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. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Angel Azteca/Solar/Super Astro vs. Blue Panther/La Parka/Rambo (AAA August 30th, 1992)

This starts off with an extended mat exchange between Solar and Panther that is easily the best thing Panther has been involved in since I starting watching these matches. It's mostly led by Solar, but that's largely because it's a tecnico driven fall. The others mostly do standard lucha exchanges, but there's some novelty in seeing matchups you don't see every day of the week such as Rambo vs. Super Astro. Angel Azteca gets to shine a bit offensively at the beginning of the match, but he spends most of the bout being beaten up by the rudos and having his mask ripped. He's awesome during the tecnico comeback ,and awesome at getting his revenge on Panther for ripping open his mask. Panther's brawling is ok, but again everything about Azteca screams star. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Angel Azteca/Solar/Super Astro vs. Blue Panther/El Cobarde/El Indomito (AAA, September 6th, 1992)

This didn't look like much on paper, but Cobarde and Indomito ended up being the best partners Panther had during the lead-in to his title match with Azteca. Instead of Solar/Panther, they started off with Solar/Cobarde, which was actually pretty good. That's partly because Solar is underrated as a trios worker, but also because Cobarde was an old-school guy who knew how to work. All of his work in this match is textbook lucha. Indominto vs. Super Astro was so much fun! Honestly, it was the most fun I've had watching Super Astro in a long time. I'm kind of hoping these guys have some other matches together as they were terrific dance partners. Panther vs. Azteca was red hot whenever they'd work lucha exchanges. Azteca's intensity and quickness were through the roof. They got bogged down in some mask ripping,  and Azteca's comeback was similar to the previous two matches, but even the business end of this was entertaining with some fun dives. 

Azteca, Solar and Super Astro make for a fun Space Cadets style trio. It's a shame that there wasn't more done with them. 

[cad]

Got bored already? ):

[ohtani's jacket]

Ha, no. More to come. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Blue Panther vs. Angel Azteca (AAA, September 13th, 1992)

This was a very good match. A lowkey great match even, depending on how you feel about heel refs. It was structured in an unusual way for a lucha title match. Some of it made sense in the context of the build-up and some of it was the workers mixing things up. I liked the fact that the primera caida went long. They teased Azteca winning it quickly, but as far as I'm concerned if both wrestlers are fresh then it ought to be harder to win a fall. Panther was good throughout this bout, but he did some weird selling at times.

The tercera had a steady stream of drama, and I liked how hard both men were working. I have no idea why this was the end of the road for Azteca as far as big single matches went. There was nothing in the bout to suggest that he shouldn't have continued to have bouts like this throughout the 90s.

From a Panther point of view, it's not as good as the '91 classic against Atlantis, but one of his better 90s singles matches on tape. Worth watching but not iconic. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Hijo del Santo/Octagon/Super Astro vs. Blue Panther/Hijo del Diablo/Fuerza Guerrera (AAA 9/27/92)

Moving on to the Super Astro program. This was clipped so it was hard to make out what was going on at first. What was shown was below average. Super Astro and Panther brawled a bit and did some signature Super Astro stuff. Astro got the pin on Panther and began gesturing for a title bout. Kind of a boring way to jump start the feud. Disappointing considering both Fuerza and Santo were involved. Panther and Astro are an interesting match-up, though, as they're similar body types. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Pantera Del Ring &  Solar I & Súper Astro vs. Blue Panther & Ice Killer I & Jerry Estrada (AAA, 10/2/92)

This was more of a spectacle than the previous match, but still not a great match. Panther and Astro worked a nice back and forth lucha exchange early on, but their brawling was fairly generic. Solar had some  fantastic exchanges with Ice Killer, of all people. Folks always ask what Solar's best matches are. The truth is we don't really know whether Solar had great singles matches or not. What we do know is that if you watch sequences like Solar vs. Ice Killer, you get a picture of why people regard him as an outstanding worker. Monterrey star, Pantera Del Ring, has some decent exchanges with Estrada, but it's mostly Solar, and Astro and Panther, that carry this bout. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Blue Panther vs. Super Astro (AAA October 18th, 1992)

The build up to this match wasn't anywhere near as good as the Azteca match, but this ended up being the better of the two titles matches. It was surprisingly slow for a AAA, and Super Astro, match, but the ringwork was fascinating.

Panther was in his element here. Anyone who complains about lucha not having believable psychology, selling or transitions needs to study Panther's performance in this bout. Those terms are probably outdated in 2025, but Panther was basically on song here. I thought he was doing his goofy overselling on one spot until I realized that it was a theme throughout the bout. He had a tendency to sell having his head slammed into the canvas like he was Curt Hennig pinballing off a lariat, but it was centered around Super Astro's tope, and the payoffs were sublime.

You kind of have to take an old-school approach to flat back bumps meaning as much as they do in this bout, but they are consistent with the narrative and I didn't have a problem with that particular part of the bout. 

The best thing about the bout is that it's competitive in a way that all title bouts should be. There is an outstanding nearfall in the tercera that has you mentally counting along with the ref, and even the match winning fall has a fantastic leverage moment. 

I have no problem with anyone calling this a 4 star lucha match. I thought it was one of the best Panther performances I've seen albeit in a different way from someone like Santo. If I'd never revisited this, I would have probably dismissed it in an offhand way. I do have some questions surrounding why Panther can be so brilliant in this match yet barely there in trios bouts, but I no longer have any doubts over his wrestling IQ.