ohtani's jacket

Hijo del Santo/Octagon/Super Astro vs. Blue Panther/Hijo del Diablo/Fuerza Guerrera (AAA 9/27/92) Moving on to the Super Astro program. This was clipped so it was hard to make out what was going on at first. What was shown was below average. Super Astro and Panther brawled a bit and did some signature Super Astro stuff. Astro got the pin on Panther and began gesturing for a title bout. Kind of a boring way to jump start the feud. Disappointing considering both Fuerza and Santo were involved. Panther and Astro are an interesting match-up, though, as they're similar body types.

Actually, my favorite thing about the match was the guy waving at the television camera at the end and the commentator gesturing at him to get lost. Fans and commentators, the same the world over.

Franz van Buyten vs. Luc Verhaegue (10/2/82) There wasn't a lot to this, but any time we get a new van Buyten match it's a good day. I hate heel refs. i don't care how much they rile up the audience, the heat should be on the wrestlers not the ref. I'm sure most folks appreciate the carnival aspects of a match like this, but personally I thought van Buyten was wasted on a sideshow like this, and put forward more effort than the match deserved. I did like his creative use of the ropes to break the chokehold, though.

Blue Panther vs. Angel Azteca (AAA, September 13th, 1992) This was a very good match. A lowkey great match even, depending on how you feel about heel refs. It was structured in an unusual way for a lucha title match. Some of it made sense in the context of the build-up and some of it was the workers mixing things up. I liked the fact that the primera caida went long. They teased Azteca winning it quickly, but as far as I'm concerned if both wrestlers are fresh then it ought to be harder to win a fall. Panther was good throughout this bout, but he did some weird selling at times. The tercera had a steady stream of drama, and I liked how hard both men were working. I have no idea why this was the end of the road for Azteca as far as big single matches went. There was nothing in the bout to suggest that he shouldn't have continued to have bouts like this throughout the 90s. From a Panther point of view, it's not as good as the '91 classic against Atlantis, but one of his better 90s singles matches on tape. Worth watching but not iconic.

Ha, no. More to come.

1951.2.16 Vic Hessle vs. Georges Freymond 1951.3.30 Vic Hessle vs. Jack LaRue 1951.10.5 Vic Hessle vs. Deo Crasti The more Hessle I watch, the more impressed I am. This guy was a phenomenal brawler and fantastic at selling. He's so intense and such a tough bastard that it seems like every opponent hates his guts. The animosity in the Crasti match was so intense it felt real. He works holds too, and man do they look like they hurt. And he bumps like a madman too. He nearly broke his neck doing an injury finish (of all things.) Every now and again, there are flashes of Faulker and Royal. His finisher is incredible and looks like it devastates his opponent's leg. The LaRue clip is excellent, but the Crasti clip is one of the best pieces of business I've seen in a long time. Some of the best fights in the catch collection, IMO.

Here are a few: Black Man Shu el Guerrero José Luis Feliciano Cassandro Pimpinela Escarlata Scorpio Jr Freelance Stuka Babe Face El Signo Halloween Damian 666 Mascara Ano 2000 Apolo Dantes Valiente Super Parka Zumbido Ultimo Guerrero Mano Negra Charles Lucero Rey Hechicero Villano IV Arandu

1950.2.17 Jean Jourlin vs. Vic Hessle 1950.3.3 Jean Jourlin vs. Vic Hessle 1950.10.20 Jean Jourlin vs. Vic Hessle 1951.1.12 Felix Lamban vs. Vic Hessle Vic Hessle was the father of Bert Royal and Vic Faulkner. We already had a tag match of his from the archives, but this is a chance to see him in singles action. He was a top guy for Goldstein for around a decade. For that reason, perhaps, several of the clips run around 6-6 minutes long. Just as Dory Funk Sr wrestled more like Terry than Junior, Hessle is more reminiscent of Vaulker than Royal. He's a highly charismatic brawler, who is constantly moving and doing something of interest. I think he'd be a favorite of Matt. Just when you think he wasn't as skilled as his boys technically, he works the mat with Lamban and looks pretty good. I haven't finished all of the footage yet but he struck me as a highly versatile and entertaining performer. I would put him in the same category as Jack Dale and Tommy Mann. The value of these clips is seeing the Catch world expand, and filling in the pre-1956 gaps. The 1950s is my favorite era for catch, and it would appear that Hessle was a bigger player in that era than I imagined.

That was a great post. It reminds me of the essence of lucha libre -- guys who are awesome in random trios matches and make you wanna track down everything they've ever done. I might hit you up with some names after you've done with your list.

Angel Azteca/Solar/Super Astro vs. Blue Panther/El Cobarde/El Indomito (AAA, September 6th, 1992) This didn't look like much on paper, but Cobarde and Indomito ended up being the best partners Panther had during the lead-in to his title match with Azteca. Instead of Solar/Panther, they started off with Solar/Cobarde, which was actually pretty good. That's partly because Solar is underrated as a trios worker, but also because Cobarde was an old-school guy who knew how to work. All of his work in this match is textbook lucha. Indominto vs. Super Astro was so much fun! Honestly, it was the most fun I've had watching Super Astro in a long time. I'm kind of hoping these guys have some other matches together as they were terrific dance partners. Panther vs. Azteca was red hot whenever they'd work lucha exchanges. Azteca's intensity and quickness were through the roof. They got bogged down in some mask ripping, and Azteca's comeback was similar to the previous two matches, but even the business end of this was entertaining with some fun dives. Azteca, Solar and Super Astro make for a fun Space Cadets style trio. It's a shame that there wasn't more done with them.

1947.1.15 Henri Deglane vs. Yvar Martinson 1947.2.10 Henri Deglane vs. Charles Rigoulot 1947.5.19 Henri Deglane vs. Yvar Martinson 1947.11.3 Henri Deglane vs. Hans Buesing 1948.12.6 Henri Deglane vs. Jim Burnett 1949.11.21 Henri Deglane vs. Frank Valois 1950.1.23 Frank Sexton vs. Henri Deglane 1950.9.24 Henri Deglane vs. Al Cabrol There was nothing too revelatory about Deglane in these clips. He tended to work a hard, clean match against top French talent like Martinson and Rigoulot, and more heated bouts with foreigners. There were a few exciting pull-aparts after the bout, and Deglane worked some fun boxing spots with Cabrol. He was older than dirt, but fairly solid for a guy right at the end of his career. I was impressed by Frank Sexton, who came across as flashy and stylish, and greatly surprised by Frank Valois. That clip ran about six minutes and was a hard fought bout. My image of Valois was from the Andre bout, so I wasn't expecting such a suave and skilled worker. That Andre bout was from 20 years later, so it's hardly a shock, but the clips definitely left me wanting to see more Valois whereas before I thought he was skippable..

Angel Azteca/Solar/Super Astro vs. Blue Panther/La Parka/Rambo (AAA August 30th, 1992) This starts off with an extended mat exchange between Solar and Panther that is easily the best thing Panther has been involved in since I starting watching these matches. It's mostly led by Solar, but that's largely because it's a tecnico driven fall. The others mostly do standard lucha exchanges, but there's some novelty in seeing matchups you don't see every day of the week such as Rambo vs. Super Astro. Angel Azteca gets to shine a bit offensively at the beginning of the match, but he spends most of the bout being beaten up by the rudos and having his mask ripped. He's awesome during the tecnico comeback ,and awesome at getting his revenge on Panther for ripping open his mask. Panther's brawling is ok, but again everything about Azteca screams star.

I always loved that song. It reminds me of Honda Minako. Mimi wasn't a bad singer either.

Herodes was one of the guys I was waiting to see. I'd be interested to hear if you have any workhorse or journeyman favorites.

Angel Azteca/Misterioso/Volador vs. Blue Panther/Fishman/Mascara Ano 2000 (AAA, August 14th, 1992) You would think that a title match feud would be more up Panther's alley, but straight away they work this like an apuestas feud. I usually despise it when a title match feud is worked like an apuestas feud, especially when they start ripping at each other's masks, but this match had two things going for it. First of all, the crowd was red hot. There's something to be said for Pena taking TV out of Mexico City to areas like this. Secondly, Angel Azteca led a fantastic tecnico comeback. I thought he was far better than Panther in this match. It reminded me of the incredible potential he had. I honestly think if he had continued on this trajectory, he'd be as well regarded as Santo and Atlantis.