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

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.

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