[2000-05-28-IWRG] Villano IV vs Scorpio Jr

[soup23]

This has been a good feud in the trios and now they are paired up in a title match. Opening matwork is fantastic. Probably only behind the first Santo vs Panther match as my favorite of the year so far. Really gritty and tightly applied moves with a ton of friction and momentum being introduced. Things pick up at the end of the first fall wil rope running and higher impact moves. Shocker retreats to the outside and needs cooled off from the towel of Shocker. The selling from Scorpio on the neckbreaker is fantastic. Villano puts the fall away with another neckbreaker around 8.5 minutes in. Villano keeps up with the neck work at the start of the second fall with legdrops and his ass used to push the neck. Camel Clutch continues the theme. What a great focused attack that includes Villano peppering in some forearms. Shocker trips up IV and Scorpio is able to dropkick the leg and now we have an area for him to attack. STF continues the theme of leg work for Scorp and he takes the second fall with a good looking figure four. Final fall is great with both guys going after the respective wounded targets. We get some new neckbreaker variations and a leg scissors around the neck. Scorpio does the leg across his knee spot. Finish results in that great lean back pin by Villano that he makes look so brutal and then Scorpio getting a clothesline, dropkick to the knee and half crab to gain the submission. Another awesome lucha match for May. ****1/4

[Tim Evans]

For a guy that's pretty big, Villano IV can go on the match. This wasn't what I was expecting after the earlier trios matches. I wouldn't say it's on the level of Panther/Santo but it's still a good indie mat match. No shenanigans from the seconds either.

[ohtani's jacket]

Now, this was a treat. It's always a bonus to get a Villano IV singles match and this is possibly the best match of his on tape. It could have easily been the main event from one of those early 90s UWA television tapings and was definitely worked in the same style. Scorpio Jr. isn't the type of guy you associate with matwork. He's more of the roided-up power wrestler type. In fact, on paper, this match read like a lucha version of Arn Anderson vs. Lex Luger. But Scorpio' matwork was surprisingly effective. He kept things simple and used his strength to good advantage. Another thing that stood out was the bodywork. Lucha workers are often criticized for not targeting a body part and not using fundamental psychology in their matches, but here there was a strong focus on Scorpio's neck and Villano's leg. In fact, the psychology was so focused that Scorpio came out of the bout looking like a cerebral assassin. The Triple H of Mexico, if you will. Villano brought his usual brand of technical brawling and the pair put on an excellent show, One of the best lucha matches of the year for sure.