Surprised at how much I dug this. I haven't liked Timbs before, but he was perfectly fine working as a rudo in a technical title match. Lots of matwork with Pirata doing a bunch of nifty things, and Timbs doing a nice job working over the shoulder. We get a big batch of stuff finish too, with Pirata wiping out Timbs second with a tope and Timbs doing a foul suplex for the title win. I liked this a alot although I imagine votes will be all over the place for it.

 

EMLL 12/10/89

It should be said that Ken Timbs sings our national anthem better than most. The Star-Spangled Banner is a notoriously difficult national anthem to sing, and he was doing it every night like it was second nature. I appreciate that. This match makes a very interesting contrast to Pirata's title match with Brazo de Oro, which was all about two guys who don't really fit the lucha title match style trying to adjust to it's standards. This is a match where reigning champ Pirata seems to have acclimated to the style, and it's outsider Blondy who initially finds himself at odds with it, and how that affects the way the match plays out. This means a couple of things. For one, this is easily the most matwork-heavy performance I've ever seen Pirata give, and I was genuinely impressed by how much depth he showed in that area. He pulled out a pretty wide variety of cool stuff that I did not know he had, and looked comfortable enough in the role that I'm almost surprised we don't see him working more of a Black Terry-ish brawler/maestro dual-class style today, because he could probably still do a lot of that and would be less physically demanding. Secondly, this is probably the closest thing I've seen to a territory era Ric Flair NWA Title defense in lucha. Georgia heel Timbs is even more out of place in this setting than Pirata and Brazo were in their match, but like that match, that's the fun of it. But watching him stooging while Pirata tangled him up on the mat reminded me less of any other lucha title match and more of Flair stooging for Kevin Von Erich's MUGA headscissors routine in 1983. And like Flair, when Blondy takes control, it's through more unsportsmanlike methods than you would normally associate with lucha title matches. Yet every time Morgan makes a comeback, he ends up going back to working holds. Yeah, this is a match where Pirata Morgan deliberately avoids brawling, and as uncharacteristic as that is of him, it really works for this kind of "my kung fu is stronger than yours" story. This had a pretty spectacular finish, too, as Gran Davis gets distracted, and Blondy takes advantage with what I can only describe as a foul suplex that gets the win. No friendly handshakes at the end of this lucha title match. I just hope I can find a nice, bloody hair vs. hair match to complement this.

NWA Lt. Heavyweight Title: Pirata Morgan © vs. Fabuloso Blondy (12/8/89)

 

Blondy sings the anthem again to a raucous crowd which is nice. This is a title match so they work the title match style and Blondy does a really solid job of working with Pirata on the mat. Both guys were solid here at working over body parts with Blondy showing his southern expertise on how to sell properly and he was very good at it. Timbs using the cobra clutch to take the 2nd fall was great as he did a solid job of working over the shoulder. The 3rd fall was good back and forth action with both men going for submissions keying on the parts they have already worked on before the stretch run which sees Pirata crash and burn on a tope suicida and Blondy fouling Pirata as he threw him behind him to win. Very good title match and I'll push it on as a low-end pick.

Pirata Morgan vs. Ken Timbs, 12/10/89

- 1st fall moved slow but it was decent. I am spoiled by guys like William Regal who always works the holds by always moving joints and digits. These guys didn’t quite do that but the transitions were all really done well. Eventually, Morgan wins with the cloverleaf.

- 2nd fall, great work by Morgan early on but Timbs changes the tide and starts working over the arm while still selling the leg. Sweet! Morgan takes a nasty dive outside and when he comes back in, Timbs locks in a shoulder lock that forces Morgan to submit. Man, really enjoyed the 2nd fall and the limb work.

- 3rd fall, more focus on the limbs and I am hooked. Great back and forth up to the sweet low blow German suplex finish. Man, I am all for pushing this forward as it was completely different than I am used to seeing from lucha matches.