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Post by mrjmml on Aug 19, 2023 7:58:58 GMT -5
El Satánico vs Super Astro (EMLL - 10/26/1984) 2/3 Falls
We have another Satánico match that’s how great his 1984 is, the match is closer in structure to his match against Atlantis earlier in the year, it isn’t as great as that one but it isn’t far off either, Super Astro is a fantastic masked babyface made even more sympathetic by Satánico’s genius performance, I’m not talking about the brutality his offense provided what made this match standout was the treatment Astro received during the match, how Satánico treated him like a bastly inferior competitor, there’s something very special about it because everyone has been in a similar situation before, it’s difficult to not empathize with him and root for him because of that, Satánico used that to his advantage becoming the most despicable heel in México for the next 28 minutes, I heard criticisms regarding Super Astro’s offense, some people called it ‘‘weak’’, I personally don’t see that, he’s just using high flying moves as a resource to beat his opponent, then the same could be said about Psicosis’ offense but I’ve never heard anyone say that, anyway Satánico is still the highlight of the match bending the rules every time the opportunity arrives and the referee can’t do anything about it, the referee is completely unable to stop him the only one he was fighting against was himself and his greed got the better of him, he wasn’t trying to win he was trying to proof that he was miles ahead of his opponent that night, there’s a moment during the first fall that illustrated that pretty well, Super Astro was down on the ground, Satánico went for the pin but stopped at the count of two giving Astro a second chance needless to say Satánico regretted that, he was pinned minutes later and lost the fall, Satánico ended up losing the match in the third fall after 21 minutes of amazing wrestling.
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Post by mrjmml on Aug 20, 2023 12:42:21 GMT -5
Crush Gals vs Lola González & Rosa María (Mexico City - 5/12/1985) 2/3 Falls
If you had a déjà vu when you read the title you’re right I reviewed this match before when I watched the Crush Gals, all the things I said in there aged pretty well, I talked about the fast-paced brawling, the brutality and how strange it feels to see the Crush Gals outside Japan, it isn’t that they didn’t adapted to their style they did, in fact, it’s similar to the style they worked with in Japan, the strange thing about watching them in México is not having a crowd completely behind them like they usually have turns out there weren’t many Crush Gals fans in México at the time, I’m curious about how the mexican announcers hyped them up before the match, they usually talk about Japan in such a way that feels like they are talking about Timbuktu, a mythic place that supposedly exists, some people live there, our people has visited it and told amazing barely believable stories about the time they were there, the hyperbole of the mexican announcers is unmatched, what I said is just a slight exaggeration, when Perro Aguayo went back to México after a brief but great stint in Japan that included his famous match against Gran Hamada the announcers said that ‘‘he conquered Japan’’. Today we have the opposite japanese wrestlers working in México, the Crush Gals were actually the babyfaces, you would expect the foreigners to be hated heels but it was the other way around, I’m not sure but I think this match took place in UWA, EMLL didn’t allow women’s wrestling yet as far as I’m concerned.
The first fall was dominated by the Crush Gals, Rosa María and Lola González tried their dirty tactics but they didn’t work as much as they had hoped, in the second fall Rosa and Lola actually took the fall doing the same things they did in the first but harder and the third fall was all Crush Gals, they dominated and won this rough brawl.
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Post by mrjmml on Aug 21, 2023 11:53:56 GMT -5
Perro Aguayo vs Sangre Chicana EMLL 02-28-1986 Hair vs Hair 2/3 Falls
This match is one of the greatest brawl in lucha history, I consider it to be one of the best matches México ever witnessed, having Sangre Chicana and Perro Aguayo in the same ring together is a dream come true and they delivered, the offense is as brutal as expected, this match has some of the best punches I’ve ever seen, it’s one of the most intense brawls in history, if you like Memphis wrestling you’ll like this match, this apuesta saw Bill Dundee vs Jerry Lawler 06-06-1983 and said I can do better, Sangre Chicana is probably a top 5 brawler in wrestling history and his prime is one of the greatest wrestling has ever seen, I already reviewed his famous apuesta against MS-1 that’s my favourite lucha match ever, Sangre Chicana also participated in the Fatal-4-way of 1984 I reviewed a few days ago, he’s always a standout in every match he was in and this match is no exception, his babyface performance in this one is spectacular, he made the most out of Perro Aguayo’s tendencies, Perro Aguayo is no scrub either, he’s famous for his brawling style, how careless and unorthodox it was, Perro Aguayo is a special wrestler I don’t think there will be another wrestler with his skillset and attitude, he is recognizable from a mile away, a 40 plus year old man shouldn’t be able to do what Perro Aguayo was doing, I wonder how he looked like in his younger years, I talked about him two times previously so I won’t elaborate further about the lack of lucha footage.
There’s no commentary in this match only crowd noise, that situation gave this match an aura that very few matches can replicate, it looks like a real brawl that someone recorded secretly, that’s something only handhelds can do, if all handhelds were like this one, this is not about winning, it’s about beating your opponent up and keeping your hair, Sangre Chicana got to keep his hair after an amazing performance, it was enough to beat the mighty Aguayo.
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Post by mrjmml on Aug 22, 2023 12:21:44 GMT -5
El Hijo del Santo & Eddie Guerrero v Negro Casas & Blue Panther (Gimnasio Josue Neri Santos, Juárez, ??/??/1987)
This match happened after the first Santo vs Negro Casas apuesta, it appeared on youtube relatively recently (3 years ago), we don’t have a concrete date it as far as I’m concerned, Eddie Guerrero is really young in this match, he’s 20 years old, his partner is El Hijo del Santo, it’s the first time I cover him here, he’s the son of El Santo the legendary mexican wrestler, El Santo was so much of a sensation that he appeared in more than 50 movies and his movies were usually hits during 1960’s when the so called ‘‘golden era’’ of mexican cinema was over (1936-1956), who can forget Vámonos con Pancho Villa or Los Olvidados, both of them fantastic movies that almost no one talks about nowadays, El Santo transcended wrestling to become one of the country’s better known figures, Eddie Guerrero also had a notable father, Gori Guerrero was El Santo’s partner in La Pareja Atómica the tag team with the greatest drawing ability of 20th century according to primary sources, a few days ago I reviewed Santo’s last match and Gori was one of his partners, El Santo demanded that to Francisco Flores UWA’s promoter at the time and he couldn’t say no, after both Gori and Santo retired their sons took over, from then on the new Pareja Atómica consisted of Eddie Guerrero (the youngest of his siblings) and El Hijo del Santo, I think it’s fair to say that they surpassed their fathers at least in the ring, their opponents today are Negro Casas and the veteran in this match is Blue Panther, Blue Panther had been working since 1978 so he was the more experienced wrestler of the four, Casas debuted a year later in 1979.
The match itself was marked by Eddie Guerrero’s performance, it’s one of his first wrestling matches and already he’s performing at a very high level against two of the greatest workers in lucha history, pretty good if you ask me.
The first fall was a long fought out one that the new Pareja Atómica ended up winning, the second was more of the same but this time Casas and Panther got the pinfall, the third was more like the first one, I love the finish Santo got Panther into a camel clutch (in México the hold is known as ‘‘La de a caballo’’) and won after around 25 minutes of action, the match looks like it was clipped at some point so the match may have been longer.
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Post by mrjmml on Aug 23, 2023 5:17:42 GMT -5
El Hijo del Santo vs Negro Casas (“Mask vs Hair” – WWA – 7/18/1987)
Many people consider the rivalry between El Hijo del Santo and Negro Casas to be the greatest rivalry in wrestling history, I personally think that this rivalry deserves such treatment and this match is one of the reasons why, their matches throughout the 1990’s may have been better but it doesn’t mean this match is bad it just speaks volumes about the overall quality of their matches together, many people consider Negro Casas the greatest of all time and they certainly have good reasons to believe that, he’s the son of the legendary Pepe Casas, I think it’s fair to say that he surpassed his father’s legacy, Negro Casas is one of those names that always gets brought up when discussing lucha, he has been wrestling since 1979 as I said in the previous match I had the pleasure to review, so he’s the veteran in this match but he isn’t the favourite because he’s facing off against the son of the legendary Santo and his mask is sacred, many mexican wrestling fans believe that Negro’s hair has been undervalued because of the amount of times he’s lost it, the first time he lost it was in this match after a grueling battle that lasted around 25 minutes, I really like this match, it isn’t what you expect when you think of an 80’s apuesta, this match is strictly technical, it couldn’t be more different to the last apuesta I reviewed Sangre Chicana vs Perro Aguayo, this match resembles more the style of a title bout instead of a Mask vs Hair match and that’s okay, not every apuesta has to be a wild brawl to be interesting and this rivalry as a whole is the prime example of that there aren’t any heel tactics either it’s as clean as an apuesta can get.
The first fall was comfortably dominated by Negro Casas but the last two were all Santito’s, the third fall is full of nearfalls, there are a lot of instances where Negro Casas kicks out of certain match-ending moves but the camel clutch was too much for Negro to handle, Santito kept his mask and Negro was shaved bald.
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Post by mrjmml on Aug 23, 2023 10:54:42 GMT -5
Tatsumi Fujinami vs. Vader (CWA Bremen 12/21/1991)
Tatsumi Fujinami in the 1990’s is still great he may not be as great as he once was but it doesn’t mean he is washed far from it, the quality of the footage isn’t the greatest but it’s watchable, most of the german catch footage is in a terrible state to the point where you don’t know what you’re looking at but luckily this match isn’t the case at all, it’s a handheld but a pretty good one, it isn’t like the Dave Taylor vs Franz Van Buyten dog collar match, an absolute classic if you don’t mind having to put together all your energy in order to figure out what’s happening, this one is better in that regard, it’s a classic monster heel against fiery babyface structure, the size differential between the two is notable, Vader weighs more than 200 kg as mobile and agile as he was while Fujinami weighed half of that so Vader had the size advantage by a wide margin, they played into that throughout the match, you can figure out the way they did it, Vader dominated comfortably the early going but then Fujinami starts picking up steam, he gets the advantage by capitalizing on a Vader mistake to start his comeback, Fujinami unleashes a flurry of offense Vader has no response to, no surprises there, the crowd is firmly behind Fujinami if you have read the previous reviews it won’t surprise you, I love how Vader is always presented as a monster, as someone you should be scared of, doesn’t matter where he is things will always be the same except in the last year of his WWF run but that’s a story worth its own essay, Vader ended up winning the match after neutralizing his opponent, I love how he covered him, it was an incredibly badass move if you ask me, it’s the most stereotypical powerhouse move ever but Vader makes it feel special.
A german classic I sincerely recommend checking out.
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Post by mrjmml on Aug 24, 2023 6:29:36 GMT -5
Hardy Boyz
Christian & Edge vs. Jeff Hardy & Matt Hardy 10-17-1999
This match was just stupid WWF fun, a ladder match between the most iconic tag teams of the company at the time, it wasn’t the greatest match ever by any means but it was very watchable, I didn’t expect more going into this so I’m pretty pleased with what we’ve got, if you are into the Hardys this match might click with you but it didn’t with me at all, nothing here bothered me so that’s good, they worked well together.
Buh Buh Ray Dudley & D-Von Dudley vs. Christian & Edge vs. Jeff Hardy & Matt Hardy 04-02-2000
It’s very similar to the last one at least from the structure standpoint, it’s just six guys doing spots for around 20 minutes, there wasn’t anything here that I found particularly interesting but it’s fun, I can’t say otherwise, it’s very much a standard ladder match until Buh Buh Ray Dudley started bringing tables to the mix, it feels like an appetizer before the Wrestlemania X7 TLC 3-Way, it’s still the best match of the worst Wrestlemania.
Buh Buh Ray Dudley & D-Von Dudley vs. Christian & Edge vs. Jeff Hardy & Matt Hardy 08-27-2000
Now we’re talking, this match is very close to the final form of the 3-Way TLC they pioneered, there’s less downtime, less setting up spots and more action, just what you want to see in a match of this nature, just people going thru tables for around 15 minutes, gnarly bumps and overall good not great stuff, this kind of matches aren’t my thing but I appreciate the effort put into this spotfest, everyone did their jobs but it just isn’t for me.
Buh Buh Ray Dudley & D-Von Dudley vs. Christian & Edge vs. Jeff Hardy & Matt Hardy 04-01-2001
We have arrived to the end of the 3-Way TLC journey, it wasn’t worth it, this match is a bit different from what they did in SummerSlam 2000, this match is the more action-packed of the three mainly because all the sidekicks showed up, Spike Dudley, Lita and Rhyno were all there to help their respective teams, that was the most important change for the usual formula, they just did the same things they did before but wilder.
Jeff Hardy & Matt Hardy vs. Matt Jackson & Nick Jackson 04-01-2017
This one is even dumber than the first four combined, it’s the last match the Hardyz had before going back to WWE a day later, it’s just people going thru tables and ladders, it’s just fun sports entertainment, it just isn’t my thing, I got what I expected out of this two teams, I can’t complain about anything because I knew what I was getting into beforehand, if you like their style go for it, watch it you’ll probably enjoy it.
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Post by mrjmml on Aug 27, 2023 6:36:04 GMT -5
Danny Kroffat & Doug Furnas vs. Davey Boy Smith & Dynamite Kid 05-12-1989 A fantastic match by the British Bulldogs’ 1989 standards, in fact, I found this match to be actually impressive, Dynamite Kid didn’t participate much in the match but I think that was for the better, I don’t like the last year of the British Bulldogs’ WWF run and I expected something like that but impressively the Can-Am Express did an amazing job making them look good for 20 minutes.
Danny Kroffat & Doug Furnas vs. Joe Malenko & Kenta Kobashi 10-11-1989 Who isn’t a Joe Malenko fan, I love his style and way to understand professional wrestling, a young Kenta Kobashi had quite a performance in this match, he benefited from Malenko’s babyface energy, the Can-Am Express were amazing heels and they were as athletically gifted as their opponents, they ended up winning after an impressive double-team maneuver, it’s just a very good short easy to watch match.
Danny Kroffat & Doug Furnas vs. Kenta Kobashi & Tsuyoshi Kikuchi 05-25-1992 I assume everyone reading this has seen this match at least once, its legendary status is more than justified, it’s regarded as the greatest southern tag ever and I personally second that, it happened in Japan, previously I called The Rockers vs Buddy Rose and Doug Somers the greatest southern tag of the 80’s, this one is its 90’s equivalent but even better if you ask me.
Toshiaki Kawada/Tsuyoshi Kikuchi vs Dan Kroffat/Doug Furnas (8/27/92) Only 6:14 minutes aired on TV thankfully Matt D from Segunda Caida recovered it and uploaded it to youtube, this match was amazing, Kawada was a disappointment in this match, I thought he’d do more with Kikuchi in his side, speaking of Kikuchi he had a fantastic performance he’s always a very charismatic babyface, I think the Can-Am Express unlocked the best version of him.
Akira Taue & Toshiaki Kawada vs. Danny Kroffat & Doug Furnas 07-20-1995 While this match happened in July it was aired in August, it’s a short match but very action-packed, it didn’t look like a jobber match, the Holy Demon Army dominated the Can-Am Express but they weren’t overwhelmingly superior to their opponents, Doug Furnas and Dan Kroffat proved that they still had fight in them in 1995, so a pretty fun match so short that you can go out of your way to watch it.
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Post by mrjmml on Aug 27, 2023 8:23:50 GMT -5
El Dandy vs Pirata Morgan (Hair vs Hair - EMLL - 9/23/1988) CMLL 55th anniversary show
El Dandy in the 1980’s was very impressive, many people act like his career began in 1990 when his most iconic matches happened, like El Dandy vs El Satánico or El Dandy vs Ángel Azteca but his career is deeper than that, he wrestled Javier Cruz in 1984, I think his prime began in the late 80’s and matches like this prove it, El Dandy is a fantastic brawler everybody knows it but the main difference between his 90’s matches and his 1980’s matches is his role, in the 80’s he worked as a babyface while in his famous matches he worked as a heel, in my opinion he’s way more charismatic as a heel, as babyface he’s convincing but not as inspired as he was as a heel, Pirata Morgan is one of the greatest mexican wrestlers ever if you’ve seen my greatest wrestlers ever list featured him around the bottom 25 of that list and that was for a reason, his most acclaimed run happened as a member of the trio Los Infernales I’ve done a primer so you’re free to go there, Segunda Caída did a Complete & Accurate so definately check that out if you’re interested, their match against Los Brazos is considered one of the best matches of 1991, it isn’t even the best trios match of the year but 1991 was a special year for trios all around the world I’m sure you’re aware of the Super Generation Army vs Tsuruta-gun trio, in my opinion the greatest trios match in the history of wrestling, Pirata Morgan also had success as a singles wrestler, he had a fascinating title match against Brazo de Oro, the match we have today is as good as any Pirata Morgan match there is, the bloody brawling, his heel attitude, the way he lost this match and hair it’s all worthy of an aniversario main event, this is all I want in a lucha brawl, it isn’t as good as Sangre Chicana vs Perro Aguayo but it’s still one of the greatest brawls in lucha history.
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Post by mrjmml on Aug 28, 2023 3:49:52 GMT -5
Hart Foundation vs. The British Bulldogs (09.23.1985) This match is pretty fast-paced by 80’s WWF standards, both teams were outstanding at their roles, The Harts as heels and The Bulldogs as babyfaces, Jimmy Hart guarantees fun every time he’s near a wrestling ring and this match was no exception, Jim ‘’The Anvil’’ Neidhart looked really good as a monster heel while Bret looked a bit worse but overall an amazing showing by both teams.
[1986-11-16-WWF-Toronto, ONT] Hart Foundation vs The Islanders
The Hart Foundation it’s a perfectly balanced team there’s no doubt about that, Jim Neidhart is the powerhouse while Bret is more technical, their work as heels is pretty good but in this particular occasion the crowd couldn’t buy them as such mainly because they are in Toronto, Ontario home of Stampede Wrestling (Stu Hart’s territory) so they were loved there, The Islanders also did a good job as babyfaces but the people in the stands didn’t care about them.
[1987-11-24-WWF-MSG, NY] Strike Force vs Hart Foundation
Another great heel performance by the Hart Foundation, a short match but enough for them to prove what they’re capable of, Rick Martel and Tito Santana did their job masterfully as well, it’s very easy to watch, 10 minutes that fly by, this time their heel act produced big results unlike what happened in the last match, the babyface team came back and eventually got the win by submitting Jim Neidhart.
Ax & Smash vs. Bret Hart & Jim Neidhart 08-29-1988 I shouldn’t like Demolition as much as I do, they are worse than any other I’ve reviewed so far but somehow I enjoy them. All their criticisms are true, their basic offense,weak strikes, mediocre matches, Road Warriors ripoff vibe but they are still enjoyable, how you can see their strategy in every match and their heel tactics are telegraphed but the way they execute them is amazing, this match is a very good 12 minute match that ended when they used Jimmy Hart’s megaphone as a weapon for the three count, that was SummerSlam 88.
[1991-03-24-WWF-Wrestlemania VII] Hart Foundation vs Nasty Boys
By 1991 they were working as babyfaces, I think their heel run is a bit more entertaining but this one still had some highlights, in this match Jimmy Hart was the Nasty Boys’ manager, in the previous one he had worked as the manager of the Hart Foundation, the match got a bit messy since Jimmy’s megaphone came into play but I have no doubt this match deserved to be a part of the showcase of the immortals.
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Post by mrjmml on Aug 29, 2023 4:58:49 GMT -5
Lola González vs Pantera Sureña (Hair vs Hair EMLL - 9/12/88)
The first time female wrestlers wrestled in Arena México was in 1935 July 7th to be exact then they were banned from the most iconic in the country but they returned December 21st 1986, the two wrestlers waging their hair wrestled in AJW, Pantera Sureña was known as La Galáctica, under that alter ego she had a legendary match against one of the greatest joshi wrestlers in history (Jaguar Yokota) it was a fantastic brawl but half as wild as this one, the history of women’s wrestling in México is very rich and this match is their magnum opus, it’s the women’s version of Sangre Chicana vs Perro Aguayo that’s quite a compliment, Lola González would be Perro Aguayo here and Pantera Sureña would be Sangre Chicana, I love how Andrés Maroñas (the announcer) seems genuinely worried about everyone’s well being, I recall an instance where Pantera Sureña did a senton to the outside and he said: ‘‘¡Niña cuidado!’’ translated to english it’s ‘‘Girl be careful!’’ sounding concerned about her, that’s something that doesn’t happen men’s wrestling, the announcer wasn’t accostumed to watching women taking the risks these two were taking, the main reason why I think this match is worth reviewing is the announcers’ reaction to the action, that’s the appeal of the match for me, it’s an amazing brawl don’t get me wrong but if it wasn’t for Maroñas this match wouldn’t have ranked 60th in my Greatest Match Ever list, to be fair if the announcers weren’t as special as they were I wouldn’t be watching lucha at all to be honest, the first fall is great, Pantera Sureña is thrown out of the ring by Lola González and she didn’t let her get back to the ring, the second fall is an amazing babyface performance by La Panterita and got away with the fall but it wasn’t enough to keep her hair, Lola submitted her after 27 grueling minutes of tough and gritty wrestling.
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Post by mrjmml on Aug 30, 2023 6:10:50 GMT -5
Fabulous Ones vs Moondogs (CWA - 4/4/83)
The first match of one of the greatest tag team feuds of all time, it’s a very well paced southern tag match and a title change, Lance Russell did an amazing job (as always) explaining the stakes and personally besides the fantastic in-ring action that’s what hooked me in when I first watched this, Stan Lane in the role babyface getting beaten up by heels was awesome and the finish was as chaotic as it was brilliant, The Moondogs won the titles.
Fabulous Ones vs Moondogs Stretcher Match 5 2 83 Memphis Wrestling This match was absolutely wild as wild as I remembered, the Moondogs did their usual Moondogs stuff, heel brawling at its finest and the Fabulous Ones (Stan Lane & Steve Keirn) had another babyface performance for the ages, with one of them being tangled between the ropes at one point, the referee rang the bell but the Moondogs were looking for blood so Steve Keirn ended up leaving the ring in a stretcher. Fabulous Ones vs. Moondogs (6/13/83) They just beat the shit out of each other with chairs and whatever else they happened to come across at the moment Jerry Calhoun had to call for the bell early, one of the greatest brawls in Memphis wrestling history, the Moondogs are looking for blood so a no contest is the most logical ending, the roles are still clear, there’s still a brutal heel against babyface dynamic going on, I loved it. Fabulous Ones vs. Moondogs (1/9/1984) Definitely one of the greatest feuds in wrestling history, everyone did an absolutely outstanding job during the whole affair, this is a masterclass of how to use brawls to tell a compelling story, it’s impressive how well worked the match is, every wrestler should watch this match and learn how this kind of matches are supposed to be done, a masterpiece, highly recommended.
Houston Wrestling - Chavo & Héctor Guerrero vs Fabulous Ones - 1986-01-24
It’s Mexican Deathmatch time, the Fabulous Ones are working as the heels this time around, Chavo and Héctor are the babyfaces, Keirn and Lane are rightfully despised by the Houston crowd, it’s amazing how well they worked as heels, they are so hateable in this match but I think that’s in large part because of Héctor’s performance, his selling is perfect and Chavo’s desperation feels real, beautiful ending too.
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Post by mrjmml on Aug 31, 2023 4:05:04 GMT -5
Sangre Chicana vs El Satánico 5/26/1989 EMLL
Who said draws were boring? El Satánico and Sangre Chicana had a draw for the ages, El Satánico lost his hair a few weeks ago against El Dandy, that’s why he’s almost bald in this one, Daniel López (El Satánico) was a heel as usual, Sangre Chicana is also a heel, he’s best work came as a babyface but he wasn’t bad as a heel, he’s just not as convincing as he is as a heel, Andrés Richardson (Sangre Chicana) was a great brawler if you have been following my lucha journey you already know that, Satánico is a wrestler that has always connected with me, if you’ve seen the 1984 reviews you know how much I like him, he’s still in his prime even tough he had been wrestling for 16 years in 1989 so he was already a veteran by then, the announcers were also aware of that, they said that Satánico was already a veteran, they said that he wasn’t a young wrestler anymore, he wasn’t old man Satánico yet but we are getting there, they also said that Sangre Chicana was the kind of wrestler to make a comeback when you least expect, this one is a match whose appeal is pretty clear from the get go, they are two guys hitting each other very hard, both of them are great in this environment and they proved it, this match is wild, at some point near the end of the match they start brawling in the stands, the announcers had to explain the basic rules of lucha during the first fall because it was so unorganized and crazy that you had to make it clear, it’s a lucha brawl a great one, it’s a match I’d recommend to every lucha fan, even for the non-lucha fans the match is short enough for them to give it a chance, anyway everybody gets a good lucha brawl, Sangre Chicana and El Satánico are the perfect lucha introduction.
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Post by mrjmml on Sept 1, 2023 13:00:38 GMT -5
Great Muta vs Tatsumi Fujinami (9-23-1991)
NJPW
We start September with an old friend, Tatsumi Fujinami, working as an old man against younger talent, now his job is to make stars and he delivered this time facing off against one of the most frustratingly inconsistent wrestlers of the 1990’s along with Manami Toyota, Keiji Mutoh more specifically his alter ego The Great Muta, he makes the most out of Mutoh’s strengths and he hid his weaknesses in a very convincing way, Mutoh looks like a million bucks, charismatic, intense and blood thirsty all at the same time, the thing that struck me the most in this match was that Keiji’s offense didn’t change, what changed was the way his offense was presented, here all his moves felt justified, some of his later matches are so driven by his moves that end up feeling completely directionless, Fujinami put his opponent in an interesting spot, Mutoh had to face a veteran, an amazing general and look better than him, brawling was the only way out of that situation, the most memorable parts of this match happen when they are outside the ring, it was clear from the get go that Mutoh was going to get his hand raised at the end but he earned it in the process, Mutoh has always been in a strange spot for me because he’s clearly inferior to Shinya Hashimoto but he’s way better than Chono, there was a very famous match between Hashimoto and Nobuhiko Takada in April 29th 1996, that match is considered the peak of the NJPW vs UWF-I rivalry, it happened after Mutoh lost to Takada in the event NJPW Wrestling World of that year (the equivalent of today’s Wrestle Kingdom), Mutoh will always be overshadowed by Shinya Hashimoto but to be honest who isn’t.
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Post by mrjmml on Sept 2, 2023 14:19:13 GMT -5
Rick & Scott Steiner vs Tatsumi Fujinami & Tayayuki Iizuka (WCW Wrestle War - 5/17/92)
It’s the first time I write about a regular tag team match in my Fujinami retrospective, I talked about tags and gauntlets but there were many people involved in those, this match is a 2v2 instead of the 4v4s or 5v5s like the famous multi-man matches of 80’s NJPW, if you want to watch a multi-man this show had Wargames in their main event, a match that I love so much that I included it in my GME list of 2023, Sting's Squadron (Sting, Ricky Steamboat, Barry Windham, Dustin Rhodes & Nikita Koloff) vs The Dangerous Alliance (Rick Rude, Steve Austin, Arn Anderson, Larry Zbyszko & Bobby Eaton) watch it if you haven’t it already, I think this match overshadowed the main event in the violence department, I have to give credit to Jesse Ventura and Tony Schiavone for how they treated Lizuka and Fujinami here, they are completely aware of how the average american would react when watching japanese guys that he has never heard about ( it applies more for Lizuka, Fujinami had appeared in other WCW shows at that point), they praised them for their effort in a way I didn’t expect, specially Jesse Ventura considering how he behaved in the commentary box, the match isn’t only violent is also well structured, the Steiners were the better team but Fujinami and Lizuka struck back in multiple occasions, their comebacks were convincing enough to have the WCW crowd chanting USA at some point but the result was clear from the beginning to be fair the japanese team had no business winning but they proved their worth to the american crowd that’s for sure, Lizuka nose bleeding and overall a great match full of hard hitting action throughout, highly recommended.
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