Lucha catch-all thread

[ohtani's jacket]

Blue Panther vs Vulcano (AAA April 18th, 1993)

Finally, we reach the apuestas match. As soon as Tirantes was announced as the ref I knew he'd get involved. A few minutes later, he disqualified Panther and Vulcano won the opening fall. Then Pena got involved and removed Tirantes from the match. Casas' dad took over as the ref and then he disqualified Vulcano. Somebody remind me why this promotion was so hot? It reminds me of Vince Russo jumping to WCW. The tercera was mostly nearfalls. It speaks to the power of an apuestas match that the nearfalls were as good as they were considering the match had no body. In fact, the tercera was pretty much the match itself. There wasn't much in the way of brawling. For all intents and purposes, they could have been working a title match. However, the crowd was red hot, so at the very least it entertained its primary audience. It was better than Atlantis vs. Mano Negra, I suppose, but I kept wondering why they couldn't just let the two guys go out there and try to have the best match they could.

Then, somewhat amusing, Vulcano had his hair cut instead of taking off his mask. I guess I didn't listen properly or was listening to music while watching the bout. I naturally assumed it was a mask vs, mask match since the thing Vulcano wears looks like a mask. All that for a haircut? I guess there was a reason why nobody ever talks about this feud. The redeeming feature in my eyes was how over Panther was with the crowd. 

Next up, I'm going to take a look at matches that may feature Panther in a more favorable light. Or not. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Angel Azteca/Misterioso/Volador vs. Blue Panther/Fishman/Mascara Ano 2000 (AAA, August 14th, 1992)

You would think that a title match feud would be more up Panther's alley, but straight away they work this like an apuestas feud. I usually despise it when a title match feud is worked like an apuestas feud, especially when they start ripping at each other's masks, but this match had two things going for it. First of all, the crowd was red hot. There's something to be said for Pena taking TV out of Mexico City to areas like this. Secondly, Angel Azteca led a fantastic tecnico comeback. I thought he was far better than Panther in this match. It reminded me of the incredible potential he had. I honestly think if he had continued on this trajectory, he'd be as well regarded as Santo and Atlantis.