2002 MOTY List Update #3 - Lucha worth watching

Shocker vs. Ultimo Guerrero (CMLL 12/13/2002)

Ah, 2002, when Shocker was a great worker. I really liked the brief opening matwork, with Shocker flipping around and Guerrero catching him in a great flash Fujiwara Armbar. 2^nd fall was short but had UG working Shockers arm over with hurty wristlocks and takedowns. Then Shocker made this great comeback and trying to boot his head off. Shocker looked damn good here, even throwing a great punch combo. The 3^rd fall was your typical UG end run where they exchange big dramatic kickouts. Not my favourite thing but it was awesome to watch these two crush eachother with huge chunky guy highspots.  

Vampiro Canadiense vs. Rey Bucanero (CMLL 12/13/2002) 

Psycho bomb throwing war which has to go down as the carryjob of the year. Vampiro was basically a stiff trying to be a video game wrestler here. However, his recklessness may have added to the match as he seemed to be self destructive hitting moves (e.g. knocking himself loopy with his own suplex, injuring his leg hitting a spin kick etc). It really adds to the suspense when you think this washed up drug fiend is going to blow his knees out any moment. Whenever Vampiro was in danger of getting lost, Bucanero engaged in some vicious brawling. I especially loved the segment on the ramp that started with Bucanero just clocking Vampiro in the back of the neck. He also had some really great brief work on the shoulder. The whole match made sense and was never boring as they just kept doing bumps and dives. The one weak point was Vampiros superman comeback which knocked the place down about 15 places in the list.

 Rey Bucanero & Ultimo Guerrero vs. Damian 666 & Halloween (CMLL 7/5/2002)

Unfortunately, CMLL for some reason decided to have their matches be rather short and fast paced around this time. That feeling was present here, but everyone had their working boots on and there were plenty of good exchanges and some neat spots throughout. Damian 666 is someone you wouldn't associate with this kind of workrate match, but he may have been the coolest dude in the matchs imply due to being middle aged and tubby and still doing all those leaps and getting dropped on his head. Hot finish.

Torneo Cibernetico (CMLL 3/22/2002)

This went 20 minutes and not 50, so it's not a classic. Still, you had some guys with insane highspots rolling out those highspots in a string of well executed, quick exchanges. It's pretty much crazy from the get go with Halloween eating the tope to the back of the head and Nicho getting dumped on his head from a German suplex. Felino turning on the rudos and Casas getting DQ'd was weird, but the old guys were a ton of fun in this otherwise. Also, we got to see Satanico and Casas trading punches. Nice ending with an unexpected guy picking up the win against a legend.

 

2002 MOTY PROJECT MASTER LIST