Perro Aguayo

[Grimmas]

Discuss here.

[Graham Crackers]

Like Sangre Chicana he's a charismatic wrestler who excels at milking big moments. Their 1986 match against each other is incredible and sums up everything that's great about both of them.

 

I enjoyed his big 2000s hair matches. I'll take that kind of spectacle built around a banged up old man over most of the big Wrestlemania dream matches of the last decade.

[Phil Schneider]

He is an interesting case, I just love his elite matches, just a crazy intense brawler who knows how to make a big match big. He has some great Hamada UWF matches too. I need to look into his early 90's stuff

[goc]

He's been a BIG standout for me on the 80s set so far. The final falls with Sangre Chicana in the elimination match from 10/84 felt like a really "big" match. Bigger than anything on the Hell in a Cell PPV I watched right before it. I'm definitely up for more recommendations of things outside the 80s set because I love watching him kick dudes in the face.

[goc]

So I found this AWESOME Cage match between Sangre Chicana and Perro Aguayo on youtube. I see that slambamjam.com has at least 1 Cage match between the two of them listed as 91-92 but the youtube comments are saying this took place in the 80s so I'm not sure if this is that same match or not. Anyway this match is incredible, lots of great punch exchanges in this one. Apparently in Mexico the Cage matches are escape rules as they work a lot of spots around keeping the other guy from climbing out. The referee is a big pain in the ass in this one and both guys decide they have had enough of his shit and just kick his ass! He ends up with his shirt and pants ripped up and they wrap his clothes around their fists and go back to fighting each other! If someone had done that to Tommy Gilbert in Mid-South it'd have been an immediate #1 ranking. No idea if this Cage match is well known but I'm sure at least one person who is going to read this hasn't seen it and you should watch it:

 

 

EDIT: youtube killed the account but I just re-uploaded it. Luckily I'd saved that vid.

[Phil Schneider]

I think this is early 90's

[GOTNW]

Perro Aguayo fucking rules. He reminds me of Rush in the sense he'll just chestslap, kick and stomp the shit out of someone, he's an amazing brawler and is also neat on the mat,really seems like an elite worker, he'll make my list for sure and his ranking will largely depend on how much of his stuff I can find.

[ohtani's jacket]

If we had more of Aguyao's 70s work, or even his 80s stuff, I could see him being regarded as a great lucha brawler, but I don't think there's any way that mechanically he can be regarded as an elite worker. I always thought he was cumbersome the majority of the time.

[GOTNW]

How many old man Perro brawls are out there? I honestly might like the El Hijo Del Santo match more than the Sangre Chicana match from 1986. Also enjoy him a lot in title matches, especially the Villano 3 one where 3 would go for ridiculous submissions and Perro would counter them by just throwing him on the ground.

[Dylan Waco]

I kind of love the guy, but I want someone to direct me to his best matches. I may have already seen them, but I want to be sure I've hit all the greatest hits along with the fuck ton of other random stuff I've watched.

 

OJ's criticism of his mechanics means zilch to me because I see him as a truly wild and visceral brawler. In fact I kind of see Aguayo as the living embodiment of the lucha brawl, which is a style where I think mechanics in the traditional wrestling sense have limited value and at times are almost a negative in a weird way. With Aguayo you basically get a Mexican Mad Dog Vachon, stalking around with a bloody head, constantly moving forward, and occasionally dropping one of the two absolutely vicious bombs he has - the senton or the double stomp. I respect that he does dives, and no they don't look good, but to me that is completely secondary to what he's about. I enjoyed the V3 title match a good bit, and I think it's instructive because it shows that he wasn't entirely one dimensional. Still this is a guy who I want to see fighting people.

 

Despite all of that praise, at the moment I probably would have him just off of my ballot. But I really do want match recs. If I've already seen them I know I've seen the best, and if I haven't it could bump him onto my list.

[ohtani's jacket]

The best Aguayo match we have on tape is the 1986 hair match with Chicana, which IMO is one of the greatest lucha matches of all-time. I know a lot of people like their early 90s cage match, but I thought it was weak. I liked the spectacle of Perro vs. Mascara Ano 2000 at the first Triplemania. I also liked the 1992 Chicana/Aguayo match from CMLL. Aside from that, I think you have to scratch around a bit. There's the Gran Hamada matches from the original UWF (including the handheld one), some stuff from Los Angeles and New Japan Classics, and the UWA tag with Babe Face that was on the DVDVR lucha set. A Santo vs. Perro match is floating around out there too. I think it's from the early 00s. I know Noodles and I loved the Perro vs. Universo 2000 apuesta match. I wish I'd bothered to watch the recent footage from Juarez that was pulled.

[goc]

Despite all of that praise, at the moment I probably would have him just off of my ballot. But I really do want match recs. If I've already seen them I know I've seen the best, and if I haven't it could bump him onto my list.

I realize it's a little late and probably not enough to get him on your ballot anyway but just thought I'd recommend the Brazo de Plata/Oro vs. Perro Aguayo & Gran Hamada tag match I watched last night. I don't know if I would call it a great match but it was a lot of fun.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0_GlZdfWhk

[Dylan Waco]

Not too late at all. I will be watching guys at least until the 28th. I will add this to the watch pile for this week

[Matt D]

Pirata is someone who never quite clicked with me. He'll make my list but lower than I feel like defending. I sort of blame VQ and camera work.

[goc]

Pirata is someone who never quite clicked with me. He'll make my list but lower than I feel like defending. I sort of blame VQ and camera work.

Are you drunk? This is the Perro Aguayo thread.

[Matt D]

It's early and the DC Metro is shut so I got up 30 minutes early.

 

Oh, yeah. I like his boots?

 

Perro and Pirata will be pretty close on my list actually, but about 20 spots lower than they should.

[goc]

If I were doing a ballot I know I would probably rank Perro over Pirata but that's only really based on the 80s set and a handful of matches I've seen on youtube since. Even 55 year old Perro who is broken down still captivates me watching a match that ostensibly isn't very good like a 3 way Dog Collar Hair vs Hair match with Sangre Chicana and El Cobarde #2.

[GOTNW]

I had Pirata Morgan relatively high on my list (if the avatar doesn't take it away) but Perro is higher. Think he's a more consistent worker and better at dragging worthwhile matches out of not-good opposition.

[Jetlag]

OJ already did a great job running through Perro's best matches, so I won't bother with a big match list here. However, Perro is the fucking man and that must be known. So I will post some old match reviews of Perro Aguayo's 1990 where he was in Hamada's UWF and had that fucking great feud with Gran Hamada amongst other things.

 

Perro Aguayo vs. Gran Hamada (3/2/90)
Your man: Perro Aguayo. Fucking great brawl that really deserved more heat. Aguayo continues his mauling of Hamada that began in the first UWF in the 1980s (well probably before that too) (Note - this review was in 2013, since then I have found out via the Lucha set Perro and Hamada were having kickass brawls as early as 1980). And let me tell you this is a brutal fucking match. Aguayo kicks the shit out of Hamada with stiff fucking punches and just annihilates him with these incredibly fast Yakuza Kicks. Then he tosses Hamada to the floor, dumps rows of chairs and a table on his head and nails him with a bottle. Hamada of course is Your Formidable Babyface.

 

Perro Aguayo/Jose Luis Feliciano vs. Gran Hamada/Lizmark (3/1/90)
Perro Aguayo: not afraid to kick serious ass in 1990. Start of the match he bashes Hamada in the face with a bunch of flowers, and it goes from there. Feliciano and Lizmark have their moments (some blown moments), but this is Your Aguayo/Hamada show from start to the shock finish. Hamada is fucking great.

Gran Hamada vs. Perro Aguayo (UWA World Light Heavyweight Title, 3/5/90)
This is not the match I thought it would be - as it is a title match, so they work it 2/3 falls like proper sportsmen grappling on the mat.. Aguayo does a really neat transition from the hammerlock pinning predicament which I've never seen before. He fakes an injury and it breaks down to Aguayo drilling Hamada with one brutal move after another. Three falls in and it turns into the match I thought it would be, they start fucking annihilating eachother, Hamada hits a killer tope, Aguayo beats the piss out of him and they crack eachother in the skulls with chairs. If a bloody Hamada headbutting a bloody Aguayo isn't awesome then you shouldn't call me a fan of the professional wrestling.Hamada gets his bloody ass fucking stomped leading to the controversial finish sparking intense contempt from the fans. They start booing Hamada, Aguayo struts around, "No! Me champeon!". They continue to brawl, Hamada gets on the mic, fans chant Perro's name. Your No. 1 babyface: Perro Aguayo! Your MOTY for 1990: This fucking match! Well maybe not quite MOTY, but let me tell you this is a really fucking good match.

 

Gran Hamada vs. Perro Aguayo (UWA World Light Heavyweight Title, 6/1/90)

They finally run this match on japanese TV and it's not as good as the previous two matches! However it's still pretty good as these two have really grown this Ishikawa/Ikeda like dynamic beating the unholy crap out of eachother inbetween wrestling on the mat and working Lucha exchanges. Hamada hits more dives in this, so there's that. Formidable greatest hits version of the previous two bouts. And, let me tell you, the Perro Aguayo will hit you with a number of grossly stiff punches.

 

Misioneros de la Muerte vs. Kendo/Gran Hamada/Perro Aguayo 6/7/1990

This has some weird moments and a few moments of what some people might call lulls. Still this is a great fucking match that had me marking out almost the entire time. First you have the Misioneros doing exactly the kind of stuff that made them such big stars in the first place - stooging like motherfuckers and kicking the shit out of the technicos - then you have two completely awesome technicos in Kendo and Hamada who are more than game to engage in an endless series of great exchanges. And there's Aguayo, who's not exactly the greatest fit in a technico role but man he has the best moments in this entire match - as he's still the Perro Aguayo and the Misioneros just can't fucking beat that old fuckers - they all take turns laying into the guy like all hell, battering him with great looking punches and he just absorbs it all, turns around and fires all the momentum back in their faces. Just holy shit great. Navarro looks buff as fuck here and is a total asskicking machine. And fuck Hamada is a total champ too bumping and flying and dishing out crazy shots if pissed enough... this match is like you crossed a Lucha Trios with a Choshu tag.

[goc]

If you like Perro and haven't seen his 2001 match with Hijo del Santo definitely check it out. I just watched it and thought it was really good, way better than I expected having watched some other old man Perro matches lately.

 

[GOTNW]

Perro Aguayo vs. Gran Hamada (3/2/90)

Your man: Perro Aguayo. Fucking great brawl that really deserved more heat. Aguayo continues his mauling of Hamada that began in the first UWF in the 1980s (well probably before that too) (Note - this review was in 2013, since then I have found out via the Lucha set Perro and Hamada were having kickass brawls as early as 1980). And let me tell you this is a brutal fucking match. Aguayo kicks the shit out of Hamada with stiff fucking punches and just annihilates him with these incredibly fast Yakuza Kicks. Then he tosses Hamada to the floor, dumps rows of chairs and a table on his head and nails him with a bottle. Hamada of course is Your Formidable Babyface.

That's it right? It rules as one would expect.

[elliott]

I ranked Perro Aguayo 71st and I blew it with that one. Perro is a top 25 contender. Phenomenal brawler, has that special charisma that makes everything feel important. Also has great longevity. Could go toe to toe with Sangre Chicana in an all time brawl, but could also drag Konnan to entertaining matches. For an under the radar awesome ridiculously fun match, watch Perro vs Universo 2000 3/30/01.  One of the all time babyfaces and characters. Feels like the Bruno of Lucha. If we had a real look at his physical prime in 70s and on into the early 80s, I have zero doubt he'd be a top 10 contender.  

[cad]

'80s Perro Aguayo was a wild brawler, and '90s Perro Aguayo was maybe the most visibly adored wrestler ever (but still kind of a wild brawler). I don't know if I can articulate what I mean here, but it's hard for me to link the two together. Like, with Sangre Chicana, it's easy, because both were happening at the same time, and he was such a tremendous seller, and even in the '90s he could still interact with the Arena Mexico crowd like no one else. '90s Aguayo doesn't feel like a natural evolution of the '80s version, and nothing in his work makes it obvious how things turned out that way. It probably doesn't help that most (all?) of his 1980s matches feature him as a visitor rather than in his home arena.

Perro did do well in that period in early 1992 when Arena Mexico was regularly having wild heavyweight brawls that were more than the sum of the wrestlers involved, and even as an old man he still took some crazy bumps. His style wasn't really a fit with AAA, but it didn't hurt his believability any. Why does no one talk about the match where he took Konnan's mask? It's one of the most famous matches from 1990s CMLL AND it got four stars from Meltzer (ehh...), but it doesn't even have a thread here.

PA, Satanico and Fishman vs Ringo Mendoza, Jalisco and Villano III (Probably March 18 or March 25 1983)
Perro Aguayo vs Konnan
PA, Konnan and Vampiro vs Fiera, Sangre Chicana and Cien Caras (the best part of this is when Perro is lying in the seats among the fans)