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

2002 MOTY Project Update #14

 

15. Hijo del Santo & Mascara Magica & Shocker vs. Tarzan Boy & Ultimo Guerrero & Rey Buccanero, CMLL 6/7/2002)

 

Great, heated trios full of unpredictable bumps and quite hate filled brawling. Very smart layout with the rudos starting strong only to get cleared out by a series of Santo topes. The finish to the second fall that saw a guy get taken down and jumped 3 on 1 was fantastic and added to the unpredictability. 3Rd fall breaking out into another brawl was great, too. The Guerreros were on fire that night. I especially liked Rey Bucaneros unexpected bump over the top rope. Shocker looked spry trying to boot peoples heads off and he had fun chemistry with Tarzan Boy. The Santo/Magica double tope was insane. Top stuff, maybe the best trios of the year.

 

24. Yoshiko Tamura vs Tanny Mouse (NEO 08/17/02)

Tanny Mouse carries Tamura to her best match of the year. No, I’m not kidding. Tanny was great here as she avoided Tamuras usual bullshit and actually got something interesting out of her. Her offense was also pretty great and varied. It kind of exposed how dull and repetitive Tamura is in comparison. Tanny mostly kept this on the mat, forcing Tamura to actually grapple a bit for a change, and during the standing sections she was mixing in awesome strikes and suplexes. There were also some amazing, perfectly timed cradles. So, Tanny was working this as a grappler with a hard head relying on cradles… was she high on Tamon Honda tapes that year? The nearfall section was slightly into overkill, but Tanny never was able to hit her finish and Tamura actually got to look badass for a change as she hit the worlds nastiest senton and later scored a great KO victory.

2002 MOTY MASTER LIST

Assorted CMLL

Rey Bucanero vs. Fantastik, CMLL 5/7/1996

This was from a tournament and people always complain about tournament lucha that the matches are super short, but this was a great 5 minute match. Had pretty much everything you can ask for, slick matwork, huge dives, some cool bumps and a cool finish. Fantastik is a luchador who would show up on a lot of BJW undercards and in very little actual stuff from Mexico, but he is a pretty great luchador. Great little moment during the opening grappling where he suplexed Bucanero out of nowhere and then almost crushed his chest with a senton where he landed hip first. Then he whips out his awesome senton to the floor which has to be the nuttiest regular spot any wrestler every had. He takes a super cool bump on a missed kneedrop before Bucanero hits a heavy landing dive of his own and is able to snatch the victory with a cool submission hold.

Tajiri & Fantastik & Ciclon Ramirez vs. Mogur & Halcon Negro & Guerrero de la Muerte (CMLL 12/23/1995)

Sometimes, you just gotta watch a great lucha trios. I think CMLL was having a strong run at best promotion in the world in the late 90s and this was an example of why. Just 6 wrestlers going hard in a very competitive match. You can tell things were on fire when a match involving undercarders is this good. Tajiri was like a fish in water working the Mexican style. He had no problem going hard doing some swank lucha matwork and then hitting some uncharacteristic high kicks. Fantastik vs. Mogur section may have been even better, as both guys work sections around throwing each other hard with judo hip throws. Mogur was in the match to seek heat, which is a totally fine role when there are multiple super athletic wrestlers in the match, and he was hitting good looking uppercuts. Fantastik hits a missile dropkick with such amazing height its ridiculous. Rudo beatdown section was short and fairly violent (I like how they segued into it), including Guerrero de la Muerte hitting a stiff clothesline. 3^rd fall saw Tajiri almost breaking Mogurs jaw with a kick before hitting a great dive and Fantastik once again rolling out the insane senton to he floor. Finish wasn’t epic but Ciclon and Guerrero de la Muerte did some good work before a super blatant foul. I don’t know if this lead to anything (I imagine it was simply an undercard match where they decided to look good before doing a quick finish) but the work was so enjoyable that you won’t be sour about the finish at all.

Bracito de Oro & Orito vs. Felinito & Pierrothito, CMLL 5/24/1996

 Super enjoyable tag that was a preview of the greatness the CMLL minis division would produce in 1997. Seriously everyone here looks like such a high end pro wrestler, just ridiculously smooth matwork, lightning fast rope running, and everything laid out in a pretty complex manner. Felinito was a real fucker in the match too, adding some piss and vinegar, but they make sure to stretch out and let everyone showcase some wrestling. Orito takes one of the highest backdrop bumps I've ever seen, and everyone gets in some great offense, including Pierrothito with a great arm hold suplex and later a beautiful back elbow, and Felinito with a crushing senton. Bracito also busts out some neat chokeslams.

2002 MOTY List Update #3 - Lucha worth watching

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

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

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

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

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

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

Torneo Cibernetico (CMLL 3/22/2002)

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

 

2002 MOTY PROJECT MASTER LIST