ohtani's jacket

If Gotch and Hackenschmidt were alive today, wouldn't they latch onto whatever made them a buck? Seems like there'd be more money in claiming they were in the original MMA fights than being part of the wrestling fraternity.

Because the longer Dave and Co push it and no one stands up to say "uh, no" the more people start to believe it. You'd think we'd be at the point that the mindset of ignoring misinformation makes it go away has been proven wrong, but we're not. Is there really a significant amount of people pushing the Meltzer line of thinking or are you talking about years into the future? It doesn't seem like something people care about.

Why do people care if Dave thinks they're the same thing? This is a pretty worn out talking point considering nobody ever adds anything new to it.

Well, you may be right John, but I don't know if the Classics argument is fair. There was a lot of stuff that didn't make it onto Classics, particularly with All Japan since it had far less episodes. Maybe the guys putting Classics together didn't think Murdoch was any great shakes, but there wasn't a lot of rhyme or reason to how they put it together nor did it have much of an audience. I assume Murdoch made it onto the original broadcasts. I wouldn't deny that there's something of a Showa influence to how Murdoch may be perceived, but I'm not sure why you're lumping Dick and Ted together aside from the fact that they were both Mid South guys. It seems to me that Dick enjoyed a fair bit more success in Japan than Dibiase ever did. From my experience, Murdoch is mostly remembered in Japan for his North/South run, his brainbuster and the calf branding. I'd say those were the major things. I dunno about Ted. Doc and Gordy probably were positioned as bigger stars in All Japan than Murdoch was in New Japan, but there were big changes in the business from the Showa era to the Heisei era. It's probable that Murdoch would've never been given a top position in a Japanese company regardless of whichever era he was in, but at the same time I think the sheer volume of tours he did has to count for something particularly considering that he wasn't a touring champ and not *really* a gimmick guy. How much does being a staple gaijin count for vs. a push? Murdoch probably had the least name of the gaijins he first toured New Japan with in '81, right? But I'd wager that he came back more times than any of them. And how do you measure hardcore fan interest in the early 90s against casual interest in the 80s? Doc and Gordy weren't on TV at any sort of reasonable hour. Anyway, they're all being forgotten now. It's kind of sad, but the longer I stay here the more I think it's remarkable how long pro-wrestling was able to survive as a marketable form of entertainment.

I don't think Dick was one of the biggest gaijin stars in Japanese pro-wrestling history and I don't even think he was one of the biggest stars during his tenure with New Japan, but he was extremely visible and Japanese records have him with even more tours to Japan than 43 (which could be wrong, but any rate he was a mainstay.) I think he was a second tier guy. An upper second tier guy maybe, but a second tier guy. But were guys like Nick Bockwinkel or even Ric Flair bigger stars than Dick Murdoch just because they were touring champs? At a certain point visibibility and longevity must count for something regardless of where Dick was used on the card, especially given the new audiences that Japanese wrestling was reaching in the 80s.

Tamura or Sano? Sano being as good as he was at shoot style was pretty phenomenal. He was one of the best workers in what you might call the "middle period" of shoot style and seemed to pick it up straight off the bat. Tamura, on the other hand, took a long time to come of age and had a really awkward development phase. It's arguable whether he'd have been any good if he hadn't started imitating Pancrase. Of course, once he started he pretty much set the benchmark for the style (a benchmark that will sadly never be passed), but I don't know if that's as impressive as Sano picking the style up in his very first match. Steamboat or Bret? One of the things I enjoyed most about the WCW project we did at Smarkschoice was developing a finer appreciation of Ricky Steamboat. He worked with a lot of great workers in WCW but I don't think for a second that you could use that as an "advantage" that he had over Bret because of how good he looked amongst all those great workers. He stood shoulder to shoulder with everyone and I think you'd be hard pressed to argue that anybody was truly better than him during the first 12 months of his return. I liked Bret a lot in the past but have no interest in ever seeing him work again. Marty Jones or El Dandy? This is a tough one. Marty Jones was probably the best British worker I've seen on tape from the 70s and 80s. Not my favourite but the best. Dandy was pretty special too. I might have to go with Marty Jones on this one since he was the best worker in the UK for so long.

I'm not really sold on Terry Gordy being a bigger star in Japan than Dick Murdoch because he won the Triple Crown. I don't really see what title matches have to do with it.

It was a long time ago and I don't have the e-mails anymore, but the way I remember it Vanes supposedly co-owned a gym with a guy named Frank (IIRC) and it was his business partner who logged into Vanes' e-mail account and told us that Vanes had been in an accident and was having emergency surgery. Then, however many hours later, he sent another e-mail saying that Vanes had died. A few days later, his girlfriend or fiance, Sarah I think her name was, sent me some e-mails bequeathing me some of Vanes' stuff.

The first e-mails we got were from his business partner. Then I got a couple of e-mails from his girlfriend.

Vanes sent his friends e-mails after he "died." There were probably clues in them had we been smart enough.

Tangent time -- I dunno if Octagon sucked as such. Máscara Sagrada and Super Muñeco, now they sucked. I remember El Dandy making Super Muñeco look like half a million bucks once and to me that was more impressive than Fuerza and Octagon, because Octagon had some decent Black Man/Fantásticos, knock-off stuff that the better rudos could work around. Super Muñeco had fucking nothing. Besides, the fact that most of Octagon's singles matches never aired makes it difficult to say with any certainty that Fuerza carried him better than anyone. It does seem that way, however.

Got some catching up to do. 3/21 - Gimnasio Nuevo Leon Los Cadetes del Espacio (Solar I/Super Astro/Ultraman) vs. Black Terry/Negro Navarro/El Signo Have people watched this match yet? Because I thought it was tremendous. Space Cadets and Terry & the Misioneros in a match where everybody looks good? Don't tell me Black Terry Jr. handhelds have spoiled folks. This was only a one fall match, but they really went to town here. Definitely, the slickest this group has looked in a while. Usually, I complain about how much Solar vs. Navarro dominates these matches but in this case everybody got a chance to shine and the match was considerably better for it. El Signo has been resurgent of late, which may have something to do with him announcing his retirement. He may be paving the way for a comeback by leaving folks with a good impression, but no matter, Signo is busting ass again and has leapfrogged a great many luchadores in my estimation. Like I said, there will be no complaining about Solar and Navarro this time. Quite the opposite, as I thought they produced some of their best ever work in this match. Maybe I was caught up in the rhythm, but I thought they built to their usual crescendo with amazing aplomb. Instead of slowing the pace, they built on the rhythm that Signo and Astro and Terry and Ultraman had set. Navarro and Solar working fast is a beautiful thing and I was really pleased that they worked this like a Space Cadets match instead of Navarro's usual pace. After liftin' things higher and higher, they reached their usual impasse and then everyone changed partners!! Hallelujah! The second half of the match was the best non-Puebla classic lucha I've seen in ages. We got a glimpse of Solar vs. Terry in this quasi-fall and it was good. Very good. They had a match last year, but it was before Black Terry Jr reinvented the internet. Anyway, it was fantastic and built to topes from the Space Cadets and the greatest fucking showdown at the end between Navarro and Solar. They did the most kick ass submssion finish they've ever done and for a while I felt like testifying. This was a serious groove. Mascara contra Caballera: Rey Hechicero vs. Caifan Rockero I This was a real indy style mascara contra caballera match and not traditional in the slightest. Watching this, I wondered if I could live with this as the modern style of lucha libre wrestling. Quickly decided I couldn't, but Rey Hechicero is a fun worker.

You can make the same criticisms about every major company these days. Must be something in the water.

If I were a Shawn Michaels fan, I'd be more worried about what he does from now on than his place in wrestling history, but I guess he deserves some credit as a big match performer in these past few years (at Mania anyway.) I thought his acting in the "Running up that Hill" montage was horrendous but maybe it was the dialogue.

Haven't done one of these for a while. Would you please welcome back, Mr. Raging Noodles! PERRO AGUAYO Y PERRO AGUAYO JR VS. CIEN CARAS Y MASCARA ANO 2000, hair vs. hair, CMLL 3/18/05 aka The Blowoff to Perros vs. Dinamitas RN: The Perros started off with a lot of fire, Perrito looked fantastic running in with his rapid fire brawling. Perro really looked to be hurting and struggling at times, but he's always so interesting to watch and no one matches the emotion and charisma he brings to pro wrestling. I mean, at this point I really think Perro Aguayo Sr. may be the most charismatic pro wrestler ever. No doubt I've seen bad matches with Perro Aguayo Sr. in them, but I've never been bored or ever thought of turning it off, he has a real star presence and his battered scarred up face is iconic (also I can't imagine wrestlers 50 years from now having the sort of legendary faces that Perro Sr. or Villano III have). When I first watched "When World's Collide", the most memorable image of the show was of teenage girls hugging and kissing the battered Perro Aguayo, who happened to be covered in blood in the most gruesome violent manner possible. Also, I must admit that sentimental value may be involved here since Perro Aguayo Sr. was the first genuine star I ever saw as a kid at a live pro wrestling show in Reynosa, Tamaulipas. As expected, the first two falls are very short and quick, but what really stood out was how great Los Hermanos Dinamitas were at working these two short falls. Both guys were eating Perro and Perrito's offense in a very entertaining fashion, but what was even better was how great their teamwork was. Everything they did together offensively, from hitting simultaneous moves or hitting the same moves one after another just flowed so smoothly. It was pretty simple but it was so pleasing to watch what they were doing. As the final fall opens and we see some more great work from the brothers, it dawns on me that this is one of the great career matches of Mascara Año 2000. He was incredible at everything in this match. He was awesome dishing out hard headbutts and strikes to Perro Aguayo Sr. and just as cool when he was beating the shit out of Perrito by slamming him on the steel rampway. I was really impressed at how he would eat Perrito's dropkick during transitions and how he would throw himself and fly to the outside in such a spectacular way. Mascara Año 2000 was so great in here, he's one of the main reasons why this match is as good as it turned out to be. Perrito is also great at making a big comeback in the third fall, and beating the shit out of a Mascara Año 2000 (especially when he was stuck to a ringside chair). I can see how some people would be turned off by how histrionic and how much of a scene-chewer Perrito could be at times, but I just really dig how much energy he brings to these type of matches. What I really loved about this whole spectacle, was the layout of the match (especially the way the tercera caida unfolds) and I was thrilled at how well it worked for this match. It was so precise and tight, it made this whole thing feel epic in a way that we don't see often anymore. It was like a formula B-movie that exceeded its expectations due to some fine craftmanship, the talent and charisma of its performers. I don't really want to spoil exactly what happens in the third fall since it's a very exciting conclusion but I'll give some details. They manage to fill this final portion of the match with some pretty clever twists, exciting nearfalls (from great high-end moves executed from Mascara Año 2000 and sold perfectly by Perrito), failed double team moves, well timed eliminations, outside interference, momentum changes, referee distractions (and referee bumps), and miscommunication spots. During the third fall, I was thinking how much better this would have been if Black Terry Jr. was at ringside filming this, just so we could get a good taste at how hot this Arena Mexico crowd was. They really seemed like the hottest crowd ever, but we'll never know thanks to how terrible Mexican TV audio is. But back to the main point, this match really delivered the goods. OJ: It's funny how things change. There was a time when I would've balked at watching this match. After all, I grew up in an era where Los Hermanos Dinamita were synonymous with bad wrestling. If the Wrestling Observer had been some bizarro publication that covered mainly lucha, Cien Caras would have won all those Worst Wrestler of the Year categories year after year and I wouldn't have bat an eyelid because it was accepted that headliners were stiffs who could barely move a muscle. The Aguayos, Rayos and Dinamitas were the Hogans of Mexico and that's pretty much how we made sense of lucha libre. Turns out we were wrong and Los Hermanos Dinamita were just about the perfect main eventers. This match is pretty much your atypical, latter day main event. There's no blood of course and not enough time for any real control segments, so you have to create drama in other ways, booking twists and turns in the match and blocking it out so that the wrestlers know where their marks are and when to be in position. It's basically a WWE style of working, right down to the Spanish equivalent of "Good God almighty" commentating. As far as I'm concerned, there's nothing wrong with working to a formula -- it helps wrestlers to structure their matches and is something that every worker should learn -- it's when the match seems choreographed that there's a problem. This match (Perros vs. Dinamitas) came awfully close to looking choreographed and was saved by one thing and one thing alone -- selling. That's right! The "S" word. The most important thing in wrestling. The dividing line between good and bad. And the saving grace of the CMLL style. In the second caida, for example, there's a transition that would've looked completely choreographed if not for some awesome selling from Caras. The transition occurs when the Perros are double teaming Caras and Perro Jr signals for Senior to use the ropes to put some oomph into the attack, but they telegraph it too much and Caras ducks out of the way. It's a fairly standard transition -- a trigger spot for the rudos to take over -- but you can see Caras eyeing his chance as the Perros line him up and when Perro hits his son, you know it's game on. Y'see, this was the last hurrah for the Dinamitas. Caras had come out of retirement to do this angle and it was pretty much the end of the road for Los Capos. What you had here was one final assault. Los Capos was a really fun era of Los Hermanos Dinamita. I liked how Caras dyed his hair jet black and used his real name to great effect, Carmelo being an awesome name for a capo. Noodles is right that Mascara Año 2000 was the guy holding this together (and had pretty much as close to a Black Terry performance as Mascara Año 2000 can get), but Caras was the guy marshalling the attack. The thing about Caras is that he looked like the sort of prick you could meet in everyday life -- a teacher, a co-worker, a coach, an inlaw -- he had this sort of universal "prick face." He always reminded me of the all-American asshole in that Dennis Leary song, except that he was Mexican. There's a part where he cheats in the tercera caida to eliminate Aguayo and I swear his shit eating grin makes him look like the world's biggest asshole. The "rudo segment" of this match was no longer than the ones we see today but the brawling seemed to have far more urgency to it. Strange that a 55 year-old guy beating on a 59 year-old guy should look better than anything since. The fact that both guys were slow and could barely raise their legs was a big part of why the pacing was good, but I'm still trying to figure out why this is good and Flair vs. Hogan sucks. It's a curious thing why veteran wrestling is better everywhere in the world except the US. The Dinamitas basically succeeded in churning out something entertaining in the modern CMLL style, which few, if any, rudos have done since. Perro Aguayo Jr. brought good energy to this match and later matches as a rudo, but he was a blatantly modern worker. He charged about looking like he knew what he was doing but he was heavily reliant on those turning points in a match where something controversial happens. Take away those crutches and he looks like the myth that El Hijo del Santo created. It seems so simple that for every move you do -- whether you're on the receiving end or attacking -- you should sell. I mean that's as simple as reacting, but for some reason CMLL guys are like drones. I suppose I could come around to them like I did with Los Hermanos Dinamita. That's pressuming that the next generation of luchadores is even worse than the current lot (which seems more than likely.) But Jesus, those air horns. And the lack of selling. And the lack of asshole rudos like Caras. The Dinamitas rode off into the sunset after this match and cast a long shadow on the lucha that was to come. I wonder if we'll ever see their like again? It would be wrong to say that they were fantastic workers as they could be pretty terrible at times, but when they had their working boots on they knew how to entertain. Anyone who says rudos like Los Hermanos Dinamita can't get over at Arena Mexico anymore is kidding themselves. That type of thinking is an excuse for how poor the rudos are today. If the Dinamitas were younger, they'd do it again, taking the lucha world by storm.

IWRG 3/14 Los Traumas vs. Oficial 911 y Fierro This wasn't as balls out awesome as it could've been, but what a crowd. Dhani Jones draws? The most noteworthy/amusing thing about this match was when Trauma II was getting worked over in the ropes. The action switched to Trauma I on the outside, and when Terry panned back to II, the mask was there but the body was missing. Having read a bunch of old Doom Patrols recently it was kind of surreal to see a mask just swinging from the ropes. Black Terry, Dr. Cerebro y Chico Che vs. Gringo Loco, El Hijo del Diablo y Avisman God, this was awesome. MOTYC for sure. Recently, I've been wondering why the Cerebros have been so tame in this feud, just letting the Gringo Locos pussy whip them in every match, but the Cerebros fought back in this match and there was hell to pay. Hell, hell up in Naucalpan. Black Terry was sublime in this match. Quite possibly one of the best performances I've seen him give. Last week, he was the angry victim. This week he was mad as hell and not going to take it. The slow burn on this was masterful, and when he finally decided to dish out some hell to Avisman it was fantastic since Avisman has the perfect face for begging off. The crowd were totally into Terry raising hell, digging every bit of stooging and every piece of payback. I wonder what the walk-up gate was like on this show. It was as though everyone who goes to Arena Naucalpan in the course of a month all decided to show up on the same night. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if some of these people hadn't been to an IWRG show for five years. The Black Terry fans were there in full force and they were loving it. Everyone was loving this. And in the middle of it all was Black Terry Jr., chronicling all of the chaos like a war correspondent. Give this man a Pulitzer! Perhaps the best thing about this match was the Chico Che chant in the third caida. Fuck yeah. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Chico Che, he's a fatboy IWRG worker who wears a t-shirt and overalls and works a tribute gimmick to the famous Mexican musician Chico Che. He's fucking awesome and deserves his own spinoff show. The crowd wanted Che and he didn't disappoint. Cerebro was also great in this. His schtick with the refs was some of the best ref schtick I've seen in a while and led to a great finish. IWRG has dramatically improved the finishes this year and there's money in this feud yet. I dunno how they're going to top this with their Super Libre match, but I hope some of these folks come back to see it.

I kinda dig idle Navarro, but I agree that it was a match where he wasn't going to be taken down much. Is it me or is El Hijo del Signo invisible in every match?

IWRG 3/11 Negro Navarro, Trauma II, Barba Roja vs. Black Terry, Dr. Cerebro, Hijo del Signo Negro Navarro was back in Naucalpan this week and took on all three opponents in this match, including a fella by the name of Black Terry. Black Terry vs. Negro Navarro -- the best match-up in wrestling, save for the fact that it never happens!! For some reason, Black Terry and Negro Navarro go out of their way to avoid each other on most occasions. Even on miscellaneous shows, they avoid each other -- they're like the anti-Solar and Navarro. Then again, Terry is never really Terry when Navarro is around, so maybe it's a wash. Their exchanges here were an awesome tease and Terry's selling was brilliant, but he came off second best again. Navarro's a tough motherfucker, but I prefer it when Terry's knocking workas out tha box, daily. The trouble with Terry vs. Navarro is that Navarro's an immovable object. If they ran this match as drills, how many times do you think people could take Navarro down? I kinda doubt whether Terry could do it for real. Navarro knows he's a badass motherfucker -- and fair enough, I say -- but it means Terry slips into technico mode when he faces Negro. Terry is a terrific face, but he's better as a rudo so perhaps they're better off working in situations where they both can be the man. The other cool match-up in this was Navarro vs. Dr. Cerebro, a brief, almost backhanded exchange that had me wondering how good a singles match between those two would be. There's not much chance of that happening, but this whole match was full of fantasy booking: Navarro/Terry? Navarro/Cerebro? Cerebro/Trauma II? There was a disruptive riff with Barba Roja trying to screw the Dinastia but still there was enough good wrestling here to satisfy the weekly viewer. Angelico vs. Trauma I [sALAVADOR AMERICAS] I guess everyone will have an opinion on this because it's Angelico, but I'll give them points for trying. I wasn't expecting much of an arc from this, but they tried their damnest to make it seem important. The wrestling didn't reach the heights of Zatura vs. Trauma II (which is probably the most relevant comparison), and in truth was a bit crude in parts, but the effort couldn't be faulted. The evenness of the match worked better than in Angelico/Navarro because it's easier to buy Angelico and Trauma I as being the same age and experience level (even if it's not true), and while the limb selling didn't appeal to me personally, Trauma I working this match a year ago seems unfathomable to me. Trauma I or Trauma II is an interesting debate. I still lean towards Trauma II for the simple reason that he's stronger on the mat, while Trauma I seems better at striking and all the bits between matwork and the finish, but he's improving at such a rate of knots that it's almost a weekly split between the two. Some weeks Trauma II is better and vice versa. Like I said, I don't think this match was quite the breakout performance that the Zatura match was a year ago, but it was more of a plus than a negative.

When did Jesse Ventura do this Conspiracy Theory TV series?

I'm having trouble writing without the aid of cigarettes, so bear with me if this seems like a nothing review. IWRG 3/8 Freelance, Jack, Ultraman Jr. vs. Oficial 911, Trauma I, Trauma II This was an enjoyable match and made up for how dull the past few shows have been. What I liked about this match was how organic it felt. IWRG is a company that doesn't have a lot of great matches. Most of the stuff they run is in the mid-range, and a lot of the time you get the feeling that "oh, they're going one long, two short on the falls" or "this Oficiales schtick is too much of a precursor for the technico comeback," but this felt more natural. The Ultraman injury probably helped in that regard, if that's the right choice of words, but it was pleasing to see guys using their talent instead of pumping out another rank and file trios. There's been a lot of talk about how good Freelance looked in this match, but I think that's overstating things. He may be back into his groove, but it wasn't a match where he carried the technico side or overshadowed the contributions of everyone else. In fact, I thought he was holding back against "The Big Kahuna" 911 due to the angle at the end. The match started off with some neat submission work between Jack and Trauma II. There were comments over on the IWRG board about the lack of reversals, but it's Jack -- he's that thing from The Nightmare Before Christmas not Negro Navarro. I dug it myself, as I think Trauma II works best with small guys and Jack does an admirable job of moving like Jack Skellington. It's not a character I'm particularly fond of, but he plays it well and I enjoyed his comedy with 911. Mind you, I'm a sucker for as much variety as possible in a trios match. Freelance worked well with 911 without giving too much away and the turning point was the corner tope from Ultraman where he bit the guard rail. Ultraman smashed his front teeth up pretty bad and had to leave. Freelance took over from there and did most of his signature dives w/ 911's bumping biggest probably the single biggest contribution to the third caida. Match was pretty rocking. I enjoyed it from beginning to end. Black Terry, Chico Che, Dr. Cerebro vs. Avisman, El Hijo del Diablo, Gringo Loco I wasn't as high on this as everyone else. I couldn't understand why they bled so much in a standard trios brawl. Some may argue that they don't need a reason to bleed, but I couldn't find anything compelling about the rudos' performance here and I wasn't buying Black Terry's angry victim act. Dr. Cerebro seemed to drift in this as well, and it's my opinion that the Cerebros are better as out and out rudos. The only thing that I particularly dug was the performance of Chico Che. It says a lot about the "new" IWRG that you can have both Jack and Chico Che in with the good workers this week and both of them held their own.

Black Jaguar vs. Latin Brother, mask vs. mask, 2/28/10 This was a mask match from Coliseo Coacalco, which for the unfamiliar is an outdoor venue in Coacalco (http://coliseocoacalco.com.mx/COLISEO_COACALCO_360.exe). It's really cool -- kind of like sticking your head into a tent at a school fair or flea market and paying a few bucks to watch two guys beat the shit out of each other. Guys were standing around talking while the luchadores brawled at their feet, and cheered them on like you'd tell your kids to run and go play. The match itself was what you'd expect from indy workers, but it was extremely well paced and the selling was excellent. Latin Brother's cut was so bad I was worried it would turn septic. Definitely a match that captured the spirt of a mask match. Black Terry Jr. is a legend for shooting this stuff. Todo x el Todo Brussels, 2/27/10 Cassandro vs. Magno Negro Navarro vs. Solar This was similar to Lucha Libre London from two years ago. Nice to see that Cassandro has lost none of his star power and still does the sharpest WCWSN lucha match around. Navarro vs. Solar was wrestled for people who don't know who Solar and Negro Navarro are. Personally, I thought it was better than their London match and proof that Solar and Navarro are continuously improving against one another. IWRG Dr. Cerebro vs. Hijo del Pantera, IWRG Intercontinental Lightweight Championship, 3/4/10 Well this sucked. I quit smoking a week ago, so I'm in no mood to mince words.... this was shit. It's one thing to have a bad match, but to not even try is a waste of time. No excuses here, they just didn't bother. Without a doubt the worst match I've seen all year.

IWRG 2/25 Dr. Cerebro, Trauma I y Hijo del Signo vs. Pantera, Hijo del Pantera y Zatura [captains hair] This was another solid match from the month of February. No-one gave a particularly outstanding performance, but it reminded me of those old-school trios matches that were used to set-up Satanico/Dandy and other such feuds. Dr. Cerebro wasn't able to impose himself on the match to the degree that Black Terry can, but Terry is a big lynchpin to remove and I thought they did fairly well in his absence. Structurally, this trios was different from the IWRG norm. Instead of having the matwork build into a brawl, they brawled through two falls and held off on the matwork until the tercera caida. It probably could've done with some blood and a grandstand finish, but it was clear from the booking that they're not ready to blow this off yet. Personally, I liked last week's match better, but there was enough to tie me over until next week. Based on the fallout from this match, Hijo del Pantera will challenge Dr. Cerebro for his Lightweight Championship on Thursday. That may not seem like a compelling match, but short programs like these are miles better than the type of booking that saw Suicida take Cerebro's hair late last year. I'm not sure if Hijo del Pantera is ready for a singles match yet, but for the past few years I've been watching lucha in the hope that my favourite workers will spend five minutes on the mat. The enjoyment that I get from lucha has amounted to a few minutes here and a few minutes there. Dr. Cerebro vs. Hijo del Pantera may not be match of the year, but at least IWRG are giving us something to follow on a weekly basis. Add Pantera and Black Terry as seconds and you've got a compelling reason to watch now that it's up to Hijo del Pantera to avenge his father. It ought to be a good litmus test to see whether Cerebro is ready for this leadership role he's assumed; right now, I'd say he's still better hunting in a pack than he is on his own, but a strong rudo performance next week could change all that. Here's hoping.

IWRG 2/18 Los Oficiales vs. Freelance, Angelico y Angel Freelance is back and appears to be out of shape. I assume he's been injured as he struggled to get into his usual groove here. Not that it made much difference. IWRG has wiped the slate clean this year with great booking and I don't see the point in continuing with a feud from their muddled past. It's high time they did something different with Freelance, whose career has stalled of late. Obviously, when a guy's been out injured you want to reintroduce him in trios matches, but I'm talking about the big picture here. Like most lucha companies, IWRG only really focus on their main events. They'll shift guys around in order to provide different main events, but if you're not involved in the top program then you're generally on the back burner in matches like this. IWRG may run another Freelance vs. Oficial hair/mask match or they may not, that's just the way lucha booking works. There's not a lot of midcard booking to speak of and a lot of matches just get thrown together. In this case, the last major thing Freelance was involved in was a hair loss to Fierro, and there were enough brawling elements to suggest a rematch of sorts, but IWRG will keep it humming along until they decide whether they want to run with a wager match or another Oficiales title defence, either of which will headline their Thursday or Sunday show, and then it's back to the back burner. What his means is that Freelance ends up chasing his tail, while the Oficiales ply their schtick against a random assortment of technicos. It's easy to forget that the Oficiales are double title holders because they're stuck in this revolving door of weak technico opposition and not enough trios outfits to feud with. In the past, trios acts seledom grew stale because they had a lot of other great trios groups to feud with. You could move their matches up and down the card, spreading things out if the feud was stronger enough. The Oficiales spend most of their time working with guys like Angel and The Rated R Superstar, instead of Los Piratas, which I think would be a great feud if IWRG could bring those guys in on a more consistent basis. I don't know the ins and outs of lucha indy bookings and why guys come and go from IWRG, but I do know that the Oficiales have run aground since their breakout year in 2008. In part, it's because their schtick isn't as strong as groups from the heyday of Mexican trios wrestling (of which we really only saw the last hurrah), but they're still good workers. Terry's camera caught some of the detail work these guys do like bleeding underneath their masks and the cool bump one of them did into a fan, but the match structure was basically the same as any other Oficiales match, and to bring it back to Freelance vs. The Officiales, it's a feud that's been going on since late 2007 (if not longer) and was decidedly fresher at that time. IWRG has been on the whole very good this year, thanks to The Man With a Movie Camera, Black Terry Jr., but there's still an element of their TV being poorly put together in terms of match making. Black Terry, Dr. Cerebro y Trauma I vs. Pantera, Hijo del Pantera y Zatura This continued the theme of the Cerebros being cattle rustlers and Pantera being a retired gunslinger who just wants to settle down on his own bit of land and teach his son to shoot and be a man, but whose past keeps catching up with him... This match was so fucking great. Black Terry was like an evil Henry Fonda in this. I kept asking myself what the Panteras had done to deserve such abuse and the answer is nothing. They were minding their own business and Terry decided to fuck with them for the hell of it. Over at luchablog, I've been talking shit about people's nominations for Best Rudo of 2009 and being an ass, but honestly, I don't see how CMLL rudos are rudos at all. They're bases for the technico flyers and work to the beat of the drumming and air horns. The louder the air horns, the more popular the rudo appears to be. That may be lively for some people, but this match was just supreme. The Cerebros' agenda was pretty simple here -- beat the shit out of Pantera and his kid until they beg for mercy. Pantera's selling was superb again, and Black Terry lorded over the match. The shift Terry has pulled in the past few weeks from the type of guy you'd pen a Country and Western song about to the ruthless bastard who's fucking with Pantera's homestead has been sensational and equally great on both accounts. The amount of dedication Black Terry shows towards ruling it in a small promotion in the tiny Arena Naucalpan has me wondering if he's not a top 10 luchador all-time. He may not be an iconic figure on a national basis, but the man just doesn't quit. Hijo del Pantera managed to escape the rustlers in Super Astro style, which was the trigger spot for Pantera to start kicking ass. Pantera is a biggish sort of guy by lucha standards and can rumble if that's what Terry wants, but the awesome thing about this match was that he went for the win and they had a third caida where they built to a triple tope spot and cool shit like that. Both Terry and Pantera were barking orders on the outside, squabbling with the refs and turning this into a must-win caida. Such a great feud. Unfortunately, we're not going to get a Terry vs. Pantera singles match out of it as Terry just lost his hair and has been giving more of the spotlight to Cerebro of late, but Cerebro was huge in this, so I can more than live with the shift to Pantera v. Cerebro. Cerebro has turned into a hell of a brawler in recent weeks. I'm not sure if like Navarro it's an area of his game that's always been underrated, but he really is looking like the most confident guy in wrestling right now. I really liked the finish in this match too. I thought the Pantera counter into a pin was such a great "fuck you" moment and I loved Terry kicking the rope at the end after he lost the playoff with Pantera. Also great was the beating he gave Zatura after the bell and his nod to the Terry fans at ringside. Definitely my favourite feud of 2010 so far.

IWRG 2/11/10 Trauma I y Trauma II vs. Samot y Maldito Jr. Can't say I was too enthused by this this. Trauma II had difficulty working his mat routine against a larger opponent; he should really know by now that you don't have to work the mat in every match, especially if your opponent has no skill in that area. There was enough stiffness in this to keep the punters happy, but it seemed lke a repeat of the Traumas match against Zatura and Suicida, only this time against a poor man's version of Villanos IV and V. I was impressed with the Traumas' double team moves, however, and the heat they're getting is cementing them as made men, so that's cool. Black Terry, Dr. Cerebro y H. del Signo vs. Pantera, H. del Pantera y Zatura Black Terry looks badass with his shaved head. He was in an irritable mood here, which I'm guessing is because the Gringos added injury to insult in last week's hair match. He had a great, niggly fall with Pantera, and I really liked how it was the Cerebros who initiated the brawling in the second caida even though they'd won the opening fall. Usually, the rudos start brawling in order to reclaim a match, but Terry was in full on cock-mode here, which is a little different from the rudo contra rudo version we've been seeing lately. The brawling was fantastic, too, with the Cerebros sauntering around the ring and delivering cheap shots like the Infernales in their prime. I've never thought much of Pantera, but this was by far his best veteran performance since dropping the mask, and his selling in the second caida was superb. His selling reminded me of every great beatdown in movie history. It's a shame that the Cerebros didn't leave his kid half dead so Pantera could turn Archie “The Stomper” Gouldie on them in the coming weeks, but Pantera doing the Super Astro tightrope escape was something you don't see everyday. The third fall lacked a big showdown between Terry and Pantera, and the double pin was a downer no matter which way you look at it, but I'm expecting more fireworks in the coming weeks. I just hope IWRG don't burn through all these feuds in the first half of the year. It's only February, fellas. The other great thing about this match was Dr. Cerebro. He was just oozing with confidence here and worked a hell of a mat exchange with Zatura. Nobody has Pantera's back like Cerebro has Terry's, so I'm looking forward the revancha this week. To me, matches like this are what make IWRG so great -- they're imperfect little classics in a post-90s wrestling world where three stars is the new four stars and veterans are the only guys who know what the fuck they're doing. Sangre Chicana, Black Terry y Negro Navarro vs. Solar I, Rocky Santana y Olimpico, AULL, 2/13/10 I don't particularly like it when Solar vs. Navarro dominates a match, but this didn't have much else going for it, so I enjoyed their extended exchange in the opening caida. To be fair, it was a pretty great exchange. It started off in typical fashion with Solar getting the early takedowns and Navarro being dismissive of them, but built in intensity to the point where both guys were trying ridiculously complicated submission attempts. Nice arc and a sweet crescendo. Still, I really hate watching Black Terry in these UWE matches. He always plays second or third fiddle to the other vets and is nothing like the Terry we see in IWRG character-wise or even wrestling-wise. The Chicana punch was good and Solar sold it well, but as a huge Sangre Chicana fan I have to say I don't think his performance was anywhere near as good as Pirata Morgan or Pantera in recent weeks, and ultimately the technico side was too weak for this to be anything special. Black Terry y Shu el Guerrero vs. Negro Navarro y El Signo, 2/14/10 When I was a young boy Tenements, slums and corner bums Playing tag with winos The only way to have some fun One thing 'bout the ghetto You don't have to hurry It'll be there tommorow So brother don't you worry Ghetto Life Talking 'bout ghetto life Talking 'bout Ghettoo Liiiiiiiiife This was a hell of a match in a hell of a venue. So many times you check cubfans' match finder and there's all these great looking matches that never see the light of day; now Terry Jr. is taking his camera cross country on weekends and we're discovering lucha is wrestled everywhere in Mexico -- tenements, slums, ghettos, under the fucking ground... this shit is real. This was a great little match. I might cop flak for this, but I thought the match showed how much Solar/Navarro fucks things up. No Solar meant a very prominent Black Terry and also saw Signo give the best performance he's delivered in five years. I've got nothing against Solar, but the other guys tend to tune out when he and Navarro take centre stage, and this was such a nice mix of matwork and brawling that I was happy to see these guys roll with each other after all those disconnected Space Cadets/Misioneros matches last year. Once upon a time, Signo was a hell of a worker. In the dying days of UWA, he was a dynamo, captain of the Misioneros and a better worker than Navarro if you can imagine that. Recently, I watched him brawling with Villano III in one of those random UWA trios that were WAR-like in their allegiances and they tore shit down like the El Toreo demolition. This was a throwback performance to those days if ever I saw one. And Shu showed up! I dunno where he magically appeared from, but fuck me if there isn't a greater missing in action luchador than Shu el Guerrero. Good to see that he's still making himself into a ball so that Navarro has to think twice about which limb to attack. The cool thing about this match was how they kept needling each other. There's been a bit of discussion at the new IWRG board -- http://z7.invisionfree.com/IWRG_Lucha_Libr...dex.php?act=idx -- about whether Terry has taken the mantle back from Negro Navarro as the best worker in Mexico, but the real Navarro came roaring back this weekend, making it a week-to-week contest at this point. The two of them actually brawled a bit in this match, and fuck when is that rematch going to happen? Anyway, there was no Angelico here, so no need for Navarro to be a pussy. I can't believe I just wrote that about Negro Navarro, but I'm telling you this was the real Navarro. The guy who sells without acting like anything really hurts him and doesn't give two fucks. Cool match that the Misioneros won by being bigger ***** than Terry and Shu.

Blue Panther vs. Atlantis, NWA World Middleweight Championship, 8/9/91 I thought I ought to do something a little special to mark my 200th entry, so since I've been talking about Blue Panther vs. Atlantis lately, I decided to go back and watch their match from '91. This match was part of the first batch of lucha I ever bought and is a large part of why I became hooked on lucha. I'm not particularly fond of watching matches I've seen before, particularly when I'm comparing it to the excitement of receiving my first batch of lucha libre, but with so much lucha under my belt since I first saw this, I was almost astonished by how much I enjoyed it. I probably appreciate it more than ever before, which is rare for me since I'm usually interested in the latest and greatest lucha libre match. There's a real buzz surrounding this match that only happens when you get two wrestlers in the ring who you know are going to deliver. Watching Roberto Rangel give his pre-match instructions, it struck me that you had El Dandy and Pierroth Jr. seconding here, two of the most charismatic luchadores in CMLL at the time, and yet all eyes are on Panther and Atlantis. When they head to their opposite corners and go through their final warm-ups, there's an excitement around the bell sounding that's as close to a big time title fight as professional wrestling gets. That may sound like an odd thing to say about the costumed world of Mexican lucha libre, but watch this first caida unfold; it's by far the most competitive opening to a two-out-of-three falls title match I have ever witnessed. I won't go into great detail about what happens, because this is a match that has been uploaded several times on youtube, so there's no excuse for not watching it if you're the least bit interested in professional lucha libre, but this is the caida that convinced me that lucha could be as serious and competitive as any other style of wrestling while looking nothing like other styles of wrestling. And really, that's the beauty of lucha libre -- there's nothing else like it. But watch this caida. There's a rare sort of intensity to it that you seledom find in any sort of wrestling. It's as if they're in the third caida already -- in fact, it's almost as if it's a one fall match with the way Panther and Atlantis fight to take the opening fall. The way they build this intensity is by gradually selling more and more so that each counter becomes increasingly threatening. If you think luchadores can't sell like wrestlers are meant to, I suggest you watch this match, because the great ones can and do sell, while working the most brilliant holds imaginable. The great thing about this caida is that little by little you get the feeling that Atlantis is the champ here. It was a belt he held for a significantly long time and defended against some pretty reputable opposition, and you can see that class come through in the key and deciding moments. The first fall builds to its epic conclusion and you start figuring whether they can keep up this intensity over the next two falls, but the second fall is short, sharp and clever. By this stage, the competitive juices of both guys are flowing and Atlantis starts dropping these awesome knees to the face of Blue Panther. Panther shrugs them off and comes back with a immense hit of his own that shocks Atlantis enough for a quick and decisive equaliser. Pierroth loves it and so do I, because Panther signalled his intent with that body blow. He's here to mount a challenge and not about to fade away. The third caida is built around the timeless notions of desperation and fatigue and those smallest of margins between winning and losing. It's somewhat looser than the opening fall because both guys are tiring, but the great thing about Atlantis vs. Panther matches is how sparingly they used their big takedown offence. Panther had his powerbomb and that spinebuster he liked to do and Atlantis had his back breaker and huracarrana, and they were delivered with gusto and sold like they were the tipping point of the match. The great thing about a third caida is how it weighs on each wrestler's mind. If you get a two from a roll-up and another from a sunset flip, you've got to be thinking that you're running out of chances here. It takes a steely sort of determination to think that you've almost got your man when he escapes your best stuff time and time again. Panther is the first one to crack by trying to go up top, which if you've followed the career of Blue Panther is not his game. Atlantis knocks him off and goes for a huge corner tope, but unforunately his legs hit the top rope as he's going through and he doesn't hit it cleanly. Not to worry, though, as Panther follows up with a tope of his own, which leds to one of the greatest submission attempts ever witnessed in a lucha ring when Panther has Atlantis trapped in an inverted Gory Special and it dead set looks like Altantis is going to submit in the middle of the ring. Atlantis escapes with a roll-up and Panther reverses that for another great nearfall. Atlantis is shaken here and only has a few seconds to regather before Panther comes at him again, and it's almost as if the seconds are ticking down until Atlantis loses. He steps and fakes and makes his move and I won't even tell you how he wins this because it's ridiculously great and enough to pop the biggest sportatorium on a buzzer beater in the biggest game of the year. It's just huge. Perfectly executed and the mother of all final plays. I watch a lot of sport and I've experienced all the different emotions -- shock, joy, devastation -- and that was what this match was for the audience and for these two wrestlers, which is ultimately what pro-wrestling is trying to achieve. Just a great match. Watch it. Love it. Gain a thirst for lucha libre.