Random Lucha

 

El Golpeador/Gremlin/Dr. Cerebro vs Mastadonte/Tony Rivera/El Oriental, AAA 5/11/1996

I‘m guessing this is from an AAA show where they aired the match with the local guys. It‘s funny how you can watch a random lucha local guy opener and find a bunch of really good wrestlers you don‘t hear much of. Mastadonte is a big fat guy and Golpeador a scuzzy rudo who stooges for the fat guys fatness in really amusing ways, the part where he got scared of one technico and then ran right into a belly attack was an amazing bit of stooging. Along with that you had some really great workrate sections, Oriental looks just spectacular matching up with Gremlin and Dr. Cerebro here. It was nice to see a young Dr. Cerebro, who at this point looked like the much better Dr. Wagner Jr., acting like a jerk, stooging extremely well and making everything look seemless. He had very cool chemistry with Tony Rivera where they did more solid moves like snug clotheslines and missile dropkicks as opposed to the crazy headscissors and armdrags of Oriental. Another highlight was Orientals inside arm suplex which was a really Honda move for a 90s luchador to bust out. Nice unpredictable structure where they play with your expectations of a classic trios structure so when you expect a rudo beatdown to start, it doesn‘t. Interesting finish too as Mastadonte turns on his technico partners and they lay waste to the technicos in a 4 on 2 beatdown before another luchador in zubaz pants makes the safe. Great tag overall though.

 

Baby Rabbit/Mini Frisbee/Super Muñequito vs. Espectritos I & II/La Parkita, AAA 3/22/1996

Really great match which may very well be an overlooked classic. Just 6 really great wrestlers with charisma working 3 stretched out falls, which is about all you need to produce a great lucha trios. Just one great exchange after another. I really liked how Mini Frisbee started out working some more grounded but cool armdrag variation, but things soon went into overdrive when Baby Rabbit tagged in. That guy had some truely amazing movements, it's gotta be hard diving through the ropes when you are barely the height of the middle ropes but he had no problem. Technicos start busting out dives in the first fall so the rudos had to move. Great extended rudo beatdown with numerous cut offs and a gradual technico comeback. Lucha beatdowns can be trite but that wasn't the case here, the rudos booted people in the face, hit powerbombs on that unforgiving ring and generally strew the faces bodies all over the places. There was a cool moment where Frisbee and somebody blew a sequence but recovered seamlessly, and a dance off between Munequito and La Parkita. Gotta say this Super Munequito has to be a way better wrestler than the big version. The celebration after the 3rd fall felt truely earned, not only because the match felt like a struggle but because they absolutely nailed everything.

Mini Vader & Mini Mankind vs. La Parkita & Mascarita Sagrada Jr., AAA 1/10/1997

MINI VADER. MINI MANKIND. The ref is Mini Tirantes! They have a Mini Paul Bearer! But Mini Paul Bearer is taller than either of them, so I guess the scale was off. This was some good stuff. Mascarita Sagrada Jr. is of course ultra spectacular (apparently he's Baby Rabbit), but Parkita is a really good technico also. Swag dance moves and fast arm drags. He had a really nice moment where he got some real pop on a pop-up rana into a spinning headscissor thing that may have  been the most spectacular moment of the match. I dug Mini Vader a lot here, as he was hitting punches but also really booting peoples heads off with thrust kicks and hitting gnarly power bombs while also being an excellent base. Apparently he's Espectrito who had lost his mask, being Mini Vader a bit longer could've produced some cool match ups but he went back to being Espectrito soon. Weak finish but everything up to that point was all kinds of fun, sometimes you wanna watch a match like this.

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.

The Library