Pirata Morgan

[Grimmas]

Discuss here.

[Graham Crackers]

He's possibly the best trios match worker ever. Los Infernales are the definitive rudo trio but I thought they were at their strongest with Pirata as a member. I didn't expect to leave the 80s set liking Los Bucaneros even more but they were in too many of my favorite trios matches to ignore. He's a huge bumper but also a downright nasty brawler and he's always in the right position for triple teaming the tecnico or stooging for the comeback.

[goodhelmet]

Phil and I both had him in our best bleeder list. That is probably enough for me to put him in the top half.

[Timbo Slice]

I can definitely see him making my list. Fantastic brawler, fantastic rudo, but I want to see a bit more of him before making him a definitive part of my list.

[Grimmas]

I can definitely see him making my list. Fantastic brawler, fantastic rudo, but I want to see a bit more of him before making him a definitive part of my list.

This is where I am at. Any match suggestions?

[Timbo Slice]

http://segundacaida.blogspot.com/search?q=pirata+morgan

 

Good start here, go with the Great and Epic matches on the list.

[ohtani's jacket]

The Morgan/Volador mano a mano bout from Monterrey that alexoblivion hipped folks to is a worthy companion to the well known Morgan apuesta matches.

[JRGoldman]

Morgan is such a great bully in the ring. He does so many petty little things that inform his character and it's wonderful. Obviously the spitting blood stuff is the big one, but he is nonchalant in his dickishness that I can't help but really hate him. He's like Bobby Eaton, who always looked like such a dumb jock douche bag that I never had trouble buying him as one. He does a ton of things to help get faces over after pin falls or on the apron, which I think is why he was so successful as a trios worker. I remember in a singles match against El Dandy where he throws him out of the ring and has completely dominated the match, but instead of celebrating or mugging or going to the outside he just paced and was breathing really heavy like he had all this adrenaline but didn't know what to do with it. It showed what a struggle everything was against Dandy even though he hadn't even gotten any offense in yet. To rate people in stuff like this we inevitably have to split hairs, and I think that Pirata does little things really well, which will help him against others who may have a better on paper resume.

[GOTNW]

Any apuesta matches other than the Dandy, Satanico and El Faraon ones I should check out? He's a weird guy, at his best he looks like the greatest lucha brawler ever but then there's matches where he'll look completely tamed. I have him below Perro and Sangre Chicana right now.

[Matt D]

Morgan is a guy I have a real hard time placing.

[ohtani's jacket]

I think the only other apuesta match we have from his prime is the one against Masakre from '92, but I don't know if it's online. The Vampiro match is terrible.

[elliott]

At his best, someone who could do everything in the ring. Another one on my list, but I want to dig around more to better figure out where. 

[overbooked]

I'm pretty high on Pirata Morgan. An all-time great brawler, who makes everything so visceral and grimy and real. Super fun bumper. One of the best for making nondescript trios matches fun.  Probably the best bleeder. That run of hair matches from around 1988 to 1993 - El Dandy, El Faraon, MS-1, Masakre, Satanico. I'd love more footage of him to crop up to solidify his case, but could easily see him in my top 10.

[Rah]

Longevity might be against Pirata here. If you focus on his highs then he should be up there with any of the other lucha brawlers. I'm not sure I'd pick him for best bleeder, but he's definitely one of if not the best bloodletter in wrestling. Watching Pirata gnaw open his opponent's head and spray their blood into the air a la HHH is a sight. Great worked punches, too.

That said, the past 10 years (or more? I've not actively sought him out) have not been kind. I remember being all sorts of excited for the Wotan feud (right after that classic with Black Terry) only to be thoroughly let down.

[overbooked]

Yep, recent years haven't helped his cause. But while he doesn't have Lucha Longevity, he was still outstanding for over a decade which I think puts him the mix. It does pose an interesting question though - would we look more favourably on him if he just retired 20 years ago?

[Boss Rock]

1 hour ago, Rah said:

Longevity might be against Pirata here. If you focus on his highs then he should be up there with any of the other lucha brawlers. I'm not sure I'd pick him for best bleeder, but he's definitely one of if not the best bloodletter in wrestling. Watching Pirata gnaw open his opponent's head and spray their blood into the air a la HHH is a sight. Great worked punches, too.

That said, the past 10 years (or more? I've not actively sought him out) have not been kind. I remember being all sorts of excited for the Wotan feud (right after that classic with Black Terry) only to be thoroughly let down.

What clip is that match from?

[NintendoLogic]

1 hour ago, Boss Rock said:

What clip is that match from?

The 2/28/92 hair match against Masakre.

 

[Boss Rock]

Thanks!

[elliott]

I ranked Pirata Morgan 45th in 2016 and I feel like I only sort of blew that one The best Pirata Morgan stuff is amazing. That 1988 El Dandy match is required viewing. He is one of the best brawlers I've ever seen but he was also an incredible athlete and he could work the fast paced back and forth tumbly lucha exchanges as well as anyone. And he could do the slow building dramatic lucha title matches as well. Great trios worker who knew always stood out. INSANE bumper. Like total fucking nut. Oh and he would blade his missing eye. WTF has ever been cooler than that? Pirata absolutely belongs on the list, but I need to dig deeper to figure out where. This sort of mid tier might be perfect but I also think he has the skills to challenge the top 30. 

[KB8]

I had Morgan at 44 in 2016, one spot higher than our good friend elliot. A couple things I think Pirata Morgan easily goes into the all-time elite tier for are a) bumping like a complete maniac, and b) bleeding like a truly demented bastard. Combining both of those things went a decent way to making him an amazing brawler who was involved in a few amazing brawls. The Infernales were also one of the best trios in lucha history, so he has that small thing going for him. It's been over a decade since I watched the Brazo de Oro title match, but I though that was pretty great, so he has at least one title match feather in his cap. I'd agree that he doesn't really have the longevity of your absolute top level lucha candidates, and there's more than a small sample of old man Pirata Morgan not being particularly good, but his peak is absolutely exceptional and the '93 hair match with Satanico is something I can't wait to watch (one day, whenever that'll be). 

 

PIRATA MORGAN YOU SHOULD WATCH:

w/El Satanico & MS-1 v El Egipcio, La Fiera & El Faraon (EMLL, 3/29/85)

v El Dandy (EMLL, 9/23/88)

v Brazo de Oro (EMLL, 11/18/89)

v El Faraon (CMLL, 11/18/90)

v Masakre (CMLL, 2/28/92)

[cad]

On 9/14/2014 at 11:16 AM, Graham Crackers said:

He's possibly the best trios match worker ever.

I think I agree with this, at least among rudos. He had everything you'd want in that setting. He could brawl. He could make things work on the mat. He could bump big. He could fly through a breathtaking series of moves. He had big offense both on his own and in triple teams. He could do comedy at the level of a Fuerza Guerrera. Who else would even think of holding this impromptu test of strength tournament in the middle of a match? Everyone knows what he brought to Satanico's Infernales, but just in case, look at how weak their 1991 reunion was, from spring until fall when it was Masakre on the team. Morgan replaced him late in the year and suddenly they were one of the promotion's most important acts. As the leader of his own team, he wasn't trying to make a statement or anything, but I loved that the other Bucaneros had to wear eyepatches and essentially be good enough to wrestle with one eye like Pirata did. It would be like if Mocho Cota had a team where all the members had to wrestle with two of their fingers tied down or if Jerry Estrada had a team and they all had to show up to the arena wasted every night. The Bucaneros were like a souped up version of the Brazos, a trio of brothers working comedy spots but even faster and more daring.

I could go either way on his longevity. On one hand, he was a big guy who took big bumps. That's a style that lives on borrowed time, so I can't praise the bumps and also say his prime should have lasted longer. Even by that standard he fell apart fast though. A lot of his contemporaries took a hit when the calendar turned from 1992 to 1993, but none of them collapsed like Morgan did. I can't think of a single widely praised Morgan match from after 1993, and I believe he turned 31 that year. He finished 117th in 2016. Tenth among Mexican candidates is really not bad, but I think he had the matches and the talent (especially the talent) to make the top 100, maybe even comfortably. His career feels offbeat compared to other workers of his ability. He doesn't have a definitive rival, he spent a lot of time as a #2/#3 instead of a team leader, and he had a real flop of a tecnico turn right in the middle of his prime. I have him about as high as someone can rank without having a serious argument for number one, although I'd listen if anyone wanted to make it.

Heretofore unmentioned wrestling matches featuring Pirata Morgan:
PM, Hombre Bala and Verdugo vs Atlantis, Ringo Mendoza and Angel Azteca
PM, Emilio Charles Jr. and Pierroth Jr. vs Atlantis, Huracan Ramirez (Sevilla) and Blue Demon Jr.
Pirata Morgan vs Mascara Sagrada (Pirata works this almost like an American title match, and for one night Mascara Sagrada looks like one of the best flyers in the world)

[KB8]

I've watched a lot of Pirata Morgan the last week or so. Maybe it's recency bias, maybe I'm just watching the right stuff, maybe I'm just overrating him because he's a favourite, but I feel like he has a five year peak encompassing 1988-1992 where he's amongst the best wrestlers in the world. You could cut that off at '91 and I wouldn't argue too strongly, but the '92 trios I've watched are a hoot (the Intocables stuff, mostly) and that Masakre match has always been a vampire's dream. 

He was amazing in 1991. That Volador mano a mano that OJ mentioned way back sits comfortably alongside his other blood-soaked masterpieces, if maybe slightly below the absolute best of them. It was basically worked as an apuestas and that meant we got all the gory Pirata Morgan brilliance that comes with apuestas matches.

The Mascara Sagrada match that cad mentions above just about had my jaw on the floor. The first two falls might not be the most graceful and they're certainly slower than what you'd get from the lighter weight divisions, but Sagrada works the primera like a Ricky Steamboat and if nothing else Morgan is great at feeding himself into armdrags. He spends the segunda selling the leg, then the tercera just kept building and building to something brilliant. It started off decent, got really good, and then by the end I couldn't believe how good it was. Morgan was tremendous as a guy having to take progressively higher risks, crashing and burning on all of them, before desperation kicks in and he goes total dickhead with his final gambit. 

I don't know how much higher I can realistically have him than 44, but as someone who's big on a wrestler's peak, that feels too low right now and I could probably talk myself into going at least 10 spots higher. 

[cad]

Couple of things about Pirata Morgan:

1. Pirata's birthday is listed as July 29 1962. I know he has the Satanico match in 1993, and I know there must be some other stuff that somebody likes from his later career. but for the most part he made his case almost entirely in his twenties. How many other candidates can say the same thing? I assume some joshi workers.

2. Pirata is almost universally regarded as a great worker by lucha fans, and again that's with a case made up almost entirely of his work from his twenties. Does he have the best twenties of any candidate?

3. On closer inspection, the other Bucaneros all wore eyepatches that they could see through, so they weren't actually wrestling half blind. I was wrong about that, and I'm upset about that. Not as much as when I found out that MS-1 was not actually Mungo the Alien (I was wrong about that too), but I'd still rather have avoided that mistake.

[brockobama]

Surprised, going back to some of these matches, how often he's spitting blood. Sometimes it'll be multiple times a night. Bit of a spot monkey imo, wish Satanico grabbed a headlock and told him to slow it down brother, we already got their money. 

[brockobama]

Jokes aside, Pirata is basically a lock for my list. I don't know that I agree with the "best trios worker ever" assessment (seeing him work all these matches alongside or against Satanico has me leaning the other way) though I'm sympathetic to the weak-link-Masakre argument and agree with everything @cad outlined above. Time and again I watch these tags and find some spot, some bump, some bit of selling or comedy that makes me think "man, Pirata, you didn't need to go that hard”—and often it'll be accompanied by five or six others moments approaching that level. 

Right now I think I'll have him as the last luchador on my list. It's not so much his short peak that keeps him from climbing higher as it is how relatively underwhelming I found some of these big apuestas and title matches, especially the Brazo de Oro and '91 Mascara Sagrada bouts. At least on first blush they feel like long, obsequious matches in which Pirata is merely doing good stuff in proximity to a lesser worker; I'd rather get the impression that a wrestler is grabbing an inferior talent by the shoulders, rousing them out of their worst habits, and dragging them toward something more complete and compelling. Sick bumps and strong selling aren't quite enough, at least compared to some other miracle workers I have to find room for on my ballot. 

That said, I did stumble on a great example of this sort of elevation and it's what secures Pirata a spot on my list: the cage match apuestas against Mascara Sagrada in 1999 IWRG. Here we have a bloodbath every bit as grimy and gross as what Pirata was doing a decade earlier, coaxing an intensity out of Sagrada that I had certainly never seen before (whether in this famous '91 title match or, really, anything leading up to this cage match), and pulling out the sorts of spots I thought were well behind him by this point in his career. In particular I really love this bump where the two are slugging it out on the side of the cage and Pirata whiffs on a punch, sailing head over heels off the top rope. Randomly clicking around Youtube as I try to figure out who I should revisit next, only to find an eye-opening match from well outside a wrestler's canonical peak, is exactly the sort of thing that makes or breaks a GWE case.