More lucha from London

Solar vs. Blue Demon Jr., NWA World Heavyweight Title, 12/9/08

When Santo was asked what London could expect from Lucha Libre, this was his answer: "You will see a contact sport but a great part of it is close to art. This is because in lucha we wrestle close to the canvas where you will see a lot of movement with ‘castigos’, holds and locks, it becomes harmonious and this beautiful skill converts into art." Perhaps so, but not when junior's involved.

Solar's a great worker, but Blue Demon Jr. is such a difficult carry. Some of his holds are OK, but the set-up is so listless. The beauty of wrestling is in the struggle, but with Blue Demon Jr. there's no fight, no understanding of what makes professional wrestling great. You can't expect a crowd like this to be into a lucha libre title match, it's a tough ask. You've gotta take your time and win folks over. That takes skill and charisma, neither of which the Demon possesses. I wanted to enjoy the Solar matwork, but by the end of this, even I was bored. Blue Demon Jr is a bland motherfucker and the crowd were forced to sit through his kind of match. They weren't enjoying it and made it plain. Either pick up the pace or end it.

The lulls in this were brutal, but it made me appreciate Cassandro's performance even more, because if you don't sell and have no charisma, you've no hope of entertaining people. Blue Demon Jr. is more than 40 years old and all he's ever learnt are the mechanics of pro-wrestling. He's half a worker... You can't have something beautiful and harmonious without a little bit of soul, and Blue Demon Jr's a guy who never found himself in the ring. He's a luchador with a mask and a tenuous connection to the past, and I don't see the hunger. There's a type of vanity to performing and the guy doesn't have it. Makes you think he chose the wrong profession, but y'know, Solar wasn't great here either, so in the end they couldn't pull it off.