[1999-07-18-Ruleta de la Muerte] Shocker vs Rey Bucanero

[Loss]

Talk about it here.

[Loss]

A very good match but it didn't grab me quite at the level the previous two did. It fit the storyline and theme of the night very well, though.

[tim]

This match had some good stuff in it but I was sort of out of it at times. Bucanero needed to simplify his offense. I really liked the opening with Bucanero pushing Shocker off the ropes, into a back drop to set up a dive. The ending moments were good too. Post-match is cool with Bucanero as the sore loser.

[Tim Evans]

Yeah this wasn't as good as the first two matches but still decent for a mask match. More crowd brawling and double rudo moves. Shocker was channeling his Guapo run here that would take place a couple years later.

[soup23]

This was too brief for my tastes even though I understand that they were in a pretty grueling tag match earlier in the night. I did like the opening with the wild dives and brawling but the ending didn't grab me and before I realized what was going on, the match was over. I had actually pegged this as when Shocker lost his hood so I was surprised. ***

[Zenjo]

Again this was una sola caida, which is unusual for a wager match. They worked it just like they would a 3rd fall in a big match. No build, no foundations. There wasn't anything wrong with the wrestling per se, but it had a low ceiling because of how they worked the format. 2/3 falls would've been much better for such an important contest. It's a shame Bucanero lost as he had a cool mask, whilst Shockers was generic. He'd also unmask a couple of months down the line at the Anniversary show.

[PeteF3]

Yeah, we go straight to bombs here, but it makes sense within the context of the card. These guys can only be asked to do so much in one night. The officiating down the stretch here is a little wonky as though they're going to tease a match stoppage and Dr. Morales is getting all hot and bothered, then Shocker just wins anyway.

 

Oh, I see--in the post-match there's contention that Shocker's DVD was actually (or should have been treated) as a piledriver. That was teased nicely in the tag match where Shocker almost piledrove Panther.