The Buccanaros are so much fun, slow start, but this gets kicking. Tons of fun Buccanaros shtick, and Atlantis looks amazing here too. One of his topes is incredible looking. This cuts off right at the finish, but makes a set.

I didn't care for first technico fall at all. But once it gets into the Buccaneros bumping heel show...well thats a great show. this definately goes on. Atlantis almost looks like he went verticle for his tope. There is a low blow finish in front of ref...and before ref can declare a finish we get tape cutting to Magnum Pi or somesuch.

I was OK with the first fall. I noticed up and down this disc that the ring isn't mic'd up at all, but dudes are throwing shots that sound absolutely sickening. This match opens with Pirata Morgan bunching a dude in the chest while he's still wearing his Cap'n Crunch hat, and it sounds like he cracked his sternum. That kinda made the whole fall for me. It's the segunda caida where I have problems. It starts with more rudo brawling, but it isn't as interesting, and there are weird incidences of technicos jumping into rudo offense for no reason. Then the tecnicos take over, and the Buccanero stooging and bumping is great and all, and Angel Azteca throws a ton of great armdrags as always, but there's some really dumb stuff in there like the Buccaneros double back body dropping one of their own for some reason (They were tricked somehow? Lack of depth perception causes you to misidentify your teammate as Angel Azteca?), and Azteca's big leaping diving headbutt to...the bottom rope? The toe of his opponent's boot? I dunno, something cause the guy who's being held up by his partners outside the ring with his feet on the rope, and it causes his feet to slip out and his partners to drop him on the floor, and it doesn't hurt Azteca even though it looks like it would have, and why would he have even done that in the first place....look, I've been watching the lucha for something like a decade now, and I'd like to think I'm past the point where I'm stymied by it's cross-cultural weirdness. I'd also like to think I have a high tolerance for zany lucha comedy. But this all just totally killed my enthusiasm for the match. The tercera caida was amazing, of course, but by that point, the wind had been totally taken out of the sails for me.

Angel Azteca/Atlantis/Ringo Mendoza vs. Los Bucaneros (Hombre Bala/Pirata Morgan/Verdugo) (March 1988)

 

It's going to be hard to follow that last match. Bucaneros are real pricks to start here as they throw the tecnicos around especially Azteca who takes a bodyslam over the top to the floor before he comes back in the ring and eats a triple slam before a triple dropkick to the head. The tecnicos finally make a comeback in the 2nd fall and now we have the Bucaneros being great at bumping and selling here as they take some punishment. Azteca was really fun here getting his revenge by throwing some great arm drags then flying around like crazy. Atlantis is awesome here too with Ringo not doing much but he does enough to get by as his teammates are stealing the show. The 3rd fall featured some really damn good action and this is a fairly easy nomination.

Pirata Morgan + Hombre Bala + Verdugo v. Atlantis + Angel Azteca + Ringo Mendoza, 3/88 (MEXICO 3/88)

- Early on, the Bucaneros are like a pack of dogs, just using triple teams and overpowering the technicos. When I decided to watch this match, I think SLL said there was too much comedy but I didn’t look at the Bucaneros miscommunication spots as uncalled comedy at all. It was the babyfaces outsmarting the overconfident heels. That is textbook tag wrestling right there. So far, so good. Man, I was digging the shit out of this match but then it fucking cut off. We need to find a finish to this match. Man, that low blow looked swank. If that was the finish, this has to go through but what an awkward time to cut out.