[2000-09-17-Monterrey] El Dandy vs Antifaz del Norte (Mask vs Hair)

[soup23]

I was anticipating this and it was a great match. I thought it had an outside shot of being a MOTYC and it wasn’t that but that is more my preconceptions and the reality that Dandy is still really damn good but not at 1990-1996 levels anymore. In reality, this was a better version of Atlantis vs Silver Fox with Antifaz being worse than Atlantis (but not by much) and Dandy still being a good bit better than Fox. The match featured a lot of interference from Zumbido which didn’t bother me as much just in how different it was from other apuestas. If that became a norm, it would get progressively more frustrating. Both workers really bleed buckets and all three falls culminated in a clever finish that made sense. Good prevails as is the case in most of these instances and Dandy gets his head shaved. The best Monterrey stuff we have seen since Santo vs Panther. **** (8.1)

[ohtani's jacket]

So we finally get to the hair vs. mask match. This has been an underwhelming feud and the apuesta match is no different. Dandy isn't a charismatic enough rudo and Antifaz isn't a good enough tecnico to make you care about what's happening in the ring. Zumbido is ten times more charismatic than Dandy on the outside and has better hair to boot. In hindsight, it would have been a better bet to have had Zumbido feud with Antifaz. One thing that keeps bugging me about the feud is why do they use the same piece of plunder in every match? I can't understand why that sheet of metal is always at ringside. This had some decent nearfalls in the final fall but nothing that made me change my opinion on the feud in general. The best thing about it was Dandy accepting his haircut with honor and dignity (after he'd claimed his shoulders were up, that is.) I liked the way he let Antifaz cut off his locks. Antifaz's mask was so wrecked you could pretty much see what he looked like even though he'd won. He had a tough time keeping the middle part on the bridge of his nose during the post-match interview. Watching the post-match it felt like the feud achieved its goal in terms of pushing Antifaz but I wish Dandy's work had been more memorable.

[AstroBoy]

My hopes were pretty high for this and they were mostly satisfied but not quite. This kind of takes its time getting started and Zumbido gets heavily involved, a theme that would continue for the entire match. They really work about 3 or 4 miscommunication spots between Zumbido and Dandy in here at key moments.

 

I really liked the timing of Antifaz coming back in the second fall to really fire up and get some revenge weapon shots on Dandy. This was probably the best he was all match, capturing the crowd, firing them up and going after Dandy with real gusto.

 

The third fall breaks into runs of big nearfalls. They do build some drama, although there is one big glaring spot where Antifaz doesn't do a damn thing so Dandy has to basically put himself into a small package for a nearfall. Weird. The piledriver spot and also the double clothesline spot were both big nearfalls that were really well done. I did like Dandy going to the powerbomb twice in a row, only for the third to lead to the finish.

 

Good match but not quite great.

 

***3/4

[Tim Evans]

This is one of those matches where the blood doesn't actually add much to it. More mask ripping and obvious bladejobs on camera. There is something about old man Dandy that I just enjoy. He's not as good as he was back in the early 90's but he still has a hell of a right hand and can beat a man down. Like a Mexican Bill Dundee. Antifaz is a good local pretty boy  and this is before he gets really bloated on steroids. This had a satisfying finish and the crowd liked it so it worked.