Showing posts with label el brazo. Show all posts
Showing posts with label el brazo. Show all posts

Tuesday, August 1, 2023

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.

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Friday, July 29, 2022

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.

 

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