But almost everything I listed is on youtube so I do hope yall check some of those matches out!

[goodhelmet]

Actually have him top 3 luchador. I had him above El Dandy!!!

[Timbo Slice]

Made the "mistake" of watching the big time lucha I could before the deadline and he's definitely gonna be on my list. An absolutely fantastic rudo, with the Dandy apuestas match in 1990 being one of the best matches of the style I've ever seen. I haven't seen enough of him to think he'd be in the top half, but he definitely makes it on there as a late entry. Makes me wish I went back and watched more lucha within the timeframe, but such is life.

[WingedEagle]

Made the "mistake" of watching the big time lucha I could before the deadline and he's definitely gonna be on my list. An absolutely fantastic rudo, with the Dandy apuestas match in 1990 being one of the best matches of the style I've ever seen. I haven't seen enough of him to think he'd be in the top half, but he definitely makes it on there as a late entry. Makes me wish I went back and watched more lucha within the timeframe, but such is life.

 

That is almost exactly the position I'm in with Satanico. Enough to know I need to see more and he belongs, but not enough to comfortably say where. May slot in late as a nod to what I've seen thus far, or hold off entirely because if I go that route I'll have no idea where to draw the line on folks I've seen a similar amount of footage from.