El Canek

[Dylan Waco]

Discuss Here.

[BillThompson]

I don't see it. He's never impressed me in the footage I have seen from him. Super wooden and awkward in a bad way in the ring. Maybe he'll have some better showings as I make my way through the 80s set, and I'm more than willing to seek out any matches where others think he's great. But right now he has no shot at making my list.

[DR Ackermann]

I've enjoyed the Canek matches I've seen, but he does seem like he maxes out at the "good" level, in that he can be in theire with an awesome guy like Fujinami or a solid guy like Dos Caras, and the match quality isn't going to differ that much.

[JewishJoshiStan]

I'm doing a little random nominee knockout lightning round here, and man alive do I agree with the above. Currently contemplating him more for my "Is he better than HHH" list than for a top 100 all styles all-time list. I fail to see what he brings to the table apart from rep. See Mil Mascaras (and I think Mil is better). 

[cad]

Yeah, throw me in with everyone else who doesn't get him. The thing is, he has some pretty good tools. He's good on the mat, his press slams are cool and I love that spinning heel kick he does out of the corner. You'd think that, for a guy who's a legend to his audience, his charisma and aura would then elevate his matches to a level beyond, but it doesn't happen. Even the match where he slams Andre is just a match.

I meant to do this with my Dr. Cerebro post, but these are my rankings so far:

Spoiler

Atlantis
Dr. Cerebro
Black Terry
Ciclon Ramirez
Blue Panther
Dos Caras
Angel Azteca
Brazo de Oro
Bestia Salvaje
Cien Caras
El Brazo
Arkangel de la Muerte
Canek

TBD: Demus, Cassandro, Comando Negro, Chico Che, Dr. Wagner Jr,

Right now Dos Caras is my gatekeeper. If you're better than he is, you're great, and if you're not, you aren't.

Black Terry is a better performer than Dr. Cerebro, with a much better sense of drama and how to connect to a crowd. But what can I say? The doctor's slick holds and steely determination to always find a counter won me over in a way that a blood and punches guy like Terry was never going to do.

Something feels off to me about putting Ciclon Ramirez ahead of Blue Panther. It's the kind of thing I'd look at and wonder if the person was trying to be provocative. But being honest with myself, if I end up making a top 100 list Ciclon is a guy I will try to make room for, and Panther is a guy who will make my list if I can't find 100 better wrestlers. I know that for some people Blue Panther is the embodiment of Mexican wrestling, the rudo who goes down to the mat and becomes just as good as any tecnico. To me, though, the essence of lucha libre is in a guy like Ciclon Ramirez, a popular tecnico who had a mask and a push, lost the mask and the push and spent the rest of his career scuffling around in smaller arenas and then smaller promotions, working his ass off in the hopes of finding a way back to the top.

Angel Azteca, Brazo de Oro and Bestia Salvaje is a tight cluster. I could rank those three in any order and it wouldn't feel wrong.

I think Canek is above average, BTW. I haven't yet ranked someone I thought was just whatever.

 

[Rah]

Every time I see this thread get bumped I get a little excited that the nominator has a case built and presented. Who nominated Canek? Why did they nominate Canek? This is my fountain of youth mystery.

Until about 2016/2017, I had seen every single Canek match that we had access to. All of it. I always thought I had seen more Canek than anyone but, with each bump of this thread, there's hope someone out there shares my masochistic pleasure.

Canek sucks. He's lethargic and largely apathetic. He always looks as if he's going to fall asleep in interviews and that's how it feels when he wrestles. His mule kick rivals Rayo's Tope en Reversa as the most unintentionally hilarious signature move. There's always a move he tries to pull off but can't. He's a charisma vacuum. But that's the novelty. He's a fish out of water and watching him struggle brings great joy to me (I need help, I know). At least he did better in Vale Tudo than Solar ever did, though Solar's trolling of Suzuki is legendary.

If this was a list based on guys who are full of shit he's #1, no ifs, ands or buts. He's Hogan's tall stories amplified by ten. He's claimed ever since that slamming Andre broke his back and tore every ligament in his knees but he persevered through the pain. It took him over 20 years to heal his knees and he still struggles to lift things due to his back. He (and Andre) are the reason Arnold Schwarzenegger got over in Mexico. He's never taken drugs or steroids and doesn't even know what they look like. He predicts lucha extrema will lead to people cutting their opponent's heads off for pops and that his fighting/training in UWA was far more painful. The list goes on.

He's a self-proclaimed badass with no idea how to play the role. While Santo is driving hot rods and fighting Dracula, Blue Demon is water skiing without hands, Rayo and Mil are riding Harley's in the desert, Canek is doing shit like this as metaphors for his life. When he had an entire promotion based around him (and Mascara 2000) and an unlimited budget from some money mark, this was his grand, badass entrance. He's as beautifully awful as Konan Big but on a much larger platform.

I love Canek.

[El McKell]

7 hours ago, Rah said:

Rayo's Tope en Reversa as the most unintentionally hilarious signature move

I actually think Rayo de Jalisico doing that weird headbutt looks kinda cool, maybe i'm just stupid

[Rah]

3 hours ago, El McKell said:

I actually think Rayo de Jalisico doing that weird headbutt looks kinda cool, maybe i'm just stupid

I wish I could find my gif but there's a match in the 90s where he just does it for ages as if it's a Roadrunner/Wile E. Coyote skit and it's glorious. 

It has its moments.

[ohtani's jacket]

What is Canek's best match? Is it the Caras match, a match against Fujinami, or something else?

[Rah]

15 hours ago, ohtani's jacket said:

What is Canek's best match? Is it the Caras match, a match against Fujinami, or something else?

Good question. 

I think a lot of the 'good matches' he's in are in spite of his performances. Example being the threeway with Parka and Wagner in 2013 or some throwaway trios in the mid-90s where Casas/Santo throw hands like they're Ikeda/Ishikawa.

If you're focusing on his 'magnum opus' then I'd agree it's the Caras title match (02/02/92 UWA). I assume you're meaning Dos Caras and not Cien. I've actually really come around on Dos the past few years and that match stands out as more on him weaving the tapestry together than anything but Canek actually puts his work boots on for once. 

The Fujinami match is good until it isn't. I think if Canek was a little more cardio focused (and more adept on the mat) it might have been something memorable.

[Rah]

We've got a couple new Canek in his 'prime' matches since. 

The Andre tag has Canek in foreign territory as a heel where he is surprisingly... OK? More a comedic touch and Andre showcase than anything. 

The Torreon match vs Choshu is a Canek greatest hits performance. If you want to understand his candidacy nothing else quite sums him up like this. Lethargic when being worked over. Steamroll then energetically hit some comeback spots at the end of a fall only. Hokey underlying narrative with a finish that's disjointed and feels more akin to 'I'm bored let's end it' than having any meaningful use. Perhaps my favourite find in this journey. 

 

I think about this GWE thread often. I still hold out hope someone will come in here and turn on the light. Until then, Canek is my mystery. Why do I love him so yet think so little of him? Perhaps one day I'll crack this enigma.

 

[cad]

Canek provided perhaps the only documented instance of someone trying to shoot on Haku in the middle of a match. The man had gumption the likes of which none of us could ever imagine.

[ohtani's jacket]

Just wanna point out that the Choshu match isn't new footage. Fujinami vs. Angel Blanco and  Satoru Sayama/Gran Hamada vs. Ray Mendoza/Reino Guarjardo were also taped from the same show. 

[Rah]

On 10/20/2022 at 1:14 AM, ohtani's jacket said:

Just wanna point out that the Choshu match isn't new footage. Fujinami vs. Angel Blanco and  Satoru Sayama/Gran Hamada vs. Ray Mendoza/Reino Guarjardo were also taped from the same show. 

Yeah, I realised this morning going through a list of UWA tapes a trader sent me, that it has been out there in some form. Canek made a lot of UWA compilations for whatever reason, so as much as I/we knock his work, he was an in-demand talent. I got the list almost over a year ago but never bothered to check it. Uploaded it here, in the hopes we find something useful (e.g. that elusive Solar/Casas singles from 1991). But with Roy Lucier really spoiling us over the last bit, I'm not so sure.

 

On 10/19/2022 at 6:44 PM, cad said:

Canek provided perhaps the only documented instance of someone trying to shoot on Haku in the middle of a match. The man had gumption the likes of which none of us could ever imagine.

Ha!

That's awesome. For all his tall tales, that should be something he runs with in every interview. Badass.