Lucha Libre from 1998

El Hijo del Santo/ Karloff Lagarde Jr/Violencia vs. Felino/Shocker/Tony Rivera, CMLL 6/19/1998

Another pretty insanely high end workrate match from CMLL in 1998. It’s technicos vs. technicos so there’s no rudo beatdown and it’s just breathless technical exchanges. First fall was packed with awesome matwork, as you had Felino/Karloff reprising their title match with Felino taking Karloff down and slapping the shit out of him at one point. Rivera challenged Hijo del Santo to a mat duel, and it was excellent with Santo basically schooling the young guy with some really fast amateur rides. That match up had really good intensity and should have gone longer. Even the Shocker/Violencia match up brought something to the table. Felino hits a sneaky big powerbomb on Santo as a ‘fuck you’ to end the first fall and after that the match is built around their showdowns. Holy shit Santito was hellbent on proving that he’s the greatest wrestler on earth in this match, he was busting out all kinds of awesome shit to counter Felinos bomb dropping aggressiveness. I also really enjoyed Violencia, people almost never bring up a guy like Violencia but the dude could go, he was on point during all the exchanges, hitting cool snug clotheslines and big moves chucking people hard to the mat, and when it was time to bump he just flew. Rivera and Karloff are kind of the odd men out in this but they worked hard, although some of their stuff felt a bit trained monkeyish it was nothing egregious. And the Santo/Felino stuff totally delivers a huge finish. Killer stuff, CMLL was on fire with these kind of workrate trios matches in 1998.

Mascara Magica vs Karloff Lagarde, Jr. CMLL 1998/2/6

CMLL, bristling with hot talent in 1998, for some reason decided to push Karloff Lagarde Jr, who had all the markings of a non-star with his awkward look and low level skillset. For some reason they gave this guy more than one opportunity in a big title match. To be fair, the first fall matwork is pretty good: late 90s lucha matwork is jarring to back and watch because it feels so competitive, almost like shootstyle. There are intricate movements but it when someone actually locks in a submission it feels like someone going for an armbar in shootstyle, its dangerous. Modern lucha matwork may be more smooth and intricate (at least when done by the masters) but feels more exhibitiony. As such, the 1^st fall is a pretty cool 5 minutes of lucha grappling that is worth checking out. 2^nd fall some awkwardness creeps in and the 3^rd fall is basically an exercise in what you can do with an awkward, not very athletic, green-ish wrestler. Mascara Magica looks very good here and works hard, busting out some big dives including one past the turnbuckle post, but there’s a ceiling to how good things can be with a guy like Lagarde Jr in there. Watching this it’s not hard to see why Felino decided to humiliate the poor guy in their match.

Virus, Zumbido and Halcon Negro vs Olimpico, Super Kendo and Oriental, 1998/6/23

Pretty much a highlight reel for what you can get from a trios match. There are lightning fast Virus/Oriental exchanges, Halcon Negro being amazingly scummy and setting himself up in great ways for Olimpico, and Kendo showing up in Mexico which is always cool to see. Won’t shock you if you’ve seen a ton of trios wrestling but this had pretty much everything done insanely well and with a bit of unpredictability to make it interesting. Oriental probably doesn’t get talked about enough as he always looks pretty great. Both his brief grappling segment aswell as the running exchanges with Virus were great. Rudo beatdown section was also good stuff with some gnarly punches and boots to the face being thrown. Halcon Negro and Olimpico got pretty heated which was cool to see. The finish is pretty brief so it doesn’t end up being anything epic but it’s satisfying. Another one of those great matches that CMLL would throw out constantly because they just had that many great wrestlers in their roster at the time.

Cien Caras & Mascara Ano 2000 & Universo 2000 vs Shocker & Mr. Niebla & Brazo de Plata, 10/7/1998

Matches of Los Hermanos Dinamitas almost never get pimped, so I had to check this out. Fun segment before the match with the Dinamitas – in full leather coats, sunglasses and hats looking like the douchiest gay biker gang you’ve ever seen – popping some kids football and getting challenged by the technicos. The match is just a relentless beatdown. There is really nothing that workrate fans could like about the Dinamitas. They don’t really do anything cool, they just beat people down like ice cold pricks. There is a train of double stomps that just looks ruthless. By the 2^nd fall, Shocker and Niebla were bleeding and having their masks ripped, getting their heads bashed into the announce table while a cop sits there. The announcer finds an actor in the audience and he interviews him a bit so we get that in between shots of masked guys bleeding with their faces/masks ripped open and getting beaten on the ground. It really feels like the technicos are done and it makes their eventual comeback feel really spectacular even though it’s extremely simple. There’s pretty much nothing in this match that you could make a GIF out of – except maybe the dives of Shocker or Super Porky, but that wouldn’t really capture the essence of what makes this great. The Capos were just total jerks and absolutely dedicated to their role in the most obnoxious, cold and uncool way. Maybe that’s why they were such big stars.

2025 Wrestling Week 8

 Senka Akatsuki vs Ai Houzan, Marvelous 1/12

This was really unique and cool. Basically picture a basic joshi match, but make it insanely uncooperative. This was full of struggle and had some of the most intense pinfall attempts I've ever seen. Apparently this had the 'shoot pin' rule which means the wrestlers would (mostly) cooperate on standing stuff but once somebody was with their back to the mat the match would turn into a shoot while a pin was attempted. Leave it to Chigusa Nagayo to run that kind of insanity in 2025. Watching the rookie, Akatsuki put the more seasoned Ai Houzan in trouble for real was quite something to watch. Not a great match but really interesting and unique to see, maybe we should just turn pro wrestling into a shoot again.

Jaguar Yokota & Honori Hana vs Yumiko Hotta & Misa Kagura, SAREEE-ism 1/23

This is one of those matches that you have to love pro wrestling for. Yokota is 63, Hotta 58. They both can't move very well anymore, but they are still insanely charismatic, tough and know exactly what to do, so that made them really fascinating to watch here. Of course Yokota has to take most of the bumps in this match, she also busts out a dive to the outside and her insanely cool flipping axe kick. Wish their little exchange had gone longer because it was fascinating to watch. For some reason this match had some insane headbutts, Hana hits one on Hotta that left a dent in Hottas skull, and later Yokota tries to crack Kaguras head. The two young wrestlers didn't leave a huge impression, for some reason they just did a ton of shoulder blocks, but they kept it moving while you waited for Hotta or Yokota to tag in again. Fascinating match.

Takahiro Tababa vs GAJO, Big Bear Produce 2/22

Awesome brutal massacre, just two big monsters charging foreward and trying to tear each other apart. This felt like a fight to the death, 5 minutes in both guys are bleeding from elbows and headbutts. GAJO getting taken down, bloodied, rolling out, going back in trying to break Tababas jaw with a shooting headbutt was one of those 'pro wrestling exemplified' moments. Couldn't be happier that GAJO has come back to wrestling. I can't write many words here other than they brutalized each other and it felt like a fight to the death. Just the right mix of shootstyle and barfight. Felt like one of the greatest under 10 minutes ever on first watch.

Hechicero vs Valiente, CMLL 1/24

Really enjoyed this when it was just two masters putting holds on each other. Those first 90 seconds were some fine fine pro wrestling. Admittedly I thought they ended up doing a little too much, especially with the constant chopping, but it's also undeniable that they kept the cool stuff coming. I also liked how they made this match feel a lot bigger and more personal by going for their masks. I'm not sure why an under 10 minute match needs to have an apron bump but the apron bump here was pretty great, so was Valientes big dive. I also loved Hechiceros stomp in the ropes, he is really good at those little things. I thought this could have been better if they had kept it a bit more focussed and done slightly less, but you can't fault them for flexing their skills. Strong little match.

 

2025 Wrestling Roundup

2025 Wrestling Week 4

 
Sareee vs Veny, SEAdLINNNG 1/17

I haven't thought about Seadlinnnng in forever. Apparently, Sareee is their ace now and has been their champ for a while, so I should probably take a look at that. I haven't seen much of VENY before, but I know she had that excellent weird light tube  match with Akito at one point. This was a lot more conventional. They start of strong with some quality groundwork before a weird outside interference happens and the brawl outside. Sareee however makes it worthwhile when she dishes out some brutal headbutts to Veny on the floor. Back in the ring, Sareee is in control for a bit and it's really good. Her vicious stomps and dropkicks are great. Veny tries to take over but is cut off in nice fashion. Finally, Veny locks on a slick submission and controls by working the arm for a bit. Veny no sells a German suplex and they start trading bombs. Honestly I thought the first half of this was a very good build, but the senseless move trading lost me. Veny kind of half asses her selling a lot and her thigh slapping thrust kicks looked like shit. Sareees offense is great, but she doesn't do much selling either at some point. There is so much "take a move, slowly get up and then do a move of your own here" that really makes me stop caring about a match. For example, Sareees top rope Fishermans Suplex wasn't even followed up by a cover, instead Sareee goes to the top on the opposite side so Veny can get up and hit a superplex. No rhyme or reason to any of this as far as I can tell. At least mix in some cool reverals or something.

Yusaku Ito vs Yu Shimizu, Sportiva 1/22

This was more good shit from SPORTIVA. Yusaku Ito is a certified scumbag who can kick hard, punch someone in the face and act like an all around thug. Shimizu just came back from a really long absence and he still looks tough, in that weird guy-who-started-wrestling-in-his-30s way. Really good wrestling here, these two deliver actually compelling elbow smashes and standing exchanges. Eventually it turns into Ito kicking away at Shimizus arm and shoulder. Itos kicks and elbows to the joint where really hurty looking and Shimizus selling was excellent. By far one of the best 'work the arm' matches I've seen in a while because Shimizus weakness was constantly nagging him, he never forgot about that injury and Ito would cut him off by attacking the arm at crucial moments. Shimizu doesn't have a ton of offense in this match, he is mostly taking an asskicking, but the few moments he gets are solid, and the work around his sleeper hold was really compelling, it leads to one of the best flash reversals into a sleeper that I've ever seen. The match also has the typical Japanese big match stuff, some quality hard hitting and head-droppy moves without going overboard, but what made this outstanding was how well they worked the arm attack stuff and those sleepers. Another banger from that little sportsbar. Lord knows how they do it but they consistently put on some of the best singles matches in all of Japan.

Guerrero Maya Jr vs Xelhua, CMLL 1/13/2025

The first few minutes of this are pretty great. Both guys hit the mat and tie each other in knots, adding cool little touches that you don't see often such as the kicking at the leg while in the indian deathlock, or the nifty trip from the overhook. Xelhua clearly has a ton of passion to be trying the crazy llaves he tries, and he has stellar body control - that bridge walkover he did is NOT easy, I can attest to that. When Maya Jr takes over attacking the mask and throwing punches and Xelhua narrowly breaking out of submissions, I thought this would've been one of the best opening falls to a title match I've seen. Unfortunately it's not 2/3 falls, it's 1 fall, so we get a couple minutes of Maya Jr. dominating and a somewhat sluggish finishing stretch. I think with a 2/3 falls match these two could burn the house down, as a 1 fall match it just falls a little short, though there was a ton of cool stuff. CMLL is definitely on the right track with young guys like Xelhua not being afraid to indulge in esoteric matwork.

Virus vs Neon, MLW 1/11/2025


Love two see luchadors show up in a US promotion to do awesome shit for 8 minutes. This was pretty tight, we get a slick mat exchange to start and then they go nuts. Virus is crazy busting out this shit at the age of 56. He looked way more nimble than, say Bobby Fish who is also on this show and looked ancient despite being  8 years younger. Neon is another one of those technicos who has no offense except shitty looking enzuigiris and really pretty dives. And his dives were pretty in this. I did prefer the slickness of Virus apron armdrag and huracanrana but I am an old Virus mark. I thought this needed maybe a Virus punch or dropkick or a slick reversal to be really great but it was a pretty strong under 10 minute sprint.

 

2025 Wrestling Roundup

2025 Wrestling Week 2

 
Yujiro Yamamoto vs Tsuyoshi Okada, Kobe Meriken 1/10

Yujiro Yamamoto is one of the last BattlARTS mohicans and I always enjoy when he works a match and I get to see him. Takeshi Okada is a sleazy looking shooter. He looks like he would play bass in a crustcore band but he can actually scrap on the mat and do hard hitting. Him and Akira Jo would make a sick tag team. The early minutes of this are really good, credible shootstyle grappling. Okada can actually hang and pull of some cool transitions. Even when they go into the pretty standard "two guys holding leglocks and slapping each other" spot, they do it with so much force and ferocity it actually comes out as violent. After the matwork the match takes a bit more of a pro style direction with an irish whip and some of the usual back and forth elbow exchanges. A bit disappointed because I would've liked to see them go full BattlARTS style but they were still doing pretty snug hard hitting pro wrestling. The finish was a bit sudden, I would like to see these two go a little longer and really work their magic next time.

brother YASSHI vs Maori Kawashima, Kobe Meriken 1/10

Brother Yasshi wrestles a bit like a dreadlocked Tamon Honda with llaves now, which is really cool. He would twirl his skinny opponent around with some impressive amateur moves, then base really well in some lucharesu exchanges, and finally stretch him with llaves. Yes, brother YASSHI is a good wrestler. Kawashima is kind of not very good - he blows his huracanrana, and when on offense he's far from impressive. They start doing a weird thing too where they take turns giving each other head snapdowns and bumping. YASSHI gets things on track with a brutal headbutt and throwing Kawashima with a really cool deadlift German for the 3. I need more of this YASSHI.

Judas El Traidor vs Fly Star, Lucha Memes 1/1

I always enjoy watching Judas El Traidor. Fly Star is a sleazy looking indy luchador with tattoos. Opening minutes here have some fun llave exchanges with Judas hitting one particularily cool leg scissor takedown. This Fly Star guy tries, but he seems to not have quite the athleticism needed to pull off everything that he's going for. I really liked the couple minutes where Judas had enough of clean wrestling and start bitchslapping Fly Star around. Just Judas El Traidor living up to his name. Fly Star hits a pretty cool flip senton to the grimy floor of Coliseo Coacalco. I didn't like his other offense much - some weak looking fast kick combos and a lot of unnecessary dodge and move running around - he also blows the last sequence. They actually go back to the llaves for the finish and Judas wins it with a cool Gory Special into a slam. A good slice of work from Judas to usher in the new year.

Meiko Satomura vs Manami, Sendai Girls 1/5/2025

Well it's Meiko Satomura. It's always good to see her fight a game opponent on her home turf. I think she's retiring soon, which is a shame because all of her kicks and submissions still look great. I am not familiar with Manami and based on this I don't really want to see more of her. She's okay and has decent fight in her, but she slaps her leg constantly whenever she's doing knee strikes and her forearms were insanely weak looking. That and she didn't leave a huge impression on terms of style. I guess that's fine since she's clearly an underdog against Big Meiko. In the end Manami was mostly here to get walloped by Meikos kicks and try and survive her submissions. Meikos low kicks ended up pushing Manami to the limit. I'm not sure if it was a legit injury or a rare case of excellent selling, but it was one of those moments that really underlined Meikos status as a Hashimoto-like badass who can mess anyone up with a basic low kick. Love how Satomura cut off Manamis comeback by aggressively going for the takedown and locking in a submission. In the end this was pretty much the Meiko Satomura show, and tha tis a show I tend to enjoy.

Blue Panther vs Hechicero, CMLL 1/10/2025

Well I saved the best for last. With this and last years Danielson match, Blue Panther is building quite the resume of matches in his 60s. Yes, you will think, Blue Panther is old. He doesn't quite move like he used to. Yes, him taking on the tank that is Hechicero straight on is a bit silly. But fuck that, this is PRO WRESTLING and there haven't been many wrestlers as entuned to the heart and soul of pro wrestling as Blue Panther. To think - Blue Panther was born in 1960. He did not make tape much before turning 30. In 2012 we thought it was crazy that he was still having MOTYs with the likes of Negro Casas. And here he is still delivering some of the best pro wrestling on earth. My one complaint is that the matwork in the first fall should have gone longer. It was really nice, intricate stuff. Hechicero is such a unit that it looks like he just has to squeeze your arm and it would really hurt, so Blue Panther was getting small victories. Small victories like trapping Hechiceros leg, cradling him from below, or delivering his old bridging escape from the headscissor without hiccup. It was a brief first fall with some really nice grappling and it made me think that if I had Tony Khan level wrestling billionair money it would be my top priority to make Blue Panther vs Yasushi Sato or vs GENTARO happen. Anyways, the other 2 falls of the match were still pretty much flawless. Blue Panther bouncing around busting out crazy shit like he's not old enough to be Hechiceros grandpa was amazing and actually added to the match as you really felt like you were watching an old guy tough it out, reach deep and try to hit something entirely improbable to pull of the upset. There was also plenty of fighting going on, things never got to cooperative. Hechicero abusing the old man was great. Obviously Hechicero is an impeccable base and probably one of the few guys on earth I'd trust to take Panthers flying ranas and dives here. Hechicero abusing the old man was great. There was definitely a Hansen-ish feeling to the way he kept aggressively cracking his opponent, down to a thing as basic and easy to take as the flying elbow to the guardrail looking great. Even the botched suicide dive may have made the match better as that is what you'd expect to happen when someone tries to push beyond his limits. For a second you think Panther may be paralyzed or dead or concussed. Then Hechicero even bashes him against the post and hits some headbutts, only to be pulled off the apron for a great, simple comeback. I also loved the stair stuff and Hechicero kicking Kemonito. Hechicero was just the right mix of his old self, not being afraid to hit Blue Panther with some high level offense and a bumbling violent rudo who kept setting himself up to fall into Panthers trap. It's lucha libre so even a basic cradle can win a match and that makes this stuff gold. So yeah, great match and as long as someone like Blue Panther is alive pro wrestling can't be entirely dead.

 

2025 Wrestling Worth Watching

2024 MOTYC List #2

 
Kazushi Sakuraba vs Daisuke Sekimoto, NOAH 2/15/2014

Terrific match. Very Fujiwaraish performance from Sakuraba doing lots of really great submission entries and counters on Sekimoto. Sekimoto is really effective as a simpleton powerhouse here, he makes a great foil for Saku as his style is basic enough to make Sakuraba look spectacular, but also because of his freakish strength you buy that Sekimoto could just squeeze Sakuraba to death if he simply gets his arms around him.  A few really smart spots here. Sakuraba dropping a nasty knee on Sekimotos face, as well as deciding to later work him over with knees to the body and low kicks was unexpected. Also, because Sakuraba is so frail whenever Sekimoto actually starts doing damage it looks like he's just killing him.


Kazushi Sakuraba & Ulka Sasaki vs Hikaru Sato & Shuhei Taniguchi, NOAH 5/4

I'm liking this old man shooter division. Sakuraba is 54 years old now, but he is still pretty amazing on the mat. Ulka is an ex UFC guy and he shows promise. I thought Shuhei Taniguchi was pretty great here as outmatched but still dangerous old guy and if he wrestles like this more often I'd like to see more of him. Initially Sakuraba was tooling him by reversing Taniguchis greco roman style with his own unorthodox submissions. Just when Taniguchi seemed to not get anywhere, he threw Saku with a big head and arm throw and locked in a Honda-esque choke hold. He then dropped Sasaki with a nasty STO and tried to smash his head with an out of nowhere soccer kick. Sasaki and Hikaru Sato also had an awesome mat exchange. Taniguchi getting heated with Sakuraba and going for suplexes and more out of nowhere headkicks was pretty great. Finish was sudden but also pretty spectacular.


Outsider Negishi vs Dekai Ichimotsu, Health Pro Wrestling 4/14

Great little match. Negishi is gray and old and kind of gangly and Ichimotsu is rocking the wrestling shoes black t-shirt and slicked back hair like a sleazy Osamu Kido. Almost all on the mat. After some cool opening grappling with both guys displaying cool indian deathlock entries, Negishi starts going for the leg. Negishi has a kind of frail old man vibe but he is fun yanking at Ichimotsus leg. Ichimotsu was pretty great selling the legwork and making comeback attempts by going after the arm. Highlights include some great work around a body slam, and Ichimotsus leg giving out when he attempted his finisher.

Bryan Danielson vs. Blue Panther, CMLL 4/5/24

Thankfully Arena Mexico saved this match from being another boring dream match by booing Danielson and rallying behind Panther. Danielson was clever enough to lean into it and Panther was pretty damn awesome here. Opening grappling wasn't anything mindblowing but it's fun to see Danielson go at it with a genuine maestro. I actually thought they could have done a little more on the mat, tho Bryan going into scarecrow position and twisting Panthers head was cool. Panther then taking all this stiff offense and a big dive and suplex on the floor was pretty sick. Initially I liked Danielson selling his leg being damaged by Panthers Tapatia, but him just popping up to hit a dropkick pissed me off a little. Panther desperately avoiding the submission was great and so much better than the usual reversal fest. He also took another big bump off the top, why is this 63 year old man taking all the huge bumps in the match?? Danielson retaliating to the flubbed submission with head stomps was great and probably the best moment of the match. I'm not sure why Panther was the first one to get up after Danielsons 2nd dive and simply hit a dive on his own. The running knee in the ring was a bit lost on me. I get that Danielson was trying to lean into his arrogant outsider act by smiling and not following up, but it still took me out of it a bit before they followed with the cheap finish. Tho Panthers super fast armbar was awesome. Good to very good match with a very impressive performance by Panther overall.

Kazuhiro Tamura vs Akira Jo, HEAT UP 4/7

Very good big match I thought. Jo has roots tracing to IGF, but he has turned into a complete sleazeball now. He really has the vibe that he is a capable wrestler, as evidenced by him doing some grappling and throwing Tamura with a really nice belly to belly early on, but he would rather rake eyes and be a scumbag than continue on that path. The main reason I liked this was a) the selling throughout was very good, and b) they mixed in a lot of cool stuff to keep my attention. Highlights include Jos amazing Rikishi bump that was really well timed, as well as some choice counters that they mixed in. Tamuras armwork was really good throughout the match, lots of nasty kicks to Jos shoulder, and the selling was good. Both guys end up taking big bumps that are important in the scheme of the match. They also ended the match on just the right note with one of the nastiest finishes I've seen in a while. They lose some points because the early goings were noticably lacking fire and engagement from both guys when it comes to their body language, as well as Kazuhiro Tamuras tendency to do moves like a shitty NJPW main eventer instead of embracing his U-File origins. That said, I was positively surprised by this.

 

2024 MOTY Master List

You can Always Watch Random Lucha Libre

 

Shu el Guerrero/Ultimo Guerrero/Guerrero de la Muerte vs Ultraman/Olimpico/Sendero (CMLL 3/13/98)

20 minutes of seamless, beautifully executed lucha libre. Gotta love how 1997-1998 just about everyone had their working boots on and was having awesome matches weekly. I mean I’ve never heard anyone praise Guerrero de la Muerte, but Guerrero de la Muerte looked like a fucking workhorse in this. Whole rudo team was awesome but he really went the extra mile, working some spectacular segments with Olimpico, really making sure to make his opponent look like a million bucks, then turning around, kicking ass and punching people in the face, before bumping even bigger and finally just ripping a guys mask off in a perfectly timed moment. Shu is always super enjoyable to watch bumping, puffing his chest, locking on weird submissions. They were already going hard in the first fall, culminating with a beautiful double dive from Olimpico and Ultraman. Apparently Sendero is a luchador from Peru and while he didn’t do anything super outstanding he was fun to see. The rudo beatdown was just tremendous, with all 3 guys always keeping things interesting. Ultimo Guerrero even managed to hit a cool dive fake in assholeish fashion. Pretty hot 3^rd fall. Sometimes, you just want to watch some good lucha libre.

Guerrero de la Muerte/El Arkangel vs Tigre Universario/Metalico (CMLL May 8th, 1993)

Really good, intense match for a bunch of undercarders. I checked this out for more Guerrero de la Muerte (who knows, it might not even be the same guy as in the 1998 match), but the Arkangel/Metalico matwork stood out. Both guys wrestled wrestled like they had something to prove. Hard resistance on leg trips etc, and gnarly throws interspersed with the grappling. I love when guys hit out of nowhere throws while exchanging holds and Arkangel absolutely drilled him with a huge rock bottom here. Guerrero then ate a spinebuster from Tigre which he sold as if it had given him a concussion. The rudos then proceeded to work a sneaky cut off which I loved. 2^nd fall was super unpredictable as they kept mixing up rudo beatdown and beautiful technico shine segments. Muerte didn’t do much in terms of wrestling but I really like how he always knows to time that right hand perfectly. LOVED the callback to the first fall when Muerte ate another devastating spinebuster. Rudos letting Tigre fly into nowhere and then finishing with a huge doomsday device was also quite the power move. Badass little match where they made everything count.

2023 MOTY Project Update #2

 Josh Barnett vs Claudio Castagnoli, AEW 10/1/2023

The grappling here was about 5 thousand times better than anything in Bryan/ZSJ because both guys actually struggled. Claudio does not have perfect technique, but him trying to put submissions on Barnett was pretty fun. Barnett is probably the best wrestler in the world simply for being smart enough to put his arm up and block when Claudio went to elbow him. Both guys threw some great looking strikes when standing up and everything continued to feel like a struggle. Claudio giant swing felt satisfying because there was a build to it and it didn't come out in a predictable manner. I like that Dean pointed out the defensive way in which Barnett took Claudios finisher, and the finish was neat. Cool little match, which actually felt close to a tribute to Inoki, if you see it as Barnett carrying a random gaijin in a weird IGF match.

Atlantis, Blue Panther, El Pantera, Negro Navarro, Panterita del Ring & Rocky Santana vs. Aguila Solitaria, Black Terry, El Satanico, Felino, Octagon & Solar I, CMLL 9/22/2023

I'll admit there's some nostalgia involved in me enjoying this, but screw it. It's too much fun seeing all these crusty old guys show up in their working boots and being way too proud to not bring up. Lots of good exchanges, nearly everybody brings it, and the match had everything, matwork, some brawling, and the crazy factor of some old guys doing dives and flying off the top. Santana/Panterita was a quite nifty mat section for such a random pairing, and Navarro/Solar was maybe a bit slower than 10 years ago but still pretty cool to see these guys showing they are a class above while surrounded by these other legends. Pantera was ballsy here doing a flip dive and taking a crazy powerbomb. We also get Black Terry punching and sometimes headbutting people in the face. Santana was the one guy who kinda lost the plot at one point but it was funny how he just gave up and tapped out. I think Satanicos like 75 but he still has some menace when he starts beating the shit out of someone in the corner. Octagon is the one guy who kind of half asses it, but the finish is really neat. Crowd reactions for this were tremendous.

Darby Allin vs. Christian Cage, AEW 8/19

Very good TV match. I'm not sure what to make of Allins tendency to start with chain wrestling. It doesn't seem to fit the character, but it's well executed. I'm going to assume he is in his mellow post punk phase and thus experimenting. Christian was very good. His deliberate control segment focussing on the arm was great. The hammerlock slam to start the segment was nasty and cool. I agree about the subtle greatness of Christians stomps and punches, and the way he carries himself as a heel not doing anything fancy and just focussing on being an asshole. Allin is a good white meat babyface and all his comebacks were good. I liked when he used Christians goofy turtleneck sweater against him. They did the same nasty neckbreaker on the ropes spot they did in the October match, but in this case it didn't lead to Darby doing anything annoying, instead he just took a nasty slam into the guardrail. Darbys tendency to go for crazy daredevil moves backfiring on him with the interference was smart. The build to the finish was well done and the actual ending made sense with how much damage Darby had taken. Christian looked like one of the best wrestlers in the world simply by having focus, understanding his role, throwing a decent punch and not doing anything stupid. Some parts of the match where a bit overdone/convoluted (e.g. Darby doing a whole bunch of stuff really fast during his first comeback attempt) which leads to things being less memorable, but that's 2023 wrestling for ya.

Virus vs. Dulce Gardenia, CMLL 1/13

This was tremendous. We got plenty of the usual high level Virus grappling, plus this match had a tremendous story and a unique dance partner in Dulce. The exotico spots early on were a lot of fun, it's really cool to see someone use his gimmick to try and gain an advantage like that without interrupting the wrestling. Virus made sure to punish his opponent with some super nasty looking leg and arm snapping moves. Dulce made a comeback in the second fall, but it was not an easy win for him. 3rd fall was pretty epic. Dulce trying to psych out Virus with the kiss of death was really great. Virus in turn wrenching Dulces wrist and bitch slapping him was awesome. The combination of wrestling and big bumps was great. Obviously the armdrag bump was a highlight but I also thought Dulce getting flung outside when he tried the frankensteiner was pretty crazy. Virus doing stuff at this like 54 is pretty insane. I thought this would stand pretty well to almost any singles match in the last 20 or so years.

2023 MOTY List

EVEN MORE Dandy vs. Casas

 El Dandy/Humberto Garza Jr./Silver King vs. Fuerza Guerrera/Negro Casas/Rambo (4/5/1996, Arena Coliseo)

Fun match at a brisk pace. They cycle through all the possible match ups, which means no extended Dandy/Casas section, but there is some, and somebody does get punched in the face. Everyone looks really good here, I especially liked Rambo who is kind of out of place looking with his schlubby appearance but stooges insanely well, even getting a guy as good as Silver King to look on another level. I liked young Humberto Jr as he was opposed a murderers row of great bases, and at one point Casas got bowled out of the ring just to take a bit out of someones candy apple.

El Dandy/Mr. Niebla/Silver King vs. Negro Casas/Black Warrior/Emilio Charles Jr. (9/6/1996, Arena Mexico)

CMLL was white hot in 1996. Blazing blazing hot. Every match up here has so much heat. Casas vs. Dandy is heated because these two are just pure fire in 1996, King vs. Charles Jr. is heated because people want to see King pop that fucker Charles in the mouth, and Niebla/Warrior starts out as good young guy workrate stuff before they also turn up the heat with Warrior trying to unmask Niebla, and then Casas and Dandy are in again and their match up somehow has even more heat. It’s like you have a 6 man tag with one pairing being Rock vs. Austin and the next Sting vs. Goldberg and then Flair vs. Steamboat. Except the wrestling was a hell of a lot better. First fall was very long and felt huge with Dandy and Casas squaring off, doing their scrappy wrestling and punching each other in the face, Warrior/Niebla bringing something fresh to the mix and King/Charles really working the crowd good. It felt like a monumental first fall with an extremely well done finish. The second half focusses less on Dandy/Casas which is less to my liking, though there are some snippets of them such as Casas hitting another sneaky low blow on Dandy. The focus is more on Charles Jr./King and the young guys, though CMLL was so good in 1996 that pretty much no one could do any wrong. Great stuff regardless that was another epic Dandy/Casas showdown away from being one of the best of the year. Apparently this was the last time they matched up on opposite sides on TV not counting the 3 way with Santito. Well, I guess that was a good way for the feud to go out.

El Hijo del Santo vs Negro Casas vs El Dandy (Mask vs Hair vs Hair - CMLL – 12/6/96)

Well, it’s about the best conclusion to the Dandy/Casas 1996 saga we have. Santitos heel turn overshadows everything, though we get a faint memory of animosities between Dandy and Casas. Opening minutes were incredible as Casas and Dandy just let loose their hatred for Santito and kick the shit out of him. There is a brief face off between Dandy and Casas, but then Casas decides he wants to kick the shit out of Santito some more and fucking jumps at him, only to miss and get his ass kicked a bit. Santito is eliminated quickly leaving us with a few brief more technical exchanges between Dandy and Casas. Casas comes out on top and before leaving he decides to jump Santito from behind and rip his mask. That sets up the blood-drenched feverish war between Santito and Dandy which is the rest of this match. Just absolutely fabulous hatred from the get go. The last portion is truly a war with crazy amounts of blood, really violent stomps, huge dives, bitter fighting from both guys – Dandy struggling out of a La de a Caballo attempt while covered in blood is a truly epic visual. Insane atmosphere too with the crowd refusing to see Santo as the rudo after he just took a 2 on 1 asskicking, while Dandy struggles with the number Casas did on his leg. A truly monumental, classic spectacle from the beginning to the end.

EMLL in 1990 #7 - 2/16/1990

Lola Gonzalez/Irma Gonzalez/Irma Aguilar vs. Martha Villalobos/Rossy Moreno/La Diabolica (Arena Coliseo, 2/16/1990)

Fun match from the ladies. Almost nobody ever talks about Mexican womens wrestling but these ladies could go. Match had an extensive opening fall with lots of fun matwork which is always nice to see, lots of stooging and fun multiperson spots. Pretty much all you want from a lucha trios. The biggest standout in the match was Martha Villalobos, who does not look very athletic but she can wrestle and stooge in fun ways, and also has that sense of comedic timing and swagger you want from the standout of a heel trio.

Ringo & Cachorro Mendoza/Kung Fu vs. Hijo de Gladiador/El Egipcio/Emilio Charles Jr. (Arena Coliseo, 2/16/1990)

A well rounded trios. Lord knows all is right in the world when everybody just gets down and does their thing in a trios. Even with not many stars in the lineup, everyone here is at minimum a good wrestler, and everybody had a cool moment. You get a long first fall that really allows you to the get into the match up, a quick and mean asskicking from the rudos, and a well executed finish that felt unpredictable. The star of the match was Emilio Charles Jr., he went from having some fun mat exchanges with Ringo Mendoza to absolutely beating the dogshit out of Kung Fu. His knee strikes and punches looked like something out of PRIDE and made me wonder if this would kick off a blood feud between him and that goofy martial artist. Kung Fu was in the spotlight a lot, meaning that the rudos stooged a lot for his stuff. While he is sort of goofy, him crane kicking people in the face and throwing fast punch combos is something different. I also like Ringo Mendoza, he is not super spectacular, but every promotion needs a stumpy legged unassuming old man technician who can grapple and bust out a neat move here and there. Hijo de Gladiador had some mean punches to the midsection and Egipcio did good stooging and at one point bitchslapped a Mendoza off his feet. Sometimes that’s all you need to do. They did not go all out because lord this card also has a hair match and a title match, but for undercard action this stuff well and truly serves its purpose.

Comando Ruso vs. Remo Banda

For a hair match this was lacking a bit in intensity. They got the formula right, but didn't really deliver the asskicking to kick it up to the next level. Comando Ruso kind of looked like he was about to check his watch in between hitting Remo. The first two falls were well done but rather short and without surprises. The last fall was much bigger with Banda bumping really big and some huge dives. The best part when both guys started fighting over a superplex and traded punches. They really needed to trade more punches like that. Comando started Remo when he was down and ended up disqualified, which has to be one of the lamest ways to lose your hair. Not horrible but not really worth going out of your way to see, proving that listless big matches with quick opening falls have been a thing in lucha libre for a long time.

Brazos vs. Ulises/Pierroth Jr/Gran Markus Jr.

A title match that delivers. All the falls were pretty short but they went hard delivering everything you want. Matwork, fast exchanges and Brazo de Plata bringing that extra WHOMP that he is so good at. For a bunch of tubby dudes with short legs the Brazos are really damn good wrestlers, really fast moving through intricate exchanges, really good snap on their armdrags and bumps that puts many skinnier wrestlers to shame. The rudo team played fair and they were allowed to look good showcasing their wrestling ability. Brazo de Plata was the man who got the match to the next level, as he really punctuated every fast, slick exchange with his behemoth wrestling style. There is such a real edge to what he does, like he will go for an amateur ride and just flatten his opponent with his sheer size, at one point he grabbed the almost equally massive Markus Jr. and throw him effortlessly with a belly to belly suplex that was awe inspiring. His kip ups and cartwheels were on point and bumped and flew with abandon. It was probably his physical prime and he went hard. There's dive train here that's absolutely spectacular, and I always love the star. I was expecting more intensity considering these teams had some quite heated face offs previously, but what we got was a really cool slice of unique wrestling.

The Library

More Dandy/Casas

 Dos Caras/El Dandy/Lizmark vs. Negro Casas/Bestia Salvaje/Chicago Express (5/31/1996, Arena Coliseo)

It’s hard to believe Negro Casas wasn’t the best wrestler in the world in 1996. He is just dominating every match he’s in. This was basically a really great Dandy/Casas singles match with occasional appearances from the other guys. Everyone else in this match is good-very good of course, but these two take center stage and it was awesome. First fall had some great Dandy/Casas matwork before Casas cheapshotted Dandy at which point the intensity was sent through the roof. Really good mix of hold for hold and more high impact stuff such as Dandys out of nowhere Backdrop suplex. Even a fairly standard spot like countering a back body drop with a kick felt brutal and huge. Second fall Casas starts kicking Dandy in the face and bloodying him which was also really great. The third fall sees a pissed off Dandy comeback and now Casas is bleeding too and both guys are bleeding all over the place and just tearing each other up and this is fucking epic. Man the blood ban really was the worst thing to happen to CMLL, the intensity of these two just blows everything from now away, and the face kicks looked Shibata/Fujita tier violent (tho probably a lot safer). Like I said everyone else is good though their appearances are only brief. Chicago Express is hilarious, he has this ridiculous fluffy mop of hair with a bald spot and goofy singlet. I guess he was trained in Mexico because he wrestles like a luchador, although he looks like the protagonist of an 80s comedy who accidentally ended up in a Mexican wrestling ring. That aside, holy fuck Dandy and Casas are freakin great.

Elimination Match: El Felino/Emilio Charles Jr/Dr. Wagner Jr/Negro Casas vs Pantera/Silver King/El Dandy/El Texano, CMLL 12/15/1995

I am tracking down all the matches with Casas and Dandy on opposing sides because that is clearly a match up that delivers (shocker, I know). They were mostly teaming in 1995 but this seems to be the first time they face off. It’s in a big elimination match where everyone is giving their all, and yet their stuff still feels like it takes an extra stage of importance. The whole match was absolutely excellent, early on we get a great mix of chain wrestling and hard hitting. Casas and Dandy weren’t as hate filled but they already had their dynamic going. They started grappling and then Casas started throwing kicks. I love how Dandy caught his leg, took him down and punished him with a really fast leg twist, such a cool way to make an already impressive spot make sense and look even cooler. Everybody else was awesome too and hitting awesome lucha exchanges left and right without a slip up. I especially loved the Charles/King segment which was really vicious, they did this great squence struggling over abdominal stretches. King ends up putting on an indian deathlock pushing at Charles chin and throwing punches, so Charles reverses and viciously chinlocks king. The athletic stuff of Panter and Charles slow lumbering presence were really cool and mixed it up in a matchup full of stocky middleweight. Lots of cool rope running, snug clotheslines and submissions, everyone is really fast. Elimination can happen anytime but they manage to not rush. The match peaked with Casas suddenly eating powerbombs and giving his all to survive, with the crowd absolutely loving the technicos taking the lead. The match was still very good afterwards, though I was slightly annoyed with Wagner Jrs lack of selling. He and Charles were pushed to the limit facing a 2 vs. 3 disadvantage against the technicos, but it didn’t really translate to Wagners performance as he’s a bit robotic. Still everybody else was great, there was a fantastic dive train with Dandys huge tope being absolutely incredible, and the twists and turns felt earned. 30 minutes of amazing wrestling, CMLL was spitting fire in the mid 90s.

Negro Casas & Felino & Black Panther vs. El Dandy & La Fiera & Silver King, CMLL 12/22/1995

Yeah put 6 awesome wrestlers in a trios why not! We get a nice King/Panther segment (Panther being Black Warrior) before Casas and Dandy match up. They do some intense wrestling that already feels like their hatred for each other is rising, with Dandy grabbing a handful of hair here and Casas really bending Dandys wrists in nasty ways there. It turns into one of those annoying trios matches where the rudos keep running in to break up the chain wrestling which sucks, but the intensity keeps increasing and eventually we get Casas sucker punching Dandy. It does lead to some intense hate filled brawling, with the second fall having another brief but awesome Dandy/Casas exchange and a fantastic dive train with old guy Fiera somehow having the biggest and most awesome dive, and then Casas kicks Dandy in the nuts. Everyone looked good and the match had some awesome stuff, they didn’t go full bore but they set the stage for the more bloodthirsty Casas/Dandy stuff that was to come.

Negro Casas, Apolo Dantes & El Satanico vs. El Hijo del Santo, El Dandy & Silver King (2/2/1996, Arena Coliseo)

Yeah, throw in Santito and Satanico into the mix too, why not! Casas and Dandy largely stay apart, although we get a brief moment of Casas brutalizing Dandy during the beatdown section. Dandy mostly matches up with Satanico, and that is a really good match up. Their matwork is very good, with Satanico busting out some crafty reversals, and their standup stuff is also neat. Dantes vs. King was a hot feud so the crowd was super hype for them, and likewise Santo/Casas was hot fire. Their stuff was great. Chaotic brawling in the 2^nd half was fun and lead to some more violent Casas/Santo exchanges as well as Dantes being quite mean to King. Ending was not huge or epic but still great. It served to heat up the rivalry which is what you want. You could really feel they were just gearing up for what was to come in CMLL later down the year, as all these feuds and characters mingling feel fantastic.

Random CMLL

 

El Dandy & Silver King & Lizmark vs. Negro Casas & Satanico & Felino, 6/28/1996

I knew this was gonna be good when I saw who was in the match, but it ended up being even better. I think a CMLL trios where everyone has their working boots may be the best wrestling ever and this was pretty damn incredible. First 10 minutes were insanely scrappy and uncooperative. Dandy vs. Casas face punching showdown was incredible, Casas may be the best ever at transferring that kind of stuff on to a big stage, it really felt monumental as Casas would land a punch, do a smug self satisfied little dance before getting popped in the mouth, all to great effect. Casas was full of smirks and antics in the match but still bringing the right amount of legit pro wrestling with his cool spin kicks and blows. Dandy was in his UWF black trunks and kickpads get up so he meant business. Felino and Silver King was on the same level, with both guys being really stubborn and uncooperative going for takedowns, blocking and bitchslapping each other. Satanico/Lizmark was the most traditional pro wrestling in the match and still pretty great and scrappy looking. Rudo beatdown felt intensely violent due Casas trying to choke Dandy out and kicking him in the head, Lizmark taking a beatdown in the corner and almost having his mask pulled off. King getting his head bashed into the post was also really grizzly. At one point Casas was fucking biting Lizmark and you could see the flesh between his teeth before he gives the crowd a smug look, incredible. 3^rd fall retains the uncooperative, violent vibe really well and has some nice retaliation. Especially loved Casas complaining of a foul only to eat some UWF kicks from Dandy who was sick and tired of his shit. I thought it may have needed a bigger showdown considering how incredible the build throughout the match was but Casas getting his head kicked in was nice. Felino and Silver King continueing to streetfight was also excellent and Dandys big dive was thoroughly nuts. Dug the use of the ring with guys taking brutal looking postings and getting bashed into the ring edge.Really excellent match where they went for something pretty unique and everyone looked great, it felt like lucha crossed with WAR Memphis and UWF in the best way.

 Ultimo Dragon vs. Negro Casas, 8/28/1992

Pretty epic destruction of Casas. Dragon has it all here, he unloads all of his high end japanese offense on Casas who basically just takes a beat down. Dragons kicks actually look like he is kicking the shit out of his opponent here instead of going through a kick choreography, and he presses the action early on locking in a figure 4 in the first fall instead of the usual chain wrestling. There is some nice wrestling going on but Dragon is the dominant force and Casas is on offense for maybe 30 seconds in the whole match. Casas selling performance was quite amazing as it looks like he got fucked up early on by Dragons kicks and bombs and hanging on by a thread. There is a point where Casas is able to kick Dragon in the back and is unable to follow up so Dragon turns around to kick his ass some more. I was rooting for Casas and wanting him to stage some kind of epic comeback but he is too smart for that and he ends up just capitalizing on Dragon slipping and makes him pay for it. Crowd was mad hot for Ultimo and the match had such a unique vibe. It's rare that you see a title match in lucha be this one sided while going long. Dragon was on and Casas performance was amazing making this really memorable.

Norman Smiley vs. Vampiro, 10/30/1993

 At last, we talk about the truely fascinating stuff on this blog! Norman Smiley being a megastar in Mexico feels so unlikely. Especially since he wrestles the same dry technical style, but I guess the crowds just took a liking to him. Stardom in wrestling is sometimes bestowed in mysterious ways, but I think the guy deserves it just for being unapologetically himself. It's something that almost never gets brought up, as the English speaking internet is largely ignorant to lucha and I imagine the few lucha diehards are also ignorants towards the likes of Smiley and Vampiro since 'it's not real lucha'. This is a pretty interesting match. It's not some kind of hidden gem, but it ain't bad, and they do lots of curious things.  Immediately they start with grappling and trading some hard kicks. I thought Smiley was punishing Vampiro at first, kicking him really hard when he was down and locking in legit holds, with Vampiro looking sloppy and out of position. But Vampiro fired back with stiff looking kicks of his own, even kicking Smiley in the head while he was trying for a UWF leg lock. Smiley torquing 'piro on the ground is good, and Vampiro manages to string some decent power moves together to end the first fall. Vampiro soon goes back to looking like he barely belongs in a ring. He sure is a funny wrestler to watch when he tries. There are some fumblings, and poorly thought out structure, but by gawd they do try hard to work some epic twists and turns and have a lengthy match that succeeds in not stinking it up. I dug Smiley big bump to the outside, and the nonchalant foul he gave Vampiro amping up the pressure in the match was pretty well done. It was not a flawless match but I'd rather watch something like this over generic junior workrate fest #9000.

EMLL in 1990 #6 - 2/9/1990

 

Principe Island & Super Angel vs. Climax & Master

A match that is mostly famous because it has an unmasked La Parka, wrestling as Principe Island here. I guess these were all local or touring guys randomly getting a TV slot. Sometimes guys who only made TV once are better than some wrestler with extensive careers on tape, and there was some damn good wrestling in this. On the mat, these guys were definitely good enough to stand up to the CMLL regulars. When they stood up, Principe was the standout. The guy was close to a heavyweight for mexican standards, but he moved really fast and precise and had some cool spin kicks. I also really liked Climax, who was rocking 1998 Ryuji Yamakawa pants, and Master, who did this amusing thing where he kept tagging out on Principe island after getting the upper hand, until Principe goaded him back in and threw him with a bunch of really fast hip throws like a carny judo exhibition. The rudo beatdown went a bit long but Island made a nice comeback and it was a good little TV match in total.

Sombra Poblana & Tauro Jr. vs. Simbolo & Zorro de Oro

Wow, nice match. They definitely had their working boots on. It‘s funny how you can watch a ton of high end lucha and then a random old pairing like Sombra Poblana vs. Simbolo still delivers some stuff that catches you. Some really nice exchanges without being bog standard lucha. Some rudo shenanigans kicked in when Zorro de Oro stepped in, but they continued wrestling and I really appreciated that. They kept doing nice intricate exchanges until it was time for the rudos to kick ass. Some nice punches were thrown and Zorro even busted out a fucking ganso bomb, complete with a Kawada-style folding pin. The finishing sequence was brief but nice and had a huge dive that was sold as important. Good stuff considering this could have easily been another dogged standard undercard match.

Comando Ruso & Tony Arce & Vulcano vs. Remo Banda & Pantera & Octagon Jr.

We start right with the rudos doing a beatdown. They all throw nice punches, but you probably don‘t miss much if you fast forward through the first 6 or 7 minutes of this. After that it gets a lot more interesting as the technicos are allowed to look spectacular now. Remo Banda and Ruso were really going at each other, and Ruso made Banda look great by letting him hit some huge stuff and also punching him in the face. We get some more beatdown with Banda getting bloodied and having his ass kicked. Nice ending where everyone clears out so Banda and Ruso can do another faceoff. Bread and butter stuff but nicely done and actually got you excited for a Banda/Ruso singles, so they really got it all right!

Ciclon Ramirez & Gran Cochisse & Mascara Sagrada vs. El Egipcio & Pirata Morgan & Comando Ruso

Fun main event to cap off a good night of TV. Super Halcon was supposed to team with the rudos but wasn‘t cleared, so after some stalling Ruso comes out again to join them. Not sure what was up with that. First fall had some really nice smooth wrestling. I could watch Pirata Morgan go through routines and bump his ass off all day, the guy is such a great wrestler. Everyone looked good. Cochisse was in his singlet and kind of a mad bugger. He looked like he just lost a hair match and was fired up and wanted to take chunks out of the bad guys. Rudo beatdown was solid and the technico comeuppances were a lot of fun. I expected them to send the fans home happy, but instead the rudos unmasked Ramirez at an unexpected moment and we Cochisse jumping on him to help cover his face like the trooper he is.

TAKA in CMLL

 

Negro Casas & TAKA & Shocker vs. Black Warrior & Arkangel & Violencia, CMLL 7/4/1997

Man, CMLL in 1997 has such an amazing „this is wrestling at its absolute peak“ vibe. Even a random match like this ends up being pretty great and unpredictable. The heart of the match was Casas vs. Black Warrior. These two were out for blood. Their first exchange was already really scrappy, with an uncooperative suplex being thrown and then Casas spin kicks Warrior under the chin. The other guys were mostly there to spice things up with big spots and fast exchanges, and boy did they do that. Arkangel was really great here, throwing cool punches and clotheslines and generally making TAKA and Shocker look amazing. TAKA was mostly just in for brief bits but he did hit some fairly difficult stuff. Shocker and Violencia were also really good with Violencia bumping big. The Casas/Warrior feud segues nicely into an intense rudo beatdown before we get a quick and exciting 3rd fall with TAKA busting out his insane spaceman rope switching dive. He knew it takes a lot to really impress a mexican crowd so he basically just went for the craziest thing he knew, and he nailed it. Great stuff.

TAKA & La Fiera & Atlantis vs. Headhunters & Apolo Dantes, CMLL 5/16/1997

TAKA, Fiera and Headhunters in one match, this has a lot going for it! And this was ultra heated and absolutely on fire, really spectacular match if you love monster spots and heat. Starts great with the Headhunters rampaging and TAKA taking every crazy bump you can think of. By 1997 TAKA probably didn‘t have many functional nerves left in his back so he was bumping in that stiff as hell Mexican ring like a maniac, press slams, really whipping himself back hard when bumping for shoulder blocks, getting thrown into the turnbuckles, it was wild. Old man Fiera as usual is pretty great at picking his spots, we get him working a sweet comeback, hitting some gnarly kicks including a ridiculously great superkick and taking out Dantes with a cool surprise tope. Headhunters are so great as usual, the thing about them is they are tremendous crushing their opponents, but they are also really great at stooging and milking every bump they took to the absolute maximum, setting themselves up for big vs. Little offense in fun ways and always being ridiculously perfect in place for a pair of guys you‘d expect to be slow moving. They really made the „arch back and wobble your arms to tease falling over“ into an art form. The sequence where TAKA takes down a Headhunter with really fast dropkicks is so great, TAKA in general is a real star here with the crowd loving him and all his stuff looking so perfect. Tremendous finish too. Dantes is also in the match and while he isn‘t as outstanding as everyone else he is a pretty solid prick. This was a bit like a Twin Towers vs. Rockers match worked as a sprint with two really great Twin Towers and two way cooler and unlikely Rockers.

EMLL in 1990 #5 - 2/4/1990

 

Watch

Tauro Jr. & Octagon & Rafaga Azul vs. Zorro de Oro & Panico & Canelo Casas

This started out with some promising matwork that the rudos kept interrupting. Really liked how Tauro Jr. Swept Casas to the mat from an armbar attempt. The technicos got their shine in a second segment doing rope running exchanges and tricking the rudos. The match kind of fizzled after that with a not very good rudo beatdown (Canelo uncharacteristically botching some things) and a 3rd fall that took a bit to get going before some admittedly nice oddly coordinated multimant sequences. Not the best opening match.

Remo Banda & Mogur & Chamaco Valaguez vs. Fuerza Guerrera & Hijo de Gladiador & Comando Ruso

Similiar to the first match. This had a better first fall, as all the technicos looked really good. Really liked Chamaco Valaguez for his energy and crazy finishing hold. Enjoyed Banda getting trolled by Comando Ruso and repaying him by clocking him with a big forearm while he was standing on the apron. Rudos were a bit more vicious than in the previous match, but nothing outstanding. Banda threw some nice punch combos, but the technicos got snuffed in the 3rd fall without much addo. Really would‘ve been a pretty good match if they didn‘t go so awfully long, and poor Remo just can‘t seem to get into a match where he gets to look as good as he seems to be.

Espectro Jr/Herodes/Emilio Charles Jr vs Ringo Mendoza/Kung Fu/Popitekus

This was like how you want every random trios to be. You had Mendoza and Charles doing some classy lucha exchanges, Espectro Jr. Bumping for Popitekus beastly size in fun ways, and Kung Fu and Herodes doing some entertaining comedy built around martial arts bullshit and Herodes being a bumbling fool. They mix up the pairings in the second fall and we get some more good exchanges. I really would have liked to see more of Herodes punching and headbutting Popitekus during the rudo beatdown. 3Rd fall was short and had some more fun stuff including a star spot, plus a surprising ending with Herodes busting out a big dive and the rudos winning. Fun trios.

Brazo & Brazo de Oro & Brazo de Plata vs. Ulises & Gran Markus Jr. & Pierroth Jr.

First fall had some wonderful stumpy legged highflying from the Brazos. Brazo de Platas light footedness was especially impressive, he threw a really nice dropkick, leapfrog, big silla off the top… the rudos quickly took over in the second fall and bloodied their opponents, which was unexpected. Gran Markus Jr. Goes from a bumbling big idiot to a goon punching people hard in their cut and getting blood all over himself really well. It seemed Brazo was knocked out or something as his Brazos had to stage their comeback without him, but the rudos soon took back over and ended the match. Feels kinda weird to run this as a main event as it basically turned into a squash and was merely a set up for further matches between these teams.

 

The Library

GWE Watching: Demus

 

Demus vs. Mascarita Dorada, CMLL 1/11/2008

Freaking spectacular match worked at a feverish pace. Opening matwork was brief but great as it really looked like Dorada had to use technique and quickness to not get squished. Dorada is mostly known for highspots but he is really good working as Marcelo Garcia slipping out from underneath a much bigger opponent. Doradas crazy ringpost bump followed by Demus‘ psycho splash was completely unexpected and great. 2Nd and 3rd fall where just a lunacy show with Demus tossing Dorada around, who took some lunatic bumps, and Demus taking Doradas offense which may be the most complex and spectacular of all time ridiculously well. Highlights include Doradas gigantic dive off the ring post, later a huge diving rana and Demus just smashing his body into the ringpost. Also really loved Doradas submission where he just jumped on Demus back and went for the submission like Chiatzu jumping on Nappa. Also, Mascarita Dorada moonsaulting right into Demus outstretched legs was quite insane, so was his twisting face bump when Demus just launched him. Great big vs. little match, blows away a lot of highly praised matches.

Demus vs. Bam Bam, CMLL 7/27/2008

This was also really good. Really enjoyed the opening fall matwork where Demus did a really nice heel cob, mostly controlling Bam Bam in interesting ways, fish hooking him etc. Bam Bam is not as spectacular as Mascarita Dorada but he still has some quite spectacular offense, lots of difficult jumping ranas off the ropes etc that Demus catches perfectly. Demus busts out some big stuff himself including an awesome fast dive where he whipes out Bam Bam. I also loved his big submission. Demus seemed to have difficulties with his second which kept costing him in the match and his selling of being brought to the edge of defeat was intrigueing. Really really liked the finish too. These two had a lot of matches so I‘ll gladly move on to their hair match.

Demus vs. Bam Bam, CMLL 8/24/2008

As far as bloodless hair vs. Hair matches go, this was quite good. I wanted a bit more violence, there was some biting and floor brawling but I wanted more, that‘s 2000s CMLL for you I guess. Aside from that, they worked a breathless pace trying to wipe each other out with huge dives and bombs. Some nice submission nearfalls between the fury. The ending was really memorable as Demus hit this sick running powerbomb to the ramp on Bam Bam. Modern wrestling has conditioned me to expect Bam Bam to make a comeback rally, but Demus just finished him off right there and pinned him. Cold way to take someones hair.

Demus vs. Shockercito, CMLL 6/2/2009

Another hair vs. Hair match. Spectacular start to this as Shockercito hits a crazy spinning headscissor to Demus on the ramp and then nails him with an epic, horizontal landing tope. Shockercito has some quite spectacular moves, but Demus quickly goes to town on him slamming him with his power offense. Demus hits a huuuuge powerbomb off the top and I really liked how Shockercito actually sold that, having a hard time fighting back into the match and looking like he had his bell rung. The match also had a big more violence with both guys punching each other angrily here and there, so I guess I liked it more than Demus/Bam Bam. Shockercito took the win hanging onto the ropes which I thought was a bit strange but other than that this was really good.

Demus & Pierrothito & Pequeno Warrior vs. Shockercito & Mascarita Dorada & Pequeno Olimpico, CMLL 6/12/2009

After Shockercito took his hair in sneaky fashion I wanted to Demus to beat the shit out of him, but I guess that happened in another match. This was just about 10 minutes so you can imagine how short each fall was, but it was a quite fun, complex sprint with an unpredictable layout. Everyone looked amazing and was in and out of the ring really fast so I can‘t really make a huge cases for Demus based on this, but he did look really good when he was in. This match also had one of the best triple team moves I‘ve ever seen as Pierrothito & Warrior bounced Dorada ribs first into Demus outstretched legs. Add a share of spectacular technico highspots into this and you have a quality TV match.

Demus & Pequeno Halloween & Mr. Aguilita vs. Tzuki & Ultimo Dragoncito & Pequeno Olimpico, CMLL 4/1/2007

Earliest Demus match I could find in the matchfinder. Of course, he pretty much looks like a complete wrestler already. This was a short albeit super fun unpredictable trios. Really liked how the technicos kept denying the rudo beatdown and outwrestling the rudos in fun ways. Demus was paired with Tzuki and a really good dance partner. As usual Demus catches his opponents offense flawlessly inbetween crushing them with big slams etc. How he can slam a guy as small as Tzuki so hard with out killing him is beyond me but its extremely entertaining. Excellent finish between Demus and Ultimo Dragoncito. It‘s crazy how much work and passion these guys would put into matches that would end up being rather short and insignificant.

Random Lucha

 

Skayde & Torero vs. Colt & Aspid, Promo Azteca 2/28/1997

Opening matwork between Skayde and Colt was like the lucha equivalent of a high end U-Style match up. Really beautiful but also competitive stuff. Notable how good a random indy luchador like Colt was in 1997. Toreros sections were supposed to add some spice to the match, and his wrestling was fun too. He kept taking his boot off to hit the rudos with, while lizardman Aspid played the fool. The hold he won the first fall with was really cool. The match kept being played like that, Torero doing shtick and Skayde working high end workrate exchanges. Their team work was really cool and something you don‘t see a lot from technico teams. Good stuff and just the first 3 minutes of this are must watch.

 

El Dandy & Hector Garza & Shocker vs. Shu El Guerrero & Felino & Kahoz, CMLL 9/8/1995

CMLL once again throws 6 guys into a match and you get something really good. Shu vs. El Dandy is such a cool match up, and they really stretch out and do a lot together here. They start with a lengthy mat section which was so cool, Dandy allowed to Shu to look beastly, with Shu hitting aggressive takedowns and locking in cool holds on him. Dandy tried to pick at the best by attacking his arms and legs, building to a really nice arm lift spot. Felino/Garza was also so good, man I love Felino as he will just grapple and throw the fuck out of a guy. Garza was this athletic young stud but Felino pretty much overwhelmed him and it was intense stuff. The next good match up in this was Shocker/Kahoz, who apparently had a feud going. Shocker forearmed Kahoz hard as he was standing on the aprom which is totally enough to get me into the match up. Later we get Kahoz working quite mean, hitting some snug clotheslines and kick and even tearing Shockers mask violently. I really liked how Dandy and Garza had to use double teams to use the first fall (earning them some boos since that‘s rudo stuff). The rudo beatdown transitions into everyone working frantic 1 vs. 1 exchanges was also really good and the technicos still being at a disadvantage was a nice touch, as the rudos were quite ruthless hitting gnarly powerbombs on that unforgiving mexican ring mat.. Dandy hit this great desperation tope over the 3rd rope and his partner tried to pull out a win but failed. Sometimes technicos can‘t succeed and this case the rudos were just a bit too vicious.

EMLL in 1990 #4 - 1/26/1990

Watch

Super Gallo & Remo Banda vs. Panico & Simbolo, CMLL 1/26/1990

Rather skippable match that was largely dominated by rudo shenanigans. Gallo is a fun character and got in some nice sequences, but the rest of this was cheap shotting. Both technicos took some nice bumps for the rudo beatdown and at least got the win in the end. Poor Banda seems to be unable to look blowaway good despite being clearly talented.

Ciclon Ramirez & Rafaga Azul & Octagon vs. Canelo Casas & Fuerza Guerrera & Jaque Mate

This started out with two really nice mat sections, one between Octagon and Canelo and one between Ramirez and Jaque Mate. Soon rudo tactics crept in though and Fuerza was punching people in the face. The rudo beatdown went a bit long, but they picked up the pace quick with some really fast rudo stooging and sequences. I‘m not sure if Octagons weird bottom rope dive was a mess up or he just kind of didn‘t feel like busting out a huge dive. Faces ended up winning 2:0 on kind of a fluke which felt a bit pointless even though it was a solid match.

Pierroth Jr. & Ulises & Gran Markus Jr. vs. Popitekus & Javier Llanes & Huracan Ramirez II

Really really good, long slow building match that was full of good exchanges and told a story. As usual we get two very good opening mat sections. Really enjoyed Ulises/Ramirez, there even was an UWF leglock, and Pierroth Jr./Llanes was good in a different way. Pierroth Jr. Really deserves to be considered up there with the likes of Fit Finlay when it comes to vicious badasses. He really worked over Llanes face in nasty fashion, who shot back by handling Pierroth by the mask. Popitekus/Gran Markus Jr. Was a heavyweight matchup and also really good, these two work their stuff in a way to really make themselves look like behemoths. Markus initially upset Popitekus by pulling his hair and tagged out, so the crowd was buzzing when they faced off for the second time. First fall was really long and developed as they really go deep on each matchup, which was really nice to see. They switch up the matchups in the second fall, with Popi engaging in some really cool quick exchanges. The eventual rudo beatdown was really good, as they kept mixing up the violence. First you got guys getting punched in the face, then getting booted in the face, finally Llanes got his kidney worked over in nasty fashion. Technicos seemed to be making a comeback but then the rudos made Popi take a gigantic bump over the rope, dispatched Ramirez and submitted Llanes. Pretty badass showing and got me excited for the bigger matchup of the rudos facing Los Brazos the next week!

Angel Azteca & Apolo Dantes & Cesar Dantes vs. Pirata Morgan & Verdugo & Hombre Bala

This started out with some comedy and shtick, but once they started wrestling, holy fuck they started wrestling! Plenty of tricky, unusal exchanges. Clearly Los Infernales are all timers at working a lucha trios. They probably lightened up their act a bit here, doing a lot of stooging and bumbling acts to send the fans home happy, but they still hit a lot of freaky triple team moves, including one where they gorilla pressed the other guy to the outside. 3Rd fall had more oddly coordinated multiman sequences and some really great stuff built around the STAR, including the Dantes brothers putting the REVERSE STAR on los Infernales. I‘m a sucker for a good star so I enjoyed al that. This was my first time seeing the Dantes brothers and they looked pretty good and decently athletic, but this was largely the Infernales show.

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EMLL in 1990 #3 - 1/19/1990

 

Martha Villalobos & La Diabolica vs. Pantera Surena & Zuleyma

Rarely do you see the ladies get +20 minutes in a CMLL TV match. The result was basic but a good match. Diabolica and Zuleyma did some fun wrestling to start. Villalobos was cool here, looking scuzzy and immediately using her size to squish people. They move to the beatdown section pretty fast. I know Surena as a kind of a superworker from her matches in AJW, but she didn‘t get to do a ton here. The 2nd fall had some really great, elaborate stooging spots. They did some more good wrestling in the 3rd before escalating the brawling again as Diabolica had apparently done something that really pissed off her opponents and they tried to unmask her. Some biting and hair pulling ensues. The rudas get the win even though it looked like excessive violence to me. Will be interesting to see what else we will get from the ladies in 1990 as this felt more like a taste of what they can do.

Canelo Casas & Panico & Comando Ruso vs. Remo Banda & Rokambole & Rafaga Azul

Canelo Casas – so young, so talented. Already really dedicated to being evil and bumping his ass off, but also looking like a talented wrestler on the offense. He was the standout in what was otherwise a quick undercard match. I mean, the video was well over 20 minutes, but it felt like a breeze. All the technicos got to do quick standing exchanges in the opening fall where they one upped the rudos, then we moved right on to the beatdown. Banda tries to be spectacular but had one slip up, and Rafaga looked quite graceful and cool. Comando Ruso is a short stocky guy who doesn‘t look like much at first with his Zbyszko stalling, but he is an effective rudo. I dig any wrestler who will take a flip bump when he misses a punch, and he hit a really, really pretty dropkick at one point. The 3rd fall could have been better as the rudos took the match quite easily. I look forward to seeing more Canelo Casas.

Javier Llanes & Americo Rocca & Huracan Ramirez II vs. Ulises & Pierroth Jr. & Super Halcon

This was one of those matches that makes you go „Man, Lucha Libre is beautiful.“ It wasn‘t some kind of grand classic but it was chock full of wonderful wrestling. The previous match mostly had standing exchanges, so here they start with some matwork and more story driven wrestling as Llanes and Pierroth went at each other, immediately teasing a brawl but going back to wrestling. Llanes looked really good here, like he could do it all. Super Halcons section with Americo Rocca was also quite beautiful and classical. Ulises and Huracan kept it simple and effective, with Ulises triumphing initially by hitting 3 really fast and pretty hip tosses, and then Ramirez retaliates by hitting 4 really fast and pretty hip tosses. Pierroth Jr. Is a monster rudo here, as he catches Llanes flying at him with a big punch, later he drags him over the ropes by the hair, just working exchanges in really rough fashion while stooging beautifully for everything the technicos did. The rudo beatdown starts in a really cool way, Halcon swings at Rocca and catches him in the face, it didn‘t even feel like it was a blow that was intended to hit but it caught Rocca by surprise, so Halcon shrugs and commences the beatdown. He had the feel of a guy who didn‘t mean to be a rudo, but god damn it he‘s old and lost his mask, he doesn‘t give a fuck anymore, he‘s gonna kick some ass. Ulises kicking Rocca in the face and in the nose was also quite Fuchi-like and unexpected. The third fall was quick as the technicos seemed to stage their grand comeback but then Halcon just kicked Llanes in the balls and pinned him casually. No rudo theatrics to that at all, just took advantage of the ref looking away and collected a pin.

Super Astro & Angel Azteca & Mascara Sagrada vs. MS-1 & Tierra Viente y Fuego & Herodes

This was a match that was buzzing from the get go. The faces wanted to throw hands with the rudos immediately and guys were attacking guys on the apron as if it was a heated AJPW 6 man. They worked some fast exchanges, but the animosity was always there. Astro as always looks incredible and the other two also got to look really good. Rudos were excellent stooges as you‘d expect. The match seemed to be building to a big cathartic ending but then it just ended, which was a bit of a weird choice for a main event. I expected the technicos to give the rudos an epic comeuppance but it just wasn‘t. Slightly disappointing although the first half or so was really good.

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2002 MOTY Project Update #16

30.  Rey Bucanero & Ultimo Guerrero vs. Shocker & Vampiro, CMLL 9/13/2002

Another shockingly great match in the Vampiro vs. GDI feud. Getting a great feud out of Vampiro must be the crown jewel in Bucaneros and UGs body of work. This was basically a 12 minute super sprint that they put thought into. Every fall told a story and was intense. Of course, everyone minus Vampiro here is a really great athlete, so they were wrestling on a high level. Shocker played second fiddle to Vampiros charisma, but he was working his ass off bumping and flying and working exchanges. And Vampiro did not shit himself. I always like how hard Bucanero and Guerrero go at their opponents. They are asskickers but they always make sure to get the crowd on their bad site. Near perfect mix of workrate and heelwork.

4. Atlantis & Mr. Niebla & Negro Casas vs. Rey Bucanero & Dr. Wagner Jr. & Tarzan Boy, CMLL 8/30/2002

Even greater match, probably the lucha MOTY. Just an incredible brawl. Just a house of fire with the rudos coming out destroying the technicos and then the technicos coming back laying major assbeatings on them.Tarzan Boy was going hard after Negro Casas since they had a feud, and the bit where Casas was eating a 3 on 1 beatdown on the floor was some street violence. The technicos almost completely forgo any fancy moves and just go right back after the rudos, guys jumping on each other raining punches from mount left and right, it's a frenzy. Casas continueing to beat on Tarzan Boy right after the finish was great. In between the brawling and mask ripping they mix in some incredible sequences. You know it's awesome when Mr. Niebla has his working boots on and Bucaneros monkey flip bump over the rope was out of this world, he just flew into the void. My favourite moment in the whole match may have been Casas landing punches from mount and Bucanero jumping on him ragdolling him across the ring by his hair. You wouldn't think a hair drag would be so awesome but it is. You could tell Casas had a blast too busting out Choshu lariats and kicking dudes in the face. A nice reminder how incredible lucha brawls can be.

2002 MOTY MASTER LIST

EMLL in 1990 #2 - 1/12/1990

Watch

Aguilita Solitaria & La Aranita & Mascarita Sagrada vs. Espectrito & Pequeno Goliath & Piratita Morgan

Minis get to stretch out for 3 long falls and do their thing and the result is accordingly good. Lots of fun matwork and armdrags ensue. Pequeno Goliath carries himself with some amazing swagger. The standout was obviously Mascarita Sagrada who just does amazing stuff. Lots of complex sequences built around whacky armdrag variations. I liked how the rudos would continue with their tactics throughout the 3^rd fall, building to another great technico comeback. They tease a big Espectrito/Mascarita showdown which is the hottest matchup here but end the match a little prematurely. Still, nothing to complain when you get 20+ minutes of quality lucha.

Mogur vs. Pierroth Jr.

On 1/5 we got a couple very good trios matches, and one week later we get the singles matches we want to see most coming out of each. Booking can be so easy. And this was a great little match between two overlooked workers. We start in great simplistic fashion with both guys really cranking a side headlock and a waistlock each. The whole match they did a great job working around simple moves. Pierroth Jr. works over Mogurs shoulder using repeated armdrags, really whipping him into the mat and Mogur wincing. Later Mogur gets some nice revenge by locking in ultra tight headscissors, he has a brutal looking armwringer too that drives Pierroths shoulder into the mat. They do some more swanky lucha moves aswell such as a cool sequence where they move from a pin attempt into tombstone reversals, and Pierroth has a few cool submissions including a sweet crucifix lock. There is some cheating – after all Pierroth Jr. had reduced Mogur to a bloody pulp the week before – and he hits one of the sneakier low blows you'll see here - but they deliver a great sheninangless 3^rd fall. Pierroth Jr. destroying Mogur by picking him up and ramming him into the posts repeatedly ruled. Mogur builds a nice comeback out of that and we get a classic lucha third fall with crazy dives, desperation selling for an attempted surfboard etc. I bit on the nearfall for the crucixion hold and I really liked how they would take short breathers to how how spent they were. Finish was a simple move and worked. Not the most epic lucha title match, no top rope moves or big bumps, but they made everything they did count and built a great match. Classy stuff, maybe a hidden gem (does it count as hidden if it was on OJ's blog?).

 Angel Azteca vs. Emilio Charles, Jr.

Good title match as you'd expect from two of mexicos most reliable workmen. However the match was a little short and it lacked the selling that the previous Pierroth/Mogur match had. On the other hand it was more spectacular with big dives and both guys taking huge bumps for maximum drama. I would've liked to see more matwork.

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