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Blogs

Great Lucha

Blue Panther vs. Averno

Blue Panther vs. Averno, Arena Mexico 11/04/08   This was Panther's 30th Anniversary match, so he got to wrestle his kind of match. A lot of grappling and pin attempts and the usual matwork and submissions. It didn't matter that he was without his mask; work-wise he looked like his old self.   I actually watched a handheld of this, which is probably more satisfying than watching it taped. The guy had good seats; a few rows in, with all the action on his side. Great line of sight, especiall
Great Lucha

Gran Cochisse vs. Satanico

Gran Cochisse vs. Satanico, NWA World Middleweight Championship, Arena Mexico 9/14/84   This is one of the great lucha matches; a "Greco-Roman" classic with a dramatic shift in paradigm from rudo challenger to numero uno.   People often make the mistake of thinking Gran Cochisse was at the end of his career here, but he'd go on to compete for and hold this title for a few more years, as well as capturing the UWA World Junior Light Heavyweight Championship four years later, so he was a form
Great Lucha

Guerreros vs. Infernales (1991)

Eddy, Chavo y Mando Guerrero vs. El Satanico, MS1 y Masakre (8/23/91)   Every time I've seen Chavo Guerrero work Mexico he's been awesome and this was no exception. I'm fairly confident that he could've been one of the great luchadores had his father stayed put.   Here he squared off with Satanico and we were treated to a real arm wrestle between the two. Towards the end they gave a master class in how to work a lucha exchange. I watched it several times to see how skillfully they caught
Great Lucha

Los Oficiales, Freelance and Lucha De Minis

Los Oficiales vs. Freelance, Pegasso Xtreme, Rey Cometa, 10/9/08 Los Oficiales vs. Freelance, Pegasso Xtreme, Rey Cometa, Distrito Federal Trios Titles, 10/17/08   Some of the best trios wrestling to come out of Mexico this year.   I actually preferred the title match, largely because Los Oficiales are better at mano a mano exchanges than working as a trios. What their "Los Destructores" act lacks are the comeuppance spots, where the double and triple teaming breaks down and they end up
Great Lucha

Bam Bam vs. Pequeño Damian 666

Time to check in on the minis...   Bam Bam vs. Pequeño Damian 666, CMLL World Minis Championship, 7/27/08 Bam Bam vs. Pequeño Damian 666, hair vs. hair, 8/17/08   Y'know, I like Pequeño Damian. He might be a modern sort of rudo, but he looks like the bastard love child of Damián 666, so he's alright.   And he argued with his second in a title match, something I've never seen before. Loco Max was urging him not to take risks, but Damian got sick of Loco opening his trap and kicked hi
Great Lucha

Black Terry vs. Negro Navarro

Black Terry vs. Negro Navarro, Americas Title, NWA Mexico 11/1/08   This is available in various forms on youtube, including one set to Metallica. None of them are complete, but what's shown is EPIC. I kid you not, this is fucking incredible --   xxhttp://nz.youtube.com/watch?v=tFl5O7MYbWg xxhttp://nz.youtube.com/watch?v=4Nnt_hetpYA xxhttp://nz.youtube.com/watch?v=fZcFHAYYoNg
Great Lucha

Blue Panther vs. Villano V (rematch)

Blue Panther vs. Villano V, Arena Puebla, 9/29/08   Revenge match in front of a pretty small crowd and my first look at Panther without the mask.   It takes a bit of getting used to, and looks a hell of a lot like old man brawling, but like I said Panther was never the greatest brawler. At one point he threw a pretty decent right hand, but it hardly matters since Villano won't bump.   This was a lot stiffer than their mask match, with Villano dishing out some nasty shots and not givin
Great Lucha

IWRG 10/3/08

IWRG 10/3/08   Lucha Azteca La Nueva Era   1. Black Terry, Negro Navarro, Hijo de Pierroth vs. Pendulo, Freelance, Fenix   2. Campeones Vs Campeones:   Escuadron del Muerte: Xibalva, Cyborg, Capitan Muerte vs. Los Oficiales: Oficial 911, Oficial Ak 47, Oficial Fierro   This was closer to the type of lucha I like. Guys taking their time, working the mat and getting into a rhythm. The young guys were balls of nervous energy, ready to explode in a shower of highspots, but even when t
Great Lucha

Blue Panther vs. Villano V (mask vs. mask)

Blue Panther vs. Villano V, mask vs. mask, CMLL 75th Anniversary show 9/19/08   Panther losing wasn't the worst thing in the world. It's happened to plenty of workers. Some of them were big names, some small. Some went on to fame, others never got a doggone thing. But this wasn't a great match. It was the same dumbed down shit that makes it difficult to enjoy pro-wrestling these days. I was hoping for something special, and I got it in Panther's topes, but the rest of the match was bullshit.
Great Lucha

Santo vs. Casas (1992)

El Hijo del Santo vs. Negro Casas, UWA 1/12/92   This is the famous "no sound" match that was wrestled almost completely on the mat. (Well, famous to me.)   The more UWA Santo I see, the more I feel like I'm watching a completely different wrestler. This was the absolute peak of Santo's work and the closest he came to wrestling like his father. It's becoming harder to watch latter day Santo knowing he was once like this. The creativity and inventiveness in this match is staggering, such as
Great Lucha

Bestia Salvaje vs. Kato Kung Lee (hair match)

Bestia Salvaje vs. Kato Kung Lee, hair vs. hair, 3/13/92   I can't get over what a good worker Bestia Salvaje was in 1992.   This was a minor match, a veteran losing their hair to continue Bestia's push as a top rudo, but it's hard to imagine anyone getting a better match out of Kato Kung Lee this late in the game.   Without the mask Kato looked like a regular Joe. He reminded me of a bit part actor in an old movie, the kinda guy you could cast as a newspaper man in one film and a heav
Great Lucha

Sangre Chicana vs. La Fiera ('93 hair match)

Sangre Chicana vs. La Fiera, hair vs. hair, CMLL 7/2/93   Ah, 1993 CMLL.   AAA was doing big business at the time, and if this was CMLL's way of rolling with the punches, I have no idea why they ran such slow, plodding matches.   Not that I'm complaining. Sangre Chicana is just about my favourite wrestler for doing absolutely fucking nothing and getting heat for it. He spent the entire match measuring La Fiera with punches & walking off into the crowd to jaw with the public. He had
Great Lucha

Fuerza Guerrera vs. Gallo Tapado (mask match)

Fuerza Guerrera vs. Gallo Tapado, hair vs. hair, 3/8/91   Gallo Tapado was a character wrestler from the 70s whose mask was "a rooster's spur around the eyes and a line crossing the mouth to feign a belt from the charro's hat whom made roosters fight in los palenques, making him an excellent character, since sometimes in the ring [he] jumped joining his ankles like sharping his knives as roosters do in a fight." (Credit: lucha wiki)   He was 48 years old here and practically a 30 year vet,
Great Lucha

Pierroth vs. El Supremo (mask vs. mask)

Pierroth vs. El Supremo, mask vs. mask, 12/08/92   This was a return to greatness for PIERROTH.   I fucking loved this.   -- I should note that the version I watched was letterboxed (which it made it seem like a rare piece of lucha footage) and for some reason the sound quality was better than usual. Arena Mexico never sounded so good.   At some point in 1992, Pierroth turned technico and was a huge hit with the crowd.   Supremo was an older luchador with a classic look -- huge
Great Lucha

Pirata Morgan vs. Masakre (hair vs. hair)

Pirata Morgan vs. Masakre, hair vs. hair, 2/28/92   When I first saw this match I was in awe of Pirata Morgan.   Like most people I saw it as a big time performance from the best wrestler in the world.   This time I'm not so sure.   As awesome as Pirata was, he could've worked the match with one arm tied behind his back. Watching Los Intocables, it's clear that Masakre lacked focus. When you're facing a guy who isn't a great brawler, you've gotta have him fight. You've gotta make h
Great Lucha

CMLL TV 2/23/92

1. Los Destructores: Tony Arce/Vulcano/Rocco Valente vs. Love Machine (Art Barr)/America/Mano Negra   Los Destructores were really good in this. It's a bit difficult to tell one from the other, but they worked well as a trios. Plenty of good "routine", particularly their two and three man bumping act. The highlight was Mano Negra taking all three on at once in a beautifully coordinated sequence. Los Destructores have a neat trick they do where they sit on someone's lap to dissuade the techni
Great Lucha

CMLL TV 2/9/92

1. Los Brazos vs. Pierroth Jr./Masakre/Jaque Mate   This was a rehash of their January match. If you were expecting them to kick on and ratchet it up a notch like I was, you'd be greatly disappointed. There was some amusing stuff, like Masakre and Jaque Mate pin pointing the pressure points on Porky's gut, but it was too low on the card to deliver.   2. Ultimo Dragon vs. Blue Panther - Non-Title match   It sucks how much of Blue Panther's prime was wasted on being a fall guy for shitt
Great Lucha

CMLL TV 1/12/92

1. Ciclon Ramirez/La Pantera II/Aguila Solitaria vs. Arkangel de la Muerte/Guerrero de la Muerte/Guerrero Negro   Fun opener.   It kinda reminded me of those travel shows where they do a feature on lucha libre. They usually focus on lucha as a live show, as though you've got a front row seat. CMLL TV doesn't give you the same pick-ups from ringside, but this felt like a live match. They could probably fall out of bed and have this trios, but it was good stuff from guys I don't usually writ
Great Lucha

Atlantis vs. Blue Panther (07/11/08)

Atlantis vs. Blue Panther, Arena Mexico 07/11/08   This was a match to mark Atlantis' 25th Anniversary in wrestling.   Atlantis was one of the great technicos, but he doesn't hit the small shows much, so we don't get to see him work an older style. Some of his Guadlajara stuff is alright, but you know the small show mastery I'm talking about. Fitting then that Panther was chosen to be his opponent, since they had the most pure of title matches in 1991, a match which more than any other sh
Great Lucha

Villanos vs. Brazos, masks vs. masks, 10/21/88

More of a heads up than a review.   If you've never seen the Villanos/Brazos masks match, it was uploaded onto youtube a few days ago.   It's not that easy to watch, because of the low tape quality and the guy playing with his camera functions, but it's a big match with an incredible atmosphere. The third fall is a great lucha brawl. You don't get a great look at the dive train or the finish since people are standing, but you do get to see the wrestlers leave the ring, which is footage you
Great Lucha

Blue Panther/Shu El Guerrero vs Black Terry/Villano III

Blue Panther/Shu El Guerrero vs Black Terry/Villano III (2004?)   This is the match that Black Terry's son put on youtube for us.   It's thirty minutes of old school lucha, worked entirely on the mat. I've watched it twice now, and of all the mat based lucha that's ever been pimped, this is up there with the best of it. Of all the small show, veteran matches that have been pimped this decade, this is almost certainly the best. You almost have to watch it twice to catch all the subtleties.
Great Lucha

Perro Aguayo vs. Villano III (UWA - 12/5/84)

Perro Aguayo vs. Villano III, WWF World Light Heavyweight Title (UWA - 12/5/84)   I'd love to say that Perro could go back in the day, but he was a pretty limited worker.   His approach was pretty direct, either going straight for the pin or submission or throwing out a clothesline, piledriver, tope, senton, double footed stomp, that sort of thing. Similar to his son, though the younger Aguayo is far more athletic.   This was essentially a juniors match and had the same flaws as other
Great Lucha

The Minis! Tzuki!

Mascarita Dorada/Tzuki vs. Pequeño Damian 666/Pierrothito, 3/30/08 Guadalajara   When I said lucha had lost its charm, I clearly forgot about Tzuki.   I have all the time in the world for these guys, because they work like rudos v technicos.   The rudo work wasn't great here, but the technicos were oustanding. I'm not a fan of modern lucha offence, but it's amazing how much better the minis are at pacing and set-up (or perhaps they just look awesome running the ropes.) I don't even mind

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