Dos Caras vs. Dr. Wagner

Dos Caras Sr. vs. Dr. Wagner Sr., All Japan Pro-Wrestling

I remember Jose telling me about this match when we hung out one time.

Now that I've seen it, I can honestly say it's one of the high points of my lucha fandom.

Caras was mobbed on his way to the ring. The crowd were on their feet, trying to get a glimpse of him, and kids rushed from everywhere to touch him. And there, waiting for him, was the Doctor. In full attire.

The TV producers cut to the body of each fall, but what was shown was the most beautiful lucha you'll ever witness. Watching this, I saw the lucha contest in its full light. The gracefulness of Dos Caras and the sheer physicality of Dr. Wagner Sr. Caras was sublime in all his movements, while the Doctor was coarser, but the contest was such that at one point the sweat was just pouring from their masks. And the selling was exquisite.

After a Caras plancha, a young boy was brave enough to run up to him, and you could sense it was unlike anything the crowd had seen before. There were the slower, exaggerated spots, then the perfect dives... the exact turns and rolling bumps. Caras flew through the air with his headbutts and the Doctor's remedy for everything was brute strength and forearm smashes. If it were a work of art, you'd make a pilgrimage to see it.

And the thing is that it was so short, just a few minutes... but those minutes were priceless. And I was fortunate to see them.