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Post by jetlag on Jul 17, 2018 12:48:07 GMT -5
tl;dr the best lucha match of 1998 and likely the greatest title match either guy has been in, kickass matwork and a legendary selling performance abound
My god what an absolute pro wrestling classic, even better than I remember it being. First fall alone was better than a lot of single matches. Just relentless matwork with Santito wrenching the shit out of Felino. There is a difference between Santo and regular dudes working holds, your average wrestler may work snug, but Santo will add these little touches like driving his head into the other guys spine to increase pressure. Neither guy let up, starting when Felino got a cheap single leg after a ropebreak and Santo later repaying him in kind when he snuck up behind him and caught him in a Cavernaria. Santo constantly working for his finisher on the ground also adds a lot of tension. Felino is also a guy who will bust out judo throws and olympic moves in the middle of luchariffic exchanges and that is always cool. I had no problem with Felino taking the advantage using his quickness after Santo had thoroughly pushed his shit in on the mat. Then you get Felino pouncing on Santos leg. I am shocked nobody has mentioned the greatness of that legwork and selling. Felino looked like a dangerous hooker and Santo was doing everything to prevent him from zoning in on his weakspot. Then you get Santo believably working lucha exchanges and dives while limping. A damaged Santo throwing out huge desperation moves in order to try and turn the tide was pretty great and exactly how you should use spots like that. Will admit that Felino doesn't sell on the level of Santo and the match could've done going a few minutes less, but to hell with the nitpicking. Easy slam dunk lucha MOTY.
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Post by Cap on Jul 17, 2018 14:32:44 GMT -5
Is his available anywhere on the interwebs?
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Post by Cap on Jul 20, 2018 7:08:27 GMT -5
Holy Shit... where has this been all my life. This is fucking excellent. The work between the two, particularly Santo's arm work is just so creative and compelling throughout. Santo basically climbing up Felino to crank on his arms and shoulders was sort of nuts. The escalation is on point. None of the falls feel like throw aways at all, which can be an issue in even the best lucha matches. I agree that there is a good dynamic here where Felino looks like he will legit take a leg off and Santo doing everything in his power to keep from being crippled. The selling from both men is really great, especially in that last fall. There is a point where Felino gets thrown out of the ring near the end that looks absolutely brutal. I loved the fatigued kickouts and the rope breaks in the home stretch. This was sort of amazing. It has a real shot at my list. I will have to throw it into one of my rewatches at some point.
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Post by Cap on Jul 20, 2018 15:30:42 GMT -5
What title is this for?
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Post by microstatistics on Mar 26, 2019 17:14:04 GMT -5
So is the date correct or is it 3/8/1998?
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Post by tetsujin on Dec 4, 2020 9:57:23 GMT -5
La primera caída was amazing, with very creative, diverse and brutal Santito's matwork. He carried the whole fall like a legend. Felino didn't have a chance at all, and so he fakes an injury at the segunda caída, and while I get the story, I didn't like the execution at all: a bad "running the ropes and reversing stuff" sequence (in the style of Ospreay/Ricochet) and just one leghold were enough to make a 100% fresh HDS submit. Yeah, fuck that. La tercera caída was pretty great though, Felino was desperate to caught that bad leg again and Santito worked from underneath and earned himself a pretty wonderful comeback, including two of his very best topes suicidas I've seen, and leading to a great nearfalls segments with impresive selling from Felino.
My problems with the finish are the same as with the second fall: I love the idea, but the execution was very weak. There's no way the referee didn't saw that low blow, they sould have go for a distraction spot or something. A great match with an excellent performance of El Hijo del Santo, but with two fall resolutions that I didn't like at all. I take this match more as an another proof of Santito's greatness than as a legit MOTYC.
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Post by mvz on Oct 22, 2021 4:59:03 GMT -5
I was kind of blown away by this. Spectacular grappling to start, some pro wrestling BS in the middle and then a hot stretch at the finish. Felino’s gear is A++ as well.
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Post by club on May 2, 2022 5:54:17 GMT -5
So much to love here. Boss matwork, selling from Santo, logical escalation to some wild dives. Didn't have a problem with Felino beating Santo in the second fall. That figure 4 Yoji Anjo looking thing is an instant kill in other matches I've seen of his, so just went with it. Probably the best Felino match I've seen.
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Post by elliott on Sept 17, 2023 22:49:21 GMT -5
Classic match
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