[2000-01-01-CMLL] Tarzan Boy vs Rey Bucanero

[Ponch330]

Really wanted to see this after listening to the PWO2K podcast. Bucanero coming out seconds into the start of promo to attack caught me by surprise; didn't get exactly how Tarzan got cut there, but it was still an excellent way to start a match.

 

Satanico was a clear bright spot for me - just an absolute jerk throughout the entire affair.

[bucky]

Ahh, starting the project with a by the numbers but fun trios match followed by a nice mano y mano double juice brawl, I feel right at home. First appearance of Satanico too. I haven't seen enough of Los Infernales from this period, but it looks like they have quite a presence on the set. Like other people mentioned, I'm looking forward to seeing how well Bucanero holds up. I remember really enjoying the Guerreros del Infierno years, but not sure if that's just my love of UG above all else. He's a real dick here, laying it in hard in the primera. The move he used to take the fall was nasty as hell. The near-foul thrust kick at the beginning of the segunda was real nasty too. This whole thing feels uncooperative and mean.

 

Around the beginning of the third fall, it looks like Satanico might have gigged Bucanero right on camera, or maybe it was just odd timing. Tercera here is classic lucha fatigue, exhausted bumping and striking, Tarzan Boy hits a huuuge dive but it looks almost slow-motion, like it was all he had left. Nice nearfall on the Cavernaria. Tarzan Driller finishes it after a botched interference by Satanico backfires, then Satanico stomps the shit out of Tarzan Boy. This ruled. Filing under the Very Good Shit category, four stars seems appropriate.

[JourneybyTrain]

Seeing 2000s lucha being covered here was really nice to see, as my viewing of it was limited to the two amazing Villano mask matches and a few random matches here and there (most which I enjoyed). I know the decade doesn't have a great reputation among lucha fans but it's kind of weird to have seen so little (though I wouldn't want to buy every CMLL show either). This is a nice match to start the millennium with between two guys I've never seen before, didn't get much of a grasp on Tarzan Boy but I dug Rey Bucanero. Great look with the demonic face paint and do-rag and he wrestled like he looked. One of the things I dislike about modern CMLL is how often the first two falls are incredibly rushed, so it was nice to see a sustained heel beat-down in the first fall and the flash pinfall not come right away in the second. The third fall didn't feel as dramatic as I hoped but it was still pretty good, nice way to start the decade.

[TravJ1979]

I was unsure going in, but I ended up liking this a lot.

[Sean Liska]

There are many reasons I'm excited about this project, but the biggest reason I'm here is for the CMLL. This doesn't reach the level of the great lucha brawls, but it is very good. They sell the brutality of the match well, the 3rd fall escalates nicely, and a good finish. Very excited for all the Satanico/Guerero/Bucanero matches coming up.

[drew wardlaw]

Going from 1991 where I am in my lucha watching to this is a pretty stark contrast. This is much more accessible. I really enjoyed Tarzan Boy here as a long haired pretty boy with Rey Bucanero being a face-painted heel, and they played up the characters very well. The first two falls worked really well, Bucanero getting the jump on Boy and beating him down for the first fall, Boy struggling to and finally shifting the momentum with the rollup and carried that through into the third fall. Really hot match, dry cool.

[ohheylook]

What a way to start in on this project over a year late.

 

Am definitely stoked to watch a bunch of Lucha that I've never seen featuring luchadors I'm mostly unfamiliar with. Somehow, I'm actually familiar with both guys here, but Bucanero quite a bit more than Tarzan Boy.

 

This match is really good, but never quite gets to that "great" level. The highs, as many people have pointed out in this thread are super high, but the lows are pretty cringey.

 

Bucanero pre-bell and during the Primera was awesome. His ability to be a complete nutcase and attack the early cut on Tarzan Boy is obviously great, but his strikes (especially his kicks) were pretty crisp too, which really surprised. He DECIMATES Tarzan Boy in the opening, and really in the Segunda, which is awesome. The SHITTY roll-up that ties things up is rough and is a big reason why I can't go higher on this match. I don't like to nitpick, especially with second falls in lucha, but after how strong the first fall was and even the early work in the second, for Tarzan Boy to get a completely unbelievable reversal roll-up after executing next to no offense sucked.

 

Oh, and Bucanero's Gory-style Dominator or whatever was fantastic.

 

I can imagine people being split on the third fall. Having Tarzan Boy capitalize on his momentum between falls and bloody up Bucanero is great story-telling, but was hard to follow. While his dive over the top was at risk being overshot and maybe a little sloppy, the height and distance of it, especially during a brawl-heavy, bloody match was a big highlight for me. The replays did it justice too. Third fall has some great selling and great work from Satanico on the outside and while the cavernaria submission spot was dope (love that move), I wish it would've been held like 5-10 seconds longer. The actual finish with Tarzan Boy's double-underhook facebuster (Tarzan Driver?) is cool but really feels like it comes out of nowhere, like Bucanero just walks into it.

 

Overall, awesome spots, awesome selling, awesome Satanico but lacking in areas outlined above.

 

3.5/5

[tbrett]

Really great Lucha match. I don't usually like Lucha as much as other people so my expectations going into the match were not great, but I could tell that I was going to like this match after the first fall. The match was fast paced, action packed, and really well exeuted. There was much more hate between these two than I am used to in Lucha and the falls made more sense to me than previous Lucha I have seen. I would say this is one of my favority Lucha matches I have ever seen and I will definately seek out more Rey Bucanero during this project simply because of this match.

 

****

[jiraffejustin]

My knowledge of Lucha is very slim, with only having seen a handful of the true classics I am not all that familiar with a lot of the great workers. Most of lucha viewing is from the 80's and 90's and early 2010's. I am not that familiar with Tarzan Boy, so seeing him in a Chapulin Colorado get up made me mark out a little bit. I was upset when the shirt got ripped, because I'd love to have that shirt. It made for a great visual seeing it hanging off of him though, so I can forgive that atrocity. If there is a lucha formula I appreciate the most, it's probably the one that calls for the rudo to absolutely beat the shit out of the tecnico in the first fall. And Bucanero does a good job of laying it on Tarzan Boy who looks perfect for getting his ass kicked. There is something about the pretty boy taking an ass beating and looking very vulnerable that makes me uncomfortable, which makes for good pro wrestling. It makes for a good story as well, because you know the pretty boy will have to find a way to climb back in it, because that's what pretty boys do. The flash pin is a good way to progress the story, almost like a guy getting his ass kicked in mma stealing the second round because of a flurry before the bell. It changes the dynamic of the fight, and now the last round is a lot more interesting. TB working over Bucanero between the last two falls was a nice way to sort of even the playing field a bit, and Bucanero's bleeding looks really cool with his make-up and sweaty head. The highlight of the match is probably TB's dive, it looks dangerous and lands enough Bucanero in a way that doesn't feel contrived and over-choreographed like too many dives do. TB gets a tone of height on it, it looks great. Satanico puts the match over the top with his post-match beatdown. I wanna see where that goes. I quite enjoyed this match. ***1/2

[DR Ackermann]

This was a great way to start off a re-watch of the 2000s. I actually had never seen Tarzan Boy wrestle before this, but remember his name popping up when I was younger. I thought the structure of this was great. Short and sweet. I had a few issues with Tarzan Boy. In the first caida he seemed distracted. At the beginning of the beat down by Bucanero, he kept looking down at his torso to see how much he was bleeding and it made it look like he was gyrating his hips. His selling was good but he wouldn't commit and kept fixing his hair. But other than that he seemed decently talented even though the mistimed/botched the interference spot with Satanico. Bucanero sold great and his performance was a bit subdued, possibly to not overshadow the feud between Satanico and Tarzan Boy? Excited for Tarzan Boy and Satanico.

[klhare]

I'm not sure I've seen much of either guy. Lucha is a pretty huge blind spot for me. For the longest time, I felt a gigantic disconnect, but I've dove in a bit more over the last year or so, and it has definitely clicked more, especially the brawls.

 

Right away, the ton is set with Buccanero attacking Tarzan Boy and making him pour blood immediately. Buccanero's kicks look pretty vicious, which is not really something I usually think of with lucha, so I can appreciate here. Even though it went on for only a few minutes, the first fall did start to feel like it dragged a lit, but luckily it ended right when I started to get tired of it. The transition to the Tarzan Boy comeback felt a bit sudden, but it did work for the match structure. The huge Tarzan Boy dive looked really great. I did enjoy all of the Satanico interactions finally leading to Buccanero's demise.

 

Overall, this was a fun match that felt somewhat formulaic, but it was a formula that absolutely worked. Buccanero stood out more than Tarzan Boy. I thought TB could have been a bit more charasmatic, especially during the first fall, but he was still good.

 

3 3/4

[ohtani's jacket]

This is from 12/25/99. 

[Viking Hall]

This was fantastic, from the get go Bucanero plays the repulsive heel to perfection and with Satanico in his corner has enough back up for you to know Tarzan Boy is in for a rough ride. This prophecy is fulfilled by the fact that Tarzan is letting blood within seconds and from here on out he takes an absolute battering as the face in peril. The match isn't breaking any new ground in terms of structure but that doesn't matter as the duo play their roles to perfection. Bucanero certainly looks cool, but due to being a nasty, vicious piece of work, even with no background you realise this isn't a guy you want to root for. Tarzan Boy is the pretty boy, but shows great fire and dishes out his own retribution with great fervour and is easy to get behind when he starts to make his comeback. All in all, a well put together match which at a shade over ten minutes proves you don't need to go over half an hour to put together a match that comes across as an intense war. It's sharp and to the point, and while the blood certainly draws you in it's still a good enough match that it would have got by without it. Not a classic, but a really fun match to introduce me to two guys I've not seen enough of. 

Oh, and it contains some incredible Face Buster variations, which is another win in my book.