Lucha catch-all thread

[ohtani's jacket]

Atlantis, Negro Casas & Vampiro vs. Emilio Charles Jr., Jason The Terrible & Pierroth Jr. (3/14/95)

This wasn't the greatest, but it was better than it looked on paper thanks to Atlantis, Casas, Emilio & Pierroth keeping busy.

Head Hunter I, Head Hunter II & Pierroth Jr. vs. Mil Mascaras, Negro Casas, & Vampiro (7/14/95)

Quite a long gap between TV appearances for Casas. He had a specific role to play here in a match with so many bigs. I wouldn't call it the best use of Negro Casas, but he played his role dutifully if you're the type that cares about sort of things. I like the way CMLL treated the Head Hunters as unbeatable badasses. Mil Mascaras made one of those random CMLL appearances of his (that never seem to be a big deal.) I was kind of shocked to see him job. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Bestia Salvaje & El Brazo, & Emilio Charles, Jr. vs. Hector Garza & La Fiera & Negro Casas (7/21/95)

This was built around a feud between El Brazo and Hector Garza that I couldn't give two shits about, though Garza does do a nasty bladejob. and El Brazo is a sick motherfucker licking Garza's blood off his hands. Casas doesn't do much. He has a pretty good exchange with Bestia at the start, but how many times have we seen that? I do not like El Brazo. 

Bestia Salvaje & Felino & Ray Gonzalez vs. El Dandy & Negro Casas & Ultimo Dragon (8/11/95)

This was part of the build for Dandy vs. Gonzalez. Gonzalez wasn't anything special as a worker, but at least he was new opponent for Dandy. This had some great action between Bestia & Felino and Negro & Ultimo. They were really busy here. More than usual for a match with a through line like Dandy/Gonzalez. Watching Felino square off with Casas was a treat. Casas has been playing a lot of boring tecnico roles in these mid-'95 matches, but this had some great work. 

 

 

[ohtani's jacket]

Satanico, Felino & Negro Casas vs. Atlantis, Lizmark & Vampiro (10/6/95)

This was a great match. Casas was on the rudo side here having turned heel during the September Santo feud. I have to say, he was a much better rudo than tecnico during this point of his career. I guess that began to change after Santo turned heel. This starts off with Satanico vs. Atlantis, and if you don't think that's in my wheelhouse then you mustn't know me. Satanico wasn't very good during this time period. I'm not sure why. I guess he wasn't happy about how he was being used. Whatever the reason, he dogged it a lot in the mid-90s, but not against his old foe Atlantis. Hot on their toes is Felino vs. Lizmark, which is one of those match ups you've never really thought about but immediately want to see. Then you get the main dish, Casas vs. Vampiro. An intense stare from Casas to begin with. Years ago, I would have rubbished the shit out of Vampiro, but I have a soft spot for him now after watching the Rey Bucanero feud. He is pretty fucking awful here, but I still want to see what Casas can do with pretty fucking bad Vampiro. He works Vampiro exactly how he worked Ultimo, but knowing what we know, it's like a proto version of the Bucanero/Vampiro feud. Vampiro is one of the least polished workers you'll ever see, so roll with it. Have a wild, reckless, out of control brawl. In some respects, it's different from the usual polished lucha sequences. The first fall goes long, which to a seasoned lucha viewer signals that this is only going two falls, but the work is fantastic. I love the switch-ups in the second fall. I absolutely want to see Felino vs. Atlantis, and they give me the throwback Satanico vs. Lizmark exchanges that I expect. There is a compelling through line of how the smaller Casas can beat the longer, lankier Vampiro, and he ends up doing it with a dragon sleeper and a Jordan tongue poke. I wish this had been the start of something, but it was a something from nothing, kickass trios match instead.  

[ohtani's jacket]

El Felino/Emilio Charles Jr/Dr. Wagner Jr/Negro Casas vs. Pantera/Silver King/El Dandy/El Texano (elimination match) (12/15/95)

A very good lucha elimination match that went a solid half an hour with a lot of these guys proving difficult to put away. Starts off with Casas vs. Dandy, which is still pretty cool in '95 even if Dandy is no longer The Man in CMLL. Next, Texano reminds everyone why he was considered the best worker in the Misioneros by throwing down with Wagner, and Emilio and Silver King work really scrappy lucha exchanges that almost having a brawling edge to them. Surprisingly, we don't get a showdown between Felino and Pantera. Casas doesn't last long, but he kicks out of a ton of shit before he departs. He has another go-round with Dandy that is just as good as the first. Texano is a workhorse throughout. It's a shame that he didn't last longer with CMLL. The final stanza is a showdown between Los Cowboys and Wagner & Emilio and is solid solid stuff. Emilio looked spry in this, and while Wagner wasn't the presence he would become later on, he was still physically dominant. The final pairing doesn't last long, and the quality drops a notch once Texano is eliminated, but there's plenty to enjoy and almost everyone in the match is a top notch worker. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Atlantis, Shocker & Silver King vs. Dr. Wagner Jr., Emilio Charles. Jr. & Negro Casas (12/29/95)

Quiet match to close out the year. Nothing really exciting happens and there are no standout performances. Casas is matched up with Shocker, and sells big time for him, but it's not very captivating. 

[ohtani's jacket]

El Hijo del Santo vs. Negro Casas (12/1/95)

This was a good title match, but on first watch, I wouldn't call it a lost or overlooked classic. It was most notable for being one of the least formulaic matches I've seen Santo work. He did very few of his signature spots, and his sole focus was on making Casas submit. It was quite a minimalistic title match in that sense. I thought the first two falls lacked the intensity and urgency that the occasion demanded. Casas was in control for much of the early going, and I'm still not sure how I feel about him as a mat worker. He's not bad on the mat, but he's definitely more exciting when he's kicking and chopping opponents. Santo looked much stronger on the mat and some of his counters were fantastic. The intensity lifted in the tercera, and Casas had some brilliant escapes, but I wasn't sold on the finish. I really wanted to add this to the canon, so to speak, but I liked the September match more, and I'm leaning towards thinking that Santo vs. Casas is a better brawling match up than a technical one. Story wise, this adds some context to the Santo heel turn as losing the match seemed to really peeve Santo. 

[ohtani's jacket]

That ends my look at Casas' '95. I wouldn't call it a great year for Casas. He has some good stuff leading up to the Anniversary Show match with Santo, and a few good performances in random trios matches here and there, but he suffers from the usual CMLL problems of long stretches where he's either either off TV or not being utilized enough. He didn't get to do much as a tecnico, but they at least had the good sense to turn him rudo during the Santo program. 1995 is not really a great year for CMLL in general, so I would put it down to a general malaise than any failing on Casas' part. 

For my next project, I'm going to watch Los Infernales matches, and whatever else takes my fancy. 

Los Infernales: El Satanico/MS1/Pirata Morgan vs. Los Intocables: Pierroth Jr./Jaque Mate/Masakre (Arena Mexico, 2/14/1992)

The Infernales/Intocables matches were so great. They were supposed to build to the Pirata vs. Masakre hair match, but we all know they were really about the Infernales vs. Pierroth. Pierroth in 1992 is one of my favorite all-time runs by a luchador. He rules the roost in 1992 as far as I'm concerned. I love how each of the Infernales is so good that they don't need a clear leader. Instead, they take turns dishing out the punishment. All three guys looked great in this, and the heat was tremendous. Pirata still looked like one of the best workers in the world here. How did it all go downhill so quickly? They should have never jumped to AAA, even if it did give us the Satanico vs. Pirata hair match. This was a smartly worked bout. They give us just enough to violence to warrant a return match, but it's mostly ego driven. Satanico is phenomenal, especially with his caged animal selling. MS-1 looms large throughout. Los Intocables actually don't seem like much of a match for the Infernales, but Masakre is a former Infernal so there's heat there, and I'm sure the Intocables will get some of their own back in the rematch. I absolutely adore this type of lucha.

[ohtani's jacket]

El Satanico/Pirata Morgan/MS-1 vs. Pierroth Jr./Jaque Mate/Masakre (2/21/92)

This was even better than the first match. This was the match that set up Pirata vs. Masakre, and it was beautifully done as Satanico and MS-1 did a fucking number on Pierroth ad Jaque Mate, which left Masakre all alone. The Infernales were so good. They're easily the best trio I've seen. I'm not gonna say they're the greatest trio of all-time because they may be some historical acts that were better, but they're definitely the best trio from the TV era. They have no weakness. All three guys can be the lead guy, and when one guy is playing the lead (like Pirata does here), but other two still manage to give brilliant and compelling performances. Satanico is absolutely phenomenal here trying to unmask both Jaque Mate and Pierroth. Luchadores trying to unmask each other can be boring as shit, but Satanico raises it to an art form. MS-1 isn't as flashy as his partners, but he's brilliant in the heavyweight enforcer role, and I love his boxing spots. But the biggest revelation is Morgan. What the fuck happened to Pirata Morgan? Here he is in February 92 every bit as good as Dandy, Casas, or Satanico. He should have continued in this vein for at least another half a dozen years. Instead, he fell off a cliff. I guess it's all downhill from here for MS-1 too. Who would have thought that would happen with these hot ass matches? Interestingly, Los Intocables barely fire a shot over the course of two weeks, but the matches are still entertaining as hell. I don't remember the Pirata/Masakre match being a classic, but now I'm interested in revisiting it, which clearly makes these matches a success.

[ohtani's jacket]

Pirata Morgan vs. Masakre, hair vs. hair (CMLL 2/28/92)

This wasn't a classic hair vs. hair match, but it was 100% authentic with both guys bleeding buckets and Pirata doing the infamous bladejob from his eye socket. Masakre is a taller guy, and a pretty good worker for a dude his size, but he's obviously not going to bring as much to this as a middleweight would. There is a lot of focus on Pierroth at ringside, which is the real feud here, but the match builds to a satisfying tercera caida that has a lot of nice spots, and some great defensive wrestling at times, especially the way Maskre tried to prevent the finish. The main takeaway I had from this is how in the hell did I block Pirata Morgan out of my mind for so many years?? When I first got into lucha in a big way, Pirata was a top five guy for me. Somewhere along the way, I started to overlook him. Not anymore. This dude is legit. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Satanico, Pirata Morgan & MS-1 vs Atlantis, Mascara Sagrada & Lizmark (CMLL 3/13/92)

This was part of the build up to a Satanico vs. Lizmark title match on April 5th. A solid match, but nowhere near as good as the Intocables matches. Satanico ripped the top of Lizmark's mask off, which made him look like Super Muneco for the entirety of the bout. It looked like Lizmark was going to force a little color later on, but it never really went anywhere. Atlantis had some impressive flurries, including one stretch where he took on all three Infernales by himself, but I felt like that sequence should have been reserved for Lizmark to dish out some revenge on the rudos. Lizmark was pretty ordinary for a match that supposed to be centered around him. Sagrada hit his stuff cleanly. Pirata Morgan was a heat merchant but not employed that often. MS-1 mostly stood around barking. The tecnico comeback was cut off in the second fall, which took the wind out of the match's sails, but it was the lack of a compelling through line that hurt this bout more than anything. 1992 wasn't a great year for Satanico feuds, and I would probably include it as part of his lean years. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Atlantis, Lizmark & Rayo de Jalisco, Jr. vs. MS-1, Pirata Morgan & Satánico (CMLL 5/15/92)

This was a standard Infernales match with no real story to it. My favorite part was when the tecnicos showed out in the second fall. Lizmark was much better here and actually managed to outdo Atlantis during the tecnico comeback. The Infernales had some nice triple team spots in the first fall, but no one stood out individually. They teased some dissention afterward between Pirata and Satanico, but they regroup to win back the trios titles in September, so I don't expect that to much of a storyline in the weeks ahead.

[ohtani's jacket]

MS-1, Pirata Morgan & Satánico vs Atlantis, Brazo de Plata & El Faraón (CMLL 6/26/92)

I can't find all of the footage from the Infernales run, so we're skipping ahead here to the trios from the week before the El Faraon/MS-1 hair match. MS-1 is the captain here, but there's quite a bit of cat and mouse stuff to begin with between MS-1 and Faraon. Instead of MS-1 leading the match, we get some brilliant exchanges between Satanico and Atlantis. This is easily the best Satanico has looked in these matches and far better than Satanico vs. Lizmark. Atlantis is outstanding in this bout. These are the types of bouts you need to watch to truly understand what Atlantis was all about. Porky's stuff is a lot of fun as well, and Pirata goes a fine job rotating with Satanico as the workrate guy. MS-1 vs. Faraon gets better as the bout continues and they end up doing some fun stuff together. They're heavyweights, so the exchanges are different from the middleweights, and Faraon comes across as the last of a dying breed of tall, bodybuilder type gladiadores. They generated enough interest in their match for me to want to watch it, but it's Satanico vs. Atlantis that really excites me. I feel like they missed a step with Satanico vs. Lizmark and rehashing Satanico vs. Dandy. Good match. 

[cad]

Aw, you jumped past the one where Satanico holds the match up for a minute or two to scream at either Ultimo Dragon or some fan in the crowd (the video made it hard to tell which). It was basically an Infernales match but with Bestia in there instead of MS-1, against a team of Dragon, Atlantis and Dandy.

[ohtani's jacket]

MS-1 vs. El Faraon, hair vs. hair (CMLL 7/3/92)

This was really good. I feel like we overlooked these smaller scale apuesta matches in our pursuit of 4 star lucha libre. Case in point, this is the main event of the show with the Casas vs. Dandy match. MS-1 was in his element here. He takes a backseat at times to his Infernales partners who are super workers and have huge personalities (egos?), but he was a great worker in his own right. I love his methodical style. He's almost like a heavyweight Satanico in that respect. Faraon was pretty much a relic in terms of what was popular in lucha libre at this point, but he comes to fight. I love how his big comeback is punching the guy harder than the guy punched him. The third fall is great. Both guys bleed like stuck pigs, and put each other in increasingly elaborate submission and pinning combinations. There's some tremendous visuals with the blood and the wrestlers screaming that they won't submit. The tape glitches before the finish, which is a bummer but also a reminder of how lucky we are that somebody taped this stuff off TV back in the day. This is like a 3 to 3.5 star match, but not because it's lacking something that would have made it a 4 star match. They earn those stars. It's a glass half full 3 star match. Folks should watch it and remember the great MS-1. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Lizmark, Love Machine & Vampiro Canadiense vs. MS-1, Satanico & Pirata Morgan (CMLL 7/10/92)

This was better than you'd think. The Infernales were such good brawlers that they could make just about any scenario entertaining. They were particularly good at opening falls, which can oftentimes feel perfunctory in lucha. Here, they actually went against expectations and had the tecnicos pinch the opening fall. I like that booking as it breaks up the predictable formula of a lucha trios match and makes it seem like anything can happen in a match. Vampiro bled a shit ton here, including all over the ref's white shirt, and spent most of the bout getting the shit kicked out of him by Pirata. While that was happening, Lizmark and Satanico had a number of fiery exchanges. This was one of Lizmark's best performances of the year, and it actually left me thinking an apuesta match between the two would have been a better option than a title match since Lizmark came across as far more interesting in a brawling scenario. He also had a huge rip in his mask that gave us a pretty decent gawk at what he looked like. I've been raving about Vampiro vs. Bucanero, and I couldn't help but wonder if Rey had seen Pirata/Vampiro because the blueprint for getting the most out of Vampiro was definitely on show. I'm curious about their singles match now, which, of course, was the purpose of this match. Gotta love solid CMLL booking when you get it. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Vampiro Canadiense vs. Pirata Morgan, hair vs hair (CMLL 7/17/92 )

Man, this match is something else. The thing you need to realize, and I know it may be difficult to understand, is that Vampiro was insanely over in Arena Mexico in 1992. I don't think there was anybody else in the world who was more over than Vampiro in that building in '92. Now, if you're anything like I was when I was younger, you don't want to watch Pirata Morgan have a hair match against Vampiro. You want to see him work hair matches against Dandy and Satanico. I get that. But actually, Morgan works the same way in this match that he did against Dandy and Satanico. The difference is that this is high stakes, high drama lucha at its absolute best. It's an absolute masterpiece of a performance by Morgan. Vampiro sells well, but pretty much everything he does on offence looks bad, but it doesn't matter because the stakes are so high. Morgan works the most beautiful tercera imaginable. He has the crowd on a string. They erupt when Vampiro wins. You can see the building shake on camera. I don't know what happened when Morgan jumped to AAA, but how the fuck didn't he have another run in CMLL? I'm not sure that I've ever seen this match before. If I have, I'm pretty sure I was predisposed towards hating it because of Vampiro. It's not that I don't like big spectacle lucha. I love Rayo vs. Caras, Perro vs. Mascara Ano 2000, and other matches from this era, but for whatever reason I ignored this. Watching it now, Pirata was at the height of his powers. He's almost godly. Again, how did he fall from grace so badly? I always talk about Arena Mexico being Casas' house in '92, and Dandy, and Pierroth, but Pirata was right up there. I just didn't realize it. 

 

[KB8]

El Hijo del Santo, Atlantis & Rayo de Jalisco Jr. v Negro Casas, El Canek & Apolo Dantes (CMLL, 7/12/96)

You could say this was a Santo v Casas show. And by "you could say," what I'm definitively saying is that this was a Santo v Casas show. It's so much of a Santo v Casas show that everything not involving them really pales in comparison. They're at each other's throat from the very beginning as Santo hits a running knee lift while Casas is stepping through the ropes, then drops him with a straight right to the face. And we're off to the races from there, brothers. The first 8-10 minutes are all Santo and Casas. Everyone else stands around watching, unsure if they should get involved while deep down knowing they probably shouldn't. At one point Apolo Dantes looks at Casas like "are you taking that?" and then a minute later there's another shot of him standing there like "well I guess he wasn't taking that." I think there was a 20-second period where both of them were on their respective apron before Casas comes in and sprints over to get at Santo again. It just escalates from there, spills to the floor, referees get involved, some suits plead with Casas to let it be over, fans in a frenzy. This was legit some of the best pull-apart brawling ever, where they'd be separated for a brief moment before one of them would break free and attack the other, every instance of it a little more wild than the last. There's about a dozen cops on the scene and Casas runs through rows of spectators while pensioners and children scatter. Santo will headbutt Casas until he's sprawled over someone's lap, then he'll get up and charge again and this time Santo is left lying underneath a row of fixed seats. The cops and referees nearly manage to usher Casas through the curtain, but he gets loose and sprints down the ramp and they're at it again. It was madness, like a genuine street brawl where the police are called and friends and family members are in tears on the side of the road. The problem is that nothing else is hitting those heights. When they're finally cleared from ringside the other four guys settle into an actual match, but it's hard not to actively want the camera to cut backstage for some more carnage with even other wrestlers trying to put out the fire. When the backstage cuts stop you hope the fight spills back out to ringside again, but it never happens. The remainder of the match sets up a 2 v 2 tag the following week, and it's fine and everything, it's just that nothing was going to match Santo/Casas unless it was more Santo/Casas. Still, this was some phenomenal Santo/Casas and it's worth watching for that alone.

[Rah]

@KB8 I've been looking for that match for years - thank you! It's fucking fantastic. They have another whirlwind sprint in this one:

 

 

[KB8]

You know, I watched their mano a mano from the end of September '95 the other night and figured there had to be a trios leading into it where they tried to get at each other. So I guess that'll be the one then! 

[ohtani's jacket]

Atlantis, Black Magic & Ultimo Dragon vs. Negro Casas, Pirata Morgan & Satanico (CMLL 8/21/92)

Quick trios match which serves as the lead in the Casas/Ultimo title match the following week. Casas and Ultimo have great chemistry as usual. Ultimo gets a big pin over Casas to show he has the pedigree to beat him for the title, but strangely, Casas seems more focused on seducing Black Magic over to the rudo side (a turn that ends up happening in the subsequent weeks.) Satanico and Pirata don't really do much. They pinball nicely for Atlantis, but that's a given. Pirata wears a bandana to hide his shaven head. Satanico has a fun exchange where he tries to manhandle Black Magic. Match ends abruptly. Despite all the talent, it's not the best lead in match you'll see. 

[ohtani's jacket]

MS-1, Pirata Morgan & Satánico vs Apolo Dantes, Black Magic & Oro (CMLL 9/4/92)

Nothing of import happens in this match, but it's kind of fun seeing a young, fresh-faced Apolo Dantes taking on the Infernales, especially when so much of his bread and butter was earned as a rudo. Satanico and Black Magic do a comedy skit, but I would have preferred a legitimate exchange. There's potential in that match-up. Oro is given the Atlantis spot, but his work isn't very good. The tecnicos don't have great chemistry here, and the Infernales don't bother to go all out. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Love Machine/Dandy/Panterita del Ring vs Blue Panther/Emilio Charles Jr/J Estrada (Monterrey 1992)

Run of the mill trios match with no standout performances. I was hoping for more from the names involved, but I've seen enough Monterrey to know that's always a crapshoot. There was still a lot of heat between Love Machine and Blue Panther, and I suspect that if I liked that feud more that I'd be more enthusiastic about this. They seemed to be setting up a match between Emilio and Panterita del Ring based on their interactions. Dandy was barely involved in the match, and the finish was weak yet typical of Monterrey. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Blue Panther vs. Panterita del Ring (Monterrey 1991)

This was a decent mano a mano bout. I'd rather watch Panther work a title match than do rudo shtick, but did a respectable job of putting Panterita over. The finishing stretch wasn't perfect but the crowd was happy with the result. Happy to have another Panther singles match available from this era. 

 

[ohtani's jacket]

Negro Casas vs. Panterita del Ring (Monterrey January 3rd, 1992)

One of the exciting things about this new Monterrey footage is that we get see Casas matches from his UWA days. Up until now, footage of Casas from this time period has been fairly limited. This wasn't a great match, but it was awesome to see Casas in his prime working a very Casas-esque mano a mano with Panterita. 

[ohtani's jacket]

Dr Wagner Jr/Blue Fish/Babe Face vs. Milo Caballero/Centurion/Monarca (Monterrey 1992)

I was stoked to see the legendary Monterrey wrestler, Blue Fish, show up in this footage. He certainly didn't disappoint, but it was Babe Face who stole the show here. The tecnico side weren't a particularly talented bunch, but they reacted well to the rudo's actions and were able to dish out some decent looking shots. And boy did Babe Face stir the pot. He had this awesome bit of beef going with Milo Caballero, who made great fired up babyface faces. The match ended with the tecnicos taking turns slapping the shit out of Babe Face. Fun times.