Others Receiving Votes (2019 Results)
Apr 22, 2019 13:19:19 GMT -5
Post by KB8 on Apr 22, 2019 13:19:19 GMT -5
I would be interested to see what you have to say about it after rewatch. I always liked the Gringos Locos vs Santo/Octagon match, but I feel like its a match that at times looks like it might the greatest tag match ever and then at other times feels like they lose the plot just a touch. Its still great and still made my list, but as this project expands my horizons... tough to tell if it will next year.
So I actually watched this twice. First time was the WWE version that I forgot was clipped a bit, then I watched the unedited version earlier. How much do we actually miss with the version WWE put on that Eddie DVD? Because it felt like all the unedited version had that the WWE one didn't was about thirty seconds of match time (during which there was a ropey moment where Eddie and Santo flubbed a clothesline or something).
It had some stuff I liked and I guess as an amalgamation of a few different styles it was sort of cool. You had a little southern style tag wrestling, some very obvious New Japan juniors, a bit of lucha. It was more New Japan juniors than lucha, really, and that'll always stuck in my craw, but I try not to judge something on what it's not as opposed to what it actually is.
First fall fall with Eddie and Art whipping them was good and I thought Art was super fun the whole match; probably my favourite of everyone, with his awesome dropkicks, a great superkick right to the back of Santo's head, his gorgeous frog splash and his general horseshittery. The tecnico comeback in the segunda felt pretty rushed, though. Maybe there were time constraints or whatever, but one of my favourite things in lucha is how the tenicos will try and fail to make the comeback a few times, and when they eventually succeed it feels all the more earned for it. And you know they're going to unleash some hell. This just sort of happened, never really had any unleashing of hell to speak of - though it led to the admittedly awesome double tope spot - and then Eddie and Art are back on offence a minute later as Santo gets taken out. Octagon going it alone was brief but led to a great payoff, especially with Art strutting and soaking in the moment only to turn around and notice he was in the shit. Tercera started with one of my least favourite lucha tropes as teams traded breaking up submission attempts for a few minutes. Some of the ways they broke stuff up looked pretty mean, but it wasn't very interesting and I thought it brought the drama from that high to close out the second fall back down to life. Art taking out Octagon with the tombstone obviously ruled and the Panther revenge spot is an absolute all-timer, but Eddie running through his Black Tiger offence for a stretch before the finish wasn't particularly compelling. Finish doesn't bother me one way or the other. If anything I quite liked it, the way Santo managed to absorb all that punishment, dealt by the disgruntled son of a father from his own father's past, only to pull it out in the clutch as he always does, desperate as it may have been.
I've always wanted this to really grab me. It's not that I think it's outright bad as such, it's just that it resonates with me waaaaay less than it does with its biggest fans. Like, as far as Eddie Guerrero 2-v-2 tags in Mexico go, that Eddie/Santo v Casas/Panther tag is much more my thing.