Assorted Monterrey

 

Pirata Morgan/Hombre Bala/Verdugo vs. Apolo Estrada/Tony Reyna/Rudy Reyna (1989)

I dug Apolo Estrada here, as he was willing to bleed like crazy, get his ass kicked and throw great punches in retaliation. That’s about all I need from a great babyface. The Pirates immediately started kicking ass and Estrada was a bloody mess within like 2 minutes. We get a great comeback from Estrada throwing a flurry of punches and then stalking Pirata Morgan, as they would fight through the chairs and punch each other for several minutes in an intense streetfight. It was the kind of moment where they were hard to separate and they just kept fighting as neither wanted to turn his back and it was really grimy and cool. Rest of the match was largely built around Estrada and Pirata Morgan having epic face offs. The Reynas were alright, did their job and didn’t try to take the spotlight from Morgan/Estrada. I liked Rudy who is an exotico, cutting out the bullshit and just throwing punches in the third fall. All the Pirata/Estrada faceoffs were great and we get an awesome dive from Estrada plus absolutely nasty low blow finish. This is definitely a feud I would like to see more of. 

 

 Negro Navarro vs. Apolo Estrada, Monterrey ?/1989

I'd say this was easily one of the most violent lucha matches I've ever seen. Negro Navarro was an absolutely amazing asskicker here. There is some brief wrestling at the start, with some cool trips and takedowns and Negro Navarro locking in a really graceful armbar, but they soon start brawling. Navarro delivers an absolutely sick all time level beatdown on Estrada, knees to the face, amazing punch combos and headbutts. Estrada is soon covered in blood as Navarro is bashing his head into the mat like trying to crack a coconut. The referee stopping the fall as Navarro kept kneeing a bloody Estrada in the face felt like something out of a gruesome early UFC fight. I was pleased to see that the 2nd fall was quite competitive, with Estrada making a big punch comeback but not easily winning. Navarro continously complaining about getting fouled added to the match as it seemed Estrada was close to getting disqualified. Third fall had some more epic punch exchanges, gritty submission holds and scrappy fighting, such as Navarro eating a nasty lariat to the face and then lunging to headbutt Estrada in the kidney. Navarro showed some shades of his later maestro status by executing a really graceful freestyle pin or doing a primitive version of his later finisher. Estrada did not look as good as Navarro, though he also he had nice punches and looked convincingly slaughtered, bleeding like crazy, looking punch drunk and crazy gritting his teeth. Pretty epic much and based on this and the Mando match I'd say Navarro easily looks like an all time level brawler as he had so many different ways to fuck up his opponent and the match never got boring when he was laying in a beatdown. 

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.

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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